If the outside of the Adventurers’ Guild was unimpressive, the inside was even more so. It took all the features of a drab and dull government building in the real world, dialled them up to eleven and took away anything that might be shiny, sparkly or remotely interesting, leaving behind nothing but stale rooms painted eggshell-white. The Guild offices I had seen in the past had been practical but never managed to evoke such a boring image in my mind.

There was a clerk behind the counter, looking up as we entered. She was a human, something I had expected, and the only person in the building. Even during the early afternoon, that was a bit of a surprise, given that the office was supposed to serve the entire city.

“Good afternoon, welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild,” the clerk greeted us, as we stepped up, “How can I help you?”

There were small sparks of interest in her eyes, and a bit of enthusiasm in her voice, though, thanks to the open book on the counter, it was quite obvious that she had been utterly bored, sitting in the empty building and waiting for customers.

“Good afternoon,” Adra returned the greeting, taking the lead as always, “We just got off the ship from Torop, in Aretia and are seeking to travel further south. Are there any quests that could be completed on the path there?”

The smile on the clerk’s face turned a little weird as she replied, “Give me a moment to check, but I don’t think so,” she shrugged, taking out a stack of notes from beneath the counter, quickly checking them as she leafed through them, her expression falling a little as she did.

“How far are you seeking to travel?” she asked, briefly looking up from her notes. “And what roughly, is the scale of power you seek to work at?”

“We seek to travel far,” Adra replied, “Our plan is to travel all the way down to Phalladri, with a stop-over in Hatterion. Regarding power, high double, low triple digits with a full, balanced group.”

I could see the clerk visibly swallow at our levels, looking up with a bit of awe in her eyes. When none of us added anything to Adra’s words, she looked back down at her notes, a frown forming on her face.

“Are you planning to make a detour out west or travel on or near the coast?” she asked, after looking at a few more pages.

“Straight down the coast, I believe we are somewhat pressed for time,” At Adra’s reply, the clerk’s frown deepened even further, before she finally looked back up.

“I’m afraid there are no quests for your level range,” the clerk shook her head, an apologetic smile on her face. “There are few quests to begin with, the guards make sure that civil order never deteriorates to the point that private individuals need to step up. Anything on the scale you are seeking crops up, the nobles are obliged to take care of it, swiftly and efficiently. They got their own groups of enforcers out there, organised into Guilds, as they like to call them.” there was a trace of disdain when she mentioned the Guilds set up by nobles, making it quite obvious that she considered them to be a cheap imitation of the Adventuers’ Guild.

“Well, that is annoying,” Adra grumbled, “Anything else we should know about when it comes to travelling south?”

“You said you came from Aretia, yes?” the clerk asked, getting a nod in reply, “Please be aware, if you seek to sell anything, you need to have the proper documents in place, otherwise, you will be seen as a criminal. You can harvest the necessary proof of kill if it is for an officially licensed quest or by order of the responsible noble. Outside of those, hunting and killing the local wildlife is poaching. There are exceptions for self-defence but if you head into the woods, trying to come across wildlife that might attack you, so you can defend yourself, you’ll get in trouble. The nobles and their Guilds don’t like people trying to play their rules.” she patiently explained, my face falling a little at her words. That sounded like a proper pain in the behind, a rather massive one at that. Sadly, it also sounded as if there was little to be done about it, little but quickly travelling southwards, until we could leave the confines of their Empire.

“Do you have a local map? So we have an idea where best to head?” Adra asked, hoping for help as none of us knew the lay of the land. While Olivia had been in the region before, it had been decades ago and a lot of things had changed or she had forgotten them.

“Certainly,” the clerk nodded, “Take a look.” she pulled out a few large parchments from one of the shelves behind her desk, letting Adra take a look. I also stepped up, prodding Lenore so she shared my eyes, so she could compare what she saw on the map to what she saw from above.

The map quality itself wasn’t too great, more artwork than a nicely scaled map but it would give us a good idea about directions and a few landmarks, even without going too deeply into distances.

“Thank you for your help,” I told the clerk, stepping back.

Next to me, Adra nodded in agreement, “You have been a great help, thank you. Have a nice day.” she added-

“Have a nice day and journey,” the clerk wished us, as we were walking towards the door, leaving the clerk to her reading.

“Well, that wasn’t too promising.” I sighed, as we were walking down the street. I wasn’t quite certain where, Adra was still leading the way but I thought it wasn’t towards the gates, at least not towards the nearest gates.

“If you are looking for adventure in the wilds, the Empire isn’t quite the place to go,” Olivia told me, reminding me of a few stories she had told me in the past. It was one of the more advanced civilisations on Mundus, at least by her reckoning. From what I could tell, it was certainly the most authoritarian, while the city-states of Aretia were the least authoritarian but also the least civilised, as there wasn’t any real, overarching civilisation.

On the other hand, Daiea was composed of a wide variety of smaller societies, ranging in scale from small tribes with a few hundred members to massive countries composed of multiple cities, all held together by a larger, divinely inspired framework. How that framework functioned, I had little idea, but it kept the different groups all moving in roughly the same direction or at least kept internal friction down.

“So, what do the people here do to level?” I quietly asked, not convinced that everyone here was happy to sit around, be resigned to their lot in life and sing kumbayah.

“I believe there was a saying in the Ancient Imperium, something about humans being their own, biggest predators.” Olivia admitted with a shrug, “There are some who refuse to conform to society, either leaving it altogether and retreating into the mountains and valleys or while remaining within, but taking what they need, thieves, rogues and outlaws.”

“So, bandits?” I asked, remembering the few encounters we had with such folk in Aretia. Those had been few and far between, mostly done in desperation or with a great deal of caution and vigilance, always ready to flee or hide if the situation turned against them.

“Sure, those too.” Olivia nodded and now it was my turn to shrug.

“We’ll see,” I sighed, before focusing on Adra, “Where are we going, anyway?” I asked as we were moving deeper into the city.

“Shopping, obviously,” she replied in a voice that almost made me see her rolling her eyes, through the back of her head. “Didn’t you pay attention? We can’t hunt to supplement our rations, or we’ll be seen as poachers,” she reminded me and I let out an annoyed sigh. There had to be something to do around here, either quests or battles or anything.

As we walked, I carefully kept my eyes open, scanning for people who didn’t quite fit in, who looked out of place. Sadly, there wouldn’t be any golden exclamation marks to guide me, but maybe, I would be able to pick up a quest or two, or at least a lead to get any.

Otherwise, the next few weeks of travel would truly be boring, without even the threat of monsters.