Four days had gone by since Victor spoke to the shop keeper about what sort of weapon he might want to use and he was beginning to feel more confident in his ability to manage things in this world. Having sold off or used most of what he had brought with him into town from back home he still kept some of it for different reasons. Because of this, his finances were a lot more stable, despite the fact that he was only able to do black ranked missions that weren’t fully paid out due to the cost of his guild crystal being paid for in paid for by taking job cuts instead of fully at the time of getting it.

While he kept his books, mostly because of the fact that nobody else could read them, he sold all except for one of his notebooks. The pocket knife, laser pointer, and some writing tools were also kept along with the pepper spray and a few minor things, like his keys, wallet, and cell phone to remind him of home. He had considered selling the sewing kit, pocket mirror, flashlight, retractable umbrella, and lighters, but kept them all instead. Although he did cut down to two lighters.

Everything else slowly got sold or traded away. The backpack, notebooks, some of his writing tools, and make up all sold quickly. Everything else was harder or just traded along the way to try and make some connections or because he felt it wasn’t worth keeping anymore. Some of it he even just ditched because nobody seemed interested in it like the flash drives.

This morning, however, he found himself waiting to collect the reward from the request he had finished the night before. While the reward was not a lot he had been told when he took the request that it would be the last one that he needed to do before the skimming from his reward would be finished as his crystal was fully paid off. This alone lead him to visit the guild early in the day.

“Let’s see,” The worker behind the counter started as she looked at the paper, “You did the job like expected. I am sure you will be glad to be getting the full price for your services after this. Regardless this one is also, as I’m sure you’re aware, have some of the reward removed from it.”

Taking out a few coins and placing them into stacks based on their size she looks at him, “Now I’m sure you know, but the fact that you paid off your crystal doesn’t mean you’re going up in rank. You still have a ways to go, especially if you just do these general work ones while ignoring the gathering requests outside of the city. If you do those quests you can get more promotion credit than doing the general labor. I have seen people get to red in the time that you’ve been a member here.”

Doing a little more work behind the counter the worker looked at him, “Any questions before I help the next member?”

A bit hesitantly Victor spoke up, “Well I sort of heard that there were some demons or something giving people trouble. Is that true at all? Something like an infestation across the land or destroying and enslaving people?”

Taking out a piece of paper from under the counter, the worker spread it out and looked at him with a professional and insincere smile, “I am not here to speak about rumors. You should talk to the other members of the guild or soldiers or really anyone else if you want to know something like that. Although if you look at all of the requests instead of just the ones you qualify for you might get an idea of what troubles there are that people are worried about.”

“Now if you have no other questions I would like to deal with the next guild member.”

“Ah well,” Victor stammered, “do you think I’ll get to red soon?”

With a small sigh she dismisses Victor with a motion of her hand while welcoming the man behind him, “Depends on how much work you get done.”

Leaving the counter he went to where the job postings were. Since the reader was already was helping someone, Victor went to look for black ranks that he didn’t recognize from his other times checking for a job, hoping to find something that he could do for the day that he hadn’t already passed on previously.

While waiting for the reader's timekeeper to finish, Victor felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn and see Leahla, her soft blue eyes almost soothing his worries for a moment.

“Ah, Leahla is there something you need? I mean……. do you have a math-heavy request or something for me?”

A small half smile found itself form on Leahla's face, “No it is about one of the jobs you requested when you started the other day. See it turns out that Clainnel found someone she thought was almost exactly what she needed. She wanted us to tell you that she found someone better, but if you are alright with it she will keep you in mind if she needs a statue of the……. I actually forget who she said. I think it is something like Korill, I’m not the best with historical figures, but that is if she is either hired to or gets the desire to do something related to him. This is not a job that is certain to appear.”

“I understand,” Victor responded with a slight chuckle, “I honestly don’t mind since the statue is supposed to be of a woman, and…….. it would feel weird knowing that what was done was done. I mean……. what if someone recognized me?”

