Luna dropped into an armchair across from the desk and promptly sank into the soft padding. She had never sat in a chair this luxurious and she briefly wondered how soft a bed of the same quality must be. Shaking away the stray thoughts she looked at the man who had yet to introduce himself. Resisting the urge to identify him, she waited for him to speak.

“So, Luna was it?” He finally said with a curious look on his face. “Let me introduce myself. I am Michelle Rounfeldt, the current head of the Pathfinder Guild in this part of the human kingdom. Yes, kingdom. We do not care much for the current state of affairs, since we operate everywhere. Now first, would you please disable the device that is masking your status? I can identify you just fine, but I can tell that I do not see the truth of things.”

Luna suddenly felt like coming here had not been such a good idea. Finally giving in to the urge to use her Skill to identify him, she nearly had her mouth drop to the floor.

[Michelle]

Level 74, Human

“There is no point in not showing you. After all, the problem is directly related to what you will see.” She resolutely slipped the ring of her finger, holding it up for him to see.

“Ah! A ring that shields some information. Now let me see what was important enough for you to wear that trinket.” Luna could see that he had identified her again, as his face betrayed his reaction. “This is not possible. I have identified you several times and I can’t feel any more concealing magic around you. A Sylvan? In human lands? Who sent you to us?”

“Before I tell you that, let me ask a question in return. What is your opinion on how the sacred forests have been handled and do you know about ‘The Agreement’?” Luna decided it would be better to find out more before revealing who had sent her here.

“The Agreement you say? Certainly. It was negotiated by the Pathfinder Guild. A long time ago this continent was only settled by humans along the coastlines. Heavily fortified cities as a bulwark against the monsters roaming these lands. The Pathfinder Guild was the spearhead driving inward, looking for the source of the monsters. They found the dungeons, dozens of them. The monsters coming out did not bother the local wildlife, they came straight for the human settlements, relentlessly attacking us. But in some regions the monsters also entered deep woods, only to never come out again. It was postulated that someone or something living in those woods was also a target for the monsters. After many failed attempts, a team of Pathfinder managed to penetrate deep into one such forest in the wake of a monster wave. You already know what they found, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. I carry a letter from Everwood addressed to King Laven. A reminder that ‘The Agreement’ still stands. It was her who first realized what I was. She advised me that I should leave my village before I gained enough level to develop physical traits of my race, which would clearly mark me as non-human. She told me about the Pathfinder Guild and that it was my best chance to find answers about my heritage and maybe options for what I could do in the future.”

“A message to the king you say? Now won’t he be happy about that. I strongly advise you to not deliver that message yourself. Any guard at the palace would realize you had concealing magic around you and they would be able to track you down if you ran. I can arrange for a courier, that way they will only know it came through the Pathfinder Guild.”

Looking at Luna he absentmindedly stroked his beard. “Now first things first. A Sylvan, in human lands. Now isn’t that something. You said you talked to Everwood, that is the dryad in the forest of the same name, correct?” Luna nodded in confirmation. “Excellent. I assume you are from Creek Springs then. No need to confirm that, there is no village close enough to that forest anywhere else. Now please, tell me about yourself.”

“What name do you see when you identify me?” Luna asked him.

“Emiluna”. Was his reply, raising an eyebrow.

“Weird. My full name is Emilia Lunare Sylvanlake. Why do you see the nickname my parents called me?”

“Oh that? It is just one of those little things nobody knows how it works. If you are called by a name long enough and you think of yourself by that name, it will be displayed when someone identifies you.”

“Ok, well. Yes, Emiluna was the name my birth parents called me by and my adoptive parents used it as well. I was the only survivor of a group of settlers that were killed just two day’s travel away from Creek Springs.”

Michelle raised his hand at that to interrupt her. “Did that happen 12 years ago?”

Luna nodded. “How did you know?”

