The way she said it, the tone of her voice, made it sound like they weren’t all that uncommon, despite what Isaac said.

He nodded. “Where are you from? Are Pixies native to Heimfold?”

She began to brighten up a little, "Nope. Malvir makes us. He’s a New god – the Maker of Monsters.”

"I see.” Echo glanced over at the stove and walked over, setting Narya down on her cushion. "If we’re roommates, I think you deserve a little privacy.”

"Uweh?"

Echo activated his ring again and pulled out a block of Ironwood - a valuable, beautiful type of tree that grew in a few places of deep brown with lines of grey tracing throughout - and set it on the counter. He also grabbed his spell tool. "Reshape to my will, Transmute Substance." He incanted the spell as he passed the rod over the wooden block.

A silver light flashed from the tip of the spell tool and the wooden block began to liquefy before reshaping itself into a small, one-story house with windows, doors, and several rooms. All carved from the singular chunk. He gestured to Narya, "This should be more comfortable. That way you don't have to sleep out in the open."

"Ehhh!" Narya zipped inside the wooden house and then zipped all around it before flying up and giving Echo a hug on his cheek, "Eeee! Echo! This is amazing! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Narya."

Narya seemed to realize her outburst and her dour mood took over once more as she turned away, crossing her arms and pouting, "I mean, it's nice for a wooden house. There's no furniture in there."

Echo just chuckled.

"Hmph! Fine then!" Narya dragged her cushion inside her new house and slammed the door behind her.

Echo slid the house gently towards the corner of the counter furthest from the stove and sink before going to his bedroom, sinking into the luxuriantly soft cushions.

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He woke up a few hours later. Narya made him breakfast – a sumptuous spread he had not seen the likes of in many, many years. He ate greedily, almost to the point of bursting.

She cleaned up afterward, pushing around a soap-bar-sized ball of slime, that ‘squeaked’ happily as it ate up the crumbs, dirt, and debris. “Pocket Slimes,” she called them. Echo gave her a quick list of items to purchase – mostly furniture. She bade him farewell and vanished with a ‘pop’ to go shopping.

Echo went downstairs and entered the Guild Hall proper. His armor immediately drew attention, and people looked at him apprehensively as he went toward the Quest Board.

It was arranged in sections for each different rank of adventurer. From most renowned to newest, they were SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, F. He knew that rank was not just based upon raw stats, but also Abilities and Affinities.

If he had not taken powerful Abilities and had dumped the points into his stats, he could have been S rank off the get-go.

But he didn’t want to be some amazing savior everyone expected to save the world. That would cause way too much attention.

He just wanted to be a hero. Not the hero. He wanted to enjoy this fantasy world, and not be some prophesied savior or some crap like that.

“Excuse me," A female voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw a group of four. The one who spoke pulled back her hood. Height-wise, she came up to his stomach. She had a cute expression - almost doll-like, and her eyes gleamed with purple and flickers of sparks, just like her…flame hair.

She's a Spriten.

The Spriten were a race hailing from The Siltar Republic, and rather than hair, they had a constant surge of flames emitting from their head. They also had pointed ears that jutted out to the sides of her head.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"I'm Velu! F rank." She held out a hand, her bow clattering against her leather armor.

"Echo Asheron. A rank."

He returned the handshake. "And who are your companions?"

A man walked up alongside Velu. "I'm Rickard, the leader of our group. Cleric of Lux, E rank." He had a large hammer at his waist, a heater shield slung across his back, and a symbol like a sunburst hanging from a necklace. A bit older than Echo, with black hair and brown eyes.

Echo knew from the rule book that clerics and priests both served the gods in various capacities. The difference being that the former would go out into the world, and the latter stayed at a holy site.

He continued, "My companions can introduce themselves. Our company is the Sacred Swords."

Velu spoke up once more, "A lot of people were talking about you yesterday."

"Were they now? Hopefully good talk."

She giggled, "Of course. I'm just happy that we were the first company to talk to you."

Echo glanced around and; indeed, it looked as if several other people were waiting a turn to engage him in conversation.

