After half a day trek through the woods, I finally arrive at a well traveled road.  I head left of the road to head toward the city following the suggestion of Tymora.  After traveling for a few hours, I begin to look for a place to camp preferably with easy access to some water.  As the sun begins to set and it gets darker, I notice a wagon in the distance.  As I get closer, I notice that it is parked alongside the road and it looks like two people are setting up camp for the night.  

As I get closer to the wagon, I call out the travelers "Good evening, travelers.  How goes the road?"

The larger of the two travelers call back "Greetings.  The road has been good, but what brings you to traveling by yourself so late with no supplies?"

I quickly make up a story and reply back "I was heading to the city to become an adventurer.  I decided it would be good practice to  explore the woods nearby.  After looking around for most of the day. I set up camp for the night.  I went to look around for some game and water to restock and ended up getting lost.  After spending all day lost in the woods, I ended up finding the road and now I am heading to the city to restock and finish my journey."

? "Another kid trying to become an adventurer, do you at least know how to use that sword at your side?"

Mystra "I might not be the best, but I can handle myself well enough."

? "Well the name is Redrick and this is my son, Richard.  If you are willing to help with some chores and the not.  We have some food and water that we can share on the way to Caldwell."

Mystra "Well I have no choice, so I will take you up on your offer."

Redrick "Well you can start by helping Richard gather firewood and if your a decent cook, we would all appreciate it if you cooked."

Mystra "I can help with the firewood, but I have never cooked besides for just putting meat on the fire til it was done."

Redrick " Well guess I will be in charge of food again"

With that I follow Richard into the forest to gather the firewood.

 Richard "Have you killed any monsters?"

Mystra "I have killed a few of them in my travels."

Richard "Was it hard?  Father says that it takes a lot of skill to kill one and that most people train for years and still fail."

Mystra "It is not that hard, but if you are not careful, you could mess up and get killed."

The entire trip to gather firewood was a slew of questions about monsters, adventuring, and sword fighting, giving the strong impression that he wants to be an adventurer and the father is strongly against it.  After half an hour we return to the campsite.  Redrick starts a fire and cooks the food.  We eat the food around the fire and Richard spends most of the meal talking about the adventures him and his friends had back home.  The father seems a little displeased but doesn't say anything.  After a while, he tells his son to go to sleep and that he would have the second watch.  He then turns to me.

Redrick "No offense but until I can trust you or we get closer to the city.  We will stand the watches" and withe that he walks off.

I take that as my cue to sleep and I curl up near the fire and go to sleep.  The next day I wake up early enough that Redrick is stilling sleeping.  I wave to Richard who is standing watch by the wagon and head off a little way and begin practicing my sword forms.  After a while of practicing, I finally notice that Redrick is up and packing up camp.  I sheathe  my sword and head back to camp and help him finish stowing the camp.

Redrick "You look pretty good with that sword, but it looks like it is too heavy for you."

Mystra "It was something that I was able to pick up before heading out on my journey, still getting use to it."

Redrick "I would recommend getting something lighter before you got adventuring and what style was that?  I have seen quiet a few swordsman, but that was the first time I have seen those forms."

That's weird.  The Sword of the Black Claw was pretty famous and most of the elite adventurers and guards practiced it.  Even people that didn't practice it, always recognized me as the blademaster when I practiced my forms.

Mystra "It's from the school of the Sword of the Black Claw."

Redrick "Never heard of it, must not be from around here."

In my time, every human city had a few practitioners of the school as trainers for the rest of the guards.  While not masters, they were still considered good enough to pass on most of the beginning forms.  I will have to look into it more when I get to the city.  With that, the rest of the packing was done in silence and we were shortly beginning our journey.  

We spent the day riding in the wagon and for lunch we ate some dried meat that they had.  As the day went on the woods begin to thin and finally ended and farmland began.  After a couple of hours of traveling through farmland, Redrick pulls the wagon off the road and we begin to set up camp.  After eating dinner, he tells me to take the first watch and to wake him in a couple of hours.  Him and his son go to sleep and I am left with my thoughts.  It is an uneventful watch and I get a lot of time to think over my plans for when I arrive in the city.  After a couple of hours, I wake up Redrick and go to sleep myself.

I wake up early again in the morning.  It definitely seems like this new body requires less food and rest than my old one, maybe a bonus from being a god, even if a fallen god.  I repeat my routine from the previous morning and it seems like I am able to perform more of the forms than in the ruins.  With this much I should be able to defend myself in a decent fight as long as it is not for too long.  Just as I am finishing up the fourth form, I notice Redrick waking and conclude my training for the morning.  We pack up the camp and begin traveling again.  It is not long before we begin to see the walls of the city ahead.  We soon arrive at a short line at the gate.  After noticing the line is only for wagons, I give my regards to Redrick and Richard and depart.  

As I arrive at the gate, I am stopped by one of the guards.

Guard "Are you an adventurer or applying to become an adventurer?"

Mystera "I am applying to become an adventurer."

Guard "You are at the wrong gate.  The south  gate is for commerce only.  Adventurers or potential adventurers need to enter from the east gate.  Just follow the wall and you should be there soon."

I thank the guard and follow the wall until I seem the gate and a medium size tent outside of it.  I head towards the gate and tell them I am here to become an adventurer.  They tell me that I need to apply first at the tent.  I head to the tent where I see two old men half asleep at a table.

