New learning

"So anyway Amehiko, why are you here?" Kayori questioned.

Yikes. I hadn't realized I needed a cover story yet. 

We were walking away from the cottage on a road that led away from it, into the bamboo forest.

"Oh, I just was exploring." I lied.

"Really? Where do you hail from originally?"

"A small village a hundred kilometers from here or so." 

"You grew up in a small village? That's something me and you both have in common then. I came from a small farming settlement out on the plains."

I need a backstory, but I can't do that without any information on this world. If I say something wrong now, it would give me away very easily.

"Anyways are you in a party?"

"A party? What's that?"

"You don't know? It's where adventurers form up into a group and travel together."

"Oh, I don't. I've just been going solo."

"Are you against joining a party then?" She probed.

"Not really, I just haven't talked to a lot of people yet."

"Well then, wanna join my party!?" She asked, eyes gleaming.

That was unexpected. I don't know if I should join her party, but I figure it's the only path I can take right now anyways. I just have to be careful and learn about this place before I make any major decisions.

"..."

"Sorry! I know I shouldn't have asked!" She said, obviously very flustered.

"I'll join your party."

"W-What?"

"I said I'll join your party."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, I've been getting pretty lonely out here." Which was not a lie in and of itself.

"Thank goodness! I would've been pretty embarrassed if you didn't want to."

"Are you sure it's a good idea though? We only just met and all."

"Oh it's fine, you seem like a good person and all and I really need some other people to travel with."

I smiled. "I look forward to working with you."

"The pleasure goes both ways."

After a couple hours of walking, the scenery changed. The bamboo grew less dense, and eventually opened up onto a valley. It had rich, green grass and a few trees were dotted across it. The road connected with another road perpendicular with it, going to the east and west respectively. 

"I think we should go to town to buy you some equipment." Kayori stated.

*Flashback*

"Are those tools and armor yours?" She questioned.

"No, I found them in the forest earlier."

"I can carry your armor in my bag if you'd like on the way down until we can get you a backpack."

"I don't have any money though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I ran out a little while ago." I lied for the millionth time today.

"I have some funds we can use to get you started."

"That's fine with me but are you sure?

"Yeah of course. Haven't you ever heard the phrase "We're only as strong as our weakest link"?

"I guess you're right. Thanks."

Weird. I guess they have phrases similar to back home over here.

*End flashback*

"To get to Vista we have to go keep going east."

"Vista? What's that?"

"It's a medium sized town I was heading to."

"Alright then. I have a question though."

"What's up Amehiko?"

"Why were you even in the forest anyways?"

"I was looking for a shortcut."

"I see. Did it end up being shorter then the original length?"

"Nope. Would've been a big waste of time had I not met you. It must be fate." She said, and smiled.

"Maybe." I responded. 

"I wonder if we can get to Vista before sundown. It might be wise to stop and look for a safe place we can spend the night." Kayori said.

"Whatever you say. What constitutes as a safe place though?"

"Ha. Anywhere safe from the monsters."

"The monsters?"

"Don't you know, Amehiko? At night monsters come out, specifically Vargrs and Manchers, and maybe the occasional demon."

"What are Vargrs and Manchers?"

"You really are clueless. Its hard to describe Vargrs, but they're kind of like wolves. And Manchers are like a moving tree."

That monster I encountered last night must have been a Mancher. I still don't want to think about how I killed it.

"I see, thanks."

"Of course. By the way, let's start looking for shelter. It's going to be impossible to get to Vista at this rate."

"Understood. What about that tree over there?"

Looking ahead on the path, there was a tall, large pine tree with big branches and no leaves.

"You have a good eye, Amehiko. We can climb the branches and spend the night above the monsters."

Continuing on the path towards the tree, there was a small stone bridge that went over a brook. We refilled a canteen Kayori had and continued walking to the tree. By the time we got there, it was nearly sundown.

"Looks like we made it. You afraid of heights?

"Nope, not at all. Let's go."

Kayori jumped, grabbed the branch, and swung around branch to branch all the way to the top. It looked like she was a circus performer or something, but it was extremely impressive and graceful. I, on the other hand, had to pick myself up, branch to branch, in a fashion not nearly as graceful or impressive as Kayori.

