Mere days after his reaching level 10, Vittorio was called in for a private conversation with Ochi. This was very much a rarity and he got more than a few curious looks as the two of them left the main hall for a meeting room.

"I'll get right to it", she said as soon as the door closed. "Don't take any quests for now. A [Recruiter] is on their way to talk to you, though I don't know how long they'll be."

Vittorio was confused. "A [Recruiter]? Why?"

"Your class, I assume. Don't get me wrong, you're a perfectly fine adventurer for your level, but you're not outstanding and you've just reached tier 1. There are thousands that fit that description. A unique class though - that's something I can imagine patrons being on the lookout for.

"This [Recruiter] does not work directly for a patron, however. They work for a group who act as go-betweens: They find adventurers patrons may want and set things up. It's an odd business and the big names do their own scouting so people recruited generally end up working for middling patrons for a while."

"So I shouldn't do it?"

"That's up to you, but my advice is to talk to them with an open mind. If they offer you a deal make sure to read everything in detail - some shady [Recruiters] throw in ways to take your money. Don't let them. Future patrons will pay them, not you. In fact, they should be paying you. And don't be afraid to play hardball either, they're no doubt expecting to sign you for nothing because of your level and then earn big due to your class. If you're uncertain I'll help, but I understand negotiating is one of your class activities so it might be worth it to just duke it out.

And word of advice: Keep this to yourself. Some people would be... unhappy to hear about it."

She gave him a nod and left. Vittorio tried to spend the day with some training, but the constant stream of people wanting a chat and "casually" bringing up the meeting made it nigh impossible. Instead, he headed for the outer city and a tavern Gloria and he had found that had a house bard. Speaking of Gloria, by the time he left the guild hall he'd already decided on two things: He would tell her as soon as possible, and he wasn't taking the deal without her. He understood that there was a real possibility that the two of them would eventually split up, but he had no intention of doing so now, especially not in order to be recruited by some stranger trying to profit off of him.

He caught up to Gloria that evening, and she was overjoyed for him. Vittorio felt a guilty: He'd always been a bit ahead on leveling because he had an easier time doing his non-combat class activities than she did, and now he was being scouted, all despite being an adventurer being her dream and not his. When he told her about his plans to insist on her being recruited as well she protested, but he was adamant: He did not want to go alone, and though he didn't say it, he felt he owed her a great deal.

Training continued to be practically impossible over the next few days - except for training reactions, which the distractions actually helped with - so he spent a lot of time out in the city. He got his armour - leather chest piece, greaves, and skirt, and an articulated metal sleeve - mended and cleaned, and he went to a barber for a haircut and shave, all to make the best possible impression on the [Recruiter].

As it turned out, Ochi was informed via spell a day ahead of his arrival so Vittorio had time to collect himself - and to talk things over with Gloria and make sure she stayed in the building. He also had another conversation with Ochi but she didn't have much to add, reiterating that this would not be his only chance. If things didn't sound or feel right, he should turn it down.

On the day, Vittorio went into one of the meeting rooms to wait in the hopes of minimizing attention. He spent the time waiting pondering his Talent choices - as he'd had no immediate use for them with questing off the table, he'd been taking his time to mull things over.

A firm knock on the door warned him of company, and it swung open to reveal Ochi and a man he assumed to be the [Recruiter]. He was a severe-looking elven man, somewhat pale with short-cropped, light-brown hair combed down and a precisely trimmed beard. The tell-tale, gem-like glitter of the elven people manifested in his turquoise eyes.

"Thank you [Recruiter], that will be all", he said to Ochi who closed the door behind him. His voice was soft, but his words clipped. He strode up to the table and extended a hand as Vittorio scrambled out of his chair. "I am [Recruiter] Avourel. Pleased to meet you, Vittorio Merchant." They shook hands and sat down.

"I do not know what you have been told regarding my business here, but it is incorrect", he said. "I am here on behalf of friends of [Exorcist] Metztona." Seeing the realiziation on Vittorio's face, he continued. "He contacted us some time ago and said you were, at the time, interested in joining our work in trying to solve the problem with the possessions. Are you still interested? If you're not, that perfectly fine."

"Yes, absolutely!"

"I apologize for this, but could you tell me what you feel about what happened to you and about what did it to you? I need to make sure."

