Before long, they had arrived at the gate and a guard called out: “Halaetain and company, welcome back. Fruitful hunt I see.” The woman in quested huffed slightly as he gestured to the prey. “Honestly not much. The levels were a little on the low side, so there wasn’t a lot of exp to be gained. They’re also larger than what they’re good for, so we couldn’t stuff more good prey on the wagon.”
Whilst she spoke, she, and the other six, got off the wagon and showed their adventurer cards to nods from the two guards. “What about the three up there?” The other guard, this time a female, questioned. “The three of them were lost in the forest. It’s a bit of a long story as to how an elf got lost, but we’ve heard it and find it to be reasonable. To make it short, the elf grew up in a small village beyond the scope of any guilds, so the lass doesn’t have any card. The other two escaped from an attacked caravan but still have their craftsman card.”
Taking the hint, Sylvia two companions got off the wagon as well and showed their cards. “Oh? An Experienced and a Proficient blacksmith. This is just a small outpost, so we only have a couple blacksmiths at the Experienced level and one who’s recently reached Proficient, so you two will definitely get a warm welcome here.”
As his female companion spoke with the two craftsmen, the male guard brought forth a weird circular device, but neither of the two seemed particularly surprised. “Please place your hand on the rectangle.” The two guards both placed a hand on the disk, while Philip and Enelise placed theirs on an extruded rectangle one after the other. “Alrighty, you are who you say you are, you’re free to head inside.”
The attention now turned to Sylvia, who got off the wagon under the watchful eyes of everyone, unsure what to really do. Sensing the uneasiness, the male guard recalled what Halaetain had just told him. “Right, a remote village with no guild. You probably don’t know this device either or how to behave at gates.” His attitude softened a bit in an attempt to make the situation pass as smoothly as possible.
“Most of the time, a guild card will be enough identification to get in most places, with a major exception being the first time you enter a settlement of almost any size. When entering a town, you generally need to show a card, but since the card only holds information, we need to check if you really are who you say you are, which is where this bad boy comes in.” He clapped the small circular device.
“This is an appraiser, though just a low-grade one. It allows us to view the status of whoever places their hand on the rectangle, but only the name, race, age, and gender, as you need higher grade appraisers to see more information.” Seeing the understanding in Sylvia’s eyes, he continued, “If the target wants, it’s possible to share extra info, but it can’t be forced. If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate if you were to show your level and class as well, since you don’t have a card to do that for you.”
Before she did something she possibly shouldn’t, Sylvia shot her companions a quick glance and both nodded. “Got it, no issue with that. Though if you don’t mind me asking, but why is there a need for such strict border control on most settlements?” As she awaited her answer, she placed her hand on the rectangle and thought about showing level and class as well.
A short “huh” came from the female guard, who was the one to check her, since the male one was busy answering her question. Sylvia also noticed the female use chalk to jut down some words on a small writing tablet. “It’s somewhat of a backup in case something happens. Since levels create such a large variance in strength between people, we sadly can’t always trust to have strong enough guards on hand to handle any situation. Instead, we need to keep track of who goes in and out of the town, so we at least have some idea of what we stand to deal with. In addition, it can make it easier to look for suspects in case something does happen. I hope that answered your question.” With a smile, Sylvia replied that it did, and the group made their way inside the town.
Contrary to the expectation she had of people making their buildings of just stones and wood through Earth and Nature magic, given how quickly that could be done, the inside of the town surprised her slightly. Instead of stone or wooden constructions, the inside was full of medieval style buildings, even to the point of having the same white walls and black supporting beams. However, there was a severe lack of thatched roofs, with them being replaced with wooden, clay, or stone shingles.
As they followed the larger party through the town, Sylvia asked Enelise, “wouldn’t it be more efficient to just make the houses with Nature or Earth magic? I can’t imagine that people capable of using them would be that rare. Also, any idea on where we’re headed?”
“First, we’re likely heading towards the adventurers’ guild. Second, it’s because buildings can get stats as well, and like with any other crafted product, an over reliance on magic lowers the quality. It’s more when out camping that small shacks are sometimes constructed purely through magic, as the convenience of it is most important. However, when it comes to buildings that stand for many years, granting them proper stats and functions, especially if you want to sell it at a good price,” as soon as she had answered, Enelise noticed Sylvia slowly edge herself towards a building, “don’t bother trying to read the status, you need to be the builder or hold the key, otherwise nothing shows up.”
“You can hide building statuses from other people? Can I do the same with regular items like my spear?” That question reminded Enelise of something she had wanted to tell Sylvia since they joined the wagon but hadn’t found the time to yet. “You actually can. By simply filling the spear with your mana for around an hour without doing anything with it, will attune it to your mana signature.”
A chuckle came from Philip, and he added: “Explaining it that way makes it sound like something impressive. Though there are exceptions, attuning most items doesn’t do more than restrict viewing the status to you and the crafter, but give most people around three hours, and they can remove your mana signature and apply their own. That’s not to say that it can’t serve other purposes, but those are usually detailed in the status and unique to the individual item,” having said that, he leaned over and whispered, “between the two of us, she could likely make those weapons if she really wanted to, or at least if she’s taught the basics.” He gestured to Enelise with a subtle nod.