"This should be high enough. We have a pretty good view." She said.

I looked around, and she was right. The sun was setting, mixing all kinds of reds and blues across the sky. The mountains on both sides of the valley rose gracefully, coating their white peaks with a pink hue.

We sat on the branches and watched the sunset in near silence, admiring it's beauty.

"That was great, wasn't it?"

"It was." I agreed wholeheartedly.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep. Wake me if you need anything."

"Alright."

I sat there in silence for the next half hour, thinking about my family. I wondered how they were doing. A couple years ago, our family dog died. My sister got hit heavy by the loss, and cried and mourned for what felt like weeks. For their sake, I hoped they would get over my loss quickly. I didn't want to burden them with my death, I cared about them too mu-

*AWWOOOOOOO*

My mind went clear. 

*AWWWWWWWWOOOOOO*

That came from the opposite side this time. I began searching that way, but I still wasn't able to see anything at all. 

I then looked down and could not have been more horrified.

At the base of the tree, there were multiple wolves, or atleast that's what they resembled. They were all black, and freakishly huge. They must have been my height at least, with proportionate sizing for the rest of their body. One looked up the tree, and I saw it's face. It had 4 eyes, shining a fluorescent blue. It began scratching at the tree, making loud noise while doing so. 

Out through the forest, one larger then the rest appeared. It must have been 3 meters or more. This wolf was probably the leader.

"Hey Kayori, wake up." I said and shook her shoulder."

"W-what?" She replied, groggily.

"There's a pack of wolves at the base of the tree."

"It's probably some Vargrs. They can't get up here, so it's fine."

So these are the Vargrs she told me about. They really do look like wolves. Based on her indifference to them, they're probably not a threat unless we're down there with them.

"I'm going back to bed. You should try to do the same." 

"Alright." I responded.

I settled my back onto the tree's trunk and occasionally glanced down at the Vargrs. After some time, I fell asleep.

We were back on the road. After waking up, we refilled our waters, ate a quick snack, and here we are.

"I think we can make Vista before midday."

"It's that close?" I replied.

"Yeah, it's not far at all."

Fast forward a couple hours and we reached the crest of a hill. Looking over it, there was a town with large stone walls surrounding it. In the center, there was a large castle.

"Well, we finally made it."

We were walking through the mainstreet of the town. Shops lined the sides, their signs bold and colorful.

"First, let's buy you a backpack, and after, let's stop by the adventurer's guild."

"Adventurer's guild? What's that?"

"Sheesh. It's like a hub for adventurer's, and they offer quests with rewards. We'll do some quests to get some money."

We went through many shops, looking at all sorts of items. She bought a backpack and a small hunting knife while I was distracted from gazing around at everything.

We then made it to the guild.

Walking in, there was a large common area that was two stories tall. To the right of the room, there was a receptionist at a counter. To the left, there was a bar.

Kayori turned right and walked up to a friendly looking guild receptionist.

"Hello there! Welcome to the Vista guild. My name is Frederica. What can I help you with today?

"Me and my party are applying for our adventurer's license."

"I see! Do you have any prior experience at another guild?"

Kayori looks at me. I shake my head.

"Nope, both of us are first timers."

"Sounds good. You will both start out as Starter rank then. The ranks are organized as the following ascending. Starter, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Noble, King, and Global rank. To move up, you would take higher difficulty quests, and take 3 of them to move up. You get the quest reward upon completion. I have some waivers for you to sign to confirm your entry into the guild."

She hands me and Kayori a waiver.

I look down, skim it, shrug, and sign my name at the bottom. I then hand it to her.

"Here you go, Frederica. I signed it and everything."

Frederica glances down and nods. "The guild welcomes you." 

Kayori finishes and she does the same.

She pulls out two cards, and pulls out her wand.

"Picturo!" She waves her wand.

I felt like I had been blinded by a photographer's flash.

Yikes, what was that? Magic?

Ha. If only that existed, am I right?

She smiles, and hands us some cards.

I look down at the card. It reads the signature I signed on the paper: Mugi Amehiko, Class: Starter. On the right side of the card it has my picture, with me looking very surprised at me being illuminated.

