Origin Seeker

Chapter 36: I.D. Plates

As the 4 walked down the streets, they had quite a few eyes fall on them.

Dream sighed in his mind. He thought maybe they should all just get regular clothes from this world since the ones from Earth were too exotic. That combined with the girls' stunning looks were just too attention-grabbing. 

Dream had chosen to wear casual clothes. Board shorts with a t-shirt. He also had on his running shoes that he always wore, even on Earth.

He had also done up his hair. His medium-length, wavy brown hair was swept to one side. Though it was grown out since he hadn't cut it since coming to this world, but it didn't look bad.

If it were just Dream walking down the street, he might catch a few eyes over his out of place hairstyle and different clothes, but nothing crazy.

But it was clear that this world might not be ready for modern fashion, especially on the girls.

Iris had developed a more reserved style. She likes to wear some kind of pants with sweaters. When they were in the forest, she would always be lounging around in sweats and a hoodie. Being in public though, she stopped wearing sweats and wore long sleeves instead of hoodies. Which is what she wore right now.

Luna on the other hand was a bit more open. She liked to wear shorts with t-shirts. She also put her hair into a ponytail a lot, using the hair ties that Dream gave her after he saw her trying to knot her hair without them. 

In public though, Luna wore pants. Shorts were just too enticing for the men here. She still stuck to t-shirts though. 

But regardless of what Dream gave them, none of it was from this world. Modern clothing is too eye-catching. Dream went up to Riddick and spoke his thoughts.

"We should think about getting clothes for the girls here." 

"Hmm...I think you're right. We can stop by a shop sometime later." (Riddick)

"Ok. And just so we know what to do, what's the process for creating a plate? Last time we didn't put hardly anything." (Dream)

"This time you will be putting more. The place we are going to is a guild run by the alliance of the four empires. And yes, there is an alliance. You will basically put everything except for your skills. You also have the option of leaving out your titles, which I will have the girls do. You might want to as well. But you will put your full name, level, class, and attributes. These will then be verified by a magic device that every guild has. Once it's all verified, it'll be imprinted onto a plate." (Riddick)

"Very cool. Do they ask for your skills?" (Dream)

"They do. But depending on who you are, you may or may not put them. It's actually more common for people to here. Since there are many craftsmen, they like to put their skills and prove their ability to gain reputation. But many fighters don't." (Riddick)

Dream nodded at that logic. It was the equivalent of displaying your masters or doctorate back on Earth. It proved your level of ability, and acted as an advertisement. 

It took a while by walking, but eventually they made it to the guild building. And they were given quite the surprise.

The building was actually almost 10 stories tall. It covered lots of ground as well, almost like an office building in the big cities of Earth. It was made of stone similar to bricks and had a wood trim. There were also windows placed in various places at different levels. 

Overall, it seemed to be a high-class place. It made sense since it represented the alliance between the 4 empires.

Riddick led them in and walked over to a counter with a man behind it. Similar to when they were in the previous kingdom.

"Hello! How can I assist you today?" 

"Hi. I believe there was a message about my arrival." (Riddick)

"Oh! You're the Grand Mage. We were indeed notified. We have things prepared for new title plates. If you would just follow me."

The host wasted no time and brought the four over to the stairs. They ascended to the second floor and entered a room with tables and chairs.

They were led to a table with papers, pens, metal plates, and a device in the middle. The host took a seat, as did the others.

"The ones who need plates will need to fill out these documents. When everything is filled out, we will scan you with the device and verify that everything is correct. Once that's done, you will receive plates based on your class with your information on it. The document will let you know what information is required and what is optional as well. And there is no need to worry about your privacy, as everything is confidential." (Host)

"Thank you. Three documents will be enough. It's just for them." (Riddick)

"Of course. Can they read and write?" 

"They can."

"Wonderful. Then I will take my leave and find the device operator while you guys fill those out."

"Sure."

Riddick nodded to the host who then stood up and left the room. Dream and the girls also took a document and began reading it.

"Name, species...species? Why...? Oh, wait..." (Dream)

-this isn't Earth. Dream finished his sentence in his head. He forgot that it wasn't just humans who were intelligent anymore. 

