Well, so much for staying under the radar. I thought, sighing internally.

This man, whoever he was knew exactly what I was. He asked me to come with him, offering no further explanation as he began walking towards a door at the back of the room.

I shared a look with Panda who nodded grimly and we followed him.

In my mind I was already preparing to fight, just in case. I opened my inventory and minimised the window with my thoughts hovering around my dagger.

Using a bow inside probably wasn’t the best idea and the dagger would keep my health topped up. I had no way of knowing how strong the man before me was, but he seemed confident.

I didn’t get any feeling that he was planning to attack me but that didn’t mean he wasn’t luring me into a trap. I’d have to keep my guard up.

As we reached the door he placed his hand on a small magic circle that was permanently etched into the wall in metal, I heard a ding sound as the door opened. He walked inside and beckoned me to follow. I did, with Panda hot on my heels.

The little box room we found ourselves in seemed to be the perfect place to launch a sneak attack on the man, which I seriously considered.

The room began moving and I realised we were in a magic elevator. It was an odd feeling, riding an elevator in another world, but I didn’t have the time to think on that at that moment.

The man still hadn’t said anything and we rode in tense silence for about a minute until the door opened. He stepped out and I followed him into a huge office space.

There was a massive, floor to ceiling window on the far wall. We were so close to the clouds I felt that if I reached out I could touch them. We must have been pretty high up. Just who was this man?

He walked towards a large, wooden desk and took a seat in a plush, leather office chair. On the other side of the desk was two, equally nice chairs and he gestured for us to sit.

I did as he wanted and Panda copied me, though he had to press the little lever on the side of the chair to lower it first. He looked amused as he pulled the lever again to return to a height where he could see the man properly.

“I’m sorry about all that, I wanted to speak to you but we needed to be in a secure location for it. The last thing you want is the entire society knowing what you are, yes?” When he spoke he remined me of my old headmaster. His voice was quiet, but I had no trouble hearing him. It was deep and soothing.

“Who are you?” I asked, skipping the pleasantries.

“Oh, yes of course. How rude of me. My name is Lucas Regina and I’m the director of this branch of the Adventure Society. It is a pleasure to meet you Kaleb.”

He leaned back in his chair calmly, his dark skin standing in a glimmering contrast to the bright, blue sky behind him.

“How do you know who I am?” I asked slowly, my mind still hovering over the dagger in my HUD.

“My god told me, but don’t worry about that. I’ve brought you up here so you can register with the guild. That is why you came here today isn’t it?” He smiled and reached into a drawer behind his desk.

I nearly summoned my dagger right then and there but I still felt no hostility from him and I didn’t want to attack someone just because I was getting jumpy.

“Here we are,” he said, producing a form and a quill. “I wanted to induct you personally so that we could hide your true race. Our application rooms are a lot less private. Though if I’d have known you had a daemon travelling with you I might not have bothered.

“I’m sure he’s already advised you that it would be in your best interest to hide your outworlder race from other people.”

He smiled and placed the form in front of me.

“Why would you help me? Everyone else I’ve met so far wants to skin me alive, so sorry if I seem a bit sceptical.” I replied icily. I kept my eyes on the man, trying to drink in every move he made. If he was going to attack me, I would be ready.

“We at the Adventure Society are not savages Mr Akabane, nor are we fools. The tale of the celestial map is just that, a tale. Everyone with half a brain knows that.

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“I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with ne’er-do-wells thus far, the cults are… bothersome, but here in Havar we don’t put much stock in fairy tales.

“I promise that you have nothing to fear from me. I simply wish to aid a promising new recruit to our ranks and help him submit his paperwork. I understand this must be confusing for one such as yourself with no experience of our world, but I assure you that you are far from the first outworlder to join Adventure Society and you won’t be the last.” He flashed me a curt smile and held out the quill.

I took it slowly and looked over the form.

“If the general consensus is that the celestial map is a fairy tale then why do I need to hide my race from your people?”

“It’s just a safety precaution. I can’t know every adventurer in the society, I’m only one man, and there are some who take on the occasional outside task.

“I’m sure that certain cultist organisations would pay handsomely to have an outworlder delivered to them and I wish to avoid the political upheaval it would cause if that were to happen to you right under my nose.”

