Tom stretched out on the table, using his hands as a pillow. Mike sat at the table properly, rolling his eyes at his friend as he pulled out a book. It had only been a few months since the two joined the Adventurers Guild. And yet, they had quickly become known. They weren’t famous. Few outside the Guild itself would recognize them. But those who visited the Guild regularly, or were of the Guild, knew them to be very capable, very dedicated young men.
Every day, they would come into the Guild Hall, pick one of the more difficult Jobs for their Rank, and complete it. Just the two of them. When most Adventurers joined parties of six or seven. If they completed the Job before the Guild closed for the night, they would come back and take another.
The two had rented a small apartment that was marketed to Adventurers. It was very small, barely enough room for two beds and a desk. It was however cheap, and the two young men rarely spent any time inside unless they were sleeping.
Using the money from the Jobs, they purchased better gear and even training.
Tom now knew a Taunt Ability. It had both a short radius and duration. However, for most Monsters, once you had their attention, it was yours. The young warrior also had javelins. He only had four, and they were short, but they were heavy. Perfectly capable of doing serious damage. Instead of the patchwork of leather and chain, he now wore full chainmail with plate shoulders, van braces, shin guards, and a chest piece that covered only his upper torso.
Mike had taken lessons from an experienced Wind Mage and was now able to manipulate the wind to a much greater degree, even enough to sense large shapes. He was able to create much thinner, faster, and numerous Wind Blades. Or he could create a wall of wind capable of pushing back light Monsters, which he used to prevent Tom from being overwhelmed. Though there had been a few occasions when the Wind Wall also caught Tom. Mike now sported a full suit of leather armor, all designed for ease of movement. They even managed to save enough money to purchase a staff.
Staffs, like wands, or even the rare Grimoire, were Focuses. Tools that enhanced the Magic of the user. It could make the spell stronger, or faster, or could even provide an increased Mana Regeneration. And if the Focus was attuned with a specific School of Magic, its effect was increased even more so. The more broad the focus, the less the increase.
Mike had only been able to afford a general staff. Staffs were the cheapest of Focuses, and even the general staff had cost four Gold, most of their coin. Yet its effect was immediately noticed. His Spells were roughly twenty percent stronger. Normally, such a sudden increase would make it difficult to control the spell, but the staff also helped with that, so besides the increase in power, there wasn’t much else.
Currently, the two young men were waiting at one of the tables at the Guild Hall. They had been asked to meet with the Guild Master. The Guild Master was basically the one that ran the Guild Hall. Mike was concerned about how the meeting would go, as the Guild Master had the authority to ensure they never did Guild work again.
They had already been waiting for two hours. Tom had already cleaned and oiled his equipment, something he rarely had the time to do. And Mike had already finished one book about the History of Enchanting, and started on the next in the series. Normally, they would be out hunting for the Job’s prey and Tom would already be splattered with their blood.
However, while Tom rested, he didn’t sleep. His mind was still planning. The staff had drained their funds, but had already proven its use several times, allowing them to take higher paying Jobs and complete them quickly. Their next big purchase would also be for Mike, but would service Tom more. A Healing spell. Mike had found a Mage willing to teach him a basic Healing Spell, for ten gold.
The mage had been completely upfront about the spell. It was a slow spell, meant for use after a battle. And for the more serious injuries, it would only be capable of providing First Aid. However, Tom believed that it would be enough for their needs. Currently, whenever he received an injury, they were forced to end their hunt for the day and return to the city, paying a Healer there so they could resume the hunt the next day. But if Mike knew how to heal, they would not only be more efficient hunters, but would also save a lot of money in the end.
It only needed a very large payment to begin with. A payment they had been forced to pause collecting when the Receptionist told them the Guild Master wanted to meet. As he laid there, Tom wondered what they had done to catch the Guild Master’s eye. Sure, they had progressed to C Rank quickly, and even become Adepts much sooner than most, but in the end, they were still quite weak compared to other members. The only reason they were C Rank was because they were completing so many Jobs so regularly.
Tom suspected that they wouldn’t be able to hunt at all today, and he wouldn’t be surprised if that single day of no jobs was enough to drop the two back down to D Rank.
Eventually, a Receptionist walked over.
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“Sorry for the wait, the Guild Master is ready to see you now.”
Mike put his book back in his satchel and stood up while Tom hopped off the table and grabbed his shield leaning against the table leg.
‘Took long enough.’
The Receptionist was a pretty woman in a white blouse, black vest, and a tight black skirt. As she led the two young men up the stairs, both suddenly found the wooden stairs to be the most interesting thing in existence.
A couple of the older Adventurers chuckled at them. The skirts the female receptionists wore were plenty long enough.
