"Ah, I've been there plenty of times, young man; in fact, last week, my wife caught me with another woman, made me sleep on the cold hard floor for a month, and I've still got three weeks left of punishment." Said the older man with a smile as he watched the Elven woman angrily storm off while Alexander just looked at him weirdly.
"Uh, It just sounds like you were being unfaithful to your wife." Replied Alexander as he looked at the man, who laughed and aggressively patted his shoulder.
"Haha, you could say so, but I love her; she just can't satisfy my sexual needs. Promise me you won't tell her, Kid." Remarked the older man before turning serious and eyeing Alexander, who hesitantly nodded.
"Sure; anyways, that girl wasn't my girlfriend or anything; I just happened to trip over her and touched her breast." Said Alexander with a nod while looking at the older man suspiciously before shaking his head.
"Ah, you're a man of culture as well; the old trip and breast maneuver, I remember doing that to every big-breasted woman I came across; it's a technique that never fails. Just make sure to pick your targets correctly. One of my buddies did try it on an Orc, and with one swift motion, he became an eunuch." Stated the older man with a slightly perverted smile while ogling a passing woman before the two subconsciously shivered at his words.
"Eh, well, I'll make sure to be careful around Orc's in the future; I'd prefer not to lose my manhood." Said Alexander while searching the crowd for an orc; it was not like he'd be able to spot one even if one were standing right before him since he'd never seen one before
"Anyways, who are you?" Asked Alexander curiously as he gazed at the older man, who smirked in response.
"My real name is Yokich Tazban, though I go by Jackal. What about you, Kid?" Replied Jackal with a grin, causing Alexander's eyebrows to raise, curious how he got such a name.
"Alexander Vestalis, and for the record, I'm not a kid; I'm turning 17 in a few months." Remarked Alexander with a slight smile as he shook hands with Jackal, who simply laughed.
"Heh, 16? I'm 40 years old, more than twice your age, son, and you dare to say you're not a kid. Still, an Adventurer at 16 is a rare find indeed." Stated Jackal with an amused grin as he looked up at Alexander, who towered over him by half a foot and outweighed him by sixty pounds.
"Eh, I'm not an Adventurer, not yet, at least; besides, I'd imagine there would be a lot of young Adventurers around my age. I mean, that woman from before looked very young." Said Alexander with a shake of his head as he looked at Jackal in slight confusion.
"There are a lot of young Adventurers; the problem is, their pride and ego often get them killed shortly after becoming an Adventurer; the ones that are smart enough to survive become like me. A 40-year-old veteran Adventurer veteran; I've been in the business since I was 15, and I'm still only a C-class Adventurer." Replied Jackal with a slight frown before pointing at himself, which, just as he expected, didn't help his case.
"Besides, that woman you performed the trip and breast maneuver on was an Elf; she was probably already 90 years old at the very least." Added Jackal, earning him a nod from Alexander.
"Well, I'm not that prideful, nor do I have a large ego, so at least I don't have to worry about those two killing me; I've already cleared a dungeon by myself when I was 12, and I had a Master, so hopefully, that should be enough to survive." Remarked Alexander with a thoughtful expression, though his words caused Jackal to be surprised.
"Cleared a dungeon by yourself at the age of 12!? Granted, it was probably a common dungeon, but still, that's impressive; you've got a feat under your belt that most adventurers will never have, nor will they have the balls to achieve." Said Jackal with an impressed smirk as he looked at Alexander in a new light.
"Yes, it was a common dungeon, and I nearly died as I was protecting Talis; if it weren't for her stubborn nature, I wouldn't have been forced into that situation in the first place." Replied Alexander with an annoyed frown as he glared at Talis perched upon his shoulder, who simply looked away.
"Eh, Talis? Is Talis the bird?" Questioned Jackal curiously as he looked at the one-meter bird he'd somehow only now noticed.
