Ash stepped in, his presence forgotten by the sheer life inside.
There was some basic information in the front which didn't look common to Ash.
The information was depicted by the paintings.
In the image, a blue round portal and some strange beasts inside it were shown. Hunters stood in fighting stance to kill them.
The texts started:
1. Every dungeon will be ranked by the association, so don't enter above your level.
2. Persons with non-fighting professions are not advised to enter the dungeon of any rank alone.
3. Hunters are divided into different ranks from E to SSS as mentioned below.
E - lvl 1-10
D - lvl 11-20
C - lvl 21-30
B - lvl 31-40
A - lvl 41-60
Information about S-rank or above was missing, but it was common sense that they were at least level 60.
Notice - you can't enter any dungeon without permission, but if a new dungeon opens you can enter and clear it, though you are advised to wait for the association's ranking of the dungeon.
A young clerk at the counter looked up. She was neat, sharp-eyed, her hands already reaching for a blank crystal.
"New face?" she said. "Are you here to register your profession?"
Ash's lips curved into the faintest smile.
"Yes."
The clerk slid the crystal tablet forward, her tone professional but brisk.
"Name?"
"Ash," he said, giving nothing more.
She asked for the last name, but seeing no reaction, wrote it down with a mana quill that glowed faintly blue, the letters forming themselves on the surface of the crystal.
"Age?"
"Sixteen."
"Origin?"
"…Wanderer."
Her eyes flickered up at that, but she didn't press. Many people came from ruined villages, unclaimed lands, or simply ran away from something.
"Alright. Before we issue you an Association seal, you need to name your profession, but if you want to keep it hidden you won't be able to receive any permission for dungeon entry."
"But of course you can go to guilds that control many dungeons," she said blankly.
It was a common practice by those who were already recruited by the guilds or had sufficient background to need no assistance from the government.
And the number of people that did this was increasing.
"Hunter," Ash nodded.
The clerk looked at him with baffled expression and said "I thought you were mage".
"And why did you think that?" Ash raised an eyebrow with concern.
"Oh I just saw your stats, Your MP was too high for your level." Clerk shrugged casually.
"You can see my screen?" Said Ash his hands in his pocket caressing the gun.
"Not your screen but I can see your stats, why do you think i have this job, and it's not even that rare of skill. Many profession gets choice for a basic inspect skill. But some special profession gives more advanced skills that you can even see their skills. I am not at that level so i can only see your stats for now" the girl explained.
Ash heaved a sigh of relief but didn't let it show on his face.
The clerk gestured toward a row of circular pedestals at the back of the hall. Each held a glowing orb — fist-sized, etched with runes that pulsed like heartbeats. A few other recruits were already lined up, pressing their hands onto them as Association staff recorded results.
"This will record your mana signature and prepare a unique identity so no other person could use your identity," the clerk explained. "Don't resist. Just channel your energy naturally."
Ash walked toward one orb and waited for his turn. Most of the people ahead of him were kids who were brimming with excitement.
'I am also a kid.' He placed his palm against the cool surface, realizing that he was in the body of a 16-year-old.
For a moment, Ash froze.
The orb glowed faintly green. A staff member noted the result. "Mana signature… stable."
Stable. That word carried weight here. Unstable signatures meant madness, or worse. That could be caused by multiple reasons like using too many beast cores to recover MP multiple times.
The staff member gave him a nod. "Next."
Ash stepped away.
The clerk handed him a bronze-colored badge, etched with the falcon insignia. A faint glow pulsed at its center.
"From today, you are an E-rank Hunter. You may take quests from the first two boards. Payment is issued upon verified completion. The Association does not cover your expenses or deaths — read the guidelines before you accept anything."
Ash weighed the badge in his palm. It was heavier than it looked, and faint warmth spread from it, binding to him.
[Item Acquired: E-rank Hunter Badge]
"You can come back once you get your first class at level 10. We will upgrade the ID to D-Rank."
The clerk leaned slightly forward, her eyes concerned.
"Don't get cocky. Many new hunters die on their first quest. But if you survive… you'll rise quickly."
Ash smiled faintly, slipping the badge into his pocket.
"Don't worry. I don't plan on dying."
He turned toward the quest board, where information fluttered. Hunt beasts. Escort caravans. Track bandits. Some paid in Bronze, others in Silver.
One of them was in gold. And it was 2 Gold coins.
[Kill the bandits in the Mist Valley in the east]
Ash's eyes sparkled with surprise. 'Is this the valley where we killed the bandits on the way?'
Ash turned back towards the beautiful and cute-looking clerk who had an aloof expression on her face.
When she noticed Ash before her desk she asked, "Anything else?"
She was surprised by Ash's sudden change of trajectory.
Ash was in a good mood so he blurted out, "Can I get your number?"
The girl looked at Ash with no reaction, staring at him for further explanation.
"What number?" she asked, knowing that he had no intention of explaining anything.
"Ahh… nothing, I just wanted to know if that 2 Gold coins reward is claimed or not."
"Of course not, we would have removed it from the quest board," said the girl with confusion in her eyes.
"Ohhh… okay." Ash left the building. He had already spent so much time in the line that it was night.
So he wanted a good sleep for today. He didn't claim the reward or he would have to say that he killed those bandits, and considering the level difference, it was like a 10-year-old kid winning a hundred-meter race with Usain Bolt.
Which of course no one would believe, and he would make a fool out of himself.
He reloaded his gun in the night, filling it with 15 ammo. Then he checked the armory store where one special item had caught his attention.
Mana Converter: extracts mana from beast cores to reload the gun.
Cost: 10,000 Coins.
Confirm.
A ball-shaped attachment came into his hand.
Its use was very convenient. Ash didn't plan to spend his coins but after knowing about the dungeon he knew 15 ammo wouldn't be enough, and consuming beast cores to refill MP could cause damage.
He was on a 3-times-a-day limit; if he used it a 4th time to recover his MP to full, then it started hurting his head.
Arlan told him how with level up this limit increased, but despite that he wanted something that could directly fill the mana into the gun from beast cores.