Joining the Guild

The next morning, Damien woke up, washed his face in the washbasin, and dropped his room key off at the counter. Despite it being early, Silaro was bustling with activity, and he had to fight to get through the crowd.

How am I supposed to find the guild if I can't get around? Chancing upon an idea, he picked up Bluey. “Can you read?”

“Huwah!”

“Okay. Say something if you see the Adventurer's guild.”

“Huwah!”

He placed Bluey on his head, and started walking.

They wandered around for a while, until Bluey started going off. “Huwah! Huwah! Huwah!”

People started staring at them, so Damien grabbed Bluey off his head. “Shhhh. Did you find it?”

“Huwah...” Bluey said, much softer this time.

Damien looked up, and down the street could make out a building with the sign “Adventurer's Guild” hanging in front of it.

“Nice job!” he said, scratching Bluey's head.

Bluey squirmed a bit in excitement.

Worming his way through the crowd, he finally got to the double-doors of the Adventurer's Guild. Pushing inside, the guild was just as crowded as the street outside. While there was a long line at several of the windows, luckily there was one with no line, with a sign saying 'Taking Sign-ups'.

Walking over, a sleepy looking girl in glasses seemed to jar awake. She was fairly short and small, with green hair back in braids, and wearing the normal guild girl outfit. “Ohh..woah...uh...” she looked up at Damien. “Can I help you?”

Damien blinked a couple times and motioned his head towards the sign. “Yes, I'd like to sign up.”

The girl blushed slightly. “Oh, right, of course. Here, put your hand on this,” she said, pulling out a crystal orb while looking up at Bluey, who had reclaimed it's spot on top of Damien's head.

Damien did as requested, and put his hand on on the crystal orb.

It glowed blue, and the girl nodded. “Good, good, you can let go now,” she said. As Damien retracted his hand, she pulled out a dogtag looking object, and place it on the orb, which was still glowing. As they touched, the blue from the orb transferred to the dogtag, until it subsided. “Hmm, well since you're only level 3, your automatically assigned to Porcelian-rank.”

Damien gulped. “Is that...the lowest level?”

The girl nodded. “Yes...” seeing Damien might be a bit upset, she hurriedly continued, “...ah, don't worry though, you can rank up pretty quickly. To get from Porcelain to Tin, you just need to reach level 5 and do ten requests.”

Damien nodded, “That doesn't sound too bad.”

Seeing Damien had cheered up, the girl nodded and smiled. “Exactly, exactly,” she pointed over to a board in the corner. “Those are the Porcelain requests. Just grab one you feel like you can do,” she said, looking back up at Bluey, who was spinning on Damien's head.

Damien smiled, “Thanks for the help!”

The girl blushed a bit, before coughing. “Of course.”

Damien walked over to the board labeled 'Porcelain'. It was overflowing with requests, packed side to side, and even extending beyond, with pinned papers. What's the deal here? Are there not a lot of porcelain members? He looked around, and remembered the guild girls comment about ranking out of Porcelain quickly. I guess if people rank out quickly, then no one bothers to pick them up after that. Searching around, he found one that caught his eye. Defeat 5 Sepillian rabbits? Isn't that the murder rabbits? The reward is 10 copper...that's probably low. But it's pretty easy for me and Bluey. Well, for Bluey..

He turned around and noticed the guild girl who had signed him up was nodding off again. Walking over to her, since her lane was still open, he asked, “Errr, excuse me?”

“Welcome to-...oh, you don't need to check in with me, just grab one and go, and return once you're done,” she explained.

“That's good to know, but, I was actually going to ask if it's okay for me to pick up more than one at a time?”

She pushed up her glasses, which had gone slightly askew. “Yes, that's fine. It would be an issue if you were hoarding requests from others, but well...you can see what the Porcelain board looks like right now...”

Damien smiled, “Okay, awesome. Thanks for the help again.”

The girl blushed a bit and smiled back, grabbing one of her green braids, before seeming to drift off again and putting her head back down.

Damien walked back to the board, and found five different requests asking for various amounts of the murder-rabbits. “Okay, so we just need to get...” he counted in his head quickly, “...seventeen of the murder-rabbits, and we'll be halfway to the next rank! Well, that and getting my level up..”

“Huwah!” Bluey replied.

A few people around him were looking at him weird, so he stuffed the papers in his pocket and walked out.

Following the map to the east side of Silaro, he went through the gate, greeted again by the rolling grasslands. It's only been a day, but it's kind of nostalgic.

Bluey seemed excited, hopping out of his arms and into the grass, spinning and rolling around.

Damien chuckled, “Haha, you missed being out here?”

“Huwah!”

He leaned over and patted Bluey on the head. “Alright, do you sense any murder-rabbits?”

