Waking, I look out the window and see snow slowly falling. Stretching sleepily, I glance at Elizabeth’s bed and notice she’s still sleeping. It’s still dark out, but the light from the sun was starting to come out…as much as it could with the heavy clouds in the sky.
Getting up, I quickly changed into the clothing that the inn previously provided me. Once I have it on, I leave Alice with Elizabeth and head downstairs to help Gordon out.
Spending my morning learning more recipes and assisting with the breakfast rush, we got through everything smoothly. Spending some time making myself and Elizabeth breakfast, I head back to the room with a cart, and upon opening the door, I found Elizabeth had awoken at some point.
“You look like quite the worker in that dress.” Smiling at her comment, I put the food on the table before we start eating. Once done, Elizabeth cleared the table of plates before sitting down.
“So, we need to talk.” Saying this as she sits down once again, she looks towards me with a serious expression on her face while I’m grooming Alice. Looking up at her, she starts speaking.
“What has happened since you arrived here, Alisha? I was shocked when I saw it, but you’re already level 27. You must’ve done a lot this week, so spill, what happened?”
Starting from the beginning, I explained everything from the time we were ambushed by the elves up to when Elizabeth found us. After I finished explaining, she sat there, tapping her foot while thinking as I finished cleaning Alice.
“You said it before, but thirteen years…and the quickest route is ten years but more dangerous. Becoming Black Grade on the other hand takes an unknown amount of time, could be five years, could be the rest of our lives…not to mention, these Church of the Moon Goddess people sound dangerous.”
Taking some time to think over what I told her, Elizabeth finally looked back at me. “I said in the past that I’m here for you three and that stands true now. I’ll follow your lead, Alisha. My only thought on this matter is that we should find out from Elise or Claire about this Black Grade and find out what the requirements are.”
Agreeing with her on the suggestion, we discussed what to do for the day. Starting by going to the Guild, I planned to take her to Northern Hawks store before looking to head to the Academy. We both agreed one thing we lacked about the world we were in was knowledge. I had only learned the name of the world to be Draken from Elise, but yet knew very little about it.
Getting dressed into my adventurer clothing and putting on my hood, I decided to keep Lunaria’s Fury with me. Even though I wished to swear off all things that were “blessed” by this Moon Goddess, I could not deny the strength they gave me, and in a time where I may be hunted, I decided to use whatever advantage I could get my hands on. I planned on replacing it with something similar in the near future.
After learning that Elise wasn’t available, Elizabeth found Claire while I made my way through the crowded building to the request board to see if I could find anything. Unlike when I had first seen it, the request board was filled to the brim with notes. Feeling my eyes glaze over by the sheer amount that was listed, I decided to look at some random ones around.
Finding a request, it was a request for help cooking food for something called an orphanage. They didn’t offer any coins as a reward, but instead offered an item called “Key to the Trial of Might.” Unsure of what the reward was, I decided to take it as it could help me learn more recipes and improve my cooking.
The request was set to be done throughout tonight, so I decided to hire a guide as Elise had suggested to show me to this orphanage and to the Academy. Pondering, I decided to bring Elizabeth along, she might be able to get Apprentice Chef as a Subclass too. Turning the note over once it was my turn to the attendant, they handed me a familiar wooden token. I wonder how they could tell the difference between them.
Heading back down, I spot Elizabeth talking with Claire, and making my way towards them, Claire looks at me and looks at the token in my hand, nodding her head in approval.
“Good. Always make sure to keep yourself busy with requests. Right, you want to know how to reach Black Grade? There is no secret to it, get stronger and pass the Guild’s tests. Elizabeth, you have good potential with your Summoning magic, and your friend here is far stronger than the average Bronze Grade.
“Black Grade isn’t something simple to achieve, you have to work for it. Once you’ve reached Ruby Grade and A Rank, you’ll be given a mission by the Guild, and if you pass you’ll be officially Black Grade. Always remember to never become overconfident in yourselves, regardless of how strong you are, it’s the trap the majority of adventurers fall into, thinking they’re strong enough and wasting away.”
