POV: Ash
Location: Northern Empire
The next day, I dressed up in a black dress and put on my hat. holding my brown rectangular luggage in one hand I summoned my staff in the other. I wanted to show off the aurorium crystal ball on top of the staff. It is every witch's pride, showing it off to the other adventurers would demand respect for me.
A silver dog tag dangled on my chest as I walked back to the village of the fireflies, it had my name written on it (Ash). The silver element it was made of signifies I am a B-rank adventurer.
My steps became slower as I got closer to the guards standing beside the tiny bar I destroyed yesterday. It is located along one of the streets leading to the guild.
With my breath held back into my chest, I quickly changed routes and walked through a narrow alleyway escaping the road leading to the guards.
The alleyway was narrow and the scent of recently roasted fish was filling the air, I passed along an old man with a cigar resting on his lips. He gave me a long stare as he extended his hands towards me, obviously begging for money, I reached into my left pocket and counted ten silver coins, they could only last for three days if I managed them.
Looking at the old man, I was inclined to give him at least one silver coin, however, the sight of three dark brown bottles wrapped under a rag beside him turned me off.
I cannot afford to lose any money to a drinker, I don't have nearly enough money to use for the teleportation gate, in order for me to travel to the memory barrier where I promise to meet Bash, I have to raise ten gold coins to pay the price of using the ancient artifact.
Coming out of the alleyway, I found myself in a small district filled with spices, a lot of shops were backed into the side of the road, with random colors of the spices brightening up the walkway.
As I continued to head towards the guild, shop owners were calling me from my left, each owner giving me a comforting invite to their offerings. What stood out to me was the lineup of flowers along the road, even though it's not in the wilderness, a lot of fireflies were flying around the flowers like bees, they stopped and sipped the nectar from the flowers before heading back to the open lanterns hanging over the shops.
After taking three more turns and almost getting run over by a carriage, I managed to arrive in front of the guild.
The guild is a tall building made of hard stones, it has an emblem of the Northern Empire of witches hanging above the wide entrance. The emblem is a portrait of the witch of beginning holding a staff, it was crafted with different colors on a rare wood native to the forest of elves.
Walking inside the guild my heartbeat was stable and my face was cold and stiff as ice, I walked slowly with my staff almost hitting the floor every time I took a step.
The guild is an open home to adventurers, it has a bar and a restaurant attached to it, you can even book a room if you want to stay there for the night.
The reason why I am at the guild is to take on a job, I need the money, I need at least ten gold coins, or else I cannot leave this village.
I walked along a tight orange carpet with other adventurers sitting on round tables beside me. I did not even give them the benefit of a stare, my face was fixed on the huge board hanging in the corner of the guild, over there, different quests are posted by both the guild and regular villagers who want help from adventures.
I got to a receptionist's desk without taking a turn, she smiled at the sight of me before greeting me.
"Welcome to our guild," she said, lowering her head towards me.
My ice face broke at the sight of her cute smile, she had brown hair paired with dark brown eyes, and the striking color of the black and white guild Uniform fitted her well.
"Thanks," I replied.
"You must be...?"
"I am Ash, the crimson witch,"
"Can I see your guild tag?"
"Sure,"
I handed my tag to the young lady and she brought out a microscope to examine it. She twisted my silver dog tag in all directions carefully verifying its authenticity.
"Thank you Ash for your patience, take a left turn and you will get to the quest board." she gestured to my left, "every quest rank B and below would be available for you and your party."
I put on my guild tag before walking to the quest board. On the board, there were almost fifty different papers pinned to a wooden plank. Each paper is written in stylized handwriting with the details of the task included.
A paper stamp with green ink has a task available to even the lowest rank adventurer—F rank individuals, a paper with silver stamp is available to folks like me—B rank adventurers. You could rarely see papers stamped in red because they are reserved for only S-rank adventures, the highest rank awarded by the guild.
I scan the cream papers my eyes only taking notice of silver stamps, my time is only available to the highest paying tasks.
I saw one task asking for a village novelty to be guarded on a hunting trip in the village forest. Although it pays thirteen gold coins I pass on it, I hate working in groups especially if it contains spoiled brats.
Another task asked for a portion found on the corpse of wild magic bears, I had to kill eighteen of them to complete the quest. I pass on that quest also, searching for rare bread of bears in a forest I only visited once seemed too much of a gamble for me.
I searched for over ten minutes before a paper written in gold ink caught my attention. I unpinned it from the board and brought it closer to my face. It reads that an old lady living on a farm on the outskirts of the village needed help, the fireflies on her farm have been disappearing in the night, and she is afraid that it might be a signal of something bad about to happen.
The task only requires me to stay in her house for a week, once the night of the full moon come to pass, she would pay me fifteen gold coins, I only get to fight if something bad happened.
Walking back to the receptionist I had a small grin on my face, getting fifteen gold coins for guarding an old lady in her house was a steal.
The receptionist smiled at me as I handed over the quest paper to her. She rolled her eyes to meet my gaze.
"Excited for your new quest," she stated.
"You can tell?"
"Of course I could, the smile on your face is visible to everyone."
The receptionist stamped the quest paper I gave her and then wrote my name in a book located in front of her.
She gestured for me to come closer before leaning in to get her mouth close to my ear.
"My name is Tiya, I am telling you this because I have taken a liking to you, Ash, there is a rumor spreading about the old lady you would be guarding."
I jerked backward after she said that, swallowing my saliva I whispered to Tiya.
"What rumor?"
"It was said the old lady has lived for over two hundred years, the secret to her long life is unknown but the rumor says she is definitely involved in black magic."
A small moment of silence passed between us as her words sank into my psyche. I rolled my eyes to look at her directly, I could see clearly that her demeanor had changed.
I needed the money, a rumor that could be false is not enough to distract me.
At that moment, an uneasy smile played across my lips. "Thank you for the warning Tiya, I would be fine."
With that I turned around and left the village guild, the rumor was still on my mind but I was determined to fulfill the quest, I found no reason for me to be afraid of an old lady over two hundred years old.