“An adventurer!” Krim kept quietly eating his breakfast while his mom stomped around the kitchen. “Are you insane, do you know how dangerous it is out there?” she shouted. Krim passed the salt at his dads urging and scraped some more eggs onto his toast. “What else am I supposed to do?” he asked between bites.

“Anything! Literally anything else.” she leaned on the table and glared at him.

She had been at this all morning and was slowly running out of steam so Krim went with a tried and tested method of attack “Bargus's family was fine with him doing it.”

“Of coarse those psycho's are fine with it. Help me here.” she pleaded turning to her husband. Kell sighed and pushed his empty plate away. “Its his choice Sarah and you know there's no work in town unless you've got a boon for it. With those tentacles he stands a better chance than most out in the wilds.”

Krim wanted to wrap his dad in a big tentacle hug but didn't want to slime all over his saviour. He knew ultimately he could do whatever he wanted but he didn't want to hurt his mum by just ignoring her and storming out. “I know its dangerous, that's why I'm going with Bargus and Fredd. We won't be taking jobs too far from town for a while, we know better than to rush into the nearest monster den.” he smiled internally as he saw her give up on the fight.

“I just want you to be safe.” she wrapped him in a hug and he squeezed her back as tight as he could without hurting her.

“I know mum, I'll be careful.” His dad gave him a quick hug before leaving for work and Arden jumped on leaving them all hugging as if he was leaving for ever instead of spending a few days in the woods.

Krim sat on the edge of the fountain across the street from the guildhall waiting for his team mates. They were both late and he was beginning to doubt if they would show up. 'Bargus has to come, he's always wanted to be an adventurer. Fredd though..' Fredd had been doubting the plan ever since he got his Boon. Which was to say nothing about his parents who would absolutely try to dissuade him.

Much to his surprise Fredd showed up first. He looked terrible, his shaggy brown hair was a tangled mess but not in the stylish way it usually was. He still wore the same clothes as yesterday and his eyes where bloodshot. He's hungover! Krim was furious. How dare he get drunk without me. Standing up he marched up to his friend and clapped him on the back. “FREDD! GLAD YOU MADE IT!”

He was staggered by the loud shout and he wasn't the only one, the passers by who weren't expecting it glared angrily at Krim. “We're not friends any more.” Fredd croaked pushing Krim away. They both sat on the fountain and quietly waited for Bargus to show.

“So how did it go this morning?” Krim asked once Fredd had stopped cradling his head in his hands.

“ It didn't. I tried to do it last night but I just couldn't. I thought being drunk would help, but the more I drank the more I chickened out. I left them a letter explaining I'd be back in a few days.” he said sheepishly

“Holy shit Fredd. You left them a letter? They'll kill you when we get back.” Krim was stunned but got himself under control, he didn't want to make Fredd feel any worse about it. “Well, it's done now I guess. You'll need to bring them something back to apologise though.” he said giving Fredd a reassuring smile

Fredd nodded looking a bit less guilty. “Think we should go check on Bargus?” he asked trying to change the subject.

Krim was about to answer when a furious Bargus marched around the corner with his fists clenched at his sides and a scowl that forced people out of his way. Krim could see a faint wavy outline of heat about him as he got closer. 'clearly didn't go well this morning.' Krim though. “Hey, what happened?” he asked getting up to meet him. For a second it looked like Bargus would set him on fire but he quickly reined in his boon letting Krim and Fredd get closer.

“I don't really want to talk about it. Their fighting got worse, mums at a healer and the guards have got that fucking piece of shit!” he said through a clenched jaw and was fighting back tears. It wasn't the first time they'd heard about Bargus's mum being sent to a healer. Krim wrapped him in a hug standing in the middle of the street. Bargus struggled to get him off but they'd done this dance before. A minute later his hot tempered friend was sobbing into his shoulder while Fredd patted him on the back. They better keep that arsehole in a cell this time. Krim mentally prayed and fought back tears of his own. Ever since they were young Bargus had been dealing with this and had spent a lot of nights with Krim and his family when things got too rough.

“We should get out of the street, wagons are coming this way.” Fredd said ushering them back to the fountain. They sat quietly for awhile until Bargus got himself together. “We don't have to do this today. We can take an entrance test anytime.” Fredd offered watching Bargus take deep shuddering breaths

He shook his head “No, we'll do it today. I'm fine.” he said with a shaky voice

Krim sighed but knew his bull headed friend wouldn't want to delay it. “Right then. Lets head across and show them what we've got.”

