Noah wandered between the buildings. He stuck to the walls and tried to be as stealthy as possible. The last thing he wanted was to be seen naked. That was not the kind of reputation he wanted to have.

The walls were tall, nearly four meters high. They were made out a rough, white stone that cut out in jagged edges and seemed to have many parts missing. Noah judged that they had taken a beating and remembered that the city of Glados was quite old, but he wasn’t sure about the details.

“Stop!” Shrieking, it was a woman’s voice that came from the a little bit ahead and to the right. Noah’s expression turned serious as the possibilities of what could be happening slowly drew up in his mind.

The last thing he needed was another fight, but he couldn’t just leave her. Sure he wasn’t aiming to be a hero. He wanted to be realistic and live a bit longer. Afterall, nobody would be served by another corpse, but he still had his principles. His own code, and he planned to follow it.

Sneakily, he turned around the corner and found the expected sight. A half-naked woman beneath a large burly man. None of them had seemed to notice him.

He spotted a stone, a loose piece of wall, that was large enough to function as a weapon. Being as silent as possible, he picked it up and approached the man. At last the man must have felt that something was off as he looked backwards to find a white blur shooting into his temple, making it bend.

The man collapsed on the floor unconscious, with blood beginning to trickle out. A thought flashed through Noah’s mind but he quickly pushed it away. The man might be dead, but death was going to be a constant in his world. He knew that ever since he’d decided to be an adventurer.

Noah looked to the girl which seemed to be contemplating something heavy. Is she mad at me? Noah wasn’t quite sure what he should do. It had seemed so obvious a moment ago, but with her eyes staring right at him his thoughts had seemed to freeze.

“I reckon you want his clothes?” She said with a deeper voice than Noah had expected.

“What?” Noah stepped backwards. The girl got up and Noah noted that she was still nude, although her silky-smooth skin slowly turned thicker and rougher and gained a shade of green to it. Her face seemed to change as well.

She’s a shape shifter.

Her mouth grew outwards, becoming a mighty jaw, and her face seemed to flatten, her eyes suddenly turning into slits. Noah was no longer standing beside a woman, but what seemed to be a mix of crocodile and human. She still stood on two legs, and there was still hair on her head, but her clothes had ripped apart.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “The man’s a drunk, and a rapist. He deserves what’s coming to him.”

She took of the man’s clothes. The white shirt got a clear smudge of blood on it, but the pants seemed to be regular. She dropped them on the floor before pulling the man’s corpse towards the nearest sewer gate.

Stolen novel; please report.

Noah found it offly freakish how easily she pushed the man in and crawled in herself. He wasn’t sure if the sewers were anything he wanted to experience. His eyes found themselves glued to the clothes. They were too large for him and the blood would certainly raise questions, but those questions were a heck of al ot better than the ones he’d be receiving otherwise.

He put on the pants and shirt, and realized that he had to keep one hand on the pants for them not to fall down. Better than nothing. With clothes once again on, he could resume his search for the adventurer’s guild.

As he understood it, he’d receive ten silver upon signing up. He was counting on that coin to help him get established, although the coin didn’t come for free. After he’d signed up, the only way to leave would be to pay ten gold, and whilst he was an adventurer he’d have to complete at least one quest a week. It was either that or death, and Noah figured a majority probably used the latter.

He thought that for the higher tiered adventurer’s they’d have an easy time getting the ten gold, so in reality it was only a barrier for amateurs. The adventurer’s guild most likely used other methods for keeping their higher ranks.

Now then, I’ve got to figure out where the adventurer’s guild is.

He walked back onto the street and gazed at the different buildings and their signs. There was lots of taverns, merchants, temples, houses, banks, and what seemed to be jails around, but he couldn’t spot any adventurer’s guild.

The blood stain on his shirt wasn’t getting anywhere near as much attention as he’d thought it would. In his home village, he wouldn’t be able to take a single step without somebody asking him what had happened. He felt slightly demoralized.

But I guess it’s good in its own way. Makes finding the adventurer’s guild that much easier.

“Hey you there,” a young boy called out. He seemed to be the same age as Noah and wore dirtied leather tunic, leather pants, and average boots. There was a large staff, reaching from the ground to his head, in his right hand. He was using it as a walking crutch. “Do you know where the adventurer’s guild is?”

“I’m searching for it too. Haven’t had any luck though.”

“How so? Are you also planning to become an adventurer?”

“Yes.”

“What class are you going to pick?”

The adventurer’s guild couldn’t simply give ten silver to anybody and send them off on a quest. Too many deaths would result in economical issues, so they required that any new adventurer’s would have to take a week long course in a special class of their choosing.

These sessions were held once a year. That lead to a crux of people who wanted to become adventurer’s traveling to the town at approximately the same time. That day was this day, and that was the reason Noah was so eager on finding the adventurer’s guild.

“I’ll base it off what god picks me.”

“Smart, but you know what they say about that.”

“What?”

“The god that picks you is going to be doing so of your current traits and skills. I’ve studied a fair amount of magic and meditated for quite some time. I’m hoping to get some sort of god suited for magic.”

“Hmm,” Noah said. “I don’t really know much about the gods, but I hope I don’t get marked.”