The Shoddy Guild

"How am I supposed to know? I mean, I get why you think I would know given that it benefitted me specifically and he was scared of me, but I don't know what happened! I pinky promise!"

Usually, after hearing something like this that sounds a bit strange, Kaeda would've questioned Luan more about the situation, however, when looking at his expression, seeing the genuine confusion plastered over his face, she decided not to pursue it further and continued walking with him and Aerith.

Going through the city, Aerith started walking around as though she were half awake and in her own little world as Luan kept looking at every detail as carefully as he could, checking the technology of simpler things, seeing if they work similarly to the technology in his world as well as viewing what's popular for the people so he could try and blend in easier, and viewing their basic public culture for the same reason. Glancing around at the crowds of elves, a lot of people looked at him strangely or were gossiping about him, as though he was a hot topic or an abnormality. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable, but he tried to hide his feelings to the best of his abilities in order to not enlarge the gossip of the elves.

When looking around at the people that hadn't noticed him yet, those people seemed a bit weird to Luan. Their expressions looked happy and their gestures suggested the same thing, but it felt as though everyone had a slight feeling of unease deep inside of them, with the only ones breaking that idea being people that looked like competent fighters who always had a weapon at their side. This made Luan ask,

"Is something going on around here? Everyone feels I don't know, nervous I guess?"

The one to answer his question would be Kaeda, who wished to clarify,

"Are you talking about the people looking at you or the people around the people that are looking at you?"

"The second option you gave."

"What you're noticing is everyone's uneasiness due to the threats of war from the dwarves and the dark elves. Those races haven't been on good terms with us for decades and have always wanted to wipe us out or get rid of us for them to benefit from resources they simply can't get due to their environment. Recently, Nidavellir and Svartalfheim, the capitals of the realms of the dwarves and dark elves, went public about their desires and started threatening to invade Alfheim in order to demonstrate the authenticity of their desires."

"Ah. That sounds unfortunate, what do both of you plan to do when they invade?"

"The odds of them invading is fairly low I'd say, what makes you suggest that they will invade?"

"Why wouldn't they? It looks like you guys are probably taking this seriously given that the area closest to the entrance has several guards, soldiers, and whatnot, but if that's all you have when it comes to heightened security, you guys might as well just give up Alfheim. If 2 races desire your destruction and are colluding in order for that to happen, then they will obviously invade eventually, the only thing they truly need is the right time to invade, whether it be enough time to collect and organize their armies, make something designed to kill you all, or whether they notice their enemy isn't ready for an attack, the situation you're in right now. It's like your begging for them to attack you, but what do I know? I'm just some random person from the boonies who doesn't even know the basics of the basics in this city, my opinion should mean little to nothing to you, right?"

Kaeda was hesitating as to what to say to him in response. She assumed that he wasn't some secret war wizard or anything of the sort, but because of what he said, she started to wonder about their countermeasures and whether what they were doing was the right option in terms of military strategy, but chose to respond to Luan stating,

"Let's say you were right that they would invade, it's not like I could take your opinion, present it to the king, and have the guards and soldiers change their positions to counteract the current issue. People like me and Aerith aren't shown much respect so the odds of us seeing the king in our lifetime is close to impossible."

"Oh, okay then. Whatever you say Kaeda."

They continued walking to where ever they were headed, Aerith still half paying attention to everything as she walks along abstractedly. After a while of walking around Alfheim, something occurred to Luan as they started taking turns into less and less crowded areas,

"Where are we going?"

"To the guild."

"Yeah that sounds cool and all, but why do I have to go? Am I going to be an adventurer, because if so, that sounds like a hassle, too much work involved and too much danger, I mean I'm not against the idea, but still."

"It depends on something about you specifically and if you have it, I'll give you an ultimatum later."

"Well, now I kind of wanna leave, the reason being fear caused by you."

"I'd rather you didn't since this idea could help everyone currently here, including you."

When we arrived at the guild, Luan felt betrayed by his expectations once again because of a fantasy trope that he thought would've been different than what it truly is. The glamorous, bustling guild with people surrounding the area, asking brave and strong adventurers to help them out wasn't there. In its place was a slightly dilapidated wooden building with mossy stone walls that came with a couple of windows that allowed someone to view the inside of the guild. The area it was in had the medieval architecture he was originally looking for, but because of the location it was in, the buildings all looked depressing in comparison to the metropolitan area he was just in. The door of the guild that the group was closing in on was a medieval door that, when opening, was ridiculously squeaky. Upon entering, Aerith and Kaeda greeted the receptionist and the rowdy bunch that was drinking at a table.

"Hey everyone! How was everyone while I was gone?"

"Hey Solis, we'll be bringing you proof that we killed the ogres soon, so hold on a second okay?"

"Whatever you say, as long as you show proof."

Inside the guild, Aerith ran over to some of the other adventurers to talk to them. On first inspection inside the guild, Luan saw an elven receptionist who appeared fairly mature mentally and physically, her face was looked quite nice as she sat on her chair, head on her hands with her elbows leaning on the desk. Her russet eyes looked washed and she had long, shaggy cadmium green hair. When she looked at the group that just entered, she looked at Luan asking,

"Who's that guy? Is he gonna join the guild?"

"Depends, can we get him checked out to see some of his skills?"

"Whatever you say, I probably owe you some favors anyways."

Getting out of her chair, Solis went through a door behind her and headed into a back room full of shelves that were overflowing with things that Luan could only imagine the purpose of. Coming back from the back room, she brought a foggy glass ball and a slightly dirty cloth for the ball to lay on.

"Alright, test him."

"Hey Luan, put your hand over the glass ball and we'll be able to gauge some of your skills."

"What if I don't have any? Would that be embarrassing in this culture?"

"No, it'd just mean that you're completely average and don't have much going for you."

"Okay then, whatever you say, although if I have a skill it better be cool and not something stupid."

After saying that, Luan held his hand over the glass ball, which started to glow this light blue color that enveloped the entire guild. When Luan held his hand over it, it felt as though his soul itself was being searched through, like something was checking every crevice possible to find something out about him. When the feeling approached his heart, the light started slowly changing from light blue to purple, making the guild grow darker and darker due to the shade of purple it was creating. When it started getting even darker to the point that it approached black in color, the glass ball shattered and scattered around the guild, causing everyone in the guild to go silent. The first to break the silence was Kaeda who was followed by Solis.

"What the hell did you do?!"

"Hey boy, you better pay for that! That may be old, but it cost the guild a lot of money a few years ago!"

With everyone else at a loss for words, Luan slowly tried to speak in his typical fashion,

"So does that mean I don't have to be an adventurer now Kaeda?"

After his question, Luan was completely ignored and Solis started speaking with Kaeda in a slightly agitated tone.

"Kaeda, are you gonna take responsibility for what he just did?!"

"Why? How much does it cost?"

"It cost the guild 5 000 000 als when it was purchased."

"It was Luan's fault. He broke it."

"Hey, why did you immediately abandon me! I can't pay for that, I don't have a single... unit of this place's currency!"

With a newfound smug look on her face, Kaeda looked at Luan, pointing at him, saying,

"Here is your ultimatum now! Be on mine and Aerith's party, or suffer from debt without having a single chance to get out of it!"

Luan felt trapped in his current situation. He was now 5 000 000 als in debt because of something out of his control and had to choose between dying of starvation on the streets, broke, or being an adventurer and risk death on the daily with a small chance of having fun on the way. The only option Luan had in order to have a chance at living any life at all was the one he didn't want but was forced to choose.

"So where do I get my stuff to be an adventurer?"