After a few minutes of walking in the refreshing morning breeze, Auden finally arrived at the massive double doors of the Adventurer's Guild. The building looked even more incredible from this angle and it towered majestically over the whole town with it's well built architecture and its decorated roof. Banners with the guild's crest hung from multiple windows.
Various people entered and exited around him, going about their business. Once or twice, he thought he caught sight of some beastfolk though it was supposed to be quite rare to see one in human settlements. A strong musk of tobacco mixed with the scent of ale wafted to his nose from inside the Guild.
'Was drinking even allowed in guilds?' Auden was a bit annoyed. He had always admired guilds and didn't like the fact that someone was getting intoxicated. 'Still, there are so many people here that people could probably get away with anything.'
No one took any notice of Auden as he entered and headed toward the reception in the center of the room, being careful not to bump into anyone or step on their floor. Adventurers were known for their short tempers, and he didn't want to accidentally start a fight with someone stronger.
The reception was just as decorated as any other place. The desk was made out of expensive wood and intricate carvings depicting a fight scene between an adventurer and a beast was carved into the front of it. A bright yellow banner with the guild's coat of arms streamed down the front of the desk covering most of the carvings. Piles of paper were strewn upon the desk at sixes and sevens, it looked as if a wild cat had pranced about on the desk.
A tiny girl sat behind the desk, though Auden was surprised by the rabbit ears that were on her head. She drummed her fingers on the desk distractedly, gazing at a spider spinning a web on one end of the desk. Auden hadn't been expecting to see a beastfolk working in a guild since humans and beastfolk didn't get along that well in the past.
Beastfolk were originally magic beasts who developed a high intellect and had evolved throughout the years, soon developing bodies like humans and living like them. They were more civilized and soon started living in their own settlements, eventually growing into villages and towns.
However, some humans still saw them as wild beasts, and thus wanted to do away with them. This soon led to war between humans and beastfolk, and both sides suffered the consequences. The war had ended in a stalemate in the recent months and peace was regained. But, the wounds were still fresh and many still bore grudges and resentment toward each race.
Though Auden was okay with beastfolk, he was worried that people who hated beastfolk might take out their anger on her.
'Well, it's none of my business anyways.'
Auden walked up to the reception and waited, but as the girl didn't notice him, he spoke first. "Ahem- Hello?"
"EEP!" She snapped out of her daze and jumped in fright. "A-apologies sir! I was- Um- I was observing that spider for- for experimental purposes! Y-yes! Emperiantal pup roses!"
She instantly looked flustered, realizing how unconvincing that sounded, and looked away feeling embarrassed.
"Okay- okay, deep breaths. Deep breaths." She muttered to herself, trying to calm down before looking at Auden with the most composed expression she could.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's guild sir. I'm Holly, how can I help you on behalf of the guild?" She said nonchalantly as if nothing had ever happened.
"I'm here to register as an Adventurer," Auden replied, suppressing his urge to laugh.
"One minute sir," Holly nodded, and looked around the pile of papers on the desk before turning back to him skeptically. "You look a little young to be an adventurer, don't you?"
"I just turned 17 today," Auden explained, a bit peeved that someone shorter than him was doubting him about his age. "But you look even younger than me."
"Today? May fate bring you luck, sir!" Holly jumped up and down in her seat excitedly and did a small bow before winking. "For your information, I'm actually 19."
"19? No way you're serious." Auden remarked in shock. He could swear she looked to be around 12.
"I'm serious." Holly replied with a smirk, "People only think I'm young because I'm short."
"I see... Anyway, can I still register then?"
"Since you're 17 then, I guess it's fine!" Holly shrugged cheerfully and rummaged through the mounds of papers. "You'll just have to sign the registration contract... That I... Have around here.... Somewhere..."
"Sign the registration contract? Don't I have to take a test or something?"
She laughed loudly, showing her two bunny teeth that stuck out cutely. "Where did you even hear that? That was in the past, like... I dunno, a year or two ago."
