Adventurer's Guild

Gerard gagged as he swallowed the slop the guards called food in the jail. Sprite sat on the straw bed against the back wall and ignored her untouched bowls, which she stacked in a corner of the cell.

"You've got to eat something. It's been five days." Gerard sat his empty bowl on the ground and held his stomach.

"I'm not hungry." Sprite's stomach growled in defiance of her statement.

A hulk of a man stormed into the space outside of their cells. Even in the dark, with his World's Eye skill, he saw the rugged features of Thorkin.

"Get these two out of there this instant!" Thorkin snapped.

A guard hurries past Thorkin, the same one who threw Gerard and Sprite into the cell. He fumbled with the keys and turned to face his superior.

"Y-yes, sir. I thought they were-"

"It doesn't matter what you thought. Shut up and do as I said!"

"Yes!"

He inserted a key, and the lock clicked. The door swung open, and Gerard took two steps before slogging the guard in the face. He felt the cartilage break beneath his fist and smiled.

"About time, Thorkin."

The guard unsheathed his sword to retaliate, but Thorkin lifted him off the ground as if he were a child.

"This here is a guest of mine in the city. Consider your injury better than the punishment you deserve."

Tears welled up in the guard's eyes, and once Thorkin lowered him, he ran out of the jail.

"I'm truly sorry about this, Gerard." Thorkin bowed his proud head.

"It's okay; I've been through worse. You sure don't show mercy to your subordinates, do you?"

"Neither do you, I should honestly throw you back in there for injuring a member of the city guard, but I'll let it slide this time. More importantly, don't you look different? I know it's been a while, but I'm pretty good with faces. Heck, you're even taller than you were before!"

"Not here. There are others here."

"Oh, but it was just getting good! So, you know the captain of the guard personally? You might just be my saviour after all!" Addis yelled loud enough for everyone in jail to hear him.

"What's that?"

"A lunatic, let's go."

---

They sat in Thorkin's office just as they did months prior. Gerard finished catching him up on his previous condition, which Gerard and Jerrick decided to keep secret, and told him about acquiring his new body with the specifics omitted.

"So, you were a lich because of a curse, disguising yourself as a human, but now you've broken the curse and acquired your original body?"

Gerard could picture the cogs in Thorkin's brain spinning out of control.

"That's the gist of it."

"And this young lady was a spirit, but you've given her a body as well? Isn't that necromancy?"

"Well, not quite. You see, Sprite was never a living person, just a being created by the gods."

"You gave an emissary of the gods a body? Are you a god masquerading as a human?"

*Note to self: keep all of my abilities to myself.*

"I'm as much a human as you are. I bleed, I can die, and I grow old."

"Okay. I believe you, well, I believe the parts you've said that I can wrap my head around. What can I do to make this up to you? I take it bashing my subordinate's face in wasn't enough?"

"Quite right. I need a new form of identification and a little money to get by until I find work, and I'd like our clothes cleaned after being in that cell for five days. Mind helping us out?"

"No worries! I'll give you enough to join the adventure's guild. That'll give you identification and allow you to get paid work. I can also give you some spare clothes from this barracks while your clothes are cleaned; we always order more than we need, anyway."

"Thank you."

"You're a friend of my nephew, and it's the least I can do. He actually left me a letter a couple of months ago to give you the next time I saw you."

He rummaged through his desk for a while.

"Letter?"

"Ah hah! This is the one!" He pulled out a crumpled envelope with the wax seal almost broken.

He handed it to Gerard, and he promptly opened it. Gerard cleared his throat.

"This is a letter of recommendation to join the adventurer's guild, provided by Jerrick of the Red Lotus Adventurers and supported by the other members of the Red Lotus Adventurers and Thorkin, the captain of the guard."

"That cheeky little bugger. Well, this saves me from having to write you one myself. He's definitely my nephew."

"Make sure you thank him for me when you see him next."

"If you pass the tests, I'm sure you'll see him in your travels soon enough. Thank him yourself."

"Okay. If you could get us our clothes now, I'd really appreciate it."

Thorkin nodded and left the room.

"Why is it that people warm up to you so easily?" Sprite asked.

"Maybe it's my face."

"No, it happened even before you became human."

"I don't know, Sprite. Even in my original world, people trusted me in various ways for no reason at all."