Bluey hopped around in a semi-circle, then hopped back to him. “Huwah!” and started hopping in a specific direction southeast.

After a few minutes, they came across a group of four murder-rabbits.

As Bluey was hopping in, Damien said, “Hold on!”

“Huwah?”

“Try out your new Lightning Bolt skill.”

“Huwaaaah!” Bluey said (louder than normal) and glowed yellow, until a bolt of electricity flew out of it's body, connecting with the nearest murder-rabbit.

It died on the spot, half-burned to a crisp from the intensity of the electricity.

Sheesh, even if its just a rabbit, that seems powerful! And with only the MAG it's getting from me. Opening up his status screen, he checked out Bluey's MP. The Lightning Bolt had taken out a third of it, and it was slowly starting to refill. Well, that's fine, if we need to use it more than three times rapidly we messed up somehow. “Bluey, I want you to save your Lightning Bolt and only use it when I tell you, since it uses up a lot of MP...” he paused, before continuing, “...or unless it's an emergency, like with the bear. Then go ahead and use it as much as you need.” Was that too complicated of instructions?

“Huwah!” Bluey replied, before hopping over and smashing the other three rabbits as they tried to run away.

Damien stacked up the rabbits, turning his jacket into a makeshift holder again. First thing I'm going to buy is a bag.

They spent the rest of the morning hunting rabbits, until around midday they had ten. Damien could barely hold all the rabbits, and they kept spilling out of his jacket.

“Bluey, let's go turn these in.”

“Huwah?”

“Yeah, we'll come back out later. This should complete at least a couple of these requests, and maybe we can get something good for lunch.”

Bluey seemed excited by this. “Huwah!”

Plodding slowly into town with the rabbits over his shoulder, he slowly made his way to the guild. Bluey kept hopping ahead of him, before realizing he wasn't keeping pace and hopping back.

On his way there, a man at a meat stall called out to him. “You looking to sell those, sonny?” he asked, slamming his giant meat cleaver into the wood of his cutting tray.

Damien looked over at the intimidating figure. He was bald except for a large handlebar mustache, and had large, rippled muscles, and was easily almost a foot taller than him.

“Uh, sorry, I need to turn these in,” Damien responded.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The meat-man raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Shame, I need more meat...”

Damien continued on, until finally reaching the Adventurer's Guild.

The guild girl with the glasses and green braids wasn't there, so Damien waited in line at one of the other windows. He got a few odd looks while in line, but no one said anything. Maybe it's because of Bluey?

Bluey seemed excited as always, hopping around his feet. It wasn't causing anyone problems, though, so he didn't see a reason to have Bluey stop.

Eventually, he got to the front of the line.

The lady at the desk smiled. “Hello there. What can I help you with?”

Damien smiled back. He grabbed two requests that totaled up to to ten rabbits, and handed them over.

“Thanks, can I see-”

She stopped as Damien slapped his jacket full of rabbits on the desk. Embarrassed slightly, he replied, “Sorry, they were heavy, there's ten there though. I'll get the rest this afternoon.”

The lady blinked a few times. “You...don't need to show us the rabbits. Your guild card will record anything you've killed.”

Now Damien blinked a few times. After a moment, he started blushing bright red, “Sorry, I didn't realize, I'm new...” he said, handing over his guild card.

The lady gave a weak smile, “It's okay, you can still-” she stopped again as Damien's card glowed red when she held it. “Um...did I sign you up?”

Damien shook his head. “No, it was someone else.”

After pausing for a moment, the lady asked, “Was it a shorter girl with green hair, braids, and glasses.”

“Yes! That's it.”

The lady smiled, seemingly slightly relieved. “One moment...”

After a minute, the lady walked back out. “Beatrice will see you over there,” she said, pointing to the corner window he had used in the morning. The glasses and braids girl (Beatrice) was now there, looking like she had just woken up.

When Damien came over, he could tell she was also embarrassed. “Sorry, I was having trouble staying awake, so I was taking a little nap in the break room.”

Damien shrugged, “Um, that's okay. I finished a couple requests. Are you able to help me?”

Beatrice's eyes glinted a bit, “Yes! Um, sorry I forgot to mention, but you're only supposed to work with the person who signs you up.” She looked at the bag of rabbits, “So-...sorry I forgot to mention the guild card recording, too.” She poked her fingers together, looking to the side, “Do you want to transfer to someone else?”

Damien was taken aback. “Um...not really. I'm not upset or anything.”

Beatrice sighed in relief. Taking Damien's guild card, she grabbed ahold of it and it turned blue. She then tapped it against his request papers, and after fumbling around under the desk, she pulled out a couple dozen coppers and slid them over.

Damien couldn't hold back a smile. He looked down at Bluey, who was spinning nonchalantly at his feet. “You ready to get some food?”

