Tina's smile covered all her face. She had a battered sword with signs of rust all over it and a wooden shield strapped over her left arm. She waved the sword up her head, and one or other pedestrian dodged the sword while cursing the girl. She remained oblivious to how strange the scene was.
Tina had cleaned her dress and shoes, making her look much better. The joy in her eyes also worked wonders for her, not that she needed it. Her bright, silvery hair was almost blonde, and her narrow purple eyes matched her simple white dress.
Looking at Tina was like looking at a princess in disguise, someone passing by a poor girl on the streets. Alex liked the sight but disliked the thoughts accompanying him after encountering Kael'Talar.
He closed the carriage door and could still listen to Kael'Talar chuckling inside the vehicle. All Alex wanted to do was to punch the elf in the face and kill him for his veiled threats and mocking ways, but he had to play the right cards to survive, as he always did. If he wanted to finish the race in the first place, he would need to calculate his steps and not act purely by instinct.
"Who was on the carriage?" Tina asked with her intoxicating smile,
"It was the chimera's boss. Kael'Talar," Alex adjusted his clothes without much emotion in his voice, and when he looked at the girl, her face was now grim. Both arms were at her side, and she had a void in her eyes.
"What he wanted?"
"To give me a job,"
"What?!" She shouted in disbelief. "What job?!"
"He didn't specify, but I assume to be one of his thugs," Alex passed the girl and walked towards the building, but she grabbed his hand with force,
"And what did you answer?"
"I said no, of course." He replied, and her shoulders dropped as if he had removed an immense weight from her.
"Thanks to the Goddess!" She said, sheathing her sword in the belt and holding his hand. Alex glanced over the two hands entwined, and the girl retrieved it, her cheeks on fire. "And what else? Are we in danger?" she continued,
"Maybe, but we'll deal with it," he assured her, looking at the building. It was a one-floor place with yellow paintings on the walls. The guild was like any other store, but everyone could read "Adventurer's Guild: Professional Dungeon Delvers and Hunters alike" on a white wooden board above the door.
That was probably the first place Alex saw that didn't have an Arcanite sign above the door. It seems they are aligned with the old salesman's way of thinking, Alex mused, extending his hand to the handle.
Before opening it, Alex stared Tina in the eyes and asked,
"Are you really ready for this? It will be dangerous, and the people inside are probably hardened individuals who have fought several fights. You'll need to work hard to get on their level." He had a grave tone, and she only nodded, her expression smooth but determined.
"These men fought many monsters and delved into hundreds of dungeons. Is it really your dream? Live constantly with the fear of death?" This time, she nodded with a fast movement, her narrow eyes full of wit and determination. "Okay," he said and opened the door.
What they found inside the guild was far from what they expected. In the closest corner of the place, a young elf, no, not young… a teen elf was sleeping over a counter with a tired expression on his face, drool staining the wood beneath him. In the opposite corner, a big, fat orc with glasses read a book while laughing out loud, patting his immense belly.
"Oh, this is a good book! A good book!" The orc shouted for everyone and to no one at the same time. At the other end of the room, they could see a table; sitting around it, there were three people. One dark elf with short hair and a severe expression, a human with long oily hair, and a dwarf with big red locks and an immense beard.
The dwarf was slamming the table with both hands, cards and cups flying. The little man was furious and alternated beating on the table with screaming at the dark elf,
"You little thief! You cheated in front of everyone! Give my coin back!" He kept screaming and smashing the table, but the elf remained stoic, staring into the very eyes of the dwarf as if he were making a powerful stance just with his glare.
The other one sitting on the table, the human, just stood there laughing and gulping a bottle of what seemed to be wine occasionally. He threatened to intervene in the fight but decided to drink another gulp otherwise,
"Harneded individuals… the heroes of the realm…" Tina muttered in shock, and Alex could only contemplate the scene. He seemed to have just entered a mental institution or a bar after four in the morning.
"Look, you're making me embarrass the newcomers!" The dwarf shouted once more. Seeing the complete lack of reaction from the black elf, he yelled again, "Say something, thief!",
"No," the elf replied in a smooth voice. The single word made the human laugh out loud.
"Okay… Okay!" The man started, putting up his bottle on the table and moving towards them, just to make a turn back and grab the bottle and down another gulp.
The man was athletic and wore beautiful leather armor with stripes and buckles. On his belt, an exquisite and shiny blade lay on the sheat.
