by Tao Wong
“We’ll take you,” Gerardo said simply. Farhad eyed Daniel with a contemptuous look in his eyes before he turned away to sip on his mulled wine.
“Pardon?”
“You’re here to ask for one of our three spaces, right? Maximum party size is seven, maybe eight we’re told,” Gerado replied.
“Oh. I guess you’ve had a lot of enquiries?” Daniel said, lips compressed slightly. Damn.
“Many? Just about the entire morning,” Rita said, her voice squeakily high. “We’ve got guilds big and small offering us gold. Heck, even our guild master wanted to reserve the spots.”
“Ah…” Daniel made a face at that, realising that of course, their guild would want them to help others out. It was already incredibly generous of them to offer him a place.
“Problem?” Gerardo said, seeing Daniel’s expression.
“I was looking to attach my team to yours,” Daniel replied before he shook his head. At those words, Farhad turned to look at him again even as Daniel blathered on. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
“Wait. You’re turning down a chance to run Artos? Surely your friends understand?” Casey said, waving his hand. “It’s supposed to be chockfull of monsters in there. I hear you can make nearly fifty gold in one run!”
“Fifty? I heard it was more like a hundred,” Rita said.
“I think that’s for the team,” Casey said with a frown.
“I’ll still take a hundred for the team,” Rita said with a smile. “That’s what the Orange and Yellows do on a run now. At that amount, I could even get another enchantment done.”
“I know right? I was thinking of a…”
Gerardo rapped on the table to quieten his two friends, rolling his eyes slightly at Daniel. Daniel chuckled, having met and spoken with others like the group. It might even be nice, to have companions who spoke more than a few words at a time.
“I’m sorry, it’s not something I can do. We’re, well… you know, a team.”
“Loyalty is important,” Farhad finally spoke, eyes glinting in approval. “In all things.”
“Right…” Daniel said, eyeing the Adventurer. “Well, I won’t bother you any longer. Thank you for your time.”
“Where are you staying?” Gerado said, stopping Daniel before he left.
“The Lonely Candle,” Daniel replied automatically.
“Good inn,” Gerado replied. Daniel hesitated a moment longer, but seeing no explanation offered for why Gerado asked, he waved goodbye and left. It had been worth the attempt at least.
“Hero Daniel! We missed you this morning. Asin and myself, we went to watch the fight in the Arena and collect our reward,” Omrak said as he pushed a small pouch over to Daniel. The stocky Adventurer picked up the pouch immediately before slipping it into his own inventory. While the ten gold coins inside was not much of a fortune for an Adventurer, it was still sufficient for others to kill over.
That thought made Daniel snort in amusement. Just over a year ago he had been agonising over saving a single gold coin. And now, he was thinking how ten were insufficient. But, with the requirements for better-enchanted equipment, better protection, payments for repairs and training, it really was low.
“Just wandering the city. I wasn’t looking forward to watching other people fight,” Daniel said. “Too much time on those sands.”
Asin shot Daniel a glance at that, the Catkin having spent sufficient time with him to know how poor an excuse that was, Daniel reflected. She probably also smelt his evasion for all he knew. Omrak however just grinned, happy to take the answer at face value.
“Ah, it was surely a pity,” Omrak said. “You missed many great battles.”
“Really now? Tell me about it,” Daniel said, waving to the tavern wench for an ale and his dinner.
Omrak needed no encouragement, launching into a tale of the battles they had watched and his own grasp of matters. Soon, Daniel found himself regretting missing the action. It seemed that there really was a lot to be learnt from watching.
Perhaps chief among them was the fact that their little party really needed to expand. Many of the tactics that Omrak had learnt while watching could only be counted on to work with more numbers. Almost without fail, any team with a healer had a spell caster in it, with the mages outnumbering healers by a small, but significant, number. At the blue and white levels, nearly a quarter of the teams had spell users of some form.
Teams in the mid-range, the yellow and green certified teams might have a mixture of members, but often mixed their classes more. Each team had at least one, if not more, dedicated ranged fighters. Combined with a spellcaster, they could often inflict significant damage on their enemies before they arrived, breaking up formations and offering their teams an advantage in many encounters.
“Pet Master,” Asin interrupted Omrak’s enthusiastic recounting of another melee team.
“Oh yes! There was a Pet Master in there. He had a Shadow Cat and a Wilder Boar working for him. It was amazing! The three of them took on half the Skeleton Mob by themselves,” Omrak enthused. “They did almost as well as the lead team because of him. Of course, that uhh…”
“Trapper,” Asin supplied.
“He helped a lot too. His Skills to lay out those wire and web traps so quickly was amazing. Held up another quarter of the horde while the rest of his friends smashed the others,” Omrak said, shaking his head. “I don’t know if they’d be useful in a Dungeon, but I know my village would be honoured to have such a skilled Trapper.”
