Leaving the manor a bit before the scheduled time, Aryn started on his way to the Adventurers' Guild building. His steps were light and his eyes wide and shining.
He was wearing a flexible brown leather jacket, a pair of black cloth pants, and comfortable hiking boots. Attached to his belt by a wire were the six Darts he had been including in his daily training routine.
Strung around his neck by a leather strip was his Bronze rank token. Wearing it like this was somewhat of a tradition. At least that's what his mother told him before he left in the morning.
He was humming a slight tune as he made his way past the gates and came to a stop in front of the guild building. Checking himself over to make sure he had everything, he nodded to himself and opened the door.
As he did, the sound of chatter, laughing, and clinking glass and silverware bled out into the street. It was far from the empty ghost town it was when he had been here the previous two times. It appeared that most adventurers paid the guild a visit around this time.
No one paid any mind to the young boy walking in, so Aryn just stepped into line in front of Old Man Garret and waited his turn. There were three people in front of him, all three were Bronze rank like him, if the tokens around their necks weren't leading him astray.
As he was waiting in line, someone joined in behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention. He turned to face them, seeing a woman around her mid 20s with light-brown hair done up in a pony tail.
She was wearing a set of half-plate armor and had an expensive-looking battle-axe on her back. Aryn noticed that she wasn't wearing a token around her neck like everyone else.
"Yes?" He asked her.
"Sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering who made those? I'm new in town and want to know where I can get my gear repaired." She gave a polite smile as she replied, pointing at the Darts strung around his belt.
She didn't fit the mental image of a rough around the edges adventurer that Aryn had envisioned he would meet here, but he wasn't going to complain about someone having manners.
Taking a look down at his Darts, then looking back up to meet the woman's brown eyes, he answered her question as best he could.
"Well, I've only been there the once and I don't remember the exact spot, but I got them from a smithy on the eastern edge of town, right near the wall. If you go east from the town square, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it." He did his best to give her directions.
One of the people in front of them in the line finished what they were doing and walked away to the other side of the building, allowing them to move forward a step.
"Thanks, I'll check it out when I'm done here." She took off her right gauntlet and extended her hand, "I'm Sara by the way, an Aspirant."
Returning the gesture, Aryn clasped her hand and introduced himself, "Aryn, Apprentice. What are you here for?"
Retracting her hand but keeping her gauntlet off, Sara answered with unhidden excitement that Aryn found himself empathizing with. "I'm registering today. What about you?"
"I've got my first job today. I'm about to meet with the client, then I'll be off." The line grew shorter again, it would be his turn next.
The short conversation came to a halt as the pair seemed to have said all they had to say. "Well, good luck." She said.
"You too." He turned back around and waited for his turn. He only had to wait a moment.
Walking up to the counter, Aryn said hello to Garret before he was quickly instructed to wait at table 13 across the building. His client would be arriving soon and would meet him there.
Aryn did as he was told. Walking across the building to take one of the two available seats at table 13 and asking a passing waitress for a glass of water, which he received soon after.
After about ten minutes of waiting while sipping on his water, a woman sat down across from him without making a sound. Aryn hadn't even noticed her until she was already pulling the chair out from under the table.
Impressed with her stealth abilities, he took a moment to look her over carefully.
She was a similar height to his father, with a lean build and a mostly brown outfit that allowed for ease of movement. With dark-brown hair and eyes, she no-doubt blended in well in a forest.
'She gives me the creeps.' Aryn couldn't pit his finger on why. She didn't act strangely, her expression said little, and she hadn't even spoken to him yet.
But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her. 'Maybe it's her eyes?' He felt she was looking at him a little too intensely. Her eyes were looking directly into his own without pause.
'Nah, I'm just being paranoid. She probably just isn't used to social situations. I was the same for a time in my past life.'
Thinking this, he relaxed and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Aryn. Can you tell me about the item you lost? It may help in tracking it down."
The huntress nodded and brought out a drawing from her pocket. "This is it."
Setting it in front of him, she retracted her hand and just watched him as he looked at it. On the paper was an impressively detailed depiction of a fancy-looking bracelet.
It was a thin band with small engravings of thorns running along the outside and coming together around an assortments of small gems in the shape of a flower.
He assumed it was made of gold, but the drawing wasn't colored so he couldn't be sure. Aryn could see why the huntress was willing to pay a small silver for its return.
'I'm actually getting ripped off. This is definitely worth at least five small gold coins. And that's not even taking into account that it's apparently enchanted.'
Aryn could empathize though. It was an heirloom after all, and a small silver was probably a considerable amount of her savings. Most ordinary hunters weren't particularly wealthy. So, he decided against negotiating for more.
"Alright. Do you remember roughly where you were around the time you lost it?" Narrowing down the search area was a necessity. The forest was expansive, and finding a bracelet in it was a tall order.
"I do. I'll lead you to the area." She didn't wait for a reply, standing up and beginning to walk toward the door.
Following behind after quickly chugging his water, Aryn subtly took control of one of his Darts just in case. He decided to give the huntress the benefit of the doubt despite the weird feeling he got from her, but he would be a fool to take chances.
She led him out of town before continuing further to the edge of the forest that surrounded most of the town. She paused for a moment before stepping onto a small path marked by a notch on a tree.
With the Dart ready to attack or defend if necessary, he silently followed the hopefully just socially awkward huntress along a thin path through the forest. With the uneven terrain, one Dart was all he could manage without compromising his balance.
Aryn remained patient as he followed. Because he was manipulating the ambient mana rather than the mana his heart had converted for his use, he was confident he would be able to sense the bracelet if they were within a few dozen meters of it.
The huntress came to a stop when they came upon a small clearing with hoofprints in the ground and a few drops of blood creating a trail alongside them.
'Probably where she made a kill. If she lost track of a bracelet on a hunt, it would be nearby here.' Aryn glanced around the surroundings before focusing on his mana sense.
His range had been increasing at an almost exponential rate lately, now reaching nearly 300 meters. That was the average range of someone with a fully saturated conduit, and his Crystal Heart was nowhere close to full saturation.
As he extended his senses further and further, he only sensed the normal ambient mana that one would expect and nothing else.
Frowning, he thought for a moment, before turning to face the huntress, "Is this the only spot you made a kill the day you lost it?"
Aryn watched as his client tilted her head a little, "I didn't make a kill here."
His heart skipped a beat and he got ready for a fight. He should've trusted his gut.
"The deer got away." She pointed at the trail of blood droplets.
Aryn released a breath, he thought for a moment that the genre would change to horror, but he was happy to be mistaken. Wiping a drop of sweat from his brow, he nodded and suggested, "Lets follow the blood, the bracelet isn't around here."
The huntress didn't say anything and just started walking, following the blood. The trail was becoming harder to follow, but she was good at her job. She kept tracking and he diligently followed along while trying to sense anything nearby.
Sometimes he would have to use telekinesis to open up a path when there was too many obstacles. The forest was thick and difficult to traverse, but they continued on their way.
After another 30 or so minutes of making their way through the difficult terrain, Aryn finally sensed something. Rather, he sensed multiple things, each giving off mana of their own.
'Why can't anything ever be simple? I feel like a main character without the plot armor.' He lamented inwardly.