Pointy Ears?

Collapsing out of the portal and into a grassy field, Oriel turned just in time to see Wrath's dark flame before the portal broke apart.

Opening her palm, she let the broken remains of the device fall to the ground having crushed it as they passed through the portal. Watching them for a moment, she turned her attention back to Flynn who was in a critical condition.

Kneeling down by Flynn's side, she wiped his unconscious brow. "I'm not letting you go that easy, not after all I've done to get here. This world needs you, even if you don't know it yet."

Ripping what was left of his shirt, Oriel grimaced at the wound that reached from the right side of his hip to his left collar bone.

Holding her left hand over Flynn's collar and his hip. Her hands began to glow as Oriel focused on the boy's wound.

After a few moments, she tensed her fingers. The glow encompassed the wound. As the flow of blood ceased, Oriel furrowed her brow as a faint black flame appeared along the edges of Flynn's wound preventing her light from working.

"His black flame…" Biting the inside of her cheek, Oriel sighed

Closing her eyes, Oriel focused on the black flame that was attempting to infect Flynn's body with a dark power.

As Oriel's light grew brighter, she put all of her energy into combating the flame.

The light penetrated through the boy's body, routing the infection.

After what felt to like hours, she sat back on her haunches. Feeling drained of energy, Oriel's breath was heavy as she just tried to keep herself together.

Shaking her head in an attempt to keep herself awake, Oriel held her hands out.

Now that the infection had been routed, she only now needed to heal Flynn's wound.

Her light returning, Oriel wasted no time in stitching Flynn back together. As the light was focused, the scar slowly disappeared as the skin began to stitch itself together under the influence of the healing light.

Finishing. Oriel's shoulders slumped as her eyelids drooped. The girl's wings disappeared in a flash of cyan light as she rested a hand on Flynn's chest.

"Flynn." Oriel slumped down to join the still unconscious Flynn on the grassy ground. "You take over from here. I- I need a nap."

Drained of her energy, the sun began to set as Oriel fell asleep.

----

As Flynn's mind began to wake, he felt a voice trying to reach him. Flynn's mind jostled, feeling something comparable to a needle being pushed into his mind.

"Wake up! Flynn! Wake up!"

Feeling something soft against his back. Flynn opened his eyes. Looking up at a rustic wood ceiling. He squinted.

"This ceiling is... new." Sitting up, he looked around for whoever had called his name. "Empty..." His eyes caught the bed next to him.

A girl with bright blond hair lay asleep.

"Oriel!" Getting out of the bed, he shook the sleeping girl. "Oriel, hey, come on!"

"I doubt your friend's going to wake up for a while. She has a serious case of mana deprivation." An unknown voice pointed out.

Flynn spun around to face the speaker.

Stood in the open doorway, Flynn mentally kicked himself for not having heard the door open.

Looking at the man who held the door open. Flynn felt a small knot form in his throat.

This man easily stood two heads taller than Flynn. His shirt barely contained his tight muscles.

Watching Flynn's expression, the man nodded. "If you want a drink, come downstairs. if not, I guess you can go back to bed." As the man began to close the door he stopped. "Sorry about your shirt but I threw it out. I didn't think you'd miss it, judging from how it was torn in half and covered in what I presume was your blood." Motioning with his head to the bedside table Flynn saw a shirt neatly laid on top of it. "That should be your size."

Hearing the door close behind him, Flynn looked to the now shut door.

Bringing a hand up, Flynn rubbed the side of his face. Walking over to the bedside table Flynn picked the shirt up with one hand. Realising something, Flynn touched his chest.

"The… wound?" Running his hand over where Wrath had hit him, Flynn was confused and astonished. As Flynn pondered at what could have healed him so quickly. "Not even a scar." Smiling at this revelation, he put the shirt on.

Walking over to the door, as he held the doorknob, Flynn looked back to Oriel.

"You better wake up soon you hear. I have so many questions."

Opening the door, he stepped through, closing it behind him Flynn looked side to side at the hallway he was standing in. The hallway contained four doors, two on each. At one end a window shone with early morning light and behind him, Flynn could hear a few voices talking down a set of stairs that turned on a corner.

The hallway reminded him of his old home, rustic, old. Most houses and buildings in Seshire were carpeted or tiled. Only the older homes had wooden flooring.

Deciding to find who the voices were coming from, Flynn descended the stairs, Flynn stopped at the corner. Peeking his head around the corner, he saw the same man from before standing behind a counter talking to two people sitting on stools in-front of him.

Observing the two sat on the stool, Flynn squinted at the man with short cut spiky red hair that stuck up as if someone was pulling on it. The red-haired man's companion had slightly curly pastel blue hair that was draped down her right shoulder. and… pointy ears. Seeing this Flynn squinted a little harder.

'Pointy ears?' Flynn thought. 'I'm either at some kind of convention or what happened wasn't just some bad dream.'

