I was pretty sure I knew where I was going, but I felt like I was lost. I went to Guild Street and walked past all the major guilds, but of course the Adventurers Guild wasn't there. After meandering through a warehouse district I came up on where the maps had said the Adventurers had set up shop. I didn't know if they were out of the way like this because they wanted it that way or someone put them here. There was nothing but boarded up warehouses everywhere I looked until I turned the last corner.
A few people stood outside a warehouse in the pool of single lamp hanging above the door. It wasn't just the building, the entire neighborhood looked shady and run down. The light revealed a sign of a sword and scroll crossed over a sheild. The sign of the Adventurer's Guild.
No one stopped me as I entered. The space was wide open with a boxing ring in the middle. There were elevated walkways around the edge of the space three levels up. Doors lined those walkways, but concealed whatever was is the rooms beyond. To my left was puggy, balding man sitting behind a desk reading something. He didn't look up. Even when I walked over.
“Excuse me,” I said.
He looked up and started speaking High Common. In my mind heared, “Yeah, Wadda ya want.”
“I want to the join the Guild,” I said.
“Two Silver,” he said.
“Can I get the Quest,” I asked.
He nodded and said again, “Two silver.”
I pulled 2 coins from inventory and handed to him. It dissappeared into his [Inventory].
Rewards: XP, Karma, Membership in Good Standing, the Adventurer's Guild! Do you accept this quest? I clicked accept and pulled another bag from [Inventory]. I removed three slime cores from my victories in the Dungeon. I had to clear my throat as the attendant had gone back to reading. He took my cores, said with a large and genuine smile, “Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild,” then went back to reading. “Excuse me, do you have any more Quests,” I asked. He looked up and said, “Not right now.” He went back to reading. “What about the travel Quests? Learning [Sprint] and binding my [Recall] point,” I asked. “We only do those during the day. Come back in the morning,” he said. He went back to reading. “I heard there were quests for clearing big game up in the mountains, and and bringing in food. What about those,” I asked. “Yeah, they exist, but there assigned to a team already,” he said. He put his book down. I finally had his full attention. “Can I get on that team,” I asked. “Sure. How much [Inventory] space you got?” “One Cubic Stride,” I said. He smiled politely and said, “Come back when you got two or three more to spare. You can run magic food out to the crews. It pays a silver a day. If they like you, a year, maybe two, they might invite you on the team. They do that sometimes, but you gotta be respectful. Most of 'em is over Level 40.” “Level 40? I thought this was a low Level area,” I said, a little shocked. “It is. But it's also got a lot uh high Levels and mid levels. We gotta have sumpin' to do and we got seniority,” he said with a nod. It was sounding more like a retirement area than a newbie area. “So what else pays besides food delivery.” “You mean the job board,” he asked as a pointed to bulletin board with scraps of paper pined to it. I nodded and said, “Yes.” “Nothin.” I looked at the board for moment before asking incredulously, “There are no jobs on that board?” “Not coin. Most of it is 1 XP an hour for farmers. Maybe some Karma.” I wondered what a farmer would need an adventurer for. I remember the cart of straw that came through gateway right after I did this morning. I asked, “So farmers need adventureres because they don't have [Inventory]? We carry there products to market?” “Oh they've got [Inventory]. Probably not enough though. Might be diggin' ditches. Just depends.” “But you don't earn coin,” I confirmed. “Yeah. To many Adventurers willing to do it for free.” Supply side econcomics has reached my magical fantasy world. I had one more hope, “Is there anyone I can learn Magic from? Like a Skill exchange for Adventureres.” He raised his pudgy arm and pointed at two different doors in the back of the room. “Left is Casters, Right is Non-casters. Skills, weapons, information. People come and go all day. Knock yourself out kid.” I half-heartedly thanked him before walking away. As soon it was clear I really was leaving he went back to his reading. There were a few groups of people around the room. Two muscular guys