The guild clerk at the desk was the same one who did the assessment for Leo and laughed at him for it, her expression was surprised to see him again and she gazed at Lura up and down with a small hint of suspicion and indifference. Lura's rags were gone and now replaced with functional but slightly beaten leather garments that while looking cheap were still way better then what she came in wearing.
"oh another assessment?" The clerk asked with a flat tone. "She's with you?"
"She is, does that matter?" Leo said with a slightly puffed out chest for arrogance. "She's going to be my new party member and I want to see what she's got, she is gonna blow your mind"
Leo's over confident declaration caused some nearby adventurers to sneer towards his direction as they remembered this kid coming in who was just an E-Rank with no skills and Madea fool of himself the first day he appeared. Now he is back with a Demi-Human slave and acting like a big shot again. "This will be entertaining" they said to each other.
The clerk rolled her eyes at Leo's words, "Fine, follow me". She led them back to the same room with the giant orb, "You know the drill, place your hand on the crystal orb and it will tell us your level and skills"
Lura looked at Leo with her cat ears flickering around nervously. He gave her a reassuring nod and a wide pervy grin in accordance. "Go on and show'em what you're made of, don't hold back"
His words of encouragement actually helped calm her down and she took in a deep breath then walked up to the cryhstal to gently place her small hand on its surface. At first nothing happened and the adventurers who followed them to watch started to laugh at them as they expected another failure same to Leo's and the clerk was already bored this moment having to help them.
Then out of nowhere it happened...
The orb didn't just let out a flicker of light but it exploded with a ray that was almost blinded everyone in the room, it was a deep purple color and even people in the lobby could see its rays flooding the hall way. Everyone there was covering their eyes and then a crackle of raw energy surged around and into the floor. Once the air settled the adventurers were left with their jaws dropped and silent at what they had just seen, even the guild clerk stumbled back a bit and looked shocked at this moment.
Leo just stood over to the side with a smirk on his face because he knew she was special and no one here believed him till now.
The left over light in the room settled into the orb with glowing runes that swirled around fast and right before making out what they said into visible text the clerk leaned forward from her spot near the panel and her voice was trembling as she read the screen out loud.
"Rank A, Class: Shadow Cat Assassin. Skills:..." she hesitated for a second and squinted her eyes at what she couldn't believe to be reading "Skills: [Silent Step],[Claw Arts],[Enhanced Agility],[Night Vision], and a unique skill! [Nine Lives]? what in the world is nine lives?"
The room fell silent as they gazed upon a new A rank who was straight out of the gate, this was unheard of and most adventurers to get first assessed had to start at E or D then work years to even get a possibility of reaching A-rank. Plus on top of all that she even had a unique skill, this made all the adventurers gathered who were laughing at them left staring at Lura with amazement and a new found fear towards her but most importantly this made them upset with Leo for having her.
Leo let out a loud cocky laugh at all of them, "See! I told you all my Lura is a top tier adventurer, and you were laughing at me. Now who's laughing with this diamond of a girl i scooped up out the alley way"
He strutted over to Lura and draped his arm over her shoulder then pulled her close in, she was still stuck staring at the glowing orb and she was completely stunned by what just happened. She never thought she was more then just a slave, but now she's an A rank.
[System Notification]
[Party Member Status Confirmed: Lura]
[Rank - A]
[Class - Shadow Cat Assassin]
[Skills - Silent Step, Claw Arts, Enhanced Agility, Night Vision, Nine Lives]
Leo's system prompt confirmed her assessment and this left him in a prideful state as he looked back as he somehow failed his way into getting an incredible slave. The guild clerk after recovering from the shock quickly went back to her flat attitude but with a more respectful tone. "My apologies for skepticism, an A rank is a great honor for our guild to have and I will now process her registration. There will be no fee for adventurers of A rank or higher"
The guild clerk quickly returned with the paperwork and handed Lura a shiny silver plated calling card that made Leo's wooden one look plain and dull. She held it in her hand like a new found treasure and her cat ears perked with excitement.
"Now" the clerk said and looked upon Leo, "Do you wish to form a party with this?" she had a cold attitude while saying this towards Leo
"Hey now she's my slave!" Leo said to the clerk noticing her undertone.
Lura quickly spoke up, "Yes i will form a party with my master, thank you" she didn't care for how the clerk said it to him as she was just happy to be in a party with him now and actually be of some use. She was no longer just a slave she was an adventurer a real one.
The clerk snickered and marched them both out of the room and to the registration board. The other adventurers parted for them with their eyes following on Lura.
"Were gonna be the best party in this this whole Kingdom!" Leo said with the same arrogance that always followed him.
They stood before the board where a different clerk was taking in party formations. "Party name?" the man asked without even looking up at them.
Leo hesitated for a moment and with an immense look in his eyes, "Let's see, im the failure of a hero and she's the hidden A rank sooo" then he grinned, "Were gonna call ourselves 'The Last laugh'"
The clerk started to write it down and just like that they had become an official party under the guild, this left Leo feeling a new sense of excitement. He was a failure in college but now an adventurer and he had a partner. "Alright Lura, first things first" Leo said as he turned his gaze to the quest board. " We need some money so lets find our first quest together as a party!"
He looked at the board up and down and noticed it had quests from E rank delivery jobs to high stakes S rank monster hunts. As he was reading some of the quests he remember his [Appraisal] skill and tested it out as he gazed upon one of the E rank quests.
Quest: Eradicate the slime infestation in the whispering woods. Reward: 2 Silver Coins.
he activated his skill and a new set of information became visible to him in the quests description.
[Appraisal Result]
True Difficulty: D-Rank.
Hidden Information: A rare Moonpetal flower is known to bloom near the slime nesting ground. This flower is highly valued by alchemists and can be sold for a high price. Increased presence of a 'King Slime' in the area. Low chance of failure for a prepared party.
Leo was amazed at what he could see and knew this was the perfect quest, while everyone else saw only the basic information of a low paying adventure. He could get ached with such a simple one. " Lura, come here and look at this one" he pointed to the slime quest he was reading. "Its simple but i got a great feeling and I think we should take it"
As she looked a the quest and then back at him she couldn't understand why he was so excited, it was just a simple slime killing job, but she trusted his judgement as he was the one who had saved her and given her this new purpose. Looking at his gaze which she found slightly lewd seemed to have a strange confidence to it and she nodded with her cat ears perking up, "Okay master, if you think its the right one then we can take it"
"Great!" he said, tearing the quest off the board and walked over to the counter with a almost swagger in his step. For the first time since he arrived here he was not hitting one disaster after another, he knew he was a failure but now he had a plan.