Chapter 8: Adventure Guild
After the best moment in Zhen's life with the kiss on Sara.
He let go of her so they could take a breather just for Zhen to get both his waist pinched so hard that tears started coming out of his eyes.
'It was still worth the pain and I'm willing to suffer more if I can enjoy this again.'
Zhen cried out inwardly while enjoying a blissful yet painful moment at the same time.
That was until Sara decided to run back to her room in the inn and refuse to come out again.
'Sigh, it will be a while before I get to be closer with her again but back to the main business.'
Seeing how Sara ran away in a lightning fashion, Zen turned to look at Kuro.
With a cold glare sniping at Kuro's back, Kuro shuddered for a bit before turning around to see an expression that isn't pleasant at all.
'Don't even think for a second that I forgot about your little stunt that almost ruined my whole life. Maybe it worked out in the end in my favor but there should still be a little punishment to ensure you won't dare to do that to me again.'
Zen's expression was extremely easy for Kuro to tell what he wanted to say.
Kuro has been scared so much that he went and kneel while pleading for mercy.
"Master, Forgive me, I will tell Sara about my lies and how great a being you are."
Thinking this isn't enough, Kuro went and hugged his leg with his wings while having tears leaking out.
'Never in my life did I shed a tear even when I was discarded by my species but I have to cry now if I want to live longer.'
Seeing his fake acting being this perfect, Zhen decided to be a bit lenient as it could partially be his fault by ignoring Kuro's look back in the table.
Zhen made Kuro wipe his shoes with his wind element since it's been dirty due to that short fight which couldn't even excite him at all.
If Situ Sheng who is now being delivered back to his home heard Zhen's thinking, he probably will foam once more.
After the punishment was over, Kuro had a hopeful look like he just escaped death.
Kuro prayed to god for giving that dummy to appear for his Master to vent.
Meanwhile, Zhen stepped back into the inn and asked John where the adventure guild is located.
Sara has been his guide since entering this town but now that she is a bit embarrassed to face him at the moment, it's better to ask John who's a retired adventurer for the location.
While going to the adventure guild, Zhen has to remind himself to buy a beautiful gift for Sara.
Getting the location and asking where the accessories shop is, Zhen walked out of the inn with Kuro following behind with a lower head.
'Otherwise, if my Master has a change of mind and wants to punish me harsher then it really is injustice for me.'
Kuro kept his head lower while hoping his thinking was wrong.
His Master should be called having multiple personality disorder due to the fact that he can change his emotion in a second.
As they're traveling, Zhen sees a beautiful necklace in a store and thinks that'll be perfect for Sara since it matches her clothing and personality.
Zhen went inside and asked politely, "Boss, how much is this necklace worth."
The person replied "Sir, you sure have great eyesight. This necklace just arrived this morning and it is made with emerald, a really precious stone. It only cost 2 gold."
Activating his sense of the person and checking the person's temperature and mood shows he wasn't lying.
Zhen got to use his ability to the maximum benefit because he may have 20 gold from the butcher but 5 gold was needed to rent the room in the inn for 3 weeks.
Also, the Grotto's Inn was popular so 5 gold may not even be enough to rent a room if not for Sara's presence.
'Whatever, to have happiness, one must sacrifice to obtain it and I can always find more Likra to hunt, of course, Kuro will be doing the dirty work.'
Zhen had this logical thinking in his mind and decided to purchase the necklace for Sara.
Kuro, who has something like sixth sense seems to notice his Master's thinking, wants to cry again. 'I really boarded a pirate ship's sniff sniff.'
Zhen, who didn't care about Kuro's feelings, said, "I'll take it."
Zhen handed 2 gold to the boss while holding the necklace.
'Come to think of it, I think it also better to find a spatial ring because if I used my storing ability again, I might attract unnecessary trouble.'
Having a perfect gift to coax Sara now, Zhen and Kuro continued the path told by John to the adventure guild.
'This town is truly huge and only 15 minutes later did they arrive in the adventure guild.'
Zhen can't help but admire the town's size and its beautiful structure.
John informed Zhen that adventure guilds all have a branch in every town and there will be the main guild stationing in kingdoms.
Therefore, the adventure ID card is effective everywhere and even the villages can confirm your identity if you show them the card.
Zhen walked inside to find the receptionist as only they are the ones responsible for registering an adventure and logging their mission and giving out rewards.
Once again, Kuro attracts the most attention but Zhen doubts anyone will try to attack them due to the strict town's law except for that Situ guy.
Situ's father works in some official position that manages the town but is a dutiful person but having this type of son is really unfair to him.
Zhen saw the receptionist was open so he walked to it and what greeted him was surprisingly an animal ear girl.
Although comparing her beauty to Sara is a bit lacking, there is an animal girl in this world.
Zhen's happy expression is exploding in his mind but on the outside, he has an indifferent look.
Right when Zhen stepped in front of her with a counter separating us.
The receptionist said, "Hello, is this your first time here in the adventure guild or you're applying for a mission."
"It's my first time here so I would like to register in the adventure guild."
A smiling face on her as she said, "Ok, My name is Melissa, and please place your hand in this crystal ball. It will record your stats and change them into an ID card."
Zhen wasn't surprised at this since John informed him about the process including the fact that no matter how strong you are, you will always start at Bronze rank before working your way up.
This is to prevent any unfair treatment so even if you're a high influence person, you still need to complete a certain mission. Unless some special situation occurred like a magical beast riot.
Zhen placed his hand into the crystal ball and it started recording his stats in it.
Kuro has sent Zhen a mental transmission on how to use his mana to manipulate the data to make his stat look normal.
This is to prevent any more shocking and make him into the spotlight again.
Manipulating the data is way harder than it seems but Kuro has a feeling Zhen is able to do due to that mystical feeling he felt from him.
But what Kuro and Zhen don't know is that, when Zhen is using his mana to manipulate the data, the tiny hidden core is amplifying itself to support the influx of power.
Melissa did not find anything wrong and just felt it is normal for Zhen to have this kind of stats.
She smiled at Zhen before saying, "Congrats, you're now a Bronze rank adventurer and the registration cost is 10 gold. If you lose the ID card and need a replacement, it'll be another 10 gold. You can now start accepting any mission but it is better to start with Bronze-Iron rank ones. This is to prevent the adventurer from accepting a higher rank mission and failing which will have a penalty and some are able to make them go bankrupt to the point of slavery."
Zhen nodded and said, "I understand, thank you for your assistance."
He said that while cursing at this black-hearted guild because John didn't inform him of the price needed for registering.
What Zhen doesn't know is that John thought he's there to accept a mission since he thought Zhen was able to defeat a Likra means he was a high-rank adventurer.
Zhen is now left with 3 gold since its initial 20 gold, 5 went to the inn, 2 went to the necklace, and now 10 went to this ID card.
'Earning wealth is hard but spending doesn't even take any effort and time.'
Complaining in his mind one last time about his poor status.
Zhen thought it was about time to head back to the inn to coax Sara.
"Let's go Kuro!"
Saying that Zhen and Kuro left the adventure guild with many adventurers staring at Zhen in jealousy for obtaining a strong beast.