Seeing Flynn's head out of the corner of his eye, the man smiled. "Hello over there, I was starting to wonder whether you'd climbed out of the window." With one hand the burly bartender gestured for Flynn to join them as he pulled another mug out from under the counter.

Hesitant, Flynn took a step out from behind the corner.

As the woman with pointy ears turned to face Flynn, her face lit up as he cautiously sat down one stool over from the pair.

"Phew." Nudging her companion, she smirked. "Told you he'd make it Katar. What did I say."

As Katar took a swig from his mug, the man shrugged. "It coulda gone either way. His shirt was coated in blood and the girl was completely unconscious from mana deprivation. Eh fine, I guess you win this one." Taking a silver chip out of his pocket, he put it next to the woman's mug.

Smirking at having beaten Katar in their bet. The woman turned back to Flynn, holding a hand out for Flynn she introduced herself. "We weren't able to make acquaintances when we found you the first time. So it's nice to meet you again. I'm Any."

Taking her hand Flynn shook it. "I'm Flynn. I assume you're the two who found us?"

Nodding Katar picked his mug back up. "We'd just finished a bounty for hunting a Mirewalker and were on our way back to grab a drink when we saw a bright light. Upon closer inspection." He'd comment leaning back on the bar stool. "We found you two. Tell me." Glancing at Flynn, Katar looked back up the stairs. Leaning forwards he hushed his voice. "I'm guessing it was your friend who made that bright light. With her having pushed her limits and falling ill and all."

Flynn's curiosity peaked as Katar spoke. "Yeah. My friend, Oriel, is very strong with that light... Stuff."

Inserting himself into the conversation, Redford placed a mug full of a dark fluid in-front of Flynn. "If you two are travelling together you must have your own powerful magic."

Hearing Redford's words, Flynn stopped. "Magic?"

"Yeah magic, you know. Magic." Redford responded waving his hands around in an airy manner.

Seeing Flynn's confusion, Any looked to Katar before responding. "You do know what magic is right? Everyone has the ability to use some form of magic. Lightning, water, dark, nature just to name a few."

Rubbing the back of his head Flynn thought to ask. "Have any of you heard of Seshire City?"

As the three looked between each other. Flynn looked away. "I don't think I'm in Ramweld anymore…" He muttered under his breath.

Hearing Flynn's muttering, Redford nudged Flynn's mug in his direction. "What was that son?"

Sucking on his lip for a second, Flynn turned back to the group as he picked the mug up.

"I'm well- I'm not from around here."

"That much was obvious." Katar chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen those styles of clothing before. Where did you say you two were from again?"

Taking a sip from his mug, Flynn faintly smiled at it. The drink had a faint taste of alcohol, but the majority of it reminded him of summer fruits.

"Oh, we're not from a- uh- a village down south." Not knowing if he could completely trust these people, Flynn decided to hedge his bets by coming up with a lie using a story he once read in a fantasy book. "It was raided by bandits in the dead of night. We only just managed to get away but I got hit by… fire magic."

Hearing this the trio looked shocked.

"What was your village called, the Guild needs to hear about this. They might send aid."

"Shaking his head, Flynn thought to himself". As much as he hated having to lie to these people who had helped them out, Flynn didn't know who he could trust as of this moment. Even his trust with Oriel was on edge due to the past twenty-four hours.

"There would be no point. It's all already gone. We had lost our parents a long time ago so, we don't really feel any connection to that place, although… What's the Guild you just spoke of?"

Confused at his seeming indifference over losing his village, Any assumed he must just be mourning. "Oh, the Guild? It's like an association of people all with their own skills and talents. You have your blacksmiths, clothiers, archaeologists, map makers among others. Each type of role does a service for the Guild and they can make a little extra on the side by doing additional jobs for adventurers and other business."

Flynn's ears perked up on hearing the word 'adventurers', he had read more than enough fantasy books to know what that word meant. Feigning indifference, he brought up the subject that intrigued him.

"An adventurer? What jobs would an adventurer do?" Flynn asked.

Katar cracked a smile upon hearing the boy's question. "Now that's a good question, fortunate for you we know all about that."

Swatting Katar's chest, Any continued his sentence. "Me and my ever so lovely friend here are both Adventurers. It's a sweet gig. Every morning you drop into your local Guild site and check up on the bounty board. Find a bounty that suits your skill level, be that hunting goblins or slaying a Wraith-born. Then once you've hunted your quarry, bring evidence that you've completed your task, be it a signed letter from a farmer stating that you helped him find his lost sheep or the head of a Chaoul. Drop it on the head desk and then the Guild will imburse you for your work-"

Cutting in, Any pointed out. "But of course, you're going to get much more from dumping a Chaoul's head on their desk than you would if you helped a farmer out."

Nodding along. "I see…" Flynn pondered. "So how does one go about becoming an Adventurer?"

Hearing this Any smiled. "Well, first you need to visit your local Guild site and apply for it."

"You need to apply?"