“Questors,” Asin said pointedly as an explanation. Daniel nodded, taking her word for it. It made sense, a Pet Master and a Trapper in the wilds with a Ranger would be a deadly combination for wild monsters. Not necessarily the team he would want to bring into a Dungeon – at least, not ones like Karlak or Porthos with their narrow corridors.
“Do you think we need more people?” Daniel asked as the pair finally wound down, their descriptions of the assortment of enchanted weapons and amazing Skills finally ending. Once again, Daniel wished he had been there – arrows that shrieked, spells that grew vines and made sand so loose monsters sank on their first step, a shield that reflected light so brightly it stunned opponents and armor that coated its wearer in ice all sounded incredible.
“It would seem wise. Our party is lacking I fear,” Omrak said. “Though you have endeavored to wield your crossbow, it is insufficient for our needs.”
Daniel ducked his head at that with a grimace. The weapon was slow, cumbersome and in most cases, only good for a single shot. It was better than nothing and could, if they were lucky, remove a single opponent. But it was insufficient.
“Mage,” Asin said, tapping her chest.
“You’re a mage?’ That obviously didn’t make sense to Daniel, but it seemed to be what she was stating.
“No. Want mage,” Asin clarified.
“Oh. Don’t we all?” Daniel said with a half-smile. But mages were hard to find – nearly as rare as healers.
The look that Asin gave Daniel was filled with pity, the Catkin quietly waiting for the stocky Adventurer to catch up.
“Oh…” Daniel paused. “They’d want to join us because we’ve got a healer eh?”
Asin nodded happily, but then leaned close and whispered a single word. “Gift.”
Daniel sighed as he leaned back. Once again, it came down to his damnable Gift. It was why they had such a small group, why they had not looked for more. Taking on Omrak had been a moment of kindness, letting him know of Daniel’s Gift had happened only after weeks of working together. Luckily, it was rare that they truly needed his ability. Perhaps they could do that again.
But starting a relationship, especially one that relied on trust as greatly as theirs did, with a lie – or at least, half-truth – was not a good beginning.
“I think we’re going to have to risk it,” Daniel said finally, glad that his friends had come to the same conclusion that he had. “Soon enough, we’re going to need more he
lp.”
With the decision made, the trio fell on the food that had arrived with alacrity. Perhaps soon enough, the trio would be more.
The Adventurers Guild the next morning was surprisingly quiet. It seemed that the attraction of the tournament continued to keep many of the Adventurers busy. In the silence, Daniel was once again impressed by the sheer size of the building. Even with a significant portion blocked off for the vault and other storage areas, the building was still twice as big as a typical barn. Still, with so few Adventurers coming in, the Clerks were standing around in small groups, taking the rare moment of leisure to gossip and catch up with one another.
“Excuse me?” Daniel said as he approached one of the manned desks where a young Clerk worked on his paperwork.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering where I should go to post about a party opening?”
“Wrong room. It’s in the Quest portion. There’s a board,” the bored voice of the Clerk answered immediately, not even looking up from his paperwork.
“Thank you,” Daniel said, turning around and walking off. He took all of three steps before a voice called out.
“Daniel Chai?”
“Yes?” Daniel said, turning to look at the speaker. The older woman, the Clerk’s supervisor if Daniel recalled correctly, broke away from the group she had been speaking with.
“The Guild Master wishes to speak with you,” the supervisor said. Even Daniel could hear the title in her word.
“Me?” Daniel almost squeaked. While he had interactions with Liev in Karlak, that was Liev and Karlak.
“Yes. Come along.” The supervisor turned and walked behind the tables, opening a door and guiding Daniel through the corridor. Curious, Daniel looked around but was mostly disappointed at how bland and boring the corridor was. Beyond the abundance of Mana lights, the corridor looked no different from any other with perhaps more doors at best.
“Sir, Adventurer Chai,” the supervisor announced Daniel as they entered the room after being invited in. The Guild Master’s room was slightly more interesting, slightly more what Daniel had expected to see in such a fabled place. A plush rug that Daniel realised came from a Dire Bear lay beneath his feet while on the walls were numerous trophies from monsters. The claws of a very large Shadow Cat, the wings of a Hippogriff, the stuffed maw of a MegaCroc. Alongside the back wall next to the window was also a bookcase, one that hummed with power from even this distance. And all around him, Daniel could feel the enchantments that warded and protected this room.
The Guild Master himself was a small man, made smaller with age. A pair of spectacles perched on his large, bulbous nose framed bushy white eyebrows and stringy hair. Yet, even seated, the Guild Master carried a sense of latent violence in his body, one that his studious and elderly nature did little to hide.
“Good. Come in, Adventurer Chai. Or may I call you Daniel?” the Guild Master said as he gestured to the seat across his paper-strewn desk. For the life of Daniel, he could not remember the Guild Master’s name – everyone just referred to the man by his title on the few occasions he was even spoken about. For people like Daniel at his level, he might as well be royalty for what he had to do with his life.
“Daniel is fine, sir,” Daniel said and took the offered seat.