were getting into the boxing ring, with sticks, not boxing gloves. No one paid any attention to me as went to the back room for Casters. It looked like a cross between a workshop and a frat house. There were a few wooden picnic tables in the center of the room. A hap-hazard collection of couches lined the walls. Old-school, ugly, upolstered sofas. It was not a good look. There was a water cooler, and a keg. The keg had sign that said “2 copper” and a bucket for change next to it. Ther were a few small groups of people chatting quietly. Several people sat alone reading or looking around the room. Everyone had some type of signage in front of them. Even I could read the simple statements. They were all some combinsation of “Seeking” or “Offering” and other writing. I recognized symbols for different types of Magic. Most were Elements like [Fire] and [Water]. I saw some Pathways. [Metal] and [Aether]. I was surprised to recognize a person. A white-haired elf sat with his nose in a book. He was in my Karma tour group. His sign said he was seeking [Nature] Aspect and Magical Structures, and offering Elements, Pathways, Spheres, and Facets. I walke up and asked, “It's AernLenninisel, Isn't it?” Without looking up he replied flatly, and the voice in my mind had a flat tone as well, saying, “There is a brief pause in my name. Humans usually miss it. It's Aern'Lenninisel,” he said. When he finally looked his tone change to a lighter one and said, “Oh. It's you. Eric if I recall correctly.” “That's me.” I pointed to the sign, “You looking to trade Magics?” He snapped is book closed with a smile. His enthusiasiasm infected me, causing me to smile back. “What do you have?” He asked expectantly. “Not much right now, but I will have all the Magic Structures in a few levels. I have [Create Flame]. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. He deflated and gave me a slight scowl. “You are sounding very much like a human right now. We elves have found that we usually do not live long enough see human promises fulfilled. If you do not have anything I want, I don't know what we have to trade.” “I don't have much right now, but once I practice I will have all the Magical Structures. There Class Magics for me. I have a spell for each Structure, but there all level 0 so I can't teach them yet. I could teach you the Skill [Teaching.] If you don't have that it would make exchanging Magic with others faster.” He looked a little skeptical and then asked, “If you do not mind, what Class are you?” The smug look on my face had to be insufferable, but he didn't care. “Archwizard,” I said with gravitas. His eyes lit up again. “And what level are you?” “Level 1,” I said. It was just two words, but my tone made I sound like I also said, “Yeah. I'm that guy. I'm that guy that did the thing. Bask my glory.” It's was kind of cheesy, but it worked on him. His jaw dropped and a he blurted out in a hoarse whisper, “A Level 1 Archmage! How much did your parents pay for that?” That stung a little. He stole my thunder. “Nothing, I earned it.” “But...how did you get all the [Limit Breaks]? Alchemy? Tutors?” “No, that was my Boon. It lets me exchange XP for chances at a Stat increase,” I answered. “Oh,” he said. After a second he said. “If that was your Boon how did you waive the Tier 2 requirement for Archwizard?” “I got my Boon at level 0,” I replied flatly. He scowled, starting to turn skeptical again. “How did you get all the Karma for that?” “I earned it. I come from another world. We don't have the System there, so when I got here I had all this Karma to spend,” His enthusiasm was coming back. “You're an offworlder,” he asked. “Yeah, I'm from Earth.” It was fun talking about yourself, but I was starting to run out of secrets. I needed to steer this in a new direction before I outed myself as godspoken again. “What do you say. I could teach you [Teaching], it would make exchanging Magic quicker, and when I learn the Structures, we could work something out. You want to be Archwizard too, don't you? That's why you want to learn them.” “Archdruid of the Zodiac,” He said. Druid not wizard. That was unusual for an elf. Druids needed to [Limit Break] Wisdom, and elves sucked at Wisdom. I guess that's were that 'parents pay for it' line came from. It would have taken some expensive magic for him to [Limit Break] Wisdom. “It does intrigue me. If I have to go back home to Aeseirial my parents aren't going to let me learn the Structures