The lure of adventure (part I)
Rhea had been a debt slave once, like many others from her village, Mezzi, one of the main cities in the kingdom of Cesio.
She wasn’t very capable with magic, but she could read and write to some extent and Etgas polished those skills enough that she could be hired.
It was a lucky chance that the adventurers guild needed new people with her skill and she ended up behind a counter.
She married an adventurer and she was able to free herself, her husband had died and left her a single mother, her story was riddled with bad moments and good ones, like many others in the guild.
She was now in her late thirty, her pale blue hair started getting grey and her skin wasn’t supple and shiny as it used to be without makeup.
Well, she couldn’t afford makeup if she wanted to keep her children from becoming slaves or, worse, adventurers like their father.
If anything her experiences made her stricter as a guild employee, and she was sought after as a judge of new adventurers.
There were three kinds of people that registered to be adventurers, there was the desperate kind, the skilled kind, and the bored one.
The first kind was self-explained, slavery was a thing and adventurers earned pretty awesome rewards, it was a high-risk high-reward kind of job.
Rather than being set in chains, some sought to become an adventurer rather than ending being a slave.
She could understand them, she pitied them, and usually if they were sincere and hard-working enough she tried helping them.
The second kind, the skilled, was rarer but not impossible to find.
It was usually soldiers that failed to adapt to the strict regime of the army, mages that needed to gain experience, priests that wanted more than a cloistered life, and the lowlifes that didn’t exactly want to go below neck-deep into the darkness.
Those made the bulk of the regular figures, polishing themselves and making well-working groups that formed the backbone of the whole guild.
They were often a rowdy uncouth bunch, but they were mostly sincere and, often, it was a matter of mutual exchange with them.
The main work of the guild was information gathering, it was getting out the details of the problem that needed solving, it was to negotiate with the client based on the difficulty of the request.
Last but not least, it was the guild duty that had the duty to select people with the appropriate skill to solve the problem, to reduce the risk by the biggest margin possible.
It was there that those, the ones she hated the most, the adrenaline junkies, came into play.
They were mostly off sons of nobles, that thought they were some kind of special elite and gave false assessments of their skills and capabilities.
Those who sought the life of the adventurer out of wanting a challenge, a call of glory, or well a way to break their routine.
It was for one of those that she lost her husband and so she actively scorned and hampered them.
That day another one of those came into the guildhall, it was an easy spot if there was ever one.
Fat, barely well-kept long hair and beard he waded in the central aisle between the tables where groups of veterans drank and chatted.
The guildhall served as a tavern offering drinks and light meals; it wasn’t anything fancy, but its service was a lifeline for the poorest adventurers and beginners.
Most of the meals were almost free, provided one could give all of the base ingredients, and it wasn’t a hard task to do so for the basics of the basics.
Seeing someone dressed good enough to provide basic meals for a week to a staring group of four screamed vengeance; to her at least.
The strangest part was that he was followed by a demon, a girl with ram-like horns, walking in human clothing.
She had hair that looked like wool, but it was clear it had been trimmed to make her at least look more human if possible, considering the bulky curved claws that made up her fingers and the hooves upon which she walked.
His right hand was dressed with a bandage too clean to hide any recent wound, and he didn’t bring any other equipment or weapon along.
He took his sweet time, looking around and smiling to the surprised and scornful look of many, before coming to the counter, her counter.
His deep black eyes looked at her, from top to bottom, and then right down her purple eyes, it was an unpleasant sensation like he was weighing her.
“Now this is a first, not a bulky muscular man, nor a young pure maiden. I must admit this guild thing is … interesting.”
He caressed his beard with his right hand, he could move it without issues but it was clear that he was foreign by his unhealthy whitish skin and the mark of the translation magic one could spot hidden below his long beard.
She narrowed her eyes, unpleasant or not she represented the law and order of that building, and if push came to shove she knew that somebody would intervene.
It was an adventurer’s guild after all, so there was no safer place to be, nor there was one less dangerous in town.
“Excuse me? What might you want ?”
He smiled, chuckling. “Scary” He commented. “ I want to be a part-time adventurer.”
A full burst of laughter rose all around the place from the many patrons of the guild that took several minutes to die down.
The man looked around, smiling unfazed then as the clamor ceased went back to her.
