Chapter 4: The Guild
In the morning, Risa went to the marketplace. First, she sold off the remaining kobloid weapons and armor she had in her backpack, getting another 80 copper for her trouble. The blacksmith, Dresden, would melt them down to make low-tier human sized weapons. Risa didn’t need a weapon, having gotten an old sword from Morgin, but considered that she should probably get some better light armor soon. Sadly, the primary source of leather in this town were the Blind Boars, which meant leather armor was actually harder to come by then chainmail or plate. Her current set was gotten by Morgin from who-knows-where.
She then went to the Hunter’s Guild, a place she hadn’t been for some time. The Guild was a loose organization for people who delved dungeons for profit. For a small payment, which Morgin covered, and a brief test of strength, which she cleared easily, she was given an identification card. The card had a light orange circle around it, declaring her a Copper Grade hunter. Hunter Cards didn’t do much at that rank, save for telling the guards she wasn’t a totally random villager throwing her life away to the monsters.
In theory, higher grade cards could serve as a bank card for special hunter-aligned merchants as well as inform the guild if she died to monsters, so they could inform any next of kin. Copper cards didn’t have those kinds of functions, as there was no way to make that cost-effective. Copper and Bronze Grade hunters were somewhat ignored by the Guild, it was only when you got to Steel or Silver that they figured you knew what you were doing. Gold and Platinum members got lots of special perks but were also required to clear out new dungeons from time to time to keep their rank.
Above Platinum… Risa couldn’t find any word about higher ranks of the Guild, but that didn’t mean much in this small town. There were a few Platinum Grades out there that she had heard of, ones that were celebrities in their own right, but nobody thought they had a chance against the Guildmaster, Harvy ‘the Hurricane’. Supposedly the man had been offered a position as an Archmage but had either turned it down or failed. Still, a common topic of discussion was whether he could take down some of the Archmages considered to be relatively weaker in a fight.
To become a Bronze Grade, one had to be level 10, as well as have 3 combat skills at your disposal. So, Risa was getting closer, but was not quite there. Advancement wasn’t what she was here for, though. She was here for the Guild’s other function, to serve as a meeting place for hunters in the area.
“Looking for archers to go to the Vast Savannah!” “Harvesters, harvesters for the Ape’s Paradise? Low level is no problem!” “Shield warriors for the Blind Forest, got a Potion of Clear Vision for you!” Risa knew that last one was probably the same potion Aaron was making last night. Not mentioning it was only a lesser potion was a bit scummy of them, but it wasn’t her job to call out such things.
None of these offers were what she wanted. She had in the past considered going to the Vast Savannah, as its most basic lion monsters were comparable to the Proving Ground’s best kobloids. But it felt a little ‘off’ to her to abandon her first dungeon without at least attempting the boss. She wasn’t too fond of drawing attention to herself though, so she just waited at a table, eating a small amount of food she had ordered, until she heard what she was looking for.
“Boss run, we got the boss run to the – what was it – Proving Ground! Looking for a third partner, earnings will be split evenly!” Heads had turned at the sound of ‘boss run’, only to turn back and mumble when it was revealed it was only for the weakest dungeon in the village. Boss monsters only spawned every so often, though the time it took varied between dungeons. Typically, but not always, the harder the boss was compared to the base monster, the longer it took to reappear. So, one of the main functions the Guild served was to coordinate who got to kill them. Typically, there was a waitlist involved and reservations to be made, and Risa had completely forgotten about all of that.
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Perhaps Morgin knew? Is that why he told her to get a party? It wouldn’t have been too much of a waste, the Kobloid Chief spawned every day or so, but it would have felt a bit of a let-down. Or even worse, she could have completely forgotten, and killed the boss anyway. That was grounds for having your Guild card taken away permanently. They took such things seriously, even more so than if a member killed a civilian. After all, the latter hurt their image, but the former hurt their revenue stream.
Risa looked over at the team that had gotten the boss run. As they said, there were two of them. The first was a tall, blonde-haired archer that looked a little older than Risa herself, with a bow, leather armor, and a set of daggers strapped to her leg. Risa would probably have the same set, had she received an archery skill and fallen into a bit more money. The other one was… unexpected.
He was rather young for a hunter, maybe 16, and instead of armor had a sort of robe on. The notable thing about him was his equipment. He had a staff made of a strange gray wood, twisting around a bizarre rainbow-colored crystal. Risa vaguely recognized the crystal’s angular shape from a book, it was called “bismuth”. Risa had heard of warriors who fought with un-bladed staves, but this one looked far too fragile for that. That meant one thing: this kid was from an Academy.
Certain dungeons could produce items that were so steeped in mana that they persisted even when removed from the premises. They were usually guarded by boss monsters, showing that even the dungeons knew they were valuable somehow. There was no way that kid got that crystal by himself, so it must have been given to him by an instructor at whatever Academy he came from. It presumably had some magical effect, though Risa had no idea what that would be. For that matter, she also had no idea what the kid was doing here.
Many young warriors came to the Proving Ground, but not mages. It wasn’t terribly odd for Academy trainees to go off to neighboring dungeons, but Jarthak’s Rest was rarely their choice of destination. They sometimes got clerics looking to learn how to banish the Darkness element in the Blind Forest, but that was about it. The kid didn’t dress like a cleric. Still, he was the one who announced the boss run, so he was the one Risa had to go to.
“To confirm, you have the boss run for the Kobloid Chief?”, said Risa. The kid turned to his blonde companion. “Is that what the boss is called?” The archer nodded. He turned back to Risa. “Yes, that’s what we’re fighting today.” Risa was internally put off. Preparation for a boss fight was key, and this kid didn’t even know the name of the thing? Externally, she smiled. “And you wanted a third member of the party?” He nodded. “Yeah, they tell us to fight in groups of three or more, to get used to teamwork and such. My b– uh, our usual third member, went off to that jungle dungeon to, uh, gather some kind of bark, I think. He’s higher level than we are.”
Risa nodded. She knew plants in Ape’s Paradise were apparently quite valuable, so the tree bark may very well be good for crafting something. Sadly, the apes themselves were level 20 and above, meaning as she stood now, she wouldn’t have a chance. “So, you wanted something to do, and that decided that ‘something’ would be a boss fight?” He smiled. “Yeah, that’s exactly it. The boss is level…” The archer piped up “Eight.” “Yeah, level 8, so it should be simple. What we really need is for someone to harvest the teeth, and Sammi here doesn’t want to do it. I hear they’re good for potions. There IS a potion maker in this village, yes?”
“Er, yes, I can show you where he lives once we finish at the dungeon.” Risa wasn’t sure how to handle this guy. He was almost certainly still a Copper Grade hunter, but he acted like he could solo a level 8 boss he knew nothing about. He was so blasé about it that she almost believed him. “So, if she’s Sammi, what’s your name? I’m Risa.” “Ah, right, introductions, of course, of course. I am Martin Layborne, Apprentice Earth Mage at the Academy of Fortification. Don’t let the name fool you, we can deal damage as well as take it.”
Risa had been quickly filling up with questions about Academy life when a particular part of that sentence caught up to her. Martin Layborne. The only people who used their family name were those who had a ‘respectable’ family. In practice, that meant nobility. This kid wasn’t just a mage, he was a NOBLE mage. The difference between the two was simple.
If she went into a dungeon with him, and came out without? Regardless of how it happened, her life would be forfeited to this ‘Layborne’ family.