Lost in the unfamiliar city, I eventually found the Yventia Adventurers Guild. While trying to find it, however, I delved deeper into the lore of the Hansmen elite, the kingdom's political structure, and the unique powers within the world—Chordatta and magecraft—both of which governed this world.
Within this world, they use magic but something else also exists as a counterpart to magic, almost like the very thing you'd use 'against' magic. It's something called Chordatta, a strange force where you utilize the hymns of the cosmos. I figured it was the same thing that one shopkeeper did earlier based on what I've heard thus far.
Essentially it created itself as a necessity to magic. Light vs Dark, Good vs Evil. A natural duality where in most cases a counterpart to magic would be science but most would assume certain forms of science could be magic until proven otherwise.
I learned only the bare minimum when it comes to chordatta since most information about it is only known by those who actively practice it. I was told the Harmonic Council are the individuals who primarily take priority in all chordatta-based matters. They're an exclusive organization of exceptionally talented individuals known as Conductors and Symphonists (Chordatta users are typically called this).
They remain to be highly prestigious and rarely take you on without either a mock exam or a recommendation letter. In my case, I was told I'd be a natural prodigy at the things I attempt to learn so I've been told from that deity person. But.. I can see here where some problems might lie.
One. I have no idea where to start other than going to the adventurers guild.
Two. I'm still pretty much in the dark on how adventuring goes here or if it's even similar to the "adventurers" I've become so fond of in fictional stories and TV.
But finally, after a little pondering, I walked into the Yventia adventurers guild. Also, for insight— the kingdom or country I wound up in is known as the Astaren Province, right now I'm in the capital known as Yventia.
The kingdom operates as a Monarchy with a rather corrupt king. Basically like a royal guard, the Hansmen operate right under them but with complete and utter free reign over their actions. Essentially exempt from normal rules in place as a sign of their power.
And as far as power goes as a country, we're in a three-way deadlock with 2 other countries. While one specifically stands at the very top of them all yet they stay secluded to themselves and very rarely allow foreigners within their borders. On top of that, the demon country which is south near the equator, remains dormant until Ragnarok which no one knows when will happen, only when a grand Magi from a far-off land arrives with their mystical knowledge and prowess to save the entire world.
The only thing is, no one knows what to expect out of that "grand magi" so eventually people have forgotten Ragnarok could occur on any day, month, or year.
I can only hope I'm not that grand magi since I'm literally about to register as an F-rank adventurer with no combat skills or history.
"Hi, there! Welcome to the Yventia Adventurers guild! we're always happy to welcome new members experienced or not. If you'll kindly fill out this form so we can get your paperwork sorted out and your adventurer's license issued." Exclaimed by the busty, super sexy receptionist behind the counter as I walked in. She was exceptionally pretty, to the point I almost started drooling.
It was lacy and the material used allowed for their cleavage to be seen with maximum efficiency, every curve on their body was seemingly amplified with the outfit. The skirts were short, all while they wore a corset so everything curved perfectly.
They wore embroidered stockings which allowed their thighs to have their highlight as well the tightness on the stocking allowed for a slight pinch of thigh to poke over but not a lot.
Moving on.
Once I filled out the paperwork the receptionist gave me a bit of an odd look. I thought she figured out I was just leering at her breast the entire time I filled it out as I still had a bit of a creepy smile the entire time.
"Well, I guess it's good to have unique characters in the guild.." managed the receptionist. She seemingly looked a bit off and kind of confused looking at my paperwork, clearly, it wasn't the usual as I didn't know a lot of the terms on the sheet in the first place. I more or less just guessed.
She picked up my paper after I finished and reviewed everything.
"Alrighty, with that out of the way we're going to test your aptitude for Chordatta. Since you checked off no for experience with chords and yes on your willingness to take classes or courses on learning it to adventure. You understand that you'll need to be tested on your aptitude. This is because if you don't meet certain requirements, your entire learning process will be three to four times longer than people who've either met or exceeded the mark required."
She said this calmly as she must've experienced a few others who acted arrogantly about their aptitude thinking they could breeze through it but failed to meet the expectations. I can understand their reasoning behind this if I'm being honest, no point in trying to do something knowing you'd do terribly and would never succeed in the process.
"I also noticed you checked no on the box for your aptitude or ability to use magic, along with checking yes on your willingness to test if you can use it." She said almost intrigued as if it was something strange to do.
"Yeah, I wanna make sure I can do at least one," I noted rather confidently.
"Well you see, people are typically born as mages and show traits around age one. So unless you've shown potential in being a mage during infancy up until now, you're typically not likely to have the ability to use magecraft. And so you know, you don't 'need' Chordatta or magecraft, learning the ways of the sword, bow, other weapons, sage art or techniques is still possible you know—"
"Oh sure but uh.. well lady right now is the time to say if there was anyone in the past who used magecraft despite not showing signs..—" Pipishly noted me as I was used to watching anime or reading manga where the main character is getting their rundown and the moment it's revealed that at least one person did it in the past 1,000 or so years they end up doing it.
"Well, there have been a few but it's more likely to happen to every 1 out of 100,000 people who admit it. And it's a bit more depressing since we'll only get 1,000 people to apply every year, some can already use magic or Chordatta upon joining. You're one of the very few to try without initially knowing in this case." She said this rather calmly despite the saddening odds for everyone who's probably gonna try this testing method in the future.
"Ah—.. Well, let's do it anyway."
"—..Alright, we'll just proceed with the test."
It was only after she looked back at my admission paper did she check for my name.
"Are you ready Sumire?.." uttered the receptionist. I nodded in response
But alas, immediately afterward I was pricked on the finger, and a tiny dab of blood began to form as the receptionist took that and placed it on a crystal ball she placed in front of us. She'd smear the blood in a circle on the ball only to bring my finger which was still bleeding towards the center of the circle. It was then a drop of blood appeared in the center now causing the orb to glow brightly. The light from the orb would've appeared to be a bright green only for it to shift into a bright white light.
"Interesting— it says you're going to be highly adept in using Chordatta. We can contact the Harmonic Council immediately."
"What about the magecraft test?..—" piqued by me.