Entering the main guild hall, Matt had to take a second and take it all in. The room was huge, and split into a few sections. The closest thing was a receptionist counter, with three people sitting at the counter and taking care of things and a line for each person. Directly to the left wall, there was a bulletin board full of pieces of paper that Matt surmised were the quests or other adventure requests.
Entering the line with Bishop, Matt looked deeper into the hall. The rest of the room was full of tables, booths and a bar with stools at the far end. Pretty much all of the tables had a group of adventurers celebrating something, drinking and having a merry time as music played from somewhere. The main area was two stories tall, but there was a balcony for the second floor with some more seating and a few adventurers looking over the main area. Matt couldn’t see an open stairwell or anything, so it was probably restricted in some way.
Getting up to the counter, the receptionist they ended up seeing looked over them. He was a man somewhere in his thirties with a neatly pressed uniform, collared shirt vest and a silver chain connected to a presumed pocket watch in his chest pocket. He also had a monocle with a silver chain, it seemed like silver was his color. Sitting in front of the man on the desk was a name plaque that read ‘Marvin’ in a swirly script.
“Hello today Bishop and guest, how can I help you today?” The man said in a very polite, posh voice. He had some papers on the desk in front of him that he straightened out and focused on the two.
“Heya Marvin, I'm helping out a newbie get settled in.” Bishop pushed Matt forward gently so he was taking charge.
“Hello, yes. I would like to join and become an adventurer.” Matt said as he clenched his hand a bit as he steeled his nerves and prepared to prove himself.
“Yes, very good.The registration fee is five silver. Will you be paying or is Bishop covering for you?” Matt pulled out his little stack of coins and untied the top knot, he slipped five silver coins free and handed them over. Marvin took the fee with a smile and slipped them into a drawer.
“Excellent. One moment please…” Marvin trailed off as he opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and a weird crystal ball that was the size of a baseball. “Okay, now then. What is your full name?”
“Uh, Mathias Harding.” He decided to just go with first and last since that's what was listed on his character sheet. Nodding, Marvin wrote that down.
“Good, and are you energized and what is your energy type?”
“I'm a Shaper, so Connection.” Marvin nodded and after writing that down, gently grabbed the crystal ball and set it on the desk in front of Matt. The orb was mostly clear but had a bit of a blue tint to it, and it was set in a gold and silver base.
“This will measure your energy level, so go ahead and place your hand and pass as much Connection as you can through it. Even if you haven’t awakened the material you can still bond with it, just not Shape at all.” Listening to Marvins instruction, Matt rested his hand on the smooth, slightly cold surface.
Marvin was right, as soon as he made contact he could feel the material respond to him the same way wood can. Taking a deep breath, Matt sent his Connection through the bond as hard as he could and watched as the orb began to glow a soft blue light, and one little sparkling mote began to float around for a moment before Matt was unable to keep the pace and his Connection petered out, letting the little sparkle fade away.
“Uhuh, a First Bond Shaper.” Marvin wrote something down and retrieved the orb. “And what revelations have you had?” Okay, revelations, that probably means his unlocks. The system and Bishop had mentioned those being how regular Shapers did things. He gots this.
“The only material revelation I’ve had was Wood, but I can also Shape Durability and Weight.” Marvins eyebrows raised a bit at that.
“Really? Two properties as only a First bond? How long have you been a shaper?” Okay, time to build his prodigy reputation.
“It’s only been a few years but my teacher says that I am a very quick learner, but I was being held back by limited resources to practice.” Okay, that should be ambiguous enough that it isn’t an obvious lie, but enough information that they should be satisfied.
“Oh wow, that is impressive. Well usually most newbies don’t need to know this right away but if you do have any more revelations, it is recommended you report to a guild office so that your strength is properly recorded. Since you are a First Bond, there is a bit of a skill test to see how you initially place. One moment please.” Marvin stepped away and entered a backroom that was behind him, and after a few moments he returned with two objects in hand. One was a wooden block made from the familiar white wood that is plentiful around here, and the other was a complex dark wooden sphere made of swirling, interlocked segments and patterns. He returned to his spot and placed the objects on the desk.
“Okay, please try to recreate the orb with the provided material to the best of your ability.” Matt nodded and held each object in hand, refocusing his senses as he bonded with the sphere and investigated. It was even more complex than he realized under the surface, it was basically a maze made from interlinking segments held taught by tension. It was beautiful and he realized that only a proper Shaper could appreciate and understand the orb.
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He wasn’t able to bond with both of the material at the same time, so he had to switch back and forth but he started to furrow his brow as he concentrated. Seeing as the sphere was separate pieces, he decided to start working on the insides before separating everything. To an outside observer, they wouldn’t see anything happening except Matt occasionally shaping a lump of material out of the block and setting it onto the desk.
