[Ephemera, The Mortal Realm, City of Maro. The twentieth day of Metis, 60 years after the Rupture]
[Valeria's POV]
The City of Maro, also known as the Adventurer Capital, was on the smaller scale of big cities. It has its own city walls that are built high enough to rival giants, a harbour filled with merchant ships and the headquarters of the Adventurer Guild. The city could only grow to its size thanks to the fact that it was the place the Adventurer Guild was founded and its proximity to the unnamed forest to the north, that was sometimes called “a mage's greatest nightmare” because of its unnatural amount of magic-resistant beasts.
The forest was also the reason why at least a third of the city was an adventurer or had a job supporting their journeys into the woods. It was a treasure trove of herbs, beast parts and experience for everybody that wanted to learn fighting against purely physical opponents. Of course, there were some monsters with the ethereal aspect to them but they were even rarer than a spell slinging entity thriving in this place so most people just bring a small backup weapon made to harm ethereal entities with them.
The city was thriving and lively, many adventurers and sailors came and went so it wasn't a problem for Valeria to find a place to stay while she accepted her situation and made plans for the future.
Edrick left her a week ago and since then she got to know the city better. He left behind enough money so she could live comfortably for a while and she was thankful for that.
She already got a new weapon, a sword like she used before that event, some clothes and armor. She now wore boots filled with fur to keep her legs warm, leather reinforced pants, a dark iron chestplate over a brown cotton shirt and a pair of bracers with fingerless gloves.
The money would have been enough for more but she always preferred being nimble and agile over wearing protection. If something doesn't hit you it can't hurt you, right? Val knew the dangers of this mindset so she promised herself to keep at least some armor in and train again.
That's why after one week of exploring the city and finding the best places to drink or buy snacks she was now on her way to the Adventurer Guild's building here in Maro. No better teacher than practical experiences if you wanted to test yourself.
With a sword in hand and a bag with basic necessities on her back, Valeria stood in front of the Adventurer Guild. The headquarters here in Maro were built entirely out of stone and took enough space for an entire district for itself. Its front wall faced the central plaza, a giant wooden sign over the doors announcing to visitors that they were in the right place. The doors were easily five meters tall, made entirely of wood but protective spells were engraved on them. A stream of people entered or left through the open doors, she could see Elves, dwarves, several beastkin and demi-humans. Valeria raised an eyebrow as she saw a draco leave the building, it was quite rare to see them outside of their home.
Taking a deep breath, she ventured inside and was greeted by the loud laughter of several drunken adventurers. To the right of the entrance was an area that could only be called a bar and restaurant. Several tables with people sitting on them, drinking and eating food that the servers brought them. A counter was built into the wall, with seats in front of it and a man giving out drinks.
The left side had another counter area with a group of people sitting behind and a large bulletin board with notices of ‘quests’ the adventurer could take. Some even had illustrations of monsters she never saw before. On the opposite side of the lobby was the reception and beside it the hallways leading to the rest of the building.
Valeria stepped closer and waited in line for the reception.
“Hello, Miss, and welcome to the headquarters of the Adventurer Guild. How may I help you?” A friendly and soft voice greeted her. Behind the counter sat a young woman with shoulder length brown hair, probably in her early twenties and a smile on her face.
Valeria nodded. “Ah, yes, I would like to register with the guild, is that possible?”
The woman looked over Valeria with an analytical gaze and pulled out a thick book and a single piece of paper. “That is certainly possible, Miss. I need your name, age, race, a short description of your skills useful for an adventurer and you will have to agree to answer a few questions while under the effect of a Vow of Truth. If you do not want to share any of this you will have to give us an explanation for the reasons while under a Vow of Truth. This is to make sure you aren't a criminal trying to hide. If you agree to these terms we can begin and should you have any questions I can answer them now or after we are done with the registration.”
Valeria shook her head. “The questions can wait after we're done. Name ist Valeria Anastasia Leriscroft, 27 years old and human as far as I know. I have knowledge about herbalism and can identify commonly found herbs and their uses, have basic training as a hunter and everything their job consists of. I was part of a Rank 2 mercenary group for 14 years before working as a soldier for another three years afterwards.”