"Yeah, I first met her roughly eight years ago when she was just a tiny little hatchling, and she's been my friend ever since." Replied Alexander with a smile as he scratched Talis's underside, causing her to purr like a kitten while Jackal looked startled.
"Oh, you probably don't understand her, but she said hello." Added Alexander lightly as Talis chirped at Jackal, who once again seemed startled.
"Well, it's not every day you come across someone who can speak to a beast, but it's not the weirdest thing I've come across." Muttered Jackal with a raised eyebrow as he extended his hand and shook Talis's talons.
Hearing Jackal's words, I don't know why I only now remembered, but I quickly stopped playing with Talis and looked around, though, as I expected, that armored figure was long gone; hell, I don't even remember which direction they were walking.
'They exited from the dungeon, so their probably an Adventurer, maybe I should head to the Adventurer Guild.' Thought Alexander with a furrowed brows as he looked back at Jackal.
"Anyways, it was nice to meet you, Jackal, but I need to go to the Adventurer Guild to register as an Adventurer, so I'll probably see you later." Stated Alexander with a slight smile while Talis nodded her beak, and just as he started walking away, Jackal quickly caught up to him.
"Lucky for you, Alex, I'm also heading to the Adventurer Guild, so I can show you a little of the do's and don'ts. I don't wish to see a young prodigy getting killed early on in their life; I've seen too many in my days." Said Jackal with a smile as he walked beside Alexander and patted his back before slightly frowning.
"Well, I appreciate it, Jackal; I also don't wish to get killed so young; I'd at least like to start a family first." Replied Alexander with a thankful smile, causing Jackal to laugh.
"A Family? Haha, you're only 16, Alex; focus on other things first; family is for when you've become old like me." Remarked Jackal with a grin as he and Alexander conserved while heading toward the Adventurer Guild.
___
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"Welp, here she is, Hyphens own Adventurer Guild; what'cha think, Alex?" Asked Jackal with a warm smile as he stood before the large building where people were constantly entering and exiting from its double doors.
Standing before me was a large three-story building with a sign that said, "Adventurer Guild".
"It's more maintained than I'd expected." Replied Alexander lightly, while Talis tilted her head in confusion at the building.
"Haha, you damn sure ain't wrong; with what goes on, you'd expect this place to be a dump. C'mon, let's go in." Said Jackal with a laugh as he walked forward, up the few steps and into the Adventurer Guild, Alexander following closely behind.
Entering the building, I was instantly assaulted with a potent stench of sweet meat, iron, and alcohol; looking around, I spotted numerous people of all races sitting at tables, talking with other people, drinking, eating, or even brawling. The front of the building was mostly filled with tables, while to the right was a bar where you could get food and drinks; at the back of the building, there was a long reception desk with a few receptionists that were attending to Adventurers, and to the left was a massive bulletin board filled with flyers that other Adventurers were observing.
"Hehe, I can already tell by your face you think it stinks." Said Jackal with a smirk as he looked back at Alexander, who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it's a terrible smell, though I suppose I'll just get used to it after a while." Remarked Alexander with a frown as he looked at Talis, who seemed completely unbothered by the smell.
"That's the optimistic attitude I like to hear!" Said Jackal as he turned around and walked to the reception desk while Alexander followed.
"Yo, Cath, I've got a young prodigy here who tries to be an Adventurer." Said Jackal with a slight smirk as he leaned on the desk and looked down at a young woman with cat ears and a cat tail.
"Prodigy? He looks more like a model." Remarked Cath blandly with a raised eyebrow as she looked at Alexander's towering figure standing beside Jackal.
"Thank you." Commented Alexander with a slight smile, which caused Cath to smile slightly as well.
"Wait right here; I'll go and get an adventurer license." Said Cath with a nod as she glanced at Jackal before standing up and entering a door.
"Heh, would you look at that? First time meeting her, and you've already made Cath smile; it took me over a year before I got her to warm up to me. I think she might like you; you should ask her out on a date; she's still single." Remarked Jackal with an envious grin as he nudged Alexander, who shook his head.