[Fair warning, pretty long chapter. Info Dump, please forgive me but I thought it better to get out of way now than have to do it later.]
''Well, first off I'd like to join the Guild," Felix stated as he relaxed back.
Alex gave a nod to that as he took a few papers from the stack, he didn't see those papers before.
''Alright, then I need to ask you a few questions to help determine the quests, and parties to match you with in case of recommendations, emergency quests, so on. First question, what are the skills you can bring to a party?''
Felix released a breath, making a list in his mind before he began to speak.
''I can hold my own in combat, preferred long-range. I have basic knowledge of smithing and repair, minor magic, I can skin, dismantle, track, bandage minor injuries, decent cooking skills, I can also tame some animals. Like the wolf behind me and the couch.I have really good eyesight, I have sensory skills. My stealth skills are good but I need some proper training. I could be classified as a ranger with versatility?''
Alex raised a brow at that little release of information, he watched a moment before he spoke. ''Can you read and write?''
Felix gave a nod causing Alex to snicker a bit.
''You must be pretty smart to know all that, I'll take your word for it but if we find out that you lied from your party members, you will get a bad reputation. Secondary first question, do you think you could be used as a scout?''
Felix weighed something before he spoke out loud. ''In the forest? Definitely, in other lands, probably not yet. Snowy forest I could do with difficulty, ruins or dungeons? I need trap disarming training. There are no mountain regions in the area around us, so I've not even been able to check.''
Alex gave a nod. ''We've quite a few scouts that specify skills in different things. It'd be even better if you could feel magic, hell even see magic.''
Felix spoke up quickly. ''Hold on, what's the difference between feeling, and seeing?''
Alex gave a nod a bit before he leaned back, Felix could see it. A few mana threads began to stretch out around him, it looked to be starting personal mana. ''Can you see threads around me?"
Felix shook his head. ''Then close your eyes and stick out your hand.'' Felix did as instructed.
He could feel a presence against his palm. ''I can feel something on my palm?''
Alex laughed at that. ''Means you can feel the mana, that's good. That would explain why you can do minor magic already. A lot of people would line up to have a decent scout that could feel the mana, if you could see mana, people might start fighting over you.
''Why?''
''Well, people who can feel magic are useful because they can sense emotions, dangers, presences, and even slightly understand the magic around a magical item if they focus enough. It's extremely useful for any party to have mana sensing abilities, especially a studier person instead of the usual weak-bodied magic-user.''
Alex leaned forward as he began to sort papers and books while he talked. ''Those who can SEE mana, however, can tell where those dangers, and emotions are coming from, they can see hidden traps, magical seals or arrays, and even see the type of magic with training, and with said training be able to disarm magical traps. Seeing mana isn't something to kill over really, but it is rare, and no one can argue with its uses.''
Felix gave a nod.
Alex then moved on. ''Second question, biggest on really... Are you willing to take requests that might involve hurting an innocent life?''
Felix frowned at that as he thought carefully over his answer. ''Before I answer, can I ask why?''
Alex gave a nod as if happy with the question. ''Well, the Guild is seen in a good light, front liners, the pioneers so to speak, but that doesn't mean that a few dark requests don't come around, they usually pay much more, and it doesn't affect your reputation unless you do something weird.''
Felix then slowly nodded. ''Then yes, I am willing. But I'd like to retain the ability to say no to the ones I'm not comfortable with doing.''
Alex gave a nod. ''Good answer, the third question then. How much do you know of the Guild's rankings?''
''I know it's graded in stars, first being half star, strongest/most dangerous being 5 stars. There are also a few stages above 5-star that's usually talking about really dangerous creatures or things, like elder horrors.''
Alex chuckled a bit. ''Yeah, their color-coded stars so to speak. Normal stars are usually just called stars, but their true name is 'White Star'. there are only two other colors, Red Stars, which is dangerous for cities and possibly their region. Black stars are for country-level threats.''
Felix raised his brow in confusion before he spoke. ''What about world-level threats?''