He also figured that detail could come last, so he did his best to get the links and shapes right. Whoever shaped this must have been incredibly talented, any one piece missing and the ball would fall apart. Truly incredible. After almost ten minutes, Marvin and Bishop could see Matt start to remove the outside material, revealing the orb within.
Both men were already very impressed that the shape looked very similar to the template, if lacking in the carved details, but before their eyes the details started to shape and loop down the orb at surprising speeds. Copying the outside details was way faster now that he could also use his eyes to see what the pattern was. He couldn’t wait till his tier advanced, only being able to bond with one thing at a time was annoying when trying to recreate something.
Finished, Matt held up his orb for inspection. It wasn’t as perfect as the original, the patterns were a little rougher and some of the parts shifted when you touched them, but overall it was passable and Matt felt satisfied. And it looked like Bishop and Matt agreed with him. Taking the orb carefully, Marvin adjusted his monocle and looked all around the object, observing the quality and occasionally referencing the original.
“I must say, this is very impressive. However, I’m no shaper so I can not be certain as to the quality.” Marvin stepped to the edge of the desk and called out into the main hall. “Brandt! If I could borrow your services for a moment.” Following Marvins gaze, Matt looked into the crowd and saw a tall man look over and nod in understanding.
The man who Matt surmised as Brandt was a bit shorter than Bishop, but his arms and torso were considerably thicker. He had short brown hair that reminded Matt of a military style, with a clean shaven face that had just a bit of shadow showing. He was dressed in a simple tunic and pants, but he had a leather harness still strapped across his chest and shoulders.
Walking over, he leaned against the counter and looked at Marvin. “Hey Marv, what can I do ya for?”
“We have a new First Bond Shaper looking to join the guild, so we gave them the sculpture test and wanted your opinion. You have awakened wood, correct?”
“Yeah, woods no problem for me. Sculpture test eh? Must have been pretty impressive to need a second opinion. Let me see.” Brandt held out his hands and Marvin placed both spheres into his hands. Immediately Brandts eyes went wide with shock as he looked between both spheres. Matt didn’t know what the man was sensing, but Matt could imagine how he was inspecting the differences.
“Wow, I must say this is impressive, a solid eight out of ten. And you say a First Bonder did this? Impressive.” Brandts eyes landed on Matt and the man smiled. “I guess this is yours then? Nice one. This would be a nine, but you missed something.” Matt was surprised at that, being sure that he had gotten everything to the best of his ability.
“What? How did I miss something?” Matt reached out and Brandt held out both of the spheres. He switched his bond back and forth, scouring for any detail he missed and couldn’t find anything. Looking back up to Brandt with confusion, the man chuckled and placed his hand on top of the original sphere.
“Just follow me. You did very well, hell you did better than practically anyone, but there is a bit of a trick hidden. In the wood there is a slight gap carved within the wood that has one last pattern, barely discernible but definitely there.” Matt was unsure what Brandt met by following, until he could feel with his bond Brandts connection also flow through the material. It was shocking since he had always been alone in material, but there was Brandt.
If he tried, he could push against Brandts bond and fight him, but Matt could distinctly feel how much stronger Brandt is. Instead, Matt just focused on the area Brandt was and after a moment, he could see it. It was no wonder how he had missed that, it was incredibly small and contained entirely within one of the parts. But there it was, a small design of chain links.
“Oh wow, yeah, I missed that… Who can find that?” Matt asked in disbelief before Brandt laughed out loud, slapping a hand down on Matt's shoulder and patting a few times.
“Don’t worry kid, so far nobody has ever found that. The maker was a real piece of work and liked to show off. Honestly, the fact you got this close is a huge achievement, you're destined for big things when you get stronger.”
Matt blushed a bit at the praise but hearing someone else acknowledge him felt really good. Finishing writing something down, Marvin looked back up and smiled at Brandt. “Thank you Brandt, your expertise is much appreciated.” Brandt nodded and gave Matt one last shoulder clap before returning to his seat.
“Okay, and one last question. How would you say your fighting style is?”
“Um, I have a club and so far it has been me trapping or entangling stuff before just hitting them a bunch.” Matt admitted a little embarrassed. It wasn’t the most glamorous fighting style but Matt did what he could with what he had.
“Understandable. Well then Mathias, I am proud to welcome you as a new guild member! You have shown sufficient skill to join as an Initiate instead of a Trainee, so you can start taking bronze level quests right away and don’t need to finish any advancement test. Congratulations, I have high hopes for you.”
Reaching down into a drawer, Marvin retrieved a pendant connected to a leather cord. It was bronze like several of the other pendants he had seen, and the symbol engraved into the surface was a flat open hand with a stylized heart in its palm. The instant the pendant fell into his hand, a notification appeared.
Quest Complete! Join the guild
You have become an official member of the Adventurers Guild! Now you can easily grow in power and reputation. Not only that, but you have impressed several senior members and already made a name for yourself.
Reward: 1 level point, medium level progress