"I- I see." Auden said, taken aback. Dunehal had told him there would be some sort of test but he shouldn't have trusted that old geezer's outdated information. 'All the better for me, I guess.' He thought. The process would be a lot easier and faster.
"Just a second while I find that dang paper..." She ducked underneath the desk for a moment and there was an aggressive scrabbling sound as papers flew everywhere, which Auden tried to stop from blowing away.
"Ah! Here! These things always disappear when I need them."
She resurfaced from the ever-growing sea of papers, clutching a long white scroll which she unrolled and handed to Auden, along with a quill pen. A long agreement was written on one side and a magic circle of some sort was inscribed on the other along with runes that circled around it.
Auden recognized it as the Pact of Verity. The Pact of Verity was a deal or agreement bound by magic which means the contract paper is set in stone and cannot be broken unless both parties will it. It was used to make sure that cunning people couldn't forge the contracts and agreements to turn things in their favor. However, it still doesn't prevent someone from not following the contract by force.
"Sign right here, sir!" Holly smiled helpfully tapping a line under the wall of words.
~~~~~~~~~~
{Contract Of Registration}
By signing this, you give full consent to the terms below.
As a new adventurer, you are allowed to wield a weapon freely in any area if it is deemed justifiable to do so.
You must follow all the rules of the guild, no matter how insignificant.
The guild can remove your adventurer's rights at any time and you are not allowed to question the guild's decisions.
Every adventurer is under the beck and call of his Imperial Majesty The King Aldway, the Third, and shall attend to his every request should it arise.
Adventurers must give the guild 10% of all income.
You are given hunting rights and killing any monster is hereby allowed.
You understand and fully agree by signing this that the guild will not be responsible for any injury, ailment or death.
___________
___________
Auden skimmed the paper briefly for a few moments before signing his name on the blank and handing it back to Holly.
"Auden Hauxley... Strange name you have..." She read, scrutinizing the signature as if she had never seen it before. "This... is your name?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"
"Hauxley? Hmmm, No offense, but..." She tilted her head and wiggled one ear while looking at Auden. "This is one of the rarest names I've heard in a while."
"I can assure you that it's not fake," Auden answered, though he also felt the name was strange. Dunehal told him it was his parents' name but he had never remembered hearing the name before as a child.
"Well, everything seems to be in order so I guess it's fine." Holly scratched her ear before searching around the table. "A fake name isn't a problem though, we always get scary individuals who want to hide their identity. You can always change your name at a guild if you want to go unnoticed. . ."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Auden nodded before placing the quill pen on the desk. "Hey... Is this pen what you're looking for?"
"Ah! I was wondering where that stupid thing went!" She said as she picked it up. "Thanks!"
She shifted a bunch of papers aside and dipped the quill into a random puddle of ink on the desk before signing her name in the blank under Auden's.
The moment she finished writing, the magic circle on the black glowed and the paper rose into the air mysteriously. The runic letters seemed to move across the page as dark green chains appeared and encircled the paper. The chains seemed to constrict the paper and got smaller and smaller before both the paper and the chains vanished, leaving behind a small gold coin that dropped onto the table with a tinkle.
The symbol of the guild, a lily coiled around a sword, was engraved on it while on the other side were minuscule runic letters.
"Congratulations! You're now an official adventurer, legally and all that!" She smiled craftily, handing the golden emblem to him with a bow. "And you're just in luck! This is the last quest we have for today for your rank!"
"The last? I can hardly call that luck..." Auden said disappointedly. "Looks like I really was too late."
Adventurers were able to take multiple quests at the same time for efficiency, though the amount depended on their adventurer rank.
Adventurer levels or ranks determined the status of an adventurer and quest difficulty. Adventurers that had completed enough quests could get promoted to a higher rank, or if they had made a remarkable achievement to the guild or the country. The higher their rank, the more difficult quests they could take on.
