“Those seem like some pretty generous terms,” Avery said. “Is there a duration that we have to remain in the guild for after the dungeon?”

“None at all,” Bob replied, a twinkle in his eye. “We’re confident you’ll remain with us of your own volition.”

“Why not just give this to existing members? You can’t all be high level,” Elijah said.

“Goldwing is a small guild. We’ve only just started to recruit lower level members, so there aren’t nearly enough already in the guild to properly enjoy this new dungeon.”

“Interesting,” Avery said. “But there is a contract?”

“Well, of course,” Bob said with a shrug. “Basic safety requirements. We don’t want anyone dangerous preying on new recruits. It’s nothing too important, though. If you’d like to join, please just sign this page.” He slid a single paper across the cart.

“I’d like to see the whole contract first, if it’s all the same to you,” Avery said.

Bob’s brows knit for just an instant before his expression returned to normal. “Of course. Here.”

He dug through some papers lying on the cart and pulled a sheaf of them out, handing it to Avery. She thanked him, then started to scan through the document. A few moments passed in silence.

“Have you been to this dungeon yourself?” Elijah asked.

“I - Ah, I haven’t had the chance to go myself,” Bob admitted, wringing his hands. “I’m a little out of the level gap, and they’re prioritizing new members over administrative types.”

Elijah grunted. Avery set the contract down and pushed it back to Bob.

“How are these enforced?” Avery asked. “Is there some sort of magical enforcement that requires both sides to follow their side of the deal? How do we know Goldwing will do what you promise?”

“Our reputation is on the line,” Bob replied, turning his nose up. “There’s no magical enforcement, those contracts are much more expensive and wouldn’t be used for something as plain as recruiting temporary members. Hehe”

“You keep saying temporary members,” Elijah said. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Oh, it just means you’re on a trial period until the dungeon is done. We can’t let everyone into the guild, of course. Anyone that catches our eye is offered a full membership with the guild. But, even if you don’t, you’ll still be able to get a lot of good rewards in the dungeon. It’s a win-win.”

“Interesting,” Avery said. “I think we might be interested.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow, but nodded in agreement.

“Fantastic,” Bob said, tapping the signature paper with his quill before offering it to them. “Just put your names here, then follow the signs to the east of town. You should be able to find it no problem.”

Avery took the quill and wrote Jane on the paper before offering it to Elijah, who put down Joe.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Welcome aboard, Joe and Jane!” Bob said with a wide grin. “I look forward to hopefully seeing both of you become full members of the guild. Just head on over to the dungeon - the guild is already there and sending trainees in, so the longer you wait, the less chance there will be for a good reward.”

“How will the guild there know that we are members?” Avery asked.

“Oh, by signing the paper, you’ve temporarily added the Goldwing membership to your information screens. Just show that to the people there,” Bob said.

“What? You’ve messed with my screen?” Elijah asked, waving his hand to bring it up.

Elijah (Dove) Fleet

Guild: Goldwing (temporary)

Human [Level 5]

Class: Spellblade [MODIFIED]

Strength: 13

Agility: 15

Endurance: 12

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 17

Charisma: 19

Luck:3

ABILITIES

Shadow Step [MODIFIED]

Spellblade: Bind

Spellblade: Infuse (Lvl 1)

“It’s only temporary. Don’t worry.” Bob laughed as Elijah dismissed it with an annoyed frown. “You can remove it yourself if you want, but you won’t be able to put it back until you sign a contract again.”

“I see. Much appreciated,” Elijah said, turning and following Avery as she set off into the crowd. They walked in silence for several minutes, until they were well away from the guildcart and the crowd.

“You think they’re legitimate?” Elijah asked Avery.

“The contract was pretty straight forward,” Avery replied. “But there’s no way they are. They’re just looking for something that isn’t listed in the contract.”

“So… something in the dungeon?” Elijah guessed. “They said there was some sort of treasure in there. Maybe they need weak people to go in and find it?”

“Hard to say,” Avery replied. “I haven’t heard anything about strong people not being able to enter weak dungeons, but it’s a possibility. The biggest point of concern in the contract was that they don’t actually have any sort of safety guarantee.”

“Would you really expect one when we’re going into a dungeon? If it’s full of monsters like those monkeys, it probably isn’t safe,” Elijah pointed out.

“Not from the monsters. From them,” Avery said. “Everything in the contract just says we get passage into the dungeon and that temporary members are on a trial period for the guild. Nothing actually says they won’t betray us and attack, stealing what we got.”

They reached the walls of the city and came to a stop. Elijah rubbed his chin with a frown.

“But why would an employer attack their people for no reason?”

“I’m not saying that they will,” Avery replied. “Perhaps they just don’t want to spend the effort looting the dungeon, so they send in a bunch of weaklings until someone eventually finds what they want?”

“That… hm. I guess I could see that,” Elijah mused. “But you signed us up anyway?”

“I doubt they would attack for no reason.” Avery shrugged. “We shouldn’t have difficulty examining the dungeon and then retreating if we need to. If it looks too fortified, we can always just not enter.”

“Works for me,” Elijah said. They set back off, leaving the city through the east gate. The road was smaller than the one they’d entered through, and it was relatively unpopulated aside from a few dozen other groups of adventurers.

Most of the people wore simple leathers similar to Elijah and Avery’s clothing, but a few of them had nicer gear. One man’s shoulderguards shimmered and swirled with magical energy, drawing both of their eyes.

“I want to get something like that. Those looked interesting,” Elijah said, watching him go.

“You’d stick out like a sore thumb,” Avery replied with a scoff. “But I’d certainly like to get my hands on some magical gear, if just to study it. Hopefully, that’s what the dungeon will be for.”

“Hopefully,” Elijah agreed.