On the second floor, there were four rooms facing the railing, with a hallway running between the two. Down the hallway, there were two more rooms on either side of the hallway, but the hallway ended at one room. The receptionist led the two young men to that room and gently knocked on the dark oak door.
“Come in!” A deep voice shouted from within.
The receptionist opened the door and motioned them in, but did not enter with them, instead closing the door behind them.
The room was the nicest, either of the young men had ever been in, and yet, it was also simpler than they expected from the office of the Guild Master. Enchanted stones, hung from the walls, shone brightly, removing the need for a more flammable source of light. Two comfortable looking couches sat in the middle of the room with a small table between them. All the walls to the left of the door were covered, floor to ceiling, with filled bookshelves.
Mike grew visibly excited, but he controlled himself.
To the right of the door, against the wall, was the Guild Master and his desk. The Guild Master himself was a large man, yet he appeared tiny compared to the mountains of paperwork piled on his desk.
“Please sit, I’ll be with you in a moment.” The man said, not looking up.
Both young men hesitated before they sat down on the left couch. They were both amazed at how comfortable the couch was. They only had to wait for a minute before the older man walked out from behind his desk and joined them. He sat down on the couch across from them with a sigh.
Able to see him better, Mike was able to see that the Guild Master, while he would have been a fearsome warrior, had long since passed his prime. However, something about the man warned him that if he wanted to, the Guild Master was still capable of significant threat.
“Good Afternoon lads. I hear that you have been quite effective at clearing Jobs, despite only being the two of you. How is that?” The Guild Master stared at them intently, but Tom wasn’t able to spot any malice, just curiosity.
“We don’t run into a situation without knowing what we are up against.” Mike said plainly.
“Really? And that time you completed a Job requiring the extermination of an entire Goblin Tribe? Just how did you manage that with just the two of you?”
Tom smirked, but allowed Mike to explain. It had been his plan after all.
“The Goblins were in a cave, sir. We knew that there was only one way in or out, so we just built a few large bonfires with wet wood in front of the opening. I then used my Wind Magic to force the smoke in, while withdrawing the clean air. The few Goblins that came out were weak from breathing the smoke and disoriented, so Tom didn’t have any issue dispatching them.”
The Guild Master nodded approvingly, “You didn’t get any Levels from that did you?”
“No sir.”
“You knew you wouldn’t, but still went for it. Most Adventurers your age would be more focused on leveling up. And with your skill and teamwork, the two of you could become quite high leveled fairly quickly. So if Leveling isn’t your goal, what is?”
The two young men glanced at each other before Tom spoke, “We needed to become C Rank and to get plenty of coin.”
“Ah,” The Guild Master leaned back into the couch, “You want some information from the Guild. Valuable information from the sounds of it. Tell me then, what is it you want to know?”
Both of them hesitated.
“Nothing said here will be mentioned elsewhere.” The Guild Master stated.
“Sir,” Mike still hesitated, but pushed ahead, “Our friend’s family was murdered and branded as heretics. He had been on the run since, going who knows where.”
“And you want to know where he is?”
“No.” Tom stated bluntly, “It doesn’t matter where he is. Because we know him. He will come back.”
“And what makes you so certain?”
“Because whoever killed his parents, kidnapped his sister. Had they simply killed his family, he might have remained hidden away. But with his sister taken like that? He won’t give up.”
“So what is it you want the Guild to find out, if we don’t know already?”
“Three things, in order of importance. One, Where is his sister? Two, who killed his parents and took his sister? And three, why?”
“Those will be quite pricey.” The Guild Master noted.
“Which is why we don’t care so much for leveling. We need the funds and the Rank.” Mike said, wondering where this conversation was going.
“I’ll tell you this, at the very least, that information will require B Rank and at least one hundred gold. However, we should be able to find it. Tell you what, the two of you do a few select Jobs for the Guild itself, and we find the Information you are seeking.”
“Why?” Tom asked, suspicious.
“The two of you are talented, and I believe that you will be much more valuable on more fragile Jobs. Let the full parties deal with the Goblins and Monster issues. While you will deal with the issues that require more of a careful hand.”
“You want us to be your assassins?” Mike asked, immediately on guard.
“What? No! Most of the work I will offer you will be in the city, but plenty will be outside. Some of it might require killing other people, but I’m not going to send you to kill innocent people. Occasionally we get Job Offers that simply require more finesse. Such as locating a certain stolen item. Or tracking certain people. Or even delivery of a precious cargo. If you accept, I’m certain you can build good connections, and because they are more careful Jobs, they will be Ranked and rewarded more generously.”
“So you will just handpick our Jobs?” Tom asked, curious how it would work.
“Yes. Many of these Jobs involve influential people that would rather keep their name off our Job Board. So if we were able to keep knowledge of those Jobs down to just two Adventurers, it would be best.”
The two young men glanced at each other before saying in unison, “We accept.”