The air in the guild dorm room was musty, which is to be expected when 4 young men share a single room. As was the norm, Jordan was the first to wake up, the morning light leaking through the cheap curtain right into his eyes. As he stared at the ceiling he felt the exhaustion immediately from his inconsistent sleep schedule. He thought living with 3 wizards would be cleaner and quieter, but his roommates were frat boys who could start fires with their minds. They were nice guys though, and they were also smart enough to come to Zephtal as a party. They were living in the dorms stress-free, stacking money, and casually looking for an apartment, a luxury Jordan did not have.

“What time is it” he whispered sleepily as he pawed for his glasses on the nightstand, finding them after feeling around for what felt like hours.

He hovered his right hand over his viewing stone and poured a small amount of den into it. He was still trying to get used to channeling this strange magic, but the stone only needed a small amount. A moment later, it lit up and displayed his Home Screen. He put his glasses on and squinted at the glowing rock.

04/12/1 7:00 am

Name: Jordan Hamilton

Race: Half-Elf

Class: Ranger

Level: 2

Guild Score: 35

Skills:

Adventurer’s Boon

Smell Weakness

Relaxed Hand

Jordan sighed, looking at the familiar stats that had not changed in a week now. He forced himself out of bed, thanking his luck he got the bottom bunk. Navigating a ladder this early in the morning would feel like brain surgery to him. Changing into his cheap leather armor, he thought about the challenging road ahead of him. With no prospects of a party at this point, it looked like he would be flying solo for a while.

The Guild wasn’t opening for an hour, and Jordan made a point to check the materials he had left. A quiver with 10 arrows, a beginner bow, and 2 minor health potions were all he had to his name. He sighed slightly before standing up and putting on the last of his gear.

“Just need to grind,” he said to himself tiredly.

It wasn't fresh and new anymore, he had been an official adventurer for over a month now, and one can only keep their plucky optimism for so long before the reality of their situation sets in. The Everwatch Adventurers Gulild was world famous for working with the strongest, most noble heroes on the continent of Myrkath. What was not as well advertised was the pay of low-level adventurers, which was minimum wage. Jordan wallowed in his lack of funds for a moment before finally gathering his gear and heading for the Guild.

It had been a month since he arrived in the city, but the Gold District of Zephtal still felt like a different world from the small village of his childhood. The morning light made the gaudy structures shine in an almost blinding way and the windows of each building were adorned with different kinds of fabulous gems. As the name would suggest, each building in the district had the same golden paint job, even the Everwatch Dorms that Jordan had been living in for the last month. When Jordan first arrived at his lodging, he only had one thought.

Tacky.

7 am was when many people in the district started their morning commutes, and as Jordan joined the crowd of people walking through the streets, he could feel their judgmental eyes on his basic starting gear. At this point, however, he had become so used to it that he made a bit of a game out of it. His favorite move was making eye contact with the people staring at him and waving while walking in their direction. You would think running in a 30,000 gold dress would be difficult, but it’s amazing what rich people will do to avoid talking to poor people. As he continued down the street, he felt around in his pack for his coin pouch and found it, sadly being able to count all his money in the same motion.

The financial situation was very clear to Jordan and he was not a fan of it. He arrived in Zephtal with no money, but he knew from his uncle the guild provided free housing in their dorms to new adventurers for 6 months after their registration. What he was not told was in exchange he had to do 3 quests a week with no pay for the guild or he would be kicked out upon the conclusion of the week. A studio apartment close to the guild was at least 1200 gold a month, but in exchange, he could keep all his earnings. He wouldn’t be able to make any progress in this city until he had the money to live comfortably and eventually afford to upgrade his gear. Also if he was being honest, he did not want to have to continue living with wizards that stay up until 4 am shooting each other with electricity.

Stolen story; please report.

It does not make for a restful night's sleep.

As he turned the corner, he saw the now familiar site of the Everwatch Adventurers Guild. The Guild had been around for the last 200 years, and Jordan heard many stories growing up of powerful wizards and unbeatable fighters that had saved the world many times due to their training at Everwatch. He knew from a young age he wanted to follow in their footsteps, but he also knew now that his path would be more…unique.

While the gold district was full of shiny jewelry and flashy designs, the Guild building was designed in the same way every branch was: a simple stone staircase that led to a 3 story plain white building with a painting of a large purple raccoon mascot named Tulie above the entrance. “Wish me luck that I may make a step towards escaping poverty today Tulie,” he thought as he climbed up the steps and opened the simple wooden doors.

