Chapter Thirty-Six: These Towns, They All Know Our Name
Their arrival at the Guild Hall’s main floor was hardly inconspicuous. As soon as the platform came to a stop in the middle of the floor all activity seemed to stop. Every eye was trained on the Guild Head. Once she stepped from the platform, however, people seemed to go about their business, but Marc could tell that everyone kept an eye on them.
Two groups in particular kept a close watch on them. One group was the Guild employees. Marc now recognized the clothing that Meservi wore was in fact a uniform, minus his flamboyant hat and cloak of course.
Another group that kept watch on them closely was a group at the high tables who were dressed similarly to Grenn, though there were some variations. Marc assumed these to be the Hunters, mostly because they looked like… hunters. More rugged, many sported large visible scars and even a few still had bandages covering recent injuries. While the employees watched the Guild Head openly, the Hunters seemed split, some watching the Dwarf and others catching quick peeks at Grenn. Marc even saw a few looking at him, perhaps trying to figure out who he was to be with this particular group.
Ba’eth led the group to one of the high tables. The rough-looking group of hunters who were standing there a moment ago had disappeared. A single figure remained, standing on the other side of the table.
It was a middle-aged man, younger than Grenn and with a slightly less muscular build. More like a boxer than a wrestler. He wore the Guild uniform, but in a grey and brown motif instead of the green and grey that Meservi had.
“Torren.” The Guild Head addressed the man.
“Yes, Guild Head.” The man answered in a disciplined and professional tone.
“This is Marc, a new prospect. I would like you to give him an explanation of the Clearwater Guild contract system and assist him in finding an appropriate task for his first contract.” She ordered.
“Yes Guild Head. It would be my pleasure.”
Marc had to admit this guy had the customer service thing down pat. He could easily be a concierge at a fancy hotel.
《Like you know. You’ve never even been in the lobby of a hotel except the Holiday Inn in Phoenix that one time you went for a school trip.》
Torren did a quick bow and left the table, heading toward a cluster of desks nearby. Within seconds he was back with several binders full of documents.
“I took the liberty of excluding all hunting requests, as well as maintenance and specialist queries.” He turned to address Marc directly.
“It is against Guild policy to assign prospects to any hunting or maintenance requests as they will require exposure outside of the wall. Specialist requests also require full guild membership to ensure the quality of work guaranteed by the guild to the contractor. I hope you understand.”
“Y-yes. Of course.” Marc stammered.
“Could I ask your Mana attribute, Prospect Marc?”
“Umm. Fire Mana.”
“And your rank?”
“Journeyman?” Marc hadn’t meant to make it into a question but he was a little unsure of what was going on.
Torren looked up and raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Journeyman,” Marc said with more emphasis.
“Excellent. And are you looking to join a party? Or would you like to see the solo requests?”
Marc wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t planned to even start taking requests yet. He had barely heard anything about this system before yesterday. He looked over at Grenn and Meservi but was shocked to see them both deliberately looking away. He was on his own.
“Uh… I’m not really sure. Can you explain the difference to me?” Was all he could think to say.
“Certainly,” Torren said without missing a beat.
“Parties are groups formed to complete specific contracted tasks. Some requests will specify party sizes as well as specific makeups of affinities requested, while other requests may leave it up to the party leader to decide how to arrange their group. For party requests all payments and contribution points must be divided equally between all members of the party regardless of affinity or rank. Likewise, all penalties incurred for failure to complete the contract would also be evenly applied to all members.”
“I hope you are taking notes. This guy is a walking membership guide.” He thought to Kira.
《He is professional.》 She agreed.
“While some parties may be looking for additional members for a current contract, party leaders will typically prioritize keeping the party size as small as possible to increase the size of each member’s share of the reward. While rare attributes are usually in high demand, A fire affinity, even at the Journeymen level is not often sought for as there are quite a few experienced members available in Clearwater. As such, it would be difficult for you to join any party requests today unless you already have a party group organized.”
Marc looked at Grenn and Meservi again, but once again got the “leave us out of it.” Vibe as they refused to make eye contact.
“What about the solo contracts?” He asked.
