"I'm at the right place right?" Arthur muttered to himself.
Before him stood a massive structure, towering and proud among the other buildings in the district. It wasn't the elegant architecture that caught his eye, but the chaotic energy pouring from within—laughter, shouting, clashing mugs, and the sound of weapons clanking together. People flooded in and out like bees swarming a hive.
Hanging above the broad double doors was a bold signboard—a shield etched with two crossed blades. It read:
The Adventurer's Guild
Arthur smiled faintly. "Here I come."
• • •
The previous day,...
"You want to become an adventurer?" Emilia asked in surprise
"Yeah," Arthur replied
Smiling, she gave Arthur a pat on the head. "If you insist."
"To become an adventurer, you'd have to register at a guild and the only requirement is to have a battle class." She added
"So even 10-year olds are allowed?"
"Yes, Arthur. Even 10-year-olds," she teased. "Once you get your class, you're practically considered an adult around here."
"Thanks for the advice Emilia you should get some rest". Arthur pointed out as the day's stress had finally taken its toll on her.
"Ok good night Arthur" she yawned.
"Yeah"
• • •
'Well that was the plan.' Arthur thought, standing before the large double doors. 'No going back now.'
Walking through the large doors, he wondered if it was necessary to make it as big as it was. The door itself was at least 12 feet tall which made Arthur wonder if there were actually real giants in this world.
"So this is the adventurer guild huh" Arthur mused as he surveyed it's interior.
The building was massive in every direction. Its stone walls looked like as if they were built to withstand a battering ram.
The air carried a lingering odour of sweat and alcohol as not every commoner bothered to care for things like that.
After getting his fill of the scenery, Arthur made his way to the reception area which wasn't hard to find as there were already multiple queues formed there.
Arthur exhaled as he joined a random queue while waiting for his turn.
"This is gonna take a while"
• • •
"Next!" The receptionist called out.
"I'd like to register at the Adventurer's Guild." Arthur replied, going straight to the point.
Since his arrival he had already spent well over half an hour waiting in line and he wasn't about to waste even a even a second more on details.
"Oh you want to register, gimme a second" she said while bringing out a form for him. "Here, fill in the necessary information but some are optional too like your class, and skills."
Arthur nodded before glancing through the paper and reading it's details.
"Oh if you can't read you can go over to the next counter over there-" before she could direct him, he chimed in with a glance.
"Don't worry about me miss receptionist I can read and write." he cut in.
"I see." She replied, a little relieved. "I'm Lisa by the way."
"Arthur" he said while scribbling down on the parchment. "I'm Arthur."
He added his name while handing over the form to the receptionist. "Is there anything else I should do or..." He asked, his voice intentionally trailing off at the end.
"No that's about it. She replied. "Wow your handwriting is amazing." She added.
Her tone was casual, but Arthur caught the flicker of curiosity in her eyes. Most commoners couldn't read or write, but here he was—fluent and precise.
"I'll be right back." She turned and disappeared through a door behind the counter.
"Just hold up for a while, I'll be back." Said Lisa as she turned and went into a door behind her, with his form in tow.
Moments later, she returned. But instead of holding his form, she carried a small object with her.
"Congratulations Arthur, you are now an adventurer." She praised while handing over the object to Arthur. "Here's your adventurer card. Try not to lose it 'kay."
"Thanks" he replied while collecting his card. "So can I use this for identification at the city gate?" Asked Arthur, his gaze fixed on the brown haired receptionist.
"Yes, you can use it at any city gate for as a kind of I.D.." She replied.
'Its that useful huh? interesting.' thought Arthur
"Now that you have you're are a certified adventurer you can pick jobs from the board over there-" She gestured over to the mission board at one side of the guild where people were currently checking for jobs of their choice.
"However…" she added, pulling his attention back. "You're starting at F-rank, which means you can only take missions marked for your rank. Don't worry though—once you meet certain criteria, you can move up to E rank and so on." she assured.
"Okay I'll remember that." Arthur commented.
"So if you don't have any more questions, then you're free to go."
Arthur paused, then gave a short smile and stride off. "Thanks for the help, Lisa."
Lisa watched him for a moment longer than necessary, a curious gleam in her eyes. But just as she was about to say something, the next person in line called out.
"Hey, is this line moving or not?!"
Lisa blinked, snapped out of her thoughts. "Y-Yes! Next!"
• • •
For over 5 minutes Arthur stood in front of the mission board with his brows furrowed as he read through the available missions.
"Gather herbs, Construction labourers needed, Mail delivery, more herb gathering..."
'Well this is annoying. It's no wonder adventurer are regarded as nothing more than hired help by some people.'
All he had to do was just take one mission. They all looked simple but Arthur didn't feel like doing anyone anytime soon as they weren't even worth his time.
His goal was to take revenge on the royal family so he had to get stronger as much as he could and judging from the missions before him, it seemed that that his goal would probably take a while.
While his internal monologue carried on, he kept reading through the pinned jobs. "Gather herbs, gather herbs, hunt dire wolves, gath– Wait! Hunt dire wolves!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
'Finally and here I was about to pick herb gathering.' he thought. But then he looked at the mission again. "Dire wolves are still wolves right? Isn't this dangerous?..." He pondered.
'No' he thought as he his grip on the parchment tightened. 'I can't always stick to the easy road. Now can I?' he mused.
"Yeah," a small grin crept on his face. "
Finally ripping off the parchment, and walking back to the counter, he spoke up as his grin widened. "Look alive Arthur, it's wolf season."