The Adventurers Guild

by Phoenix Grey

  Azure's mouth fell agape. No wonder Uden looked to be in such poor condition. It took Azure a moment to wrap his head around that kind of loss.

  "So what level are you now?" he asked finally.

  "I don't want to talk about it." The half-imp sulked.

  'Five,' Lonnell mouthed from across the table.

  Azure visibly cringed. Jesus Christ, that sucks. It was similar to what had happened to Sir Thornton. Perhaps that was the last hidden sacrifice to making Gaia's Staff work.

  "Don't worry about it, man. You'll catch back up in no time." Azure patted him on the shoulder.

  "I hope so." Uden blew out a breath, not sounding confident.

  "We'll help you," Lonnell assured him.

  "Yeah." Azure smiled. "The Adventurers Guild is full of little piddly quests that will level you up in no time. Don't think of this as losing levels, think of it as gaining a new life. You always wanted to move to the mainland, and now here you are. Everything you do from this point on will be for you. You can live for yourself now—don't have to worry about what your parents want. And hey, you can even go to magic school now." He kept talking the mainland up, trying to make it sound better and better.

  Finally, a smile reached the half-imp's face. "That is true. Thank you." They were all silent for a few moments before Uden spoke again. "I see you've learned a spell. Got any more?"

  "Only two so far." Azure delved into a long conversation about Hawking's School of Land Magic, the prices of classes, the way learning spells worked, and his current plight. Which reminded him, "We should probably take on another bounty quest soon. Magic school is expensive, and I'm almost out of coin. He's going to need a lot of coin to attend, too." Azure nodded his head in the half-imp's direction.

  "We picked up his prerequisite quest today after we landed in Squall's End. He'll take the night off and start on it tomorrow." Lonnell gazed at Uden with brotherly affection. Azure couldn't help but wonder if Lonnell would be overprotective for a while.

  "What kind of quest is it?" he asked, hoping they could buy the half-imp's way out of it like Lonnell had with his gathering prerequisite quest.

  Uden audibly groaned, his body shifting back in annoyance. That alone told Azure that whatever he had been assigned was going to take some time.

  Lonnell wrinkled his nose. "For someone with super high luck and a low level, I'm surprised they assigned him what they did."

  "Well." Azure gestured for them to continue.

  "There's a castle under siege that I have to go help defend," Uden told him. "The quest duration is two weeks."

  "Two weeks!" His eyes bulged. That's fucking ridiculous!

  "I don't like it." Lonnell shook his head. "It seemed to me that they're looking for front-liners. Expendables."

  "Arrow fodder," the half-imp added. "And to think, I just got resurrected only to be thrown directly into the most difficult situation possible."

  "That's bullshit." Azure sighed, visibly angry about his friend's predicament. "You know what... You don't need The Adventurers Guild," he said finally.

  "What?" Uden gave him a queer look.

  "You don't. You can just quest with Lonnell and me. We're probably going to be taking bounty quests for a while. We'll split our loot. And even if we occasionally don't take on a quest that will benefit all of us, there are other ways to make coin. I've done rather well fishing, though it takes forever to level the skill."

  "Fishing?" The half-imp chuckled. "You? Really?" The look of disbelief on his face was comical. "And some people say I'm lazy."

  Azure's expression drooped as he stared at his friend. “Listen, you dick, I'm just trying to help.”

  Uden waved his discontent away. “I know, I know. I just can't help...” He chuckled some more.

  Lonnell didn't seem to want to get in on the joke. “You know he can't skip this quest. If he does, he'll be banned from every Adventurers Guild in The Realm.”

  "Well we can't go with him, and I doubt they'll let him appeal," Azure pointed out. "It's too dangerous to go alone."

  "He won't be alone. He'll have other people around him. Probably soldiers from Noseon and other Adventurers." Lonnell did his best to make the quest sound safer than it probably was.

  "Alas, I fear that discrimination follows me wherever I go." The half-imp sighed dramatically. "This is just an easy way to sweep me under the rug."

  "Don't start with that." Lonnell tossed his head to the side in annoyance.

