After I go on the main road I am supposed to go to the village centre and look for the Guild’s building. After walking for a few minutes I arrived at my destination. The village centre was a space about one hundred meter in diameter, it feels like I am standing in the middle of a circle.
The Guild’s building stood out like a sore thumb, mainly because it was the only stone building I’ve seen in the town. Besides being made of stone the building was the biggest I’ve seen in this village, I think that the whole village could go in there and if that wasn’t enough, above the iron door was a sign saying [Han’s Guild].
The building has two floors. On the ground floor the adventurer’s building was divided in two: a tavern and the guild’s counter. The tavern was on the left side of the building and the office was on the right. From what I can see there are some tables and chairs on the second floor, bigger that the tavern has. These might be for adventurer parties to meet and discuss or something like that.
The first thing I noticed after I went is wasn’t the size of the building or the amount of people inside, what I noticed first was the smell of blood. The highest grade of armor I’ve seen here was made of steel and it was worn by a man bandaging his left arm, the rest were mostly leather or iron. Most of the men here were a Threat Level 1 and strangely enough those were the ones with the worst wounds.
In the corner of the building I saw a man sitting on a chair holding a destroyed helmet in his hands crying. Near the exit a woman dressed as a mage was looking at the ring on her hand trying to hold back her tears. I know that my expectations were based on games and novels but that’s a little too much…the look on some people’s eyes makes skeletons seem full of life, those people like they stopped living and now they just exist.
Two workers could be seen at the counter, a young woman with short, black hair, wearing formal clothes and an older woman with long, brown hair casually dressed and both of them were busy. The young woman was talking to a muscular man, a warrior most likely, who was holding a paper in his hands; the older woman was talking with a mage…Guess there’s nothing I can do but wait.
From the looks of it the tavern only sells drinks. The bartender was an old man with white hair and long beard, muscular and dressed in black clothes. I can see some bottles of wine, ale and something that looks like beer. Since there aren’t many sober people in that particular area I will go kill some time, maybe drink something.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”
Just when I was about to get a drink I hear one of the adventurers at the counter yelling at the poor short-haired lady. Judging by the paper on the counter I think that he tried taking a quest he shouldn’t be allowed to take.
“I COMPLETED IT!”
“Sir, I understand but the quest expired yesterday.” said the scared receptionist.
“I’VE FOUGHT AND KILLED A DEMONIC BEAR FOR THIS, I DESERVE THE REWARD!”
When an animal takes in a large amount of magic it becomes a demonic animal or demon animal, both of them are used. Astrid told me that the animals that live in dangerous areas where people kill other living beings often get transformed into demonic beings as a side effect of their inability to control magic.
Humans hunt animals by exhausting their prey and then killing them. This tactic works against most wild animals but it’s ineffective against demonic ones. The man said that he killed a demonic bear. A bear that has undergone mutation is at least five times more powerful than a normal one and will most likely just keep getting hit until the humans get tired and then kill them.
The man’s iron armor is pretty roughened up. Several pieces of it are missing and the metal has been bent most likely due to the force of the bear’s blows and he himself looked as bad as his armor. Aside from the obvious signs of fatigue he also had a few visible wounds on his head and hands. I pity the poor woman, she is trying her best to keep herself from passing out.
“Sir, I understand but—”
“GIVE ME THE FUCKING REWARD!”
That guy just grabbed the woman by the throat.
“…sir…please...”
“WHERE’S MY MONEY, BITCH?”
The people in his vicinity backed away, they were too scared to stop him. The only one who had a bit of courage was the other receptionist who tried to reason with him.
“Please calm down, we will figure something out.”
“THEN YOU BETTER DO IT BEFORE SHE DIES!”
I knew that it was a bad idea to try to reason with that guy but this is ridiculous; the poor woman’s face is losing color.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
If that guy is stupid enough to think that killing the woman is going to prove anything then he is wrong and I will be the one to show him that.
I went and grabbed the arm with which he held the woman. He was a Threat Level 1 so I’m not in any real danger, he is!
“YOU…KID, LET GO OF ME OR YOUR PRETTY FACE WILL GET A LOT UGLIER.”
“Oh really?”
“HMPH…LET GO!”
He tries to free his arm but no matter how much he struggles there is no way for him to break free.
I tightened my grip on his hand until he let the woman go. There were visible marks on the woman’s neck as a result of what just happened. Even after all that she was still conscious and knew what was going on, this might not have been her first time after all. Hmph, I guess it’s time to end this before he goes in a blind rage.
“WHY ARE YOU SMILING BITCH?”
With his right arm pinned he resorted to punching me with his left. The punch hit the left side of my face without dealing significant damage. I could have dodged it but I refrained from doing it, just to show my superiority.
He had his chance and failed; now it’s my turn. I pulled him towards me and kicked his ankle which made him lose his balance. The moment he lost his balance I grabbed his arm with body hands and threw him on the ground.
In my past life seeing someone suffer made me feel a little better but I have to admit that the sound of his bones cracking made me feel very good; I really took pleasure in that.
“…B…bastard…that hurt...ah.” said the man.
Well, it’s good that there were no chairs or tables here otherwise I might have broken one or two.
Now I just need to register as an adventurer and wait for this guy to kill me for humiliating him. I meant, he got beaten by somebody who looks weaker than him, that’s got to hurt.
“Are you all right?” I asked the young woman.
She is really commendable, after being chocked she regained her composure and is trying to mask her fear by acting like nothing happened.