“No worries,” Leahla reassured, “She always puts a bit of flair on her work, statues, paintings, not so much busts though. Anyway, I’m glad you aren’t distraught over this.”

“Ah!” Victor said with a start, “I wasn’t too worried about that honestly, but I was planning to find someone to ask about this. Do you happen to know about any sort of demon uprising? Something about some overlord or fiend ruining the lands and killing people by the hundreds or thousands? When I got here someone told me to watch out and be careful about that sort of thing and to be honest I’d rather avoid those sorts of things if possible.”

A warm smile began to spread across Leahlas face as she looked over the posters on the board, “There hasn’t been anything worth mentioning related to demons for some time. I think the last time there was something worth mentioning even close to here was about…… seventeen years ago.”

Victor spoke up asking what she meant only to be spoken over.

“That was actually just people wanting to summon and enslave them, nothing related to actual demons. It was a foolish attempt on their part as they didn’t realize what they were trying to do. Demons don’t act the way a lot of people assume they do.”

“Why are you so concerned about demons though? Did you see something demonic looking when your family was attacked?”

Looking aside he hoped the reader timer was finished, but since it still had time he knew that he couldn’t use that to pull himself away from answering the question, so he put on a smile that, to most people, would look obviously forced.

“Nothing like that. I just haven’t dealt with them before and was worried,” he stated matter a factly with a slight sigh, “I can’t even handle those horned wolves on my own…… or likely anything feral and wild. I think I told you about how some patrol saved me already. I just am not confident in my ability to fight or anything right now. I’m hoping to get enough of the basics to change that though.”

“How about this,” Leahla said quickly and with a bit of a softer tone while leaning in closer, “If you are that worried about protecting yourself I can have someone train you a bit. You got a sword so I could find someone who is able to help with that at least a little bit, but in exchange, I’ll want you to do some work for me from late day until sunset today. Either that or until I run out of stuff for you to do. I’ll even make you something for dinner. I was able to get a good deal on some shron fruit so I was thinking of doing something with those in a sauce.”

“I was actually thinking I might want to try using a spear as well,” Victor started, “I mean I can have it and a sword with me at the same time. Probably not too long of a spear but I just th….”

Finding himself cut off, he looked into Leahlas suddenly piercing gaze, “If you want to use a spear train when you have one to work with. For now, you have that sword so train and learn how to use it. Ideally one should learn to use many weapons, but you start with what you have. If you try to grab both gelnim fruits during a harvest you will find you have neither.”

“I know,” Victor said only assuming he understood the new sayings meaning, “If you try to get everything all at once you will often end up with nothing.”

“Exactly!” Leahla proclaimed, “So, for now, you will be at my house for the late day bell and you can leave just after sunset. Oh, but first you should swing by your place and get all your stuff to bring over. I think I have something that can help make some of it last longer. That pen, for example, is a very useful item for people who do a lot of paperwork.”

Trying to remember what all he had shown her Victor was unable to ask what he wanted to when he saw her going up the stairway and out of his sight.

Pinching the bridge of his nose Victor let out an audible sigh as he tried to figure out if this was just the way that elves were or if it was just how Leahla did things. Being the only elf he had any real interactions with he muttered how it could be either.

It took two more flips of the timekeeper before Victor saw that the reader was free. Approaching her, he put down the money for the reading request.

“I know what most of the black rank jobs say so I’d like to know what the three new ones are asking for. Oh and if there is time see if there is any mention of demons anywhere.”

The girl smiled lightly and took the money, before holding the timekeeper out to Victor, letting him flip it when he was ready.

“So it looks like this first one is about helping harvest herbs for some potion making people in their garden. It says they will pay you based on how long you work.”

“The other one here says that they want some people to help with some of the cleanings up from that big thing a while ago. I think I heard about that. I guess that means they took care of the big job and now need help fixing the damage.”

