“Blunderbuss?” he asks, having never heard of the term, “What’s that?”

“You know of firearms, yes?”

“Oh, I see,” Garrett replies, suddenly understanding. Though he has never wielded one himself, he has heard plenty of horror stories from Hector regarding them. Stories of the weapons exploding and backfiring on the wielders, or jamming at the most inopportune of times. Not to mention the fact that they are, broadly speaking, inferior to crossbows in terms of both accuracy and power. Cautiously, Garrett sets the weapon down, fearful that it might blow up in his hands. “This is an interesting set of ware you have here, Miss…?”

“Irena. Irena Nadler.”

“You can call me Garrett then. In any case, as I was saying, it’s interesting that you’re selling firearms. I thought you couldn’t obtain these in dungeons nowadays.”

“Oh, I didn’t obtain these from a dungeon.”

Garrett raises an eyebrow. “Then how did you get them?”

“I crafted them meself.”

“You… wait… say that again?”

“I crafted them meself.”

Hearing the words, Garrett quickly turns his head to and fro, scanning to see if anyone else has heard. He lets out a sigh of relief when he realizes no one else is around. He turns back to Irena, his voice now low like a whisper as he says, “Look, you seem like a nice lass, so here’s a bit of unsolicited advice. I’d pack up shop if I were you and head back to whatever village it is you came from. If the guilds discover you’re smithing weapons without authorization-”

“The guilds can go fuck themselves,” Irena snaps suddenly.

“Look, Miss, I’m just trying to be helpful and save you from-”

“I didn’t ask for your help, and I certainly don’t need it. I’m not some damsel in distress, and you’re not my white knight, thank you very much. So, if you’re not going to buy anything, then might I suggest you take your leave now, Mister Garrett.”

When he gazes into the woman’s blue eyes, he finds that they are now cold as ice, and he recognizes in them a stubbornness that he knows he will not be able to persuade. With little else to do then, he offers a polite goodbye before turning to leave, continuing on his way to the Adventurers’ Guild.

Behind, a single “Hmph!” carries through the air.

****

Arriving at the guildhall, Garrett pushes his way through the tall double doors, the oak creaking as he slips past. Once inside, he is greeted by a large room, spaced with wooden tables and stools, walls lined with the banners of various prominent adventurers. He stares at them longingly for a moment, imagining his own name amongst them. Then he lets out a wistful sigh, mumbling, “A man can dream, right?”

He looks away from the banners, surveying the guildhall instead. The space is mostly deserted, save for the attendant working behind the front counter. “Well, it’s still pretty early,” he says to himself, “I wonder if anyone else has already-?”

He doesn’t need to finish the question, for as the words leave his mouth, he spots another. Sitting in the far corner of the room, dressed in leather armor from head to toe, is a face he recognizes, a young warrior who has recently joined his party, though perhaps “join” is not quite the correct word. The boy is more a last-minute substitution, a fill in, so Garrett’s party can meet the dungeon’s minimum party size requirement of four. Jenna, one of their regular members, had abruptly come down with an illness, and given that they had not wanted to give up their slot on the schedule, Garrett had proposed recruiting the lad instead, the boy being the only one available on such short notice. Well, that and the boy had agreed to a significantly smaller cut of the loot.

Now, just what was his name again? Garrett thinks to himself, making his way to the corner where the boy sits, and as he approaches, he notes that the lad is busy inspecting his sword, his lean body fidgety, a look of consternation across his slender, almost feminine face, which has yet to grow any facial hair.

With a wave of his hand, Garrett offers a greeting, exclaiming, “Morning, lad! I thought I’d be the first one to arrive, but you beat me here. Haha!”

The boy noticeably flinches, jumping out of his seat, blue eyes darting around before finally settling on Garrett. Then a sense of recognition passes through them, and he seems to relax a bit. “Oh, Mister Garrett, good morning, yes. How are you?” he says in a shrill voice.

“Doing well, uh,” Garrett replies, and he waits a quick moment to let his Contacts engage, displaying the information he already knows about the boy as text above the boy’s head. The entry, in simple language, reads:

Name

Wendell Bernese

Age

16

Gender

Male

Height

5’ 4”

Weight

-

Hair Color

Blond

Eye Color

Blue

That’s right, his name is Wendell, Garrett thinks to himself. And because he had requested the boy offer up his guild records as a condition for joining the party, that information is also available for view:

Status

Alive, Normal

Combat Level

2

Combat Experience

70 / 500

Health

13

Natural Resistance

10 + 1

Power

9

Finesse

13

Magicality

15

.

Class

Warrior

Subclass

-

Rank

DD

Looking at the information, one thing that catches Garrett’s eye, which he has found odd ever since meeting the boy, is the boy’s choice of class. Given his rather average Power stat, and rather above average Magicality, he wonders why the boy has not chosen to class into a caster-class like Mage instead. He does not get to ponder this for long, however, as a voice suddenly breaks him out of his thoughts.

“Mister Garrett? Is something wrong?” Wendell asks.

The boy’s question makes Garrett realize he has been staring. He shakes his head, clearing the text from his vision. “It’s nothing, Wendell,” he replies, changing the subject, “So, excited for the dungeon run today-?”

“Yes!” the boy exclaims, barely letting Garrett finish, “Thank you again so much for letting me join! I know I lack experience, but I’ll definitely take advantage of this opportunity to grow! And it’s a wonderful thing you’ve done, giving me this chance to help you clear the Bladgor Dungeon. I won’t let you down, so you can-”

All I asked was if he was excited...why is he sprouting off an entire job application??? Garrett wonders to himself, and as he turns away from his thoughts, he looks up just in time to catch the end of the boy’s spiel.

“-so I just wanted to say thanks again, Mister Garrett.”

“Ah,” Garrett replies slowly before letting out a hearty, but forced laugh, patting the boy on the shoulder, “It’s no problem at all, Wendell. You’re doing us a favor by joining as well.” As he says this, he hears the opening of the guildhall doors. Turning, he sees the two remaining members of his party entering, and before the boy can go into another long speech about how grateful he is, Garrett preemptively interrupts, pointing out, “Oh look, Roger and Hector are here. Come, Wendell, let’s go review the plan together before setting out.”