The outside of the guildhall was simple and built from plain grey stone that had an intimidating vibe to it. Inside was the exact opposite, large hearths gave the wide open room a comfortable warmth and every wall held banners and mounted monster trophies. Everything was brightly lit with enchanted crystals hanging from the ceiling and colourful rugs lined their way to the reception desk. Behind the desk an elderly woman smiled kindly at them and beckoned them forward. “Are you three strapping lads here to join?” She had a gentle grandmotherly voice that made even Bargus soften and nod with a small smile.

“Good.” she crowed “Too many young ones going to waste in this old town. Now what I need from you is as detailed a description of your Boons as possible.” she handed each of them a form to fill in and slid forward a tub of pencils. “Can you all read and write?” she asked belatedly but they were already filling in the forms so she left them too it.

Krim thought about how to best describe his Boon, not wanting to make it sound too weird. 'I'll leave out Selaphos's name, don't want this old woman to think I'm some kind of sexual deviant. How do you make slimy tentacles sound family friendly?' They were all waiting for him to finish so he quickly described his tentacles and briefly mentioned the numbing slime.

The receptionist read over the forms nodding and making notes in a small notebook.

“You make heat not actual fire?” she asked Bargus who just nodded again. “Very good.” she said smiling “Easier to control heat than real fire, more than one village has been burned down due to an over eager adventurer.” she said changing page to Fredds and gave a loud tut . “The hot head I understand but you can make plants grow at will? Why in the world are you here and not looking to become a farmer?” She asked incredulously.

Fredd shrugged not knowing what to say, ever since he'd gotten his Boon people had been assuming he'd start a farm outside the walls. “I just want to stick with my friends.” he said lamely hoping she would let it go.

She gave him a sad look “I've seen more than a few who've said the same thing and not a single one of them survived a year. I'll sign you up but do an old woman a favour and really think about if this is what you want.” She waited for Fredd to promise he would think about it before turning to Krim. “Not the most descriptive form young man, what are you hiding?” she asked and leaned forward on the desk. “Keep in mind my boon lets me spot liars.”

Krim doubted that was true but didn't want to risk his future by testing it. “There's not much to tell. I can grow long tentacles that are coated in a numbing liquid.” 'Liquid is basically the same as disgusting slime' he reasoned

“How many? how long are they, how strong are they?” she tapped her pencil against her notebook with each question impatiently.

“ I've not really hit a limit yet and they can be really long, I only got my boon yesterday so I've not really tested it.” She was writing down notes while he spoke.

“Your not part of a flesh cult are you?” she didn't look at him but he thought he could see her smile at the page she was writing on. “No! No I'm not like that, I would never do those things to...” he stuttered to a stop when Bargus and Fredd broke down laughing alongside the cackling old woman.

“Oh I'm sure your an angel, Selaphos must of just made a mistake.” she said with a conspiratorial wink. Krim just groaned and slouched on the desk defeated. “The three of you go take a seat, someone will call your name when we're ready for you.”

Krim gladly scurried over to the nearest table and chairs while Bargus and Fredd took their time laughing all the way. 'At least Bargus is feeling better.' It was only a short wait before someone called for him. She was a tall woman easily towering over his six feet of height. She wore light armour with scarred leather pieces covering her vitals. He was surprised to see she had quite a pretty face, he'd expected most adventurers to be scarred and weather beaten. She looked up from his form and noticed his staring, she gave him a hard look. “Save it for the flesh cults, son. I'm not interested.” she said with a deep threatening voice.

'This needs to stop.' he shook his head and followed her through a series of doors and hallways to a practice yard, it was a large square in the middle of the guildhall that was open to the sky. They weren't the only ones there, several groups of people were running drills or sparring. There was quite a lot of people loitering about the place as well. I wasn't expecting an audience. Krim was getting more and more nervous about showing off his boon. He knew the old receptionist was joking but most people like his examiner would just assume he was a sicko. 'To be fair I was staring at her body.' He thought in self-reproach.

She turned to him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, show them to me.”

Suddenly feeling shy Krim grew his preferred number of tentacles, three on each side, one from each shoulder and a tail. He'd learned yesterday that his tail had to be thicker than planned or the weight of the others threw off his balance, he made it longer as well almost reaching four meters and let it lay on the ground. The others he made about a quarter of a meter thick and three meters long. Slime started to drip all around him and he watched the woman for her reaction.

