Chapter 9

That was altogether unexpected. Who would have known that my little confession would bring so much out of Sora or should I call her Princess. This was going to make things complicated I was sure of that. I had already known she was a noble and I had even thought that she was of a higher status then she had admitted but I never would have guessed this. I said. “Well that was unexpected.” Sora looked at me and said. “Please don’t treat me any different from the way you were before. I want us to treat it as if we are of the same social status. We will both become adventurers and then we can decide what we want to do. I have no desire to return to become the next Empress.” I looked at her and thought for a moment. It was nothing to me if she wanted to return or not. I wanted to join the adventurer’s guild and go on many adventures. If she wanted to do that and not go home, who was I to stop her. “Alright I’ll treat you the same as long as you don’t hold what I told you against me.” She nodded her accent. I told her I’d take the first watch. She went into the tent and went to sleep. I waited thinking about what had been said. We both had a past and we would have to live with it. I was an orphan and she was a Princess. We would work together and become adventures. After that it was up to her if she wanted to continue traveling with me or if she wanted to go home and be the Princess. The night was calm. I didn’t expect trouble this close to town. The night went by and Sora woke up when it was her turn. I went into the tent and went to sleep. It was a nice sleep and I woke up feeling refreshed. We had a quick breakfast of oatmeal again.

This turned into our daily routine on the way to the Capital. We would stop at noon for lunch and then continue walking. We would then walk until nightfall, set up camp, eat supper, and then we would take turns taking watch. It took us eight days to come within sight of the Capitals walls. The city was humongous. Giant walls surrounded the city. Huge gates stood open with guards checking everyone who was coming into the city. There was a smaller portcullis where the people exiting the city would leave through after only a cursory glance. We made our way towards the gate. The line entering the city was very long. We stood in line for two hours when we finally made it to the front of the line. I knew there was going to be a tax when entering the Capital. I had no idea it was going to be a bronze coin each. Ten times the cost to enter than for a normal town. I wanted to protest, but thought better of it. I paid the cost to enter and we made our way through the gate. The first thing we needed to do was find a place to stay. We would need lodgings for quite a while I would assume. After that we would need to go to the adventurers guild and see about getting signed up. While we were there we would give them the information we had come across and see where it would lead. They would probably send some adventurers to investigate our claims. That was about all we could expect. This was a lot and I didn’t expect them to take everything that I would say to heart. I at least had hope that they could and would do something about it.

Once we were through the gate we asked around about a good place to stay and where we could find the adventurers guild.. A man that looked like a merchant told us to go to a place called The Drunken Donkey. “The name sounds ridiculous but it's one of the best Inns in this part of the city. The only better Inns are in the Noble district, but that's a silver apiece to get in. If you're looking for the adventurers guild it’s just outside the noble district it's actually on the same street as the Inn. You won’t be able to miss it. There is a huge sign out front with Adventurers Guild spelled out on a shield with crossed swords.” I thanked the man for his information. We headed in the direction the man pointed us towards. The size and scope of the city could not be understated. We walked for half an hour before we saw a sign with a donkey drinking a beer. It looked rather comical. We made our way inside. We were greeted by a woman when we walked in. She had dark black hair and a piercing set of gray eyes. Smiling, she said. “Hello, welcome to my Inn. Do you need a room or maybe something to eat?” I replied. “We could each use a room for a week and some food we didn’t have to cook sounds nice.” “We’ve got a room for two available.” Seeing the way we awkwardly looked at each other she explained. “There are two beds per room. I can have some food brought out to you in a few minutes. The cost for two rooms for a week plus meals and baths will cost nine bronze.” That wasn't that expensive considering we were in the Capital. Though the gold I had earned wouldn't last forever so we needed to find a way to make some coin. Once we became adventures we could start taking on some easy contracts to make some coin. Life was much less expensive on the road. Though the city life could be indulged for a few days. We did have important tasks we needed to accomplish. I paid the woman and we went and found a seat so that we could have some lunch. A maid brought out a platter of food for us. We had roasted chicken and potatoes covered in gravy with a side of fresh bread. We ate heartily. It was nice to eat something cooked by someone besides us. We finished our meal and carried our bags up to our room. I was furnished with two twin beds, a desk, and a chair. It was fine for our purposes. We didn’t plan on being at the Inn for too long. We had important things to get to.

