HBWnovel Chapter 127: The Adventurer’s Guild
Chapter 127: The Adventurer’s Guild
Chapter 127: The Adventurer’s Guild
I walked side by side with Relik, and the congestion of people parted in front of us. He wore his black delving armor with his guild symbol on the chestpiece. As we moved down the roads with a slight incline, Relik asked, “How did you and Bleiz become friends?”
I was just as tall as the dark elf at six feet, three inches. He had a stronger presence, though, not just from people recognizing him. I was almost intimidated by him, “He was assigned to me by one of the leaders of Skyholme as a bodyguard. I am not sure if he told you, but the Wolfsguard used to be bred by Skyholme’s elite to guard the islands.”
“So you do not consider him a friend then? He speaks highly of you. He even said I might have some difficulty facing you in a duel,” he left the last word out there as if it were a challenge.
“It is a developing friendship. I do see him more as a friend than a bodyguard,” I added.
We walked in silence as I took in the varied races and buildings in the city. The Adventurer’s Hall was much more impressive than the small one I had been inside Aegis City. The common room had a thirty-foot high ceiling and a second level with a wrap-around balcony. It smelled of sweat, ale, and leather. “You will need to present your Adventurer’s Guild card. I can get you a meeting with Abraham. He will be responsible for upgrading it to skyship captain card so you can access requests that involve a skyship.”
I pulled my metal card out of my dimensional space that I was given when I registered my delve team. Relik noticed it, “That is just a team token. Do you have your personal token?”
I was a little embarrassed as I was unfamiliar with the process, “This is all we need in Skyholme to delve into the dungeons up there.” I flipped the card in my fingers anxiously.
Relik nodded, “We have those as well, but they are only for dungeon access to Guild-controlled dungeons. The Adventurer’s Guild does a lot more than just delve dungeons. We escort people, transport goods, find items, hunt monsters, harvest materials, and explore. We can stop by the front desk. It will only take a moment.” There was a long line at the front desk, but as Relik approached, they all moved aside to let us get to the front. Even the young dark elf woman currently being helped stepped aside.
The old grizzled human male with a balding head behind the desk looked up, “Relik, what can I help you with?”
“This man needs his Adventurer’s Card,” he tapped my shoulder.
The old man behind the desk looked me up and down, “Did he lose his card, or is this his first?”
“My first. I only had this before to delve dungeons,” I held up my card from Skyholme.
“Not like you to bring the newbies in here, Relik. Is this one special?” The old man said as he pulled out a copper plate with unfamiliar runic markings and a small aether gem embedded in it.
Relik grunted, “We are actually here to see Abraham. Didn’t know the young man didn’t have his card yet. They don’t use them in the floating islands where he is from.”
“Skyship captain, then. Well, my name is Clyde,” he held out his hand, and I shook it. “This is your Adventurer’s Card. We link it to you with a drop of your blood.” He handed me the card to look at. It was as large as my palm, and I sent my metal sense into it to look at the runes. They were tired of the aether crystal to glow if the linked person was holding the card. They were also a block of dots, ten by fifty.
“What are the five hundred dots for? They are not linked to the runes,” I asked, looking up.
“This is just a bronze card. You can only take bronze postings with it. Each bronze posting can earn you punches on the card. When you fill in all five hundred, you can upgrade to silver,” he patiently explained, even though several people were behind me.
“Is there another card after silver?” I asked.
“Well, it is actually silver-plated. Then, it is a gold-plated card. You fill the gold-plated card, and you get the platinum medallion. That only requires you to complete twenty-three missions of the platinum difficulty to get your mithril medallion. Your escort here has a mithril medallion,” he pointed at Relik.
Relik grunted, “And I had had it for almost fifty years. Not many mithril-ranked postings come about in Llorth.” Relik looked at me, “After mithril is the adamantine medallion. That is the highest ranking in the Adventure’s Guild.”
Clyde placed the card into slot on a machine. “I need you to sign your name here. It will be inscribed on your card. I suggest using the common script. Then you need to prick your finger here,” he indicated. “Drop of blood here, and your card will be complete. You can use it any Guild Hall after that.”
I started the process and asked, “What if I lose the card?”
“The first card is ten gold, and it is also ten gold to be replaced. If you have progress toward your next rank, you need to go to the Guild Halls where you received your punches to get your progress verified.” I put a large gold coin on the counter as the card was inscribed with my signature and took my blood.
“Excellent,” Clyde said, inspecting the card. “Looks good. Now, when you turn in a posting, they will confirm this is your card and that the job was completed and then punch your card.”
The card was shiny copper and felt heavy in my hand as I turned it over. Relik put his hand on my shoulder and guided me away from the desk as the line had doubled since we had cut to the front, “Let us head upstairs to see Abraham. He can get your captain’s stamp on your card.”
