The town of Keaton was growing and this was a fact that was easily noticeable from the air. The town had once built a ten foot wall of cream-colored stone around its perimeter. Now there were houses, general buildings, and more extending well beyond that wall. In turn, the town was now building a second wall further out of the same stone.
The buildings themselves were mostly all constructs of wood. While the area surrounding the town had been converted into fields for farmers and grazing pastures for ranchers, the Cassmer Forest was still close enough to be the primary source of construction material for the town. Two and three story wood buildings dominated the center and oldest part of the town while the fringe had one story buildings that looked to be more hastily constructed.
To Brivaria, who soared high overhead, the construction gave the town a sloping look like a man-made mountain of wood and stone. She’d been flying for a while now. It was a joy to look at the multi-colored fields of crops the farmers were growing as well as the various animals the ranchers were raising. She had inadvertently gotten too close to one ranch and drawn a chorus of startled sounds from the animals. Nothing bad came of it and she made a mental note to give them a wide berth, whether flying or otherwise.
As much as she wanted to, Brivaria avoided flying over the town proper. Before she took to the air Rake told her to avoid entering the town without permission and that included the air over the town. Once she was known to the guards and the adventurers guild then maybe she could come and go as she pleased. For now she’d need to avoid flying inside the walls. So it was that the angel returned to the party after getting her fill of the aerial view.
Upon rejoined the adventurers, Brivaria began using Lesser Shapeshifting to shrink her wings in preparation for battle with her most ancient of foes—doors. The dungeon had been surprisingly friendly to her large wingspan. Even the stairs down had been very wide allowing her to walk comfortably behind the group. The settlement before her would not be so accommodating as it did not seem at all designed for individuals with wings.
The Renton family was allowed to speak with the town guards first. The guards and, surprisingly, Meia seemed interested in their replies to the questions asked but the angel was not. During their brief travels together, she and Trixie played with Walter a few times but the adults of the group kept to themselves and were uninterested in getting to know her or the other adventurers. That was understandable to the angel. When she was summoned for intervention, her priority was rendering assistance so she only socialized with the indigenous people as much as was necessary to accomplish the goals of the intervention.
“…and this is Brivaria, a companion we met along the road,” Rake explained when the Restons passed and it was the party’s turn for inspection.
“Good morning,” she said while smiling and offering a friendly wave upon being named. The town guards had a green and brown crest on their padded armor and each carried both a spear and a club. The guards asked for her surname and Brivaria replied that she didn’t have one. They asked if she had combat skills to which she replied honestly that she did. They then asked what her profession was at which time Rake jumped in saying they were taking her to the adventurers guild to be registered as an adventurer.
Most classes in the System were not combat classes and didn’t offer combat skills. Fighting monsters was not a normal occupation for most. Hunters, guards, and those with a similar professions often gained combat skills to perform their roles more effectively. As Brivaria learned, most people didn’t even get an option to unlock a combat class until they were level thirty or even forty. Only those who were specifically trained to become adventurers, soldiers, and so on could maybe gain a combat class at level twenty but it was exceptionally rare.
This was very helpful knowledge and let Brivaria guess at the levels of her new companions. Unfortunately the relative rarity of these classes meant those who had dangerous skills were rightly regarded as themsevles being dangerous. Loners who weren’t adventurers and possessed deadly skills were treated with suspicion and sometimes watched by local guards. Those who attested to not having a combat skill and later demonstrated otherwise were punished for lying, endangering innocent people, or both. All of that was why Rake recommended immediately getting Brivaria registered at the guild. It would allay potential fears and, well, they were going there anyway to report on the newly-discovered dungeon.
“Thank you very much,” Brivaria said to the guards who let them pass shortly after Rake intervened. Soon they were walking through the streets and Brivaria was drawing stares. She offered a cheerful smile to those who looked her way. That, apparently, wasn’t the right response as most people either hurriedly looked away to avoid meeting her gaze or frowned at her.
At some point Trixie changed places. The dog had been walking alongside Brivaria since the angel returned from her flight prior to entering the town. Now that they were in the settlement, Trixie moved to the other side of Brivaria. The dog put herself between the angel and the people staring.
“And what are you doing, Trixie?” Brivaria asked the dog in passing. The dog gave her a doggy grin and let out a happy wuff. That was all the explanation she was getting apparently.