The inside of the guild always reminded Jordan of a stuffy office more than a hub of fantastic heroism. He always thought it was their attempt at appearing humble and one with the people. The sound of papers shuffling, passive-aggressive customer service voices, and uncomfortable small talk reminded Jordan of everything he hated about interacting with others. The lobby had a large board in the middle of the room that displayed all the current quests and could be grabbed by any adventurer and turned in to any of the employees. In front of the board was the main desk, where employees would be stationed to answer questions and submit quests. The rest of the room on the first floor was very bare, with the only decorations on the walls being paintings of the adventurers Miranda Ren and Thomas Benet, the founders of Everwatch.

Jordan approached the board and began scanning for low-level jobs he could take to meet his weekly quota for his housing. The week had only started 2 days ago, but he had been able to snag 2 low difficultygathering jobs and if he could get another easy one today, the rest of the week's jobs would be all profit. As he scoured the board though, one other posting in particular jumped out at him.

Reward: 300 gold and 20 guild points

Required Guild Point Total: 215

A group of vampire spawns have infested a house in the floating district, exterminate them, and bring an ear for each one as proof.

It was unlikely, but Jordan looked around anyway. He had only done solo missions so far, and even though he knew finding a party was unlikely, it still hurt a bit to see the averted gazes and sometimes even looks of pity. He understood why they thought this way, though.

Rangers were considered one of the less useful classes. The skills a low-level ranger has are objectively less useful than the other classes like wizards, fighters, and clerics. Though they have advantages when it comes to tracking and perception, their shortage of useful combat skills causes them to be looked down upon when it comes to allowing them into one’s party. Of course, a high-level ranger is very useful and powerful, but they are few and far between due to the high difficulty level at the beginning of their careers.

Jordan conceded he wasn’t getting any help today, and he sighed moving on from the vampire quest and pulling down a notice for a pest extermination in the floating district. He brought it over to May, the receptionist who had onboarded him the first day he arrived. May was very tall, about 6’4, and being a Dragonborn didn't do anything to tone down the intimidation factor. She wore the standard Everwatch uniform, a set of heavy armor that looked annoying to do office work in. Jordan assumed it was a branding thing, but it felt like it was a bit much. Despite the powerful exterior she presented she spoke in a soft, almost timid voice that Jordan found he still couldn't get used to.

When working for the guild, the process is the same every time. Adventurers will look through the jobs posted on the board, take the one they want, and turn it into a guild employee. The employee will confirm they are of an appropriate level, and upon confirmation enter the quest into their system. If a quest is completed, the posted points and gold will be rewarded. Failure means the party will not receive gold and will usually lose some amount of points to be determined by guild management.

“Hi Jordan, early riser as usual, what do have today?” she asked softly as he handed her the posting. “Slick rats at the floating district Georginas huh? Dang I liked their chicken wings, that’s too bad” May said as she began pouring den into her viewing crystal.

“I know it's a shame, I went there my first night and played pool with a guy from Orquime. He destroyed me and then I think offered for me to come to his house and meet his wife which felt weird so I went home instead” Jordan said sleepily.

He only realized after he finished talking that what he said was a wild way to make small talk in the morning, but he was too sleep-deprived to care. Last night had been relatively peaceful, but living with 3 wizard roommates deserved an official challenge rating for the guild.

May being the kind soul she was, ignored Jordan’s strange anecdote and began touching various options on her viewing stone. Her other hand floated above the document and the glowing symbol of Tulie on the flyer's right corner faded. The moment the glow faded, the viewing stone flashed bright purple. After a moment, the stone returned to its normal state, and may handed over a mason jar with an image of Tulie on the lid.

“Ok Jordan I have your quest registered in our system, just put the right ear of each rat you exterminate in this jar and bring it back to us. You will then be awarded 1 point and will fulfill your dorm cost for the week, good luck and stay safe” May said, giving a by-the-book fantastic customer service smile, albeit in a barely audible tone. Jordan sleepily thanked her and put the jar into his pack.

He began walking to the front entrance and took notice of the other people looking at postings intentionally averting eye contact, even seeing a Wizard and Druid whispering and pointing. Jordan wished that if people were going to be rude they’d have the common decency to at least hide it better.

As he went through the doors, he noticed the city begin to wake up. The shops opening, the fruit vendors slicing up the day's product, and couriers loading their cargo for yet another shift, each one of them with a look of tired determination.

Jordan came to this city hoping to follow in the footsteps of the heroes his family told him about as a child. The brilliant sorcerers, the noble paladins, and even the “lame” rangers were all legends that had inspired him to come to this strange city, without a copper to his name, in hopes of becoming a legend himself. However, as he looked around at the people getting ready to grind through another hard day of work, he thought he looked much more like them than the heroes of his childhood.