The Adventurer's Guild

We entered the Adventurer's Guild. It was relatively empty other than a handful of rather generic looking adventurers standing around a large wooden job board with various papers hanging from it. Across from the entrance was a reception counter. Someone, who I would assume is the receptionist, stood at the counter. We walked up to it.

"Hello, welcome to the Stercusville Adventurer's Guild. I don't think I've ever seen you two around here. Are you new to town?"

The person speaking was a young lady probably only a year or two older than Erika. She had shorter brown wavy hair that went just above her shoulders. It was tied back by a green ribbon, which matched her green and brown dirndl style dress that came up to knee height.

"Yes, I'm Arno ‘Osseus’ and this is my apprentice Erika Magier. We were hoping we could get orientated with your guild."

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Arno and Erika. My name is Brandy Receptionniste. I'm the guilds receptionist. If you two would like to join, there's just some paperwork you'll have to sign and a membership fee."

"We're actually little short on funds at the moment, but would it be possible to just get an overview of the guild for now?"

She nodded.

"I suppose that would be alright. So, this branch of the adventurer's guild has been run by my family for at least six generations. We get various quests from all over the continent, which are over on that board over there. When a member completes a quest, they can collect the reward from me. Do either of you have any questions that I might be able to answer?"

"So, I get like these quest thingies are basically just job listings, but Mr. Arno said these would help me in becoming a sorceress. I don't understand how doing work is going to teach me magic?"

Brandy gave her a kind smile.

"Well, I'm guessing his idea for these quests is to use them as an opportunity for you to use what you learn in real life situations. Is that correct, Arno?"

"Yes, exactly. You aren't necessarily going to learn how to use magic from a quest, but rather a quest will give you the opportunity to actually put to use what I teach you."

"I guess that makes sense. What exactly do these quests entail?" Erika asked.

Brandy pointed our attention over to the quest board against the wall.

"A quest can essentially entail anything. It can range from something simple like gathering ingredients or finding a lost item to something more difficult like killing monsters or even mercenary work. All quests have a difficulty rating, which ranges from beginner to master."

"How do I know what level I should choose?" Erika asked.

Brandy pulled two objects out from under the desk.

"Could you both put your hands on here for a moment."

On the table were two stone tablets with glowing jewels encrusted in them. We both placed our hands on them.

"Alright, you can take them off."

Brandy pulled out a couple of pieces of parchment and placed them on top of the tablets. After a few moments it seemed as if the tablet inscribed something onto the paper.

She picked up Erika's paper first.

"Looks like overall, you're at a beginner level all your stats are rel-."

She picked up the paper as if she had to take a double take.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone with a maxed out luck stat. I didn't even know that was possible."

She placed the paper down so we could see it. There were five categories with a level next to them:

Physical: 0.5

Stealth: 0.5

Magic: 0.2

Intelligence: 0.1

Luck: 10

"What does that mean exactly?" Erika said.

"Of the five categories that determine an adventurer's skill level, luck is the only one that is set from birth. The other ones can be increased through experience, while luck is just something you have or you don't. This scale goes from 0-10, 10 being the highest possible. I've never seen anyone get higher than a 7."

I didn't expect her to have that kind of ability, but it made sense now. Back in the labyrinth, when we were playing our high stakes game against Captain Chainbeard and First Mate Hugo, it did seem like she had an unusual knack at luck based outcomes.

With this new knowledge about Erika, an idea popped into my head on how I could use this skill of hers to make us some easy money. I might just have to stretch the truth a little bit to get her on board.

Brady pulled out my stat sheet next. She looked it over for a moment then suddenly shot me a suspicious gaze.

"I've been trying to avoid asking you this, but why is your face covered by a paper bag?"

I knew it was only a matter of time until someone asked me that.

Erika suddenly spoke.

"That because he's a sk-"

I quickly cut Erika off before she said something she shouldn't.

"That's because my face has horrific scars that I have to keep concealed... I actually lost the mask I usually wear last night, so I had to make this makeshift one."

She still seemed suspicious.

"I guess that makes sense, but for someone who is supposed to be mentoring this girl in magic, your magic stat is no higher than her's."

My stats were as follows:

Physical: 5

Stealth: 4

Magic: 0.2

Intelligence: 9

Luck: 2

This was definitely a mistake on my part. I didn't realize she was reading our skill levels. Since I'm Erika's thrall, our magic magic stats are linked to one another. This Brandy girl definitely knows something is up.

"Mr. Arno might not seem like it, but he's been a great teacher to me so far. He used to be one of the best sorcerers ever, but he had to stop for a while because some stuff happened. He's just a little rusty."

To my surprise Erika actually thought of a half decent explanation.

Brandy suddenly took Erika off to the side. She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. Her eyes were like jade colored daggers of god casting judgment down on me. Her and Erika whispered to each other. I was able to just make out their conversation.

"Listen Erika, I think this guy's up to no good. I find it a little odd that a man who refuses to show his face is claiming to be some great sorcerer, despite his stats saying otherwise. Not to mention, it's a little weird that he's agreeing to mentor a sweet innocent girl like yourself for absolutely nothing in return."

"Mr. Arno's not a bad guy. You just have to get to know him." Erika responded.

"That may or may not be true, but just be aware of him. If you ever are in any sort of trouble come see me. I promise I'll help you."

Brandy is definitely a very sharp girl. I need to make sure I'm cautious around her in the future. She was definitely suspicious of me.

I decided to quickly end this conversation before she started to pry more into our backgrounds.

"Nice to meeting you. Once we get that money we'll be back to pay that membership fee."

"Yes, definitely. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around... And Erika, don't forget what I told you."

As we proceeded to leave, Brandy continued shooting me dirty looks all the way until we exited.

"Wow, she was really nice. That's the first human I think I've spoken to since my grandfather. I think she and I are going to be great friends." Erika excitedly said.

I just nodded. Personally I would prefer if we kept interaction with that girl to a minimum. The last thing I needed was to be run out of town because it's discovered that I'm undead.