I finished eating the dried meat as I ventured into the tunnel where all the goblins poured in from. I continued down the tunnel for a few minutes, with the only company being the sound of flickering fire coming off of the torches lighting the way. Eventually after a curve around the corner, it opened up into a large room, just about bigger than the previous one. The area resided with makeshift tents and a couple of campfires on both sides. The campfire on the right had pieces of meat cooking over top that looked to come from a carcass of a now unrecognisable animal that sat near it.

Instead of going to check the tents and sweeping around the area, I was drawn to what was deeper into the room. I instinctively started walking straight forward into the room. As I came closer, I realized what I was walking towards was an enormous hole. I approached the edge and peered down the chasm but all I could see was a black abyss that had no end. Not really understanding why this hole was here, I decided to just focus on my task instead and turned around to start checking the area.

I came to the larger fire that had the meat still cooking over it and started checking the tents to make sure there are no more threats. After I searched through the couple of tents that were pitched up with tattered cloth, all I could find was signs of them living here so I came to the conclusion that the area was safe. Once I quickly swept through the left side of the room and confirmed the same findings, I then decided to start heading back.

When I came back into the first room where I fought the goblins, I came up to one of the beheaded ones who seemed to be their leader. Squatting down once I was above its body, I grabbed the necklace that now was on the ground in between it’s head and body. As I put it away, I walked towards the one that had a hole in it’s chest against the wall and took off it’s necklace as well, this one was not as decorated as the other one but it still had a black jewel. Before I left the dungeon, I made sure there was nothing else of value that I could find before leaving and once I confirmed there was, I made my way towards the exit.

I was greeted by the crisp night air and a cool breeze as the wind was gently flowing by. After taking a deep breath in of the crisp air, I start to make my way back through the forest towards the road.

Daylight started to break from behind me as I was walking along the main road to the town. A few more hours of walking along the road until the town gates were finally in view. When I made it to the town gates, the sun was just about to be directly above. While trying to enter, the guard stopped me and began questioning about the same thing I’ve heard several times now, asking the reason for entering and a warning about bandits being in the area.

I began to make my way to the other side of town to the guild to report back as quickly as possible. While I was walking I started to think to myself that it was weird that I didn’t have any run-ins with the bandits, especially since that guy said we’d meet again. After making my way through the busy streets, I find myself in front of the guild and head right in.

Once inside, I head towards the counter at the right with two girls standing behind it, one more familiar than the other. I walked up to the one on the left, which was Ilise and she greeted me with a smile “Good afternoon Sir. How are your preparations going? Did you come here to recruit others for a party?”.

I shake my head as she talks “No, I just came back from the dungeon and came to finish the evaluation quest.”.

Ilise and the lady to the right were visibly shocked as a gasp escaped Ilise’s lips “O-oh I see! Did you bring back any proof of the subjugation?”.

Not realizing I had to do such a thing but remembered quickly that I took the necklaces of the leader and the other goblin. Once I remembered that, I opened up the string bag containing them and brought the two out and placed it on the counter “These were around the neck of the one that looked like the leader and another one.”.

Ilise grabs the necklace with the essence on it and inspects it “These are indeed necklaces of goblins from the Black Grove tribe.”. While nodding to herself, she places it back down on the counter. “I may be a little surprised but with this I can confirm that you did most likely finish the subjugation quest.”. While I took back the necklaces and put them back into the string bag, Ilise started pulling out several pieces of parchment. “Alright so I am going to ask you a few questions so I can fill out your guild card.” Ilise grabs a quill pen and gets ready to write “First we will start with your name.”.

“Crim.”.

“Okay, do you have a surname?”. I shake my head. While nodding, Ilise continues on “How old are you?”.

I was taken back by the question since I didn’t know the answer “I… don’t know.” I say while shrugging.

Ilise squints her eyes at me while furrowing her brows “If you don’t know… I’ll put you down for twenty five since you look around that age.” as she says so, she writes down a few things. “And last thing, what class would you say you are?”.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Once again, uncertain on how to answer it, I just gave the only answer that made sense to me “A swordsman.”

Ilise writes down what I was saying while continuing on “Okay, this should be everything I need from you, if you don’t mind waiting a few moments while I process this on my side.”. Ilise then starts walking to the door on her side but turns to me once more before disappearing behind it “If you would like, feel free to go on the tavern side of the guild since it’s noon, I’ll come over to you once I’m finished.”

With nothing in particular to do while waiting for her, I took her up on her suggestion and sat down at an empty table near the entrance. Briefly after sitting down, a lady came over to the table “Good afternoon sir, do you know what you would like to order or would you like me to list off what we have?” She said with a bright smile.

Not really knowing what kind of dishes there are, I panicked and said one of the dishes Chelsey got for me before “I’ll uh… have some beef stew?”.

I was a little worried since I didn’t know many dishes but I relaxed when she looked at me with a smile “Okay, sounds good. Would you like a pint of beer or mead to go with it?”. I was taken back for a moment, confused on what she meant. Before an awkward silence settled in, the wench saw my confusion and elaborated “A pint is the normal size of drink most adventurers get for their mead or beer.”.