We headed back out onto the street and headed for the adventurers guild. It was time to make it official. We spotted the sign we were supposed to be on the lookout for. We walked inside. The variety of people we saw when we walked in was an assault to the eyes. I had seen all of the different races and species on our way to the Inn, but to have such a mixed pot in one place was shocking. Usually the different groups stuck to themselves. That had been my experience while walking through the city. Even in my own city of Lancia the groups usually stayed apart. Of course there were exceptions to every rule, but I had never seen this kind of mixed bag of the population. There was a beast-kin drinking with a dwarf, an elf , and a human. Sure these groups would interact to some extent but this to my knowledge was very unusual. Maybe it was my sheltered upbringing but this really was a shock. A receptionist with glasses and a clipboard made her way through the room towards us. She asked us. “I've never seen you two in here before. Are you guys looking to become registered adventurers?” I answered her. “Yes, we would both like to join the Guild.” She asked us to follow her to one of the conference rooms so that we could talk without all of the loudness of the bar area. She sat us down and asked us to wait here a minute. She had to grab some paperwork for new members.

In a few minutes she was back. She sat across from us on a couch with a table between us. “Before we start I have to let you know that there is a small fee to join. It’s five bronze coins apiece or one silver for the both of you.” I passed her the silver coin and she wrote down that we had paid. She then asked us both for general information. Where we are from, our names, and information about our combat abilities. I told her my name was Alex and that I was from Port Lancia. I also told her I was a novice with a sword but did have some experience fighting lesser monsters like goblins and kobolds. Her eyebrows raised when I said that and she asked where and when that occurred. I filled her in on what we had done on our journey to her. I left out the part about the Demon King, but she said she would send out a party of adventurers to search the areas we had talked about and deal with any monsters in the area. Sora told her of her basic information. We also asked if there were any trainers in the guild that could help us with our combat skills. “Yes, we have a few trainers. Though they only work with new adventurers that have completed at least three contracts. They don’t want to waste their time training a newbie that's just going to get themselves killed. I’ll put you in touch with them when the time comes. First you need to prove yourself. While you've said you've fought goblins I have no way to verify that. I’m not saying it's a lie but we must verify all information that comes in. That's why the adventurers guild is so trusted throughout the different kingdoms. After filling out all of the papers and giving her all of our general information she brought out a clear orb from her bag. She explained. “This orb detects evil magic and will also tell us if you are wanted for any crimes throughout the kingdom.” I looked at the orb with some level of speculation. I knew that I had to be wanted at this point. I had committed a murder and there was no escaping the truth of that. I was just about to speak when the necklace around my neck let out a slight burning feeling and then I heard the voice of Kalastrovax. “Let the woman perform this test. I will be able to block out the power of the orb.” Sora looked at me hesitantly but I gave her a firm nod. The receptionist said. “Place your hand on the orb. It's a simple detection spell that has been placed on the orb. Everyone that comes to join the adventurers guild has to take this test. If it glows red then you have been hiding something, but if it glows blue you have told the truth and have no evil magic or crimes that you are wanted for.” I placed my hand on the orb and for a second and felt my necklace heat up again. For a moment it looked like it turned red, almost like a trick of the light. Then it turned to a deep sea blue, almost a black color. “That's odd. I've never seen a blue that deep, but it's blue so you should be fine. You are hereby inducted into the ranks of the adventurers guild. Now Sora let me have your hand.” Sora placed her hand on the orb and it turned to a sky blue. The woman nodded like this was what was more expected. She said “ With that everything is in order. I will bring out your adventurers placard.” She was gone for about ten minutes.

