“Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. How may I help you?” the receptionist said through gritted teeth, a fake smile plastered on her face. She stood behind an expansive wooden counter, with ledgers and drawers filling the wall behind her.

“I would like to join the guild,” Alix replied awkwardly, keenly aware of the people around him. None were giving him a second glance, but he felt like the room was about to draw their weapons on him at any moment.

The Adventurer’s Guild was housed in a multi-storied building with golden thatch, both quaint and grand at the same time. It looked like it had once just been a small construction of brick, which still stood as the guild’s ground floor, but over the years as the guild had expanded in membership and wealth, the building had grown, upwards and outwards, the upper floors supported by arches and pillars that rose to balconies and widely sloping eaves. The woodwork was elegant, the windows latticed, short towers poked through the myriad roofs and it was adorned all over with banners and flags.

It had been several months since the birth of his daughter, but she had yet to name herself. Alix hadn’t understood what Tifayn had meant at the time, but as he watched his daughter grow before his eyes, understanding dawned. She was unlike a human child in every way. By the time she was a few weeks old she could already walk. He had panicked the first morning he found her missing from her crib, but Tifayn hadn’t shown any concern.

“I told you before, I was living alone by the time I was five years old. You don’t have to worry about her. Soon she will be able to look after herself better than you,” Tifayn said as he furiously dressed to go in search of his rogue daughter.

She had grown rapidly in the weeks since her birth, her hair coming in within days, her teeth coming in within a few weeks, and now she was walking by herself. Alix found her tailing Mr Bones around the castle.

“I apologise my lord, I was going to bring her back soon. I tried telling her to go back but she is a curious child.”

She stumbled over to him and reached up to be lifted into his arms. Alix did as he was told, and carried her back to their rooms. He felt woefully inadequate, although he knew he would be having a worse time if she were a normal child.

Her wandering only grew worse as the weeks flew by in what felt like minutes. She was curious of everything. She watched the Dark Elves in the forge and Brant practising in the yard. She chased after the Ringtails tails, wrapped the demons around her finger, in whose company she was treated like a queen. More than once he found her on the roof perching with the Gargoyles or chasing the hounds through the woods. Alix was run ragged just trying to keep up with her.

“This might be a good time for you to get out there and see Babyl,” Tifayn said one morning. “There is no point in you spending all your time here chasing after the girl. I know it might sound cruel to hear it, but she needs no one but herself.”

“I can’t abandon the both of you.”

“You still don’t understand how independent our children can be. If anything, she is progressing slower because of her mixed blood. She will be fine. Give her time to grow.”

“Where do you expect me to go? There is still plenty for me to do around here.” Alix suddenly grew cold at the thought of being thrown out into the world alone again. The comforts of the castle had been hard won. He wasn’t ready to give them up so soon.

“All of the Darknights that have travelled out into Babyl, explored what it has to offer, have fared a lot better than those that locked themselves away in the library. There is much out there that books are unable to teach you. You know enough to get around now. Go learn from the Dwarves, or join a Guild. You cannot learn those skills here.”

Alix almost argued, but the ring pointed out that she had a good point.

You are right that there is still much for you to learn here, but there is also more for you to learn than is possible in the time you have before the ritual, and not everything can be learned from books.

If he was going to go back to Galdea, he would have to go about it differently this time. He needed a disguise, as well as an identification card. One of the skeletons was able to tell him what he needed to know. Using the card he had been given previously, he was able to craft a new one, one that retained his current level and current experience points but gave him a new name and class. After that he only had to wait for Astrid to find him the book on casting illusions. His daughter had taken to following her around the library, learning how it worked and helping to catalogue new entries. Still she refused to give them her name. She wasn’t speaking at all, although Alix got the impression that she understood every word said.

Once everything was assembled, he left early in the morning towards Galdea. He didn’t realise how much he missed solitude and silence until he was on the road. Before he left, he made sure to cast the spell to change his image. It was a fairly complex spell, but the book recommended a certain version for beginners. Mr Bones managed to find him a ring that had been found amongst the debris in one of the rooms and he was able to implant the spell into the ring so that as long as he was wearing it, an illusion would be cast over him, so that he didn’t have to worry about the spell running out.

With his new look, he travelled the roads with newfound anonymity and confidence. He felt a bit of trepidation when, several days later, he joined the queue waiting to enter Galdea, but the guards barely gave his new identification card a glance before ushering him through. He had expected some sort of magical scan, disappointed that his efforts hadn’t been fully tested.

Alix made his way straight up to the fourth ring of the city, to the Guild District, and then made his way to the Adventurers Guild he had spotted on his last visit, energised to begin the next stage of his adventure. On the walk he had realised that he didn’t want to spend the short time he might have in this world stuck in one place. There was so much Babyl had to offer, and he wanted to experience as much of it as he could before the end.

