Akil went over to the bar and bought an ale for 2 copper pieces, it would help him blend in as well as give him some smaller coins to use for his everyday needs. He sat at one of the few tables that were unoccupied and slowly started nursing his drink.
He continued subtly observing the people of this world. He noted that the party under the effect of the enchantment spell were nowhere to be seen. He put them in the back of his mind for now and thought about how he had not seen a single race except for humans, he wondered if there were only humans in this world. Although Gathilion had a majority of humans, there was still a wide range of different races that coexisted peacefully for the most part.
If there really were only humans here it would mean that most of the Grand Council would have to conceal themselves or alter their appearance if they needed to come out of Jamiea. Almost as if on queue a message spell touched Akil’s mind. Although it had only been 30 minutes for Akil, time flows differently on Jamiea. For every hour on this plane it would be an entire day on Jamiea. Even still it was quite impressive for Soothseer to have an initial report already, scrying was still limited by the time flow on the plan being scried.
“World is Rendillion, Country is Eglesh Confederacy, current location is northeast of the country. Damerel is the capital slightly south east of central Eglesh.” (Soothseer)
Almost immediately after another message came in.
“Average power, slightly below Gathilion. Average technology, Gathilion from 1700 years ago. Majority race is Human, other races rare and segregated, list in written report.” (Soothseer)
The messages were very succinct due to the limitations of the Sending spell, it was a 5th level spell that was limited in scope because it could reach someone from basically anywhere. His report confirmed a lot of information that Akil had already known as well as gave him some geographical details that he had been missing. It also let him know the average technology level was around renaissance era on earth. although, he had already seen modern conveniences that functioned via magic such as plumbing and lighting. It also meant there were basic firearms.
While it was comforting to know the average power level of the world was safe for himself and his people, there was still someone or something out there that had the power to meddle in the connection between worlds that could bring him to this place. He also couldn’t rule out the possibility of it being some form of god. Gods were dangerous and extremely powerful, even with Akil’s means, fighting one was a very precarious proposal.
He pondered this new information while his drink began to dwindle, it wasn’t too long before he saw Selena come out of the room he was previously in. He could feel his heartbeat quicken as she walked over, he took a deep breath and forced himself back into a meditative state. She came over and stood next to his table.
“Hello Akil! Thank you so much for waiting, I’m sorry for any inconvenience.” (Selena)
Akil stood up and faced her. He was quite a bit taller than her, she barely reached the bottom of his chest. It wasn’t that she was short, she was probably around 5’6” (165 cm) whereas he was almost 6' 5” (195 cm).
“It was no trouble, I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time.” (Akil)
He rubbed his head in an apologetic manner. She put on a bright smile.
“Don’t be sorry, someone needs to take care of the newbies. What do you want to know?” (Selena)
Akil asked for some of the information that he still needed to complete his knowledge of the guild.
“First, why don’t you give me a quick rundown of the guild, its purpose and general function as well as the rankings. I have only heard about the guild in passing before but now I find myself in need of some money to finance the rest of my research and my only real skill is a bit of magic and some basic swordsmanship.” (Akil)
She took a deep breath and began a long speech.
“The Hunter’s Guild is an international, independent organization whose goal is to use its members to take on missions that most governments are spread too thin to take care of. Each hunter is rated based on their prowess. Currently there are a little less than 50,000 hunters operating on the continent of Talendria.”
(Selena)
As she was talking she had walked him over to a large board covered in parchments with different requests on them. She gestured towards the board.
“Anybody can request a mission from the guild, all you have to do is bring your mission to your local branch along with a reward. The guild takes a small percentage of the reward as operating expenses and then grades the mission based on difficulty. They then post it here on the mission board. Anyone can take any mission but they have to place 10% of the reward down as a good faith deposit, if they cancel the mission or skip out for any reason they lose the deposit. It's recommended that you only take missions close to your actual rank. The ratings are based on what an equal rank would be able to complete solo so it's not unusual for parties to take on higher ranked missions." (Selena)
It seemed the person who came up with this system had some business acumen. She didn’t mention it but the guild would almost certainly keep the deposits of any hunters that died on a mission. It was quite ingenious.
She continued her explanation.
“The ranks for both missions and hunters are as follows: Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithral, Orichalcum, Infernum.” (Selena)
He recognized all of the metals except for Infernum, he cut into her explanation.
“What is the average distribution of hunters in each rank as well as their power levels? Also what is Infernum?” (Akil)
She gave him a satisfied look, she was glad he was paying attention and interested enough to ask questions. She replied.