The adventurers guild was a large building with multiple entrances. Like the rest of the town it was primarily constructed with the same dark wood as was found in the Cassmer Forest. Unlike the rest of the town, it looked like it had been hit with a fireball or three. There were scorch marks on the sides of the building, visible chunks of wood missing, and the doors looked like they’d been replaced at least once since they didn’t match anything else and looked relatively new.
The doors definitely set the mood for the interior. There were tables and chairs but Brivaria counted four distinct styles of furniture. Whatever misfortunes had fallen upon the building’s exterior had found also their way inside along with nearly a dozen adventurers. Brivaria guessed there were maybe three teams in the guild hall or maybe more than that if they didn’t all belong to the same teams.
There was a wall with numerous paper and parchment postings attached to it the whole way across. Some adventurers were sitting at the tables but most were walking along the wall and looking at the postings. From what Brivaria knew so far, she guessed those were the available requests. Across from the entrance was the reception desk. The guild assistant behind the desk was Lephori woman like Meia but was a shade darker all around. The fur on her ears was dark and her hair matched Rake’s color. Her skin was also several shades darker but her hazel eyes lit up with happiness upon seeing their group.
“Rake! You’re back. Finally someone who does actual work around here shows up,” the rabbit woman said with good cheer. The remark only got a smattering of half-hearted denials from the rest of the adventurers haunting the guild.
“Hey Tamarin, would you believe your favorite new group just found… a dungeon?” Rake paused before the last two words and added extra emphasis for dramatic effect. Meia swore under her breath as the entire room went quiet. All talk stopped. All leafing through books or requests stopped. Even the two people eating at one of the tables in a corner stopped chewing. It was the calm before the storm. Tamarin’s left eye twitched and she spoke before anyone else.
“You what!?” she exclaimed. The party was mobbed instantly. People surrounded Brivaria on every side. Trixie whined, suddenly very anxious.
“You found a dungeon?” “Did you go inside?” “What kind of monsters does it have?” “Is there treasure?” “Are you making this up?”
All the questions ran together. Meia was scowling. Penry was taking deep breaths. Brivaria’s shrunken wings were flapping slightly, betraying her own nerves. Rake was drinking in the attention. He might only ever get to do this once in his life and he was going to enjoy the scene to its fullest. Somehow Tamarin’s voice cut through the commotion.
“Enough!” she shouted over the crowd while pushing people to make way. The Lephori woman was neither tall nor muscular but not a single burly man or woman resisted her when she pushed them aside. “Stop it! All of you! You know the rules! Rake, you and your team will come with me. I need to know everything you do. The guild will release the location after we talk it over.” The word “after” had an air of finality. The crowd dispersed as quickly as it had formed, grumbling about the guild not letting them enter the dungeon.
Realistically, the guild couldn’t restrict adventurers from entering the dungeon but they could try to control the flow of information for a little while. They’d tried to mandate that only groups of a given rank could enter dungeons of the same rank or lower. It hadn’t worked well and the guild eventually walked it back. Of course, in the five years following its repeal many of the voices advocating against it ventured into dungeons higher than their rank and didn’t come out. The guild was trying to save lives but there was a limit to what they could do.
Tamarin tagged out with another guild assistant and took the group into the back where they could have a private conversation. The small room wasn’t soundproof but there was a little decoration on the door which Tamarin channeled mana into after she shut it. A privacy spell activated. It wouldn’t stop a particularly strong eavesdropping skill or spell but it was unlikely one of those would ever be deployed against her town let alone the adventurers guild. It was more than sufficient to stop a bunch of nosy adventurers with heightened senses skills from listening in.
“Rake, why are you making more work for me? You knew they would go crazy as soon as you said the word ‘dungeon.’ If I find out you were lying,” Tamarin began and Rake held up his hands in surrender.
“Sorry Tam, you only get to do that once. The dungeon is real. We fought its monsters, entered it, and left with treasure. We didn’t even know it was a dungeon until Brivaria here told us. We were attacked by giant beetles and she sort of rescued us,” Rake jerked a thumb at Brivaria as he spoke. Tamarin looked to Brivaria for confirmation of Rake’s story.
