I bounced, like someone whom was warming up for a sprint—
Whack.
“Oww!”
I rubbed at my head and grimaced at the lower than ordinary ceiling. But it was confirmed, I was lighter, or at least felt lighter, that or I was stronger. Next, I did a quick pulse with my feet. Before they were like two little chicken feet prancing on the ground, now it felt like I had the speed of a sub-machine gun, well maybe that’s a stretch, but I was noticeably faster.
There was still a shit tonne of items I needed to sell, and perhaps there was one way I could do it… I would need to join the [Adventurer’s Guild], if I do that, I’ll gain access to their merchants and I’ll be able to sell my items. But, to do that I would need to kill the slimes, which would mean I need muscle…
“Halt! This area is only accessible to those with a permit…” a guard said, blocking my way.
“Yah, yah, yah, or members to the Pirate’s hoo har. Yes, I know. Show me the permits.”
1 Day Pass
2,000a
7 Day Pass
5,000a
Lifetime Pass
50,000a
In another life the Lifetime Pass would be affordable… sigh. A tap of the ‘1 Day Pass’ and the purchase was made.
*Ching*
You have received ‘1 Day Pass’ to the Keep? of Dagon.
He drew and raised his cutlass with a shwing “Welcome [Tomb Raider], test your might in the Barracks and see if you have what it takes to join the militia! Or may haps you want to sell your sell your sword, then the mercenary’s guild be what ye seek!” he made way for me and gestured towards the gravelled path. (Something-something and the mercenary guild)
On left side of the courtyard was the Barracks, it was like a U shaped open keep. A tower was at the middle point of the U, and the buildings extended out from it at the ground floor in two adjacent arms, one with an extra turn, in the open courtyard were archery targets, straw dummies, and some kind of obstacle course.
On the other side of the courtyard sat the Mercenary Guild, it was more of a rectangular building, but the main part was made up of a large hall that stretched from the front door to the back wall, where there were several doors leading out into the city. The hall had many pillars supporting the roof, which gave it a very different feel than the barracks, the Guild Hall, as it was called by the mercenaries. There were several doors leading off from the main hall, including the one leading into the Guild Leader's office.
With a few mercenaries under my command I might stand a better chance at joining the adventurer’s guild, more importantly if I get a Holy Knight or Mage then maybe I can use that teleporter, who knows.
The room itself was filled with a lot of bookshelves and desks, most of them occupied by guild members doing paperwork or reading.
A small group of people stood outside the main entrance talking amongst themselves, one of them with the Guild Leader title, when I examined him. He was a tall man who looked like he'd been working hard all his life, he wore a green cloak over his armour, and had long grey hair tied back behind him. His beard was neatly trimmed, and he had piercing blue eyes.
"Hi there," I said walking towards him.
"Well met [Tomb Raider], I'm the leader of the Mercenary Guild, if you’re looking to engage our services, no job is too small."
"That's great... can I see your menus?"
“…”
Urgh… “…your services… can I see your services, please?"
A list of the guild's services appeared before my eyes:
─ Mercenaries:
– Providing mercenaries for hire, including those skilled in combat and non-combat roles.
– Provisioning: Provisioning is the provisioning of food, drink, and other supplies needed by the guild.
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– Recruiting: Recruiting is the recruitment of new members for the guild.
– Training: Training is the training of new recruits in combat skills.
When I selected the mercenaries for hire, a new menu appeared showing a selection of available mercenary membership tiers.
─ Mercenary Membership Upgrade:
- Wood: Commoners (100 skill cap) [Free]
- Copper: Professionals (250 skill cap) - (10%) [10,000g]
- Bronze: Professionals (500 skill cap) - (5%) [Quest]
- Iron: Adventurers (Warrior/Thief/Monk) - (1%) [Quest]
- Silver: Adventurers (Knight/Pirate/Mage) - (0.1%) [Quest]
- Gold: Adventurers (Holy Knight/Samurai/Ninja/Holy Mage/Amber Mage) - (0.01%) [Quest]
- Special: ??? - 1 [Random]
The [Wood] tier was the only one highlighted, the rest were greyed out. To unlock the upgrade, it seemed, for [Copper] one needed to pay 10,000 gold, for the rest some quest needed to be completed. Money wouldn’t really be an issue any longer after I pawn the items I'd found from the God's Tomb...
You have gained [Copper] membership with the Pirate's Mercenary Guild.
You have increased your chance to hire mercenaries at the [Copper] tier.
