It has now been a month since Nick became stranded in this world. Over the course of the last week and a half things have improved for him considerably. His training with Kane is going extremely well thanks to his nightly training with Azara. In fact, during today's training session Kane gave him a signed letter of recommendation. Rolfe had also done the same, as Rolfe has run out of things to teach him. Rolfe, most of the time, just sent Nick off to help Katrina as his way of training him.
His standing with Alyssa has also improved, they went from ignoring each other to becoming sparring partners. She surprised Nick one day with the offer, claiming it would help them both improve more if they fought each other rather than just hitting bags. For the first couple days they didn't talk much, but eventually they opened up to each other. They weren't exactly friends yet, but they were on speaking terms. They would casually strike up conversations with each other, but it was usually nothing more than small talk.
Nick yawned and stretched as he made his way to the gym, today was particularly hard on him. Before they gave him their letters of recommendation they both pushed his skills to the limit, he was exhausted. Luckily, Rolfe's test was a lot less physically demanding so he had recovered enough energy to go to the gym for his sparring session with Alyssa. They had to go to a different gym for their sparring, the gym they went to previously didn't have a designated area for it like this one had.
The down side of going to this gym was that it was a lot more popular with the men in the castle, so a lot more people were present to watch him being beaten by a girl. They were a lot more evenly matched now than they were a week ago, but he still lost every time. She had a lot more real fighting experience than Nick had so she was always able to surprise him and get the upper hand. It would still be a while until he would be able to surpass her, but he suspected this would be their last match for a while.
Nick was planning on heading to the adventurers guild first thing tomorrow, which meant that he could be gone for god knows how long on a quest. He had heard from Rolfe that a quest could last anywhere from a week to a few months for beginning adventurers. There were even a couple that lasted a few years for some of the higher level adventurers. Worst case scenario, if he didn't die, would be that he would be gone for four or more months. A lot can happen in a couple months, Nick knows that better than anyone.
As Nick walked in he could see Alyssa warming up on a punching bag, when she saw him she smiled and grabbed a pair of gloves. "Want to warm up first, or are you good?" She asked, tossing the gloves, that closely resembled boxing gloves, to him.
He caught them and began to put them on. "I don't need a warm up, I should be fine."
"Alright. Ring four is open, we can use that one. Let's go before someone else takes it." She motioned for Nick to follow as she made her way to the only unoccupied ring of the four. Once they both entered the ring a few spectators stopped watching the other fights and came to watch them spar. All of the others had over a dozen spectators, but they had an average of eight.
Once they started to fight their spectators began to cheer, a couple cheering for Nick to win and all of the others cheering for Alyssa. After six lengthy matches, all of which Nick lost, they decided to call it a day. They were both winded and drenched in sweat. "Man, even though you can't punch for shit, you can sure take a hit. And your stamina is unreal."
Nick laughed, taking a sip of water before sitting on a nearby bench. "I have had a lot of experience in taking hits this last month. The stamina is just a natural side effect due to how much I train. I live alone so there is not much else for me to do besides train or read. But that will change soon."
Alyssa raised her eyebrow, sitting next to him. "What do you mean?"
"I'm going to join the adventurers guild. I've become bored with life in this castle, it just isn't as exciting or fun as I expected it to be." Nick paused for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, I love living here, but I'm willing to trade the comfort for a little bit of excitement."
"Yeah, I can understand that..." Alyssa went quiet, a thoughtful look on her face. "Hey, do you think I could come with you?"
Nick was surprised, not even a week and a half ago she hated him with all of her being and now she was willing to travel with him. "What? Why would you want to do that?"
"It sounds like a lot more fun than just being here all the time. My dad doesn't like letting me out, but I'm sure I can convince him to let me go on some kind of adventure if I'm with someone else. If not, I can always just sneak out. I'm sick of living my life as the daughter of a noble, I would love to be able to make a name for myself. But I'm not stupid, I know it would be bad for me to head out alone, but as long as there is two of us we should be fine."
"Of all people, why me? Surely you could find someone else who you didn't despise just a week ago."
"That is water under the bridge, we are cool now. I've gotten to punch you in the face every day and you should no longer feel the need to watch me train now that you are a part of my training. So, like I said, water under the bridge." She shrugged, Nick couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright, if you can somehow convince your dad to let you go with me, I will be glad to take you along. You are a lot more experienced than me so I would be stupid to say no."
"Cool, then I will go prepare. When do you plan on heading out?" She asked as she stood up from the bench.
