When Alex arrived home, it was already way past midnight. He entered the apartment slowly and removed the dagger from his pocket and the clock from his arm. Feeling good about himself, he walked towards the kitchen. The red moonlight still pierced the room.
Alex filled a big cup with water from the clay filter and leaned toward the window. He was on the fifth floor of his apartment building. No one was to be seen in the ground below. The young man took a deep breath and felt the air running through his veins.
Life filled Alex at that moment. He had already learned much about his situation two days into the new world. He successfully escaped the claws of two fearsome enemies. La'har now had nothing against him besides her suspicion, and Kael'Talar— even with the possibility of him being a problem in the future, would face only two issues: the City Guard and the empress.
Alex felt he might never see the mafia boss again, and he hoped so. With one strike, he had removed two threats and was ready for his new life. The young man turned his body when he listened to a waking Tina trudging her feet through the apartment. Her hair all scrambled up, and she scratched her eyes,
"Did you make it?" she asked lazily.
"Yes," he replied, putting the cup on the edge of the window.
"Do you think they will buy it?"
"No… I don't think so. I'm sure they will. I saw the city guard entering the apartment. One of the superiors was immensely happy to have any excuse to go after the chimeras," Alex was smiling while talking, and Tina's jaw slowly dropped. In the end, her eyes glimmered with happiness.
She ran towards Alex and hugged him firmly, making his ribs ache with the embrace. It felt good and soft. He slowly patted her back. She released him, her cheeks red,
"That's fantastic news," she said, quickly picking up the cup and putting it back in the kitchen sink, afraid of him breaking the piece, "we need to sleep, then. We have a journey ahead of us tomorrow," She made a movement with two hands as if she was reading the title of a book or the headline of a newspaper, "Tina and Valther, the heroes of Valinor." Oh, so that's the name of the capital… thank God, I was starting to be annoyed with no one saying it out loud, Alex mused while Tina kept talking, "that's what will be stamped in every book or newspaper serial story in the next year,"
If there's a world next year, my dear.
"It would be nice, wouldn't it?" He stepped towards his room, feeling the tiredness taking over him,
"It will!" she replied resolutely. Alex nodded while throwing himself in the soft bed. "today was a good day…" she muttered, and he agreed silently, letting his thoughts be carried away. Not even the apocalypse countdown would make him lose his sleep today.
Alex and Tina stood before the adventurer's guild with utterly sleepy faces. Tina was considerably more awake than Alex since he had his little adventure last night. He had slept for only four hours and had been awakened by a thrilled Tina, who started shouting before four in the morning for him to get moving.
Their walk to the adventurer's guild had been silent. Still, Alex could see that the girl was full of energy inside, biting her nails and knocking her fingers into the wooden shield in her opposite hand. When they stopped in front of the yellow building, Alex realized it was not five in the morning yet, so he leaned against one of the walls and sat on the ground. He would get all the rest he could.
"Do you know any of those guys?" Alex asked her, pointing to the building,
"Only by the stories on the papers and the books, but we can never know how many are true."
"Is that so?" Alex asked, thinking how ironic sensationalist tails had already invaded a world that seemed to have just invented the press, "tell me what you know,"
"Finally, you want to hear!" she put her shield on the ground and sat above it, not wanting to stain her clean white dress, "the dwarf, Ratamir… He's an A-rank adventurer, probably the only one in the city. He's fighting against monsters and for the empress for more than seventy years… some say he's a devil with the mace and that he worked with Ran'Dallar when he was a kid," That name ringed a bell on Alex's mind, but he couldn't remember where he had heard that name,
"Hum… and the dark elf he was fighting against?"
"I'm not sure…" she said, patting one finger against her chest and looking to the gray sky, "but he must be Tal'Dore, the Black Arrow. B rank. The papers always paint him as a Deadshot, a silent killer who abdicated his position on the court to become an adventurer… that part I can't believe, honestly."
"Why?" Alex asked, "You wanted to be part of the guild,"
"Yes, but I'm no rich dark elf," she said, shoving him to the side and almost dropping him,
"I think that makes sense," Alex chuckled and straightened himself on the sidewalk, "and the others? He pressed further,
"The orc and the kid, I have no idea, but the human… He can only be Ravi, the Blade of Dawn."
"Uhhh, all of them have great names. And here I am… known as Valther the Trollhead," he chuckled again, and Tina did the same,
"Maybe stop being dumb, and people will call you Valther the Troll Slayer. How's that feel?" She asked, and Alex mused that 'Alex Smith, the Devil's Hand.' would sound way more impactful, but he hid it with himself.
"Better," he finally replied, "way better. So… Sword of Dawn,"
"The papers say he's a king on the human continent. He renounced his position and decided to hunt monsters and fight for the empress,"
"It seems he's more preoccupied with drinking the empress' wine," Alex replied,
"Wine?!!!" A voice screamed from inside the adventure's guild, startling the duo on the sidewalk, "Someone said wine?!!" The question was posed by Ravi lying on a litter and being carried by the orc and the kid out of the building. Alex and Tina remained silent, but the drunkard screamed, "Wine?!"
The litter went towards a carriage some meters away. The duo traded glances, Alex wanting to laugh but controlling himself.
"I'm sorry for that, kids," Ratamir said to them, grabbing both hands again. A stranger could probably think they were parents taking their redhead kid to school. That was a strange habit for a dwarf, but Alex let the man be and laughed internally. This adventurer's guild could be composed entirely of nutheads, but at least Alex would have fun along the way. Ratamir continued, "Our friend Ravi has been going through some rough times… for a long time, I must admit, but he's always ready to fight when we need him,"
That Alex didn't doubt anymore after the display with the Cerberus the other day, but still, if the man could be that deadly drunk, what could he do sober? Alex shrugged and kept walking towards the carriage, releasing the dwarf's hand from his grip.
The dark elf passed for them, and Ratamir could almost kill him with his eyes. Their quarrel was practically palpable, but the elf did not care enough about Ratamir to show him anything. The lean figure just walked and sat on the driver seat of the carriage,
"Where are we going?" Alex asked Ratamir. The dwarf looked up as if seeing Alex for the first time,
"There's a mining site two days away from Valinor, a mixed elf settlement. Old and traditional, they are harassed by the Cerberus dungeon. We'll need to handle that. A perfect way to learn," The dwarf said and kept walking, but Alex could see some worry in the old man's eyes, "This will be dangerous, kids. I'm aware you are the ones who defeated the goblin dungeon in the city, but this one… is different."
"Different, how?" Alex asked,
"Ancient," The dwarf replied, halting close to the carriage and locking gazes with Alex, "The report of your previous Dungeon Master was great. I know you two have potential. What you two did was impressive. I didn't know we had two elves with that potential in the city. Still, compared to what we are accustomed to dealing with in the guild, four goblins and a hobgoblin, it's not that much."
Alex watched Tina's expression go from awe to disappointment; her shoulders dropped, and her confidence hit the ground. Alex extended one arm to her shoulder, who immediately straightened her back and gave one step to her side. Pride… okay, He mused and didn't insist. The dwarf continued, feigned not to see their interaction,
"This mission will serve to train you. We need everyone we can get, but we also need you two to remain alive. So, please stay on the backline, sharp, and ready to learn."
The little man nodded to Tina and Alex, and both returned the head movement,
"Alright, so let's kill some hellish dogs, alright?" The dwarf shouted, getting up to the driver's seat beside Tal'Dore.