Dante packed the rest of his belongings into his travel pack. He didn’t have much but he was able to buy at least a few pairs of pants and shirts. The uniforms belonged to the Academy as well as the essence tablet that he never really got to use, but to his surprise, the pocket watch he had been allowed to keep. A sharp knock on the door caused him to jump.

He opened the door to see Dean Marcus on the other side. Surprised, he quickly opened the door further to allow the Dean entrance.

“Ah thank you, Dante.” The Dean said happily as he sat on the only chair in the room. “Please, close the door and have a seat. We have some things to discuss.”

Dante complied, closing the door and sitting on the bed next to his pack.

“Now Dante, you and the rest of your companions will be accompanied to the Guild by Williams, Perez and Louis. With all the recent activity surrounding you, we need to make sure that you arrive at the Guild unmolested. Do you understand?”

Dante nodded.

“Good.” The Dean replied. He leaned forward in his chair and a look of concern crossed his face. “There was one other matter I personally wanted to discuss with you. It’s about your name.”

Dante flinched. He hadn’t thought of it before but choosing his original family name could cause trouble. He silently cursed himself for the lack of forethought. The Dean continued as if he hadn’t noticed Dante’s flinch.

“The family name of Velis has actually been a part of this Tower since it’s creation. Over time, the family have all but diminished, the last two to hold that name dying tragically in a dungeon many years ago.” The Dean paused but Dante remained quiet, learning much of this for the first time.

“It might surprise you to know this, but I am a bit of a historian myself. I research bloodlines and families. What is interesting is that the two Velis Adventurers who had died so long ago had one member of their team who just so happened to survive. Do you know who that person is?”

Beads of sweat formed on Dante’s brow. He didn’t know what he should do. Miss Telis could no longer get in trouble for breaking the law but what if she had family that could be affected by her actions. Would he be an accessory to the crime? The Dean nodded slowly at Dante’s silence.

“I see, well it is nothing to trouble yourself over.” The Dean said, as he noticed Dante visibly relaxed. “I do happen to have a book from the archives about the Velis family.” He pulled out a beautiful leather-bound book with delicate engravings along the covers and spine. “I suggest you give it a look when you can.”

The Dean handed over the book with a warm smile and went to leave before stopping at the door and turning back. Dante was still looking at the book, caressing the leather that held the secrets to his lost family. The Dean gently coughed, getting Dante’s attention.

“Remember Dante, you and your friends are always welcome at the Academy. Stay vigilant.”

The Dean left and Dante wondered why the he had put an emphasis on ‘vigilant.’ He checked his watch and carefully set the book in his pack, then hurried out of the room.

Outside the dorms, the three Instructors waited while Dante ran down the steps. Perez laughed as he watched the young Mage almost fall twice.

“It looks like you weren’t late for lack of excitement.” Perez’s voice boomed as Dante smiled at the group.

“Sorry.” Dante said quickly. “I had an unexpected visitor.”

“Well, we are all here now.” Williams said easily. “Let us move out. I will take front, Perez and Louis will take the sides. All of you stay between us while we travel to the Guild. If anyone thinks they can ambush us, they will pay dearly for it.”

The group nodded quickly and set off to the Guild. The trip was, thankfully, uneventful, but the Instructors kept a wary eye on the crowds as they passed through them. It had only taken half an hour before they stood before the Adventurer’s Guild on the tenth floor.

The building towered over them and most of the other buildings nearby. The door were large wooden behemoths that were banded in thick iron. The doors were set into dark marble that had swirls of white that made the building look as if it was covered in wisps of smoke. It was easily six stories tall and was as wide as four of the surrounding buildings standing side by side. Williams walked up to the doors and easily opened them, allowing the others to follow inside.

The inside took the students breath away. On the far wall were several tables and a long bar where many Adventurers were talking and eating. They all looked extremely intimidating and yet they laughed and shouted, showing a comradery between each other. To their left were several desks where other Adventures stood in line. Some held various parts of plants or monsters and were turning them over to the people behind the desks. To the right was a large wall filled with various papers. Groups of Adventurers were looking over them and discussing the quests and bounties before taking one down and getting it confirmed at another desk. Before them, stood one more desk. It was large and ornate and a friendly looking Mage with large gold colored eyes and long black hair looked up, smiling at them.

