CARLAY
Here is the contract. Please read and sign if you accept.
This contract before me was an old shunned technique now used on a daily basis throughout the land. Known as the blood contract for who-so-ever signed it was bond by life and soul. Life and soul was another important aspect of this contract because it forbade the undead to sign because they did not have souls. But many other things could creep in, like werewolves. Once again, depending on what was written on the contract, freewill allowed individuals to ignore certain parts of a blood contract. I took the contract into my hands and read it carefully:
From this day forward, I hereby pronounce myself an Adventurer of the Gayrock Kingdom under the King, princes, princesses, nobles and followers of such. It is my sole duty to pay the joining fee and ten percent of any orders, mission, tasks, or any paid work given by a citizen of the Gayrock Kingdom not taken off the Mission Board towards the Adventurer's Guild. I am free to leave the Adventurer's Guild whenever I please if I currently do not owe any taxes or fees. For if I do not pay my fair share of taxes or fees before the day of my leave or death, I offer my soul and life to become the possession of the Adventurers' Guild on the day of my death.
A contract that focused entirely on money. I reread the last part of the contract and understood if an adventurer owed money and died in the line of combat, his soul would belong to the guild. How clever. As I touched the blood pencil upon the contract to sign, my own blood seeped out from my fingertips and filled the chamber on the pencil. The process caused no discomfort though it wasn't a pleasant event to watch.
I also saw a soul stamp which proved useful for those who did not have Recall Memory. A soul stamp allowed one to remember contracts if something were to go amiss. It was good to have either way. Soul stamps were also used for numerous techniques that I'd rather not delve into right now.
I placed my hand upon the soul stamp and felt a tingling sensation course throughout my body as if I had learned a new passive.
Contract:
Adventurer's Guild
Carlay snatched the contract away from me quickly, took the unique bag into her hand and pulled on it. It stretched a good length before ripping in two—wait no—it didn't rip apart rather it cloned itself.
CARLAY
Here is your Omega bag.
She smiled at me,
CARLAY
Never seen an Alpha and Omega bag?
I shook my head, she giggled, and for a slight moment her face relaxed and her youthfulness showed.
CARLAY
Yea, It's very cool I—
Her companion to the right cleared her throat, causing Carlay to stiffen up and abandon her childlike side.
CARLAY
Your Omega bag is for any commission you may take in person. Placing coins into the Omega bag will teleport the currency into our Alpha bag here.
Placing anything else into the bag other than puri will not have any effect. Not all commissions are on the mission board and can be given out by the creatures of Gayrock Kingdom to any wandering adventure. We advise all of our adventurers to accept pay before going out onto any missions. If you are not sure of the severity of the mission, you are free to bring the citizen along with you to relay the mission to any nearby guild assessors or decline the mission. If you lose the Omega bag, show your insignia to any assessor and it will cost one thousand puries to replace.
She placed the Alpha Bag away and continued,
CARLAY
If you were to lose your insignia, visit any nearby guild hall and they will verify your soul stamp and it will cost the base price of the insignia plus fifty percent. For now, you will have to pay three hundred and forty puries but because of the amount of adventurers signing up, the fee is now doubled.
I turned to look at the poverty stricken adventurers. They must have signed the contract before understanding the fee of joining the guild.
CARLAY
If you cannot pay this now, you are free to pay it later.
I looked through my pouch and suddenly felt the gaze of everyone boring down on me. This wasn't good because I had three gold at thirty thousand puries, five silver tabs at two thousand puries and ten copper puries at ten puries. I had no choice but to pull out a silver tab. Carlay was smart enough to get the hint and quickly hid the silver tab as she took it from me. She discreetly paid me back in three silver coins and two copper tabs.
CARLAY
Okay, let me explain to you how the mission board works. Missions are created by local or nearby towns, villages or cities and handed to our assessors. Our assessors will decide the severity of the mission and give it a rank from E, the simplest ranks to SSS the most difficult rank. They will then present the mission by placing it upon the mission board over there.
She pointed towards a wooden board peppered with hundreds of tacks and worn, tattered paper upon it. There were no missions on the board and many adventurers crowded around it waiting for an assessor to come with a new mission.