The documents were rather simple. They asked for pretty much everything on the status screen. As well as other information like age and affiliation. Dream filled out all the required fields, and not the optional ones like skills.

"Old Man, what's affiliation?" (Dream)

"It's basically who you are tied to. An organization you're a part of. I'm affiliated with The Spire, for example. You guys are just gonna leave that blank."

"Gotcha. Well, I'm done then." (Dream)

"So am I" (Iris)

"Me too." (Luna)

"Alright. Let me see your papers while we wait." (Riddick)

Since everyone was done, Riddick decided to look over the documents just in case. He first went through the girls' papers, and before he could read over Dream's, he was interrupted by the host coming back into the room.

"Sorry for the wait. Allow me to introduce you to Adan. He will be authenticating the information and imprinting the plates for you guys."

"Hello everyone." (Adan)

"Hello." (Riddick)

Adan walked over and found a seat at the table. Since the host had done his job, he left to go back downstairs.

"Before we get started with authentication, did anyone have trouble with the documents?" (Adan)

"No. They are filled out and ready to go." (Riddick)

"Perfect! If I could get those please." (Adan)

Riddick handed him the papers. Adan set them out on the table and then picked up the device.

"We will start with Luna then. Once I enter in the information, we can begin the scan." (Adan)

Adan picked up Luna's document and began operating the device. The device was odd looking. It was a glass dome with 2 bands of metal tying it down to a platform. Dream thought that if it were a full globe instead of a dome, it would be just like a crystal ball or a snow globe.

Adan placed his hand on the dome and looked at the document. The dome began lighting up and letters were formed inside. After a minute or so, one could see the information from Luna's document inside the globe, looking almost like a status screen.

"Alright! Luna the female fox is it? I'm surprised you can already transform at such a young age and low level. And already having a D stat after just entering 1st class, and other stats on the verge! You're quite the genius, aren't you?" (Adan)

"Actually-...Uhh, thank you. I guess I did work hard." (Luna)

Luna stuttered a little bit but still smiled sweetly at the compliment. 

"Of course! Now to start, I need you to draw blood on the prick with your finger for me." (Adan)

"Alright." (Luna)

Luna lifted her hand and placed her index finger onto the prick at the top of the dome. A tiny bit of blood was drawn and sucked into the metal, like a syringe.

"Good. Now place your hand on the surface of the dome and infuse your magic into it. If you can't infuse your magic, I can assist you." (Adan)

"Ok."

Luna placed her hand on the dome and began moving mana into it. The dome lit up and the status screen inside began to glow. 

Each of the bits of information began to glow one by one. A minute later, they were all glowing. And moments after they all lit up, they suddenly dimmed and went dark. Dream watched the whole thing curiously, and figured it was the verification process.

"Perfect! Your information has been verified. Since you are a 1st class, we will imprint the information onto this iron plate." (Adan)

Adan took out an iron plate as he said that. He then inserted it into a slot in the platform, where it was placed under the dome. 

When it was inserted, the information inside the dome began to fly down and place itself onto the surface of the plate. When they all fell into place, the words glowed again and melted into the plate. Adan then grabbed the plate and took it out of the slot.

"Congratulations Luna, here is your identification plate. The information on it will be invisible until you give it a verbal command to show something, or you infuse your mana and control it. It comes in handy at various places, so I suggest you don't lose it." (Adan)

"Thank you. I won't." (Luna)

Luna took the plate from his hands and started inspecting it. She infused her mana and sure enough, her information surfaced. She could also control which information to show and which to hide.

"Alright. We will move on to...Iris. One second please..." (Adan)

Adan began inputting the information from Iris' document. He then had her go through the same procedure as Luna until her plate was prepared.

" You're a genius as well, Iris. Having a D stat and two E+'s! Both you girls will have no trouble ascending to 2nd class, especially with those unique classes! Here's your plate."

"Thanks."

Iris took her plate and fiddled with it just like Luna. Adan then grabbed Dream's document and input the information.

"Dream. 18-year-old human. Ranger class...Ok, go ahead and draw blood." (Adan)

"Alright."

Dream placed his finger on the prick, that was apparently super sharp, and drew blood. He then placed his hand on the globe and infused his magic, just like the girls.