“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of infernum, it’s an extremely rare material. It’s a hard pitch black metal that has the properties of absorbing any magic around it, it has a really strong effect on mages. All existing pieces of it actually came from a large rock that fell from the sky about 100 years ago.” (Selena)
With her description of it Akil actually recognized it, on Gathilion it was called Voidstone and it had also appeared much the same way as it had here, from a meteorite that had fallen from the sky 1200 years previously. Akil had actually done extensive research on Voidstone, to say it absorbed magic was an understatement. It was like a black hole for any type of magical energy. It was a great mystery where it came from, Akil had found more asteroids made of it in deep space so it wasn’t just a solitary meteorite. The fact that it appeared here was fairly suspicious. Unaware of his thoughts, Selena moved on.
“As for the distribution of hunters, about 50% of hunters never move past copper rank, 21% for bronze, 12% for Silver, 9% for Gold, 5% for platinum, 2.8% for Mithral and 0.2% for Orichalcum. There is actually only 2 Infernum ranked adventures on the entire continent of Talendria, in the Holy Empire of Salhaster there’s the Saint Alisten and here in the Eglesh Confederacy we have Yara the Indomidiable. As for their power levels, a Copper rank adventure can use 1st level spells or 1st tier maneuvers, and each rank up can generally use one one level spell or tier maneuver higher. Although it’s possible to be in a lower rank while being able to use the next level or tier if you haven’t completed the test for the next rank” (Selena)
The maneuvers she was speaking of were kind of like spells but only for martials, they were based on different disciplines and were generally an attack, buff or debuff of some sort. They went from 1st tier to 9th tier following the same progression as spells. Instead of having tier 0 maneuvers there were instead stances that gave a variety of bonuses and abilities. Akil utilized stances as well. In fact, due to his heroic powers, he was constantly able to use two stances at once. He generally used stances from his specialty discipline Temporal Distortion, one made him immune to abilities that stopped or slowed down time and allowed him to act twice as fast as normal. The other other made his reactions twice as fast.
Selena finished with a bright smile.
“Did I answer all of your questions? Are you still interested in joining the Hunters guild?” (Selena)
Akil put on his best smile to match hers.
“The only question I have left is what does it take to register?” (Akil)
“Well there is a 1 gold registration fee, then you need to take a practical exam. You don’t get the gold back even if you fail the exam so make sure you are ready.” (Selena)
Akil nodded.
“Thank you very much for all your help. Would you let me treat you to dinner to show my thanks?” (Akil)
She was taken aback at his sudden suggestion, she couldn't hide her look of surprise. For the first time since meeting him, she actively looked at Akil in a more direct manner. He was outrageously attractive, his facial features seemed to be chiseled from bronze and his golden eyes were intense and alluring. He claimed he was a mage but he had a more well built body than most warriors she knew and most of them were covered in scars. Akil’s skin was completely smooth and unblemished. His large chest and defined abs were visible due to his loosely tied shirt.
A deep blush slowly crept onto her cheeks. She looked at the ground and suddenly became very shy. Her hand started absentmindedly playing with her hair and she started shifting her weight between her feet.
“S..s...sure….t..that would…b..be..wonderful ” (Selena)
Even through his meditative state a strong feeling assaulted his heart. She was the cutest thing he had seen in a long time. He was also flabbergasted at his own words, it had come naturally without any thought.
Well it was too late to take it back now. He led her over to the barkeeper, the blush had moved down from her cheeks and covered her entire face and neck, she didn’t look up a single time. The barkeeper took a look at Selena with his eyebrow raised.
“The usual Selena?” (barkeeper)
She was having trouble articulating at the moment so she forced a nod.
Stolen novel; please report.
“And what about you stranger?” (barkeeper)
“I’ll have whatever you would consider your speciality.” (Akil)
“Coming right up!” (barkeeper)
He walked back into the kitchen and quickly came out with a bowl of soup and a plate with a slab of glistening meat that looked like a cross between a porkchop and a steak.
The barkeeper handed them the food and flashed a coy smile towards Selena.
“Have fun you two!” (barkeeper)
They took the food over to an empty table and sat down. They both started eating in painful silence. After a few moments Akil attempted to break through the silence to end the awkwardness.
“Would you like to hear about my research?” (Akil)
She jumped a little at his words and let out a small Huh sound but after a quick recovery she nodded her head.
Akil began talking about the monsters he had fought in the Shadowthicket. Being a researcher was not just a cover, if he claimed to be the foremost researcher on Gathilion there would have been anyone who would dare to deny it. He was able to deduce many things about the monsters just from fighting them and from their anatomy. He had uncovered the names of the creatures by looking through the mission board. Selena started the conversation off reserved but she quickly became passionately involved, even making her own observations based on his findings. She definitely had the inquisitive heart of a researcher.
Before either of them knew it, they had been talking for over an hour, the delicious food long since having disappeared. Akil no longer had any need for eating, drinking or sleeping but that didn't mean he still couldn't indulge nor did it mean he didn't enjoy it.
