Rivalry

Constriction

An atmosphere of nauseating constriction surrounded Nessa as she nervously sat across from Veridan at his desk. The director silently flipped through a small handful of paperwork in front of him. Only the ticking sound of a wall clock set perfectly behind him accompanied the deathly silence that hung over the small office.

Nessa knew the risks of taking the mission without permission, but didn't realize just how frightening and tedious the process of receiving the consequences would be. Though the dread and axiety might've been torture, she certainly didn't regret what she did since she saw the hope return to that mother's eyes. She knew it had to be done: From her point of view it was the very thing she became an apprentice to do.

"Miss Nessa," The director's voice carved through the silence, shocking Nessa with the sudden change, "I pray you understand why this is an issue, right? Unauthorized deployment of guild resources reflects directly on the guild. Had anything gone wrong in your quest, the consequences would befall us and our reputation. In most situations this would result in immediate termination of your apprenticeship." He scolded in a cold rehearsed manner that dug directly through Nessa, causing a shiver to run through her body.

"Yes sir, I understand the consequences of my actions." She responded, carefully hiding the tremble in her voice.

"It's a miracle that no issues arose on your little excursion. I'd even say it went smoothly," Veridan spoke with a mere hint of pride in his voice, "I believe it'd be best to move you and your brother to the next stage of apprenticeship earlier than anticipated to prevent these situations in the future." He said calmly as he flipped through the paperwork in front of him

Nessa perked up at the alarming response. A part of her wanted to question the director's decision, but she ultimately remained quiet to let Veridan continue.

"You'll be free to go, but I'd like you to reiterate what exactly you mentioned was happening in that mine you explored. I want to make sure this report is correct."

"I didn't understand the situation completely, but to me it appeared that the star crystals lighting the caverns were expended of all of their mana. I've never seen them burn out like that, and yet hundreds of them in that one area were all extinguished," Nessa recollected the mission and its strange happenings, "Director Veridan, you wouldn't happen to know anything about what that means, do you?" Nessa questioned.

The Director set down his paperwork and guided his hand over an intricate amulet that looked to be a holy symbol sitting on his desk. The symbol depicting the sun was one that Nessa was familiar with seeing all around the city. She most often saw it used by humans and others who came from the surface.

"I'm no historian, and I'm certainly not as old as I may look, so I'm not all that helpful in explaining this. I know that the crystals we use for lighting the darkness were ancient gifts from the church of Aunderr. Clair of The Crimson Shield is a priestess of Aunderr, unfortunately Hela and her are both on a quest taking them to the surface for a few months." Veridan hovered his hand over the symbol of Aunderr carefully. Nessa spaced out briefly as she fixated on the fact that Hela was away for the upcoming months. She felt slightly sick to her stomach knowing she didn't have anyone to go to if she needed help. No one was nearly as approachable and kind to her as Hela was, so her absence struck hard.

While Nessa was distracted by this revelation, she hadn't realized Veridan had continued speaking and reached a near conclusion.

"As a result, it'd be best to allow a more qualified team to handle this quest. Deliver this report to a reptir named Ilz. The mission will be handed off to his team, and for the time being you'll be assigned this quest here." Before Nessa could object, the two envelopes were pushed towards her side of the desk and Veridan gave a clear dismissal of her company.

"Wait, my brother and I were the ones that actually discovered the issue! Shouldn't we have more of a part in all this?" Nessa called upon whatever bravery she had in order to speak against the director, an action she immediately regretted.

Veridan's eyes aimed at Nessa with murderous intent, and yet he spoke as emotionlessly as usual, "I respect that you've allowed this investigation to begin with your recent transgression, however you and your brother are still far from proving you possess the resources, ability, and fortitude to handle this task. I pray this discussion is over then?"

"My apologies. Yes, sir." Nessa stammered and slinked out of the office into the winding halls of the Hidden Star Guild. As she wandered, asking around for Ilz, a shadow of doubt of her own ability continued to follow her. She understood why the quest couldn't be fulfilled by her, but losing the agency to make a difference affected her. Despite the crushing feeling weighing her down, Nessa still searched for the reptir until eventually her inquiries led her to a corner of the guild she hadn't gotten acquainted with.

