Chapter Forty Three – Insidious Instinct

I stepped into the Adventurers’ Guild feeling a little out of sorts after the encounter with Gabrio. Something about the man seemed off, even for an adventurer, and I couldn’t really figure out what.

Fortunately, I was immediately distracted from worry about my new… acquaintance, by the exuberance of the inside of the building.

Once again, my control was abruptly taken from me as my vision faded to black. A little less terrified this time, I waited for an image to form. My non-existent body was trembling though, incapable of understanding why certain locations seemed to pull me away.

“Hello there!” exclaimed an overexcited elf from behind the counter. “A pleasure to meet you. I am Reldin. Welcome to the Variak Adventurers’ guild!”

He gave an exaggerated sweep of his hand and my view shifted to follow, taking in the magnificent columns that supported the massive building. People conversed all around me, chatting and laughing and just talking together at booths and tables. Some played with little cubes with pips on them – dice, I realized – while others played cards. A massive staircase led above to higher floors of the large building, curling back and around the front desk. Still more people lined the balcony above, gazing down on us below. The whole room was circular, but I knew from having spotted the building outside that it continued on for quite a ways above, making me think the place doubled as an inn.

Decorative tablecloths covered tables designed for eating rather than playing games off to the right side. More desks with cooks behind them stood handing newly crafted plates of food to the patrons waiting to take seats. Those out of the lines all held trays of delicious looking kinds of food that I’d never seen before. Smelling them brought my nose to life, and I realized that I was no longer quite so terrified. It was much easier to feel safe without my agency when the scene wasn’t miles into the air, and when it provided such wonderful scents.

The scene faded in much the same way the city’s had and soon enough I found myself back in my body, staring ahead at the elven man who now stood behind the desk with a smile on his face.

“H-hello there, Reldin,” I said hesitantly.

“Hi! What’s your name, Adventurer?”

I blinked as abruptly a box similar to Miss Tutorial’s body appeared, yet once again it was slightly different. This one was bronze colored instead of the usual grey and had one dialogue box with a title in front of it that simply said “Name.” Inside the box where I would theoretically put my name was an already greyed out box that read “Gell, the Jellyfae.” Huh. Weird.

Below the text box were two now familiar buttons, but instead of “Yes” and “No,” they read “Confirm” and “Clear.”

I didn’t really want to change my name anyway but found it odd that the clear box was greyed out and touching it did nothing. Shrugging unhurriedly, I pressed the Confirm button.

“A pleasure to meet you, Gell! I’ll have you signed up and get you your Traveler’s Crest so you can freely enter any city you may come across! Traveler’s Crests are valid in most of the known world… but this is a big world after all! Almost impossible to see it all. The further you go from already explored territory, the less influence they’ll have,” he shouted with delight. I was a little weirded out. What was he so excited for? Didn’t he do this every day?

“Uhm. Oh...kay. What does a Traveler’s Crest do?” I asked.

“I’m glad you asked! Okay. Traveler’s Crests, first and foremost, identify you as an Adventurer and specify which country you hail from! This means that other countries like Pel’Bramont, the Iki Confederation, and the Jican Empire will recognize you as an Adventurer of Dogaia, and allow you into their borders freely!”

The speech had a practiced ease to it, like the man had given it many times. He also kept gesturing wildly with his hands as if he were trying to emphasize something, but it felt unnatural and strange. It reminded me of the guard who kept repeating the same thing over and over again, though in a different way. As if it were all part of the routine.

As… if it were… Instinct.

My eyes widened as I realized something horrible. NPCs… the people who had the normal, sensible names…

A creeping feeling rose up my body. It felt like being cold and like waiting for an attack at the same time. My skin bubbled strangely. Could… could the people be following the Instinct as well? Was it possible that more than just the creatures of the wild and denizens of dungeons like my own were enslaved by the Instinct?

Was I kin to all of these people?

I growled as a new goal began to build within me. The Instinct. It was the cause of all of this. Of everything. And its claws were buried deeper in the world than I had ever realized.

A deep, burning desire to eradicate it filled my being. I seethed, and my anger only grew as I realized Reldin didn’t even seem to register that I was angry. He instead just continued babbling on about the Traveler’s Crests.

The information was useful, and I tried to pay attention as I realized I was making assumptions — I didn’t know for sure that NPCs were subject to the Instinct — but it felt right. Rather, it felt wrong.

I tried to focus on what the little crests did. Nothing very interesting as it turned out. They kept track of my reputation and also allowed me access to the Class Trainers and Profession Halls. They also kept track of any titles I might earn.

A part of me wanted to hurt the man. A part of me wanted to cry. If… if NPCs were slaves to the Instinct as well… did that mean being an adventurer – an invader – was the only way to be free?

I didn’t know. But I needed to know more. I could practically feel Reldin following an unknown directive, constantly forcing him to act. To be as he was. To speak only the words he was assigned.

Sure enough, when I spoke to him again, he began to repeat himself. Just like the guard. Just… just like all of the NPCs?

“Please, take a rest in one of our rooms! They’re free for new adventurers like yourself, but once you reach apprentice rank in a class or profession there will be a small fee.”

“Please, take a rest in one of our rooms! They’re free for new adventurers like yourself, but once you reach apprentice rank in a class or profession there will be a small fee.”

“Please, take a rest…”

“Say something else!” I interrupted, reaching over the counter and staring hard into the man’s delighted eyes. “Say… say anything else.”

Reldin paused for a moment, saying nothing. For the briefest moment I saw the momentary hint of a frown.

“Please, take a rest in one of our rooms!”

“Fine!” I shouted. “I’ll take the stupid room.”

My eyes were wet. I was crying again. Dammit. I hated this body and its constantly wet eyes.

“Hiya, Adventurer! It appears you need… to smile a little. Don’t be sad, Gell... Would you like to know more about private rooms!?”

I blinked as Miss Tutorial appeared and spoke to me. She’d…

She said my name again. For just a moment. She’d known me. She’d known me. Before the Instinct corrupted her tongue, insidiously controlling everything about this wretched world.

But she was trying. Just like Bugbear. She was trying. I wiped my eyes, letting a small smile cross my features as I said, “Yes please.”

The button pressed itself without any interaction on my part. Miss Tutorial began another one of her lessons… but I couldn’t stop smiling as I listened.

I barely noticed when the world faded to black and I temporarily lost all sense of being. Soon enough, the world reappeared, but instead of the Adventurer’s guild, I was sitting in a small room. A comfortable looking bed, a mirror, a vanity, and a small dresser adorned the otherwise sparsely empty room.

It was lit by warm candles that reminded me of Dungeon Home. I hated them immediately.

I felt stifled and confined the moment I witnessed the place. Fortunately, approaching the door immediately gave me a prompt to leave the claustrophobic room, and I did so as fast as I could. Again my vision faded to black and my control was temporarily taken. I writhed inside, hating every moment of the wait, but soon enough I stood once again in the Adventurers’ guild main hall, wondering just how much of this world was governed by the Instinct, and what I could ever do to stop it.