"Are these identification cards?" I asked.

"You are correct! It is mandatory for everyone in the guild to have them. It helps us confirm your identity, and it acts as a license for guild work. It also lets you know what jobs you can and can't take.

"What quests do you have that we can take? We're in need of some cash." Kayori questions.

Frederica bends over to a drawer in her desk and pulls out some papers. "Well, we currently have 3 starter quests. Convenient, right? You can choose between catching a lost dog, killing slimes, and housekeeping at an elderly's house."

How boring.

"We'll take finding the lost dog to start, then."

"Great!" Frederica hands us the paper.

I then find myself in the middle of a park with Kayori.

"Jeez. We've been looking for this thing for a couple hours. Do you think it died?"

"I don't think so. After all, we are inside the city's perimeter. Nothing would have killed it."

"I guess you're right. I just don't know if we're ever going to find this thing-"

*WOOF*

That sounded like a dog. Me and her glance at eachother and nod, and take off towards the direction of the noise.

After running down the street for a little bit, we finally see the dog. It looked just like a beagle.

Kayori races over and kneels in front of the dog. She sticks out her hand, palm back towards herself. The dog sniffs it, and goes closer to be pet.

"That was easier then I thought. I guess we are only Starter rank though." She said and smiled.

Back at the guild, we give the dog and paper back to Frederica.

"Your licenses, please."

Me and Kayori hand her our licenses. She then puts a small sticker of a cat on both of our cards.

"What are these for?" I asked.

"It's how we keep track of your upgrades in rank!" Frederica replied.

"That seems sort of childish." I replied.

"Hey, don't be mean about it! It's cute and how we do it here." Frederica replied and pouted.

I blush. "Sorry! I didn't mean it like that. I just thought that for a bunch of tough guys it was weird to use cute stickers on their licenses."

"Well, those stickers are their pride and joy. When you can't move up anymore, every sticker you get is extremely well received. Due to most people's max skill level, it's very rare to see anyone past intermediate, and even rarer to see people past advanced. There's only about a dozen Noble rank in the world, maybe a handful of King rank, and no one has been Global rank in years."

"I see. Thanks for teaching me, Frederica."

She blushes and looks down. "O-Of course! I'll do Anything I can to help someone in the guild!"

She regained her composer, and knelt below her desk again.

She then stands up, and hands us some coins.

"Here you go! 3 bronze coins!"

"Well, that's kind of the amount I was expecting." Kayori sighed.

"How much is that worth?" I asked.

"You don't know?" She replied with a question.

"My village was small, and we didn't use any money. We all worked together." Lies once again.

"Well, I have 12 silver coins and 60 bronze coins right now. Every 10 bronze coins is worth one silver coin, every 10 silver coin is worth one gold coin, and every 10 gold coins are worth one diamond coin. For about 3 bronze coins, you can get a room at an inn for the night."

Frederica interjects- "That may be true, but when your rank increases, your money payout will increase, along with the danger of course."

"So we just need to get to a higher rank to earn more money." I said.

"Precisely." Said Frederica.

"Thank you for everything, Frederica. Come on Amehiko, let's go find some board."

We exit the building, and start walking towards an inn we saw earlier in the day.

We walk in to a pub scene. There are people around at tables, drinking. Some are playing cards. We survey the scene and walk to the bar's counter at the other side of the room.

"Hey there, can we get a room for the night?" Kayori asks the bartender.

"Sure thing! One or two beds?"

Kayori turns around and looks at me. 

"I'll sleep on the floor." I said to her. I'll respect her space.

She turns back around and replies "Two beds."

I look at her and give her a look of gratitude.

"Sounds good! That will be two bronze coins."

Kayori nods, reaches into a pocket in her dress I had no idea existed, and pulls out 3 bronze coins.

She hands them to the guy. "Can we also get a serving of dinner for each of us?"

"Of course. Beef or chicken?"

"Two beef."

"Very good. It will be out shortly for you. In the meantime, here is your key. Second floor, first one on the right." He hands her the key, and retreats to take our order to the kitchen.

"Well then, let's go check out our room, Amehiko."