"Probably after lunch tomorrow. I can get in a morning workout and then head out with a full stomach."
"Alright, so we will meet up at around noon at your room."
Nick nodded. "Sounds good, be sure to only pack the essentials."
"Of course, we are only leaving for a month or so at most after all."
"Yeah, something like that."
After some more small talk they both headed off to their rooms. Once Nick returned to his room he read for an hour before summoning Azara. "Hello." Azara said with a cheerful tone as she appeared in front of Nick.
"Hey, I'm curious, how long can you stay summoned for?"
Azara tilted her head in confusion. "A couple days in this form and maybe a week at most in weapon form. Why?"
"Tomorrow I'm going to leave this castle and go on a bit of an adventure. I would feel a lot better if I could have you summoned most of the time, but walking around with a demon would probably bring unwanted attention. I want you to stay summoned in the form of that glove while I am anywhere that seems unsafe. If I am sleeping in an inn or something I will let you return to the underworld and get some rest."
"So, this?" Azara asked, turning into a leather glove with thin black metal plating. It wasn't exactly a gauntlet or a piece of clothing, but it was somehow considered a weapon.
"Yeah, that." Nick picked it up and put it on his right hand. He could feel the glove tighten. "What are you doing?"
"Just tightening myself. I wouldn't want to be too loose." Nick felt like Azara winked at him, even though it was physically impossible for a glove to wink.
"Alright, well, I will summon you tomorrow. From then on, unless I say otherwise, I want you to stay in this glove form. If I'm ever in danger I will probably need you to become a sword, that would be a lot easier for you to do if you were always summoned and already on my hand."
"Fair enough." Azara turned back into her demon form.
"Ok, that is all for now." Azara nodded, bursting into flames and disappearing.
Nick could barely sleep that night, he was finally going to get his adventure that he was longing for. He no longer had any doubts about his own ability, he was sufficiently trained in both combat and magic so he had nothing to fear from whatever he might encounter on his travels. Not to mention he will have a demon at his side at all times as well as a traveling companion to watch his back. He was feeling extremely confident and happy for the first time since being stuck here.
Nick awoke the next day and went about his normal morning routine, but this time was a bit different. After breakfast he went straight to the gym and began to work out, he no longer had training with Rolfe or Kane so it was up to him to keep in shape. At eleven in the morning, after a quick meal, he made his way back to his room to get ready, although he was already ready. He had a sleeping bag strapped to a backpack that was packed with a few changes of clothes, a med kit, water, and some dried food that would keep him fed for several days. He also had his shoes packed in his backpack, he was currently wearing leather boots, jean-like pants, and his sleeveless hoodie. Only one thing was missing...
"Azara." Once Azara appeared she immediately turned into a glove and Nick put it on his right hand, he could feel the glove tighten. "All ready to go now... I can't tell if I'm more excited or more nervous."
"I don't know why you would be nervous, you have been looking forward to this."
"I haven't been out of this castle for a long time, so outside its walls is like a different world for me." It actually was a different world, but he had not told Azara that yet.
"I see..." The room was quiet for a couple seconds before there was a knock on the door.
Nick quietly shushed Azara and opened the door to see Alyssa, she had a large backpack and a sleeping bag. She wasn't packing as lightly as Nick, but he assumed she could handle it. "You're a bit early. Ready to go?" He asked.
"Yep." Alyssa nodded.
"Oh? Who is she? Your girlfriend?" Azara asked telepathically.
"No, just a person who I will be travelling with."
"Uh-huh, sure."
"What is that on your neck?" Alyssa asked, pointing to the mark of his familiar.
Crap, I forgot about that. "Oh, it's the mark of my familiar." He figured it was no use to lie to her, it would be obvious if he tried to come up with some plausible lie on the spot.
Her eyes went wide. "Wow, I'm not allowed to summon one until I turn 18. You are such a weird kid."
"I suppose so..."
"So, where is it? Your familiar?"
"Ah, don't worry about that. Let's just get going."
She shrugged and began to walk, she was suspicious but wasn't going to press the issue. "Alright."
They walked in silence to the main door of the castle, it was a large door guarded by two heavily armored men. When the men saw them approaching they knocked on the door and it opened, the two guards on the other side opening it for them. This was the first time Nick had actually seen the city, it was breathtaking. It was much different from the towns or cities on earth.
"Hey, stop spacing out, let's get going. The guild is that big building." Alyssa pointed to a large wooden and stone building in the distance.
"Ah, yeah, let's go." Nick said, breaking out of his trance.
