Chpt. 4) Black Blades

I woke up early the next morning and dressed in a simple tunic and pants with the living metal sliding up my hand and around my wrist. I looked at my light armor and considered if I’d need it. I shrugged and left for the guild, trying and failing to contain my excitement as I skipped down the cold, empty morning streets. Before I knew it, I was back at the guild, standing apprehensively at the shattered door. Oops, I guess.

Shaking my head and quickly getting over my apprehension, I walked into the guild hall. The hall was empty except for Sam, who was reading over some paperwork at the registration desk. I walked up to the desk and pushed the little metal button a bit too hard as it rang through the hall just as loudly as last time.

Sam jumped in surprise, throwing the papers in the air. He grabbed his chest and took deep breaths as he turned to face me, “Rose. Please don’t ring the bell so loudly. You scared the crap out of me.”

I signed to him, “Sorry,” and chuckled silently.

Smiling after catching his breath, Sam began picking up the papers and asked, “So, why are you here so early? The sun hasn’t even risen yet.”

I blinked at him and shrugged. I don’t know what time it is. I know I had to come in early. So I came in early.

Sam raised an eyebrow, “What don’t you know?”

And This is where talking with people who don’t know sign language becomes a pain in my ass. I just gestured I wanted to write something down.

“You want to write something? I don’t think I can do that for you. With the high prices of ink and paper, Corval would have my head if I let you write every time you wanted to talk.”

I sighed and waved him off, bored with the conversation I literally couldn’t have.

“W-wait!” Sam called out, making me stop and turn to face him. He looked nervous, but why? “Could you teach me?” he asked after a second of hesitation.

Walking up to him, I cocked my head quizzically at him.

“I mean, can you teach me to talk to you? Since you don’t speak and are blind, I figured it would probably be helpful to have someone here who can talk with you at all times. I-if you have time, that is?”

I smiled and nodded.

Sam smiled and finished picking up the stacks of paper he had dropped. “Great, thank you for agreeing to—”

I cut him off right there by flicking his nose lightly. He stumbled back and looked perplexed by my actions as he put the papers on a desk behind him. When he turned back around, I signed, “Where, Corval?” Corval, I signed using the letter C and stroking an invisible beard.

Sam stammered a moment as he tried to interpret what I just signed. Then he sighed and pulled out a sheet of paper and ink, “I still don’t know what you said. Oh, Corval’s going to kill me.” I chuckled silently and began writing down the alphabet from A to Z. Once I finished, I pointed to the letter A and made the sign. Sam looked perplexed momentarily, mirrored me, and asked, “Is this A?”

I nodded and pointed to B, then C, and so on, giving the sign for each one. Sam caught on to what I was teaching him very quickly, and after about an hour of study, he was reciting the alphabet perfectly. But before I could teach him anything else, I saw Corval walking into the guild hall with a yawn. I turned around and stood straight with my hands clasped behind my back.

Sam jolted upright and said, “S-s-sir! I-I was just—”

“Shut it, Sam!” Corval yelled as he noticed us. He sighed and said, “What are you doing here so early, newbie?”

I signed, “Work.”

Corval stared at me for a second before saying, “What?”

I scowled, turned to Sam, and signed, “Work,” then spelled it out for him.

Sam slowly read my signs as I repeated it for him and said, “She says she’s here for work.”

Corval sighed and said, “Oh, right … I’ve got your team picked out, but they won’t be here for another few hours. And your badge won’t be made until then. Just hang out here until then. I’ll come to get you when they do arrive. And Sam, that paperwork had better be done by then!”

“Y-yes, sir!” Sam stammered as Corval walked past and up a flight of stairs to his office, which was just out of my sight. Sam sighed a second later and said, “Thanks for teaching me. I need to get back to work. B-but, please do teach me again.” I nodded and gave him a kind smile before walking to one of the tables and sat down. I tapped my fingers on the table in a steady rhythm, waiting impatiently for the time to pass.

***

The guild hall was bustling once again after a few hours. The bar wasn’t open, so most people coming in either dropped off their kills or picked up jobs. Most adventurers were in groups of four or five, with some going out alone or as a pair. And as they all came and went, I heard them whispering about me.

“Who’s that?”

“What’s she doing here?”

“Why does she even bother trying to be an adventurer?”

“She’s just going to get herself killed.”

Pfft, if I could at least talk, I would easily be able to put them in their place. But I can’t talk so short of an unprovoked sucker punch I couldn’t do anything. So, I waited and endured their whispers. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait much longer as Corval descended the guild hall’s stairs. I felt my excitement and energy return as I stood and readied myself to meet my team. Er … the team I would be joining, I mean.

