Heavenly Zenith

Etienne, Fenmore, and Storm stayed behind in the lobby while Seran began doing paperwork in one of the back offices. It was pretty simple, just forms about agreeing to the restrictions of being an adventurer, along with beginning the process for the Adventurer Card, which could only be finished with a drop of blood and a job awakening.

"Now, the job awakening process is done alone, as is the job change process in the future. The guild is only given access to your chosen job, with criminals being the only exception to that. If you have a criminal record of any sort, the job change pedestal will chain you down and keep you in place until you are arrested." June elaborated further on how the process worked, which was pretty simple: touch the pedestal, it reads your stats and gives you the jobs you can choose from. After Seran confirmed that he understood, the guild master led him to a small closet-sized room just big enough to fit a very built man, with an orb-topped pedestal against the far wall. "Go on inside."

After closing the door behind him, Seran touched the pedestal and received a pop-up from the system stating that the pedestal was analyzed and added to 'creatable artifacts'. "Sweet, I can make one at any time now..." Then, another pop-up came up, this time from the orb.

--

Available Jobs: [Fighter], [Rogue], [Mage], [Beast Tamer]

--

"Hmm... well, based on my fighting style, I should go for Rogue, since I focus mostly on my speed... Alright, let's do that." He selected [Rogue] and confirmed his choice. Another pop-up appeared right afterward, though. One that even June hadn't expected to show up during a first awakening.

--

Job Advancement Available!

Available Jobs: [Fighter], [Mage], [Beast Tamer], [Thief], [Archer]

--

"Wait, already? That doesn't make any sense... Hmm... maybe I should choose Fighter this time..." Even after choosing this time, the advancement notification popped up again... and again... and again... for a total of 13 times. After going through all of these jobs, Seran had reached his final pop-up.

--

Job Advancement Available!

Available Jobs: [Spellsword], [Swordsman], [Scout], [Ranger], [Beast Trainer], [Spellblade], [Shadowblade], [Magic Archer]

--

"Please let this be the last one... It's been a full 30 minutes... Let's just go with Spellblade, since it seems to cover bladed weapons rather than just a sword like the Spellsword." No more pop-ups appeared after he selected [Spellblade], which made Seran sigh in relief, "About damn time..."

[That was more than anyone could have expected for a first awakening... You've gone through more jobs in 30 minutes than most people have had in their entire lives... You'd best head back out. I'm completely sure that they're getting worried...] William was just as exhausted mentally as Seran was. The major difference was that he had to do ability and skill sorting, so he was getting a bigger headache compared to the boy.

When Seran came back out, there was a small crowd of guild staff waiting outside, June included because she was here in the beginning. The guild master quickly said, "You were in there a long time. Did something happen?"

The boy shrugged a little, "Just took a lot of internal debate, really... Can we finish the process for the card, please? I'm getting a headache." Seeing that Seran didn't say what his choice was, which was part of their 'Adventurers Rules and Rights,' June led him back into her office. The crowd attempted to follow, but the guild master glared them away.

After they sat back down in her office, with the door closed, June took out a strange-looking object that looked like a card-holder with a spike on top. Taking a blank Adventurer Card and fitting into the holding slot, June said, "Now all that the card needs is your blood. Go right ahead, after it gets your blood, it heals the cut." Doing as asked, the boy drew a drop of blood using the spike and let it drip down onto the card. After turning completely blood-red, the liquid drained off the card and into the bottom of the artifact. June then removed the card, which was completely dry, and examined it as she began to add the information to the register. When she read the [Job] section, she froze with a look of shock.

"What? What's wrong?" Seran was very confused, as June had said earlier that it would be a simple final step.

"You're a Spellblade..? It's only your first awakening, but you've already gotten a specialized fourth-grade job... What were the jobs that you chose before? Job progression is added to the register as well, so do tell me so I can update it correctly." As befitting a guild master, she recovered her calm demeanor rapidly.

"Well, in order, I chose [Rogue], [Fighter], [Mage], [Beast Tamer], [Thief], [Assassin], [Master Thief], [Sword Fighter], [Archer], [Dark Mage], [Lightning Mage], [Water Mage], and finally [Spellblade]." When he finished, the look of total shock had reappeared on June's face.