Having focused on what her companions were saying, the sudden callout from Halaetain surprised Sylvia a little. “You really don’t know a lot, lass, do ya?” The dwarf had turned around to face them, walking backwards with no issue at all, the grin on her face didn’t seem demeaning, just genuinely humored.
“Correct; I’m from a small village where everyone knew each other with little to no interaction with outsiders, so that wasn’t something we had to worry about.” Instantly, Sylvia answered with the backstory they had thought up for her. Apparently, even their relatively low-volume conversation had been easy to listen in on for the others, reminding her of Perception stat, and explaining why Philip had said the last part in a whisper.
“Anyhow, we’ve arrived at the guild, so let’s head in,” as she led most of the group inside a large stone building, the Mikhail guy from earlier waited at the door for the three. “You don’t have any money, do you?” On the ride, the two craftsmen had explained that they had been attacked and lost most of their stuff, hence why they were lost, which the adventurers bought easily. At the headshake of Enelise, he simply nodded.
“Got it. You’re in luck Sylvia, I’ll pay for your acceptance into the adventurers’ guild at D rank. The fee is quite cheap at 50 taro, but not having a card is quite restricting, especially for combatants like you. You caught my interest, so I don’t mind paying, though you’re welcome to pay me back once you’ve earned a bit.” He flashed them, more specifically Sylvia, a friendly smile.
Mentally rolling her eyes, Sylvia considered the offer, ‘this definitely doesn’t sound suspicious or slightly ominous in any way. Though, I may as well accept it; he’s likely strong enough that I can’t do anything to resist if he tries to force something, so I may as well get something out of it.’ Doing her best thankful smile, she replied, “since you’re offering, it’d be rude of me to reject it, so I’ll take you up on it, thank you.” With that said, they continued with some small talk as they went inside.
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Contrasting the pretty bland stony outside, the inside of the guild was far more interesting to look at. There hang a great many skulls of beasts along the walls, each with a nameplate beneath them, though the majority seemed to lack fangs and horns, at least for those where it was obvious that they used to be there. The smokeless torches gave off a surprising amount of light and gave the entire building a relaxing feel. There was also a single board with what appeared to be slips of paper tacked to it.
Opposite the entrance, there was a wooden reception desk with a single human behind it, and that was where they were making their way towards. “Yo, Grift, been a while since I saw ya on shift. How’s Lacy” They weren’t even halfway before Halaetain called out, prompting the worker to look up and smile. “Yeah, it certainly has. She’s good, or at least as good as she can be a couple weeks after a pregnancy. I’ve spent the last month taking care of her, but I’ve resumed work here to earn some more money, though only the midday shifts.”
With the exception of Mikhail and Sylvia and co. the party broke into wide smiles and began to congratulate the man, apparently named Grift. “With that said, we have a couple carcasses we’d like ya to take a look at. They’re at double compression like usual, and our estimate is 12 to 15 panis. The bear was pretty tough at level 235 and has some good quality meat, not to mention the bones, teeth, and claws, so probably 10-11 panis. The other two were around level 150, so probably just 1 or 2 panis for each.” Halaetain explained, leading the employee out to the stable.
Remaining inside with Mikhail, they had to wait some minutes before the receptionist returned and had time to deal with them. “Mikhail, right? What can I do for you?” By the questioning tone, Sylvia assumed that her new ‘friend’ likely hadn’t been in this town for a while, at least compared to the others in his party, as Grift seemed to know most people by name, even those who’d walked in while they were waiting.
“Indeed, it is, and you most certainly can. For you see,” he placed a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder, “my friend here has no guild card, but she’s interested in joining; D rank, of course.” he gestured to her spear before sliding over five red coins.
After a quick glance at Sylvia, Grift brought out a familiar device, though this one looked a little more advanced. Into a groove he slit a small and turned the raised square towards her. “Please place your hand on the square,” unlike at the gate, Grift didn’t place his own hand on the appraiser, instead he waited a couple seconds and pulled out the plate. “You can remove your hand now.”
Glancing shortly at the plate, which Sylvia could now identify to be roughly the size of a playing card, he turned around and called out. “Haris, you’re needed,” after almost of minute of nothing happening, Grift shouted, “Oi, Lagoulis, get your ass out here, old man.” This time some noise could be heard, but it still took a bit to arrive.
In the meantime, Sylvia gave Mikhail a questioning look, “Who’s this Haris fellow?” To which the young man couldn’t but smile. “He can be a bit of a character, but he’s essentially the town’s last line of defense. If it weren’t for its close location to the Magna Forest, a town this size wouldn’t house any B rank adventurer. Though, it should be noted that he has formally retired, so now he just help the guild, mainly to keep order and as the examinator for the occasional person that signs up here.”