Alex laughed before saying. ''Well, usually it's not our problem anymore, but if they had to be put into a class, their called ''World Dangers''
Felix slowly nodded in understanding while he thought about it, he came from a different world, or at least he was sure he did. It may be even a different reality, but how is he supposed to know?
''If you know all that, with these questions out the way.'' He rummaged around in what looked to be a small pouch before pulling out a small glass-looking card. Handing it over. ''Put a drop of blood into that.''
When he took out a knife and did as instructed he watched as a little portrait of his face appeared along with his name and a half star.
''You'll start as a half star, nothing is stopping you from going out and taking a 5 Black star request, but it's recommended you stay in your lane.'' Alex then pointed to the card. ''That is 'Hearth Crystal.' Pretty common stuff, but it's great for making identification cards. Rub the card against your hand a bit.''
As Felix began to rub at the card, it slowly became transparent before it seemed to sink into his hand. He didn't feel anything at first but after a moment he could feel something, like an imaginary string.
''Feels weird at first but you'll get used to it, as I said it's for identification. You just pull that string and it'll come out, with the training you can even do fancy tricks with bringing it out, I'm not good with them so you'll need to find someone else to show you them.''
Alex then slid the books over. ''From left to right, or smallest to biggest. One is a book full of plan information for this entire region, good for snacks, spicing, medicine, not dying of an accident craving, and gripping onto a berry push. The second is actually a magic book for quests. When you open it first it registers you as the user, you can accept request's from the boards in the front with it, once you do they'll appear in that with all their available information. There is also a 'Finish' marking you can do, to let the staff know that you finished it, all you need to do is scribble something onto the page with the quest and it will activate the magic that transfers all the way back to us letting us know that it's finished. Do not underestimate this book. I have seen people survive only because they scribbled a few words in it so it got sent back.''
He then slapped the large book. ''This bad boy is a large list of everything beast, including tracks, how to dismantle, what's useful, what's bad, what's good, weaknesses, and others. It also includes all known evolutions and mutations. If you ever see a new mutation and can provide proof of it, the guild will reward you for exploration and information fee.''
Felix took them all, sliding them into his Scholar's Bag, he would need to compare them to the notes he already had, possibly end up making his own personalized exploring book.
''A scholar back? Nice, I know some people that regretted not getting one of those at the start, though if you can use magic, there are a few things I recommend you look into.'' He took out a small pamphlet and slid it over.
''One of them? Simple rune magic, like an added spice to anything you can add them on. Some are just as simple as making it feel warm, but more advanced ones are pretty much life savers, one I personally like is ''Repair''. It can take raw material and return itself to the state it was when the rune was applied. To update it, or upgrade it you would need to remember to remove it though, I had a friend who forgot and ended up wasting material.'' Alex laughed loudly
''That little pamphlet includes a few basic runes that you can learn, it'll take time but their useful, that pamphlet is also a bit more expensive, free for you though. It has some basic magic you can learn, but also Space magic. Yeah, space magic is one of the big three hardest to learn, but I can guarantee you, it's worth the effort. Imagining not needing to have a quiver and just being able to use transfer and storage?''
Alex looked at Felix's confused face before he laughed. ''Actually, maybe I shouldn't have said something about that? Well too late now, I have an archer friend, she's an elf and she's considered the best archer in the region, one of the things she's known for is how fast she can fire. It's because she ditched the quiver and needing to notch an arrow part. She uses storage to hold her bow, arrows, pretty much everything she needs, but she has a custom-made bow, it looks fancy but it was cheap. When she pulls back the string it automatically 'Transfers' an arrow ready to fire.''
Felix then nodded before speaking. ''I could definitely see its use, thank you, Alex.''
Alex shrugged. ''It's my job to help Guild members, and I sense something good about you. I'll even let you have my plague and you can have a 20% discount in fees and such when I act as a middle man for purchases and sales.''
Felix remembered the small wooden shield he got and took it out and set it onto the table. When Alex saw it he let out a whistle. ''Look at you mister super rookie. That little plague says that you can use that guard's name, and we'll let him know and during business deals he can come to watch over you and your equipment, only big-league guards get that. Only one as well, which also means you get another 10% discount, damn. Goin bleeds the Guild dry with a 30% discount. Hey, don't become a merchant, alright? that's an additional 10%. At that point, we might just be paying you more than you make us.''