"Out of the 4 'base' jobs, the only one you didn't get was Priest. You got 3 second-grade Mage jobs, 1 second-grade along with 2 third-grade Rogue jobs, a second-grade Fighter job, one rare first-grade Beast Tamer job, and a specialized fourth-grade job... You chose jobs 13 times on your first awakening?" She sat back in her chair, overwhelmed, "This is insane... once I put this data in, which I have to, you'll immediately be a well-known name for the guild staff. You've broken the previous first awakening jobs record by a long shot..."

"Wait, getting several jobs in your first awakening has happened before?"

"Of course. It's uncommon, but getting two in the first awakening has happened at least once to each guild branch office. Three only happens once or twice a decade. Four has only happened 5 times total, each of which was decades apart. Five was the record you just broke, which happened in our continent's biggest city about a year ago. Thirteen, on the other hand, will be impossible to top... Give me a few minutes while I add this information." June wrote down the job progressions on his paperwork, stopping quite often in amazement. When she was finally done, she handed Seran's card to him, "Alright, there you go. You're officially an Adventurer. If you want to learn crafting professions, it doesn't work the same as these kinds of jobs. You can theoretically learn all of them at once. Those jobs require you to visit the Merchant Guild to get them officially documented, as you can still learn them without an awakening." With a smile, June calmly said, "Alright, now I'll have to let headquarters know, so I can't show you out. Come back any time, Seran."

After thanking her, Seran pocketed his card and walked out of the guild offices. Several staff members looked into June's office to see her completely slumped in her chair like she'd seen the impossible.

Fenmore was giving Storm lots of scratched while Etienne was starting to doze off when Seran came back out. The odd-eyed boy smiled, "Big brother Seran, you're back!" This roused Etienne, who asked how it went.

Upon receiving Seran's card and giving it a look over, he spotted the Job spot as well. After five minutes of making sure he wasn't seeing things, he handed the card back, "How many?"

"Thirteen."

"I knew it would be a ridiculous number but not that ridiculous... Alright, let's get going. If we leave now, we can make it back just after midday." With that, the group got up and left the Adventurers Guild.

---

June was speaking into a long-range communication crystal in the shape of a mirror. In the mirror was a desk in a very fancy-looking room. Seated at the desk was an old man with long white hair and a matching-length beard. He was listening attentively as June said, "A boy came in today for his first awakening. After spending 30 minutes in the job change room, he came out with the [Spellblade] job. That's not the surprising part... What's surprising is that he broke the 5 job record by a factor of 8. A total of 13 jobs on his first awakening..."

The old man's sparkling grey eyes squinted as he said, "You're certain of this? This is an insane number to come up with."

"I am completely certain of this, sir. 13 jobs total." She listed out what Seran said that he'd chosen, each of which astounded the old man.

"Heavens above, a divine genius... Where is he now?"

"He's heading back home."

The old man stood up after slamming his desk, "What!? You didn't stop him!?" Through the mirror, one could see black flames crackling on his robes.

"You know we don't have that right, sir. On top of that, he's a resident of Greenwood Village."

Upon hearing that last part, the old man's rage quelled as he collapsed in his chair, "So he's that old witch's villager... I can't fault you for that." After a silent moment, the old man continued, "I'll let the other branches know about this, so thank you for bringing it to my attention. Any news about this boy is top priority henceforth."

"Yes sir, I will make sure of that. His name is Seran, no surname. I've already told my staff to remember his name and appearance, so they'd be able to recognize him."

"Good, good..." The old man contemplated thoughts unknown to June.

The female guild master then said, "Ah, that's right. On the way here, he encountered a B-rank bounty target and completely flattened them. He said that he had killed them all, but he didn't once mention the bounty or the reward."

The old man's eyes sparkled again as he hummed in thought, before replying, "How interesting... I can't wait to see how he grows... Contact me if anything else happens, June."

"Will do, Sir Greyson." After both nodded in acknowledgment, the communication was broken, with the female A-rank adventurer leaning back in exhaustion in her seat. As she stared up at the ceiling, she mumbled, "By tomorrow, he'll likely have a new title... I have a feeling he'll be a hero someday."