“It’s true. I’ve fought variants of the beetles in other dungeons and recognized them in the forest. I was looking for the dungeon entrance when I ran into Rake’s team. They were surrounded by beetles and I helped even the odds. We went into the dungeon together.” Brivaria’s explanation was friendly and caused Tamarin to visibly calm. There was a bastion of maturity in the room besides her. Maybe.
“Why did you go inside?” Tamarin asked. “An ungraded dungeon is extremely dangerous.” Brivaria didn’t know precisely what dungeon grades were but she could guess based on the name.
“I’ve seen the stronger variants of the beetles. These were the smallest, slowest, and easiest to kill form of the plant beetle I’ve seen.” Every adjective was an emotional arrow straight to Rake’s heart. Brivaria didn’t notice the damage she was doing to Rake’s pride and went on. “We explored five rooms. I don’t precisely know how your grades work but what I saw in the early rooms was doable for Rake’s team or maybe one step above that. Unfortunately it’s a descending dungeon which means the lower floors are likely to be far more dangerous than the upper floors.” Tamarin considered Brivaria’s words seriously.
“We’ll need a full report of everything that occurred from start to finish as well as a map as best you can produce. That includes the dungeon location and rooms you discovered. Did you find anything in there besides monsters? What kind of treasure did you recover?” Tamarin looked between the adventurers. Brivaria looked at Rake.
“Well…” Rake began sheepishly.
“For goodness sake, I need to know. Even if you don’t plan to sell the treasure through the guild, you have to report it. What did you find?” Tamarin asked. She wasn’t upset, exactly, but she was exasperated. It was clear even to Brivaria that she’d had this conversation or something very similar before. Rake looked to Brivaria and she nodded.
“I’ve got most of our findings in my inventory. We have 117 mana coins, 482 enchanted thistles from traps, 12 leaves on par with circular blades, and a golden chalice.” The angel’s counts made Tamarin’s eyebrows go up.
“A golden chalice? Does your inventory skill tell you anything about it?” the guild assistant asked. Brivaria shook her head.
“I’m afraid not. My Inventory skill only attaches a name to an object if I know the true name of the object. That is, the name the System gives the object. It will display that name if someone tells me the name, divined through an identification skill or spell. Until then the chalice, leaves, and even thistles are unidentified. Also, we’ve handled them without ill effects but we’ve no means to properly determine if any of them are cursed.” Brivaria added the last part with frown. Trixie had picked up the chalice and Brivaria had stored it in her inventory with a touch. Neither showed any symptoms of a curse but that didn’t mean it wasn’t cursed. Some curses were known only take effect under very specific circumstances. It was entire possible this chalice was cursed to kill the fifth person to touch it or anyone that tried to drink from it. There were times she had to return to Heaven with objects that would need to be identified, destroyed, or both.
“Okay. I can’t tell you what to do with those things officially as a guild assistant but I’m going to strongly recommend, unofficially, that you entrust them to the guild for safekeeping. The coins are probably safe but you are responsible for the trouble caused by anything you bring back. Holding them in an inventory skill is the next best thing so do that until you make a decision.” Rake and Meia each found a different corner of the small office particularly interesting to look at in that moment. Penry looked between Brivaria and Tamarin. He shrugged. Sensing no comment forthcoming, tall-eared assistant then turned to Brivaria once again.
“I didn’t know there were any high level Zephyri adventurers in the area. It’s nice to meet you, Brivaria. Thank you for rescuing this group and scouting the dungeon.” The Lephori woman extended her hand and the angel shook it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tamarin. I’m not Zephyri or an adventurer though.” The handshake stopped mid motion.
“You’re not?” she asked. The winged girl shook her head.
“I’m an angel. I was told I should register myself with the guild.” The handshake ended somewhat awkwardly as the angel spoke. Tamarin looked her over, more carefully this time.
“Could have fooled me. You have the bearing of an experienced adventurer or that’s just maturity,” Tamarin shot Rake a look. He’d gotten his five seconds of fame but his pride had taken catastrophic damage. “We can get you registered. You can go down the hall and speak with Gretta. All adventurers start at copper rank, even the experienced ones. You’ll rise quickly enough if you make good decisions unlike some people. Go on ahead while I have a word with your friends.”
The angel left the room quickly. She was relieved to no longer be part of that particular firing squad. Somehow Brivaria got the feeling the only reason the conversation was as pleasant as it had been was her presence, physically and perhaps statistically. Good luck Second Sword, you need it. She knocked on the door at the end of the hall.