CARLAY
Our adventurers can also challenge the ranks of missions and declare that a mission should be ranked higher or lower and must provide some sort of explanation or proof. For your information, many challenges are normally accepted to become a higher rank if multiple adventurers challenge the ranking of a mission. You can move up in rank by completing higher ranked missions or undergoing a practical test at the Adventurer's Guild Capital in Iron City. You can also join a group and the highest ranked individual in your group decides your rank. The payout will also go towards the highest ranked in the group and he, she, or it will decide how the group gets paid. You can only go down a rank if you were to leave the guild and rejoin. You will never go down a rank once a rank is achieved while in the guild.
She pushed the insignia towards me,
CARLAY
Here is your insignia. Understand that your insignia is made of puries and can be stolen or traded as currency. If your insignia is lost, you must buy a new one...
She made herself clear by repeating herself,
CARLAY
...stolen or lost, you must buy a new one. We advise adventurers to keep their insignia somewhere hidden to avoid conflict.
She pointed to the "E" symbol upon the insignia,
CARLAY
As you can see, you start at rank E. Once you reach the rank B, you're free to accept missions from friendly kingdoms or nations. I have to inform you, our relationship with the Balands Nation is crumbling due to the vampire outbreak. They think we are the cause.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes in frustration,
CARLAY
They believe our kingdom promoted vampires.
Her honest side begun to seep out again.
CARLAY
How can they believe such stu—
Her partner cleared her throat again and Carlay reverted instantly,
CARLAY
Once you complete your first S ranked mission, you will be able to contest to receive the hero title. This includes new contracts, rules, and obligations, and direct command and pay by nobles. That is it. You're all set to go. Thank you.
That was a lot to take in but thanks to Recall Memory, her voice persisted in my head causing my head to throb. I walked over to the mission board and once again, felt everyone's eyes on me. Just a few feet from the board, a door opened from the right back corner.
He must have been an assessor because when he stepped in, the entire guild sprung alive. I was pushed aside as the entirety of the guild rushed the board. The assessor pinned the mission and hurriedly retreated.
As quickly as he pinned it, an adventurer snatched it off. Defeated, the majority of the guild backed away with a few lingering back to scowl at the adventurer with envy. In a change of events, the adventurer shook his head and pinned the mission back onto the board.
Another adventurer grabbed it, quickly read it, and he too shook his head and handed it off to another adventurer, Hunter. I closed in on him with curiosity.
That darn lumberjack is at it again and those coots back there are putting up his missions.
He handed it to me and I scanned the mission. A lumberjack was in need of a bodyguard to chop down trees. It wasn't so bad until I noticed the duration. A week's worth of working at two hours a day and the pay was nine puries. There was also a tiny soul stamp on the bottom right. It was likely meant for an adventurer to accept it.
PAIN
Damn, only nine puries?
HUNTER
My point exactly. Not to mention several E rankers died on separate occasions while helping that ol' fool. Talk around town is that he murders 'em. If yer desperate for some pocket change, ya might want to do that mission in a group. Best chances.
PAIN
Does he live in town?
Hunter shook his head,
HUNTER
Nah, the fool lives about a mile north in a small shack. I've seen it once. I wonder how he makes a living with the wood he gets. Surely ain't coming from this town. Ha, what good would wood do to this rusty ol place? I reckon he trades it up north to Dagon City. How he lugs it up there—no idea.
He took the mission away from me and pinned it back up,
HUNTER
Best to leave this for the Black Knight. He'd take it. Heck, he takes all the missions as long as there is pay.
This man was quite informative. I still wouldn't trust him alone in the wild. Poverty made everyone untrustworthy and despite his cheerful nature, if I wouldn't lay with two sexy twins who lusted for me out of fear of being robbed, I surely wouldn't trust Hunter.
I needed to find an Infuser or an Enhancer to solve the mysteries behind (???) Ring. The sooner the better.
PAIN
Why not go to Dagon City?
HUNTER
Ha, oh how I tried. That was how I saw the ol' shack. Made the journey up north just to be turned away. City wasn't accepting anyone in unless ya had a Citizenship or Trader's Pass. A guild insignia below B wouldn't get ya in. Took my shamed arse back down here ya see.
It made sense. Everyone here was trying to both make money and increase their rank. It took money to make money and that Black Knight was hoarding all of the missions. But...
PAIN
You mentioned heroes from the North Star Kingdom.
HUNTER
Oh yeah...
