Chapter 28 Information and Adventures Guild

Now that Marcus had read the magic book and sorted out his skills and stats, he opened the envelope and took out a single piece of paper.

Ander Slavers

• Leader name, Ander. Approximate level 20, main weapon broad sword, magic skills unknown

• Lieutenants Osman approximate level 15, main weapon blade tipped whip, magic skills unknown. Tyrell approximate level 17, main weapon staff, magic skills fire, wind, and smoke

• Average number of members 14, approximate average level 11, most common weapons sword and spear.

• Estimated base location, west side of Loursend in warehouse district.

• Believed to be backed by a low ranking noble or other influential person.

• Have proper slave trading credentials but never purchase any slaves to resell.

• Under suspicion of committing multiple acts of murder, kidnapping, and illegal slave trading but cannot confirm.

• Known locations the group frequents, The Grand Iron Inn, River landing, The Turtle Tap Tavern, River Landing, The Fair Sunset Tavern, Loursend

After reading through the report multiple times to make sure he had memorized it Marcus started to plan out his next moves.

'Okay the report was simple and to the point and I now have a good amount of information. I may not know their exact location but at least now I have a few places to start instead of having to search an entire city. Now that I think about it is pretty impressive that they had this much information when these guys are based in a whole other city. I should head to the adventures guild and sign up so that I can join an escort mission to Loursend. Once I arrive, I can track these guys down and The Fair Sunset Tavern should be a good place to start.'

Once he had finished collecting his thoughts Marcus gathered his belongings into his item box, left the inn, and headed for the adventures guild. On the way there he realized he would need certain supplies for the long journey ahead, so he stopped and bought around two weeks of rations as well as a sleeping mat and some blankets.

'I spent sixty-three copper just now so I only have four silver and eleven copper left, but I should be able to make some more money as an adventurer later on. For now, I should be ready for the journey since from what I have heard it takes around twelve days by land.'

Now that he had finished buying some necessities Marcus made his way to the adventures guild. The building was a good sized two stories building and had a steady traffic of people coming in and out. Marcus could not help but be a bit nervous standing in front of the adventures guild.

'Steel yourself Marcus, this is just a normal part of this world, I already know that this is not like a game where quest can be completed in thirty minutes and enemies turn into coins and items. I just need to head in there, register and find the earliest guard job to Loursend.'

After he finished psyching himself up Marcus entered the building and searched around for a few moments getting a feel for the interior. He noticed that there was a bar area on the left side of the building where many adventures were sitting around and making merry, to the right had a board with a number of requests on it, and the center had multiple reception booths. Once he had finished gawking at the interior of the adventure guild Marcus headed towards one of the reception booths. The one he had chosen was maned by a young woman with raven hair, and when Marcus reached the front of the line the woman said. "Welcome to the adventures guild are you here to place a request?"

"Um no, I am here to sign up to be an adventurer can I do that here."

The young woman's smile cracked a little when Marcus said this and asked him," Are you sure? Being an adventure is not easy and often leads to injury or death. If you are just looking for a job, we have open receptionist positions here."

"Thank you for the offer but I would still like to sign up to be an adventurer."

The young woman let out a sigh before responding to Marcus.

"Very well, but there are some requirement to become an adventure. First the registration is three silvers, this is nonnegotiable. Second you have to be at least level eight, any lower and you cannot apply."

"Okay here is three silver and my level is ten so I should meet the requirements."

The receptionist took Marcus' money and then took out a stone from a drawer under her booth.

"Here, hold this so I can confirm your status."

Marcus a bit surprised grasped the stone and it soon lit up and projected his name and level but not his stats or skills. After confirming his level, the woman took out a piece of paper and had Marcus fill it out. Once he had finished the receptionist took out a wooden card and touched the appraisal stone to it, causing an etching to appear on the card. She then handed the card to Marcus before explaining some of the rules of the guild to Marcus.

"You are now an official adventure, you starting rank is copper and you will need to successfully complete five requests to rank up to bronze. If you do not complete a request in two months your membership will be revoked. At your current rank you can take requests at your level, one level above, and requests open to anyone. If you wish to form or join a party, you can do that at any guild reception. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them."

After thinking for a moment Marcus could not think of any questions he currently had and thanked the woman for helping him. Marcus then looked at the wooden card he had been handed noticing that it had some of his information on it.

'Irene, human, level ten, rank: copper. Hm, pretty basic, but since I am still the lowest rank, and it would be to much trouble for them to give out detailed cards to everyone.'

Once Marcus had finished inspecting his new adventures card, he moseyed on over to the request board looking for an escort mission to Loursend. After searching through all of the copper request and coming up blank he procced to look at the bronze requests finding no escort requests to Loursend among them. With his last shred of hope Marcus looked through the requests anyone could take and towards the bottom of the list, he found what he was looking for.

'Guards needed for journey to Loursend, departure ninth day of Jula, meet in front of guild at dawn, reward one silver. Well, I can see why it is in the request anyone can take, the reward is pretty low for such a long-lasting mission since even copper missions like collecting herbs which can be done in a day pay around twelve copper. Oh well the pay does not matter since it leaves tomorrow and all I care about is making it to Loursend safely and swiftly.'

Marcus then took one of the two remaining tags under the request and headed towards the reception booths to apply for the mission.