Chapter 1:

Great Questing

An adventurer?

I looked at the damp ink again. It was a terrible forgery on top of being a blatant crime.

“Why-why would you?” I asked.

“Because going alone sounded boring.” Why did I even expect sound reasoning?

It was the last day of summer, and in the East, seasons change like a thunderclap. In a week's time, rain will come and the leaves will turn golden. Even in our small village, the end of summer was a grand celebration. But seeing him was not how I wanted to spend my holiday picnic on the hills near the forest. People refer to him as my friend only because we share an age and birthday. Generally speaking, I wish he would leave me be.

“You know how dangerous this is? Like, you know passing a seal line puts us in their territory, right?”

He placed his hand on his chest triumphantly.

"It's fine.”

I'm worried.

“I did all the preparation after all.”

Now I’m really worried. I looked at the paper again: An official application for adventuring. Here I was worrying about the random selection.

What else did I expect from the man who would fight off stray dogs as a ten-year-old? That was far from the wildest thing he did that week. After almost being mauled to death, he formed an alliance with them just to run into the forest to fight a bear that had recently eaten a farmer.

I didn't join him. Being ten, I didn't have many life goals, but dying from a bear attack wasn't on the list.

Well, it must have been a mighty battle, man and dog fighting together as one against the great evil in the forest. All while wielding his trusty branch, which he had found and shown me proudly earlier that morning. He came late to dinner that evening. The nuns scolded him for that. A question formed that I will forever ponder. Did he actually fight that bear? Wait, no, there is something more pressing here.

“I’m not doing this. I’m going to the guild to clear this up.”

“What?! All you do is nap and look at clouds. Hey listen, let's just try out one quest. I’m sure you'd love it.”

“Are you mad!?”

I threw the paper at his head. It fluttered and landed in front of him, before being blown away in the warm wind together with my comfortable life.

“I’m not about to be eaten by some unholy mass of gore that crawled out of hell! There’s no divine protection out there! Fallen Gods and ruined kingdoms prove as much under the ash that hell brought.”

He placed his hand under his jaw in a pondering motion.

“I think you’ll be fine.”

A brisk walk later, filled with further pitches and striking arguments for why I should become an adventurer, I found myself in front of the entrance of a building so over the top that only the church that loomed over my little orphanage could beat it. Talk about overkill, we're not even a big town. Coloured glass, golden rims, pillars, and to top it all off, statues of prominent names and heroes with their stories carved into the marble bases. You'd be hard-pressed to even find anyone who can read here, including the tool who made me come here. I marched in. It looked pretty empty. There was a woman sweeping the floor and a man taking the benches down from tables for the evening meal. Even here you could faintly hear the festival.

I walked to the front desk, saw a little bell, and rang it.

“Excuse me, can anyone help me?” A girl appeared. A beautiful girl, might I add.

“Oh? What seems to be the issue?” she asked.

“...” I clapped back, like the true smooth talker I am.

“My friend,” I said bitterly.

“Registered me as an adventurer without my knowledge or permission.”

“You do not wish to be an adventurer?” She cocked her head.

“No.”

“May I see the document?”

"Of course." Thank the Gods I went looking for it after I threw it. I handed her the paper determining my fate, and she leisurely scanned ‌it before giving me a quick side-eye.

“It's signed in your name.”

“I did not write that signature.” Like I said.

She nodded and opened a big leather book on the front desk. She flipped through the organiser until she landed on this week. After a moment, she smiled and tore the document in half.

“We require all volunteering to happen at our establishment. I see no appointments for anyone with your name.” I sighed with relief, feeling the tension leaving my body.

“Thank you for helping me.” She nodded.

“Well then, I’ll be going–” She held out a finger.

“It's a funny coincidence you’re here.”

It's not gonna be funny, is it?

She gave me another document. I warily grabbed it and looked down. My eyes settled on the first few words and I read.

Enlistment notice–

I immediately stopped reading and handed her back the document. As if she were actually just gonna take it and that was that. Her service act slipped for a second as she looked confused at the piece of paper before going back to her facade and ignoring my offer.

“By royal order and faith, you have been selected to join our guild.” I looked at her, and she smiled back at me, a smile so potent it bordered on being passive-aggressive.

“So what's expected of me now?”

She pointed towards a waiting area. “Show up tomorrow morning and take a seat. You'll then receive your first quest.”

“Do I at least get a sword or some training–”

“No.” Her act was getting worse.

“So I'm just expected to go out there.”

“We recommend forming a party with more experienced adventurers.” You don't say.

“What if I just don't show up?”

"You’ll be labelled a deserter. You know what that means?" Yeah.

"Death?"

“Death.” Her eyes were burning holes in my soul. I scoffed.

“Even a levied farmhand gets a spear. How is there no training or provisions?”

