By the time they passed through the city gates, the sky was dark like raw azure Lapis. As far as Lan could see, the streets were lit with hanging warm orange lamps that fought to hold back the cold night.

Surprisingly, many of the city’s shops were still open.

‘When there is a guild job like today, you’ll find that most places stay open,’ Locke explained as they passed a bakery, and Lan was hit with the smell of fresh bread. ‘Some people use this as more than just a way to get rid of unsold stock.’ He shrugged, smiling at Lan.

Lan looked back at the bakery, realising he had no idea what it was to be hungry before that moment or that bread could smell so heavenly.

With a promise to himself to come back, Lan followed the others down the street to the guild. His body practically moving on its own as it had been for the last few hours since the adrenaline that had driven his body had faded.

The guild hall was an Automaton of efficiency. Mari was joined by three others, checking the tags of the four lines of adventurers in front of the grand desk. With four other receptionists counting the rewards as they were called back. The system worked as not even ten minutes later, Lan stood before Mari.

‘Oh, welcome back, Lan,’ Mari said, giving him a smile which hadn’t changed from the first time he had met her, only now it was joined by two dark circles under her eyes, ‘and I see that you are with Locke and the others. I hope they weren’t too hard on you. They can really be a handful, you know,’ She finished to the protestations of the accused.

‘Oh no, they have been great. I don’t think I would be here without them.’

‘Oh really,’ she looked over Lan’s shoulder, ‘You will have to tell me the story sometime. Please place your tag on the keystone.

As Lan did, she looked up at him, surprised.

‘Wow, you really did well for your first time,’ Mari grinned.

‘Oh no,’ Lan said a little too loudly. There was no way he could let others think that he had done more than just be a distraction, even if he was also credited for the kills. The very idea made his stomach tight.

‘Hey!’ Sora shouted, jabbing Lan in the back with a finger, ‘hurry up already. You can get all flirty after I get paid.'

‘Right, Sorry,’ Lan said before turning back to Mari.

‘Thank you for your hard work,’ the receptionist said, placing a small bag in front of Lan, which he picked up without even hearing the amount.

As Lan rushed out of the way, a foot shot out from the line next to theirs, tripping him. Lan tried to stop himself while juggling his spear and the bag of coins before Drevin caught him by the collar, which didn’t prevent the laughter from those in other lines.

‘Easy, better if you watch your step,’ the man, who stood at least two heads taller than him, said and lifted Lan onto his feet.

‘Thanks… again,’ Lan said before looking for who had tripped him.

From the looks of it, it was the tall, shady man with dangerous eyes set in a gaunt face topped with hair the colour of sewage water. Although the rest of his armour looked poorly kept, the man wore a breastplate made of or at least covered in blood-red glass, which looked like it had just been polished to a mirror shine.

The rest of his team didn’t have anything that nice but joined him as the last group of people you wished to see in a dark back street.

One was larger than Drevin with green skin and a bald head, with two small tusks peeking out from his bottom lip. A half-orc.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It was hard to tell what combat classes they were, but it was clear that most must have come from a military background. It was odd to think that the same background as Vasha, Sora and Locke had created the group that would give bandits reason to pause.

‘And you should watch where you are putting your foot,’ Locke said to the man in the red breastplate, ‘it would be bad if you accidentally trip someone who could take offence to it.’

‘I’ll do whatever the hell I like!’ the man shot back, ‘you should think about what you are doing. Letting that trash collect on the guild job just for standing there. Parasites like that who are willing to live off the work of others should be treated like what they are.’

Lan only realised he was moving forward when Locke’s hand shot out to stop him and gave him an incredulous look. A look that Lan knew that he had to be wearing, too, because he had no idea what had come over him.

‘What the hell is that look? You want to do something looking like that?’

Olivia took Lan’s arm and pulled him away. No part of him remotely thought that he could do anything but get embarrassed or killed by the dangerous-looking adventurer, but that seemed to fade into the back of his mind as he looked at the man.

Lan didn’t know why. It couldn’t just be what he said. Lan was sure many people felt the same, even Sora had initially. There was just something about the man that Lan didn’t like, which made his words dig into Lan's skin.

‘Scumbag,’ Sora said, ‘he says that while wearing that armour.’

Lan looked at the younger man, who stared at the man with enough anger to do something rash, and he wasn’t the only one; only the others had more cold fury.

‘You can think what you want, but he got what the guild thinks is fair,’ Locke said, his tone cool as the wind. ‘If you have a problem, you can bring it up with the guild master, or if you want more money, you could try doing more than just steal other teams kills.’

The man in the red armour gave Locke a tight smile, ‘or maybe I need to pick a different target?’

‘I would be careful,’ Locke said back, ‘some monsters aren’t as easy to kill, and others are just waiting for an excuse.’ Locke’s tone was a matter of fact, yet did nothing to hide his true feelings. It was clear that there was much more than him tripping Lan, and the animosity seemed to go both ways as the man's smile fell away, and he glared at Locke.

Just when the man’s party looked like they would move with Sora and the others readied to mirror them. A voice called out.

‘Hey!’ take your tiff somewhere else.’ Someone shouted, and the line went back to moving as more voices joined the protest. As they walked passed, the man stared at Lan. In his eyes, a look that promised consequences for his actions.

Stepping outside the guild hall, Lan pulled cool air into his lungs as the ice on the wind chilled his skin. For a while, Lan just stood there. The sounds of distinct carriages mixed with the hawkers trying to draw in the trickling line of adventurers to their stalls filled the air.

‘What a day,’ Lan whispered to himself. At this time, just a week ago, he would be preparing himself to deal with Dell’s onslaught of jabs for another night. Two days ago, he would have been looking for any reason not to return to his family home. Now, Lan didn’t know how he felt. Stupid? The small voice in his head said, thinking he could become an adventurer at level one. Without Locke and the others… he would have been killed. Even the weakest monster could and would kill because, unlike people, they had no choice but to kill to survive. But try as it might, the voice was fading even as he thought about it.

If not that, then what was he feeling?

If anything, Lan didn’t like that he could have put people in danger because of his actions; he couldn’t do that again. Whatever came next, he needed to be better prepared. Lan touched the chest of his caved-in breastplate. Undoubtedly, he wouldn’t be standing there without it. He owed Cawl and Cali more than the price of the armour and a thank you, that was for sure, and he would do everything he could to repay it.

A small laugh escaped Lan’s mouth as his thoughts registered. Whatever came next? It wasn’t like he didn’t already know. It wasn’t like any other life would mean near as much. Even with how little he had done, the weight of his and, more importantly, the other adventurers’ actions were not lost on him. Hundreds if not thousands of Razerwolves. What would have happened if they weren’t there?

Lan imagined those wolves descending upon Aarondale and gritted his teeth. Lan knew exactly what he had to do next, and all of it was done on the path of the adventurer.

[Congratulations, you have gained a new title: Adventurer - In the eyes of the world, you are now one who seeks to explore the unknown and protect those that can not defend themselves.]

The world's voice spoke, and Lan was sure he would pass out. A title… He had gained a class title. How long had he waited for this moment? Now that it was here, Lan felt like the world was spinning, and before Lan could freak out, he felt a hard blow to the back. Somehow managing to stay on his feet, Lan turned and was greeted by a grinning Sora with the others behind him.

‘What the hell are you doing just standing there? We did the hard part. Now for the fun one.’