Gretta’s office doubled as the storage room for the records of the Keaton adventurers guild. As such there was paper everywhere. There was paper in specially-designed wooden cabinets. There was paper on the floor up to Brivaria’s waist. There was paper on the desk, next to the desk, and the angel could even see some peeking out from under the desk. Nestled into the sea of paper was a single woman quickly copying the contents of one sheet of paper to another. Her ink quill was a blur of movement that had to be a skill of some sort. Brivaria received a “come in” after knocking on the door but the woman had yet to so much as acknowledge the winged girl’s presence.
Gretta finished copying one sheet of paper then another then yet another. Brivaria didn’t say or do anything. She’d considered taking a seat only to realize the only two seats in front of the woman’s desk were themselves home to identical stacks of paper. Instead, the angel stood awkwardly and looked at Gretta.
Gretta was a kind of Celian known as a Gaborn. The Gaborn were a warlike people who dominated one of the smaller continents of Zlithia. As a Celian, they had traits and appearances similar to another native species of the planet. In the case of the Gaborn, this was the boar. Gretta had a snout with full-on tusks emerging from the sides. The woman possessed brown fur and a stocky, muscular build. The angel knew the Gaborn had particularly high physique and endurance. They were a tough and hardy people. It was a little surprising to find one in an adventurers guild doing paperwork.
“Better manners than most,” the woman at long last. She finished scribing her last sheet of paper and pushed the new stack away while dropping the old stack somewhere out of sight behind her desk.
“Thank you. I know what it’s like to be interrupted while trying to focus on something important.” The angel gave a sympathetic smile. Heaven was a place of noble aspirations and hard work. Its people strove for perfection in their various crafts. Perhaps it was an unattainable goal but many a young angel was pushed through rigorous training to master their craft. Brivaria was no exception and she knew how problematic interruptions were when someone was really focused on getting something right.
“Most adventurers wouldn’t know important if it bit them on the ass. What did Tamarin send you back for?” Gretta’s words were brusque now. The momentary pleasantness was replaced by a steely demeanor. Brivaria wondered if she’d just been given the entirety of the woman’s alloted pleasantries for the day.
“Registration. I’m not a registered adventurer but I’m here to fix that.” Gretta nodded at the words and pulled a new form from a desk drawer.
“Name?” the woman asked and the questions began.
“Brivaria,” the angel answered. Gretta tilted her head.
“Last name? Surname? Family name? Clan name? Got any of that?” she asked. The angel shook her head.
“Race? Zephyri?” was the next question. Brivaria shook her head a second time but answered before Gretta could ask.
“Angel.” Gretta gave Brivaria the most incredulous look she’d seen since arriving on Zlithia.
“Angel? As in the high level beings from another world that clerics summon to fight monsters? The kind with flaming swords, magic halos, and giant wings?” she asked, looking very pointedly at Brivaria’s tiny wings. She’d made them small for the town. The regular size wouldn’t have even fit in this office without knocking over half the piles of papers scattered about.
“Yes, that’s the one. My wings are only temporarily small. I used a skill since they don’t normally fit through doors.” Yeah, she could sense she was only digging herself deeper with each attempt to explain. Gretta’s expression soured.
The guild scribe barraged the angel with questions about Heaven, about herself, about her abilities, about her purpose in Keaton, and more subjects. The winged girl didn’t need fifty awareness to recognize that the woman was actively trying to trip her up. Gretta wanted to catch Brivaria in a lie. She just couldn’t believe there was an angel standing her office. Prior to this past week, Brivaria wouldn’t have believed it either so she didn’t begrudge the woman too much. It was not angel-like to get upset nor lose her cool so the winged woman reined in her annoyance. Angelic patience and serenity was legendary though Brivaria felt anything but serene as her entire existence was questioned by the little Gaborn woman.
“Last question, what class do you want on your registration? Doesn’t have to be your exact class or one you’ve held. It just needs to be descriptive of your abilities,” Gretta’s words were a balm to Brivaria’s soul. This was the last question. The room had felt progressively warmer over time and the angel was sure she’d spent at least an hour being aggressively interrogated by the scribe.
“I’m not sure. I can fight with a sword and shield, heal, use light skills, and-” her words were cut off.