  "I'm inclined to believe him in this case," Azure remarked. "When they checked his credentials, I'm pretty sure they saw that he's half-imp. Besides, he doesn't exactly look human right now, no offense." As was clear by all of the staring going on around them. Azure was just happy that no one had tried to attack Uden yet.

  "None taken." The half-imp held up a hand. "This is not the start I had wanted on the mainland." He sulked.

  "Well, at least you're not dead anymore," Lonnell told him. "Azure and I sacrificed a lot to bring you back."

  "It was likely pointless considering where The Adventurers Guild wants to send me," Uden said morosely.

  "Just take the night and think about it." Azure pushed the beer toward the half-imp when it finally arrived.

  Lonnell immediately grabbed the horn by the handle and pulled it away from Uden. “None for him tonight.”

  The half-imp pierced his brother with his gaze. “Oh, you suck.”

  "One beer isn't going to kill him," Azure insisted, to which he was met with a glare by Lonnell. "Too soon?" He smirked.

  Uden chuckled, but his brother didn't find it so funny.

  Stubbornly, the half-imp pulled the horn back from Lonnell. “I've been through death and back. Literally. If one beer kills me, then I was never meant to come back anyway.”

  "Fine," Lonnell relented with a sigh.

  Azure lowered his voice for his next question. “So what happened to the staff?”

  "It disintegrated after I used it," Lonnell replied. "That's probably for the best. I would not have wanted anyone to find its remains. I mean, I doubt it could have been recharged, but still."

  "Don't want the evidence of your betrayal lying around," Uden added with a smirk.

  "You're the last person who should be talking about betrayal." Azure glowered at him.

  "That's all in the past." The half-imp nonchalantly waved away his accusation.

  "It better be," he grumbled.

  They drank conservatively that night, all sticking to one pint of beer a piece as they shared stories about what they'd been up to since Lonnell had left. Uden spoke about death being a long dreamless sleep, about the lack of excitement at sea, and about how Squall's End was everything he'd hoped it would be. When they had each finished their beer, they went back up to their room at the inn. Since they were celebrating Uden's return, he got the privilege of sleeping in the bed. It reminded Azure of how much he wanted his own room. Having spent the past night with barely a wink of sleep thanks to being out in the open, he desperately longed for a good rest. It was difficult to have when every time he turned there was a hard, flat surface beneath him, causing his muscles to cramp and ache. Somehow, though, he was able to sleep long enough to miss Uden sneaking out in the middle of the night.

  Lonnell jostled Azure awake with panic in his expression. “Where did he go?”

  "I don't know." Azure blinked away what little sleep was clinging to his eyelids, turning his gaze up toward the bed, not that he could see on top of it. "Maybe he went to take a piss."

  "No." Lonnell shook his head, then stood. "It's been too long. He's gone. Just gone."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  THE REALM – Day 72

  Uden was, in fact, gone. Though Azure thought there were better things to spend their time on, he joined Lonnell to search Squall's End. The half-imp was nowhere to be found, which meant he had left town.

  "I don't understand where he could have gone," Lonnell said, his expression set in thought.

  "Isn't i
t obvious?" They stood outside of The Adventurers Guild, which was where Azure planned to go as soon as their conversation was over. "He went to complete his prerequisite quest. He was probably worried that we would try to stop him or fuck things up by going with him."

  Lonnell exhaled deeply. "I hope that's the case."

  "Or do you think..." Azure's words trailed off. While it hadn't occurred to him before, perhaps Uden had decided to abandon them and venture off on his own. If he stayed, the half-imp would have to live with the regret of having betrayed both of them. Besides, he was so many levels behind them, Uden might be worried that he would just be a burden.

  "I don't know." Lonnell tore his hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't know what to think. My brother has always been unpredictable."

  That was the truth. If there was one thing Azure had learned about Uden, it was to expect the unexpected from him.

  "So what do we do now?" he asked.

  "I don't know." Lonnell threw his arms up in exasperation.

  "Well, if he did go do his prerequisite quest, he won't be back for a while. We could quest and see if he returns after two weeks."