Still uncertain on what those are, I decided to be safe and ask for the thing I normally drink “Do you have any water?”.

While nodding her head she then confirmed if I wanted anything else and after doing so, she started heading back through a door past a wall that I couldn’t see behind.

I was waiting for the food while mindlessly listening to the chit chat and banter of the other adventurers around me. Shortly after I felt a presence closing in behind me. Instinctively, my hand reached for the hilt on my back while turning around. What I found was a surprised Ilise holding a small piece of parchment so I relaxed my hand, letting it drop back down to my side.

“I-I’m surprised you heard me over the loud adventurers here.” She says while making her way to my side. Once she was to my right, she placed the small piece of parchment in front of me. “Here is your guild card, with this you can be identified as an adventurer from the Guild of Briona, for now please do not lose this card since it will be needed to identify you until we can get it processed at every other guild which will take roughly thirty days.”

I picked up the card and studied it.

"Crim

Adventure Rank : C

Class : Swordsman

Age : Twenty Five

Initial Registration : Trennent Town"

I turned the card around to find a picture of a somewhat familiar creature. Confused as to what it was I turned to Ilise to ask “What is this creature?”.

Ilise looked to try and stifle a surprised look before answering “Have you never seen a dragon flying in the skies before or told about it from your parents when you were younger?”. The word dragon seemed familiar but I tried racking my brain about it to just come up with nothing. While I was shaking my head at her, the wench from before came and placed my order in front of me. “Well that doesn’t really matter but what that is, is the emblem of our Guild, a symbol that the people a Briona know well if they ever interact with adventurers.”. Shortly after Ilise adds “Now, I’ll let you enjoy your lunch and if you have any more questions, feel free to drop by the counter and ask for me!” with a big smile, she turns around and heads towards the door beside the counter and disappears behind it.

After she left, I put the card away in one of my pouches and began indulging in the stew in front of me. The meat inside tasted similar to the dried meat I had but was much more tender and had a lot more flavor. I got lost in the bowl and before I knew it, I was scraping the last bits of broth left. Once satisfied with myself, I called over the wench when I saw her and paid up the few silver it was from my pouch of money that I got from Chelsey. When I was good to leave, I took my exit and headed straight back to the inn I was staying at.

Once I was back at the inn, I went straight up the stairs and into the hallway to rooms and went in front of a peculiar one and started knocking. A voice of a girl is heard from behind it “Who is it? If it’s you Vaero, you know you don’t have to knock.”.

“No, it’s me. I’m back from the dungeon.” I answer the door. I heard a lot of movement behind the door before it was opened and I was greeted by a bright smile from Chelsey.

“How did it go? I take it if you are here, it’s all done already?” after she asks the question, I just nod to her and she continues to question me “You’re back earlier than you said you’d be so it must have been easier than you said it was.”.

“It’s true I came back earlier than expected but it was harder than I thought it would be, I’ve fought goblins before but those ones knew how to coordinate well.” I tell her.

With a smile on her face, she gestures for me to come in. “So the potions I gave you must have been of use.”. I shook my head at her while I made my way into her room and leaned against a wall. “Wait what do you mean? Does that mean you didn’t get a scratch?” Chelsey asks while she walks towards the bed and sits down on it.

I shake my head again “No, they impaled me with a dagger and pickaxe on both of my shoulders.”.

Taken back for a moment Chelsey then turns to face the head of the bed and fixes her legs cross legged, once she was in position, she began patting the spot in front of her “Come sit down, let me see the wounds.”.

“I’ll be fine, I feel no pain from the wounds.” I said while trying to get out of the situation.

All Chelsey did was shake her head “That doesn’t matter, pain or not, you can get infections if we don’t wrap it up.”.

A sigh escapes my lips as I realize there is no escaping this and I reluctantly take off my sword and place it against the wall. Once I sat down cross legged in front of Chelsey with my back to her she began lifting up my cloak and shirt to reveal my back.

A gasp escaped her lips as she gently placed her hands upon the wounds on my back “They sure do look like they are healing but these holes are still big, the one on your left looks a lot worse too.”. Chelsey takes her hands off my back and drops the clothing back down as she quickly gets up to grab some medical supplies from a back she had near her nightstand.

“Why do you have so much medical supplies with you?” I ask her while she sits back down behind me and gets prepared to patch me up.

“Vaero used to get hurt often when we were younger and I was always the person who helped fix him back up. Also as a merchant who travels a lot, at any moment I want to be prepared to help out my guard who's always been with me.” As she answers me, I feel her gently lifting up my clothing again. “It’s hard to hold this up myself, could you take your tunic and cloak off?” she asks me. Wanting to get this over with quickly, I pull them both off and as I settle down, I feel her soft hands touching my back once more. “This shouldn’t take long, I’ll get you patched up really quick here.”.