Chapter 3 - First steps

Alaric stared at the crowd cleaning the streets filled with blood somewhat listless. Carts filled to the top with bodies were carried out of the city every now and then. The metallic smell lingered in the air like a reminder of the sacrifice of the soldiers who gave up their lives in order to protect those that lived in the city.

The battle only lasted for about one hour, it was so short... so... depressing, it felt like the sacrifices were worthless... this minor battle managed to take the lives of no less than a hundred people, none of them were civilians, but even then, how much time does it take to train a soldier from a novice to that level? Dozens of years? Alaric didn't know, but he was pretty sure that the upper echelons of this place knew, the losses were pretty high.

Had he not been lucky enough to have that weird warrior to share the aggro during the beast tide, he might have died. Speaking of which...

Alaric looked to his left, the warrior was sitting on a barrel, sweeping his sword with a piece of cloth. Some maidens had already checked his wounds and patched him up. Without the helm, he could see that he was a middle-aged man, with wrinkles on his face, and a very short hairstyle, with the sides where the bangs should have been being mostly hairless, he was probably suffering from baldness.

Noticing his gaze, the warrior waved his wands and called him.

Alaric stood at his side, they watch the crowd going about their business, some of them crying the loss of a relative, others cursing the beasts that fucked up with their merch.

"Hey, you... you're the one who was on the beach, heh? That fucking idiot didn't even notice you. If you're not an ungrateful bastard, do remember to pay me up with some grog alright?"

"Sorry, you mean that you found me? Is that it?"

"Yup."

Alaric nodded in understanding. The world sure was small, to think that he would meet his savior and that he saved him not once but twice. Shaking his head, he smiled helplessly, if this wasn't karma he didn't know what was.

"The name is Alaric, it's my pleasure to meet you."

Seeing Alaric reaching out his hand, Ordric hesitated for a moment but still shook his hand. "Ordric of Astora, Elite Warrior of Aelfgar."

"Elite? Like the Elite Knight from before?"

Hearing the comparison, Ordric scoffed. "Humph! Not really, don't compare me with that silver spoon, knights are all nobles, most were born rivers of money flowing from their pocket. Tsk, so wasteful, that fucking bastard let two of our good brothers die in that fight, they have so much better gear, even enchanted swords, and shields, and he still took so much time to kill that Frenzied Bear, I could have killed him alone with all those treasures."

Just the thought of the Bear was enough to make Alaric shudder, he had seen some of this world's animals while playing the game, but he didn't expect to see something new... Maybe he could even see the original version of the Sanctuary Guardian... or just a non-chimeric version of it.

"Is this common?"

"What?" Ordric asked in confusion.

"The beast horde. Is this normal?"

"Yes, just another day. That being said, it came much earlier than we expected, usually, it only happens at the end of every trimester, this one came up fifteen days earlier for whatever reason. Could be because of a hellkite or one of those remaining dragons. Either that or someone is stirring shit up, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Knight Berenike's soldiers, the bastards have invaded and occupied some of our cities in the last two months."

Alaric nodded in understanding, turns out that this world is far more dangerous than one would expect, it's not just the wildlife or the gods that are a threat, humans still have to worry about other humans.

Shaking his head, he leaned on the house's wall and started pondering, he had no money, and no belongings in this world, if he wanted to have any achievements while in here, he had to think of his first step.

"Say, Ordric, is there any way to make quick money in this place?"

Ordric shook his head. "If you want to make money quickly, the only way would be to head out to Zena, and try pleasing one of the aristocratic families, those guys are sitting on piles of money and have nowhere to spend it."

Hearing this made Alaric think of Domhnall, one of the game's merchants and pretty much the only guy in the game trying to rip off you with his absurd prices.

"I don't even know where Zena is, nor do I have the resources to travel."

Ordric turned to look at Alaric and nodded.

"You should consider joining the city guard, or the mercenary guild, or the church's army of clerics. Given the way you fight, I don't even think you would survive out there. This way you can at least earn money while getting stronger."

"What about Vinhein?" Alaric asked a little hopeful.