“Oh, that is easy. I have a report somewhere that tells the story of the last supposed monster attack in that region. I read it when I took over this position. The team sent out to investigate did not find any clues. They talked to some people from your Village, I think a small girl found near the ambush site was even mentioned, but in the end they did not find any solid lead. That attack is the reason for the rumors regarding Everwood. You know, ‘people disappear’ and other scary stories. Whatever goes wrong near the place is automatically blamed on it.”

“That matches what I was told.” Luna replied. “During my Rite some weird things happened. First my race changed, to Human/Dryad at first, later to Sylvan when I met Everwood. It also unlocked a Race Skill, that lets me remember things and the first memory it unlocked was of the night my parents were killed. Not a fun dream, I can tell you that.”

Michelle sadly shook his head. “It caused quite the stir back then. Monster attacks are very rare. Wizards and Priest with Diviner abilities regularly cast spells to detect dungeons and the last one in that area was over 30 years ago. Monsters normally only come from dungeons. There are some rare instances when animals mutate into monsters after coming in contact with vast amounts of mana, but those cases are even rarer than dungeons appearing. Did anyone tell you about the group of settlers?”

Luna shook her head. As far as she knew, nobody in the village had any more information on the incident. “No, I only know from what I saw in that memory.”

“Curious. Your village’s leadership was informed about them coming, I do not understand why they would not tell you. Simple, they were a group of refugees from the Demholt Kingdom. They came from a place near the northern shores and fled because of some conflict with the new king there. They were sent to Creek Springs, as the village has been self-sufficient for a long time and a few more hard working people would fit right in.”

“Did you say Demholt?” Luna asked for confirmation. “Because I can tell you right now that it was no monster attack that killed the settlers, no matter how many crude arrows and weapons they dropped around there to make it seem like it. It was Demholt soldiers, I saw the coat of arms on a shield. They came in the night and butchered every single one of them. My mother hid me in some bushes, I suspect magic was involved to conceal me.”

“Damn. That was one of our theories at the time. We suspected a group of their elite had snuck over the border at some point, but they were never seen anywhere. We suspected they had disguised as a merchant train and simply traveled in the open, but that is hard to prove when they were already long gone. There was not a single piece of evidence and our king simply decided to forget about it, only the Pathfinder Guild kept investigating until even we were shut down by the king. Have you told anyone else about this?”

“Only Everwood and a person I trust in the village know. Neither will spill the secret, so you can rest assured that it will not become common knowledge. It seems to me that there is more to it that meets the eye, especially if the Pathfinder Guild was told to not investigate. Whatever it is, right now it is way beyond my level and there is nothing to gain from pursuing it.”

Michelle had leaned back in his chair, fidgeting with his hands. “What you say is right. There is nothing to be gained from this, especially not now when we need the king’s money. I will have Peter prepare a room for you, there is much to talk about and we will have to discuss classes too. I assume you had some special options thanks to your race. I will also have to improve this trinket of yours, while it is good enough to disguise your race from the normal guard, there are other people in this city who will recognize the concealing effect. I know a Wizard Artificer, he studies the art of making magic items. If you will allow it, I will send your ring to him and ask for it to be improved. Until then I advise you to stay on the grounds of the Pathfinder Guild. I will also offer you a membership, as long as at least one of your classes matches our requirements. You may also stay here for as long as you like and I will personally devise a training plan for you. How does that sound?”

When Luna set out from Creek Springs, she had a few ideas of what her life might look like in the future. Being recruited into the Pathfinder Guild at level 4 had not been on that list. The top position had been hermit in the northern mountain range and the current offer easily topped that.

“Yes! I will join you. Not that I have many other options, having to hide my race brings some problems with it and my classes aren’t your standard human fare either. I am a Sylvan Pathfinder and Sylvan Stalker. Both tier 2 classes by the way.”

Hearing the class names Michelle started to laugh out loud. “Pathfinder. It is as if you were destined to join us. Well, without the Sylvan prefix those classes are ordinary human tier 2 classes, but it is very unusual for your age to reach a class evolution and two is practically unheard of. Alright, let's leave the stuffy office and go down to the training grounds. There is also a Class Tablet there, just in case you need it. Then we can discuss Classes, Skills and job prospects for you.”