“I guess I either said something funny or they don’t believe someone like me to be up to par with what is required here. Am I wrong?”
He wasn’t stupid or at least he could pick up the obvious clue, either way, she sighed and put up a business smile.
“I’d go for both sir, first there’s no thing such as a part-time adventurer. You get to be one for life, we issue a symbol that is recognized pretty much everywhere humans are in friendly relations. Second, well, you don’t exactly look fit for any duty that may be issued to you. Of course, appearances alone don’t hinder anyone from registering here. So, what will it be? A registration fee is ten gold pieces.”
There was the possibility to pay that fee later on, by completing many simple tasks, but of course, she wouldn’t vent the option to somebody that dressed like that.
He took out a purse from his neck and took out a pile of gold pieces, his hands seemed shaky at best, they were trembling, maybe after all the show affected him somehow.
He counted down laying twenty pieces in front of her like the gold meant nothing to him, he smiled.
She of course didn’t feel any compassion toward him, as she took his money, but she started to be dubious about this man, she took a sheet of parchment and a judging sphere with its pedestal from below the counter.
“Ok before you register place your hand here.” She said before placing the sphere on the counter.
“Why should I ?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Sir, this is an official guild, we don’t accept criminals. “
She explained plainly as possible, it was a white lie basically since there were actual thieves and assassins amongst the adventurers, but the screening was due anyway to know beforehand where trouble could come from.
“Selie? Be a dear, go first.”
He smiled and the demon moved and placed her hand on the sphere, it was surprising to see the sphere shine white with light and not darkness.
“Wait… I meant you, aren’t you registering?”
She asked, dumbfounded, making him chuckle deeply, with an unnatural smile on his face.
“I paid for two, didn’t I? Of course, I am registering, it’s only that the damn thing won’t work with me. “
He said placing his bandaged hand upon the sphere as the demon lifted her claws, there was no reaction.
Rhea was more surprised by the reaction that the demon gave with the sphere than the lack of one from the man’s test.
“Don’t be silly now sir, of course, it won’t work if you don’t place a bare hand upon it. It is as sure as there are no demons adventurers, I am sorry I miscounted your fee, I will give your money back”
The man rose an eyebrow, lifted his bandaged hand, and touched the sphere with his bare left hand, still no reaction at all.
Now she was surprised, how on Edvigla he managed that?
There was no way to avoid judgment she knew of, besides not touching the sphere, yet there stood a man in front of her that defied that knowledge.
“There’s always a first isn’t there? Like a guild employee who doesn’t know how to count. She will get a license to be an adventurer that’s not negotiable.”
He smiled, he found that thing funny somehow, yet he was dead serious, and for the moment Rhea didn’t want to give out more ground, and the demon seemed scared of the man desperately trying to calm him down to the best of her capabilities.
The demon called Selie had placed a paw on his shoulder whispering something trying to soothe him, why was it so important that the man remained calm?
Only a slave would know, and Rhea knew, he might have leashed out a bit too much on her, punishing above what was needed, there were a few people like that.
The only problem was that they usually registered somewhat black on the judgment sphere, and he didn’t register at all.
Rhea composed herself back and took another sheet of parchment, placing it on the desk.
“As you wish sir, but there will be issues with many requests if you have her with you. Also, she still needs to pass the initial test in a satisfactory way to become an adventurer, there will be no refunds. I guess she isn’t able to write so I will begin with her.”
The ones in charge of the test would have found a way of failing her, it wasn't a big problem and he wouldn't have grounds to complain further.
She took pen and quill and started writing elegantly and swiftly, with a practiced hand and without issues.
The adventurers’ guild fee included her services after all, and it was a pretty straightforward talk with the girl.
Selie, age three, claimed to be a warrior, as for her preferred weapon she said she used spears and kicks.
Rhea removed the sphere of judgment from the table and took an average magic meter, it was a black sphere, encased in claw-like support carved with magical symbols, she asked her to place her paw on the sphere.
There was a reaction, the sphere glowed projecting light magic circles encompassing one another stopping after eighteen circles had appeared projected on the counter.
There were some signs of amazement from the people standing at the tables, after all, it was a good result, it meant she could learn and use magic at an average level with ease and maybe come to use two or three advanced magical attacks.
“It seems you can take also the road of the mage, please consider after your initial test.”