The receptionist wrote everything down. “Thank you very much for answering. If you could wait for a moment, I will prepare everything for the vow.” She stood up and disappeared through a door behind the reception. A short wait later she returned with a crystal ball in hand.
“Thank you for waiting, Miss Leriscroft. We will now go through the questionnaire so just place your hand on this artifact and we can begin.”
Valeria placed her hand on the crystal ball and it began to glow with a dim light.
“The following questions are meant to check for any criminal activities and are not meant to intrude into your personal life. Should you deem the answer to a question as too personal please state that you do not want to answer this question. Do you understand this?”
She nodded, her eyes never leaving the crystal ball.
“Very well. Question one: Have you ever harmed another member of your own race or of another race, that is acknowledged by the Council, through any means in a physical way for your own gain?”
Valeria shook her head. “Only out of self-defense or in my work as a mercenary.”
The crystal glowed a pale green. “I see. Question two: Were you ever detained by the law enforcement of any country or hunted down by said law enforcement?”
She thought for a second. “There was a time I got scolded by the guard of my hometown for stealing sweets from the bakery that I wanted to share with my ill neighbour. I also got held in prison once because another group of mercenaries framed my group for a theft of several important belongings of a noble house both groups worked for. This incident got resolved after the noble found out the truth.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
It glowed green again. “Third and last question: Have you ever broken a divine law and are thus subject to persecution or were you involved in any form of heretic and blasphemic projects?”
“No. At least not any that I know of.”
The crystal ball took longer this time before it glowed green. The receptionist smiled at her. “We are now done with the questionnaire, Miss Leriscroft. If you would wait for a moment I will bring your application to our archivist and return with your id shortly after.”
The woman stood up, crystal ball and the form in hand and disappeared behind the door again.
“You didn't tell her?”
Valeria sighed and leaned against the the reception. ‘Why should I? If everything you and Edrick told me about the role of the Knights is true I wouldn't want to draw attention to myself yet. I doubt that there is a Knight currently weaker than me and I would rather die as just another unknown adventurer instead of going down in history as the weakest Knight to ever exist.’
The voice remained quiet for a moment. “An interesting reason but still better than nothing, I guess. That means you are using this as a chance to get stronger before proudly announcing it.”
‘Correct. I would rather have the strength to make sure people pay me the respect that comes with the role. It wouldn't do you, me or the other Knights any good if their name gets dragged through the mud. Even though I still have doubts about all of this.’
“It is good that you have your doubts, Valeria. Always doubt the knowledge you think you have and never assume you know everything there is about something. The world has a cruel taste of humor and will do its best to make you a joke for its own amusement. They are part of the reason why I chose you as my Knight afterall.”
She didn't know why but somehow she got the impression the voice was smiling at her. It was at this Moment that the receptionist returned.
“Now then, Miss Leriscroft, here is your adventurer id.” Valeria received a small metal plate with her name, her adventurer rank and the place where she registered written on it. “I welcome you now in the ranks of adventurer, congratulations. Would you like to receive an explanation about the rules and ranks or do you have any questions you would like to ask?”
Val used the chain on her id card to wear it like a necklace. “There is an explanation? I would like to listen to that and I never heard or saw someone do the Vow of Truth like this. Is that new?”
The receptionist smiled. “To answer the questions first: there is a basic explanation for everything the adventurer needs to know about the guild and how it operates. If they didn't it could lead to problems with the payment or cause friction between them and others. We would like to avoid this. You are correct about the Vow of Truth. The crystal ball method was created and introduced because some staff members, retired adventurers and currently active ones complained about it being too formal and it wouldn't be right for an organization that tries to remain neutral to make new recruits swear a vow. So, a few mages that specialize in crafting created this new method and we have used it since ten years ago. But that isn't important right now. You asked for an explanation and that's what you shall receive.”
Val nodded, it made sense she didn't know about it if it was created only ten years ago. Maybe she should spend some more time reading about everything she missed.