“Welcome to the Adventure’s Guild. My name is Merry. How may I assist you?”

Her tone and manners set the students at ease and Williams snorted as he walked up behind them towards the desk.

“Don’t let her fool you kids.” Williams replied in an amused tone. “She might seem nice now but if you cause trouble you will see how dangerous she can be.”

Merry glanced up and shouted as she jumped clear over the desk and hugged the old Adventurer.

“Dad!” Merry shouted which made all students raise their brow. Williams looked at them and raised his brow back.

“I might be old but I’m not dead.” He stated causing a snicker from his daughter. “This here is my youngest trouble maker, Merry Williams. Merry, these are the new graduates I told you about.”

Merry looked over them and smiled. “Well, lets get you all signed up. I assume you wish to remain a team?”

Kelsi nodded. “Yes, we do Miss Williams.” Merry quickly scoffed.

“It’s Merry and don’t you all forget it.” She said in mock seriousness as she jumped back over the desk and started filling out a form. “Since you are already a team, we can house you together in one of the larger apartments. If you lose a team member though, you will have three months to replace them or you will need to move out and into the single apartments.”

Kelsi nodded again and took the form from Merry, signing it and handing it off to the others to sign as well. Once they were finished, Merry took the form back and stamped it.

“You all will have an evaluation of your abilities to set the amount of your monthly stipend, but considering you are the youngest Adventurers I have ever heard of, I have no doubt you will do well.” She smiled again at them and they all blushed a little at the praise. They will call you over individually in a moment so just sit over there.” She said pointing to the right, past the quests board where several seat and tables were.

They thanked Merry and moved over to one of the tables joined with their Instructors.

“Now listen up.” Williams said quietly. “When you get tested, show them everything. Those stipends can be enormous if they think you have the capability to become strong. They are only directed by trusted members of this Guild that have made this Guild their life’s work. You can trust them to not spread around your specific abilities.”

Perez spoke as well. “Learn from these Adventures. They have a lot of knowledge that can be put to good use. And never gamble with them if you don’t understand the game their playing. They can be ruthless when it comes to competition.”

Historian Louis spoke up last. “Keep your training going. Don’t slack off, you have less experience than anyone here so you need to continuously improve yourself. We don’t need our brightest students dying because you were too lazy or arrogant. Here.” She handed over five small coin purses. “Student’s receive a little coin after graduating but Miss Telis had no family to speak of. I figure she would want you to have this.”

The students looked inside and saw several gold and platinum coins. They looked up in shock as the Historian cackled. “Don’t go blowing it all. You can find plenty of things that Adventurers depend on, like storage packs for instance.” She settled back and looked at the other Instructors who nodded to her. “It is time for us to go. Take care of yourselves and come to the Academy if you need us.”

As one, the Instructors stood and walked away. Dante felt the pang of loss and a little worry at being left. They were on their own now and didn’t have someone guiding them along, correcting their mistakes. He looked at the others and could feel that their feelings mirrored his.

Dante cleared his throat, successfully gaining his friends attention.

“I know were all worried and we haven’t had a lot of time to talk so maybe we should get things off our chest.” He noticed that a few of them broke eye contact, staring down at the table. After a few minutes of silence, Dante huffed in annoyance. “Don’t make me read your minds!” The group looked up quickly, but noticed the smile on his face. They relaxed a bit, shaking their heads.

“It just seems like everything has happened too fast.” Kelsi said. “There is so much to process that it is overwhelming.” The others nodded.

“I miss her.” Jasmi said softly. “And I don’t blame any of you or myself for her dying. I just wish she could be here.”

Gretta grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “We all do.” She said with a smile. “It’s like life has thrown us out of the nest to learn how to fly.”

Dante looked at Ferris. “And unfortunately, the only one who can fly gave himself the name Stormfront. The others softly chuckled as Ferris dramatically acted offended.

