The Tale of how I Joined an Adventurers Guild

I found comfort upon waking in a soft comfortable bed, somehow Graxia must've convinced her dad to let me stay.

I sat up and stretched my arms out before setting them to my sides.

My left hand hit a familiar fleshy surface but to be sure I gave it a couple good squeezes. 

 " Hmm. Boobies. " It was then I had noticed Graxia was in my bed, and that fleshy surface? Her sweater puppies. "Wait. What!? How very cliché. Okay it's simple, I shall move my hand off of her love muffins. " My efforts were hopeless, my hand was no longer mine to control. 

Then the unimaginable happened. With a cute soft moan she rubbed her eyes and woke up.

Just be calm. Remember what "How to get any girl" said. "No matter what, act like what your doing is on purpose. The moment you show weakness is the moment you lose"

" Morning Graxia. Where I come from it's traditional to grope the person to your left once you wake up. " I spoke with such confidence I almost convinced myself. Yet such bull was surely unbelievable.

Her face didn't seem distressed which could only mean she believed me " Oh? You come from a weird world... " Noticing my hand still hadn't moved Graxia sat up with a serious case of bed head. " So how long does this normally take? " she was obviously not completely there her constant yawning was proof enough of that.

 " Uh. Just a little long... " My hand loosened as I regained control. " There all done. "

Apparently Volx's deal with Graxia didn't include food, and neither of us had any guld to spend so I was now being dragged to a guild with a empty stomach.

 " Does being an adventurer pay well? " I asked in hopes of never having to stave like this again.

 " From what I hear it's incredibly lucrative! " Somehow Graxia appeared to be at full energy in spite of the fact that she hasn't ate either.

After some time we arrived at a huge building which looked similar to an oversized tavern, it was made of a combination of a strong cobblestone foundation with dark finished wood walls. On the wall I was facing laid a great banner of a sword stabbing into pile of guld.

 " And we're here. The Swords of Fortune adventurers guild. " Graxia said in awe making it quite clear how excited she was, the fact that my arm was losing blood flow due to the force she put behind squeezing it also helped confirm my theory. 

The first floor was about as you'd expect, a beautiful chandelier hung from the ceiling lit with a vibrant red flame shining bright enough to illuminate the whole of the first floor, there were an abundance of dining tables, enough to comfortably fit around a hundred men, most of them seated groups of adventurers drinking and having an all around good time, a few bounty boards were peppered around littered in what I'd assume were quests, and of course there were the poor quest counters sitting in desks drowning in books full of lore and ledgers of almost every variety.

In the midst of taking in the sight I was approached by a cute Homo Bestia with perky rabbit features, such as a pair of floppy ears and a tuff of fluff as a tail. 

 " I don't think I've seen you before. " The Homo Bestia said staring at me with silver eyes, her words were filled with toxic enthusiasm. " Wait. High Priestess Graxia? Is he a hero? "

 " Uh-huh! " Graxia said pride oozing from every word. " Thanatos summoned him to me yesterday. Do you think we can register him today? "

 " Fine by me. I just have to check in with the guild master. Follow me. " The bunny girl hopped along to the second floor and I followed after.

The second floor was in complete contrast to the first. Almost nobody was up there, there were several elaborate wooden doors with heavy duty locks on them, the second level itself was also a lot darker then the first floor as well, I was almost expecting some kinda boring waiting room music, fortunately there was none. There was however another bounty board that stood out, the quests on it seemed old and the rewards were insane, I'd have to assume they were high ranked quests.

The bunny girl stopped and gestured me to take a seat on one of the many benches. " Before I talk to the guild master I have to know. Why are you dressed like an Edgelord? "

 " I was summoned like this! I didn't exactly have time for a wardrobe change! " 

For some reason I had a feeling my edgy attire would be a running gag in spite of the fact I had no say in it. 

She continued laughing but at least she pretended not to. " Easy Edgelord. I'm going. " The bunny girl went in one of the doors and left me and Graxia to wait.

Surely she didn't take that long but it definitely felt like it.

" Aren't you excited? Doesn't the idea that we're gonna be adventurers send your heart into a flutter? " Graxia was basically glowing in excitement.

Finally the bunny girl came out of the room with a guy donned in a beautiful set of plate armor with various elaborate details that were big enough to make the armor visually pleasing but small enough not to impose on it's function. His hair was a golden blonde and looked as though he spent hours styling it but his physique was prove that he wasn't a pushover. 

Basically he was the bane of my high school existence. 

 " That's him. The Edgelord. " The receptionist said casually.

 " How many times must I say?! It's not my fault! " I protested but soon Graxia joined in, laughing at me with the receptionist.

 " Sorry about Usagi, my name is Lux the leader of Swords of Fortune. " The guild master spoke in a commanding yet approachable tone.

 " I'm Tokuma Jiroki, former weeb. " 

 " And High Priestess Graxia needs no introduction. Usagi prepare an extra orb. " Usagi nodded affirmatively at Lux and darted off beyond my sight. " You two. Follow me. "

Lux led us through a maze of doors in a hallway, which he of course navigated through without any problems.

" This is the room. " Lux said as he gestured us into the room.

The large square window on the wall was the only source of light in the room, but it was enough to illuminate a small round table with a basketball sized crystal orb on display sitting atop it. 

 " The idea of the orb is to judge whether or not your ready to become an adventurer, also it's used to determine your mana levels and attribute. I'd give a demonstration, but I'm the son of a hero so I have enough power to break it. So since Tokuma is also a hero, High Priestess Graxia will go first. "

Up until now Graxia was basically bursting in enthusiasm, but now it looked like her legs turned to jelly.