Many eyes were on us as we crossed the floor and headed up the double-wide stairs to the second floor. The balcony that circled the lower floor had tables of people eating and talking. They paused to watch us as we entered a long hallway. Relik stopped at an open door and entered. A lavish office with shelves of books was inside. A young elven male with short red hair was behind a desk.
“Relik? Finally decided to spread your wings a bit?” The elf smiled in greeting.
“Besides training and delving, my days are pretty open.” He paused and considered, “I plan to offer Bleiz a spot on a delve team for the Dusk Hunters,” Relik said, getting to his reasoning for helping me today.
“That would be his decision and not mine,” I stopped looking in the book. This would be a blow if I lost Gareth and then Bleiz.
“I just did not want to ask him before telling you. He has an impressive skill set, and Jasper thinks he can become an excellent dungeon scout for us.” He looked at the book, “And our way of life is much safer than that. You always know what to expect in a dungeon.” I know that was not entirely the case.
“You are free to ask him,” I finally said.
“Good,” Relik said, standing. “I will leave you to this. Just know whatever you find in these pages is usually not the complete picture.” Relik left me alone in the room, and I felt a pit in my stomach. I almost reached for my communicator to talk with Bleiz first, but this was a decision he would have to make on his own.
I started copying a number of the bounties to paper. They had a description of the raider ship and the region of the Sphere they operated in. There was very little about the crew other than a few names, including the captain. I would need to update our maps—more coin the Adventurer’s Guild would be getting from me. An older dark elf entered the room as I was copying the bounties.
He did not pause to take a free table and open another book. I assumed all the books did the exact same thing. He had no interest in me, but I asked, “Do they sell recent maps of the region?”
He did not look up as he answered, “The quest books only show jobs within ten thousand miles or so. If you want anything further afield, you will have to talk with the Guild Master.” From my position, I could see him paging through postings for cargo. He stopped on a posting for a silver-ranked captain and read it a few times before pulling out his silver card and copying the contract to parchment. He continued to page through the book.
I introduced myself, “I am Storme. I just joined the Guild as a captain and plan to do some pirate hunting. Any advice?”
He finally looked up, interested. After studying me for a moment, he returned to the book, “Captain Hiram, My advice is to focus on cargo and passengers. The maps can be purchased from the guild shop downstairs and will show the dangerous regions where pirates are currently operating.”
I thanked him and took the twenty or so bounties I had copied. It only took a quick search downstairs to find the guild shop. It was a large room off the main common room. One wall was full of hundreds of postings for copper and silver requests. I spent time perusing them with other adventurers. The most common request was for monster parts from the local dungeon.
A few adventurers tried to start a conversation with me, but I was not for making new contacts. I went to an open woman, and a young male human smiled, “How can I help adventurer?”
“I am looking to purchase skyship maps for the entire region,” I replied.
“Very good. Your badge, please.” He pulled out a large map, “The maps are divided by the ley lines.” He pointed out Llorth, “This is where you currently are.” I handed him my copper card, which he returned after confirming it was mine. “Each region is fifty gold for the most recent survey.”
The Sphere was immense, and I began to note regions all around Llorth and all the way back to Skyholme. We already had a number of these maps, but most of the ones Leda used were outdated. The Adventurer’s Guild maps were also all in the same format, making it easier to go between regions. I ended up purchasing forty-nine regions.
I waited almost half an hour for them to be retrieved and sent them to my dimensional closet. I walked slowly back the Maelstrom. Not because I was taking in the sights but because I was dreading what Bleiz’s decision might be.
Remy was in the cargo hold, and dozens of various wood planks were stored here: “I sold the frost mead and bought material to finish the skybike with my own funds!”
“That is good, Remy. Is Bleiz back?” I briefly looked at the multicolored planks.
“He is up with the Adrial and Kiara. They missed him. Or at least harassing him,” he chuckled.
I made my way up and found a happy Bleiz in the cabin wrestling a puppet away from Adrian. He looked up, “Storme, sorry about earlier. We had been tracking that elk for hours. I have a few steaks as a gift for you.” Bleiz never looked this happy in the time I knew him.
I got right to it, “You look happy. Did Relik ask you to join the Dusk Hunters?”
Bleiz looked at me, “He did. I told him no.”
I visibly relaxed, “That is good news. I hope is was not because of our bond.”
“Partly, yes. But not entirely. Relik asked if we were friends, and I did not hesitate to respond, yes.” He smiled, “Besides, being around you is interesting.”
“Glad to hear it. Now let me tell you what has been happening in Skyholme since you have been gone...” I looked forward to telling him about the Black Spire and the Wolfsguard residents.
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