for a few decades. Unfortuneately we're leaving at the end of the month,” he said. Without missing a beat I said, “I'll go with you. You have almost all the Magic I want. I don't mind hanging around elves. I did all day today. Besides I don't think this city is right for me. Maybe I'll do better in an elven city.” He chuckled, “If you were not bored out of your mind, you might be arrested for not being boring enough.” I laughed at his joke. Celestium and I had discussed the slow pace of life in elven cutlure. He continued, “We are actually headed to Everdale next, not Aeseiriral, if you really are interested.” I nodded quickly, “I was always planning on going there. It's just a little sooner than I expected. By then I could at least teach you one of the Structures.” Everdale was more than a hundred and fifty leagues away from Neral City. My original plan had been to get started in Neral City, and then go Everdale when I was high enough level. Everdale was a little shady, but no more than a big city can get. There was Dungeon access, a large population, and even a Magical academy. It also a had a Thieves guild, corrupt adminstrators, and demonic strip clubs. There were shelters in Everdale, but they were almost always full, and not as nice as the ones here. I would need keep my wits about me in the city. It certainly would help to know someone while I was there. A smile slowly spread across his face, and he offered me his hand. “We can try then. How did you earn all that XP to level up your Stats? If you were level 0, how did you kill anything. You can't have used much Magic. Did somebody help you?” “Punching,” I said flatly. “I still think of myself as the Archwizard of Punching,” He made me describe my adventures in the Dungeon before we got to work on him learning the [Teaching] Skill. We both had a high enough Constitution to spend four hours on it before we left the Guildhall. After my four hours of sleep, I got up the next day, used my razor kit, got my porridge at the temple soup kitchen, and came back to start the travel quests. Instead of the balding pudgy man from last a night a buxom young redheaded woman was sitting at the desk. I walked up and asked, “Can I get the travel Quest please,” “Have you joined the Guild yet,” she asked politely. “Yes maam,” I said. She looked at me funny for moment, maybe wondering why I was speaking English, and then continued, “Two silver.” I passed over the money. I had four silver left. I still need to do two more Quests before I left Neral City. If the Map Quest and the [Recall] Quest cost the same amount I would be traveling to Everdale with nothing but coppera and iron bits. It's not good be broke in strange place. I might need to try and find some way to earn some cash. I still needed to come up with a Gold Coin to Soulburn my next Boon. In order to adventure around Elfandril you will need travel skills. The first of these is the ability to [Sprint]. Exaust your Stamina by running once a day for three days. Rewards: XP, [Sprint] Ability, further Quests (this is the beginning of a Quest Chain) Do you accept this Quest With nothing better to do I started running around the room as fast as I could. Given that my Constitution was more than 5 times what it used to be, it took me more than twenty minutes at full speed to wear myself out. I got down to 1 Stamina. It didn't want to go any lower. I had to force myself to keep going. I was gasping for air. A few people gave me strange looks, but most people seemed to believe what I was doing was normal. I think it was five minutes of me trying to run out the last bit of Stamina that I had, but I don't know, because whenever I spent the last of my Stamina, I went unconsious. I woke up laying on a couch in the common room. I don't know who pulled me in here, but I was grateful. Note to self 'Don't pass out because you don't understand the Stamina mechanics.' I checked my HUD, thankful for the everpresent System clock. It was 9:30 AM. I had until noon to get to the temple to join the elven Karma tour group. I could have rested here a little while longer before I needed to leave, but I just use [Recharge Stamina] and I was on my way. I had to plan this better tommorrow. I made to the temple, but Kendra's determined walk was little more difficult to keep up with because of my body being sore from running. The first Quest was another clean up the garbage quest. The second one had us helping in the kitchens. Dinner came a