"Vinhein? Well, if you're looking to die, sure, why not walk into the dragon's lair? You might as well cut your throat with this sword you stole, it will feel less painful."

Alaric raised an eyebrow at this sarcastic comment of Ordric. Why does it feel like he doesn't like magic?

"... Or, even better, since you're so desperate to find your grave, you can also consider that wretched kingdom of Izalith, crossing the great swamp sure is easier than finding Vinhein at least, if you're lucky, they might pity you and pretend to teach you Flame sorceries."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean what I mean, no human can touch flame sorceries unless they wish to die, I've never heard of someone learning this art anyway, they say you burst up in flames no matter what you try to cast, and it starts from the eyes, the edges lit up like two circles of flames and before you notice, only ashes remain."

Hearing this made Alaric shudder, what the hell? Why is it like that? Could it be that this is why flame sorceries don't exist in the game?

Alaric felt a little bit skeptical of this information, as an adept of the soulsborne theory, he believed that the world of Dark Souls, Demon Souls, and Bloodborne were one and the same, if humans were capable of using them before, why wouldn't they be able to do so now?

Shaking his head, Alaric massaged his temples as he felt a headache coming.

"Well, I can't really just train here... I will never be able to get strong enough by just waving a sword." Alaric shook his head with a sigh and patted Ordric's shoulder. "You saw that spell, if whoever cast that wanted us both dead, we wouldn't even be able to complain."

Ordric's face fell as he stared at the shrinking back of Alaric who walked down the road.

He knew very well just how much difference in offensive power there was between him and a sorcerer, but he was pretty sure they would die with a single wave of his blade if he had the opportunity to attack. It wasn't his style now and wouldn't be in the future.

Leaving Ordric behind, Alaric decided to try his luck with the mercenary guild. He wasn't willing to do something that would require him to waste countless years to build up his strength, he had the power of leveling up, after all! Or so he thought. Either way, he wasn't afraid of choosing the dangerous but more rewarding path, so long as his goal is achieved, everything else can be forgotten.

Walking down the road while following his memories, he soon came across the building of the mercenary guild, seeing the calm atmosphere here, he finally realized that he didn't see even a single mercenary during the short battle, could it be that they didn't have to participate?

Stepping inside, he was greeted by the sight of what seemed to be a bar, rows of tables and chairs were spread around, women carrying wooden plates walked around carrying food and beer and many tough-looking men sat down there, either talking with friends or savoring the rustic food.

"Hello there handsome, do you need any help?"

Before Alaric could even take in fully the sight, a woman with blood-red long hair approached him, her face was very beautiful and smooth, she had the bearings of a princess despite wearing some unknown kind of plate armor, he never came across something similar in any of the games. The armor was stitched to red pieces of cloth that covered some parts of her body, like the area of the armpits, the back of her knees, and around her neck. The piece around the neck was covered in fur however, it probably made the armor more comfortable to wear.

Alaric smiled at the beauty and touched his chin. "In fact, I do. I'm looking for ways to make money quickly and thought of this guild, can you help me get registered?"

"No problem! It's always good to see someone joining the ranks of our god, Kremmel!"

"Kremmel?" Alaric asked in confusion. He couldn't remember any god with this name.

"Yeah, Kremmel! Father of hard work, lord of struggle. He is the head of our guild, and a true ally for us humans!"

"You seem to like him very much..." Alaric said as he was dragged over to the counter and given a formulary surprisingly written in English for him to fill.

"Why wouldn't I? He is one of the few that dares to speak on our behalf, he was even expelled from Lordran because of that."

Alaric was surprised hearing that, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time it happened, the blacksmith god and the nameless king were good examples of that, although it seems that Kremmel get out of that place unscathed, compared to others he is pretty lucky.

After signing the formulary, he gave it back to the man at the counter who then gave him a necklace with a golden medal at the end.

"This is proof of your affiliation with the guild, the blank sockets on the edge of the metal can be filled with rank stars, right now, you're a 1-star mercenary, please, do not try to fake your rank, we have means to verify the authenticity of the medal and its original owner."

With but a single warning, the man ignored Alaric and the armored lady.