The lowest rank, of course, was the Beginner Rank which all adventurers started out with. Beginner rank adventurers could take on only 3 quests at a time. But this was only to weed out the weaklings. After several quests, they will be promoted to Senior Rank which was the most common and average ranking for most adventurers.
Senior Rank wasn't much of an improvement but adventurers could take 5 quests at once. But starting from here, the following ranks were the real deal. Skilled Rank adventurers could take 10 quests and only the talented could reach that rank.
Above that were Expert and Master Rank. These were trained individuals that had unparalleled power, capable of feats average people couldn't do. They could take any amount of quests no matter how easy or difficult, which would mean they could get an infinite income just from being an adventurer. However only a few managed to reach that level.
"One is better than nothing at all right?" Holly answered with a smile that changed into a sigh halfway and her ears drooped down. "Well, that's what I thought but no one's been taking the quest since yesterday."
"What's the quest about?" Auden asked curiously. Why would people ignore it if it was the last quest left?
"A child went missing while herb picking in Nerokan Valley. This is a rescue request for him, but the thing is there's almost barely any reward for the quest so the adventurers are avoiding it." She said and shivered until her long ears trembled like a leaf. "What's worse, you know what Nerokan valley is like... A creepy place with only high-level monsters roaming around. I heard there are even shady happenings going on there."
Auden nodded in understanding. Master Dunehal had taken him there once to train and it had not been a pleasant memory. The monsters were nasty but it was more of the foul ambiance the place gave off that made his blood chill. What's more, he had heard a lot of criminals and bandits frequent the place which was not ideal.
Holly leaned in towards Auden, dropping her voice to a whisper. "Plus, the poor kid is most likely minced dinner for the monsters by now so it's more of a retrieve-the-remains quest."
"But, there's still a chance he's alive, right?"
"Well supposing he, or maybe she, didn't get mauled alive by the boar monsters or he didn't get kidnapped by random bandits... There's a very, very, slim chance." She said, emphasizing the word 'very'.
Auden sighed since that was not an encouraging prospect but his conscience couldn't very well let an innocent child die if there was a chance they could be alive.
"Fine, I'll take the quest then." He said, inwardly adding apologetically, 'Sorry Irvene. Looks like my very first quest is going to be dangerous.'
There was a loud *boing* sound as Holly practically bounced on her seat. "Really? You'll take it?"
"Yes, yes. I'll take it." Auden repeated.
"You're sure you can handle strong monsters?" She asked worriedly. Her long ears wiggled with skepticism. "They aren't your average slimes, you know? Is your magic strong enough?"
"Magic? I'm not a mage."
"O-oh, you aren't? Apologies, I assumed you were one because I didn't see any weapons on you."
Auden smiled smugly as he parted his cloak to reveal a longsword and a shot dagger hanging from his waist. Though it wasn't much, Auden prided himself in his skills with swords. Dunehal had told him he had a talent for it ever since he was a "young 'un".
"Oooh! Okay, I think you'll be fine." She smiled and clapped her hands together. "You don't have the look of a swordsman but I don't think those swords are just for show. Right?"
'Look of a swordsman?' Auden repeated in his head, a bit hurt by the remark. 'Is she telling me I'm thin... And what's with that tone of uncertainty...'
Holly dived under the desk once again and there was a loud rustling noise before she appeared disheveled, and holding a dusty roll of parchment paper. Auden read through it as she gave it to him.
____________
Please save my missing grandson that went into Nerokan Valley. He went to pick herbs by the valley edges and hasn't returned yet.
Reward: 12 cols
____________
Though he had expected it, he was still surprised. 12 cols was an incredibly low amount for such a dangerous quest. One could probably only be able to buy two pints of milk with this much money. Most of the other adventurers took one look at the reward and instantly refused.
However, Auden wasn't like just any other adventurer. He thought the child probably came from a poor family and he didn't want him to die even if there was only a small chance.
The child was probably feeling alone and scared in that dangerous place with no one to help him. He couldn't just turn his back on something like this.
For some reason, something locked away in his heart resonated with the child.