“Yes. Thank you for stopping him and sorry for the trouble I’ve caused. The receptionist bows.
“It’s not your fault, this man lost his calm and I just stepped in because I didn’t want the situation to escalate any more than it did.”
I spoke calmly to reassure the woman that I have no intent to blame her for anything and show her that I’m not going to attack her.
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“Returning to the matter at hand, do you have any business with us?” asked the woman.
“I would like to register as an adventurer.”
“Very well, please wait while I bring the documents.”
I don’t know why but she sounded happy or more like excited to help me, strangely excited.
“You must be very confident in your abilities if you ignore me.”
So the defeated one rises again. I was pretty sure that the impact fucked him up and that he would stay down, it seems that I was wrong. Well then, time for round 2.
“I’m pressed you got up. So what now, want to go again?”
“Not today. I’m too tired and injured to beat you.” said the man before leaving.
“Excuse me for taking so long.” apologized the young receptionist.
“There is no need to apologize, I did not wait long.”
“That’s a relief. First a fee of ten gold coins is required.”
“Here you go.” I took out a coin pouch from the Null and gave it to her.
“Now please fill these two papers please.”
I liked that she didn’t ask about the dark magic I just used and just ignored it. Now what do we have here…terms and conditions. On the first paper some conditions were written. There were the usual things such as [The Guild is not responsible for the death of the adventurers] and routine stuff like that and there were strange ones like [When an adventurer is declared missing a search party is assembled and sent to bring back the body]. So basically The Guild chooses some adventurers to look for a body and they have no right to refuse.
So, The Guild is not responsible for any adventurer that dies while he is doing a quest but if he dies or goes missing The Guild will send somebody to look after him, I hope that I won’t have to do something like this.
The first paper only needed a signature. On the second paper it was necessary to write my name, race and age and optional to write the education, languages known and home address. People might believe that I went to Eule Academy but I don’t think that they will believe that I’m twelve years old and I’m fluent in both demonic and elven language.
“I’m done.” After I finished filling in the papers I gave them to the woman.
“A lion, it’s a nice. Well Alexander, your licence will be ready tomorrow morning, I will explain more about it when you receive it. Before I forget, I am Iona, pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
Well, a late introduction is better than nothing. In order to save my magic I stopped wasting it on finding out people’s names, if it weren’t for that I could have surprised her a little, saying her name, like I did with the elder.
“So I have to come back in the morning, got it. Just one more question, can you tell me where the inn is?”
“Of course, when you exit go right then follow the road, the inn is a few minutes’ walk from here. The visitors seem to like the inn very much.” Iona answered.
“Got it; thank you very much.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I said good bye and headed for the exit.
There were quite a few people in the building and I noticed that some of them were staring at me, some were trying to avoid my gaze and some were too scared to come near me. What I did to that guy had such an impact that a bunch of guys who saw me walking towards the exit dispersed when I got near them. I didn’t let it show on my face but on the inside I was smiling.
Now that I’m outside I’m supposed to go right and then…oh, doesn’t matter, I found the way. There was only one road I could follow and I only saw some houses on the way.
After five minutes of walking I found the inn, [Paradise Inn], located on the left side of the road, close to the wall. I don’t know about that paradise part but for a building two floors tall it looked quite sturdy from the outside. Aside from the inn I could hear some animal noises coming from behind the inn, it looks like there is a farm behind the inn; at least the food is fresh.
There were people coming and going so the inn is open so I decided to go inside. The inn’s layout was pretty generic: in front of me was the reception, behind it was a room. On the far left side of the hallway the stairs were placed and on the right side some tables were placed, I guess that’s where the meals are served.
“Oh, welcome.”
While I was looking around I was approached by a woman a little taller than me, she has blond hair, green eyes and looks extremely sexy even though she wears plain clothes. She looked young yet she had quite a mature air. So she works here…I guess that whoever named the inn had this woman in mind, most men would be entranced by her smile alone.
“Hello, I would like to rent a room, are there any rooms available?.”
“It seems that you are in luck, we have a few left, please come to the counter.”
I followed the woman to the counter where she pulled out a notebook.
“The room is equipped with a bed, a table, two chairs, a closet and a bathroom. The price is ten gold coins per night, is that all right?”
“Okay, then I would like to rent a room for two nights.”
“Then will you please tell me your name?”
“My name is Alexander Lowe.”
I told her my name and handed over the money. The woman smiled and wrote my name in the notebook…and once again the fact that I made something appear out of thin air is ignored.
“Alexander, I see. My name is Rose, please to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
We closed the deal with a handshake. The moment we shook hands my vision blurred for a second before returning to normal.
“Is there something wrong?” Rose asked me.
“Ah yes, I guess I’m just tired.”
I’m sure that there is another explanation for this, one I don’t know yet, I better get settled and rest a little.
“You look pale; allow me to take you to your room.”
I followed Rose to the second floor. My room was the second on the right. Rose opened the door and entered the room followed by me. The room was about 1 meter long and 2 meters wide. The furniture was made using light brown pine wood. The table was placed in the opposite end of the room, the bed was placed against the wall on the left side and on the right side I saw the closet and a door, most probably leading to the bathroom.
“Here is the key, please rest for a while.” Rose handed me the key and left the room.
There is nothing left to do for today and if my blurred vision had something to do with the magic in me it might become a problem later so resting might be a good idea. And with that I locked the door and went to sleep.