Epilogue

The guildhall of this towns Guild Association smelled like paper, rotting wood, and old fryer grease that should have been changed weeks ago.

Mira paused just inside the doorway, fingers tightening around the metal staff in her hand, its black magic crystal sucking in the light around it. She adjusted the strap of her satchel, took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and made her way inside at last. It took her nearly three weeks to make her way here, after all, so she couldn’t chicken out now.

The place was busier than she had expected, but that was normal for guildhalls of this size. Conversations overlapped, boots scuffed across stone, contracts were slapped onto tables with varying degrees of confidence. Someone was laughing too loudly near the request board. Someone else was arguing with a receptionist about proof of rank.

Mira waited about thirty minutes until she could see that no one was left talking to the receptionist before she approached the counter.

“Hello, may I help you?” The receptionist asked without looking up from her paperwork.

“Hi,” Mira said, her voice coming out steadier than she felt. “I’m here to register for a rank.”

That got her attention. The woman looked up, eyes flicking briefly to Mira’s face, then to the staff, then back again.

“Name?”

“Mira Lefèvre.”

The quill paused over the registration form. “Haven't heard that last name before. Are you from the area?”

“Yes.”

“Right...” The quill scratched. “Age?”

“Twenty.”

“Class?”

Mira hesitated.

“Mage?” The receptionist asked to move things along.

"Uh... yeah. Sorry." Mira blurted out.

“Affiliation?”

Mira shook her head. “None.”

“Previous party?”

“Nope.” Mira smiled faintly. “I was told this was where people start out.”

“That seems to be the common consensus.” She slid a thin metal plate across the counter. “Sign here, please. This will be sent to headquarters' storage and may be used for verification if we ever revoke your rank or promote you to another one.”

Mira signed it with some hesitation, then slid it back to her once she finished. This was a huge step in her life.

The receptionist took it with a warm smile and grabbed out a bronze medallion from a drawer. "Awesome, thank you. Mira, I hereby present you with the rank of bronze. Also, may I ask what level you are?"

That seemed to catch Mira a little off guard. "Uh, sure? Why do you need to know that?"

"Well you see, all adventurers start at bronze, but if you are anywhere over level 99, you are able to jump to silver after completing five missions."

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," Mira replied. "[Inventory]."

After a few clicks in her screen menus, she brought up her private display that was perfect for registering at guilds and the Guild Association alike. Thanks for that lesson, Mr. Holm.

"Here, and I have a certificate from a mage institute if you need proof of my mage abilities." Mira added.

==========

Mira Lefèvre

(No Guild Associated)

Level 167 Human (Mage)

CON: ?

STR: ?

DEX: ?

WIS: ?

MP: ?

==========

The receptionist examined for a moment and smiled. "One hundred and sixty seven is quite high for new adventurers. Congrats, that puts you nearly to gold rank territory based on levels alone, but there are some requirements before you are promoted past silver. I'd recommend you work on those five missions quickly so you can get paid even more and join harder missions, that way you can find yourself getting Gold rank in maybe a few months at most."

Mira nodded along, absorbing the information even as her stomach fluttered. Gold rank territory sounded impressive when someone else said it out loud. All that training and schooling sure paid off.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll do my best.”

Mira paused a moment before asking another question. "Miss, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, what would you like to know?" The receptionist replied.

"How do I find a party to adventure with?" Mira asked in a hushed tone.

She laughed a little. "Oh, that's not so hard. Ask around the guild regulars if they need new people, they always are trying to expand. Or you could see if there are any listings for openings on the board right over there. It’s not common for the big guilds to accept bronze ranks, so you typically need to work for private ‘guilds’, which happens to just be a small group of people at best."

“Thank you,” Mira said again, a little quieter this time.

The receptionist gave her an encouraging smile before turning back to her paperwork, sighing at the mountain of requests she needed to approve or deny.