Beatrice blushed. “Wh-what? But, I'm working-”

Damien picked up Bluey, petting the top of it's head. “What did you say?” he asked Beatrice.

Beatrice's glassed fogged over. “Just...uh...good job!”

“You too! I'll have the rest later.”

“Su-sure...” Beatrice said, getting up and walking to the back again.

Damien and Bluey went back outside. As he was carrying the rabbits, he passed by the meat-man again.

“Hah! Did your buyer not want them?” he laughed, slamming the meat cleaver down again.

“Uh...no. If you want them, you can have them,” Damien replied, dumping them in front of him.

The meat-man picked them up, looking at them one-by-one. “Interesting, no marks. Did you hunt these yourself?”

Damien nodded, “Well, technically Bluey here killed them.”

“Huwah!”

The meat-man looked down at Bluey, and started laughing. “Haha, you're a summoner! That explains it.” He grabbed a handful of coppers from a pocket in his apron, dumping them in Damien's hand. “I'll buy any more meat you get. I always got more customers than suppliers, haha!” he laughed again. “Oh, and here, have some lunch too,” he added, grabbing his meat cleaver and slicing a huge hunk off the meat he'd been cutting earlier.

Damien gladly took it. “I'll be sure to stop by whenever I have any.”

After that, realizing he had nowhere to store the meat, Damien immediately went through the stalls, buying a few essentials. A cheap bag, a new white undershirt (to replace the tattered one), a pot and pan to cook in, some utensils and a few basic survival items. Hmm, I''ll probably need a larger bag, a bedroll, and maybe a tent would be nice. He looked down at this tracksuit, still shredded in the back. Yeah...probably need a new jacket as well.

They went back outside of town, Bluey starting a fire while Damien sliced up the hunk the meat-man had given him. Once it was in thin strips, he carefully laid them in the pan and placed it over the fire.

“Huwah?” Bluey said, jumping in Damien's lap as he sat tending it.

“Don't worry, it'll be great once it's done...”

After a few minutes, the meat started sizzling, causing Bluey to get excited.

Wait, can Bluey smell it? Or just reacting to the sounds of it sizzling?

When the meat started looking cooked, he grabbed a strip, blowing on it a bit before taking a bite. “Oh, this is good. I think it's boar meat, but it tastes way better properly cooked like this.” As he was about to take another bite, Bluey jumped up and grabbed the rest of it, grabbing the whole piece in his mouth.

“Blueyyy...” Damien said, tugging Bluey's cheeks(?) while they were chewing. Sighing, he grabbed another piece to eat.

After both of them consumed the whole hunk, they packed up and continued hunting.

“Huwah!” Bluey shouted, killing the last murder-rabbit of the current group. Bluey didn't seem to be counting, and was taking out every murder-rabbit they came across, until Damien ended up with nine.

“Alright, we're done Bluey, let's get these back into town.”

“Huwaaaahhh...” Bluey said.

Damien squinted his eyes. “What kind of reaction is that!? Aren't you excited we finished?”

Bluey hopped away from the direction of Silaro's gate.

“Are you saying you want to train more?”

“Huwah.”

Damien closed his eyes and tilted his head. I could leave Bluey here to train, right? But... he got an uncomfortable feeling at walking back alone. “Just...just come with me, and we can train this evening, okay?”

“Huwah!” Bluey replied, seemingly satisfied at that answer.

After dropping the rabbits off at the meat-man, he went to the guild again. This time, Beatrice was already helping someone out. He got in line behind them, holding and petting Bluey while they waited.

Despite not trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, he ended up hearing anyway due to how heated it was. Well, how heated one of them was.

“How am I supposed to turn in my requests if you're never at your window?” the man asked. He looked to be a couple years old than him.

Beatrice was stammering a bit. “S-sorry, I didn't get much sleep, so I was-”

“I don't care, just transfer me to someone else.”

Beatrice looked like she was going to cry, before taking out the crystal orb from earlier. She tapped the annoyed guildmember's card on it, causing it to glow blue then fade. “Th-there...”

The man swiped it out of her hand, before getting in line at one of the other windows.

Beatrice looked up at Damien as he approached, still red in the face. “Do you want to transfer too?”

Damien shook his head, confused. “No. You asked me that earlier too, but I don't really understand why.”

Beatrice's face recovered a bit, before she started poking her fingers together. “I...um...I fall asleep sometimes, and I make a few clerical...mistakes, so a lot of my clients leave. And now I have a bad reputation, so new people don't wanna sign up with me...”

Damien nodded. “Isn't that easier for you if you have less clients?”

Beatrice shook her head. “No. We get a base pay for the administrative work we do, but most of our income is from commission based on our client's requests.”

Damien looked around at the other windows, that all had at least a few people in line, if not over a dozen. And no one was in line behind him. Trying to reassure her, Damien said, “Well, I don't mind working with you. I'm trying to rank up as quickly as possible.”