“Adventurer ranks are just like mercenary ranks split into nine different levels. Instead of using just the number for their ranks like the mercenaries, calling them stars like mages, the letters knights use or even the metal ranks of blacksmiths, the Adventurer Guild decided to use gems and minerals. Those nine ranks are split apart in three groups which earned themselves “the colour code”. From the weakest to strongest we begin with the “Red” group starting with amberstones or just amber for short, topaz, ruby. Then comes the “Blue” group consisting of obsidian, amethyst and sapphire and finishing with the last and thus the strongest is the “Green” group with the ranks of jade, emerald and diamonds. Because you just registered you are an amberstone ranked adventurer.”
Val was deep in thoughts for a moment. “It sounds more interesting than the other methods I will give it that. Are the ranks between the different groups interchangeable? Could a Rank 2 mercenary start taking on quests for a topaz ranked adventurer?”
The woman smiled a bit more sincerely at that. “Technically, yes. Even though each group has different criteria for advancement in their own ranks it was decided that it would be easier to bring them closer together. So a rank 2 mercenary can take on topaz coloured quests, research a two-star topic in the mage tower and can fight a E-rank threat. If they prove they have the necessary expertise in this field they could even take on requests for “Cold Steel”-graded blacksmiths if they wanted to without having to register with the Blacksmiths Guild but people tend to trust smiths more if they are registered there.”
“That is…” Valeria was baffled. Why would you need so many different rankings?
The receptionist shook her head and sighed. “Too much, right? It's also causing so much paperwork for everything but those rankings are older than some kingdoms so it became more of a tradition to just keep them. Also, it gets worse, there are subdivisions and unnamed ranks. For example, a group of goblins can be ranked differently based on what they are made of. Just a group of five boring goblins? That's an amberstone threat for an individual. A group of four goblin berserkers and a goblin shaman? Here you are stepping into a mid topaz group threat, if not high topaz. There are the subdivisions of low, middle and high for each rank as well as the individual, group, raid, army, crusade and Knight level threats-”
Valeria raised an eyebrow at that piece of information. ‘They have their own threat level?’
“-and anything that would be Knight level, or the rare case where something was above even that, is not something any group is equipped to handle so we can't do anything about the “unnamed” ranks anyways. Is there anything else you would want to know?”
Val blinked, trying to absorb all this new information first. “You haven't talked about the rules of the Guild itself yet, miss.”
The receptionist raised both eyebrows at that, clearly surprised. “Oh my, oh my… I lost myself in the rank explanation again. First of all, you can call me Eri if you want, Miss Leriscroft. Second of all, the Guild rules, yes, they are just as important. An adventurer’s job is to take care of problems the people have in return for a reward, most of the time in the form of money. Those “quests” as we call them are taken in by the Guild, verified to make sure the information is correct and then given a danger rating based on the information we have. Accepting quests posted on a board in the Guild means we, the Guild, will make sure your reward is being given to you should you successfully solve a quest and bring us proof of having done so. The Guild requests in exchange that no adventurer attacks another adventurer unless in self defense or If they have definite proof of them breaking any form of law or are branded a heretic. Should an adventurer fail to solve a quest or take too long they will receive a punishment for breaking the trust the people have in us. Should they be able to prove the Adventurer Guild or the client was at fault for their failure the Guild will make sure to compensate their employee, also the adventurer, or get compensation from the client for endangering their people. If you satisfy the conditions the Guild will also raise your rank and thus allow you to take on more dangerous jobs. We can also help connect you with alchemists, blacksmiths and other services you might require or help in finding temporary teammates for a quest. Adventurers aren't forbidden from taking on quests from a client without the Guild in between the parties but they will have to face the consequences of such a decision on their own.”
“I see. The Guild probably takes some money from the commissions done through them to support itself but that is an acceptable trade off for the services it provides. Thank you very much, Eri and have a good day.”
A few minutes later Valeria stepped out of the Guild again with a quest notice in her hand. ‘Culling the goblin population in the forest. Should be easy enough and perfect training to see how bad I am right now.’ With a smile on her lips she made her way to the north gate. It was time to stretch her limps a bit.
