The interior of the building was sparkling, not a speck of dust or dirt in sight. On the wall to her left, there was a large noticeboard with various posters pinned up, with embossed borders of varying colours, some most bronze and silver, but a few had gold borders, and looked as if they had been up there for a while. There were some tables in the lobby, and a few adventurers who had been chatting merrily paused their conversations to observe the strange pair as they walked towards the front desk. The desk had two booths, but only one of them had a receptionist working, a middle aged woman with greying hair, who had a twinkle in her eye, like a kind grandma. Sporting a smart dress, she greeted the two with a warm smile and a pleasant greeting.
“Welcome to the Felspire Adventurer’s Guild, how can I help you today?”
Elaria was a little stumped on how to reply, but luckily for her, her companion was prepared for the whole routine, and pushed her forward with a gentle hand on her back, before replying in her stead. “This young lady would like to register as a member of the guild, on my recommendation.” He flashed the receptionist a look at a badge inside his hooded robe, and her eyes widened a little, but he put a finger to his lips while glancing at Elaria, and she seemed to get the hint, not giving anything away.
“That shouldn’t be a problem at all, I’ll take your details now young lady, then once you complete the initiation quest, I’ll be able to issue you with a novice adventurer’s badge, and then you’ll be a fully fledged member of the guild,” she said, pulling out a small tablet that was inscribed with glowing script. Let’s start with your name.”
“Elaria Highgrove.”
“What a lovely name, I’ve always been a fan of the Goddess of Gentle Storms. Now for the rest of your details I’ll just need you to place your palm onto this tablet. It doesn’t do anything intrusive, just takes a reading of your energy signature so we can create a personalised identity card.”
She placed her palm onto the magical tablet the receptionist was holding, and felt a gentle buzz as whatever spell powered the object observed her body and transcribed its findings back, lines of glowing script appearing on the tablet’s face. The glow faded, and the woman motioned for Elaria to remove her palm, before taking the tablet back and placing it onto a pedestal. The glowing lines of script flew from the tablet into the pedestal, and a floating pen appeared from under the desk. Taking a small, blank card from a drawer, the receptionist placed it onto the desk, and the pen started to inscribe various information about Elaria, including a small drawing of her face. Having only seen her reflection in various puddles or ponds until now, due to the fact that owning a mirror was a luxury in this world, she admired the small portrait. She was rather cute, if she did say so herself.
The pen completed its task, and returned to the desk, and the woman picked up the card and handed it over to Elaria. Having waited so long for this, the moment when she truly had become an adventurer and started her journey to greatness, it didn’t feel as incredible or fulfilling as she’d hoped. Then again, Elaria had only been drawn to this career because what she yearned for, truly desired, was a life filled with excitement and wonder, which was easiest to find through the guild and the various dangerous and strange missions they offered. It was understandable that a sign up process similar to joining a gym in her previous world wouldn’t get her blood racing. She had a quick look at the card in her hands, sighing at how unimpressive it looked currently.
[https://i.imgur.com/k52IVFD.png]
“Keep your identity card with you at all times, without it, there is nothing to prove that you are a legitimate member of the guild, so you might run into some trouble trying to complete missions or access different branches. If you happen to lose the card, you can get a replacement from the nearest branch by submitting yourself for a scan, similar to the one I just performed to make the card. As you complete missions and make your way up the ranks, the card will automatically update to list your achievements, and correspondingly, your level of access and prestige will grow. Adventurers get a lot of fancy privileges, so you can flash that in plenty of places around Teron if you want to be shown a bit more respect. I’d hold off on that until you have a slightly more impressive rank, however. Now, I’ll just update your card with the initiation mission, and once you complete that you’re all set,” explained the receptionist.
The mild mannered woman took the card back from her for a moment, tapping it to a new tablet, different to the previous. This one was cream coloured and had the texture of marble, with simple black script carved into it. It glowed very briefly when her adventurer’s card was tapped to the surface, as did her card. Handing it back to her, the woman smiled warmly and said, “To see details about an ongoing mission, simply tap the words underneath your name, and a prompt should appear, similar to the Chain, but not quite. The whole thing is powered by the founder’s library magic. Rather impressive stuff, if you have a magically inclined mind I’d give it a bit of study, maybe you can get some inspiration.”
Elaria did as instructed, and glowing blue words appeared in front of her, extraordinarily similar to the boxes of text the Chain produced, but slightly rougher around the edges. She began to read the details of the initiation quest, hoping it wouldn’t be too difficult, as she didn’t want to have too many delays in her journey, but when she got to the end of the writing, she laughed loudly, surprising the receptionist and her mysterious benefactor.
Mission - Guild Initiation
Difficulty: Novice
You have been accepted as a trainee of the adventurer’s guild! In order to solidify your place in the guild and receive recognition as a fully fledged member, kill 5 low level monsters, and return with proof of your deed. To see the list of accepted targets, tap the arrow below.
Monster Drops: 5/5 (Verdant Scale x2, Goblin Finger x3) ▼
Reward: Adventurer Rank Increase (Trainee ► Novice)
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She cleared her throat gently, before handing her adventurer card back to the receptionist and sheepishly declaring, “It seems like I’ve already completed the quest, Miss Receptionist. Is Miss Receptionist okay? I think I forgot to ask for your name.”