little late. It was acutally a fun day, because I got to hang out with Aern'Lenninisel. The first Quest was halfway done before I thought to ask him why we could undertand each other if Emearia was the only elf with [Polyglot]. Turns out he had an [Enchantment] spell called [Tongues]. One more thing to learn. Kendra announced the second Quest was finished and I Leveled! < You have gained 1 point in all [Stats] and 1 Free[Statistics point] > I certainly heard the bell ringing sound. Apparently so did everyone else, because the room burst into laughter. Even Ann'Lenninisel sniggerd at me. I asked, “What?” After he stopped laughing at me, he said, “Leaving your Leveling notice on public is something a little kid would do. Congratulations though. Was that Level 2?” “Yeah,” I replied. “Do you want to head over the Guildhall and work on the [Teaching] Skill?” He agreed. As we made our way I reset my Leveling notices. Aern'Lenninisal said It was normal for party notification, but public Level notices were a faux pas. When we reach the Guildhall the redhead was gone and the pudgy guy was back. I walked up and and got his attention. It took a second, but he looked up from his reading and asked, “Yes.” “I've got three free inventory slots. You said I could run food out to the crews for a silver a day. Can have the job?” “Sure I can set up you up. We use the Runner's Guild now, but we prefer to use our own people. We'll let 'em know we don't need 'em anymore. Already paid for next week, so you can start the week after next. Sound good?” No, it didnt' sound good. I was leaving the week after that for Everdale. I thought about just saying yes and taking a week of pay when- “I can't wait that long. Thanks though.” On the way to the back I asked Ann'Lenninisel, “I'm short on cash. I need a gold coin to Soulburn my next Boon, and I'm probaly going to need some spending money for Everdale. Any ideas on how I can earn some money?” “You can delve the Dungeon in Everdale. You might have to find a group though. Your temple should have a Quest for you to get one free Soulburn,” he said. “Yeah about that. My temple can't help with that. I'm Lawful Good, and I need to Soulburn Chaotic Evil. I going to go to Fortunia, so that Quest probably isn't an option for me?” He rasied an eyebrow and asked, “What Boon are you going to get?” “I'm unlocking Carnal powers. Is that a problem,” I asked hesitantly. He stopped walking and was quiet for a few moments. “If I had the Evil Karma, I would probably take Carnals, but my mother wouldn't let me get any. She compromised and paid for a lot a [Neutral] Karma quests. I had to have some [Neutral] to be a Druid. I'm [Lawful Neutral], so I guess I am alright with it.” “You guess. I would understand if you didn't want to hang around someone with Carnals. I'm not sure I would.” He though for another moment and said, “I think I would not be right for me to get in the way of your choice. I'm fine with it.” “What about my money problem,” I asked. “It depends on how long you can wait. You humans Level so fast. How long before you Level again?” I did some quick math. I need 5 quests to trigger [A Chance and Greateness]. I had straight twenty-twos in my Stats. I need all my stats to hit 31 so I could Limit Break them. 9 Stats 9 times 5 quests per Stat was 405 quests. I needed few more than that to get Luck up to maximum, but that's a rounding error at this point. If I could average three quests a day that was 135 days or 5 months on Elfandrael, plus the XP to actually Level. “About five months if I can keep getting three quests a day. I've got a while, but want to get this over with.” Aern'Lenninisel backed the math out and said in astonishment, “You need 405 quests to level! That's four times what an elf needs! Where are you going to find that many Quests?” I looked stupefied. “I don't know. I just thought they'd show up. You guys are touring around and getting Quests. Maybe I could go from city to city like you do.” “We take a few months every ten years to do that. It takes a long time to set up and there is a whole group of us. That is why temples in different cities work with us. My parents paid a lot of money for that. Who is going to pay for it? Who is going organize it? Who is going to go with you?” “Good questions,” I said. “But if you don't have answer for me, you're not being useful!” My frustration at seeing my plans unravel was almost worth seeing the slack-jawed look on Aern'Lenninisel's face.