When Evory turned to face him at the reception counter, he almost lost his barely contained composure.

“Good after-“ Evory began to say but cut off sharply at the sight of him. Despite his illusion magic, she still instantly recognised who he really was.

Master! What are you doing here? her voice screeched into his head.

“I would like to join the guild,” Alix replied as calmly as he could, although he was dying to ask a multitude of other questions, but the room was full of ears hungry for gossip. He had never expected that this was the job Evory had found, but here she was dressed in a receptionists dress, her hair tied up in an artful bun, and wearing a pair of glasses he had never seen before.

“Welcome to the Adventurers Guild. How may I help you?” she said, as if the sight of him had reset her brain.

“I would like to join the guild,” Alix repeated himself.

“Of course. Identification card please,” Evory replied after a slight pause, blushing furiously as she noticed him looking her up and down.

Alix noticed her breathe a sigh of relief as he passed over the card and saw that it bore a different name. He hadn’t seen her around the castle recently so she must not have heard of his plans to leave. Now he knew where she was spending all of her time. “The registration fee is five gold coins. That also comes with free access to one Rank F job,” Evory said, motioning towards a large noticeboard that filled most of a side wall. It was covered in posters and other scraps of paper advertising jobs for the guildmembers. The guildhall reminded him of an old traditional pub, with a low roof and a wood fire burning across from the reception desk, although the similarities ended there. Within the jobs wall was an arched doorway that led to a larger back room he hadn’t noticed from outside, where the various adventuring parties met to eat, drink and exchange stories. A bar stretched along the wall, and various doors led to other rooms, one of which had to be a kitchen from the plates of food that kept appearing from beyond. A large stairway rose from the centre of the back room to the higher floors.

Alix handed over the coins, and then Evory took his card and placed it down on a metal plate inlaid in the counter. A silver light raced across the card, leaving behind his new membership written on the surface.

Adventurer – Rank F.

Evory handed back the card with a slight tremble in her hand.

The process went a lot easier than Alix had expected. He would have to ask Evory about her new job later, when they had some time alone, but for now he was curious to see what sort of jobs were on offer. It sounded like he was restricted to Rank F jobs for now, but he hoped he would be able to take on more interesting jobs soon.

“Thank you,” Alix said, taking back his card. The ID card was similar to the day pass he had received before, a thin piece of wood, lacquered to such an extreme that it looked and felt more like a sliver of glass. Despite its size it held a comfortable weight. Within the gold filigree border were his new details. He had been sorely tempted to come up with a cool new name for himself, to suit the fantasy world he found himself in, but walking into the guild as an entry level adventurer with a name like Hector Hammerhand or Glorian Dragonslayer would likely attract the kind of attention he didn’t want. He needed a name that would help him blend in with the masses.

Orwin Marshall was written at the top of the card in shimmering letters. Below were the rest of his carefully chosen details.

Name: Orwin Marshall

Level: 18

Race: Human

Class: Adventurer

Title: Herbalist

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Affiliations: Adventurer’s Guild – Rank F

Out of all his Titles, he felt like Herbalist was the one that was most suitable for him to start out with. He had plenty to chose from, but they were ones that someone of his rank shouldn’t have possessed. The card also held several icons to denote the various privileges the card afforded him. He had managed to copy the stamp of Galdea from the day pass but if he wanted to gain free access to any other city he would have to apply for their stamps individually. The Adventures Guild stamp appeared along with the affiliation, a sword and a staff crossed over a shield, which allowed him access to the guildhall services and upper levels. In one corner of the card was a circle with eight coloured rings within it, showing that he was allowed access to all but the First, Second and Third rings unhindered. In another corner were four bars showing his Health, Stamina, Mana and EXP.

Alix stored the card in a deep pocket and turned to the wall of jobs. The cosy room held half a dozen tables to sit at and contemplate the jobs by the fire, but most sat through in the bar area. The wall held back a lot of the noise, leaving him to peruse the listings in peace, although a few figures still sat at the tables in brooding silence. One grizzled looking old man sat at the table closest to the fire, smoking a long pipe, while a party of young adventurers crowded around another, talking in excited hushed tones.

As Alix read the jobs, a theme began to emerge. An abundance of the lower ranked jobs were searching for herbs or plants of one kind or another, many of which he had plenty of in his inventory. Potion makers all over the city seemed to be on the hunt for premium supplies. He picked one from the board and returned to the counter. Alix cleared his throat and handed over the slip of paper

“I’d like to fulfil this job,” he said. It was a Rank F job for a potion maker. He wanted Abyssia mostly, but he also offered extra payment for any Ivory Leaf and Mercy Vine that could be found. Alix drew out fifty Abyssia and a dozen each of Ivory Leaf and Mercy Vine. Consuming some of the abundance of Fibre he held, the plants appeared in neatly tied bundles.

