Rowena finally dug out two registration form, the corners of the forms already a bit crumpled like they'd been shoved under there for weeks.
She slammed them down on the desk with a loud thwack, the sound echoing in the empty hall.
"There. Form. Two of 'em. One for you, one for yer little shadow there."
She pushed the papers closer with a sharp flick of her finger.
Her lips curled into a smirk.
"Go on then, love. Scribble down yer name an' what not. Don't take all day, it ain't a bleedin' diary."
She leaned back on the chair, arms crossed under her chest, tapping one boot against the floor like she had all the time in the world.
Liu Yang grabbed the form, lifted it up close to his face. His eyes scanned it quick, left to right, trying to see what details he had to fill.
As he held the paper in his hand, his face went blank.
The hall was dead quiet only the tapping of Rowena's boots on the floor could be heard.
He pulled the form close to his nose like maybe if he stared hard enough, the words would fill themselves.
His eyes stopped at the first line.
Race: Human.
It was already written in, bold, thick ink. No way to change it.
His brain screamed inside.
"Human? Really? That's the biggest lie of my life! If this thing had horns check box I'd tick that in a heartbeat."
"But no, it had to say Human. Great. Just great. I'm committing fraud before I even join the damn guild."
He groaned and moved to the next line.
Name:
His hand froze. His lips twitched.
"Name… shit. I can't write Liu Yang. They'll take one look and say, 'That's not a girl's name, love, that's a pig farmer's name.'"
He tapped the pen on his chin, sweating. His mind raced.
"Think. Think, you idiot. Girl name. Something cute. Something soft. Strawberry? No, too stupid. Rose? Too common. Damn it, why didn't I practice this before!"
He almost wrote "Liu Yanyan" before scratching it out hard.
Then came Age:
His eyes narrowed. His shoulders stiff.
"What the hell do I even put here? My demon age? My human age? Do I look eighteen? Do I look twenty? If I put too old, they'll think I'm auntie. Too young, they'll think I'm schoolgirl. Ahhhhhh… why is this harder than fighting demon hunters!"
He slammed his palm on the paper lightly and dragged it down his face.
He glanced quick to his side. She was already done. Form filled neat, her hand writing smooth. She had no problem at all. He blinked fast.
"What the fuck? How? She's done already?!"
He peeked over, trying to steal her answers for Birthplace. His eyes darted, but her form was already pulled to her chest like she knew what he was doing.
He cursed under his breath.
"Great, just great. I don't even know the name of this bloody town. Should I write 'Cave'? Or maybe 'Forest'? Yeah, that'll look real nice. Birthplace: Bushes."
He smacked his forehead, nearly dropping the pen.
"This form is going to kill me before the guild does."
He chewed on the pen, thinking hard. His head hurt like smoke coming out of it.
"Name… name…"
Then it hit him.
He scribbled down: Lianhua.
Cute, soft, sounded girly enough. Nobody would question it.
"Alright, done. At least that won't make me sound like a pig farmer."
Next—Age.
He paused again. His lips twisted. His pen hovered.
"Shit. What do girls even write? Sixteen? No, too young, they'll think I'm skipping school. Thirty? No, too old, they'll call me auntie. Ahhh screw it—24 sounds safe."
He wrote 24.
Next—Birthplace.
His mind went blank. He didn't even know the name of this bloody town, let alone some fantasy world geography. His head turned slowly. His eyes slid to her paper.
There. He saw it. One word at the bottom line.
Serathia.
He copied it straight onto his form like a cheating student in exam.
"Perfect. Now if I die, we die together."
Somehow the rest came out easy.
Level: 7
Class: Mage
He dropped the pen, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"There… done. Somehow filled it. Not perfect, but done. Ha!"
They both slid the papers across the desk. Rowena snatched them up without a glance, like she'd done this a thousand times already.
She bent down again, and this time when she came back up.
She put something on the desk. A ball. Round, shiny. It gave off a dim blue glow, not strong, just there, like a weak flame of candle flame.
When she slide it closer to them, the glow highlights her hand, then spread on the desk like a soft blue shine.
Rowena tapped it with her knuckle. "Right, lovebirds. This'll check if what you wrote isn't complete bollocks. Routine measure, don't fuss."
She leaned forward, arms folded under her chest. Her eyes half-closed, bored. "Both hands on it. Don't just poke it. Full grip. One at a time. It'll show me your level straight off."
She pointed at the demoness first, her finger sharp. "You. Go."
The demoness nodded quick and stepped forward, her hands hovering, then pressing down on the globe. The light shifted, glowing brighter.
She nodded and moved her hand over the device. Then she placed both hands on top of it.
The globe started to glow brighter. The blue light spread over her fingers, then up to her arms, and for a moment it looked like her whole body was shining.
Rowena leaned on the desk, one eyebrow raised. "Right then. Let's see what number it coughs up."
In the device, numbers started to show. First it was blur, then slowly it became clear.
Level 100.
Rowena checked it against her registration paper, what she wrote, and she found it correct.
Then next she pointed towards Liu Yang to place his both palms and touch the device.
He lifted both arms and placed them on the glowing ball.
The light inside changed, flickering blue first, then slowly numbers started to show.
Level 7.
Rowena's eyes slid to the paper he filled, then back to the globe. She gave a small nod.
"Matches, that. Least you can write your bloody numbers right, eh?"