Lux began to gently massage the back of Graxia's neck. " Don't be nervous nothing bad can happen. Besides if your unstable you'll mess up the reading. "

Graxia seemed to calm down. " Ooh that feelsh sho goood. " At the cost of her ability to speak properly.

Graxia placed her hand on the orb. Soon the room was enveloped by a blinding golden light, which persisted until she removed her hand.

" Wow. Impressive, no surprise from a High Priestess though. You look like a level eighty human, which is more powerful then most members of the guild. " After pampering Graxia Lux turned his attention to me. " Your turn. It's important to note that ranking a hero's power is a bit different. Every hero has enough power to break the orb so we use the scale of the fracture to judge how powerful you are. Now then, go on. "

I started to understand Graxia's nerves, he stared directly at me, his eyes were probably bone dry as he never did seem to blink, but unlike Graxia I didn't want pretty boy's hands anywhere near my neck.

I inched my hand over to the orb before placing my hand on it's surface.

For a while nothing happened.

 " Odd. That's never happened be... "

Interrupting Lux a small crack appeared on the orb.

" Hmm. That's unique. Your level is slightly lower than normal, I'd say a level eighteen hero or a level one-hundred eighty human. But that's not the unique part. " Lux's voice trailed off as he continued explaining the situation " The orb remained colorless, that tells me that you don't have an element. Who knows that could be a good thing, at least you don't have an elemental weakness. "

Usagi barged in interrupting the somewhat tense situation. " Got your ball. " She said hopping over to Lux. " Why so tense? Is he stronger then you? Are you jealous? "

Lux's charming character returned to normal. Though when talking to Usagi I did notice a news of sweat fall from his brow " No it's fine. "

Lux reached over to return the orb to it's display. " Wait Lux don't touch it! " Lux seemed to completely forget as he placed his hand on the orb." Oh great. "  

I couldn't home in on the color but the light radiating from the orb was enough to force me to cover my eyes in fear of being blinded (Again).

When the light faded cracks formed around the orb in Lux's hand. " Whoops sorry about that. " Lux rubbed his head completely oblivious, but it was obviously a powerplay.

Usagi groaned as she moped off to fetch another crystal orb.

" Let's forget that happened and get you guys your stat slates. We should go to my office I'd rather not task Usagi with yet another deed. "

I had no idea what a "Stat slate" was but Graxia seemed excited so I figured it couldn't be completely awful.

From what I'd seen so far Lux seemed like an organized gentleman. His office was the complete opposite. Ledgers and books towered up at least four feet off his beautiful mahogany desk. The room was still gorgeous though, and it was well lit with numerous candles with the same enchanting crimson flame as the chandelier.

" Sorry about the mess. Usagi was complaining about all of these books that got passed down to me when I became the guild master, so I've been going through them. Anyways. " Lux began to shuffle through his desk mumbling nonsense to himself. " Here. " He pulled from his desk a pair of dog tags for me and Graxia, like what you'd get in the military. " Your stat slates. Just put them around your neck, they will automatically update to your adventurer's I.D. Skills, spells, titles, and professions. "

The first thing I noticed upon putting on the dog tags was a brief stinging pain like being pricked by a needle. 

 " Oww. What was that? " I asked instinctively rubbing where the tag pricked me.

 " The slate's just getting a reading on your essentials, blood type, age, name, and so on. The idea has been around for awhile, but my dad is the one who implemented it into the stat slates. " Lux explained with nostalgia painted on his face.

 " Wait. Can we do a for real quest now!? " Graxia started to beam with excitement.

 " Yes, just don't take any low level quests, as the name implies those are for lower level adventurers. "

 " Lux! You said you'd get back to your office work as soon as you could! Well, you can start now! " Usagi shouted emphasizing on "work" in a way I didn't think a rabbit could. It was equally terrifying and impressive the way she made him squirm.

" Gotta go. Bye! " 

Usagi stood where Lux was as he quickly began reading through his books but it was obvious that he wasn't really reading anything " I've got the perfect quest for a new hero and high priestess. The easiest and quickest way for new adventurers to learn how to use their abilities is a quest. Good luck. " she said before handing us a bounty.

It didn't take long before we made a fair amount of distance from the town, or to put it in better perspective a kingdom would probably be more accurate. It spanned farther than my eyes could see it wouldn't have been hard to convince me that it never stopped.

Graxia groaned as though she was holding back a tidal wave of bile. " I feel sick. " She held her stomach as she lurched over. " I've never been this far from Lyrn before. "

I waited but alas I was forced to ask. " Lyrn? Is that the kingdom's name? "

Fortunately for me she gave a affirmative nod in place of a verbal response as her cheeks filled with puke.

" I've never seen such a strong case of home sickness. " I said genuinely impressed by the sheer amount of vomit she contained within.

Graxia started blowing chunks in the middle of a large plain of tall grass, it would've been a beautiful sight had Graxia not been painting modern art. But something stood out. I felt an odd power drawing me in. I blinked and when I opened my eyes I beheld a horrific castle. It was small as far as castles go, yet it's size did nothing to down scale it's intimidating aura. My chest was filled with both a peerless fear and a undeniable curiosity.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and the castle disappeared. I turned to see Graxia wiping the rest of her dinner from last night off of her mouth.

" You done?" I was unable to wrap my head around what I felt, but even so I couldn't deny how badly I wanted to to find that castle, I didn't even notice that I began walking in the direction the castle was, I couldn't tell you how I knew, only that I did. 

" Um. Tokuma aren't we supposed to be inspecting the horse corpses? "

I broke from my trance looking to Graxia I explained the castle.

" I think you saw the Demon Lord's castle. As for your urge to find it. That's probably because your a hero. This is a good thing. The castle is never in the same spot as when the previous demon lord inhabited it, to find it so soon must be divine intervention. "

" Well then. I guess we're assaulting a demon lord's castle. "