"It's not listed in your skills section, either..."

"Adds to my sense of mystery, doesn't it?"

"Now you're just being annoying."

"You love it."

---

Gerard and Sprite found the adventurer's guild without great difficulty. A gigantic five-storey building loomed over them.

A citizen they met said that every road in the city eventually leads to the adventurer's guild, but the next person they asked gave them specific directions.

"I like these clothes better; they're looser. But they're not as cute as the other ones." Sprite looked down at the baggy grey and brown pants and tunic she wore.

Gerard smiled as he watched the complex series of emotions show on her face.

"We'll get them back soon."

They entered the building, and any conversation between the people inside suddenly stopped. Menacing glares from men and women with various weapons and attire pierced them much deeper than any wound.

"Hello, and welcome to the Adventurer's guild. How may I help you today? Looking to put in a request?" An energetic young man stood behind a counter and bowed as they approached.

"I'm looking to join the guild."

"What? But you're-"

"I'm what?"

"Young."

*It's been a long time since someone said that to me. Too young to be an adventurer, though? I have the body of my twenty-year-old self, so that shouldn't be too young.*

"Young? I'm more experienced than I look."

"Is that so? Well, you'll have to go through three tests."

"A written test, a physical test, and a random quest, right?"

"Uh, yes."

"Thorkin told me about the requirements. He's the one who suggested I join the guild."

"Captain of the Guard, Thorkin?" The receptionist's eyes widened in surprise.

"One and the same, and here's a letter of recommendation from him and Jerrick."

"Jerrick? Jerrick, the blitz swordsman from Red Lotus?" The receptionist's mouth gaped open.

*Ah, he has that sort of nickname, now? If Jerry wasn't enough, now he's Jerrick the Blitz Swordsman. It kind of suits him, though.*

Gerard laughed a little.

"The same one."

"Well, I've got high hopes for you then. We also require ten gold coins and for you to touch the status orb."

"Status orb?"

"Jerrick might not have told you about it since it wasn't used back when he joined. The status orb will read the contents of your soul and provide us with your class, race, level, past crimes, and your name." The receptionist brought out a small transparent cube.

"I see..."

*Will the crimes from my last life appear?*

*They shouldn't. All the things you did previously have been overwritten by the events of this world.*

"Orb? It's a cube." Gerard looked over the item carefully before the recpetionist slid it back under the counter.

"The idiots at the research institute named it before they saw the finished product, and everyone calls it the status orb now, so we're stuck with this."

"Oh, that's unfortunate." Gerard pulled out his new coin purse, gifted to him by Thorkin, and placed twenty coins on the counter.

"Just ten gold coins."

"I'll provide you with twenty. My companion wishes to join as well."

"Companion?"

Sprite, who stood quietly behind Gerard the entire time, meekly stepped forward.

"Absolutely not! We can't have a child join the guild!" The receptionist shook his head.

*People are classed as children until it's been a year after they've chosen their class. That's nineteen years old. How old is this body?* Sprite looked at her slender frame.

*It's modelled after my granddaughter's friend when they were both twenty-one. My body is supposed to be younger than yours.*

*Why do I look so young, then?*

*Beats me. Some people are just blessed with youth. I, on the other hand, always looked older than I was, so these adjustments are paying off.

Gerard playfully ran his fingers through his hair.

*Aren't you technically less than ten years old, anyway?*

*Aren't you technically ancient? Parading around in a young body like that is weird. For your information, the gods created me from a blueprint mapped out from the mind of a middle-aged philosopher, and even though I am basically a child navigating the world as a human, the gods spent many years crafting my existence.*

*Okay, okay. I'm sorry for making you look young.*

*You're forgiven.*

"Um, why are you staring at each other like that?" The receptionist avoided eye contact when they both turned to him.

Gerard cleared his throat.

"She's twenty-one, and trust me. She's going to surprise you."

"Well, I'll have to take your word for it. If you weren't recommended by one of our best adventurers, I'd turn you away right now. If she doesn't pass the written and combat tests, though, we won't give her a quest to make up her losses."

"That's fine."

The receptionist sighed.

"Camilla!"

A younger receptionist ran over and skidded to a halt.

"Y-yes?"

"See this young man and his companion to Prentice; they are to undergo the written exam."

"Of course! Right this way!"