“There are quite a few requests that should be fine for a prospect to take on. Are you familiar with the layout and locations within Clearwater City?” Torren asked.
“Ummm. Not really. I just arrived here yesterday.” Marc admitted.
“I understand. Then perhaps delivery tasks would not be the best choice. Have you been to the fields and livestock sectors yet?”
“Yes! I mean, yes. I have.” Marc was glad that he could finally answer something positively.
“We always have open requests for assistance in the production sectors. These are commonly filled by Guild prospects as the risk of failure is practically nonexistent and the work is quite simple, though they provide relatively low rewards.”
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“Could I hear more about them? I think that may be fine.” Marc asked eagerly.
“The requests from the fields would require that you arrive before sunrise to get a full day’s credit. We do have two harvesting requests that can be taken and completed today.” The man removed two pages from the binder and placed them in front of Marc.
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Request: Harvesting
Location: Production Floor 13-D, Section 23
Requesting Party: Farm Administration, Bryss
Details:
Picking of fruits and berries.
Reward: 50 Rel/Crate + 2 Contribution points.
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Request: Harvesting
Location: Production Floor 7-E, Section 2
Requesting Party: Farm Administration, Linj
Details:
Collecting Eggs from a poultry farm.
Reward: 5 Rel/pallet + 2 Contribution points.
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Marc looked over the two options. Berries or Eggs. Well, not much of a question here, he thought to himself while recalling their short stop on the poultry farm floor.
“I’ll take the fruits.” He said eagerly, pointing to the first paper.
“Understood. I’ll just need your identity token.” Torren explained.
“Ah, we haven’t issued one yet. Marc, can you show Torren here the documents we gave you yesterday?” Meservi quickly interceded.
Marc reached into his bag and as surreptitiously as possible without looking downright suspicious, he pulled out the papers from the previous day and handed them to Torren.
The man took a quick look and nodded, handing them back to Marc.
“Certainly, that is fine.”
As Marc moved to take the papers back another hand deftly snatched them before he could close his fingers.
The Guild Head stood there looking through the papers just as Torren had moments before. She kept one eye on Meservi who was back to staring off into the opposite direction again. Then she handed the papers back to the Guild Employee.
“Torren. Please have a Guild identity token made up for Marc today. Have it ready for him to pick it up after he completes his request.” She gave directions as though this were an everyday request.
The slightly raised eyebrow of the impeccably professional Guild employee hinted that the request was not ordinary, but he took it without missing a beat.
“Of course, Guild Head.” He put the documents from Marc to the side and then placed the paper Marc had chosen onto a stone square embedded into the center of the table. He then placed a blank piece of paper on top of that.
“Please place your hand on top of the contract and infuse it with your Mana to accept the request.”
Similarly to when he had signed the teaching contract with Rynan, Marc placed his hand on top of the papers and willed some of his Fire filtered Mana to spill into the stone below. In a moment the process was complete and Torren took the original document and placed it back in the binder. Then he handed the new copy to Marc.
“Please give this to Administrator Bryss on floor 13. When you have completed the task he will sign it. You will need to bring the signed document back to the Guild Hall for confirmation. You can give it to any attendant at one of these tables. When you return your identity token will be ready. Do you have any questions?”
Marc was impressed by the efficiency of the operation. If jobs were this easy to get back in his old world he could have saved himself a lot of anxiety and humiliation. Something that job hunting on Earth seemed invented for.
“No, thank you,” Marc said as politely as he could muster.
“Excellent. And congratulations on starting your journey with the Guild. I look forward to your future growth and contributions.” With that Torren gathered up the binders and went to return them to the desks.
Ba’eth seemed pleased. Well maybe. It was very difficult to tell with that stone-chiseled face and the heavy beard. Her eyes at least had lost most of the coolness. Then she called over to a young man standing by one of the other tables nearby.
“Enpii. Can you come over here for a second?” She asked. The man practically fell over trying to move to the table quickly.
Marc looked over at the man and realized that something felt off with him. He pulled up the interface and read off the new upgraded status screen.