Vittorio did not need to think, he'd worked through his feelings enough by then to know what they were. "I feel violated. Victimized. Frightened. And I'm angry. But I also feel a duty to do what I can to stop this, like it's what I should be doing. I don't just want revenge, I want to keep it from happening to anyone else."

The elf nodded. "I believe you. But I need to warn you: This is dangerous. There are misguided people who would want to stop us and are willing to kill to do so. It's happened before. Therefore we work in separate groups, knowing few others and knowing little about what anyone else is up to. Much of the time you will receive instructions without knowing their purpose. I am here because an adventuring team is being assembled, but that is all I know. What I can tell you is that sometimes we - all of us - are asked to do improper things. You may well be told to take a quest and not do it, or deliver information on questgivers. You may even be asked to act outside the law. Are you still willing to do this?"

"I'd have to be a criminal?"

"Not have to, no. But you may be asked to, and you'd be expected to not tell anyone about it even if you refuse. Sometimes things need to be done that can't be done legally."

"I-I can do that."

Avourel looked intently into Vittorio's eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes", Vittorio said firmly. After a moment the [Recruiter] nodded.

"Alright then. We can start discu-"

"Sorry", Vittorio interrupted. "I want Gloria with me."

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The elf's turquoise eyes blinked a few times. "A pet?"

"No! She's a friend. An adventurer. She's a [Fervent Warrior]."

Avourel looked displeased, his face tightening. "No. I came here to recruit you and nobody else. Besides, generally we only accept people who have been directly affected by-"

"She was there! When it happened to me. She opened the door, saw... what had happened, and the spirit used me to talk to her. Said her oath had been fulfilled."

Avourels demeanour softened. "How close are you?"

"We've been best friends since we were kids. She convinced me to get away from my parents and become an adventurer, and we've done all our quests together."

"I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to her, then I'll talk to the person who assigned me to this, and then we'll see."

"Thank you. But just so we're clear: I'm not going without her."

The [Recruiter] nodded, and Vittorio left to get Gloria. Once again, he got a lot of curious looks in the main hall but he got out of there pretty quick by grabbing her and telling her he had something to show her. On the way he, explained the situation in hushed tones. Gloria was shocked but on board. Avourel wanted to speak with her alone, so Vittorio waited outside. Fifteen minutes passed before the door opened again, the [Recruiter] stepping out. "We'll see" was all he said before leaving. Gloria had rather more to say.

"I thought it was just about your class!"

"So did I!", Vittorio protested. "It was only when I met him he said it was about... the other stuff."

"Well", Gloria said, running her hand through her hair, "it would've been nice to know is all. I do agree with you though, I want to help with this. Not sure about some of the things he said but as long as we can say no, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Don't want to do anything bad of course, but maybe it won't be that bad. I know it'll be dangerous, but I just... I can't not do it, you know?"

Gloria nodded. "I haven't known how to tell you since it was so much worse for you, but... It's been eating me up too. Wondering if I could have stopped it if I'd insisted on being in the room, or if I'd gone in when I heard a sound. Looking into your eyes and seeing something else in them, what it said to me... What I'm trying to say is, I don't just want to do this for you. I want to do it for me as well."

Vittorio took her hand and squeezed it. "Together, for both of us", he said.

They told each other about what they'd discussed with Avourel, without going into anything too specific. Gloria's talk had been about the same as Vittorio's except with a bit more about her level and what she was planning. She'd told him she was close to level 10, very close, and while she was leaning towards turning her fervent buff into an aura, the only thing she had completely ruled out was intensifying her emotions. Tarcisio did that, and while it made his buffs much stronger it also made him somewhat emotionally unstable. The [Recruiter] had seemed content with that.

Avourel returned the very next day. He didn't have an answer for them yet, but he said that in the best case for them it would be conditional on Gloria reaching level 10. He was going to push her there. To do so, he requested the Rat Room and got permission, though Ochi would supervise.

"The Rat Room? It's useful but we're kind of past that."

"Together and fully equipped? Probably. However, [Recruiter] Ochimaranthes notes on you to the Free Company make no mention of training under difficult conditions. Gloria Innkeeper, you will be alone without your sword. You may keep the shield - for now. [Recruiter], how many rats would you say to start?"

Ochi considered for a moment. "Two. She has no skills or training for it."

"I can handle more than two", Gloria said.

"Probably", Ochi conceded. "But we'll start with two. No point in going in too hot and you getting hurt right away."