Tapping on the last paper a little bit she looked just a little bit stuck, “This word is one I don’t know, but from the rest of the poster I think it is asking for someone to write stuff from one place and rewrite it onto another place.”

Shaking his head a little Victor smiles softly, “That isn’t a worry. I can’t read anyway so I don’t think I can do that sort of job. I think I’ll ask about the herb one today. Oh since I got some time how about checking any of the posters for something related to demons for me?”

“Of course!”

With the rest of the time, the girl looked over each of the posters one at a time until the time in the timekeeper ran out.

“Nothing related to demons. Oh, there was one green rank poster though that mentioned a demonic serpent. It’s just like a waaaaaaay big snake though not really a demon though. People add things like that to names sometimes. Do you want to buy more time and I can check all the other posters too for you?”

“No thanks,” Victor said as he started to turn away, “I think I’ll manage from here, I was just a little curious and I didn’t want to have my time go to complete waste. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon unless my training breaks me or something.”

“Oh but you aren’t allowed to break,” The girl replied a little loudly, “If you do my income will go down some and that’s not good.”

Letting out a small chuckle, Victor walked up to the right counter to make his request, only having to wait for one person before it was his turn.

“I want to request that herb picking black ranked mission. I think I’ll just do it until the late day bell for um….. whoever it says on it.”

Looking up at Victor, the woman behind the counter puts a paper away, “No you can’t have that job.”

It took a few seconds for Victor to get his mind back to what was just said.

“I….. can’t have the job? It’s a black ranked one though right?” Victor said seeing the woman nod, “Then I should be able to get it. So I want that request.”

“No,” the woman stated a bit more firmly, “I won’t give you that request”

“Well, in that case, how about the one I remember about helping someone sorting some bulk buy they made?” Victor asked with a hint of irritation.

“You can’t have any other jobs today.” The woman behind the counter said as she pulled out and looked over a paper, “You got one already that specified no other jobs for that day to ensure you are at peak performance. Apparently, Leahla wants you to be able to work hard without already being tired.”

After she spelled out why he was unable to get any job requests she sealed some paper shut and set it aside.

“Leahla was very specific about not allowing you to take any other jobs and to say bring everything with you so she can check if it’s what she thinks it is. I’m glad I didn’t have to get someone to find you to tell you that, so if you would be good enough to step aside in case someone else needs my help?”

“I’m the only one here right now though!” He exclaimed more than a little louder.

“Yes,” she said calmly while giving him a map to Leahlas home, “But it is possible that someone might only not be approaching because you are here. Some people dislike coming up to wait in line and only approach if there is nobody being helped.”

Finding himself at a loss for words Victor stands in place moving his hands a bit while his mouth opens and closes more than a few times while he tries to figure things out.

“Fine sure I guess I’ll just go. Unless that isn’t allowed either.” Victor huffed before he walked off.

Going outside of Orlayn waves boundaries, Victor found a tree to lean against, his sword at his side as he took out his card, it looked like when he had the quarter in it, except now it just held his pocket knife in it, pictured and labeled.

“Why couldn’t I figure you out as easily as everyone else did? Is it because I overthink things? Is it because I wasn’t excited about it all? Is it because I was paranoid? Is there more to you than putting something in you and taking it out? The others got stuff with a lot more flash to it.”

Tracing his finger along the right side of the card where the little bar was, he sighed while thinking of the last several days that he had worked on learning about how the card worked.

Storage. It was just storage with so many restrictions that Victor almost wondered why to bother. Everyone else had items that seemed to impress and that they were able to figure out its workings nearly instantly. Some of them were even able to show off what they could do before the blood started.

They all looked more impressive too. The bow that Gloria had gotten was especially amazing looking. There were what looked like some feathers on the top and bottom and some flowing designs along the entirety of the bow as it curved in a way that no proper bow should. There was a nonexistent bowstring that only shimmered into existence when in use, with arrows that had to be created as normal arrows wouldn’t work with the bowstring.