NAME: ENPII PERKANA-SEE
AGE: 19
BASE LEVEL: 3
RACE: HUMAN
ATTRIBUTE: NONE
RANK: NONE
AFFILIATIONS: THE GUILD
STATUS: HEALTHY
As Marc checked the stats, the man joined them at the table. Unlike the others around the tables, his dress was very simple and plain. Just a simple shirt and trousers, boots, and a thin canvas bag, looped over one shoulder.
What was most striking was that he looked normal. Normal from Marc’s perspective. He wasn’t buff or tall or anything. He wouldn’t give him a second glance walking down the street of any city before coming to this world. They had light brown hair, light but tanned skin, grey eyes, and a rather unremarkable face.
This man was a similar age to Marc, and he had no affinity. No Mana Core?
“Kira?”
《He has no Mana Core. You are right. It seems he did have one once. It looks like it was damaged, perhaps when he was young. He never had an awakening. In nearly every way he is just like an average person from your world.》
“No differences? Is he a Traveler too?”
《Definitely not. He is human, unlike you. It is not possible for a human to travel between dimensions as you did. Remember your old body was left behind. He is a normal human, but there are some small deviations.》
“Deviations?”
《It seems he has suffered somewhat from not having a Mana Core in a world where everyone else relies on them for basic health. He has had numerous conditions associated with poor nutrition, exposure to pathogens, and unhealed injuries that I have not seen in any other people since you arrived here.》
Marc let that sink in. This man was like him, but without any of the benefits granted to him by his body and the interface. If he had been dropped here like that, what would have happened to him?
《You would have been killed fifteen minutes after you arrived by a family of bunnies.》
That was a very disturbing thought.
“Hello? I am Enpii.” The man was looking at Marc questioningly.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I’m Marc. I’m new here.” Marc managed to recover and reached his hand out.
Enpii looked at the hand confused. Marc realized his mistake and took the hand back. Instead, he put his hand on his shoulder and made a shallow bow in greeting.
“I apologize. My Name is Marc. Pleased to meet you.” He said, more formally this time.
With an embarrassed look, the other man repeated the gesture back, first to Marc, then towards The Guild Head, and finally to Meservi and Grenn.
“Enpii, I believe you are heading to the fields today. Correct?”
“Y… yes Guild Head.” The man seemed confused as to why this was a concern for the Head of the entire Guild Hall.
“Excellent. Berries or Chickens today?”
“B… berries?” This whole conversation seemed to be freaking out the poor man.
“What a coincidence. Marc is heading for the same request! He is a new prospect. Would you be so kind as to take him with you? Show him the ropes?”
“Uhhh. Yes, Certainly. Of course.” Enpii replied in a confused daze.
Grenn came over and put his hand on Marc’s shoulder.
“I’ll be waiting here when you get back.” He said reassuringly. “Oh, and take this. You know what these are right?” He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small object which he placed into Marc’s hand.
It was a wallet pouch, similar to the one Marc had seen Grenn use before. Inside were several different metal slips of different denominations.
“What? I can’t… I shouldn’t-“ Marc tried to hand it back to the man.
“It’s just a child’s pocket money. Enough to get some warm food and drink.” Grenn said and pushed the wallet back. Then he walked over to Meservi and his two escorts and the Guild Head started walking back to the elevator platform.
Feeling like a child left at the door of the school on their first day, Marc shook his head.
“Get ahold of yourself. Gotta get used to things here.” He turned to Enpii.
“I’ll be in your care Enpii. Thanks for your guidance. I’ll try not to cause any problems for you.” He said, trying to be diplomatic to the critically confused and overwhelmed man.
“Ye… yes. Of course. I’ll be in your care… I mean, I will take care… I mean… It’s in this direction.” He swiveled and headed out of the Guild Hall. Looking over his shoulder to make sure Marc was following him.
Marc watched Ba’eth, Meservi, and Grenn as they slowly rose on the platform up toward the tower, then turned to follow Enpii.
As they rose on the platform, Meservi turned to Ba’eth.
“Enpii? He just happened to be here at this exact moment? You set this all up, didn’t you?” He said accusingly.
“Adjutant Meservi. Shall we begin the discussion about your disciplinary punishments for multiple breaches of Guild policies and rules?”
Meservi turned to stare straight ahead and gulped as the platform slid through the hole in the ceiling.