Zack walked into the Adventurers Hall; it was a bit disappointing. About halfway into the room there was a long wooden counter with papers stacked at each end. Behind the counter sat the same women from the Dragon’s Eye tavern. Behind her was some shelves and three doors. To his right was a giant board labeled Quest Posting. In the corners there were various racks with advertisements. The room smelled like new paint and smoke.
As Zack approached the counter the women greeted him in a boisterous and unexpected manner.
She said with an entirely too cheerful voice, “Well hello sweety, thanks for visiting the Vinstra Adventurers Hall! We are glad you stopped by. What can I help you with today?”
Zack just stared at her for a moment. He wondered if the women had a second personality or maybe a stroke.
She stared at him as the awkward moment stretched on. Finally she said, “Are you feeling ok hun?”
Zack realized he had not said anything and replied, “uh yeah, no I am good. Um didn’t you just serve me breakfast like five minutes ago at the Dragon’s Eye?”
The woman laughed, “Oh no sugar, that is my twin sister Vila, my name is Vita. We get that all the time.”
Zack gave a nervous laugh, “Um yeah you look alike but you have already said more to me in one minute than she did the entire time I was there.”
Vita smiled and winked, “Yeah seems I got all the personality in the deal. Now what can I do you for?”
Zack paused at the turn of phrase, he thought, did she just hit on me or was that a quaint turn of phrase. She is a lot older than me. Ok I am being extremely dumb here. Let it go.
After another awkward moment Zack responded, “I am here to do some adventuring. Maybe finish a quest or two. Just travelling through and thought I would get some work in. Sheriff Taynor suggested I stop by here.”
Vita responded, “Old Wills is a sweetheart. Have you ever ‘adventured’ before.”
She put the word adventure in air quotes. She seemed to sense Zack had no idea what he was doing.
Zack stumbled through his words and finally spit out, “not really, and by not really, I mean never. Honestly, I have no idea what I am doing.”
Vita gave a warm smile, “let me guess, left home to see the world and test your metal against some monsters. Maybe get some loot and level up. Who knows if you are lucky, you could be a hero or something?”
Zack gave a sheepish grin, “Is it that obvious?”
Vita replied, “Well, I have been running adventuring halls for a while. It is a little unusual out here in the middle of nowhere for a person like you to come along. However, in other adventuring halls I see people like you every day with big dreams and no idea what the world is really like. No offense of course.”
Zack thought, you have no idea how right you are!
He replied, “that’s fair, I am here to work hard and learn.”
Vita said with gusto, “well that is the right attitude.”
After another awkward moment Zack said, “so, how does this work? How do I select or get selected for a quest? Is a quest the best way to go? Should I just get a job? I am not…”
Vita interrupted Zack, “Ok sweety I am going to need you to breath for a moment. I will help you find the right opportunity. Let me take a look at you. Do you mind if I read your status and details to get a better idea of who you are?”
Zack froze for a moment as a prompt appeared asking if he would allow Vita to scan him.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
ALLOW VITA TO SCAN YOUR BASIC INFORMATION
YES OR NO
What is considered basic information? At first, he was nervous but realized that he needed to trust the process that Paxton worked out for him. He selected yes. The prompt disappeared and he suddenly had the feeling of someone watching him very closely.
Vita commented, “Hello Cor Tighe! Very nice to meet you! Oh wow, a level nine rogue. Good with a bow staff and a little healing magic. Nice balance of stats with above average hit points.
Zack thought, Good with a bow staff? What was that about? Healing magic, I don’t know any healing magic. Dammit I need to read my profile in more detail before I go dumbassing around town.
Vita was looking at him clearly waiting for a response as if she asked him something.
Zack felt his face flush and said, “Um sorry, what did you say?”
Vita repeated, “I am impressed how balanced most of your stats are. Most idiots bulk up in strength or intelligence only to learn the hard way later it is a bad idea. Someday you will have to tell me how you got your hit points so high at a young age.”
Zack responded without thinking, “Are they high, what is normal?”
Vita paused for a moment, then with a quizzical look on her face she said, “didn’t you go to primary school?”
Zack trying to keep his nerves responded, “Um yeah, but that was a while ago, not the best student. Never mind, anyways, um what quest are you thinking suits me?”
Vita replied, “Right” in a long-drawn-out fashion with a look on her face like, I am not sure this guy is all there. “So, I have a couple of options for you. There are a few minor quests you could probably do by yourself. However, if you are as green as I think you might be, I think you should join a team. My niece and her best friends are in their early twenties and starting their own adventuring team. They just so happened to be looking for a rogue and a healer. They are coming here any moment to file their paperwork. I would be happy to let her know about you.”
Zack paused, he never considered joining a team. He thought, it probably would be safer to work with a team. But it would suck to have to pretend to be this level nine rogue all the time.
In the end Zack was tired of being alone. Other than Paxton he had not spoken with anyone in several weeks. It would be good to make some friends.
He said, “Let’s give the team approach a try, It would be good to make some friends in the area.”
Vita clapped her hands and said, “great, this will work well for both parties. They should be here any moment. I have some paperwork for you to register with the Vinstra hall. Let me get you set up in our waiting area and you can get registered as an official adventurer of Vinstra!”
Vita led Zack to the far-left door, she opened it up into room set up like a lounge with dining tables. It smelled like pastries and coffee. It was much larger than Zack expected. It had maps of the area on the walls. I one section there was pictures of present and past adventurers of the year. In the corner was a memorial to a lost adventurer.
Vita gave him several pamphlets to read and at least twelve documents to sign.
Vita said, “help yourself to some tea or snacks, let me know when you are done reading the material and signing the paperwork. I must warn you the document will not accept your signature until you have actually read the material. I will let you know when my niece Sophie arrives with her friends.”
Zack nodded already engrossed in the reading as Vita exited and shut the door to the lounge. He ruefully thought as he looked at all the reading and paperwork, good to see bureaucracy and human resources paperwork is alive and well in Vinstra!
Vita walked across the hall to the door on the far right. She knocked as she walked in.
Vita said, “Wills, that boy you met at the tavern, Cor, is in the lounge filling out paperwork.”
Tay looked up from his desk, “Good, good. What did you think of him?”
Vita shook her head and said, “I think he is probably alright. I scanned him, nothing unusual except for higher-than-normal hit points.”
Tay asked, “How high”
Vita answered, “225”
Tay asked, “what level?”
Vita replied, “Only nine.”
Tay whistled, “that is pretty high for level nine, I didn’t hit 200 hit points until level 20. I wonder how he got them so high so fast?”
Vita responded, “That is the weird thing, I asked him exactly that. He seemed puzzled and asked me ‘are they high and what is normal’.”
Tay said sarcastically, “like he really didn’t know the answer to that question? Didn’t he go to primary school?”
Vita laughed, “I know right, that is exactly what I asked him. He changed the subject. Kind weird. However, I have a good sense of people and he is not a bad person. I can see his aura and it is not malicious or deceptive.”
Tay scratched his chin and looked out the window. “I got a really pleasant but strange vibe from him in the Tavern. I wondered if he was a spy for the crown.”
Vita shook her head, “I don’t get that vibe from him at all. The only clear vibe I get is he has no idea what he is doing. The thing that doesn’t make sense is how can he be so naïve with such balanced stats and high hit points. It’s almost like someone who understands how magic and adventuring works, just made up a person and let them loose on the world.”
Tay laughed, “If that is the case we have much bigger problems on our hands. Let’s just watch him for a while and see what he does. His actions will tell us who he is and what he wants.”
Vita agreed as she looked back at the front door. Her niece and friends were just walking in the hall.