As he thought of the bow, Victor started to retch, thinking of the last moment he had seen Gloria and the rest of his classmates. None of them deserved what they got. There was no reason for what happened, especially since everyone else seemed to believe in the lies. The demons, the glory, the destiny, the power, the legend. Everything they were told sounded fine and exciting. The others all seemed to dive into the stories while he has slight concerns and questions.

“Maybe….” Victor started before gagging a little as he thought of all the blood.

“Maybe that’s why they didn’t take chase.”

Looking at the card he took a leaf from his bag and started to chew on it. Something that was used instead of toothpaste that cleaned your mouth and had a mildly sour taste that cleansed his pallet before he spits it out.

“They still tried to convince me to do what the rest did…..”

Hitting the tree with his fist he took a few deep breaths and started to stand up, “I need to learn how to write…… or at least read or something. I mean honestly……… they let us speak but not read….. no, they….”

Victor went on like that for a couple of hours as he spoke to himself, realizing that he had kept himself as busy as possible to keep his mind off what brought him here. When the realization of how little he was dealing with the realities of his first day here he let out a primal scream louder than he thought he could manage.

The deaths of his classmates weren’t on his hand, but he felt like in some way that it wasn’t right that they weren’t here while he was. That he ran after watching them all die in the blink of an eye one after the other. That he stole the purse of his classmate as he ran and never even thought of going back when he found soldiers that night.

“I’m…….”

Looking down at his hand he saw that it was bleeding from hitting the tree repeatedly during the last few hours.

“I guess I should head back to town and get my stuff if I want to get to Leahlas place on time… Maybe clean up my hand a little bit while I’m at it.”

As he started to return to the city entrance, Victor stopped, hearing something behind him. Putting his hand on his sword he slowly started to look behind him seeing a creature that looked almost like a lizard, except it had a thin layer of yellow slime or ooze around it. The limbs seemed to be more like tentacles with claws at the end as it began moving closer to him at a pace he could easily outwalk. It reminded him of something one of the other adventurers talked about being good for people to practice combat on, so long they were careful and remembered the magic or skill the color represented.

“I know that creature I think. What was it called though? Should I fight it?” Victor thought to himself as he drew his sword thinking of what he had learned about the reptilian creature.

“I know that their color changes based on their diet, otherwise they tend to stay a semi-clear white. Or is it just the slime stuff that changes and their body is white?”

“Either way they aren’t the most durable or strong, but they can do magic based on the colors. What magic was yellow?”

Keeping his distance while watching the creature slowly came closer to him, he tried to think about what the color yellows magic was.

“Red something about fire or heat I think. Maybe fire breath? Blue….. um….. green shot stuff like from its body….. Black that’s just toxic to the touch and dissolves things extra fast…… what was yellow?”

Keeping his eyes on the creature he kept inching back as it tried to close the distance, fumbling as it tried to occasionally.

With a deep breath, he looked at his sword then the beast, preparing himself while trying to talk himself out of fighting it.

“If I remember correctly these things tend to have mana cores more often then not, but they are always on the small side. They only have one sort of magic, but it’s still magic. The only one to never fight unless you can use magic or some sort of ranged fighting is the black due to its passive skill, but what is yellow. It can’t be too bad or I would remember it, but what if I just didn’t hear anyone mention it.”

Taking a deep breath he thought about how things were here and what he would have to do to get ahead as he muttered a few expletives to himself.

Gripping the sword tight he closed the distance between him and the reptile pretty quickly. Just as he was about to bring his blade down on the creature, a flash of light brighter than any he was prepared for assaulted his eyes, blinding him in a fraction of a second and he soon after felt an impact on his right leg that began wrapping around it while gripping tightly, dissolving his pants away, causing him to feel the ooze from its body touch his skin and giving the sensation of a sunburn upon his flesh.