Master! You can’t just use your powers like that around here! Evory screeched into his head.

Alix jumped at the sudden tongue-lashing, spilling the bundles all over the counter. Luckily no one was looking in their direction. He cursed himself for his stupidity as the ring explained to him the problem. He had chosen the Adventurer Class, but it was the Title that came with the Infinite Storage skill, and they were apparently distinctly different. The Adventurer Class was just the name for a low-level being that wasn’t particularly skilled in any one area, but has aspirations to one day become something greater, even if that was only to level up to a simple Swordsman, Archer, or any of the other standard classes. The Title was another thing entirely, and poorly named for it true meaning. It was unique to the Knights and stood for an adventurer through time and space, an adventurer from another world. It was one thing to have a magical sack that could hold more than its size, but it was quite another to pull items from thin air.

Evory quickly stored the plants away in a drawer with shaking hands, and drew out some coins from another. With the extra plants he was left with two gold coins, but it was nowhere near enough to affect his ranking. He returned to the board and looked for some harder jobs. Alix couldn’t help but notice the Rank A job pinned prominently to the centre of the board advertising five gold coins for every Dark Elf head handed in. Alix quietly took down the paper and crumpled it up in his pocket.

Alix spent a few moments clearing the simple jobs on the board, those asking for supplies he already carried in abundance. He had made sure to harvest everything he had come across on his walk to Galdea. He made more than enough coin from selling his ingredients, making sure to appear to be pulling them out of deep pockets or the bottom of his pack. It seemed like every herbalist and potion maker in the city was looking to recreate his success. Antidotes still carried a high price which meant that raw ingredients had gone up in price as well, but he hoped if he supplied enough then the price would fall. He didn’t want to leave the market only accessible to the rich. He would fulfil the jobs for free if it guaranteed a cheaper price in the end, although he hoped no plague afflicted them anytime soon.

Don’t clear them all at once or you might draw too much attention to yourself, Evory cautioned when she realised what he was doing, although no one was paying him any attention. If anything, the others in the room were becoming a distraction to him. The party at the table had only grown louder, the excited chattering turning to arguing. The old man glared at them from under a hood.

Alix cleared half of the Rank F requests for materials and only stopped reluctantly, but it would be easy enough to finish the rest over the next few days. He was planning on staying for a while yet. There were a few more stops he had to make. Xilian still rested in his inventory but he would have to pick up a different weapon, one that wouldn’t stand out so much. The only thing he was worried about was running into Leon out in the streets. He would be able to tell who he was instantly if the powers of his ring were the same as his own. He could fake an identification card, but the ring would still reveal him as the Darknight.

Alix made a note of all the available jobs so that he could plan around them later. He still had to find somewhere to stay first before he took on anything more laborious. One job was looking for a missing person but they didn’t want anyone lower than Rank D taking it on. He could still accept higher ranked jobs, but the pay was lower to discourage those that didn’t have the abilities. He would have to prove himself first, but he would have to do so in a way that didn’t draw attention.

Several of the jobs were courier jobs, one of which went to Celadon. He wondered how the soulbound men he had sent there were doing. He would have to frequent some of the taverns and see if he could hear any stories coming out of there. After smelling the aromatic smoke coming from the old man’s pipe, he would have to find a tobacconist as well.

Many of the higher ranked jobs were looking for guards for a merchant train, or otherwise escorting someone through dangerous lands, but he wasn’t ready to leave Galdea yet. He hadn’t heard of many threats before, but from the job descriptions Babyl appeared to be a more dangerous place than he had thought.

There was an ongoing job to hunt down Ringless in the city, which he quietly tore off the wall as well. If he came across any, he would help them as much as he could, send them to the castle if he had to.

As he was making note of the next few jobs he was interested in, planning on asking Evory to hold them for him if possible, the party of young adventurers argument finally came to a head.

“I’m not listening to any more excuses!” one of the group suddenly shouted. The others watched him anxiously as he stood and stormed over to the wall of jobs, tore off a large poster and, walking over to Evory, slammed it down on the counter. “We want to take on this job,” he proclaimed, while the others rushed up behind him. Altogether they were six, four young men and two young girls.

“Are you sure we are ready Faisal?” one of the girls asked. Millie. Mage. Lv. 19.

“I’m sorry but-“ Evory began to say, but Faisal turned back to his party.

“We will never amount to anything if we keep taking these crappy jobs that barely pay enough to feed us! This way we can advance quicker, earn more money and finally make a name for ourselves!”

“But it’s a Rank C job,” one of the boys said. Weiss. Paladin. Lv. 23. “We are all Rank E.”