She didn't look as horrified as he'd imagined but she was far from happy. Visibly steeling herself she went to a weapon rack and grabbed a shield and a long wooden staff. “I'm going to come at you, slowly at first and gradually get faster. Do your best to defend” Without further ado she came at him. Despite what she said her first attack was a swift jab that almost landed. He blocked with a shoulder tentacle and brought the others in closer to properly defend. She continued to probe at him, forcing him to turn in a circle just to keep her in front. Every jab with the staff was blocked and he quickly worked out if he constantly waved them a bit it was easier to react in time.

After five minutes of roughly the same thing she turned the speed up. She was striking twice as fast now and he was struggling to keep up. My tentacles are too unwieldy to stop her this close.' he briefly considered shortening them but he had a better idea. He forced more tentacles out from all over his body. He kept them short, only half a meter long. He ran into an issue though when most of them were stuck under his clothes. I'm not getting naked, she already thinks I'm a creep.'

Krim withdrew most of the ones under his tunic but used a couple to roll up his sleeves and the legs of his trousers letting a dozen short waving tentacles free to help defend him. He could hear people watching the test making disgusted sounds or mocking him but he tried to focus on the staff that was getting faster.

After another few minutes the staff sped up again turning into a blur of motion and smacked him in the face, stomach and knee seemingly all at the same time. He collapsed in a slimy heap as did the examiner. Throughout the fight she had been constantly splattered with the slime and was feeling its effects.

“It dries up after a few minutes and you can just brush it off.” he said when she struggled to wipe it off. All around him the yard was covered in the purple slime and more than a few bystanders had been hit.

“This better not stain.” she said checking her armour.

“It doesn't or else I'd be wearing all purple.” he joked but she wasn't in the mood for laughing. Once Krim had retracted his tentacles and the slime had dried up they went to the next test. “This will test how strong your tentacles are.” she said simply. The test didn't need much explaining though. In front of them were large piles of weighted plates with their weight stamped onto them and holes in their middle to slide a bar through.

He grew one of his regular tentacles out from the waist and threaded it through a pile of ten plates each marked with twenty five Kilograms. As he expected when he lifted the rock the day before, having an easy way to grip the weights made it far easier. It was still a quarter ton though and he could feel his tentacle shake as it lifted. It was hard to maintain his balance but keeping the weight close to him helped. “I could probably do a bit more but I'd just fall over.” He said and looked over to the stunned woman

“Can you do that with each tentacle?” she asked quickly scribbling on his form.

Krim wanted to impress her despite how she reacted to him initially and started picking up plates with more tentacles. 'I'm impressed by myself' he though and gave her a wide grin. Each of his eight tentacles held a quarter of a ton, each spread out around him to evenly distribute the load. He'd had to grow several tentacles out from his hips to the dirt floor just to stop his legs from breaking under the strain. There were shocked gasps from the crowd of watching adventurers when he started slithering around the area reserved for weights.

It was hard to think of a situation were he would need to lift this much but it was still fun to show off. Eventually his examiner waved the crowd away and told him to drop the weights. They went back to the sparring area and she tossed him a staff and shield. “Same as before but this time try and fight back.”

Krim gave an excited nod, this was what he'd been hoping for. A chance to really fight, he grew his usual set of tentacles but also grew the shorter ones from before since they had definitely helped last time. She came at him starting off with a fast jab same as before but between the shield and his defensive tentacles she couldn't get close. He flicked two tentacles low aiming for he feet while jabbing one at her face as a distraction. She was far to quick though and simply ducked the jab and stepped back to save her legs. His tentacles kept her away but she was too quick for him to catch.

Krim thought the stalemate would continue until some of his slime landed on her hand holding the staff and her grip loosened slightly. With a devious smile he began flicking his tentacles rapidly, completely covering her in slime. He actually felt a bit guilty when some went in her mouth. While she wretched Krim attacked, he wrapped her up in tentacles from her ankles to her neck and lifted her of the ground. He brought her close and gently bopped her on the head with the staff.

His captive was less than amused. “Puth me thown. I'll futhing guth you, you thick bathard!” She kept screaming with a numb tongue and another crowd of onlookers gathered around them. Krim eased her to the ground and let go but he kept his tentacles ready, the crowd wasn't looking very friendly. Despite the danger he felt he was trying to hold in a laugh at the drooling examiner. She got up and stormed away, back through the door that led to the reception. Krim followed her but had to hold up his tentacles and force his way through the muttering crowd, only retracting them once he was through the door. He leaned against the wall and shook his head. "I'm just the best at first impressions.” he sighed and began meandering through the guildhall trying to find his way back.