Clarity accepted the status card and examined it closely, finding it covered in surprisingly simple enchantments. She then slipped it into her sleeve and nodded back to Lucy, adding “Thank you for all of your help.”
“Huh, wait a second” Amy said from the side as she put away her book “That robe I gave you didn't have any pockets. Where'd you put your status card?”
Clarity lifted her left hand with a small flourish, allowing the sleeve to fall away and display the status card floating gently within her left forearm.
“Wow, I'm jealous. That's so convenient” Amy grumbled. “Anyways, now that you have your card, how about a small tour?”
“First is the contract board.” Amy walked over and gestured to a large board with hundreds of slips of paper covering it. “This is where most new adventurers get their quests. The paper should tell you what needs to be done and how much payment you'll receive for completing it. If you see one you like, you can take it to the receptionists and they'll tell you if there's any additional information you need to know. Ah, the guild also supports personal requests, if a client wants to hire someone in particular, but that's not something for a new adventurer to worry about!”
“Over there” she pointed at a small cafe with a bar on the other side of the room “is the mess. They have some pretty good food and drinks. They also give away gruel for free to new adventurers, if you're hungry. It's not very good, but it's filling.”
“I don't eat” Clarity refused.
“Ah, I see, well then, over there” she pointed to a door leading away from the main room “is the guild housing. Most adventurers find a place of their own as soon as they can afford one, as the rooms are quite cramped with four bunks to a room, but if you need somewhere to sleep they're free for new adventurers.”
“I also don't sleep.” Clarity maintained her poker face as Amy stopped and stared like she wasn't sure if she was being messed with.
“I see... and outside, you've already seen the training and exercise grounds.”
“Mmm...” Clarity nodded slowly before adding “I also don't exercise.”
“Okay! Now I know you're messing with me!” Amy exclaimed, pushing Clarity's shoulder in annoyance.
“Heh” Clarity let out a small laugh.
“Fine! I guess you don't need to know where the library is either, right? Are you going to say 'I also don't read' to that, too?” Amy groused.
“No, no, I can read just fine. Please lead the way” Clarity requested politely.
“Hmph. Fine. But only because I'm such a kind and helpful soul” Amy stated with her nose in the air. She turned and lead the way to an average door leading away from the main hall. Opening it, she revealed a cramped room that looked like a large closet, with a small bookshelf filled with books, two small tables, and a dozen wooden chairs crammed inside. The walls had no windows but magical lamps lined the walls, providing an even lighting experience for the entire room.
“This is the beginner's library. As a new world training branch, our beginner's library has books on the guild's history, the history of magic in general, basic magical and monstrous knowledge, and basic methods to increase one's strength. Anyone can come inside and read, but you can't take books out without paying a fee” Amy explained.
“New world training branch?” Clarity asked curiously. 'Finally, a chance to ask about my old world!'
“Oh, that's right! You're a monster so you wouldn't know. The world we're on now used to have no magic. No monsters, no fireballs, everybody was super weak and basically crawled around everywhere, but because there weren't any great threats they hardly ever got killed. Although, some of the natives like to brag about how great their electric magic was, so it's best to just nod and humor them. Now that magic and monsters have arrived, we have to teach them how to survive, so that's why everything around here is geared towards teaching complete newbies who don't have any common sense.”
“I see, that sounds interesting. I'll have to try asking some of them about it” Clarity said nonchalantly.
“Mhm. It really is!” Amy agreed “Can you imagine a world without magic? It's almost unbelievable, but up until recently that's exactly what they had to live with!”
Despite wanting to run out and start interrogating people about all of these changes, Clarity decided her first priority was to fix what Amy had already pointed out, a lack of common sense. “For now I'd like to look over some of these books.”
“Sure thing!” Amy agreed “If you need help, you can ask one of the receptionists to find me or Kevin, there's always someone at the desk.”
Clarity browsed through the bookshelf as Amy returned to the main guild hall, finding no rhyme or reason to the order in which the books were sorted.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
'Well, no place to start but the beginning!' Clarity thought, plucking the top leftmost book from the shelf. 'Prominent figures of the Adventurer's Guild, huh?'
Clarity lost track of time as she steadily chipped away at the collection of books. Other adventurers would enter from time to time, some to acquire the knowledge freely offered by the guild, and many others simply to ogle the monstrously beautiful creature that had taken up residence in the library. Fortunately, none went so far as to interfere with Clarity's own search for knowledge, and Amy regularly dropped by to clear out the gawkers.
…
“Hey Clarity, you okay in here?”
“Yes Amy, I'm fine, just reading The Top Ten Magical Disasters of Recorded History.”
“I see. Hey, you lot, what are you doing? If you're not here to read, then go train or something! There's not enough room for you to loiter around doing nothing.”
…
“Clarity, are you still okay?”