Corval walked through the door to the stairs and called, “Rose! White Lotus and Black Blades leaders! Meet me in my office!” I was the first to approach Croval, and he nodded at me as he turned and led me up the stairs.

We walked up several flights of stairs, going up four floors. How big is this place? Once we stopped on the fourth floor, I could see one more floor above us, then the roof. The floor above had nothing but crates and crates of stuff. The floor we stopped on had only one big room with a desk with stacks of paperwork, a coffee table, a couple of couches, and four old wooden chairs.

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Opening the door to the room, Corval said, “Take a seat. I want to talk to you about your abilities.” I nodded and sat on the couch on the right side of the room. Corval grabbed one of the old wooden chairs and sat in it. He cleared his voice and said, “Just to be clear, I want yes or no answers from you. Got it?”

I nodded.

“Good. So, you’re blind and mute. How is it you fight so well? Did someone teach you?”

I shook my head.

“No teachers. So, you’re self-taught? Both with magic and hand-to-hand combat?”

I nodded.

“Taught yourself everything you know, huh? I must admit that’s impressive. But how is it you seem to be able to see when you are blind? Is it something you taught yourself too?”

I rocked my head from side to side and wabbled my hand as if to say, sort of.

“Hmm. So, it’s not something you taught yourself, but it’s not far from the truth. Do you see with magic?”

I nodded and signed, “Yes,” Hoping the guild master would pick up on some sign language.

“Was that the sign for yes?” he guessed. And my hopes were answered.

I nodded and signed, “Yes,” again.

“Oh, good to know. Anyways … you taught yourself to see through magic and taught yourself fighting and how to use magic. And do it in a way that nobody else could copy it. That is impressive.” Corval said and sighed, “I bet you’re wondering why I’m asking you all these questions?”

“Yes,” I signed.

“Well, although these teams always take on new members, even they have to be persuaded. So, I needed ammunition to use and convince them. Hopefully, it works.”

I grimaced and crossed my fingers when I saw two people coming up the stairs from the second floor. I couldn’t see their figures clearly since they were so far away, and there was so much stuff between here and there. But I could figure out that they were the leaders of Black Blades and White Lotice. I pointed to the door and signed, “Two people coming.”

Corval scowled, “What? I don’t know sign language, kid!”

I huffed, pointed to the door again, put up two fingers, and pointed at the floor.

Corval’s brow furrowed as he tried to piece what I signed together. “Two people at the door?”

I wabbled my hand as if to say, sort of.

“Two people coming here?”

I nodded and signed, “Yes.”

“That must be your potential team leaders,” Corval groaned as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the door. As he opened it, the two people walked up the stairs and came into view.

The person in front was a tall, slender woman with cat ears and a tail. She wore simple leather armor with an impressive collection of daggers on her person. As she entered, she smiled at Corval, revealing four sharp canines. The person behind her was a man, the same height as the woman. He looked slightly different from everyone else, with slanted eyes and no hair. Otherwise, he looked like all the other adventurers here. He had broad shoulders, heavily knotted muscles, a long curved blade on his hip, and wearing simple clothes and no armor.

“Please come in and let me introduce you to the recruit,” Corval said as he opened the door.

The woman sat on the couch opposite me, and the man sat beside her at a respectable distance apart. “So, who’s the recruit we’re meeting?” the man asked, his voice a low rumble, “Are they here yet?”

I blinked, slightly offended, but clenched my fists and resisted the urge to punch the man.

“Yagami, Naktra. This is Rose, our newest adventurer,” Corval said, gesturing to me. “Rose,” Corval continued, “This is Yagami and Naktra,” he said, gesturing to the man and then the woman, “Yagami is the leader of Black Blades, and Naktra is the leader of White Lotice.”

“Wait for a damn second! This child is the recruit?!” Yagami exclaimed, then began laughing uncontrollably, “HAHAHAHA!! You’ve got to be kidding me! This scrawny, weak little child is the recruit!? HAHAHA!!”

“It does seem rather ridiculous, sir,” Naktra said, her accented voice a low purr.

I clenched my fists tighter as I resisted my ever-growing anger. Corval didn’t find anything funny in me being here as he said, “You both saw that big hole in our door, right?”

The question caught Yagami and Naktra off guard. They both calmed down and nodded. “Yeah, what was that about? Nobody’s telling me anything about it,” Yagami answered.

“That’s because she made it,” Corval said, pointing to me.

Naktra’s ears twitched at that as she purred, “Oh, and how did that happen?”

“She threw James through it.”