The woman was suitably surprised, eyes widening at the girl’s declaration. Some talented youngsters often completed the initiation quest in just a day or two, but she hadn’t ever seen someone who completed the quest prior to even signing up. This was probably a record across the entirety of Teron, apart from maybe those kids who were born into adventurer families. They had tough upbringings, and their parents often threw them into live combat before they even received access to the Chain and their abilities, poor sods. Recovering quickly from her shock, the woman took the card from Elaria, and tapped it gently against the cream tablet once more. Both flashed, confirming the completion, and Elaria watched the words on the card rearrange themselves slightly.
“Well, young lady, that’s a very impressive achievement. Please hand over the quest materials, and let me take the initiative to be the first to congratulate you on becoming a fully fledged member of the Adventurer’s Guild of Teron, and wish you luck in your future endeavours. As a novice rank adventurer, you now have full access to the basic services and amenities provided by the guild, including equipment shops that come at a much discounted rate compared to the shops outside the guild, free meals and drink at any guild branch, and access to any of the guild libraries, which have a vast array of knowledge that you might not find elsewhere. As your rank increases, you will get access to greater services and treatment, but I think you’ll be satisfied for now. If you’d like to take another mission, choose any of the posters with copper borders from the noticeboard over there, as a novice, you will not be allowed to take any higher ranked missions, and are limited to three at once, although I recommend sticking to one at a time, lest you end up failing them all in an attempt to spread yourself wide.”
Elaria offered up the two scales and three rather grimy fingers to the receptionist, who simply tossed them into a small portal which opened up in the air beside her, presumably some form of dimensional storage. She had to get herself one of those. After taking back her card, she saw that her rank had changed from ‘Trainee’ to ‘Novice’ and her total missions completed was now 1. “I actually didn’t plan to stay in the city for long. I was going to leave for Lockmire this morning, but only passed by the guild due to this gentleman’s suggestion. I don’t think it would be a good idea to take any missions for now,” she replied.
The receptionist smiled and explained, “Actually, the majority of the missions around copper rank are just simple monster subjugations. Most of them could probably be completed while travelling between cities, since the low level monsters that you usually need to defeat are commonplace everywhere in Erlich. There is also a guild branch in Lockmire, so you would be able to hand in any quests you complete once you arrive, as well as use the guild as a place to stay.”
The mysterious gentleman, who had been silent until now, content simply to observe the proceedings, chimed in with, “The rooms offered by the guild are actually fairly decent. I usually use them when I’m travelling, and find them to be much better quality than local inns, unless you’re filthy rich and can afford somewhere fancy. There’s the added benefit of guaranteed safety, too.”
Elaria turned in surprise and responded, “You’re an adventurer? I didn’t realise. No wonder you brought me here. Do you get some kind of commission for bringing in fresh meat?”
The man almost choked at her question, then burst out laughing. “What kind of person do you take me for, young lady? It’s nothing like that, I just have a soft spot for young adventurers with hot blood. When I saw your conviction yesterday, I didn’t want to see you reach the capital only to be disappointed, so I thought I’d help you out. Now that you’re a fellow member of the guild, let me welcome you to our ranks. I have a prior appointment, so I must leave now, but perhaps we will meet again one day if you continue to make such rapid achievements.” Having said his piece, he swiftly departed, leaving Elaria and the receptionist alone.
“I wonder what adventurer rank that strange fellow has. If I see him in the future I should remember to ask,” she mused.
Elaria then wandered over to the noticeboard, and decided to browse the list of missions, to see if there were any that she could do during her journey to Lockmire. The distance between Felspire and Lockmire was much greater than that between Reissdown Village and Felspire, given that the latter were in the same barony, whereas Lockmire was the regional capital of the Grant Duchy, a huge swathe of land located between the Faust Barony and the royal region surrounding the capital city, Cloudvale. It would take her at least a week of travel by foot, so having something to do to stave off boredom would be marvellous. She quickly found three quests that she felt would be simple to complete, while still keeping her occupied for long enough, and the receptionist updated her card with the details before sending her off with a smile and wishing her luck.
Elaria weaved her way through the maze that was the streets of Felspire once more, and it didn’t take her long to reach the gates on the opposite side of the city to which she’d arrived. Standing outside, gazing at the vast expanse of fields and forests before her, she took a deep breath and the first step to Lockmire.
Mission - Goblin Subjugation
Difficulty: Copper
Goblins are an ever-present plague to the people and settlements of Erlich, and without constant culling to keep their numbers at bay, they would overrun lesser defended towns and villages. Do your part to help your fellow citizens, and slay 25 goblins, collecting their fingers as proof.
Goblins Fingers: 0/25
Reward: 2 Silvers
Mission - Wolf Subjugation
Difficulty: Copper
The number of wolves in the nearby forests has been rapidly multiplying, and they pose a huge threat to the local populace. Make a trip to the forest, and wipe out a few packs of the nasty beasts. Slaying 25 should be enough, and don’t forget to collect their fangs as proof.
Wolf Fangs: 0/25
Reward: 2 Silvers
Mission - Monster Hunter
Difficulty: Copper
It is an immutable law of the world that where there is energy, monsters will appear. The constant threat of these beasts to the common folk is not to be dismissed, and only brave souls such as yourself can make a dent in their numbers. Defeat 50 monsters and collect their drops as proof, tap the arrow to see a list of eligible targets.
Monster Drops: 0/50 ▼
Reward: 3 Silvers, Copper Loot Chest