  "If he did go, I doubt he'll return." Lonnell's voice was hard with repressed emotions.

  Azure stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to grab his attention. "Hey. That's his choice. I'm sorry what you went through to bring him back. But it is his life. You did your part. If he wants to throw it away, that's on him now. I'm sure he understands he won't get a third chance."

  Lonnell sighed, his bad mood not curbed. "I hate that he's so reckless. It will get him killed...again."

  "Like I said, that's on him. We have other things to focus on." Like earning more money. His gaze fell back on The Adventurers Guild. Wherever Uden had gone, Azure doubted he'd be back anytime soon.

  "I suppose you're right," Lonnell agreed finally. "I'm still doing well as far as coin is concerned, but I'll need more to buy land and wed Bronna."

  "And magic school isn't going to pay for itself." Azure was glad that he was pulling his friend back on track.

  "Bounty quest?" Lonnell looked at him. "I hate to keep pulling these high difficulty quests, but they pay the best."

  "Yeah." Nervousness snaked through Azure's gut as he thought about the potential for death that faced them when taking on bounty quests. Having Uden back was supposed to give him a boost in confidence for their survivability, but with the half-imp's level hacked down, he may end up being more of a liability than anything else. It was funny to understand now how Lonnell and Uden had probably felt about him at the beginning—an interesting reversal of roles. Whatever the case, it wasn't even worth factoring Uden into the equation when he wasn't around.

  "Let's go inside and see what they have." Azure gestured for them to enter the building. "I'll accept this one since you did the last."

  "Sounds fair." Lonnell nodded, and they headed inside.

  The wait was insufferably long. Thanks to arriving later in the morning, there were ten other Adventurers ahead of them. It took over two-and-a-half hours to make it to the front of the E line, which ate into their day considerably.

  As soon as Mel laid out the four available quests for them, Azure focused on the bounty quest.

  Adventurers Guild Quest: The Heightened Haunted Mansion

  Everyone knows the old Digby Mansion is haunted. Mistakenly built atop a cemetery, ghosts have been spotted wandering the halls for decades. Servants have reported that the newest owner of the mansion, Radclyffe Smithe, has gone missing after an expedition into the forbidden basement. Go to Digby Mansion and unravel the mystery of what happened to its owner.

  Designation: E

  Type: Bounty

  Difficulty: Hard

  Deadline: 9 days

  Success: Discover what happened to Radclyffe

  Failure: Cancel quest or die

  Reward: 3 gold, 4 silver, 1 Quest Point, 1 Small Skill Token, 1 Ring of Fortune, 1 Strike Ring

  Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

  "That's a bit ambiguous," Azure mentioned as he scanned over the quest description.

  "The basement is assumed to be a dungeon," Mel informed him. "That's why this is classified as a bounty. From what I understand, there are no monsters in the mansion itself, but no one knows what lurks in the basement because entering it had been expressly forbidden by the previous owner."

  Azure turned to Lonnell. "What do you think?"

  Lonnell shrugged. "I guess we take it."

  "Then we take it." Azure smiled at Mel before picking up the quest sheet.

  Just as they were leaving, Azure heard Ferne's voice calling, "Hey, you!"

  Assuming she was speaking to another Adventurer, he continued walking toward the door. It wasn't until Mel yelled his name that he stopped and turned around.

  The Registration Clerk scowled at him as she wiggled her finger in a 'Come here,' motion. Azure had no idea what she wanted or why she looked so unhappy. Did he do something wrong?

  Everyone's attention was drawn to him as Azure returned to the E line window. Mel stepped aside so that Ferne could speak directly to him. She leaned in to whisper, "You didn't show Enno's book to anyone, did you?"

  Guilt immediately assaulted Azure, but he stilled his expression for the lie that was about to leave his lips. "No. Why?"

  Enno was the famous angler who Azure had met on his prerequisite quest for The Adventurers Guild. His job had been to read the man's unpublished manuscript, fish one of the locations in it, and return to The Adventurers Guild with his honest opinion about the book. Along the way, he had met another fisherman with interest in the book. To secure a safe spot to sleep for the night, Azure had allowed the man to read the book in exchange for sharing his fire. It seemed like that decision was about to come back and bite him in the ass.