“And what is wrong with my name?” He said in a tone several octaves higher than normal. “I will have you know that my name is the epitome of majesty.”

Kelsi snorted loudly. “Epitome of majesty?”

They were interrupted by five Adventurers who called out their names. An older woman covered in worn but well-maintained leather armor spoke.

“My name is Lucinda Bell. I’m the head of the Adventurer’s Guild. You may call me Lucinda, Mrs. Bell or Boss. We will be handling your evaluations.” She looked them over with deep jade colored eyes. “Follow the Mage that shares your affinity.” She stated. Then pointed at Dante. “You will come with me.”

They all rose quickly from their seats and followed their respective Adventurer. Dante hurried behind the Guild Leader since she didn’t wait for him, heading towards a large door near the far end of the room. He followed her into a hallway with several doors on either side. She opened a door and stepped inside. Dante looked around the room and noticed several enchantments along the wall as well as training dummies propped up in the center of the room.

“This is a simple training room. The walls, floors, ceilings and training dummies are all enchanted with protection so you can go all out. If you have abilities that can’t be seen, then you can tell them to me and I will have you perform a few tasks to show how effective those abilities are.” She looked at him and smirked. “So, what can you do?”

Dante fumbled, setting down his pack and started explaining his abilities. He summoned several different weapons and used them on the dummies, showing that they actually worked as normal weapons would. She seemed a little disappointed that he couldn’t let go of the weapons without them dissipating but gestured for him to continue. He explained that his weapons could also be invisible and demonstrated it by summoning his twin swords and battering the dummies with seemingly nothing in hand. She laughed and clapped her hands, letting Dante relax. He had been anxious at first but the Guild Leader seemed much more normal than he would have expected from a person that lead an army have dangerous Adventurers. He told her of his Essence Armor, Essence Pulse and Empathy which she tested thoroughly by sparing with him while he was blindfolded.

An hour later he realized how far apart they were in terms of skill. She handily defeated him several times, even with his Essence Pulse. She noticed his sudden change in demeanor and laughed as he took off his blindfold, slapping him on the back.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about losing to me, young Adventurer. I am one of the best fighters in the Guild and I have far more experience than you.” She set her hands on her hips, thinking for a moment before continuing. “You and your team are quite green so we will need to continue your combat training. Once I assign you a trainer, Merry will let you and your team know.”

She gestured for him to sit down and she took a seat as well.

“I have been given the reports on your kidnapping attempts. You don’t have to worry about that here. The Guild secures the entirety of the tenth level and no one should be stupid enough to try. As an Adventurer, your duty is simple. Take quests or bounties and turn them in. Know your limits. We lose too many young Adventurers to ignorance. Your trainer will be able to share their experiences with you and you need to take those to heart.”

Dante nodded. “We will Mrs. Bell. We have no problem with hard work.”

She grinned at him. “Good. Now go wait for the rest of your team and then Merry will give you the tour of the Guild and let you know where you will be staying.”

She jumped up from her seat and shook Dante’s hand, then left without another word. Dante wiped the sweat from his face and went back to the main room to wait for his friends.

After the evaluations had finished, Merry happily gave them the tour of the guild. The first floor was a simple layout of where to pick up and drop off quests. Quests ranged from Novice to Advanced and you couldn’t pick up a quest that was higher than your ranking in the guild. As new members, Serist De were placed as novices but they could rise quickly if they proved themselves.

At the bar, Merry introduced them to several Adventurers that gave them slaps on the backs and warm greetings. They were surprised that the hardened looking Adventurers were so welcoming until they started trying to get them to join them in a small game of Tower’s Dice which involved gambling and a lot of drinking. They wisely refused the Adventurers offer and moved on.

They had already seen the training rooms and the next floor was dedicated to the Alchemists and Enchanters of the guild. The next few floors were either meeting rooms or the apartments of the higher ranked guild members.

Merry ended the tour by giving them their novice badges and pointing them to the Golden Duckling, a large building next to the Guild where they would be staying. A few moments later and they were taken to their new apartment.