Any nodded for a moment before hesitating slightly. "Well, for bounties tier 2 and below you don't need to have the title. But if the Guild doesn't classify you as an Adventurer, they will take a cut out of your bounty-"

"Being affiliated with the Guild is also beneficial as it means you can also get deals and benefits at certain stores." Katar cut in.

Glancing at Katar, Any lightly scowled at him. "As I was saying. "The benefits of being a part of the Guild out way the negatives, since well. there aren't any negatives."

"So." Wanting to know more, Flynn asked. "What else can you tell me about the Guild?"

"Well, it's fairly influential." Katar responded. "Any countries that are having troubles with each other usually use emissaries from the Guild as diplomats and those emissaries are usually guarded by adventurers hired by the Guild. So it's kind of like a self-serving system."

"Ok, so one more question. Who runs the Guild?"

"That's an easy one." Redford interjected. "It's run by the circle. A group of three or four people. No one really knows anything about them, and anything we do know about them is clouded in mystery."

Shaking his head, Katar responded with his own thoughts. "That's just a theory, Redford. Everyone knows the Guild is still run by the three great clans that merged to form it thousands of years ago."

"Oi." Lightly slapping Katar over the back of his head. "Stop spouting conspiracy theories you two. You're going to confuse Flynn more than he already is. I'm sorry about these two Flynn." Any said as she blocked Flynn from Katar's view. "The Guild is run by three people. The Sentinel, the Trapper and the Curator and then over their heads is the overall leader of the Guild and is the reason there are so many conspiracy theories about the leaders of the Guild."

Having taken another sip from his mug, Flynn licked his lips. "I take it that not much is known about him then."

Lightly shrugging, Any nodded. "Pretty much."

Having more questions about the Guild, Flynn decided now wasn't the time to ask specifics. "So just to roll the conversation back. How would I get registered as an Adventurer?"

"Oh right, right." Putting her mug down. Any continued. "It's quite easy really. Just go down to your local Guild site and ask at the front desk. Just fill out some paperwork and then they'll invite you upstairs and ask you some questions and if they find your answers sufficient. Next, they do some quick tests to check your potential, but I'll leave you to find out what those tests are if you do actually go and look into that."

"Do you know where the closest Guild site is?" Flynn asked, feeling slightly overwhelmed by all of this information.

Sticking his thumb behind him and at the door, Katar then motioned to the left. "When you leave, go left. This village has a small Guild affiliated site just up the road. When you get there, tell them your friends of Katar and Any. If they know you know us they may go a little easier on you." The man chuckled.

"Or they'll think you're a troublemaker just like this one." Redford laughed as he slides Katar a fresh drink.

"Thanks old man." Katar shot back, taking his fresh mug.

Looking at the rest of his drink, Flynn pushed it back to Redford. "Will you still be here later?" He asked the bartender.

"All day." Redford responded picking up Flynn's mug. "I run this place till late. Since you and your friend are currently the only two staying here, I'll keep my ear out if you're running late."

"About that." A question had been nagging Flynn's mind for a few minutes now. "Do we owe you anything for staying in the room?"

Hearing this Redford guffawed. "Oh no no, it's on the house. You two seem to be having your own problems as is. You can stay as long as you'd like until your friend wakes up and you figure out what your next steps are."

Stepping out of his seat, Flynn tucked it in. "Thanks Redford, I appreciate it.

Looking at the two still seated by the counter he asked. "If I have any more questions. Where do you think I'd be able to find you?"

Just as Any was about to speak, Katar spoke first. "Oh, we've been given a special assignment from the Guild. A tier-four golem has recently activated in the area-"

Lightly punching his shoulder, Any continued. "So the Guild has asked us to do some reconnaissance on the golem, where it's moving to, stuff like that." Looking Flynn up and down, Any thought for a moment before speaking. "If you want a fresh pair of clothes, near the Guild site, is a clothier. Pick out whatever you want when they ask for payment tell them to put it on Any's tab. Just don't pick out anything too expensive. Got it?"

Flynn found himself smiling at how considerate this stranger was to him. "Yeah, yeah I get it. Thanks Any."

Leaving with a quick nod to the trio still at the bar Flynn opened the door, hopping down a set of steps, he let the door shut behind him.

Looking right, Flynn saw a few rows of buildings before the pavements gave way to a well-trodden path. "That must be the way out of town." Flynn thought.

Turning to his left, Flynn saw a bustling street as people made their way to their work.

Walking down the road and deeper into the town. Flynn's attention was drawn to the lampposts lining the road. A metal pole stuck out from the ground, a yellow crystal the size of Flynn's fist sat atop it. Taking a moment to inspect this crystal closer, Flynn saw it was faintly glowing in the morning sun.

Turning his attention away from the lampposts, Flynn passed a shop. As three mannequins decorated the window. Flynn presumed it must be the clothier.

Stepping through the door, Flynn was ready to get out of this oversized shirt.