  "A man known as Goddart the Godfish just released a comparable book. The similarities are rather...suspicious." She eyed him.

  "Never heard of him." Azure shook his head, feeling sweat pooling beneath his armor. What would happen to him if Goddart sold him out? Would his ability to quest for The Adventurers Guild be revoked? All he could do was hope that both of them took the secret to their graves.

  "If you did show it to him, it would be a pretty big infraction," she warned. "Many of the quests here at The Adventurers Guild are confidential. We don't need Adventurers that can't be trusted." She glared at him, clearly not buying his lie.

  Azure held his hands out, palms up. "I don't know how this happened. Maybe Enno let this guy see the unpublished book, and he came up with his own."

  "That would never happen," Ferne insisted. "The two are known rivals."

  Huh. Whoda thunk that Azure would have the unfortunate luck of running into Enno's rival and be dumb enough to show the guy his book? He bet that Goddart was laughing all the way to the bank.

  "Like I said, never heard of him. Now, if you don't mind, I have a quest to attend to." He turned from her, playing the offended card. All she could do was glower at his backside in suspicion as he walked away.

  Lonnell leaned in to whisper, "What was that all about?"

  "Not sure, but we have more important things to think about." While lying to Lonnell wasn't necessary, the less he knew, the better. Their last friendship level notification promised that Lonnell would never sell him out, but Azure felt that this was something better kept to himself.

  "I suppose you're right." Lonnell quickly refocused his attention. "The duration of this quest is barely over a week. Seems kind of short for a potential dungeon. Whatever the case, let's just get it done and move on to the next. Where's the mansion at?"

  Azure pulled up his map and sighed. "Looks to be about eight hours away, give or take. This one follows along the coast. Away from Noseon."

  "If it follows the coast, we'll have to watch out for Naga," Lonnell's voice was etched with concern.

  "Maybe not." Azure hummed. "It's on this strange finger inlet. Pull up yo
ur map, and you'll see what I'm talking about."

  They paused for a few minutes so that Lonnell could do as he was told. "Ah. I see what you're talking about. Yeah. Too far inland for Naga."

  "I think that's a relief," Azure hesitated. More monsters meant more loot and experience, but he'd never fought a Naga before.

  "Anyway, we won't reach it by tonight, even if we leave now. Plus, I kind of want to wait around and see if Uden is going to return." Lonnell cast his gaze back toward the inn.

  "It would be good to bring him along," Azure agreed. "How long were you thinking about waiting? We don't exactly have all the time in the world. It will take us a day to get there and a day to get back. If there is a dungeon involved, who knows how deep it goes."

  "Just tonight. If we leave out today, we'll be caught sleeping in the unknown anyway. At least, if we leave in the morning, we can stay tomorrow night in the mansion."

  Azure snorted, wondering which was worse, sleeping out in the open or in a haunted mansion. If he had to guess, he'd say the latter of the two. Still, Mel had said there were no monsters inside the actual mansion.

  "Fine," Azure agreed as they walked away from The Adventurers Guild. "I wonder how we're supposed to defeat ghosts anyway."

  "No clue," Lonnell admitted, which didn't give him any comfort.

  "I hate winging it." Azure sighed. They stopped in front of the tavern and inn. "You going to come eat?"

  "Later. I want to check the room for Uden first." Lonnell looked up at the building.

  "Hey." Azure caught his attention before he could ascend the steps and disappear inside.

  Lonnell turned back to him. "Yeah?"

  "So...since this next quest involves a dungeon, how would you feel about taking on another party member?"

  "What do you mean?" Lonnell furrowed his brow.

  Azure took a few steps forward so he wouldn't have to speak so loudly. "I mean that every time we've entered a dungeon so far, someone has died. Two for two. I don't like those odds. The first time it was Uden. Last time it was Sir Thornton. What makes you think it will be any different this time?"