As they made their way through the town Nick was looking around with child-like excitement. There were demihumans everywhere, and everyone was using magic like it was a normal part of life. People were watering plants with water magic and people were cooking with fire magic. It was much different than his life in the castle, everything felt fresh. Nick was even more excited to see what else this world had to offer.
After a few hours of walking they finally arrived at the guild, when they opened the doors Nick was immediately hit by the smell of alcohol as his ear filled with laughter and loud chatting. This was definitely not a place for kids, but there was no way he was going to turn back now. As they walked through the main area they got a lot of weird looks but otherwise people paid them no mind. They slowly made their way to what looked to be a reception desk, behind the desk there was a woman with blonde hair and green eyes who greeted them.
"Hello, welcome to the Asterra Adventurers Guild."
"Hello." Nick spoke up, now standing beside Alyssa. "We would like to join..."
The woman gave them a strange look. "Aren't you both a little bit young?"
"I don't have any parents and I have a couple letters of recommendation." Nick put the envelopes on the desk. "I was told this should be enough."
"Ah, I have a note from my dad and I also have a letter of recommendation as well." Alyssa said, digging out two envelopes from her backpack.
The woman sighed. "Wait here, I will be right back." She grabbed the four envelopes and went to a back room, Alyssa and Nick sat on a nearby bench as they waited for her to return. After an hour she came back and motioned for them. "You both qualify, but you have to do something before you can join."
Nick raised an eyebrow as she pushed him an application. "Fill this out, once you bring it back to me someone will bring you to an examination room. They will test your physical and magical ability to decide if you are guild material and determine your rank inside the guild. Those ranks will determine the types of quests you can take."
Alyssa and Nick nodded, grabbing the papers and pencils. The form asked for a lot of basic information like name, age, affinity, eye color, hair color, etc. Once they handed in their forms it did not take long for two people to come and take them to separate rooms. Nick was taken to a room by a bulky bald man in casual clothes. Once they entered the room he began to look around.
The room was small and held weights and a couple punching bags. "Alright, I will be evaluating your skill level. Just do what I ask when I ask you to and this shouldn't take more then half an hour." Nick nodded in response. "First, I want you to cause as much damage to the punching bag as you possibly can. However, you cannot use a weapon."
Nick thought back to when he first met Rolfe, what he was able to do to the bag when using all of his mana. That was when he had a fraction of the mana he has now, he was confident he could destroy the bag. His fist shot forward and once he made contact with the bag he used one fourth of his mana to deliver a devastating blow. Sand shot out of the bag as the back of the bag burst open, it was about what he expected to happen. The front of the bag had a smaller hole where his fist had impacted.
The examiner looked impressed. "Shock magic... I didn't expect to see that..." The man motioned over to a pile of weights. "This one is simple, we will test your lifting strength by having you simply lift this bar as I add more and more weight."
"Alright..." For the next five minutes Nick lifted the bar up and the instructor would add more weight each time he put the bar back on the ground. Nick could lift three hundred pounds, he impressed himself.
"The next two tests will be hand to hand and sword sparring. You can't use magic during these matches to try to gain an advantage, if you do then you will be disqualified and banned from the guild for a year." The man got into a fighting stance. "You can keep your glove on if you want, I won't let you hit me anyway."
The two sparring matches were uneventful, he couldn't land a single hit. "You aren't half bad, kid. I would say you are a C rank. It is the second lowest rank, but that is really good for your age." The man smiled as Nick went wide eyed.
"Does that mean I can join the guild?"
"It sure does." The man took a key from his belt. "Your membership card will be done tomorrow, until then feel free to use the room this key goes to." He handed Nick a key with a number on it, number fifty five. His heart was racing, he finally made it into the adventurers guild.
When Nick went back to the main area with the reception desk he could see Alyssa already waiting with a large grin on her face. "Did you pass? What rank did you get?" She asked, walking up to Nick.
"Ah, I passed. I'm C rank." Alyssa looked genuinely impressed.
"Nice, I'm C rank too. I'm supposed to stay in room sixty until I get my card tomorrow, what room are you?"
"Fifty five."
"Cool. Let's go get some food, I'm starving."
Nick was caught off guard by the fact that he actually had to pay for food once he finished, luckily Alyssa paid for him after he explained that he had no money at all. She gave Nick two silver after dinner, enough to get breakfast the next day. After dinner they went to sleep, tomorrow was a big day. Tomorrow they would go on their first official quest as members of the guild.