Hmm, cool? Does that mean I have a 20% chance to hire a [Copper] mercenary?
In the [Hire Mercenaries] there were two options, either 1 crystal to hire one mercenary or 10 crystals to hire ten mercenaries.
…but did I really want to be responsible for some NPCs? Though, it’s not like they had a soul, right???
I flicked the mid-air button.
“You won’t be disappointed,” the Mercenary Guild leader said, “follow me this way.”
He led me into an adjacent room with a summoning circle in the centre.
“Stand back!” he cautioned.
Blinding lights skittered into existence, they looked and sounded like a bunch of laser cutters, and wherever the light burned something materialistic was left in its place.
The lights did their job and finally revealed a naked male [Human], he was a little taller than I was, had a dark brown skin which matched his hair. But that wasn’t the end of it, the light continued their work and fashioned the NPC with a black leather jerkin and trousers, complete with a pair of black boots. He looked me in the face.
"Sir, I've been a gardener for twenty years now. I learned how to grow all sorts of plants from my father, who before him learned it from his father," he said. "My job is to make sure that you have as much food in your pantry as possible."
James Burwook
─ Race: Human
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Gardeneering
─ Upkeep: 100g
What am I supposed to do with a Gardener???
Would you like to change their name?
Hmm, umm, nah.>
The next one popped out, and I let him say his spiel.
"Sir, my family has farmed this land for generations! We've used every tool available over the years to improve our crops!" he exclaimed. "To think that you would ask me to help improve yours makes me proud beyond words!"
Arnold Braxton
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Male
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Gardeneering
─ Upkeep: 100g
Next was Kae Woo a frog-man, he wasn't a commoner like the first two, he had the samurai class. He looked at me with his big rectangular pupils.
"Well met, master. I am Kae Woo, the best blade dancer in all of middle Tis'Garath, what you Northerners call Panacea. My mother taught me the ways of the sword when I was but a tadpole; she passed away when I came of age and left me her legacy – but more than just an inheritance of skills, she also gave me the gift of philosophy."
Kae Woo
─ Race: Demi-frog
─ Sex: Male
─ Class: Samurai
─ Skills: Great-Katana, Katana, Polearm, Archery, Evasion, Parrying, Running, Riding, Swimming
─ Upkeep: 100,000g
I averted my eyes as best I could because the next one was a tall, slim girl with long blonde hair, when I looked again she wore a green dress and had a nice smile that spread into dimples. She was another commoner but with the herbalist skill.
"Hi, I'm Margery Reid,” she said, startling me, which made me realise I must have been staring for far too long. “…a simple forest girl. I'm not very good at talking or writing, but I can show you how to make salves if you want."
Margery Reid
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Female
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Herbalist
─ Upkeep: 100g
"Hi, I'm Giselle Soames, I'm here because I want to learn about [Anatomy], and I can't do that back in my little village."
Giselle Soames
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Female
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Anatomy
─ Upkeep: 100g
"Hello sir, I'm a macer, but I need some extra money on the side, I can use clubs in my club fighting bouts and such, but I'd like to try something different. The names Matilda."
Matilda Homes
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Female
─ Class: Professional*
─ Skills: Mace
─ Upkeep: 1,000g
A little Black cat looked up at me and… “Meow?”
Meowmix
─ Race: Cat
─ Sex: Male
─ Class: ???
─ Skills: ???
─ Upkeep: ???
Before I could even question what the heckle was going on he ran between a young female mercenary’s legs.
"My name's Elise Cooper,” she said. “You know, I'm a bit of a geeky person myself... I just love debating things, and I need to practice my debating skills, so I thought maybe I could help you out a bit."
Elise Cooper
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Female
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Debating
─ Upkeep: 100g
"I heard your town needs someone to build stone buildings and other structures," she said. "That's where I come in, building stones is what I do and I'm pretty good at it too."
Jan Tenley
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Female
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Stonemasonry
─ Upkeep: 100g
"I'm Trey York, I'm a gamer. I know this might sound weird, but I love to play games. In fact, I plan on challenging the champion of the biggest gaming tournament in the world, the World War of Dragons Tournament, just to see if I can win it. But right now, I'm down here trying to make enough money to get there..."
Trey York
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Male
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Gaming
─ Upkeep: 100g
"Are you looking for someone to explore caves?" she asked. "That's what I do best, and I'm really great at it, too."
Avelina Radcliffe
─ Race: Human
─ Sex: Female
─ Class: Commoner
─ Skills: Spelunking
─ Upkeep: 100g