She continues speaking about what it means to be an adventurer, and while I absorbed some of it a lot of it went through one ear to another, most of it was about ensuring our safety, how to act as adventurers outside of the Guild and so on. After talking for nearly thirty minutes, she nodded in approval. I had somehow listened to all of it, but found it oddly difficult.
Asking her about a guide, Claire handed me a map and told me to head there, where I could find a building that handled various services such as guides. Thanking her, Claire waved us off as she headed towards another adventurer with an angry look. Feeling a chill down my spine from that look, Elizabeth and I headed out and went to Northern Hawks.
After spending some time finding some clothing for Elizabeth, we outfitted her with similar adventurer clothing to me. There weren’t any weapons here however, so after making sure we have two sets of adventurer clothing and some casual clothes for Elizabeth, we headed to the building that Claire had shared with us.
As we made our way through the crowded streets, I noticed how busy this city truly is. There were people meeting at cafes or restaurants, and people moving through the streets. I wondered what all these people did, I knew everyone wasn’t simply an adventurer, I became curious as to what everyone did, especially those that didn’t fight or level.
Arriving in front of a small building, it was a simple wooden house with people coming in and out. There weren’t any signs to show what the building was called, so we decided to simply head in. Inside lay a beautiful lobby, plants and flowers in pots around the room, a counter next to the door we entered and a fireplace in the middle of the room. The middle aged lady behind the counter greeted us.
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“Welcome to Vale’s Guides and Services. Are you looking to hire a guide today?”
Nodding, I told her about our plans to visit the building called an orphanage and the Academy. Asking me the details of the orphanage, I recalled the name and told her it was called The Orphanage of the Blade. I found the name strange, but the lady nodded and asked us to wait. Finding somewhere to sit, Elizabeth and I waited while making small talk.
After waiting for about twenty minutes a middle aged man came out and greeted us. He was very well dressed, with Elizabeth whispering he looked like a butler. I wasn’t sure of what a butler was so I just nodded to her comment. After discussing where we planned to go, we paid 10 Silver coins and he led us out of the building.
As he guides us along the path, I start noticing the conditions around us change, at first it was slight, but became very noticeable quickly. Houses went from looking vastly well built to looking like they were about to collapse. Looking around, I noticed we were not far from the wall of Vale as the conditions of the buildings became worse.
Soon, we arrived in front of a giant building, the scent of rotting wood filled the air, and the building itself was badly damaged. Windows shattered, some had no glass except for jagged shards around the frame. The door seemed too big for the frame, with a crack running along the outside. There were smells coming from the place that made my stomach turn slightly, but I managed to tune them out.
“This is The Orphanage of the Blade. One of few here in the slums, they take in children who’ve lost their parents due to various reasons. The most common reason is due to the child’s parents losing their lives doing work as an Adventurer. Many attempt to support their families by living the life of an adventurer, however their ignorance of the dangers leads to their deaths for most.”
Hearing the words of the guide, I didn’t understand why these children needed to be cared for. Elizabeth on the other hand looked quite saddened. Looking at the surroundings of the building, the fence was poorly built, broken in several places and the gate hung on one hinge. Where there should be a garden was barren ground, covered in a thin layer of snow, like it had been recently cleared.
“Well then, now you know the way here, would you like to continue to the Academy?”
Turning to Elizabeth, she still looked at the building with a bit of sadness in her eyes. Turning back to our guide, I nod as he walks back from where we came from. Turning back to the orphanage as we walked, the state of the building reminded me of how Crater was for the buildings in the slums. Were the children that stayed there in the same position we were in Crater?
Thinking of asking when we came back at night as per the request, we continued down the streets as our guide started talking about the Academy.