Beatrice seemed relieved, and gave a genuine smile, “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Slapping her cheeks, she took Damien's requests, “Let's get to work.”

After receiving his pay, he bid farewell to Beatrice and went to leave. However, before he exited, he turned sideways and walked over to the Porcelain board, still overflowing with request papers.

“Huwah?”

“Yeah, we're still gonna be training, but we may as well do requests while we're training, right?”

“Huwah!”

Hmm...don't wanna do more rabbits. Gnolls? I don't even know what those are. Hmm...goblins? That sounds like something Bluey can handle. If it's a Porcelain request, that's probably fine.

Grabbing one request to slay ten goblins, they left the guild hall.

The request specified goblins northeast of town, so he presumed they should be in the forest. Upon entering, Damien's back scars tingled. Urgh...now I'm scared of running into a bear.

Seeming to sense his unease, Bluey looked up at him. “Huwah!”

Damien smiled. “Thanks, I know you'll protect me. And I'll Heal you if you need it. Although...try not to get hurt in the first place.”

“Huwah!”

The two of them started meandering around the forest, looking for goblins. However, they only ran into a few deer, and nothing worth even fighting.

Damien pulled up his map. “Is there some way to tell where the goblins are?” As he asked, a green circle appeared on his map. I should have known this! I need to rely on my status screen more. Unfortunately, looking at the map, the circle was a ways in from where they currently were (still fairly close to Silaro). However, it was getting dark, the sun setting in thirty minutes according to the status screen clock. I don't want to be caught out at night...

He looked down at Bluey, “Sorry...I think we need to come back tomorrow.”

Luckily, Bluey didn't seem too upset, instead just jumping into Damien's chest.

“Okay, okay, I'll pet you as recompense since we didn't get to train any,” he sighed, turning back towards the town.

He headed back to the inn he had woken up in that morning. While it was crowded, they luckily still had rooms available.

After dropping off his things in the room he'd gotten, he walked back down to the tavern area. He briefly looked for Carleen and her party-members, but didn't see them, so grabbed an empty table for himself (and Bluey).

After a couple minutes, an ale was set in front of him. “What can I- erk!...” said the person who had sat it down.

Damien looked around, and the lady who had set down the ale was now covering her face with her tray. “Umm...” That voice sounds kind of familiar...

The lady slowly slid down the tray, revealing green hair and glasses.

“Beatrice?” he asked

Beatrice pulled the tray back up.

“Um...I don't know why you're embarrassed, but I don't think you need to be...”

“Of course I am! Your guild girl has to moonlight as a barmaid because I can't make ends meet with just my guild job,” she said, seemingly in tears.

Damien winced a bit. “So-sorry...”

“It's not your fault,” she said, seeming to come to terms with the situation and sighing. “Just...just please don't tell anyone...”

Damien shrugged. “I don't even know anyone to tell. Besides, I don't think working hard is something to be looked down on...”

Beatrice seemed to brighten up at this. “R-right!? Well, what do you want? The special today is potato stew.”

Damien ordered two helpings of the potato stew. Between the room and the dinner, he had used the majority of his earnings that day. I guess I'll need to be careful. Maybe I should get that bedroll and tent and camp outside of town to save money.

After a few minutes, Beatrice brought out the bowls of stew, placing them on the table. Bluey hopped up on the table, and started eating.

Beatrice nervously watched for a moment, before reaching over and petting Bluey gently.

“Don't worry, Bluey likes it,” Damien said in between spoonfuls.

Beatrice nodded. “This is the first time I've ever seen a summoner have a slime.”

“Really? I though it was a cool choice.”

“Huwah!”

Beatrice smiled. “Well, there aren't a ton of summoners anyways...”

Damien raised an eyebrow. “Really? It seems like a good class.”

Beatrice nodded. “It's not that it's bad, summoners...sometimes get typecast as 'loners' who can't get into a regular party, so they have to be a summoner instead.”

“Oh...” was all Damien replied. I guess that fits me. I wouldn't mind being in a party, but if I have Bluey, then at least I'm not alone.

“Betty! These glasses aren't going to clean themselves!” came a shout from across the room.

Beatrice blushed, and scurried over. The shouter was a large woman who was pouring drinks at the bar.

Feeling some pity for Beatrice, he quickly finished, left his payment, then headed back up to his room.

“Huwah!” Bluey kept saying while hopping on the bed.

Damien chuckled, “Yeah I'm excited to sleep on a bed again, too. This time while not half-dead.”

Bluey cuddled up into the crook of his arm. “Huwahhhh...”

Damien slowly pet Bluey as he closed his eyes. He started thinking about what he needed to do the next day, but fell asleep exhausted before he could formulate a plan.