"Congratulations once again," Allen said, steepling his fingers and looking at each of them in turn. "You have all now officially passed the ranker exam."

Hajin was already slumped on the couch, his arms spread across the back like he’d been sitting there for hours. He watched Allen from the corner of his eye, waiting for the catch, when it came to stuff like this, there was always a catch.

Elise sat up straighter, her back rigid and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She looked like she was trying very hard not to smile too widely. "Thank you, Guildmaster."

Sable nodded once, her expression calm but her fingers tapping restlessly against her knee. She kept glancing at Hajin from the corner of her eye, then looking away quickly when she caught herself.

Juna just sat there with her tail draped over the arm of the couch, looking completely at ease. She had one ear tilted toward the door and the other tracking Allen’s movements.

Hajin leaned back and crossed his legs, his hands resting loosely on his stomach. "So, what’s next? We receive our ranker badges and go?"

Allen let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Eager to leave already? Most people who pass want to celebrate for days."

"If only things were that easy," he said, adjusting his position on the couch. "But I’ve got a lot on my plate right now."

Allen nodded slowly, like he understood exactly what that meant.

He leaned forward and placed a stack of thick parchment on the table in front of them, sliding a pen toward the center.

"Before you receive your badges, you have to sign these," he said, gesturing toward the documents with a flick of his wrist. "It’s the official registration that recognizes you as Rankers of this guild."

Hajin looked at the papers, noticing they were just standard forms asking for his name, age, and previous experience.

’Hmm, not what I was expecting, these are just a bunch of information papers,’ he thought, leaning forward and picking up the pen.

He started filling out the lines not really caring about how neat it looked as long as it was legible.

Elise took the pen after him, her hand steady while she signed her name in perfect, elegant loops. She looked at the paper with pride, her eyes shining with the realization that she was finally achieving her dream.

Sable was next, her signature blocky and simple, pressing the pen hard enough to leave deep grooves in the parchment.

She didn’t say anything, but the way she gripped the pen showed just how much this moment meant to her.

Juna signed last, her tail giving a single, happy flick behind her while she handed the pen back to the Guildmaster.

Allen took the forms and looked through them one by one, his eyes moving over each signature before he nodded.

"That’s it," he said, tapping the bottom of the stack against the desk to straighten it. "With this, you are no longer applicants."

Hajin raised a brow, "So we are Rankers now?"

"Not yet," he said, getting up from his chair while carrying the forms toward a metal box set into the cabinet behind his desk. "Paperwork only proves that you passed the exam. It doesn’t make the registration complete."

Hajin watched him open the box with a small silver key, noticing the faint shimmer of mana over the lock.

’A mana secured box?’ he thought, leaning back a little. ’So these forms actually matter more than they look.’

Allen placed the documents inside carefully, shut the lid, and turned the key until the mana over the lock settled back into place.

"All that is left now is your Ranker badges," he said, turning back to them. "Once those are issued, your names will be entered into the guild records properly."

Elise straightened again, her hands tightening a little on her skirt.

Hajin noticed it immediately and almost smiled, ’she really cares about this stuff,’ he thought. ’For her, this is probably one of the biggest moments of her life.’

Allen walked back to his desk but did not sit down right away. Instead, he rested one hand on the back of his chair while looking at all four of them.

"Before I give them to you," he said, his tone turning a little more serious, "let me ask something simple. With tens of thousands of Rankers across the kingdom, how do you think ranks are measured?"

The room went quiet for a moment.

Hajin glanced at Elise, because she looked like she wanted to answer but also looked afraid of somehow getting it wrong in front of the Guildmaster.

Allen noticed too, his mouth curving faintly. "Elise?"

She flinched a little, then cleared her throat, "ranks are measured by magical output," she said, her voice careful. "That is how a new Ranker receives their starting rank."

Allen nodded for her to continue.

She hesitated for another second before speaking again. "After that, a Ranker can raise their rank by becoming stronger, completing missions, earning achievements, clearing dangerous Gates, and proving that their actual ability matches a higher position."

"Correct," Allen said, finally sitting back down.

Hajin gave a small nod, because that much was common knowledge. Even slum adventurers knew Ranker badges were not just fancy decoration, they were basically proof of identity, authority, and value all at once.

"The part most people don’t understand," Allen said, opening the drawer on the right side of his desk, "is how the guild actually makes that first measurement."

He took out a device made of dark metal and clear crystal, then placed it in the center of the desk with a heavy click.

It looked like a flat circular plate with four small pillars around the edge, each pillar holding a thin crystal needle pointed toward the middle. At the center sat a palm-sized orb, completely transparent except for a faint blue line pulsing inside it.

Hajin leaned forward a little, his eyes narrowing.

’That thing looks expensive,’ he thought, watching the blue line pulse again. ’And annoying.’

"This is a mana comparison device," Allen said, resting his fingers beside it. "It measures your magical output, then compares that output to the recorded mana signatures of current Rankers."

Sable blinked, "Recorded signatures?"

"Every Ranker badge is connected to the mana of its owner," he said. "That connection links back to devices like this one through the guild network, which allows the system to keep track of changes in magical output over time."

Elise’s eyes widened a little, "So when a Ranker gets stronger..."

"Their badge records the change," he said, nodding once. "The guild can confirm the growth later through proper testing, missions, or achievements, but the badge itself is always connected to the Ranker’s mana."

Juna looked at the device with obvious suspicion, her ears lowering slightly.

Hajin stared at the orb in the middle, already not liking the idea of sticking his mana into anything that talked to a guild network. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

’If they measure magical output like that, then mine is going to be annoying,’ he thought, remembering how his power never looked normal to begin with. ’Please don’t tell me the ring thing is going to cause another scene.’

Allen looked between them and placed one hand beside the device, "so," he said, his gaze moving across the room. "Who wants to go first?"