She found herself surrounded by what seemed to be exhibits of artifacts. Galleries of portraits detailing adventurers of old who made The Hidden Star to what it was today decorated the walls that she passed. The halls she walked were dimly lit with the few lights drawing attention to the historic pieces laid before her. Her troubles washed away as her focus shifted to the mesmerizing allure of the past that she had only heard in stories. Something drew her further in, until she stopped at what appeared to be the main attraction. At the center of everything, a towering hill of rock decorated with star crystals led up to a spire housing an artifact that the very light of the room seemed to move towards.

Sheathed in stone at the top of the hill, a halberd forged in a brilliant golden color sat proud, yet still weathered from perhaps centuries of time passed. Its blade shimmered with cool lights as it appeared to be made with the same material of the star crystals. Its pulses were dim, but not due to its own weakness. Nessa felt the radiating aura of the weapon before her, and it felt of mana held back, concealed from what it could be.

In the midst of Nessa's admiration, a shrill voice shocked her out of her focus, "Excuse me, are you the new apprentice that was looking for me?" Nessa searched back and forth for the source of the voice, but couldn't find anything, "Down here." The voice spoke again with a hint of disappointment.

A small reptilian apprentice no taller than two feet hopped up onto the railing separating Nessa from the halberd exhibit so that he could stand at eyesight with her. He wore a similar outfit to Nessa herself with the exception of a wide brimmed mage's hat which he promptly adjusted to fix the slight crookedness only he himself perceived.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to— well yes I was looking for you. You're Ilz right?" Nessa tripped over her words as she grew embarrassed of her mistake. She had forgotten that the reptir people varied greatly in their height and builds, contradicting the expectations she had in mind.

"Yes yes, I am Ilz Alvine. And you're that new apprentice, Nessa was it?" Ilz smiled a toothy grin which set Nessa at ease. He didn't seem upset at all following her mistake, which she found reassuring.

"Yeah, that would be me. Well, Director Veridan said this quest would be better suited in your hands. I assume you have some prior knowledge of the star crystals and their behavior then, Ilz?" Nessa handed over the report the director had given her. Ilz opened it up and looked through the documents inside.

"Well it is a field I passionately study. Why, that's precisely why I'm here with most of my free time." Ilz motioned over to the halberd exhibit as he walked the railing he stood on delicately, "When the humans were introduced to the underground, they were led by dusk elven diplomats who sought to repair the relations between the surface and the underground. Accompanying them were devout priests of Aunderr," Ilz paused as the two had circled to see the halberd in a different light, watching it glimmer and shine with the light of the other mana crystals reflecting off of it, "The God of Light and Guidance, Aunderr, gifted the Hierophant at the time with this artifact and the knowledge of the star crystals. Using the artifact, the church extended light all over the underground, significantly improving life for everyone. Unfortunately, most of that knowledge wasn't passed down with the church, and scholars like myself are left with scraps of the secrets of the Solferre Halberd."

Nessa nodded patiently, carefully trying to wrap her head around what Ilz was talking about.

"Well hopefully the knowledge you do have on hand can help you out. If you can, keep me updated on the progress of the quest, and please let me know if you need any help," She insisted.

Ilz perked up in glee, "You seem fairly invested in all of this, are you possibly as interested in the study of star crystals as myself? I would not hesitate to share my notes and discoveries!" Ilz ecstatically inquired as his scaled tail wagged slightly in excitement.

"Oh, uh, nothing like that unfortunately," Nessa politely declined, "Director Veridan didn't want me working on this quest, but it feels off for me to start something and not see it through. That's all it is really."

Ilz nodded in understanding, "I see I see, early apprenticeship will always be a bore, but you'll have more freedom in the guild once you're older and more experienced. Trust me, I had to go through the same thing."

