"Material Analysis is rare. Very rare. And the level of detail you’re showing, being able to identify corruption in magical items..." He was already pulling out a guild card.
"That’s very high-level support ability."
He filled in the card with decisive strokes.
Handed it to Tessa.
She looked at it.
Her mouth fell open.
"B-Rank?!"
I stared at Tessa.
What the... this girl. This useless idiot is B-rank?
Scarlet was also staring, her expression complicated, sowhere between disbelief and irritation.
"Your combat ability is nonexistent," Zerys said bluntly.
"But your Material Analysis skill is B-rank minimum, possibly higher with training. That makes you a B-rank support specialist." He grinned at her shocked expression.
"Congratulations. You’re now one of the highest-value support mbers in this entire guild branch."
Tessa looked between the card and Zerys like she wasn’t sure if this was real.
"But I just... look at things and see their insides. That’s not—"
Zerys interrupted. "Accept it. And expect high-rank parties to try recruiting you the mont word gets out about your ability."
He turned back to his desk.
"I’ll register you three as an official party if you want. Makes mission distribution easier."
"Yes," I said, still processing that Tessa had sohow outranked both of us. "Register us as a party."
"Party na?"
I’d been thinking about this since yesterday.
The—
"Wandering Fangs," Scarlet said before I could finish forming the thought.
I blinked at her.
"Huh?"
She shrugged. "What? We’re wanderers. We have fangs..." She gestured with her hands and mouth, showing her little canines.
Zerys wrote it down without comnt, clearly used to party nas that ranged from brilliant to absurd.
"The Wandering Fangs. D-rank warrior, C-rank rogue, B-rank support." He handed us additional paperwork, guild regulations, mission protocols, ergency contacts.
"That’s actually a solid composition. You can take missions up to B-rank now, though I’d recomnd starting lower and building experience before you try anything too ambitious."
He gestured toward the door.
"Mission board’s in the main hall. Welco to the guild."
We walked back into the main hall in stunned silence.
The noise and activity that had seed overwhelming before now just felt like background static as we processed what had just happened.
Tessa was staring at her guild card like it might sprout wings and fly away.
"I’m B-rank," she said slowly, her voice quiet and slightly awed.
"We noticed," I muttered.
Then her expression shifted, shock giving way to realization giving way to absolute glee.
She started giggling.
"I’m B-rank! I’m the highest ranked among us all!" The giggling intensified. "I outrank both of you!"
Scarlet scoffed.
"What’s so great about it anyway? All you can do is just look at plants." Her tone was dismissive, borderline hostile.
"Completely useless in any actual danger."
Tessa’s grin widened as she turned to face Scarlet directly.
"You’re just jealous~"
"JEALOUS?!" Scarlet’s voice rose enough that a few nearby adventurers glanced over.
"Of soone who can’t even throw a punch? Of a farm girl who’d die in the first five minutes of real combat?"
"Jealous that this farm girl is higher ranked than you~" Tessa said it in a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying pushing Scarlet’s buttons.
Scarlet’s eye twitched.
Her hands clenched into fists.
The air around her seed to shimr slightly, barely visible, but I could feel the shift in her mana even through the glamour.
Tessa’s survival instincts apparently finally kicked in because she imdiately ducked behind , grabbing my arm.
"Protect ~" She said it playfully, but I could feel her actually using as a shield.
"No," I said flatly.
"What?!" She peered around my shoulder at Scarlet, who was now openly glaring and making threatening gestures with her fingers. "You’re just going to let her attack ?"
Scarlet grinned, showing teeth.
"Now, now, little girl," she purred, her voice dropping to sothing dangerous as she slowly advanced.
"Even your own man abandoned you. No one to hide behind. No one to save you."
She wiggled her fingers nacingly, her tongue darting out to lick her lips in exaggerated threat.
Tessa made a strangled sound of genuine alarm.
"Really?! You’ll just let her have her way with ?!"
I sighed deeply.
"Both of you. Stop."
Tessa stayed partially behind but stopped with the dramatic appeals for protection.
"We’re in public," I said quietly. "Can we please not cause a scene on our literal first day as registered adventurers?"
Scarlet clicked her tongue in frustration but stepped back.
Tessa erged from behind , though she kept a careful distance from Scarlet.
"Fine," Scarlet muttered. "But she started it."
"Did not!"