Camilla raised the countertop door at the centre of the counter and hurriedly walked across the room to a reinforced door. Gerard and Sprite followed.

By now, the adventurers had returned to their discussions.

Camilla took out an ornate key, stuck it into the wall beside the door, and Gerard heard the whirring of mechanical objects in the wall before the door creaked open.

"Modern technology?"

"Modern? Gander Iron-Fist, one of our adventurers and arguably the best craftsmen in the world, created this technology. Now, hurry, Prentice will be waiting, and he doesn't like to be kept waiting when he's been summoned."

She walked down a long hallway. At the end of the hall, a large glass door showed a courtyard seemingly designed for combat. They turned left, and at the first door on their left, she hesitated before entering the room.

"Prentice, sir. T-the adventurers are here."

"Excellent, Camilla. See them inside, please." The voice hissed.

*Probably a weirdo.*

Gerard stepped forward and glanced at the examiner. As their eyes met, Gerard froze like prey spotted by a predator.

"A lizard?!" Gerard failed to hold back his exclamation, and his voice increased in pitch.

"Dear Camilla, did you not warn them?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Gerard, Sprite, Prentice is a lizard man summoned from the beast realm. He has a contract with us to oversee the written tests."

"Yeah, of course..."

*You screamed like a woman.*

*Shut up, I did not.*

Gerard stood up straight and walked over to a desk. A stack of papers sat in the centre of the desk, with a steel pen sitting by an inkwell in the corner.

*This test looks pretty intense.*

Prentice had positioned the other test on a table at the other side of the room. As Sprite and Gerard took their seats, he waved Camilla away.

"Now, this is the first test upon embarking on your journey as an adventurer. A word of warning; you cannot cheat on the test, no matter your skills, and I will not be bribed. Any indication of attempting either of these will result in immediate failure."

*Does he mean-*

"No telepathy, either. You're lucky the testing hasn't begun, or you would have failed, Gerard." Prentice's cold eyes bore into Gerard.

Gerard gulped.

"Okay, that's how it should be. You have one hour to complete the test. Skill and Spell Nullification!"

Gerard's connection to Sprite was instantly severed.

"Oh, that's why he's the examiner. I need that spell." Gerard whispered.

"Begin!" Prentice yelled.

---

"Time's up!" Prentice folded his arms.

Gerard sat his steel pen back in his inkwell and felt his connection to Sprite return.

*That wasn't too hard. The only questions I couldn't answer were ones about religion, monsters, magic, and history.*

"Very good. Fifty percent of the people who take the test fail because they tried to cheat." Prentice stepped forward and took the tests from their tables, read through them carefully, and sighed.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I'm done here. Follow Camilla to start the physical aptitude test. Rift!" Prentice bowed, and a tear in the air opened up behind him to reveal a lush forest.

The tests disappeared from his hands in a flash, and then he stepped back through the rift before it closed.

"There's so much amazing magic that I haven't seen!" Gerard's hands shook as a fire lit up in his eyes.

"Yes, yes. I thought I heard you once say magic was a means to an end for you to swing around a giant mace eventually?"

"Well, yes, but magic is fascinating."

"Please, follow me. Trainer Lee is waiting."

"Trainer? So it really is a physical aptitude test?"

"You'll see," Camilla spoke quietly.

They walked back to the glass door and entered the courtyard.

"These youngsters want to join the guild?!" A man jumped from the top of the building.

*Someone who likes to make a grand entrance, I see.*

"Trainer Lee, please stop doing that. Last week you didn't watch your strength, and we had to repair the entire courtyard."

"Yes, yes. But I like people to remember the first time they meet me."

*So he openly admits it?!*

Lee stood up straight, and Gerard flinched. The stoic man with glasses atop the horse in Kilreath was the same one that ripped Gerard's arm off with brute strength alone.

"Both of them?"

"Yes, sir."

"You, stand in the hall and wait for me." He pointed to Sprite.

Sprite looked at Gerard, and he nodded. Camilla followed and closed the door behind them. They watched eagerly.

"So, what's the aptitude test? Pushups? An endurance test?" He began to turn his gaze back to Lee.

Bloodlust sent shivers through Gerard's body. Goosebumps rose up on his skin, and he fought the urge for his knees to buckle from the fear. In a flash, Lee appeared before him with his fist clenched.

"Brace yourself."