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She came back with two pewter rectangles. She explained. “The ranks of the adventurers guild are as follows. Pewter, iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and finally diamond. There are few adventurers that reach the absolute peak of the adventures guild. Most high ranking adventurers are always out on contracts. Slaying monster in the far off lands. For you guys it will be simple contracts. Killing giant rats in the sewers or the odd goblin contract. When we feel like you have earned a rank up we will let you know.” That didn’t sound very exciting to us, but it would give us experience with life working in the adventurers guild. “Alright you guys go out and meet the other adventurers. Tomorrow you can come back and I’ll show you the contracts we have available for pewter ranks.” With that we left the conference room. When we walked out the receptionist followed behind us and said. “Hey, everyone. Meet the newest members of the adventurers guild Akex and Sora.” Cheers erupted. People swarmed around us. Patting us on the back and ordering drinks for us. Sora looked a little uncomfortable with all of the celebration, but she looked as if she just decided that she would go with it. We met with other adventurers of all different levels, even some who were in pewter who talked about maybe teaming up with us if we needed help on a contract. We told them we would have to think about it for now. We would remain a party of two for the time being. We drank until it got late and made our way back to the Inn. We had made a couple of connections and maybe we would take some of those teams up on their help if we ran into something we didn’t think we could handle on our own. We made It back up to our room and got into our beds. It had been a long day. We had accomplished what we had set out for. We were now real adventurers. This would be the start of our journey. One chapter of our journey was at an end and a new one was about to begin. Together we could hopefully rise through the ranks and make a name for ourselves. After we got a better hold on what was expected of us tomorrow we would decide what we needed to do. I hoped that tomorrow we could get a simple contract and get a taste for what the adventuring life is all about. Before I could fall asleep Sora asked. “So, how did you manage to not be detected by the orb?” I was a little startled by the question. I had told her everything up to now and I didn’t feel like I should hold back too much on this. I said. “I found something when we came across the merchant caravan in the forest after we first met. I don't trust you enough at the time to reveal it to you but since you asked I’ll tell you what I know about it. There is a dragon named Kalastrovax trapped in this necklace. He claims to be the first dragon in existence and was the right hand of the first Demon King. He has offered me great power in exchange for helping him escape. He is the reason I was able to not be directed by the orb. He has come to me at night in my dreams with promises of power, but I don't know If I can trust him.” The look of shock on her face could not be more apparent. “Of course you can’t trust him. That however doesn’t mean you couldn’t benefit somewhat from his power while you search for a way to help him out of his prison. I think it’s a bad idea to do anything recklessly so we need to research what we can and can't do in this situation. We can check if the adventurers guild has a library with any information that may help us out with this. We do need to be careful though this kind of power should not be taken lightly and we should investigate all of our options for now we need to sleep and we can look into it again tomorrow.” I was surprised with how ready she was to help me. She was a little too eager to help me get more powerful. Well that wasn't my concern for now. I needed to get some sleep. With the thought of what was to come I drifted off to sleep.

I was once again in the darkness that was now familiar to me. The voice of Kalastrovax drifted out of the dark to me. “You see Alex. Even the girl agrees that I’m here to help.” I could almost hear a smile in his voice. That was a little concerning. I knew that he was probably at least a little evil considering he had been the right hand for the Demon king. I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn't interested in the power that was being offered but I didn't want it to lead me down an evil path. “Well Kalastrovax I am a little concerned with setting you free. I don’t want to release unbridled evil out into the world.” I said. Kalastrovax replied “The one promise I can make you if you do release me is that while we look for a way to release me I will slowly give you power and help you on your path. Also I want the Demon King dead even if it is not the one from my time I still want to see him vanquished.” I thought about what he had said. I knew I couldn’t trust everything the dragon said, but that final detail I knew had to be true. He wanted his revenge and he would take it any way he could get it. He had to know that it would take a long time for me to build up the power and resources to finally release him. “Alright Kalastrovax, I will help you. You help me get power and lead me towards the things we need to let you out. While also promising to help me take out the Demon king once you are freed.” He said. “I can agree to that. I will help you amass the power you will need to one day free me. I am also aware that this will be a long and arduous journey. Talk it over with the girl if you want this doesn’t have to be ironclad. There is a little room for negotiation. The point is I want to be free and you want my power and as long as you help me I will continue to help you. Let this be the start of a fruitful partnership.”