“Good, good. So, I’ve got this paper here,” the Guild Master muttered, pushing at the stacks for a few minutes before giving up. “Somewhere. A letter asking me to keep an eye on you. Now, that’s not uncommon – you would be surprised at how many nobles think I’m here to babysit their precious son or daughter – but imagine my surprise when it comes from a trusted colleague. And it’s backed up by the name of an Adventurer of some renown too.”
After that, the Guild Master paused, obviously waiting for Daniel to interject. However, uncertain as he was, Daniel could only stay silent. It was obvious that the letter was written by Liev and if he was not wrong, Khy’ra too.
“So, I dug into it. And had my people keep an eye on you. In three weeks, you’ve been in the dungeon for nearly the entire time,” the Guild Master said, tapping his lips. “And then there was that display in the arena.”
Again, the silence stretched out, neither party willing to budge. When Daniel still refused to speak, the Guild Master smiled slightly.
“That Gift of yours, it’s very powerful.” Daniel twitched slightly before stilling his face. Even so, he knew that he had given the game away. Not that the Guild Master probably didn’t know about it. After all, there probably was a report somewhere about the healing of the Champion.
“I understand that you have had some bad experiences with the nobility before,” the Guild Master said softly, eyes intent.
This time, Daniel could not still his surprise as he blurted. “How did you know?”
“We are the Adventurers Guild, my boy,” the Guild Master said with a snort. “There’s very little we can’t learn. I would be wary too with your experience. And it’s no surprise that you’d want to be an Adventurer after that. We do have a degree of autonomy many others don’t.”
“That’s not why I chose to be an Adventurer, sir,” Daniel protested. Sure, it had some bearing on his choice, but the dream of seeing the world, challenging himself in Dungeons and defeating monsters, defeating Ba’al’s poison, that had been his as a child.
“Mmmm… good. I hate those who run into our arms thinking we’ll protect them from their sins. We’re Adventurers not cowards,” the Guild Master answered. “But that Gift of yours – you know it will be reported higher. The fact that it was kept quiet for so long, it could even be considered treason in certain lights.”
“I-”
“Relax. No one is saying it yet.” the Guild Master shrugged. “Not as if anyone important has died that you could have saved. But there is going to come a time when that’s going to happen. And when your Gift is needed. What will you do then?”
“I’ve never refused to heal those in need. I just, I don’t… I can’t be a kept man. Not again,” Daniel said, eyes meeting the Guild Master. “I refuse to sit around, waiting on the off chance that someone might injure themselves, refusing to use my Mana or Gift. It’s a wasted life…”
“Wasted if you save your king?”
“And if I never have to?” Daniel shot back immediately. “No one can see the future.”
“Good enough for me,” the Guild Master said abruptly, grinning. He reached into his drawer and pulled out a ring, tossing it over to Daniel.
“What…?”
“It’s a signal ring. It isn’t active until we need it to be, so it won’t interfere with your other enchantments. If you’re needed, we can find you with this.”
“You’re… putting me on a leash?” Daniel said slowly, staring at the ring in his hand.
“Think of it as a way for us to contact you when needed. In turn, we’ll pacify those who would want to keep you locked up,” the Guild Master said. “It’d be easier if I understood what the cost of your Gift is though.”
“That…” Daniel started and then shrugged his shoulders.
The Guild Master grimaced but let the matter drop, running his hand along the table once more. “One more thing. I’m assigning you two others to your team. A Mage and a Ranger.” Daniel’s eyes widened, wondering how the Guild Master knew of their plans. At Daniel’s reaction, the Guild Master’s nostrils flared. “Do you think I came to my position by sitting behind a desk? Any fool can tell what your team needs.”
Daniel coughed at that, ducking his head low in embarrassment. Of course, he would know as well, if not better than them, what they needed.
“Good. One last thing. Your team is going into Artos.”
“How…?”
“Guild. Master.” The old man laughed then waved his hand, clearly dismissing the young Adventurer. Daniel walked out, puzzled and a bit confused, but slowly growing elated. Even if he had failed numerous times, it seemed that they were still going to be able to make it into Artos. Wait till he told h
is friends.
On that thought, Daniel sped up his steps. If he did not hurry, he would miss the tournament again.
###
End of Book 4
Author’s Note
If you enjoyed reading the book, please do leave a review and rating. Not only is it a big ego boost, it also helps sales and convinces me to write more in the series!
In addition, please check out my other series, the System Apocalypse (a post-apocalyptic LitRPG) and Hidden Wishes (an urban fantasy GameLit series). Book one of each series follow:
Life in the North (Book 1 of the System Apocalypse)
A Gamer’s Wish (Book 1 of the Hidden Wishes series)
For more great information about LitRPG series, check out the Facebook groups:
GameLit Society
LitRPG Books
About the Author
Tao Wong is an avid fantasy and sci-fi reader who spends his time working and writing in the North of Canada. He’s spent way too many years doing martial arts of many forms and having broken himself too often, now spends his time writing about fantasy worlds.
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