In the middle of a debate about the diet of the Megaursa (the bear he had fought) Selena's eyes caught on something behind Akil. He turned and followed her gaze to see a handsome but sickly looking man with silver hair and dark green eyes. He was holding a large bag in his hands as he looked around the guild. His gaze met with Akil’s and Selena’s and his face was filled with a bright smile as he waved. Akil looked back to Selena and he saw a gentle smile on her face and a loving look in her eyes. He was assailed by a sharp pain in his heart and pangs of jealousy washed over him.
He had dropped his meditation awhile back because he thought he had regained his composure. He started to regret his decision but he decided not to reactivate it. He needed to wrestle control of his emotions back.
The man had reached the table at this point, the smile never leaving his face. Selena immediately started chastising him.
“Tristan, what are you doing here?! You know the priest says that you shouldn’t over exert yourself.” (Selena)
“I’m sorry, I just thought you were overworking yourself as usual and I was worried you had skipped eating again so I wanted to bring you dinner.” (Tristan)
He looked at the empty bowl in front of her and shook his head.
“It looks like my fears were not warranted for once. I see you managed to eat.” (Tristan)
He placed the bag he had in his hands down on the table. It was at that moment that he noticed that Selena was not alone at the table, he looked Akil up and down and gave him a smile. Selena also remembered that she was not alone and she quickly apologized.
“I am so sorry.. That was very rude of us, this is my brother Tristan. Tristan, this nice gentleman is Akil.” (Selena)
As soon as she introduced the man as her brother Akil’s jealousy was replaced with a strong sense of shame, he was acting like some form of hormonal juvenile. He ignored the new swirl of emotion and stood up and put out his hand towards Tristan. Tristan was even shorter than his sister, he took Akil’s hand weakly and gave it a shake. Akil finally noticed the air of sickness around Tristan.
Akil sensed a strong magical disease afflicting him. It looked like it was slowly wasting him away, Akil could tell that they were only treating the symptoms of the affliction. The disease was so strong that even if they could find someone strong enough to cast the 3rd level spell Remove Disease they would most likely still fail. This disease looked like it would take a level 10 healer to even reach a 75% chance of success of curing it if left untreated for much longer his life would definitely be in danger.
While Akil wasn’t a healer, he gained a heroic ability that gave him access to the more powerful divine spells so he could heal Tristan if he so desired. His logical mind told him it was a bad idea to reveal himself, there was a whole host of problems it would cause but his emotions screamed out for him to do it as a means to impress Selena. His mind was a battlefield, he was momentarily paralyzed with indecision. The NPCs in Jamiea flashed in his mind, he remembered that his decision could put them in danger and that was the final straw that made his logical mind win out.
With his newfound resolution he realized that he was still absently holding Tristan's hand. He let go and gave him a smile.
“Sorry, I can’t help but notice you are suffering from some sort of affliction. I don’t mean to pry but is everything alright?” (Akil)
Selena and Tristan looked at each other then back to Akil with sadness in their eyes.
“Tristan and I used to be in a party together. We discovered a newly formed dungeon out in the wilderness last year. We were so full of ourselves that we thought we could take it on alone but it ended up being way over our heads. While we were there Tristan protected me from an undead and ended up getting bit. We barely managed to escape but since then Tristan has been sick with an extremely persistent disease.” (Selena)
“My condolences, was the local priest unable to handle it?” (Akil)
Tristan shook his head.
“We originally saved up to have the priest cast Remove Disease but it ended up failing. We were going to save up again but the priest said that even if he cast it a couple more times he wasn’t certain he would be able to succeed. He recommended us to a higher level priest in Dameral. It’s why sis has been working so much here at the guild so that we can afford the trip and the payment.” (Tristan)
Akil gave him a pitying look.
“I’m sorry, I wish I could help somehow.” (Akil)
This made Akil feel even worse as he could very much help, in fact, it wouldn’t be difficult for him in the slightest.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m more interested in you. I’ll have you know that I have never seen my sister stay late to eat dinner with a man before, I’ll have you know that she gets tons of offers as well, she practically has to beat them away with her staff.” (Tristan)
Tristan gave his sister a teasing smile. A panicked look appeared on Selena's face and the blush that had disappeared awhile ago burned bright. She managed to mumble out.
“He just wanted to thank me… I didn’t want to be rude and decline…” (Selena)
While she was talking, the blond man with the magic ring from earlier entered the guild with his party and an unknown woman in tow. He scanned the crowd as if looking for someone and his eyes stopped when he got to our group. He marched right over to our table, Selena and Tristian noticed just as they got near.
