I ran. My whole life has been a struggle to survive, and that has become all I know how to do. Ty is now gone and thanks to Tenara I will survive another day. I fled the industrial district and crossed into the Northeast residential area as the sun was rising. I set up across the way from the adventurer’s guild building and looked for Cassian. I had met him once before; he came by when we were training with Tenara. They used to work together as a party, but it did not seem like that got along well.
A few hours passed and most of the traffic at the guild had left, Cassian slowly walked up to the guild. “Cassian”
He turned and looked at me. “What do you want”. He was a large man wearing brigandine armor on his chest that left his arms bare.
“I was told you could help me become an adventurer.”
“You were told wrong. Go home boy.”
“I have no home. I was sent by Tenara. I either become an adventurer or I die.”
Cassian sighed and mumbled to himself “I owed Tenara a favor and this is how he used it.” Cassian turned to me speaking directly now “I have no time for the weak. I see you already have a sword. Let’s pick a job and get it done so I can be off with you.” With that he turned and went inside the Adventurers guild.
The inside had several booths with only one of them being manned. There was a bulletin board on the left where Cassian now stood. “I don’t much like crowds so I come later in the day. We will take a simple goblin hunt. If you can’t kill a goblin then you have no business being here. Do you have a soul collector?”
“No, what is that? I have worked with Tenara, but I have not yet worked for the guild directly.”
“Go talk with the receptionist. They will help you get registered as well as set you up with the necessary tools.”
As I approached the counter the lady behind it greeted me. “Hello, how can I help you today?”
“I need to get registered and I want to take this goblin hunt job.”
“Do you have a guarantor or will you be taking the aptitude test?” (Receptionist)
“I will guarantee him for now. If he is useless, I will return your investment.” (Cassian)
“Great, I will just need a drop of blood to create your guild ID and here is your soul collector. Once you pay off the cost of the soul collector, you will no longer need to have a guarantor.” She then pricked my finger with a knife and took a drop of blood on the card she provided. With a flash the card now contained my name and completed quests and basic information. “With this card you can take on jobs and access a guild bank if you desire. The Soul Collector will collect the corrupted soul fragments from any of the monsters that you kill. We will then pay you for the fragments. Jobs are on the bulletin board. Some are commission where the poster is looking for specific hunts. At the bottom are the general clearing jobs. You can think of this as information on where to find monsters near the city. These monsters will always need to be culled even if they do not have resources people are looking for. You will only be paid for the fragments if you do not accept a commission job. Do you have any questions?”
“I think I will be able to figure it out as I go. Thank you.”
Cassian then put a commission job for a goblin knight that was attacking the nearby farms on the table. “I will be taking this job solo as well. The runt will only be selling the fragments that he can collect while I keep him alive.” The receptionist took the job and his card and a few seconds later gave them back. Cassian then turned to me and said “Let’s go.”
I followed Cassian through the southeastern gate. Surrounding the walled city were farms that made all the food for the city. Past the farm grids was an open pasture that had both livestock and a few adventurers that were fighting bugs and slimes. Then past the fields was a vast forest that stretched as far down the mountain as I could see.
“We will head to the forest first then move the target location for my job. I will have you fight some goblins that we find on the way.” The rest of the walk was in silence as Cassian led me past the farms and pasture where there were no longer any road just small trails where adventurers would head to the forest to make their days wages. Once the trees blocked my sight, I channeled man through my body and into my eyes so that I could sense power levels through the forest. With a slight grunt Cassian led me deeper into the forest toward the nearest power source that I could tell was not a slime or bug. “There are just two up ahead. Once you engage one, I will kill the other. Let’s see what you got.”
I circulated mana to strengthen my body. I drew my sword and stepped out to fight the goblins. The goblins turned and charged at me. The goblin in front took a left-handed strike. I blocked the strike and countered with a swing to take his head. The goblin however, stepped back causing the attack to barely miss and now the goblins club was across its body. I used my sword to keep the club back and as I stepped past the goblin swinging my sword and left a gash on the goblin’s left arm. I turned from my new position and watched the goblin move its club from its left arm to its right as it was unable to put any power into that arm. The goblin charged once again, but this time instead of blocking I moved out of the way causing the goblin to stumble. I pointed my sword at the goblin and using the goblins momentum, I plunged the sword into the goblin’s chest ending its life. The goblin faded into motes of light that hung in the air until they collected into the soul collector that I received from the guild.
Cassian was leaning on a nearby tree waiting for me to finish my fight. “You have the same weak fighting style as Tenara. He never lived up to his potential and I hated him for it. If I give you anything, it will be to purge that weakness from you.”