She pointed at a door behind her, but Selie didn’t move looking at the man behind her.
“Don’t worry for him, he’ll be behind you as soon as he finishes registration. ” said Rhea.
“I don’t worry about him, I worry about you.”
Said Selie looking at her with those clear eyes with slanted horizontal pupils.
Rhea laughed a little to ease the mood and then answered.
“Don’t worry, there are a lot of strong people here that can protect me. Now go, each individual has to be evaluated as he is. Without external help.”
There was no such thing as a perfect group, after all, and since a chain was as strong as his weakest link one needed to know his strong and weak points, and it was a lonely journey, even for a demon.
“Really, you don’t… “ The man coughed a little
“Come on Selie, we are guests here, let’s do things as our hosts tell us.”
He chuckled as she looked at him, staring daggers.
“Etgas has recommended… “
But the man interrupted her again, smiling forcefully and pointing at the door; it wasn’t a surprise hearing the slaver's name from a demon, so she was somehow employed by the man with a contract of sorts.
It was unorthodox to have a demon servant, but it wasn’t impossible even if they usually were slaves condemned to do the more grinding and dangerous job, since they were all condemned to die anyway.
Selie sighed and went ahead shaking her head as she disappeared behind that door with her parchment, it was that man’s turn.
“Then, what’s your name?”
Asked Rhea as politely as possible, the man smirked, then answered.
“Nobody.” He smiled at Rhea’s look of disbelief “That’s my name, Nobody, so my mother and father call me, and all my friends.”
Rhea sighed, yeah he was one of those annoying ones she was certain of it.
“I hope you are aware, sir, that being an adventurer brings certain renown. Receiving a nickname is an honor, but hiding one true name behind one is a shame.”
The man smiled and looked to the wooden ceiling before going back to her.
“Man is the vainest of all creatures that have theirs being upon earth. Or so they say where I am from, but I abandoned vanity long ago. I have no need for something so useless as a name; write whatever, it will do.”
A chill ran down her spine as the man stared right into her eyes chuckling, amused.
He was definitely a stark raving madman, so that was why even a demon-like Selie was afraid of what he could do.
No, a madman wouldn’t be so coherent with himself, so polished, it was something worse, something she didn’t dare to wrap up.
“For now I will leave the field empty, if that’s fine with you, sir.”
The man nodded, shrugging it off like it didn’t matter, she breathed out in relief and wrote the next thing over.
“Leave the whole personal information empty, I won’t answer anyway”
Rhea rose an eyebrow to those words, then she tried her best to sound professional, even if she began getting pissed at him.
“Sir, at the bare minimum you need to tell me what you think yourself being capable of, or there won’t be a point in registering at all. “
He caressed his long beard and then he smiled at her, before answering.
“Well, I believe it’s fair. I am a magician, or so I was told. I can use light and darkness. “
He surely didn’t have the build of a magician, he was more likely a front-line warrior, but it wasn’t her place to disprove him, there were tools for that that had the last word.
Having two elements wasn’t so uncommon for someone that came from a noble house, or so she thought considering his clothes.
The problem was the pairing he chose, he didn’t seem to lie but he demonstrated to be not sane, so he could be as well telling those elements to look cool since it was such an impossible combination.
“Ok, I’ll need you to place your hand on the magic meter, please.”
At her request the man puffed his cheeks, massaging the back of his head with his right hand.
“Is it fine if my measurements will break that magic meter?”
Rhea rose an eyebrow, now the glove was off, breaking a magic meter like that one meant you were at the level of a court mage, and nobody with such a vast pool of power at his disposal would be allowed to present himself at that counter.
“Listen, now, mister nobody. You don’t want me to know your name and age, I can understand, really some people don’t like fame as you claim.
You claim to possess a combination of elements so rare that it would be more likely to break a plank of this guild and strike a vein of gold, and I am to trust you because trust needs to be mutual here.
Now you claim to be able to crack this magic meter, yeah it would have been fine really, but now, now you’ve done it, sir.
I will bring out our strongest magical meter, should you not strike any reaction on this one bad boy you will be asked to leave our premises.”
She snapped her fingers and a couple of armed men approached the counter, there was a blond guy with green eyes and a deep claw mark on his cheek that donned heavy armor.
Along with him came a red-haired freckled girl with hazel eyes that donned armor made of woven green scales, she too had deep scars, old burns that long since had time to heal.