“I’ve already reached Rank D. Plus it is only a suggestion. It also suggests a party of four. We are six! We will be fine. Don’t you remember the party that was in here last week? There was only four of them and they took on a Rank B job all by themselves, and they were all Rank E as well.”

“Faisal, they were all of them Archers and the job was to take down a single Griffon! Those brothers have been training since they were children and will be Rank S in no time. They only joined the guild because they have run out of other challenges. One of their bows is likely worth more than the entirety of our gear combined. They took the job despite the lower pay-out they would receive because they don’t need the money in the first place. We have only been doing this for a few years and I only earned my Anointed Reliquaries last year.”

“This young man is correct,” Evory said, cutting in loudly before Faisal could offer a retort. “Jobs are ranked for a reason. It is not worth the risk taking on one so far above your own when the pay-out is scaled to match. No one wants your blood on their hands.”

“But you cannot deny us the right to accept the job, right?” Faisal replied, turning back to Evory. Suddenly he noticed the deep cut of her dress and averted his gaze again. Millie poked him with her mage’s staff at his blush.

Evory held her unnatural paleness but Alix could tell her anger was building. “I cannot,” she eventually said. Alix dreaded to think what she was wishing she could do to Faisal at that moment.

“Look, the only reason this job is Rank C is because the guild think it is related to what happened at Mortlake and the guild has designated that no job dealing with criminal activity be ranked any lower. But, so far none of the jobs have been dangerous at all! The guild has just been throwing money away trying to investigate something that was most likely just a disagreement between two groups of assholes that did us a favour by wiping each other out. This job will be the same. Free money, free experience. Afterwards you can all apply for Rank D and the Sixfold Sanctum can start to make a name for ourselves. It’s just investigating a beached shipwreck. How hard can it be?”

“Well the Survey Corps notes mention that something was spotted in the surrounding waters, darting in and out of the fog, but it is not their job to investigate such things. Something might have attacked the ship, or from the smell, they noted a plague might have consumed the ship. Neither tasks are fit for such a low party,” Evory pointed out, but the party seemed to ignore her words, instead looking to Faisal for guidance.

A shiver went through Alix and he wondered if he had heard Evory correctly.

Evory, are you talking about what I think you are talking about?

I think so. That is why I tried to dissuade them, but the guild rules say anyone can accept any job at their own risk. There is probably nothing there anyway, other than a few a few bodies rotten beyond identification. I would have gone to check myself already but I have been…preoccupied.

Maybe I should take this job instead, burn whatever’s left.

By all appearances, you are even less qualified than they are. The quest requires them to identify the ship, by recovering its bell, logbooks, or anything else that might name it, and to deal with any threats in the area so that a salvage contract can safely be sold to another guild.

“If you really say we will be fine, then I believe you,” Millie said, stepping to Faisal’s side to show her support.

Weiss sighed. “Fine, let’s do it.”

Evory coldly took the job poster. “The deposit required for a Rank C job is two gold coin per party member.”

Each of the members of the Sixfold Sanctum took out their awfully light looking coin purses and handed over the gold. Then Evory stamped the poster with an In Progress guild stamp and handed it over.

“Hand this in once you are finished to get your deposit back, and your reward. Good luck.”

Faisal grabbed the poster triumphantly, rolled it up and led his party out.

“Faisal, I swear if we fail I’m taking your sword and selling it to get my money back,” Weiss said as they left.

Maybe I should ask to join their party, just for this one quest, Alix began to think, but then the old man by the fire spoke.

“You should have done more to dissuade them, the stupid buggers that they are. They couldn’t find a pair of tits in a brothel,” he said as he pulled down his hood, revealing an eye patch over one eye, and tapped his pipe out on the hearth.

“They’ve been eyeing that job all week, Cobalt. I already convinced Faisal to take four other low rank jobs before this one.”

“Aye and that just made him cockier, thinks he can take on the world because he chased some slimes away from the fereep herds and slept rough for a few nights.”

“You could have taken on the job yourself you know. You barely take any jobs these days,” Evory said.

“Wasn’t worth it. I’d rather sit here and look at you,” Cobalt replied, grinning mischievously through a thick white beard.

Alix almost laughed but at the look Evory shot at them he changed his mind. Instead he took note of the few jobs he was interested in, one which was a guard job that would lead out east, away from the realms of men. Then he thanked Evory for her help and made his way towards the door, to find a room for the next few days while he prepared to head out on his first real quest.

“That was a fancy trick with your pockets,” Cobalt called to him before he reached the door. He was repacking his pipe with fresh tobacco and staring at him intently with his remaining eye. “I’ll be keeping my eye on you,” he said, laughing manically as Alix rushed out the door, an awkward expression on his face, as if he had no idea what the old man was on about.

I should have joined a different guild…