On a hot and blistering sunny morning, a man cloaked in a simple, brown mantle stepped into the town of Aermagh. The young man had shimmering blue hair and average looks, and even though the mantle was slightly baggy, it was easy to see that the young man had a slim figure giving him a scholarly look when combined with his delicate features.
The young man asked several locals for directions and began walking towards a large building with many armor-clad men and women walking in and out. The large building looked clean and well-maintained. The atmosphere that it exuded was welcoming and homely. A modest sign hung at the entrance of the building with the words "United Guild" written on it.
Upon entering the large building, the young man looked around before joining the queue to a burly, fearsome-looking receptionist with three long scars across his face. The young man went over because the queue was the shortest.
"Welcome to the United Guild. My name's Wiatt. How may I help you, sonny?" The fearsome-looking man asked with a moderately soft voice and a friendly tone when the young man had reached the receptionist's desk.
The contradicting image, voice and tone startled the young man for a split second before he replied calmly, "hello, I'm Braiten. I would like to register as a member of the United Guild, please."
Seemingly delighted for some reason, Wiatt started unloading information with a more enthusiastic voice.
"Of course, of course. As long as you're not a criminal, the United Guild would welcome you with open arms. Adventurers and mercenaries are open to all, and you're in luck as we currently have vacancies among the auxiliary members as well. Adventurers take care of miscellaneous tasks from gathering resources to scouting to fending the town off from monsters. Mercenaries are given tasks that involve humans, from helping the guards enforce laws in town to escorting merchants to subjugating bandits. Auxiliary members are those like myself and take care of administration within the guild. The guild also provides mentors for newcomers at a price. Your mentor will teach you the basics for a month. It's up to you if you want it or not, but it's highly recommended regardless of the position you want. What would you like to register as?"
"Adventurer, please. In case you would deter me due to my looks, I'm a cultivator."
A layer of qi surrounded Braiten for a moment before disappearing as quickly as it came. This indicated that Braiten had reached intermediate cultivation. Considering his youthful looks, this feat was praiseworthy. Most around their twenties would be in the eighties and nineties of the basic cultivation tier.
Nodding, Wiatt gave Braiten a paper to list his personal information. Braiten filled all of the places carefully, leaving out his family name but truthfully mentioning that his parents were missing. Braiten also noted that he would like to hire a mentor. Finishing up with the paper, Braiten handed it over to Wiatt and was made to make an oath to the Heavenly Way that the information that he had provided was the truth without hiding anything damaging to the guild.
The glow originating from the oath faded away peacefully, indicating that Braiten was indeed honest about the information provided and did not hide anything malicious. Wiatt scanned through the paper while feeling satisfied, but was surprised as Braiten's nearly completed personal information indicated that he was of common birth. As a person of common birth, reaching an intermediate cultivation by twenty without the rich resources of high birth meant that his cultivation talent was quite high. Someone with his accomplishment in cultivation should be drawn into the guild and carefully nurtured to become quality manpower that the guild needed. Should his talent be known among martial sects, a first-rate martial sect would definitely invite him with open arms. If he does not join a first-rate sect, the second-rate sects would use all sorts of methods to forcefully make him join. He might even be killed in the process.
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"Alright, everything's in order. Your guild plate will be out by noon, tomorrow. The guild plate does not cost anything at the moment, while the cost of hiring a mentor is one gold. The cost can be taken out of your earnings throughout the duration of the month, so there is no need to pay immediately. However, if you decide not to continue to be a guild member during the one month, you will be required to pay in full in addition to 50 silvers for the guild plate. If you'd like to pay the one gold mentorship fee now, this is your chance."
Braiten hesitated for a moment, and ended up digging around his pockets before forking up a gold to the surprised Wiatt. One gold, while not a large sum, was not small either. A month of work as a beginner adventurer or mercenary was just barely over a gold unless you were lucky enough to attain an easy, highly paid task. It was also worth three months of wages as a beginner auxiliary member. Work outside of the guild typically resulted in needing a year or two to earn that amount.
Knowing that Braiten had not committed crimes to earn that goal due to the oath, Wiatt felt somewhat sympathetic as he thought that Braiten worked extremely hard before trying to become a guild member. To have earned the necessary expenses for a mentor before starting out showed that Braiten seriously researched and worked to become an adventurer. Most who paid the one gold beforehand tended to eventually turn out to be the best adventurers they had in their guild branch.
Accepting the gold coin with one hand, Wiatt leaned over the counter and spoke in a quieter voice, "kiddo, just a small warning. Be careful when you show that you're of the intermediate tier. With your age, that kind of talent will attract trouble when martial sects know that you are unaffiliated with any powers. Now, take care, boy."
A little touched by the burly receptionist's concern, Braiten nodded and made his way out of the United Guild building. He asked several guild members for directions to a decent inn and was given quite a selection. Choosing the closest one, he made his way there.
Along the way, Braiten mused to himself, "Aermagh's atmosphere is really good unlike many of the other towns. As a frontier town, everyone has to work together. Perhaps this would be a new home for me. It's been a hundred years since dad and mom disappeared. I wonder where they are now..."
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Author's notes:
Just a slight introduction for the start of this arc. I will be writing this story with a style similar to those writing fantasy/magic. However, I aim to use the normal xianxia/martial arts elements in combination to produce an interesting(hopefully) story.
By the way, did you guys notice? Besides town names(which were from a name generator), I have chosen each character's name based on their meaning to relate to the character's personality, role or background.
Edit (07/05/2016): Most of the story remained the same. I have corrected quite a number of mistakes that had not been pointed out before while changing a few sentences better the flow of the story.