Moon World

Moon world, the name of Yulia's favorite tavern. Favorite meaning she knows the owner and aside from giving her discounts, he would oftentimes let her crash in the place when she's had too much to drink. 

The dark haired tiefling entered the boisterous establishment, out of her armor and into her blouse. She was greeted by a rowdy group of silver adventurers sitting at one of the tables, "Hey, Yulia! Come and drink with us!"

Had it been any other night she would have gladly joined their table and drank the night away. She politely rejects them. 

"Thanks, but not today. I'm waiting for someone."

Yulia's glance fell to the Moon world's stage where a bard was currently singing with her lute in hand. Shekinah, one of Elaria's most famous performers. A human who would sometimes be  mistaken for a halfling due to how short she is.

The family that she came from wasn't very well off. From a young age she wielded her talent for singing into a tool that would help her family get by from day to day. 

 Whenever there are bard competitions you could expect her to be always there. Sometimes she would win, sometimes she wouldn't but her constant presence along with her angelic voice made her name known all throughout the city.

Shekinah's bard ability lets her voice be heard throughout the entire tavern, not too loud but not too soft - just the perfect blend for the ears, providing musical ambiance for all the drinkers. 

♪ I know I felt like this before

But now I'm feeling it even more

Because it came from you

Then I open up and see

The person falling here is me

A different way to be ♪

Yulia and Shekinah's eyes met as the tiefling walked by, they gave each other a friendly nod.

Soon she arrived at the bar table, sitting and leaning. The tiefling greeted the Muscular dwarven barkeep with a familiar smile. 

"How's business, Dax?"

The Red haired dwarf answered. "Nothing's changed, same lively crowd every night. What can I get ya, the usual?"

"Not in the mood for ale. I'm planning on getting wasted with someone. Give me...Dragon's kiss. Whole bottle."

Dax raised his brow. He reached for the cupboard and soon laid an ominous red bottle on the bar table. 'Dragon's kiss whiskey', it says in the label with a dragon breathing fire on it.100 proof. 

The dwarf poured ice on her glass and filled it halfway with whiskey. 

Yulia gulped it one go, it's bitter and suave taste etched on her taste buds before going down. "Ahhh. Good shit!"

"Waiting for Aerielle?" Dax asked. 

"Yeah, about that, Aerielle and I are not together anymore." Yulia gave Dax an awkward smile.

It sounded like she's trying to skirt around the question but decided to be truthful to her friend in the end. 

"What!? Ya both didn't even last one month!"

"Things happened, you know." Yulia shrugged.

"What things!? Yer like a fucking grasshopper, jumping from one woman to the next! Yer 25, yer not getting any younger!" Dax scolded Yulia as he once again poured whiskey in her glass. 

She gets it that Dax is concerned about her but to Yulia, she's just living her life. Also, 25 isn't that old. She was about to argue with Dax when a pair of hands covered her eyes. 

"Guess who?"

Yulia grinned from ear to ear, "Only the most beautiful lady I know."

While Dax internally cringed at what he just heard, Yulia's new woman seemed to have been delighted by it. What's even worse is that he heard Yulia say the same thing to Aerielle.

"Myrene, this is my friend Dax. Dax, this is Myrene."

Dax looked at the Petite black haired woman. He forced a smile as they greeted each other. He doesn't have anything against Myrene, he just felt icky knowing that Yulia introduced a different woman to him just last month. 

"Dax, can I borrow your spare room upstairs?"

Yulia turned to Dax with an eager grin. 

"Ya can't, I know what yer up to. I just changed them bloody sheets earlier."

"Come on, Dax! I'll help you change it tomorrow, please?" The tiefling's expectant smile was unfading. She knew Dax wouldn't let her down.

Yulia was like a little sister to Dax. Garreth entrusted her to him after all. Garreth may be the one who trained her how to be a paladin, but it was Dax who taught her how to be an adventurer. Thus, he can't help but spoil her sometimes. 

"Fine, yer not just going to help me, yer going to change them sheets yer bloody self. Understood?" Dax slammed the guest room key on the table. 

"Thanks, Dax! You're the best as always!" Yulia grabbed the key along with the bottle of whiskey. She gave Myrene an impish smile and swayed her head to the side, beckoning her to follow.

Myrene without a doubt understood that it's going to be a wild night, Yulia being able to offer that is what drew her into the red skinned woman in the first place. She trailed close behind the tiefling as the two made their way upstairs. 

+++

A week of sword training and wantonly exploring each other's bodies passed by quickly for the couple.

Elaria's adventurer's guild would once again accept new and aspiring recruits, promising lucrative rewards like gold and fame.

Ellamir and Antani walked past the guild's huge gate into its gorgeous front garden filled with plants and small trees. 

In the middle of the garden is the statue of a horned bipedal dragon in a menacing pose. Bahamut. The Guild's chosen symbol.

Finally, into the Guild itself. A splendid three storey building. The pillars outside and inside along with its walls were painted creamy white. Its floors were made from pristine marbles. Once inside, the couple noticed the regal portraits hung above, portraits of the previous Guild masters. As expected of Elaria's guild, the races of the portraits varied. There were, however, no Dark elves.

