One of the many ways I adopted to wake myself up was splashing my face with cold water. After eating so much last night, I was surprised I didn't explode.

'You left me with no food, you bastard.' Rye complained.

"Oh, suck it up. I'll get you something today," I replied.

Since Rye was my bond, he didn't really need to eat and only enjoyed it for the flavor. As he was connected to my mana core, if I was healthy, he was healthy, simple as that. "Alright, fine. I'll settle for fish," he conceded.

Since I had gotten up much earlier than the rest of the party, I was able to indulge in a quiet breakfast. My plate was filled with eggs, bacon, and a biscuit, and the steam of the hot food rose into my nose, filling my stomach with joy. It was a mystery how I was able to eat this much breakfast after all the food from last night. It must be the hormones. On the side, I also got a grilled fish for Rye, which he swallowed in one gulp.

After finishing up, I believed I had a little time before the others woke up, so I decided to go to the place Chark had mentioned for a good beast shard exchange. He said they gave pretty good offers.

Walking out into the city, a large portion of which was still unexplored, I quickly noticed that I wasn't the only early bird. Merchants were already at their shops, and restaurants were preparing whatever breakfast they offered. Following the path Chark had mentioned, I made it to the shop. They held stones of all different kinds, but mostly the kind that would be embedded in wands and put on the tips of mage staff.

They even had a few holding orbs, which were orbs of crystal that most of the time had a strong affinity to a certain element. They helped any mage using one to amplify their spells at a much higher rate than what a staff or wand could. It sounded more useful, but between the three mage weapons, they all had their pros and cons. For example, the holding orbs used much more mana and took longer to cast. Staff used a fair amount of mana and a fair amount of time to cast, but with it, your mobility was hindered. Finally, wands made mobility easy, but they could never amplify spells like the other two.

After glancing around for a while and not finding anything useful, I approached the merchant and dumped a bag of beast shards onto his counter. "How much could I get for all these?"

He was taken aback at first, and adjusted his glasses before picking up one of the stones. "It will take a moment to appraise all these, so I can't give you an exact number right now."

"How long will it take?"

"Give me around twenty minutes."

Shaking my head, I continued to look around, but as before, there was nothing I needed, so I had to wait for twenty minutes, staring at the stones as my only entertainment.

Eventually, he announced a number. "Three gold."

"Three gold and fifty silver," I countered.

"Meet in the middle. Three and twenty-five."

"Deal."

It turns out Chark was right. I got a good deal, considering I didn't even sell all the shards I had. I kept some that I had an affinity for to help with meditation.

Taking my money, I went back to the inn. Glancing into the dining hall, I saw the party, most of them anyway. Melian was nowhere to be found.

"Probably still sound asleep," I thought to myself.

Stolen story; please report.

After agreeing to join the party, as I predicted, she drank her heart out. It was as if she was waiting for them to ask.

I walked over to the table and greeted everyone. I sat quietly as they ate, letting them wake themselves up fully.

Richard took a sip of his hot drink. "Today, we'll be going to the guildhall to see how we can get started adventuring in our new town. After we all get dressed and ready to go, we'll head out."

"Shouldn't we wait for Melian?" Lizzy suggested.

"No, I've decided to let her rest," Richard laughed. "She, well, we all have those nights."

Everyone at the table chuckled.

flourish divider line swirl border decoration calligraphy [https://svgsilh.com/svg/31609-9e9e9e.svg]

Arriving at the Guild, the entire party gasped in awe at the interior that resembled a castle. Large stone pillars were integrated elegantly into the roof and statues of great adventurers of the past were all around. As the guild was quite busy, we had to wait in line for a minute until we could reach the receptionist, but surprisingly it didn't take long.

“Hello, Ma’am,” Richard greeted, “my team and I are new to town and wanted to learn how adventuring works. We would like to get registered at this guild for future payout.”

“Okay, easy enough,” she responded with a smile. “I can get you guys registered real fast, and then have someone come and explain everything. Just give me your adventurer cards, and I can write you in the logs as a team.”

We all handed her our cards one by one, and the process was over quickly. “Alrighty! You're all set,” she said, picking up some sort of communication crystal. “105 assistance, in the lobby. I repeat, 105 assistance in the lobby.” She put down the crystal and turned to us. “They will be here shortly. Feel free to take a seat anywhere or look around.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Richard said kindly.

“It was my pleasure.”

The party stepped out of line, and we each began to look around on our own, but not straying far.

“This place is amazing,” Carrollton said, thumbing his new staff on the ground. On his little mission yesterday, he picked it up, saying he felt it would fit his fighting style better. He also got a new caster cloak, which he was wearing right now. It was rather fancy and looked like something one of the nobles I’d see casually around the castle back in the capital wearing.

“Sure is,” Lizzy agreed.

Soon, I saw a woman approach Richard, and he called us over. The woman introduced herself, “Hello, my name is Ann. I was told you guys needed to learn a few things about how the adventuring system works here. Well, follow me, and I’ll explain.”

She led us outside. “So first things first. Every time your party decides to go out, you must check in with the guild and update your status, just as if you're coming in, you have to check in your status, so the guild knows if anyone's made it back, and we can report deaths and such.”

We began walking through the city, and I could see we were headed to a part of the city walls. “The most popular and most profitable side to adventure on in the city is the East Gates, which lead into the lunar mountains. There are approximately twenty-three East Gates, which all lead into different paths. You can also come across maps that lead to dungeons filled with treasures waiting to be explored and other goodies.”

She pointed a finger at the now fully visible wall, and from a distance, all of us could see the absolutely enormous sum of adventurers all trickling in and out of the many large gates.

“This is the East Gates, and as you can see, it stays busy.”

“Are there any qualifications my party needs to have to use the gates and adventure here?” Richard asked.

“You just have to have at least one gold rank in your party since the death rate for the East is much higher,” Ann replied.

Richard smacked his lips. “And what if we don’t?”

Ann smiled, “There is no need to worry. The North and South Gates are fair game. And if in the future, your party wants to pursue the East Gates, we offer upgrade assessments at the guild.”

Richard shook his head and turned to us. "I think our party will be ready for an upgrade assessment after a few more outings. What do you guys think?" he asked.

Chark laughed and said, "Heck, I could go for one right now."

Carrollton agreed, "Same. This new staff has me feeling good."

Melian added, "Me and you aren't far off, Richard, so it won't be long before we can. And we all know Walker is most likely close as well." She turned to me and laughed. "Like seriously, you're way stronger than Bronze-rank. When was the last time you got an assessment?"

"Agreed," Richard said.

I hesitated for a moment before replying, "It just didn't cross my mind." I lied. It had crossed my mind, but I never really cared and never had the time.

"Well, that is about all there is to know," Ann said as she bowed. "You guys have fun and stay safe adventuring, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask in the guild."

"Thank you, Ann," Richard said as she departed back to the guild.

Lizzy smacked her lips and asked, "What's the plan now?"

"I was thinking of seeing what the North Gate was like," Richard said with a smile.