Just as he finished explaining, he suddenly yelped in a mixture of pain and surprise, as he stumbled forwards into the desk. Looking behind him, Sylvia saw a short man, who definitely looked a bit up there in age, whose staff’s head were where Mikhail’s poplit used to be. With a harumph, he exclaimed, “a bit of a character, you say.”
Before any of them could react to him, he looked up at Sylvia with an inspecting gaze. “I take it yer the lass signing up? Good, follow me.” Without leaving her time to even respond, he made his way over to one of the doors to the side of the desk. As he walked, he raised a hand and caught the card that Grift had just thrown to him. “Come on lass, we don’t have all day.” Disregarding that he in fact did have all day, he hurried her along, prompting her mind to kick back into gear and follow him; followed shortly by her two companion and Mikhail, and surprisingly, the rest of the adventuring party.
It didn’t take long before they reached an open courtyard, where Sylvia was told to wait at on end. The others all lined up at the side, and by now even a couple of people she didn’t know had shown up as well. Someone becoming a guild member was apparently quite the show here.
Taking his place in the middle of the field, Haris explained the situation. “Aight, lass. You will now attack me and prove that have some basic combat abilities. Being level 60 pretty much guarantees that, but formalities are formalities. Don’t worry about me, nothing you can do will do much against me, so just go all out.”
Figuring that waiting around would just prompt another remark about her taking too long, she gave a nod, “got it,” but kept her spear in her left hand. To fill her right, the earth rose up to form a spear that had left her hand as quickly as it had appeared.
Having calculated the path perfectly, Haris took a single step to the side and waited for it to pass by him. He wanted to show her the difference in ability in the hope that she wouldn’t get over-confident in the future, like so many before her. Thus, even when the sudden explosion of the spear surprised him ever so slightly, he kept calm and made a slight gesture with his staff, sending a gust of wind to blow the pieces away before they reached him, despite the explosion happening right beside him.
‘That seemed like Spearhead Explosion, been a while since I’ve last seen that skill. The lass has a good way to use it.’ With that thought in mind, he began to approach Sylvia, using small gusts of wind beneath each step to stay above the ground, which was a pretty basic strategy to use against Earth magic users. Despite his approach appearing like a run to Silvia and the onlookers, Harris could at most consider it a light jogging pace.
Getting close, he watched her efficiently switch over to actual spear and approach him as well, all while looking for mana fluctuations in the surroundings, especially the ground. Once within reach of her spear, he began to parry each of her attacks with great ease, never letting a single attack get close.
In a positive turn of events, his testee didn’t seem to grow frustrated or impatient despite the repeated futile attacks. ‘For an Intermediate Spearwoman Trainee, she’s doing surprisingly well. I just wish she’d use some more of her mana, she has so much of it after all.’ As if to answer his prayers, his intuition suddenly told him to jump up high, which he did, just avoiding the emergence of nine earthen spikes that’d have hit him where he previously stood.
‘D- would be too low for her, especially if she just improves a little bit more. Her reaction to me being airborne will decide whether it’ll be D- or D,’ Having barely had the time to finish his though, blades of water were quickly approaching him, followed shortly by multiple waves of fire. ‘I guess that settles it. Time to finish this.’
With his assessment completely, all that remained was to truly show her the difference in power. With a simple thrust of his staff and a little Wind magic, all the fire disappeared, and the water lost its shape and fell to the ground. Falling faster than gravity would’ve accelerated him, Haris was quickly on the ground, and before she could react, a precisely controlled thrust struck Sylvia’s solar plexus.
Landing on her butt with the air pushed out of her lungs, Sylvia’s belief that most people here could kill her with ease was further cemented, but that just meant that she now had even more reason to grow stronger. Once she had recovered her breath enough to no longer be heaving for each one, the old man said three words before he left. “Pass. D rank.” As he walked past her, he let the card he’d previously gotten fall down on her. Exiting the door, she heard him say, “Ask Grift for any explanation you may need; don’t bother me.”
Whilst thinking about the fight that had just transpired, she hadn’t noticed Enelise and Philip walk over, so she got a small surprise when the former extended her hand. “You good?” Clearing her thoughts with a headshake, Sylvia took her hand and got up. “Yeah, just a little winded.”
“Good job lass. Most people lose their cool when he continues to hinder their attacks, so ya probably made a good impression by not doing that,” the approaching Halaetain’s words brought a smile to her face. “Though for someone at level 60, yer actual spear skills seemed a bit lacking to me, if ya don’t mind me saying.”
“No worry, I’ve mostly learned through combat and self-teaching, so I’m just at the intermediate trainee stage.” The dwarf’s brows creased slightly, but nothing more came of that conversation as Mikhail interjected. “You can use four elements? Cool. Also, it looked like you almost had him with that spike trap of yours.”
Just as she was about to ask why he said four elements, she recalled that elves also had a nature affinity, so she just smiled softly. “Thanks for the encouragement. Unless you guys have an issue with it, I think I’ll head in and hear a bit on how everything works from Grift.” With no one voicing a complaint, she made her way back inside the building.