“Paladin it is,” Gretta spoke then waited an appropriate amount of time for Brivaria to challenge the name. When the angel remained quiet, the scribe continued speaking. “When you leave this office you will be officially recognized as a copper rank adventurer by the town of Keaton. We communicate with other guilds regularly and your registration will be transferred at the next available opportunity. It may take some time for your registration to make its way to guilds further away so no teleporting across the continent and getting upset because your information is not there yet.” The angel regarded the Gaborn curiously after that last statement. Gretta shrugged.
“Believe it or not, it’s happened. As a copper rank adventurer, you are entitled to no special privileges nor authority. You do not speak for the guild and will not intimate otherwise to anyone you meet. You will be provided a small manual on how not to be a screw up. You are expected to read it and memorize its contents. If you cannot read it then simply look at your fellow copper rank adventurers and don’t do what they do.” Rake wasn’t even here and Brivaria felt the blow to his pride. The lowest rank of adventurers was regarded especially poorly… or maybe it was just Gretta.
“Lastly, I do not care how many combat skills you have, how much experience you think you have, or whether your race reads Gaborn, angel, or sparkle butt, you will not take requests graded above your rank. You will get into a situation you do not the skills to handle. You will die.” She paused for dramatic effect. “And I will have to fill out a form for your death.”
“I will keep those things in mind,” the angel said when it was clear Gretta was done talking.
“Good. Now get out. I have work to do.”
Brivaria walked out of the office feeling more battered than she had since arriving on Zlithia. Trixie was laying down in the hallway and rose when the angel emerged from the office.
“Were you waiting for me? You’re such a good girl,” the angel cooed to the dog. The golden-furred canine nuzzled her affectionately and the two walked down the hallway back toward the common room. Penry was waiting at one of the tables and the angel made her way over, sitting down opposite the lizardman.
“I’m an adventurer now. Yay,” the girl cheered half-heartedly and the lizardman revealed a toothy smile. It was a little unnerving to see the rows of sharp teeth but Brivaria had gotten used to the way Peshmari smiled… mostly.
“I’m surprised you still have an ass left after Gretta was done with you. We got chewed out by Tamarin after you left but Gretta is one of the most unpleasant scribes in the whole region. She’s the woman parents send their children to in order to convince them not to be adventurers. Was it bad?” he asked while uncovering something on the table.
“Terrible. It took thirty minutes just to convince her that I was an angel and not a delusion Zephyri or something else. Even then I’m not convinced she didn’t write something else on my registration,” Brivaria allowed her frustration to show as she spoke but then willed it away. “I still need to get my manual.”
“Well have something to eat first. We ran out to get lunch while you were getting the third degree and I brought you something back.” The smell of roast meat and vegetables tickled the angel’s nose. Brivaria knew she should resist the offered meal and stick to her rations but, in a moment of weakness, she failed to resist allure of the food.
“Wow,” she said after taking the first bite, “this is amazing.” It tasted nothing like her ration. She vibrated with delight and took another bite then another. She was in food heaven which was different from real Heaven but so wonderful. Every bite was scrumptious. Her taste buds were alive with flavor.
“Brivaria stop,” Penry said with a hushed whisper. Brivaria’s eyes snapped open and she looked at the lizardman. Penry looked embarrassed. Around the common room, she noticed several people staring at her and a few people discretely pretending they weren’t staring at her… but they were.
“The sounds you’re making while you eat. Stop making them. Just eat the food,” Penry said, also averting his eyes. Brivaria gave the man a curious look but complied none-the-less. She finished and then sipped from the mug of water that came with the meal.
“So good,” the angel said with complete and utter contentment. Penry eyed her strangely before speaking.
“Have you… that is…” the lizardman tried and failed to ask the question he wanted a couple times before finally getting it out. “Was that the first meal you’ve eaten since you know what? That wasn’t one of those ration things?”
“Yeah,” she said with a dreamy expression.
“Huh. Well, I’ll be… Why don’t I go get your manual? You just relax here.” The warrior stood up, regarding Brivaria as though he expected her to vanish if he let her out of his sight, and then went toward the reception desk.
The angel absentmindedly pet Trixie. The dog had taken residence on the bench next to her. Though, she eyed the remaining juices on her plate and pondered licking it clean. The entire common room of the guild pondered alongside her.