The same thing happened and everything glowed up like normal. The information was them imprinted into the plate.

"E- stats and one E stat. Keep working hard and you shouldn't have too much trouble getting to 2nd class. Here's your plate."

"Thanks."

Adan handed Dream the plate with a much less enthusiastic comment than the girls. Dream just took the plate and fiddled with it, looking like a kid with a new toy. Luna and Iris looked at him with a confused face.

"Alright, the process is done. Will you be paying for them, Sir Grand Mage?" (Adan)

"I will. This should be enough." 

Riddick handed Adan a couple of coins.

"This is perfect! Then I believe we are finished here. I thank you for your business, Grand Mage." (Adan)

"No problem. Thank you for taking care of us."

"Of course. I'll just take these, and you can leave when you like." 

"Sure."

Adan picked up the device and documents and left the room, leaving the family alone.

As soon as the door was shut behind him, Riddick spoke up.

"Explain, Boy." (Riddick)

"Ya, why did he say that your stats were so low? " (Iris)

Riddick and Iris snapped to him with questioning faces.

"Hehe, I just carried out a little experiment. Turns out, my [Mystify] ability also applies to devices." (Dream)

"You and your experiments..." (Luna)

"So you gave them false information? *sigh* Although I applaud you for somehow getting away with it, you best be careful about getting caught. Although you aren't powerful enough for it to matter now, if you try that as you get more powerful, the consequences will be that much harsher. If you were a high enough level, you may very well get labeled as a threat by the Empires if they found out." (Riddick)

"Don't worry Old Man. If even that device, specifically designed to read someone's status, got tricked by me, then I think I'll be safe from any regular person. Besides, I can always just get it updated at 2nd class. Like I said, it was an experiment."

Dream smiled with an innocent face. He indeed put false information into the document, and luckily Riddick was smart enough to just go with it. 

Dream had Sophia mask his mana using the Mystify skill and input false information into the dome, so that when it was being verified, it looked like it was all authentic. He put his attributes at the low E level and changed his class to a basic one, Ranger. That's why Adan wasn't so impressed with him, especially after seeing the geniuses Luna and Iris.

Honestly, he didn't know if it would work, but there was no harm in trying. He could play it off as being a mischevious teenager who thought he could hide stuff from them if he failed. But it all went perfectly.

"Alright, Boy. Just know that you can't trick everyone. Trying that with the wrong people can get you into trouble." (Riddick)

"Sure, sure. Anyway, what do we do now?" (Dream)

"Well, first we need to find a place to stay." (Riddick)

"A hotel?" (Iris)

"No. I know a place where we can get a living space, since we'll be here for a while. I don't plan on living somewhere shabby." (Riddick)

"Nice! Are the houses nice here?" (Iris)

"They are. It's a bit of a walk though, and it's getting late. So we should get going." (Riddick)

Riddick got up after he said that. Dream and the girls followed him out of the room and they all left the guild building.

Dream looked at the sky when they left and saw that the sun really was setting. He hadn't really noticed the time flying by.

Riddick led them down even more streets than before. It was also basically rush hour as people began preparing for dinner, so they couldn't move as fast with the crowds.

It took them until the sun was over the horizon for Riddick to finally stop in front of a building. The area they were in was also less crowded. Dream figured it was more of a suburb, as evidenced by the apartment-style buildings around them.

"Since I haven't been here in a long time. I'm not sure if the same person is still here. Though I also highly doubt he would ever leave with how much money he makes." (Riddick)

"Who?" (Dream)

"A friend of mine." (Riddick)

"Wow, the Old Man has friends! I learn more and more every day." (Dream)

"Shut your trap, Boy! I know plenty of people, you think I live under a rock? Let's just get ourselves a good house." (Riddick)

Riddick scoffed and walked into the building in front of them. When they opened the door, they were met with a room that looked like a motel lobby.

Riddick walked up to the counter with nobody behind it and rang the bell on the conter.

*Ding ding*

"Coming!"

A woman's voice was heard from a room closeby. Soon after, a lady came walking out.

"Hello! How can I help yo-"

The lady who walked out froze after she came face to face with the group. Dream saw her stare at Riddick as her eyes widened.