Nessa sighed in response, "Uh, Ilz. I get the needing more experience part, but I really doubt getting any older is the problem with me. I'm in my twenties, quite a bit older than the other apprentices.

"O-Oh! Excuse me, I assumed you joined at the usual age, I apologize I must've thought so—" Ilz frantically backpedaled from his comment.

"I guess we both suffer from being a little short then huh?" Nessa barely kept back her laughter as they both eased up with her last comment. The both of them shared in the merriment at their mutual expense. Eventually, Nessa left with a smile on her face as they said their farewells. Though Hela might've been gone for the time being, other apprentices like Ilz appeared very welcoming.

As Nessa left for her living quarters, she looked through the folder that contained the new quest she was assigned to. A few details stood out to her, something about a thief causing troubles for a village nearby. Before Nessa could get the exact information out of the report, she was caught unaware and bumped directly into another guild member.

The two of them fell back as the papers of the report scattered around them, "Oww...Sorry that was my fault, I should've been paying more attention." Nessa apologized as she rubbed her head where the impact was made. She looked up to find a guild apprentice she hadn't seen before. Sitting before her was a pale skinned frail looking human with disheveled black hair.

"It's alright," Her voice was hushed and soft spoken. She swiftly gathered the papers that landed near her, and with a quick glimpse at them, offered them back to Nessa politely, "I was rushing and I didn't realize anyone else was in the halls at this hour, I'm sorry…"

"I guess we both should be a little more aware," Nessa said with a giggle as she accepted the report back from the human girl, "I don't believe we've met before. My name's Nessa."

"Y-Yeah, I kinda don't hang around much, so you probably haven't noticed me yet," The girl nervously shifted her gaze around, "My name's Eve. It's, uh, nice to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine," Nessa smiled, but after looking back at the documents, she realized she had to be on her way, "Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get going. Later."

"Oh, bye then!" Eve waved a goodbye as the short conversation drew to a close.

The both of them, equally as bashful, left in opposite directions. Eve looked over her shoulder at Nessa, waiting for her to leave sight or turn a corner.

When she did, the apprentice unfolded a note hidden on her person and quickly jotted something down, "Come on, Eve, just remember what it said…" She whispered to herself before hiding the note and hurrying off.

It was still late in the night with the artificial stars shining through the gaps in the guild walls. Eve found her way through the outer halls of the guild outside the living quarters of apprentices. She stopped outside one of the doors and gave a light knock before letting herself in.

The room was a clear mess as Eve had to step over the clutter just to get to the center. Inside were two other apprentices: Kross sat near the corner with his face deep in a book, his attention barely turning to Eve as she entered. While the demiserpus known as Rex stood at the very end of the room leaned against the cracked wall, twirling a dart between his fingertips.

"What'd you find Eve?" Rex asked impatiently. He looked past Eve with his focus drawn to a dartboard already tacked with several darts close to the bullseye.

"Just as you expected. Those new recruits got an expedition quest out to Viiest," Eve rummaged for the hidden note and handed it off to Rex, "I remembered all the important details like you asked, but what exactly are we planning to do?"

The demiserpus took the note and eyed over the details before folding it back up, "The director's been ignoring us for too long just for one slip up. If those new recruits could get away with acting out of line I'm sure it'd be alright if we accompanied them for a little help, don't you think?" Rex laughed it off with his fanged smile bearing through. Both Kross and Eve remained quiet as Rex spoke confidently, "So we're gonna cause some trouble and swoop in to complete the quest for ourselves, no real damage done and we improve our standing with the guild while we're at it."

Eve nervously tried to interject her teammate's planning, "Are you sure we should really meddle in this though, Nessa seemed nice enough, I kinda don't want to ruin it for them."

Rex held a dart up and haphazardly aimed it in the direction of the dartboard, "Just think of it as some healthy competition between two adventuring teams. We won't be doing her any actual harm," Rex tossed the dart with a simple flick, the metal tip of the dart cut through the air and landed precisely into the bullseye, "A little rivalry never hurt anyone."