“Selena, I have been looking for you! I should have known you would still be in the guild.” (Blonde man)
He gave a dazzling smile to Selena, he turned his head and acknowledged Tristan as well.
“Tristan, you are looking much better today, at this rate, you'll be back to fighting shape in no time.” (Blonde man)
Selena gave him an annoyed look.
“Deacon, to what do I owe the pleasure this time, and is that El I see with you?” (Selena)
“A dungeon recently appeared near Cardended. We were going to go among the second second wave to explore it, it has been given a silver rank by the guild. we decided to take El to Cardended since she’d been begging the guild for an escort for awhile.” (Deacon)
He gestured towards the girl behind him who was happily nodding along during his explanation. Her face was rather pretty if not a little plain that along with her straw color hair and hazel eyes would definitely make her stand out among ordinary women.
“We just wanted to find you and ask if you reconsidered our offer, we could use a strong mage like you in our backline.” (Deacon)
“I told you I needed time to think about it Deacon, I haven’t done many hunter missions since Tristan got sick. I want to stay near town to keep an eye on him.” (Selena)
She let out an exasperated sigh, it didn’t take a genius to notice that she had been pestered about this many times.
“Understood, I'll respect your wishes, we just wanted to give you a chance to join this mission, it can be very profitable to be among the first to explore dungeons.” (Deacon)
He gave a look like he gracefully accepted Selena’s decision but Akil could see right through it, his eyes and the clenched muscles on his jaw showed that he was definitely frustrated. Akil could guess that there was some kind of ulterior motive attached to this offer. Deacon gave a slight bow and walked away with the rest of his crew.
After they were gone Selena let out a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry about that Akil, they have been bothering me for a while to join their party. Deacon is very persistent..” (Selena)
“Sister, you mustn’t think about joining those weirdos, I’ve always told you Deacon gives me a bad feeling and the rest of them are like a bunch of zombies that don’t seem to even think for themselves.” (Tristan)
“I know Tristan but the terms he gave me are extremely generous, it might be the only way we can raise enough money to cure you in any reasonable amount of time. That's enough about this, we shouldn’t trouble Akil with our problems.” (Selena)
“I don’t mind, I’m a bit worried though, didn’t he say that he was going to a silver ranked dungeon, wouldn’t that be dangerous?” (Akil)
“Oh my sister didn’t tell you, did she? That's so like her, she's too modest for her own good. My sister and I are actually bona fide silver ranked hunters. We were the highest ranked party in Graycott along with Deacon and his silver ranked party, The Lost.” (Tristan)
He spoke with a great amount of pride, being a silver ranked adventurer was an impressive accomplishment. By Akils estimation that puts them around level 5 or 6. That meant that Selena could cast up to 3rd level spells by herself. He put a look of admiration on his face.
“That's really impressive, someone as young as you is a silver ranked hunter, you really are awesome Selena.” (Akil)
The blush on her face returned with a vengeance with the compliment.
“It’s really nothing, I’m sure that you could do it in a few years if you really put your mind to it, Akil.” (Selena)
“Also, she's not as young as she looks.” (Tristan)
She glared hard at her brother with a look so sharp Tristan could have been dropped dead on the spot.
“Well Akil, as much as I would like to keep discussing your wonderful research, it's getting very late. It's been a pleasure speaking with you, I had a lot of fun. Good luck on your hunter exam, I know you can do it!” (Selena)
She gave Akil a slight bow then looked towards her brother.
“As for you, it's about time you got home to take your medicine…”
She had a smile on her face and her eyes were closed but there was something sinister with the way she spoke.
“Wait, hold on, Akil you have to save me, I’m a goner if I go back with her now!” (Tristan)
Akil gave him a sympathetic look but he still waved goodbye. Selena grabbed Tristan's arm and started dragging him towards the exit. He looked back towards Akil begging with his eyes for salvation. Unfortunately he had dug his own grave and now he would need to lay in it.
Akil gathered himself for a couple of minutes before making his way out of the guild as well, he stopped by the barkeeper and asked where he could find a good inn for the night and was told there would be a building directly across the street in front of the guild. It was starting to get dark outside so he made his way directly over to the inn. He bought a decent room for a silver a night and made his way inside. He left the door open for a few more moments before shutting it tightly. He began casting a few spells.
[Seal of Silence], [Arcane Lock], [Alarm], [Nondetection]
That should make the room pretty safe from any mundane intruders or magical prying eyes.
“Sevala, it’s time to return.”
A voice sounded from behind him as an alarming beauty materialized out of thin air.
“Of course headmaster, I have a report ready for everything I witnessed.”
There was a very well hidden tinge of jealousy in her voice. He put it in the back of his mind for now, it wasn’t the time nor the place to deal with any drama.
He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and began casting the spell to bring them back to Jamiea.
[Planar Transport]