Alex chuckled before he leaned back, relaxing. ''Any questions?''
''A few, I'll just get the yes or no ones out of the way first. Do you have trainers, is there a library, can I get a more permanent house or land in this city?''
''Yes to all of them, but to clarify a few things. The Guild offers free training, which comes from the fee we take from all the quests, after all, we need you to be at your best to take on more quests to help the money roll in. There is a library, however, it's quite hard to get into since you need permission from a noble, well. It's not hard per se, if you take a few requests from a noble and exceed their expectations they might ask for you specifically, once they do they might make a custom request, during those you can call me and the guard you got the plague from to help negotiations.''
He then took a breath. ''Purchasing land or a house in the city is pretty easy, just rather expensive, don't take this wrong but I don't think you got that kind of coin in your name just yet, but if your ever interested to at least look at houses or prices, let me know and I can introduce you to an estate agent uptown near the royal districts.''
''Districts?''
Alex nodded. ''Instead of a district for nobles, nobles here have their own sections to the districts, so we usually just say districts.''
Felix nodded before he then asked. ''Then can I ask you to do something for me?''
Alex gave a nod before Felix continued. ''One, I need a stealth trainer, a Trap trainer, and if it exists, a scout trainer. I also need a place to stay for the night.''
Alex pointed upwards. ''Guild offers new mates a free week of a meal and stay, after that you need to pay. Their's rooms open, I'll get you a key. Know that the rooms are magically protected so only you can enter so you can feel free to leave your stuff, but if not you can leave it with our Bankers.''
''Bankers?''
''Ah, they're called Bankers around here, but their Fae creatures.'' Alex leaned forward.
''Think of them as walking vaults? They have a huge system that I can't be bothered to say, but basically. If you give an item or let's say coin to them. For a fee, they will keep it for you. As long as you can find another banker, anywhere. They can withdraw your stuff and money.''
Felix watched him a long moment before he asked. ''Is there an upper or minimum limit?''
Alex shook his head. ''Not really, Bankers are harmless, invincible creatures. But since they can't be harmed, they can't do harm, even if used to carry weapons of mass destruction or something, they themselves can't say no as long as you're withdrawing. However, the more stuff they hold, the stronger they become.''
Felix continued to stare, Alex only nodding as he understood. ''Seem pretty powerful, right? Well, you can even make a banker become a ''Support'' for you, it usually comes with a certain type of contract, but if you can convince one to agree to it. They're the best supports, not only are they loyal to you, and your future line, But they can manipulate a small amount of magic to assist you in certain things. The biggest ones being their radar abilities, minor stealth abilities, light ability, and healing abilities. Their strongest is radar by far since the rest are pretty weak, their stealth only makes it slightly harder to see you in the night, their light ability pretty much makes them a ''Forever'' torch that is no better than a normal magic lantern, and their healing is extremely weak... If I had to put it into perspective, if you had a wound that would take a week to heal, they could make it 5-6 days. Though any adventure would argue that even a single day's worth of faster healing is already top-notch, and it's a constant effect and they don't even need to be around to have it on you.''
''You said they are loyal to your line?''
"Ah, yeah... What was it again?'' He started to scribble away on a paper, at one point he finally took out a new one and handed it over. ''If your ancestors ever came into contact with one, and made a contract with one, just say that while alone and it'll appear. Just warning, their look like littles lights, they don't speak or anything, some have attitudes, but older ones, especially really old ones. They're more like drones, you can tell by how white they are, bitch black ones are the older ones, there are also the ones that are... ultra-black? I don't know how to explain it, but you'll see if you ever see one.''
Taking the paper Felix gave a nod, he wouldn't lie and say he wasn't hoping for one. Its storage function might take a large load off him, and even if its other abilities were weak, the radar and storage reminded him of a game character.
''Any more questions?''
Felix shook his head. ''Then let me get you a room key.''