Yagami chuckled, “Well, that wouldn’t be very hard. He is a lightweight. He probably had—”

“She threw him from across the guild hall with enough force to shatter a reinforced door. He is now in the infirmary, recovering from four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a shattered collar bone, and a concussion. Is that something that should be brushed off as a coincidence?”

Naktra’s ears twitched more and more as she listened to the story. And I could hear her heartbeat race with excitement with every word. “So, what are her selling points? I know you know them,” Naktra asked.

A glimmer of hope bloomed in my chest as I saw Corval smile wryly, “Well, she’s an excellent hand-to-hand fighter, no master, but she’s good. She also taught herself magic despite being both blind and mute.”

Naktra looked surprised at the last part, “She’s blind? And mute?”

Corval sighed, “Yes, that’s why I’m pushing for her to join a team. And since you two almost always accept new recruits, I figured one of you might give her a shot.”

Naktra scowled and thought for a moment while Yagami leaned back on the couch with a knowing smirk. “What can she—”

“Why are you here?” Yagami asked, cutting Naktra’s question off.

I quickly panicked at the sudden and unexpected question as I couldn’t answer it without sign language.

“She knows sign language and can speak using it, but unless you learned sign language, she can only really answer yes or no questions, Yagami,” Corval explained.

“Okay, then I’ll try again,” Yagami nodded and asked, “Why are you here? Are you here for money?”

I shook my head.

“Are you here for adventure?”

I nodded.

Yagami’s smirk grew wider, “Oh, so that’s why you’re here.” Then he stood up and said, “Then I give you a week before you die. Enjoy it while you can,” and he began walking toward the door. My eyes widened in shock, and I instinctively stood and lunged for his arm, stopping him.

Yagami’s smirk never left as he turned back to me and said, “What do you want, kid?”

I shook my head and shrugged. I didn’t know.

“Stop teasing her, Yagami,” Naktra chastised, “She’ll last more than a week. I’ll be happy to take her into the White Lotus.”

Corval clapped his hands and said, “Great, I’ll grab the paperwork for you two to complete.”

“Is that what she wants?” Yagami asked.

“What do you mean?” Corval asked, stopping halfway off his chair before falling back to it with a groan and a massive sigh.

“Well, she hasn’t chosen yet. Let her pick,” Yagami said.

I stepped back and looked between everyone present.

“Fine,” Corval said, “Rose, who’s team do you want to join?”

What? I didn’t expect this. Why do I have to choose? Wasn’t the point of selling me to the team leader to get them to choose?

“Maybe this will help you choose,” Yagami said, pulling out a paper tube of pungent, dry leaves, putting it in his mouth, and pulling a small metal box from his other pocket before saying, “If you choose White Lotus, you’ll be safe for a while. Being put on easy jobs that don’t take you far from the city and exploring the area a little. A nice, easy job. Or,” Yagami flicked open the box, and I could smell burning fluid coming from it as it lit the paper tube in his mouth, “You can join me with the Black Blades.” He said, blowing out pungent smoke.

I cocked my head quizzically as I waved away the smoke.

“Just know that I’ll push you. If you want adventure, then you need the power to protect yourself. I’ll push you past your limits on my team and allow you to see the world. If you want to take it easy, then join White Lotus. If you want to have a true adventure, join me,” Yagami said, blowing out another plume of smoke, “You have three seconds.”

Panic welled up in my chest. Who should I pick!?

“Three,” Yagami began the countdown.

Both seem like good teams.

“Two.”

But what I want—

“One.”

Is my own path! My arm shot up almost without thinking about it, and I pointed at Yagami.

His knowing smirk grew wider as he said, “Good choice, kid.”

Naktra grumbled and stood, “Very well then. I’ll be going since you don’t need me here anymore.”

Corval nodded and said, “That’s fine. Go talk to Sam at the registration desk. I have a job set aside for you and your team.” Naktra nodded and left. Leaving the three of us alone in the office. “Now, let’s take care of the paperwork. Then we can—” Corval continued but didn’t get anything else out as Yagami grabbed my arm and ran out the door as fast as he could. Passed Naktra on the stairs before I knew it, and then we were outside the guild hall.

I looked at him confused and wrenched my arm free from his iron grasp. “What?” He unashamedly asked, “It takes forever to do paperwork, and my teams got a job. We’ll get your guild card later. For now, you’ll get your stuff and meet me at the west entrance to the city in twenty minutes so we can get to work.” I cocked my head, confused, and Yagami glared at me, “You have until I finish my cigarette to get your ass in gear, newbie.” Then he took one long drag at the cigarette, half burning away in an instant. I turned and ran back to the hotel to collect my belongings and go on my first adventure.