The Golden Duckling was the normal apartments used for new Adventurers. Once they climbed five stories, they opened their door to see a large common room, kitchen and dining area that could easily seat them all. The doors on either side led to the bedrooms which were all larger than their dorm rooms at the Academy. They dropped off their packs and met at the dining table per Kelsi’s request.

“So,” Kelsi started, looking at her friends around the table. “I wanted to make a list of anything we would need as a group. There are plenty of shops around and we shouldn’t just start spending wildly.”

“Define ‘spending wildly.’ Ferris said with a grin.

“It basically means you’re not allowed to have money.” Dante quipped drawing a scowl from Ferris.

They spent the next few minutes discussing things that they would need, such as a storage bag, sleeping gear, a possible enchanted tent if they could afford it and cooking equipment. By the end, there list looked rather daunting as they realized the cost it probably adds up to.

Dante was caught by surprise when Jasmi asked him a question in front of the group.

“Dante,” Jasmi asked cautiously. “with all that’s happened I forgot about it but when we were fighting the Mages that ambushed us, were your swords…invisible?”

The group had quieted when Jasmi brought up the ambush. It showed that they were all clearly still dealing with it, but the mention of invisible swords caused Ferris to jump in with equal parts excitement and anger.

“Invisible swords!?” Ferris yelled which caused Dante to wince. “You can turn weapons invisible and you never told us? Why? How long can they stay invisible? Did you think you couldn’t trust us?”

Thankfully Kelsi stepped in. “Ferris! Why don’t you give him a chance to answer!” Ferris winced as well and sat down, not realizing he had stood up in the first place.

Dante breathed out and looked across the table. “When I summoned my first weapon, it was invisible. I could see it but Historian Louis couldn’t. Then I found out that if I concentrated, others could see the weapons, I just had to will it. Then the Historian told me not to tell anyone, that it could be an ‘Ace in the Hole’ in case we really needed it. I haven’t summoned it that way since and truthfully, I forgot about it.”

The table remained quiet and Ferris broke the silence while blushing and rubbing the back of his head.

“I’m sorry Dante. I didn’t mean to get angry. Every since Miss Telis passed; I have just felt a little off.”

“No Ferris.” Jasmi said looking at the group. “I am sorry. I have been trained to deal with my emotions. To accept them and not let them control me. I didn’t think to ask you all if you needed council as well but I can see the signs. Ferris, you have been quick to anger ever since then even though that was never how you acted before.”

Ferris nodded, though he was clearly ashamed.

“Kelsi,” Jasmi continued. “You haven’t been as confident and it affects your leadership abilities. Dante has been picking up the slack and it’s good that he has but you are our leader.”

Kelsi smiled meekly and nodded. “I felt I have been off as well.”

“And Gretta.” Jasmi said quietly.

Gretta looked at her confused. “What about me?”

Jasmi smiled sadly. “You haven’t hummed since the ambush.”

Gretta froze. She hadn’t realized it at all. She had avoided her magic since that day. She felt Jasmi’s hand squeeze hers gently.

“It’s okay, we can get through this.” Jasmi whispered, drawing a tight smile from her.

“The only person I haven’t noticed changed is Dante. He has been handling it better than all of us it seems.” Jasmi told them.

“No. He hasn’t.” Ferris told them. Dante eyebrows rose as he looked at his friend. “My room was right next to his. He hasn’t had a decent night sleep since. He is always mumbling and sometimes yelling.”

Dante was as shocked as the rest of the table. “Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked Ferris. “I didn’t know.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Jasmi interrupted. “What matters is that we talk about it but not here together. I suggest, before we do anything, each of you will meet with me in private and we will talk about what is on your mind. Anything you tell me is only between us. I won’t tell anyone and no one here will ask about something you said. Do we understand?” A round of affirmatives was all that was needed and over the next few days, Jasmi talked with each and every one of her teammates, sometimes several times. The healing would take time but acknowledging their own concerns, worries and feelings of guilt could only help the process.

Serist De was broken and Jasmi would help mend them together.