His attention broke off toward the front as a group entered. My heart skipped a beat because they were familiar faces. I discreetly hid my face from their view as Hunter continued,
HUNTER
Speaking of the devils. There they are.
Seriously? Two of those faces were none other than Cosmo and Eldritch. So they were heroes. Shitty ones indeed; what hero would kill a stranger? Well, I didn't die but I would have if not for my immortality.
HUNTER
All of the missions ranked higher C are reserved to that lot. The Black Knight didn't take it very well and became a ruthless beast. Be sure not to grab any missions when he's around. Cut your life short that will.
PAIN
Reserved? Oh I see, nobles can also put in missions—
HUNTER
Ya bud! Now ya gettin it. Nobles put in missions to take care of them squandering vampires scattered across the kingdom. They're not too keen to split their armies.
PAIN
Hm. Do me a favor.
HUNTER
What's that?
PAIN
Don't make a scene.
HUNTER
Pardon?
I quickly pulled the mission from the board and stuffed it into my pocket. Hunter stared at me dumbfounded,
HUNTER
Ya gonna die kid.
PAIN
No I won't.
Hunter smiled,
HUNTER
I'm not gonna help ya.
I didn't ask for his help to begin with but I was thankful for all the information.
PAIN
No need.
Thanks to my hood it was easy to hide my face from Cosmo and Eldritch. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought they'd remember how I looked. The guild was a bit noisier and a few were whispering and talking here and there. Despite it all, I still felt eyes on me. It was a real feeling that existed when someone stares at another for long periods of time. Whoever it was knew I could feel them staring at me but I wondered why they kept it up.
HUNTER
By the way, what's yer name kid?
I actually thought about it for a second.
PAIN
Pain.
He raised an eyebrow.
HUNTER
Cursed name ya got there, son. Well, yer gonna die soon. Don't fret, I'll remember yer name.
He nodded at me and I took my leave. The group of heroes didn't bother to look up at me as each one of them were focused on the brute Eldritch's lecture.
I made my way back to the Inn and into my room. I pulled out the mission and pressed a finger onto the soul stamp. It took a while before the sensation came trickling throughout my body.
Mission Accepted:
Objective: Coronor's Bodyguard
Duration: Two hours a day. Seven Days.
Total Pay: 9 Puries
Summary: I need protection while in the northwestern forest chopping down trees.
Along with the details on the parchment, knowledge about Coronor's looks and whereabouts were now etched into my mind. It sounded so simple but even the simplest of things could turn horrifying at any given moment. I could be taking a stroll outside the town walls and suddenly get grabbed and eaten by a griffin. Not likely but there was always a chance.
PAIN
What a day.
I plopped onto the luxurious bed and let my mind race. This day felt longer than any of those days spent within the ruins. The sun was on the verge of phasing into the moon and so I decided to summon Skelly. Summon Kinan Skeleton Knight Ritual required a pile of kinan bones, and fifty pounds of dead material. Since I did not have any of those items, I decided to Summon Kinan Skeleton Warrior. Out of the symbol came a glowing skeleton armed with a bone carved longsword.
PAIN
Welcome back Skelly. I need you to protect me while asleep. If someone opens the door. Wake me up. Okay, pal?
I rolled over in the bed a couple times to absorb the softness. I curled up into a ball with a large grin on my face.
PAIN
Goodness, this feels great.
I let my mind go wild as I fell into a slumber and once again dreamed about past events in the Fire Kingdom. The dream dissipated and I entered a state of being awake and asleep simultaneously while in a pit of darkness.
Class Change:
You are now an Elementalist.
Granted Passive:
Fire Control Lv 1
What a surprise. I wouldn't think to become an Elementalist after all of the undead I had been summoning. Thoughts of that book Plight of Souls entered my mind and I began to believe that I may be vastly attuned to elemental magic. My mind slowly fade as I pondered the idea of being an Elementalist and I reentered the world of dreams.
*****
Dim candles lit the hall. A young hooded girl crept up to a door and placed her ear against the door. She heard loud snoring, moved away from the door, pulled out two picks and begun to tinker with the lock. The door unlocked with an echoing click and she winced. She waited for any sound of commotion from inside before she carefully cracked it open. She first saw white bone feet and gradually brought her gaze into a staring contest with a glowing skeleton. It didn't move and neither did she. She kept her eyes on the skeleton as she pulled the door closed.
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Monarch- the Elementalist Page 8