…
“Just checking to make sure there's no problems.”
…
“Still in here?”
…
'Does Amy need to check in on me that often? Is she keeping a close eye on me because I'm a monster?' Clarity wondered, getting up to return her latest book to the shelf and find another.
The Effects of Magic on Underwater Civilizations turned out to be far more interesting than she had expected. While many of the niche spells described in the book would never be a necessity for Clarity, being a non-breathing entity herself, it was still far more instructive than most of the books here.
'Amy may have undersold just how many books focused on the guild's history.'
Nearly three quarters of the collection verged on propaganda, describing in great detail the many ways in which the guild had proven itself a force for good in the worlds. Especially prominent were detailed accounts of the generous aid offered by the guild to new worlds who were unfamiliar with mana.
Clarity now knew exactly how much each new training branch cost the guild, at least three thousand gold in startup costs and another two hundred per year for the first decade before it started recouping losses, and that each new world would receive, on average, a dozen branches free of charge. The numbers had been repeated so many times, in various different books, that she wouldn't be able to forget it even if she wanted to. 'If only I knew how much a gold was worth, that might make it even more impressive.'
Clarity ran her hand over the bookshelf containing hundreds of books and came to a startling realization. There were no new books here. Glancing around, she saw several piles of books left out on the tables by previous readers, and moved to pick them up. Habitually re-shelving them, she read the titles as she went, looking for something new.
Monsters and Magical Plants? Already read.
Treasures: How To Find Them? Read.
Cults: Ripley's Recommendations? Read.
A Goblin Fetishist's Greatest Accounts? Unfortunately for Clarity's sanity, read.
Clarity finished putting them away and confirmed that there were no new books left for her to read.
'Huh. Just how long have I been in here?'
----------------------------------------
Esmeralda worried that something had happened to her new friend.
Two days ago, Clarity walked into her shop and showed more interest in five minutes in her enchantments than anyone else in this town had shown since she moved here. Sure, they loved the effects, and gladly paid for them, but they weren't interested in how they worked. Maybe that was why Esmeralda thought of the odd slime woman as a kindred soul.
The guild shouldn't have done anything to her. The guild master had given his tacit approval for her presence, and the two employees who escorted her seemed nothing but friendly. Besides, Esmeralda believed that Clarity was quite strong and would be able to defend herself if the guild tried anything underhanded. At the very least, she shouldn't be easy to get rid of, which would make the guild think twice about antagonizing her
Despite all that, it had been two days and Esmeralda had yet to hear a peep from Clarity. 'She said she would come back and look at my enchantments... I don't think she was lying about her interest, so something must have happened!'
That's why Esmeralda found herself standing outside the guild hall on this sunny summer morning, to find out what was going on with her friend. She grimaced at the adventurers running around the field in full gear, dodging obstacles, striking training dummies, and sparring with each other. 'It's so hot out here, I should have brought a cooling enchantment'
Mustering up her courage, she walked inside and headed straight for the reception desk. “Excuse me, I'd like to speak to the guild master, please.”
“Miss Esmeralda, was it?” a blonde woman behind the desk asked. “Please wait for a moment while I inform him.”
It only took a couple of minutes for Esmeralda to be ushered upstairs and guided to the guild master's office.
“Hello Miss Esmeralda” Springroot greeted “I hope you're okay after that whole mess earlier? To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I... I am” she stated nervously. “I... I want to know what... what did you do to Clarity?”
“Huh?”
“She... You said she was fine! But now she's disappeared! I haven't seen her in two days! What did you do to her?” Esmeralda stomped her small foot to punctuate her displeasure.
“... Huh?”
“Ah, I think I can answer that question” the receptionist cut in from her position by the door. “After Miss Amy and and Sir Kevin had me induct her into the guild two days ago, they showed her to the beginner's library. As far as I know, she still hasn't left that room. It has caused a surge of adventurers wanting to enter the library, just to get a look at the mysterious goo creature.”
“What? Did anything happen to the library?” Springroot quickly asked with concern.
“No Sir, she's just been reading the entire time.”
“Oh. Oh! That makes sense!” Esmeralda stuttered, looking down. “I... I'm sorry, I didn't know. I... I shouldn't have accused you like that. I'm really sorry.” 'I knew I shouldn't have made a big deal about this! Now I've made such a fool of myself! Of course Clarity is able to take care of herself!'
“It's okay” Springroot assured her. “Anyone could have made that mistake. Who could expect somebody to spend two days straight in a library?”
“Ah? Really?” Esmeralda staggered. “But I used to do that all the time back home...”
Springroot remained silent, unsure of how to reply to that admission.
“Would you like me to tell her that you're here?” the receptionist asked.
“No, no!” Esmeralda denied. “I wouldn't want to interrupt. I know what it can be like to get lost in a good book! I'll just go now. Thank you again for your time.”