Mira stepped away from the counter and stood in place, just looking around for anyone that resembled a non-full party. The noise of the guildhall rushed back in now that she wasn’t focused on paperwork or her level.

"Ask around," she reminded herself.

That was the hard part. It was scary cold-approaching people and asking to join their party.

She scanned the room and picked a table at random, a trio poring over a stack of requests spread between them. One of them had a shield resting against the bench, another was cleaning dirt from under their nails with a knife.

Mira approached quietly.

“Excuse me,” she said, pitching her voice just loud enough to be heard. “Are you guys looking for a mage?”

The three of them looked up in unison, snapped out of their trance. They all could see the bronze medallion hanging from her neck.

The woman nearest her smiled first, polite and practiced. “Oh! Um, sorry, we actually just filled our last slot the other day, they just haven't made it to town yet.”

“I understand,” Mira said immediately. “Thank you for your time.”

They looked relieved as she stepped back, already turning to talk amongst themselves about that close call.

She tried again. This time it was a squad of four, a mix of silver and gold, even one platinum.

“Do you already have a mage?” Mira asked from behind them.

One of them winced sympathetically after glancing at her tag. “We do, actually. She’s… in the bathroom at the moment. Stomach problems, you know?"

Mira nodded. “Of course, sorry to bother you."

That was disheartening. 0 for 2. It took a lot of courage to do this and she was rejected twice now.

Mira stepped away before the group could say anything else and folded her hands around the shaft of her staff, grounding herself. She retreated toward one of the pillars and leaned her back against it, letting herself breathe for a few moments. Her stomach twisted in a way no exam or sparring match ever had.

Mira backed away, fingers tightening briefly around the staff as she considered running out before she embarrassed herself any further. She wasn’t angry, just sad. Maybe this really was something she wasn't cut out for.

She turned, not really looking where she was going...

BAM!

She had walked straight into someone.

“Oh—! I’m so sorry!” Mira said, apologizing instinctually.

The girl she’d bumped into froze instantly, face flushing as red as a tomato. She clutched a sack to her chest like it might fly away.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Mira said quickly. “Are you okay?”

“Yes—! I mean, no—! I mean, I’m fine! Um... uh...” the girl blurted out, mortified.

Behind her approached a man who did not belong.

Something about his body, maybe it was his face, Mira couldn't tell, but he was not from around here. Was he a dragon pretending to be human?

“This place is wild,” he said. “Is it always this loud?”

The girl made a small, strangled noise and buried her face into the pack.

“Sorry,” she said to Mira, bowing a little too deeply. “He’s new around here.”

The man turned, eyes landing on her staff immediately. “Whoa, that’s so cool! Is that void-star metal made into a staff?”

The girl turned even redder. What was this idiot saying, didn't he know saying that would get looks from everyone around the hall?

Mira felt a few heads turn at the word void-star, curiosity circulating through the air. She instinctively shifted the staff closer to her side, angling it so the crystal was less visible.

“Um, I don't think so? It's just reinforced metal, I think." Mira croaked out.

The girl let out a tiny, horrified squeak and peeked out from behind her pack. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered again. “He doesn’t always think before he speaks.”

The man blinked, finally registering the attention they’d drawn. “Oh. Is that bad?” He looked genuinely puzzled, then brightened. “Wait, are you an adventurer?”

Mira nodded. “I just registered.”

“That’s awesome!” he said immediately. “So did I! They gave me this thing.” He held up his own medallion, turning it sideways to check whether it had a certain orientation or not.

Bronze.

The girl winced again. “We’re… trying to form a party,” she said quickly, words tumbling over each other. “But we’re having some difficulty. We'll be on our way now, miss. Sorry about everything."

The girl dragged the strange man by the arm and they made their way towards the door. They didn’t look back, and for a moment, Mira almost let them go.

Almost.

She hesitated, fingers tightening once around the staff, then she mustered the last of her courage before she lost this chance forever. “Wait, hold on a sec. Do you guys already have a mage?”