I clear my throat, waking them up.  "I am here to apply to become an adventurer."

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The more scrawny of the two "Do you have a letter of recommendation or do you need to take a test?"

Mystera "I don't have a letter of recommendation and I didn't know there was a test to become an adventurer."

Same old man sighs "The guildmaster got tired of all the failed request by adventurer's that were weak.  So he started a testing process to become and adventurer to minimize this.  So would you like to take the magic or weapons test?"

Mystera "What do I need to do for the weapons test?"

Other old man "Fight a short duel with me, so that I can access you skills.  If you impress me, then I give you my recommendation and the guards will let you in and then you can go to the guild and join.  So, do you want to take the test?"

Mystera " Well, I have no choice, so let's do this."

He brings out two practice swords and tosses one to me.  He escort me to a small clearing that looks like a makeshift dueling ring.  

Old man "The name is Robert.  What style do you use?"

Mystera "The Sword of the Black Claw."

Old man "That's an old style, haven't seen it since I was a young adventurer."

Mystera "I was told it was a famous school.  What happened to it?"

Robert "Well, there was no blademaster to teach it and eventually it just died off.  I am surprised you had anyone to teach you.  Let's begin!"

With that, he quickly closes the distance between us and makes the first strike.  I can tell he is holding back to test me, but at the same time deflecting it still causes my arms to shake.  He continues the attack for a few strikes and then backs off as if giving me a chance to attack and prove myself.  I take him up on the offer and start a combo of the first three forms.  Though I am not able to put much strength behind my attacks, he soon takes on a look of concentration as he focuses on parrying my attack.  Before I can finish the attack, I can see what appears to be mana begin to concentrate around his legs and then he disappears.  I look around in confusion not seeing him and the fact that it was strong enough for it to emit mana when charging.

Robert speaks from about 10 feet behind me "Wow, first applicant to make me actually concentrate in a long time."

Mystera "What was that at the end?"

Robert "Oh, that.  That little missy was an instantaneous movement technique I picked up a long time ago." 

I grimace at the 'little missy' but reply "Wow, it was strong enough to emit mana when you charged it."

Robert stares at men in surprise and even the other old man looks surprised.

Other old man "You saw him charging mana when he performed his technique"

Mystera "Yeah, it was pretty obvious"

Old man "How much magic do you know and of what circle?"

Mystera "I know the status spells and that is it."

Old man "That's it!  Come over here and read this."

With that he pulls a book out from under the table and opens it to a page at the beginning.

I read the line from the book that he was pointing out and suddenly a blinding light appears before me.

Old man "This much potential and she practices the sword.  Would you be interested in learning some magic after you become an adventurer?  You have a lot of potential and it is useful in situations where a sword is useful."

I think over his offer.  I know I should look into magic, especially now that I am the goddess of magic, but it feels like I would be betraying all the people that taught me the sword and the people I taught if I completely give up the sword.

Mystera "I am interested in learning some magic, but I do not want to give up the sword."

Old man "Well, some sword masters use magic to boost themselves before battle and while some people have styled themselves arcane warriors.  You are the first that I have seen with the actual potential to master magic and Robert's reaction shows that you have a lot of potential with the sword.  So if you are interested, come find me here after you sign up at the guild."

With that I return the practice sword and Robert gives a small placard with just the words 'Approved-Robert'.  I head to the gate and show the guards, who then direct me to a large building just inside the gate.  I enter the building where I am greeted by a receptionist at the door.

Receptionist "How may I help you?"

I show her the placard and reply "I am here to become an adventurer."

Receptionist "Head down the hall to the right and enter the door at the end that says adventurer administration."

I thank her and follow her directions and find myself outside the door saying 'Adventurer Administration'.   I enter the door and  see a young man sitting behind a desk , filling out what appears to be forms.

Young man "What can I help  you with today?"

Mystera "I was told to come here to become an adventurer."

Young man "Ok.  Do you have the placard?"

I hand him the placard and looks it over and places it in a drawer in his desk.  He stands up and tells me to follow him.  He then leads me to a familiar machine in the back of the office.  He instructs me to prick my finger on a needle on the device.  After I prick my finger, I notice the glow of mana from it and then it stops as a  small placard slides into the tray on the front.  The young man picks up the placard and hands it to me. 

Young man "This is your adventurer license.  Do not lose it.  If you lose it, you have to start from scratch and lose access to any storage in the guild coffers.  It allows you to accept and turn in request at any adventurer's guild.  It will display your current adventurer rank, which is currently 'F' and if you depress any corner it will display you name, level, class, and any groups you are affiliated with.  To accept request, go to the Request Room.  To display information on your current class, got to one of the machines in the library.  For forming groups or receiving mail, go to the machines in the adventurer bar next door.  Any questions?"

I reply in the negative and exit the office.  I decide that this would be a good opportunity to go to the library and get a private room with access to a machine to research my class.  So I head back to the receptionist and get directions to the library.  I follow her directions and head toward the library.  There I request access to a private room with a machine.  After checking my license, she directs me to a small room and tells me F-ranked adventurers can only use this room and only for 30 minutes per visit and then leaves me alone.

A/N:Sorry to leave it here, but late and I am tired and due to work haven't had a chance to post a chapter.  With next chapter should start to answer some questions.