“There are many branches of the Academy here in Vale, I will guide you to the closest. All branches have the same focus, though some offer different courses or more advanced classes. They focus on teaching various subjects, such as writing, spellcasting, basic knowledge and more. If you’re new to Vale or to mixing in with society, it is always a good idea to attend some of their classes.
“For adventurers such as yourself, I would recommend taking certain courses that you require over attending a semester of classes, as you would not have the time to do adventuring and attending classes. By selecting certain classes to attend, you can attend them when you have time, or hire someone to teach you independently. It’s all down to how you wish to learn.”
Unsure on what a semester was, I asked him and it turned out the Academy would schedule classes for almost everyday to attend, something I did not wish to do. We arrived in a large courtyard, in the middle of it is a large statue of a person, behind it is a one story building, and to the sides of the courtyard are buildings that were two or three stories tall.
“This is the Academy. The statue is of the first Headmaster, the founder of the Academy and a member of the Legendary Hero Party, Oswald Valentine.”
Hearing the guide mention the Hero Party reminded me of the System telling us of the aftermath of Zalus. Remembering my time there made me feel a bit depressed as the guide continued speaking.
“The building behind the statue is the administration office, they will be able to assist you in enrolling in courses. I highly recommend requesting information on their courses, they will provide you with a booklet that describes the courses in detail, then come back and enrol in those you wish to partake in.
“Did you wish for me to guide you anywhere else?”
Shaking my head, Elizabeth mimicked me. The guide bid us farewell as we walked towards the building he had pointed out. Upon opening the door and entering, the air was instantly warm even though there were no fireplaces around. Looking around, it resembled the room that we hired the guide from, however the desk was not near the door but instead at the back. There were a handful of people in the room, some sitting while others were talking to people at the desk. One of the attendants beckons to us so we make our way to her.
“Welcome to the Academy, my name is Melinda. Are you here to enrol?” A rather elderly woman, Melinda had blonde hair with some white streaks in it and soft green eyes.
Smiling at her, I spoke. “We’re here to get information on courses.”
“Of course dear. We offer many courses, for an evolved monster such as yourself we also have special programs to introduce you to society that include finding work and learning skills such as writing. I can see you have an adventurer’s plate, though I do recommend looking for regular work as well.”
Handing myself and Elizabeth a thin booklet, she smiles and continues speaking. “I do recommend taking select courses so as to not interrupt your adventurer work. While you can enter into a semester, the amount of work will have an effect on your adventuring as well. The booklet also mentions the cost of the courses, and just doing select courses will allow you to attend them whenever you have time.”
Not sure on how it works, I asked her how we could attend whenever. She explained that the Academy ran courses of all levels everyday, and even if they only taught one or two students in those classes they would still run them.
Thanking her, Elizabeth and I left while putting the booklets away, planning to look over them later. Discussing our next plans, it was approaching the afternoon as we decided to head back to the orphanage.
“We should see if there is anything we can do to help them out.” Speaking up, Elizabeth suggested something I didn’t expect. Seeing my confusion, she smiles and says “Their situation is similar to Crater and the children there. No parents and living in conditions below that of others. I doubt they are forced to work as slaves which is good, but we should help them out now we have the chance.”
Thinking of my time in Crater as a slave gave me a bitter taste in my mouth. Perhaps it would be good to help others in a position, however I didn’t really feel like it. I wasn’t sure if that’s normal to feel, and explaining so to Elizabeth she shrugs.
“The choice is yours of course and I will follow you regardless of what choice you make. I understand if you don’t wish to of course, but how about we do the request and see how you are afterwards? Perhaps spending time with those children will help you understand their plight.”
Understanding what Elizabeth was saying, I had planned to just do the request, but perhaps learning about those children would help me understand the troubles of the Hybrids in Crater Hell. Plus, it seemed Elizabeth wanted to help them out, and since she wished to do something I would go with her, since she has helped me so much.
As we started walking in the direction of the orphanage, my thoughts turned to Sally and Gray. Even now I hoped to see them soon, though I knew deep down it would be some time before I could meet with them again.