They were both armed, and both exerted a certain killing intent, it was enough that she shivered even if it wasn’t directed at her, they were both top rankers in the guild, each leading a party.
The man smiled, unfazed in a pressure that would have made even the greatest of warriors shiver, those two along with their parties had felled a dragon after all.
She sighed and put away the average magical meter, donned a pair of black gloves and took out an old chest, and placed it on the counter.
She proceeded to open the chest, the top came off and the four walls opened outward revealing an old magical circle carved upon them, an incomplete one since it missed four parts that were carved on the chest cover and needed to be assembled.
In the middle, there was a carved stand, held up by three carved clawed hands that held a final clawed hand that held another metal carved circle into with a black sphere was embedded.
She assembled the missing magical circle and a light hum came from the item, as the air distorted slightly around it, it was absorbing the magical particles from the air around it.
“Oh? Is a magic meter supposed to do that?” mused the man
“Yeah, a magic meter absorbs magic to work, this one has a drain so strong that the magic particles in the air are attracted to it. It won’t kill somebody able to break an average magic meter, of course, but that won't be a problem right?”
Rhea showed a winning smile, but the man simply smiled and placed his left hand on the device, and the hum ceased.
An average person would’ve fainted, yet the man simply stood here unfazed as the item activated.
If somebody had told her such a scene she would’ve believed that they were drunk or joking, that device was designed to measure the amount of magic owned by people that could level kingdoms with a spell, and the man was activating it like nothing.
The last people that activated such a device were Limner, in his prime, and Talis, both mages put at the direct command of the king.
She fell to her knees as her stomach cramped as she saw the magic circle that surrounded the metal that held the black sphere lit as the light traveled on the claw and lit the second circle, then down again to lit the outer circle of the item.
The tree circles lighting meant that one could very well be an arch-mage, it was that kind of scaled meter after all.
Sparks of light started discharging from the device as a fourth magical circle appeared, it wasn’t possible but the meter was behaving like a normal one.
One circle meant one was able to cast advanced magic, it was already an impressive feat, two meant being able to do so with ease.
Three magic circles meant that one had enough mana to activate an artifact that provided the whole town with a magical shield.
It was the basic requirement to become a crown mage and live in the castle with the king, but a fourth circle appearing meant that the man had the power to spare.
Each magic circle scaled ten times the magical capability of one person, so a fourth appearing meant that that thing in front of her had a thousand times more magic than the average mage of the kingdom.
The light discharges intensified as the shining sphere started pulsating, cracks appearing on its surface as a fifth circle manifested, the whole item started becoming red hot, flames spouting where metal met wood.
The man simply smiled, in the shining light his dark eyes had become a deep shade of green, a sixth circle appeared before the item broke apart, the metal melted and the glass sphere shattered at the same time.
Like he knew what was about to happen, the man brought both hands to cover his ears as a loud roar echoed, and a sudden gust of wind shook the room.
It was an effect of the power accumulated by the item, released without control for a moment.
It was a seldom occurrence when a magic meter shattered, but the scale of the event was of course proportional to the amount of magic it couldn’t hold.
A small meter offered a pop at best, a medium one was about as loud as a fireball spell exploding, this one was about as loud as a dragon’s roar.
Items fell on the ground pushed by the wind, widows creaked, but shattered glasses and dishes were less troubling than what she felt.
One could feel the magic power that the item released for a brief moment, and she felt that one already twice in her life in the last weeks too.
It was the same power she felt threatening the town, a dark power swirling with a promise of destruction lurking within it.
“... hero…” she muttered in disbelief, her ears still ringing as the man lowered his hands and heard her, sighed, unwrapping the bandage on his right hand revealing the mark on his right hand.
A dark mark with shades of deep crimson, a cloaked figure holding a scythe above its head as it was about to strike.
“That’s the other reason I won’t need a name, you already have your idea on how to call me don’t you?”
A female knight in full armor rushed inside the adventurer’s guild, it was a rare sight to see a knight get inside, much less a female one, since all of them were under the banner of princess Sinalta.
“Thirteen, what have you done? We had an agreement!”
She was quite irritated, it was common sense for the hero to be employed directly by the kingdom, what was this one doing at the adventurer’s guild? Why did he choose to show up to get a license with a demon?