He turned back to Velu, "I'll take a guess; you want to invite me to your company?"

Velu gave him a thumbs up and a wink, "Yes sir! We need a good front-line tank."

"What do I get out of this setup?"

"Well…" Velu began listing off the benefits of companies.

Any quests taken by anyone else in that company have rewards split between participants. It was explained as a way for multiple adventurers to tackle a difficult quest. They could also have a door in their apartment that led to their company members – turning the small spaces into huge complexes if they wanted to.

She sounds like she knows what she's doing. But, I should look at my other options.

"Thanks for the offer, Velu. I'm going to say maybe for now. I want to at least hear these other group's offers."

She deflated a bit but nodded, "I understand. We're here for just a few hours, so if you want to find us, just look for the flaming hair." She rejoined her group and they walked away.

Echo spent several minutes being approached and discussing options and opportunities with various adventuring companies that approached. There were lots of good offers - particularly from higher-ranking adventurers - but there was a nagging feeling that something would go wrong if he went all in on a higher rank group. He was brand new to Heimfold, after all, and taking things slow and easy would be the best way to go about things. So, he declined the offers and sought the purple-flame-hair Spriten out once more.

"I've decided." Echo smiled and knelt to be at Velu's eye level. "It's my honor to contribute my skills to the Sacred Swords.”

As he said this, several of the waiting adventurers who were hoping to recruit him left with a dejected look.

Rickard walked over with a quest in hand, "If you're going to join us, we'll need to make it official. Velu?"

"I'll do it now." She gave Echo a small smile and dashed off towards the counter, dodging past the taller crowd and weaving between tables and legs with a nimbleness that astounded him.

Rickard's face was unreadable. "Let's introduce you to the other two. That's Ingrid, F rank. A cleric of Aqua. Our healer."

He pointed at a short otter person – a Llios, Echo recalled from the rule book - dressed in a sea-foam blue robe. Her brown eyes were calm and exuded patience.

"And that's Bertram, E rank. He’s, our thief."

He pointed at the other person, an older, grizzled, stout, and short man with jet-black, medium-length hair. His face was scarred as if he had survived some wild animal attack. Most notable was his large beard that barely covered two tusks jutting from his lower jaw – a Toskar – sort of a blend of traditional fantasy dwarf and boar.

Echo introduced himself to each of them in turn.

Velu came over and gave them a thumbs-up. "Everything is good to go! Did you find us a quest?"

Rickard nodded and held up the slip of paper, reading aloud as he led the group to the windowed counters. "We are going to go and clear out some wolves North of Post 3. Ten-thousand dreks.”

He walked over to the line in front of the window.

The waiting members went over to a nearby table and Velu asked the others what they would do with their split of the reward.

"I’m gonna send some back fer ma wee lassie. She’s at The Royal Academy," Betram said quietly.

"That's sweet. How old is she?" Echo asked.

Echo could hear the pride in Betram's voice, “Seven.”

Ingrid spoke up, "I'm going to buy some new clothes for my wardrobe! I've been wanting some of the new styles." She talked at length about fashion and various styles of the regions.

Rickard came over and slapped the quest paper onto the table causing Ingrid to quiet down. "Quest accepted. We have until the end of Shine Season.”

Echo glanced over to his allies and Ingrid explained that there were six seasons, each twenty days in length. She pulled a small notepad from her pocket and scribbled for a few seconds before handing it to him. Freezing, Thawing, Shine, Building, Winds, Dark.

Echo nodded and handed it back to her as they got up and headed out.

Echo was ecstatic as they left the Guild Hall behind and entered the light outside.

My first quest in a new world!

He couldn’t wait.

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Rickard silently fumed as he led the group to the center of the town. The oohs and ahhs were infuriating.

Echo was wearing Brightsteel.

Only Lux’s most sacred servants – consecrated paladins – were allowed that privilege.

A role that Rickard had been aspiring to achieve for years.

His owning that gear is blasphemous.

Rickard knew that these heroes from other worlds always got into trouble.

I hope he dies.