Patting his shoulder, she smiled and brought him to a bounty board.

"Missions are simple, people can make all types of requests to us, from gathering precious herbs to hunting down beasts or people, there are all kinds of jobs, even requests to concoct drugs or heal people who fell victim to Gravelord Nito's miasma appear often. I wouldn't recommend trying to deal with the latter though, most people who try end up in his graveyard."

"Cough... thanks for the warning."

The lady nodded with a smile. "By the way, I'm Gwyneth."

"Just Gwyneth?"

"Yup."

Alaric blinked his eyes but shrugged, perhaps not everyone had an 'of somewhere' in their names. "Alaric."

"Just Alaric?"

Looking at her smile, Alaric smirked and said. "Alaric of here and now."

Gwyneth laughed hearing this. With a nod, she smiled and patted his arm. "Fair enough, I deserved that. So, what are we going to accept, my hands are itchy to do something!"

"Well, we could-" Alaric was about to say something but stopped halfway. "What do you mean by 'we'?"

"The missions of course, what else would I mean?"

"You do realize we don't know each other, right?"

"But... we know our names already..."

Alaric was speechless, was this lady a scammer? Maybe someone who leads newbies to traps where they get killed and then looted?! Seeing her beautiful appearance and luxurious gear, he thought that it could be possible.

"Sorry, but I don't think this is appropriate." Not giving her time to answer, he swept the bounty board and found a mission that he thought was easy.

________________

Hunt down five common wild dogs and bring them back to Jerry the Butcher.

Rewards: 1 silver coin.

An additional reward of 5 silver coins for every red variant you manage to kill and bring back.

Location: Lake Gadwin, halfway up the road to Clearedge settlement

________________

"You're going to do that one?"

"Yes, how do I accept the request?"

Gwyneth sighed seeing how he didn't even let her see it and pointed to the counter. "He will mark it as yours and only you will be able to complete it."

"Thanks."

Having finished the procedures, he turned around and saw that Gwyneth sat down in a corner. Smirking at her acting, he turned around to leave. Just as he was about to reach the door, he heard someone whispering and paused his steps.

"Hehe, that bitch failed again."

"Fufu, even the newbies know not to trust that dumb woman."

"Yeah, I doubt she will ever be able to find someone to make a group with, only someone stupid would dare partner up with her."

"True. Do you still remember the other group? She had the guts to disobey her captain, and now he is dead."

"Humph! Let her rot in the corner alone, nobody will ever again team up with her."

Alaric suddenly felt guilty and turned to look at Gwyneth, her head was lowered as she looked at the table with lifeless eyes and her long hair had fallen over her shoulders.

Why does she look so lonely? Could it be that her situation is bad to this point? It couldn't that she was being ostracized, right?

Hesitating for a while as he heard everyone mocking her, he became furious and walked over.

"You."

Hearing someone calling her over, the lady lifted her head without hope, but seeing Alaric staring at her with a weird gaze, she felt like a ray of light had dawned upon her. "Alaric! You're back!"

Woah, she is even surprised that I came back... just what the hell did she do exactly? Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he coughed and said. "Come with me this time, I don't have a lot of experience, so a helping hand is very welcome..."

"You sure!?" Gwyneth stood up with her eyes shining full of hope, the movement was so sudden that her chair fell and everyone was startled and turned to look at the two of them.

Alaric however, frowned and said with displeasure. "Why are you making such a fuss over this? Just... let's get out of here before I change my mind."

With a shake of his head, he hurriedly left the guildhall to avoid attracting more gazes and possibly trouble, and Gwyneth followed closely behind with an innocent smile.

It was on this day that the legend of the dumbest newbie was born within the mercenary guild. A legend that would soon be replaced by something far more unbelievable.

Meanwhile, Alaric could only stare helplessly at Gwyneth who lead the way hopping full of excitement to her house as she had to take her weapons before they could leave. Why is she so excited? If he didn't know, he would think that she had won the lottery or found a pot of gold...

At least, he now had a way to begin his adventure in this world, the next goal should be to find a way to use his souls...