For the first time, Vittorio got to be on the other side of the viewing panel. It was a long, narrow stone room with a window into the Rat Room itself and another looking into the trap where you'd catch the rats. There were also a pair of levers to control the gates. Ochi informed him that they were set up so that at least one had to be down at all times - unless someone broke it, there was no way to turn it into a tunnel. She raised the inner door and a rat poked its head in soon after. It had no lips and its jaw looked crooked.

"Why do they all look... weird?", Vittorio asked. "Other monsters I've dealt with haven't looked like that."

"It's part of their monster trait", Gloria explained. "They're twisted giant rats. It's a fairly common trait, all it does is change a body part or two in a simple way."

She pulled the lever down, trapping two. She gave Gloria the heads-up and opened the outer door.

Two rats was a good call, as it turned out. Gloria dealt with the old charge-out-and-jump tactic by bashing them away, but she had no follow-up. They charged back, she shoved them, and nothing much changed. Gloria realized that and tried going on the offensive by crowding them back toward the wall, but the rats weren't having it and kept trying to rush her. She angled the shield down to keep them closer and tried to kick one but it wriggled out of the way - and realistically, the kick wouldn't have done much. Next time she again forced them into the ground near her and then pinned on with the edge of her shield but abandoned that strategy when the other almost got to her.

The fight was one of attrition. Gloria did win but she was covered in sweat afterwards. "Terrible", Avourel said. "Just awful. You have armour on, use it. Trust it. Again."

She tried, but getting over her training and instinct to keep everything on the other side of the shield was hard. At the same time though, she did realize she couldn't fight like last time: It was slow, exhausting, and thus dangerous as well. While the second fight went faster, that was largely due to her Fervent buff switching to Anger, increasing all her damage dealt, as well as her abandoning attempts to pin the rats and instead just slamming the edge of the shield down on them when she could.

Again, the visiting [Recruiter] was displeased. "You're wearing out your shield arm", he said. "Use the rest of you or I'm taking the shield away. Two more please."

Gloria really, really did not want to do it without a shield. She was also getting sore and grumpy, so out of pure spite she did what he'd told her. After getting them down she pinned one to the ground with her shield and when the other leaped at her she blocked it with her right arm. It began to scratch and bite at the chainmail to no effect while she stomped its friend to death. After that she had to smack her arm into the wall until her passenger let go so she could repeat the process.

"Good!", Avourel said. "That's what you should have been doing all along. Let's take a break."

After Gloria had a chance to take a breather and a drink, they went back at it. It didn't take long for her to get comfortable enough for Avourel to increase it to three rats, though that turned out to be her limit. She'd pin one and then lose control of the other two. Nobody had to step in but she got scratched up pretty badly when one got a claw in under her helmet.

After the Avourel did, as he'd threatened, take her shield away. In return she got a dagger. Vittorio could see the uncertainty in her eyes, far more of it than fighting with a shield and no weapon. The fight was short. The rats came out and jumped at her, and she let one grab onto her left arm so she could stab it with the right. The second rat was scrabbling up her torso and she had to slash at herself to get rid of it.

Though it was the shortest fight of the day, it was also the most taxing. "That was horrible", she said.

"Not at all", Avourel replied. "It was somewhat passable. You need to work on your movements so you avoid the second one, but you were quick and decisive. Again. And this time, focus on your footwork. You don't have a shield so don't pretend that you do."

You know a lot about this stuff", Vittorio said. "Did you use to be a [Trainer] or something?"

"No. I just recruit adventurers and know how to spot their weaknesses, and facing weaknesses is a good way to gain experience. Most people, adventurers and not, level only until they find themselves comfortable with where they are. They stop pushing themselves, testing themselves. They do the same thing over and over and so they stagnate. I don't want to recruit people like that. Your friend clearly hates this. She might even hate me. But she's doing it, seeing the point, and taking advice. That's... let's call it 'not disqualifying' rather than good. Good would have been if you two would have done this on your own."

"I usually start pushing for it at tier 1", Ochi said, clearly somewhat defensive. "Tier 0's need to get a hang of things and an idea of the real world."

"You'd know better than I", Avourel said. "And I'm not saying it's a problem that she hasn't done it, just that it would have shown a certain level of dedication and effort if she had."

In the Room, the second rat died. Gloria had, as Avourel had told her, tried to focus on her footwork but it wasn't good enough. She'd still had to deal with both of them on her. Breathing hard and spattered with blood, she smiled at the window. "I got it. Level 10."