Ellamir winced, her eyes stumbled upon the portrait of a Gnome.

At the end of the long hall lies the upbeat lizard woman receptionist, wearing a light blue shirt, a black vest and skirt - the guild attendant's official uniform.They were told to sign the form, sit at the guest chairs, the examiner will arrive and call for them shortly.

"Hey, Want to be the first dark elf to be included in those portraits?" With a smile on her face, Antani half teased her companion sitting right next to her.

"Not interested. If I did become a guild master, I would abuse my power to make you do all the paperworks. This place must have mountains of them."

"But if you do that then you won't be able to mess around with me." The amazon suggestively raised her eyebrows up and down.

"...You will do the paperworks in my office."

+++

Ellamir's patience was starting to wear thin. That is usually the case whenever she's with her amazon companion but this time it wasn't caused by Antani. An hour had already passed and no examiner came for them. She wondered what it was with lizard folks and their tendency to talk horseshit.

Right as she was about to stand up and give the receptionist an earful, a petite woman with black hair approached them.

"Apologies for the long wait. I am Myrene, your examiner for today."

+++

Inside the Examination room, Myrene was at her desk while Ellamir was on the red sofa, looking the least bit nervous.

Ever wondered why a guild would need something like an interview?

They were more like formalities than anything. Basic questions to ensure that the guild applicant is in her right mind. Soon, Myrene is going to be privy to what's inside of Ellamir's. Or maybe not 'what' but 'who'. 

Myrene began questioning Ellamir while holding her application form in her hand. 

"Let's say you're in a cave, a horde of goblins are after you and one of your party members gets their ankle sprained rendering them unable to walk. How would you respond?"

"Not going to happen. My partner isn't clumsy enough to sprain her ankle."

"What, partner!? No, Miss Ellamir. It's a hypothetical question."

"Hypothetically, I wouldn't party up with someone whose bane of existence would be a sprained ankle."

Myrene rubbed her temple. When Yulia asked for a favor about this dark elf needing some help with the interview she thought her lover was messing with her. Better to just continue the questions. 

"While exploring a dungeon, at the end of it you come across a single magical ring that might be worth a few hundred gold. How would you ensure that everyone in your party gets their fair share of the loot?"

"I would give it to Antani."

Myrene grumbled. Ellamir on the other hand couldn't understand why the examiner was making such a face. 

"Again, Miss Ellamir, it's only hypothetical. Let's say you're in a group of 5 and Antani is NOT in your party."

The dark elf gave an amused and patronizing giggle. 

"Hahaha! Me joining a party without Antani? I don't think so."

Myrene couldn't tell if it was her hangover or Ellamir that was making her head ache.

Yulia said that Ellamir's not going to pose any problems to any other adventurers except for her Amazon companion. Myrene found it to be painfully true. 

Myrene sighed, even she wasn't attached to Yulia's hip this much. 

After a few more questions, Myrene was amazed at how Ellamir never failed to mention Antani in all of them. Talk about dedication, or in Ellamir's case - obsession.

Myrene rolled her eyes, Ellamir should thank her lucky stars she met Yulia. If not then there was no way in hell she would pass this interview and move on to the next part.

"Thank you, Miss Ellamir. You passed, kindly inform Miss Antani to come inside."

Ellamir puffed up with pride, as if there was no other course for her but to pass.

Antani was by all means, normal. Offer her shoulder to her fallen party member, sell the loot so everyone would get their share, etc. The answers that Myrene was looking for.

Now it was time for the second and final part, combat.

+++

Battle is synonymous to being an adventurer. 

Tenurity breeds complacency. If you want to enter or advance a rank then you should be able to defeat someone from the rank that you're aspiring to get into. Even healers are not exempt from this rule. 

There are those who take advantage of this system by paying adventurers of higher ranks, only to find out that they got more than what they bargained for when they come face to face with the terrifying might of a hydra.

The couple followed Myrene as they headed towards the guild's recreation room.

A few adventurers were there idling time, some were gambling with cards, others were reading books, and there were those who simply conversed with one another.

Myrene's gaze shifted to the two adventurers wearing platinum necklaces playing some sort of board game with each other, "Perfect! Marionne, Telmano!"

The jacked centaur with a battle axe hoisted to his side questioned Myrene. "What, can't you see we're busy!?"

"You can finish your game later, I need both of your help."

"Ask Marionne here if he's willing to help, if he does then I will." 

Myrene turned to the wood elf wearing forest colored robes with a bow resting on his back. His expression denoted no care to her plea, still focused on the game board. 

"Hey, Marionne, help me out here."

Marionne spoke in Elvish, undecipherable to Myrene. "ᜀᜌᜏ᜴ ᜃᜓ︀"

"Damn it, Marionne! How many times have I told you not to respond to me in elven!"

The centaur chuckled while the wood elf's demeanor changed from nonchalance to a beaming smirk. "We're just messing with you, of course we'll help."

Myrene clicked her tongue, she faced Ellamir and Antani while pointing to the two platinum adventurers. 

"These two asshats will be your opponents, give them a good beating for me, won't you?"