"I'm sorry for my brothers' manners," He stated slurredly. He was totally drunk. Like an alcoholic hobo on St. Patrick's Day. "What is your business with us?" He asked and leaned against the counter, almost falling to the ground. The dwarf ran towards them and passed the long-haired man with swift and small steps. He reached them below the wooden furniture and grabbed Alex's and Tina's hands.
The other guild members kept doing their own thing as if they didn't exist.
"Oh, kids. Come with me. Are you coming to join the guild?"
Alex was already rethinking the idea. Maybe he could do it alone? That was a possibility. Better than fighting with some lazy drunks, drug addicts, kids, and… an orc out of shape? Oh, heavens… what a mess, He mused and almost laughed with himself. Was Tina who answered the question,
"Yes, we want."
"Good!" The dwarf exclaimed, pushing them to the balcony, where now the human almost slept as the kid on the corner. The dwarf climbed something on the other side, appearing now to be tall,
"My name is Ratamir. I am the guild master, and we are actually in need of new members. Things are not looking perfect these last days." The dwarf said and opened a big book with several names written down, one beneath the other in hundreds of lines. He flipped the pages until he found the one with blank places to sign. "Sign your names in here, and we can start the training,"
This dwarf exaled more confidence to Alex, and he thought he would lose nothing if he joined. If anything, he would learn more about the world of Tevia and the monsters; if something went wrong, he could just leave and do his own thing. On the girl's side, any training would be excellent. Considering that, he decided to sign.
Tina signed her name, and Alex put the feather pen on the page, looking at the words. For one moment, he thought he wouldn't be able to write down his name, but after a couple of seconds of thinking, he just wrote it as if it had always been his name. At that moment, he realized he could read and write in the new language.
As Alex wrote the last 'r' in Valther, he heard a noise from the streets, people screaming and throwing things at the ground. The sounds got close to the door, and Alex saw the crowd running and heard the shouts of "Monster!" or "Cerberus!" all over the place.
Alex was ready to get out of the store and take action when he overheard a conversation behind his shoulders,
"Can you deal with it?" The dwarf asked the drunk man, half sleeping on the counter. He has to be joking,… Alex thought, putting one hand on the handle and leaving the place.
He looked to the end of the street and saw a massive dog, at least the size of a poney, chasing a white elf. The defenseless woman ran towards Alex, who grabbed his dagger in one hand and waited. If I take care of the beast, I'll gain some coins… He thought, assuming an attack posture.
The monster got close, and Alex identified that it had utterly relucent black fur. The three faces of it looked like the ones of three identical pit bulls. The beast growled and chased the elf, who was about to trip and fall. Alex put one foot in front of the other to run when he heard a waft of air behind him.
He almost didn't catch the human running at tremendous speed towards the beast, holding his sword to the side. Everything ended in a couple seconds. The man shoved the female elf to the side, dodging the beast's attack and severing one of its heads. The beast screamed and jumped toward the man, but he rolled to the ground to escape.
The Cerberus attacked once again. In a swing of the body and sword, the human severed the other head of the creature. He didn't wait for the beast to attack him this time. Maintaining the pressure against the dog, swing after swing.
One of the strikes was too fast for the monster to dodge. The man opened a gush on the dog's mouth. Not wasting the opportunity, he jumped over the creature's shoulder and landed with the sword, deepening itself in the monster's last skull. The animal had no time to react or cry.
The crowd cheered for the man, and he removed the sword with some difficulty. He stepped towards them, now looking like a drunkard once again.
"Wow," Tina said beside Alex,
"Wow, indeed," Alex replied and told himself to never judge a book by its cover in this realm. The man passed by them and entered the guild, muttering that he was glad the empress would buy more wine for him.
"Okay, kids. Congratulations." The ginger dwarf spoke beside Alex and Tina, "You are now members of the guild. There's just one problem. We are going on an expedition outside of the city to deal with the dungeon from where these dogs are coming. Your training will have to be on the field. I expect both of you to arrive here tomorrow at five in the morning for us to travel. This will be a problem?"
They traded glances, and Alex said,
"We'll be here,"
"Glad to hear, kid. See you tomorrow."
Alex looked at his clock on the right hand and saw it was already four in the afternoon. If he wanted to get back from the dungeon delving and still be a free man, he had about thirteen hours to stop the empire's police from considering him a murder suspect and the mafia from wanting him to join their ranks.
Alex needed money, power, and knowledge. Being a convict or the lackey of a crime lord would not help him with any.
A plan started forming in his mind when he was surprised by the presence of a female dark elf with inquiring black narrow eyes.