He seemed legit, though something about him still bothered me. I looked at Panda who nodded encouragingly and I sighed as I began filling out the form.

“Director?” Panda began, “what is a Regina doing out here in the middle of nowhere? I thought your family were big shots on the continent.”

I continued looking at the paperwork but stopped halfway through writing my name to listen to Panda’s conversation.

“They are, but I like it here. The tropics aren’t a bad place to live.”

The two of them continued chatting idly whilst I focused on the registration form. It was pretty simple, mostly asking for my current level, name, and race. It also had a contract on the back which I read through.

It was pretty simple really. By signing I would agree that any wounds or fatality caused by a quest were not the fault of the society. They would pay me in accordance with the sum stated on a quest, yada, yada, yada.

I would agree to only take quests suitable for my adventurer rank and that I acknowledged that a full membership would be given to me on the satisfactory completion of an exam.

I had to complete three quests before I could take the exam to become a full member. I wondered what type of quests I’d be able to get as a temporary member.

Knowing my luck it’d be something crappy like saving a cat from a tree or cleaning stables, or worse, the dreaded fetch quest.

Most games I’d played back on Earth were full of fetch quests. They were usually boring, poorly thought out and often they were infinite with a low monetary reward or something.

As I finished signing my name I looked up to see the director smiling at me. He really did seem like a nice guy but I couldn’t help but think there was something more going on with him.

Still, if he was the power in this place and he liked me that could only spell good things. I needed to level up fast and get more power.

“Ah, I see you’re done. Let me have a look… yup, everything seems to be in order. Perfect.” He scanned the document and then signed it himself before standing up.

“Right, take the elevator back down and go take this to the reception desk, they’ll tell you where to go next to choose your class.”

I thanked him and headed back into the elevator along with Panda. It was time to get my class!

***

After Kaleb and Panda left the office, director Lucas poured himself a drink and sighed, sinking back into his office chair.

“I’ve done what you asked.” He said to the room. “He really didn’t seem like he could sense me. I didn’t even know it was possible to be magicless.”

It is rare indeed my disciple. Keep a close eye on him and don’t let him leave the archipelago. I have need of him yet.

The voice appeared in Lucas Regina’s mind as clearly as if he had thought it himself. The voice was dark and commanding. He’d heard it thousands of times and it still sent a shiver down his spine.

This was a perk of being a true disciple, an honour only bestowed on those who have maxed out their rank and gone onto the next phase.

It wasn’t possible for gods to speak with rankers like this, after all, they spoke to their true disciples directly through their souls.

“If that is what my master commands then it shall be done.” Lucas said wearily before downing his drink and placing the glass down on his desk.

Make sure he isn’t killed. There are hunters in the city right now who aren’t mine to command. I cannot interfere with them as I’m sure you know so I’ll leave that to you.

“No problem. I already have society members keeping tabs on them. Hunters bring problems regardless of whether they’re chasing after the map or not.” Lucas said aloud to the room.

He’d had his fair share of run ins with hunters throughout his career. Growing up in the vast Regina estate hadn’t sheltered him as much as one might think.

His father was a ruthless man who showed his love for his children by properly preparing them for the outside world.

In one instance he had left Lucas in the slums for a month and ordered him to survive as an urchin. The idea was to teach him to be self-reliant, even in the worst kinds of situations. However, even in the slums, Castalor was a Regina city and everyone knew who their rulers were.

Paupers had helped him and he’d spent most of his time with a roof over his head and food in his belly. One might think a rich kid like that would be an easy target for kidnappers but no one dared to incur the wrath of his father.

He was a powerful man after all. Yes, he was the head of the Regina family and had a lot of political sway, but nothing was more important in this world than personal power. Of that, he had a scary amount.

Lucas moved to pour himself another drink, feeling the watchful eye of his god leave him. He felt wrong using the new kid like this but it was far from his place to disobey his god.

He was a coward at heart. He’d been a dutiful son more out of fear of his father than an actual sense of duty. When he’d been forced to take over as director in this backwater, nothing place, he’d at least escaped his father’s control. For a few days… before he’d been taken in by the god.

It seemed that no matter where he went he was always fated to serve the whims of those more powerful than himself.

Even as the highest ranked adventurer in the little pond that was Havar, the old proverb still rang true: there is always a bigger fish.