“Our adventurers get paid quite well for their services, and so will you.”

“Before or after?”

“After.”

“How convenient.”

"Of course. We also provide an independent merchant and priest to help you read your quests and count your spoils and rewards.”

“I can read and count myself, thank you very much.”

“Oh, you do? I must have assumed wrongly, since this information is listed on the document I gave you.” She's very quickly becoming less cute to me.

I nodded.

“It's all very exciting.”

"No, it's not! What is this?”

“Oh, pardon me, I assumed you were literate.”

“I am! So what, I’m conscripted?”

“Correct.”

“What, no. I can dispute this.”

“Of course, Goodman.” She grabbed a quill and parchment. Her business smile turned smug without, I hope, her realising.

“Please tell me your profession and home situation.” She blinked.

“I– I still live at the orphanage I grew up in–”

“Oh.” she put the quill back, having never even dipped it in ink.

“I fear your circumstances do not meet our standards for an appeal.” I’m gonna hit her with a brick.

“Now, if you’d excuse me, I have lunch–paperwork. Paperwork to finish. And a meeting in an hour. And there’s still lots of preparation for the evening feast.” Nice priorities. I looked at her one last time.

“Enjoy your meal,” I said, grinding my teeth.

She cocked her head to the other side.

“I will.” With that, she smiled, and I walked out.

“See? That wasn't that bad?” he said, having patiently waited outside.

I rubbed my eyes, feeling sapped of all my energy.

“I’m going to bed.”

“What about the festival?”

“You can enjoy that yourself.”

As we walked away from the building, I looked back at the statues. One stood taller and was even more detailed than the rest. And that would be One, The One. The one every idiot who picks up a sword aspires to be.

Legends proclaimed that it was he alone who held off the armies of hell long enough for the seals to be raised. After that, he culled all that hell had to offer so that mankind could once again live outside the seals. I’d say he got there about eighty percent. Nature has reclaimed most of the ash-torn lands. Some regions are safer than others. Here on the edge of the explored world, it's still pretty bad past the line. Of course, I didn't believe a word that was carved into the stone. But I guess it was inspiring?

I lay awake pondering this fantastic job opportunity. All this just to end up like my dad? Dead before thirty in service for a cause that switched him out like a dull saw blade. At least he was a knight. I can't even claim that honour. I turned in the bed that had become too small for me. I was an adult now, and this orphanage wasn't meant to care for me anymore. Eventually, the army would have come for me, or they would have kicked me out. It's already a wonder they let me stay so long. I pulled on the short blanket. Maybe he wasn't so stupid. At least he laid claim to his own fate.

One restless night later, I found myself with my friend in front of the guild house. It was a lot busier this morning, full of men in armour playing at knights. Some could not afford plate and wore leather or chain mail instead. Longswords, bows, crossbows, axes, stupidly large maces adorned the many men and women around us. Some were mages wearing traditional clothing. Some had staves, others wands. And we had nothing. With summer over, the hunting season would start. And any fool who thinks himself tough enough to endure hell and its creations will line up for miles in front of the guild house to go on quests for riches and glory.

Personally, I hope for a quick death. Maybe I’ll get crushed by a giant and that's that.

“Hey.” I looked at him.

“I hope you aren't mad at me. I just would have hated to see you be taken away by the army or become homeless like–”

“It's fine. I got conscripted anyway, and I guess this beats being meat for the war.”

When we entered, the guild was loud and cramped. Some people were arguing about their cuts, others about who first saw what quest. Can't imagine caring because one or both parties will die trying anyway. I forced my way through the crowd towards the waiting area. Confusion struck me the moment I got there. It was her, the girl from yesterday. But in hiking boots, a long skirt, a thick coat covered with pockets and pouches. The type of outfit that screams, Hey! I committed a crime and gotta skip town!

Somehow more disturbing was that the inhuman business smile was gone, replaced by a tired glare with dark circles under her pretty eyes.

“Did you get fired?” She turned to face me. Her expression matched the one I probably had yesterday. She stood up with all the excitement of an old man with knee problems.

“No,” she answered, not even bothering to look at me.

"Transferred, then?”

“No.”

“I see, I’m not gonna keep guessing.” She rolled her eyes.

“Turns out a lot of rookies have been dying on the frontier lately.” She looked at us as if we were personally responsible.

“So much so that the guild decided that some employees with experience in healing magic should help mitigate the casualties.”

“So what? You're joining us?”

“For the foreseeable future,” she said, subtly clenching her fists. I had to bite my cheek to not laugh at her.

“Oh really? Oh, how unfortunate–”

“That's great!” said the great equaliser of my formerly happy life.

She mumbled something in response and grabbed a scroll from one of her pouches.

With some flair, bordering on smugness, she opened it and showed the paper.