"Did too."
"Children," I said to no one in particular. "I’m traveling with fucking children."
Then sighing for second ti, I turned toward the mission boards before they could start arguing again.
The boards were organized by rank, separate sections for each level, color-coded for easy identification.
I headed straight for the D-rank section.
First mission should be sothing manageable. Build experience, figure out how we work as a team, make so money without getting killed.
Start small. Work our way up.
I scanned the available postings.
Most were combat-focused, monster culling, bandit clearing, dungeon escort missions.
But there, near the bottom, was sothing different:
MISSION: Material Survey - Abandoned Mine
RANK: D
DESCRIPTION: Survey the old Silverpoint Mine for remaining valuable materials. Identify and catalog ore deposits, assess structural stability, retrieve samples for analysis.
REWARD: 40 silver
CLIENT: Thornhaven Mining Guild
Perfect.
No combat required, just exploration and cataloging. Exactly the kind of thing Tessa’s Material Analysis would excel at. And forty silver was enough to cover expenses for weeks if we were careful.
I pulled the posting off the board and headed to the reception desk.
The sa woman from before looked up as I approached.
"Found sothing already?"
"Material survey mission."
She took the posting, scanned it, then pulled out the full mission details from a filing cabinet.
"Silverpoint Mine. It’s been abandoned for about five years after the main vein played out. Mining Guild wants to know if there’s anything left worth extracting before they fully decommission it." She looked at our party registration.
Then slid a form across the desk.
I signed it, then casually activated my debug vision while she was filing the paperwork.
target: "mission_reward_value"
current_value: "40_silver"
new_value: "50_silver"
The number on the form shifted.
It won’t hurt them much. They’re a big guild. Rich. They can afford an extra ten silver.
Right?
The receptionist stamped the form without noticing anything wrong.
"Mission accepted. Silverpoint Mine is about four hours northwest of town. Map and access permissions are included in the packet." She handed everything over.
"Report back within five days or the mission auto-fails. Good luck."
"Thanks."
I turned and headed back toward where Tessa and Scarlet were waiting.
Tessa was examining the other mission postings with obvious interest, Scarlet leaning against a wall looking bored.
"We’ve got our first mission," I announced.
Tessa imdiately perked up. "Really? What is it? Are we fighting monsters? Exploring a dungeon? Escorting a rchant caravan?"
"Material survey in an abandoned mine. No combat expected."
"Oh." She looked simultaneously disappointed and relieved. "That’s... practical."
"It pays fifty silver and lets us work together without imdiate life-threatening danger." I held up the mission packet. "Perfect first mission."
Scarlet pushed off the wall. "When do we leave?"
"Now, if we can get supplies packed. The mine is four hours away, we can get there by afternoon, set up camp, start the survey tomorrow morning."
Tessa nodded, her B-rank card still clutched in her hand like a talisman.
Then she grinned at , her earlier playfulness returning.
"So since I’m the highest ranked party mber, does that an you have to do what I say now?"
"No," I said imdiately.
"But rank determines party hierarchy—"
"No," Scarlet echoed, already heading for the door.
"But I’m B-rank! That ans I’m technically the party leader!" Tessa was following us now, her voice taking on a whining quality.
"You should listen to my strategic decisions!"
"Your strategic decisions would probably get us killed," I said.
"That’s not fair! I have excellent judgnt!"
"You followed a strange noble into the wilderness based on a feeling."
"And I was right! Look how well it’s working out!"
Scarlet snorted.
Tessa huffed in frustration.
"Fine! I won’t help then!" She crossed her arms and lifted her chin with exaggerated dignity.
"See how well you do on this mission without your B-rank specialist."
"We’ll manage," I said dryly.
"You’ll fail miserably."
"Probably not."
"You’ll miss sothing important and the Mining Guild will be disappointed and you’ll feel terrible."
"I’ll risk it."
She made an indignant sound and walked faster, overtaking both of us with her arms still crossed.
"Ungrateful! Both of you! I’m the most valuable party mber and you don’t even appreciate !"
Behind her back, Scarlet and I exchanged glances.
I could see her fighting not to smile.
B-rank or not, Tessa is still Tessa.
That’s... actually kind of reassuring.
We headed out into the morning streets, officially registered adventurers now, with our first mission accepted and the promise of actual inco ahead.
Let’s hope it goes well...
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