"Hi, welcome to Harkon City Adventures Guild," the woman answered with a smile. "What is your name sir?"
"Dagon."
"Nice to meet you, Dagon. My name is Mary. Have you joined an adventure guild before, or is this your first?"
"This is my first time"
"Okay let's get you registered then, follow me," Mary said before leading Dagon down the hall.
"I should probably make up a backstory or something, I can't believe I didn't think of that beforehand," Dagon thought while following Mary.
Mary led him to a small back room with one table in the middle. On the table was a ball. It looked like glass, or maybe crystal, and it had a blueish hue to it.
"Just place your hand on the ball, and inject some magic into it. This gives us your status so we can rank you appropriately," Mary said as she pulled out a notebook and pen.
Dagon placed his hand on the ball and roused his magic. The ball immediately lit up a darker blue before projecting a screen, which almost looked like the holograms from movies on earth, into the air.
[Dagon]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 6/6]
[Stamina: 8] [Strength: 7]
[Magic: 15] [Agility: 5]
[One-handed sword proficiency: 8%]
[Longbow proficiency: 30%]
[Magic Affinity: Fire, Air, Lightning, Light]
[Rank: D]
"Not bad, your Magic is quite high for a beginner. Your base stats are a little above average, and 4 magic affinities is a rare sight. Beginners usually start at the lowest rank E, so congratulations on starting off at rank D," said Mary in the tone of a salesman that just made a huge sale.
"Thank you, so what's next?" Dagon replied.
"Well first let me give you some information on how things are done around here, and then I'll get your registration card so you can get started. Jobs are posted on board to the right when you walk in. There's always jobs available, so there's no rush. When you complete a job, come to me and I'll make sure you're paid. If you need help for a job, the main hall usually always has people in it. Join a party, or make one yourself, it's up to you."
She started walking back down the hall as she talked, motioning her hand for Dagon to follow as she did.
"We serve food and beer on the left side of the main hall at all times. Aside from the many shops around the city, adventure guild members can use the exclusive shop on the first door to the left of this hall," she said as she stopped in front of the shop. There was a tall man with a scruffy beard at the table when she opened the door
Mary pointed at Dagon as she spoke, "Hi, Jack, this is our newest member Dagon."
"Hey, Dagon, good luck out there. Come find me when you get some money aye," Jack said with a grin on his face.
Dagon chuckled and nodded his head as he replied, "will do."
Mary continued on her tour afterwards, highlighting all the different facilities and services available within the guild. There were rooms to rent, which explained the size of the guild, a practice yard in the back, a medical wing, and different teachers to hire.
After the tour Mary, led him back down to the main hall.
"Wait here while I get your registration card," Mary said as she walked away.
Dagon walked over to the job board while he waited. There were around 30-40 papers on the board, all different jobs up for grabs. Some were continuous jobs, usually for beginners, such as hunting wolves, boars, and other smaller monsters.
Dagon studied the wolf hunt job. He was familiar with wolves, so he figured that'd be a good place to start. Money was earned from the corpses of the wolves on this job, the better the condition, the more of a reward he got. 1 silver for a perfect kill, anything less would be determined at the time of sale.
"Your card is ready Dagon" he heard Mary from the front desk. Dagon took one last look at the wolf hunting job before heading over. The location of the hunt was in the forest of Umbria.
The card was very simple. It looked like an ID from back home, although it was made of bronze, and had no picture. His name, rank, and level were displayed, along with the name of the guild he'd joined.
Dagon left the guild, heading for the gates. He couldn't really do much else but work until he made some money.
After checking the book for the location of the forest of Umbria, which was the opposite direction from which he came to this city , he set off. It was about a days travel on foot from the city.
He stopped the camp a couple hours in as the sun started to sink on the horizon. He'd had time to get over the original soreness from sword training, so he started once again.
He'd gotten noticeably better, as his 1000 chops only took just over 2 hours. He wasn't as sore as that first day, but he was just as exhausted. He could only complete 500 slashes afterwards before falling on his back.
Sweat covered his body, it felt like he'd been been swimming fully clothed. He struggled to pull out some water and food, as every fiber in his body moaned in pain.
Just before falling asleep he remembered the bridge. He remembered the feeling he had after taking that step down, the motivation he felt for the first time in his life, to never give up.
"I can't stop here. I can't waste my time anymore, this isn't earth. I need to put everything into getting stronger."
Dagon grunted as pushed his body off the ground. His whole body screaming at him. He ignored the pain and got into stance, the sword appearing in his hand.
The blade sliced through the air as messages popped into his head.
[Stamina has risen to level 9]
[Stamina has risen to level 10]
[Strength has risen to level 8]
[One-handed sword proficiency has reached 10%]
Dagon felt a wave of energy enter his body. It was a euphoric feeling, nothing he'd ever felt in his life. He wondered why he hadn't felt or seen his stats rise in the past like this, as he was asleep when they had last risen, but the thought quickly left as he finished his sword training.
He completed his last 499 slashes in record time before laying back down. He thought for a moment about the past, his life on earth. Today was the start of a new life, in a new world. He was nervous, but mostly excited. Dagon was curious about all this world had to offer, and what kind of crazy life he'd live.
He fell asleep happy to have this second chance at a new life, ready for anything that came his way.