For as long as he could remember, Owwen Draumur wanted to be an adventurer. After learning to read by himself, the only books he had were those filled with adventurer tales and adventurers themselves. Perhaps the book he kept closest was his book on the Adventurer’s Guild. He would stay awake at night, imagining himself as an adventurer, walking into the guild, victorious, after finishing a quest. He knew these dreams of his would one day be reality.

Despite protest from his parents that he should seek a more secure lifestyle, he was adamant. It didn’t take long for his ambition to turn into reality as he had finally turned 16, an age considered by many to be the turning point from childhood into adulthood. Begging his parents for a blessing before he departed to the city, they hesitantly gave it just as he left, as well as providing him with a couple of supplies and the family pendant.

He held the pendant in his hand as he walked, thinking about the importance of what he had been given. The pendant itself wasn’t very pretty, but he knew it contained unimaginable value. Not only was it a family heirloom, it was a magical item, not a common object for a family of potato farmers. Due to the rarity of magical items, his parents never had it checked in order to find out the enchantment that the pendant held, afraid it would be stolen. However, if the power he could sense from it was any indication, it was not something weak. He sighed briefly and put the pendant into his shirt pocket, a reminder to look more into what kind of power it possessed later.

It was bright, and the sun was about to reach its peak when Owwen finally arrived. The town of Anderess, the last city of the kingdom before its boundary with the wilderness. He knew of a couple of settlements that were much closer to the border, but none as big as Anderess. The city itself had garnered a reputation as town that was always growing; this was mostly because construction was commonplace in most of the city. Since the city was close to the border, it was prone to being attacked. It had only been a couple of months since the last invasion, so the buildings were teeming with construction equipment and materials.

The main streets were just wide enough for wagons carrying supplies in and out of town to pass through. Even the smaller side streets could have at least two people walking side by side. Street vendors could be seen selling their wares in the city’s unofficial marketplace, this made the town a bit crowded, but today there were a lot more people than usual. Owwen didn’t know if the construction happening had reduced the walking space or if everyone had just decided to go out that day. Either way, crowds weren’t too much of a problem for him.

The town never looked the same for too long, and the destroyed buildings being renovated gave it an air of hopefulness. Owwen loved the city because of this, though this did remind him of a small oversight in his part. Where would he live? He pondered for a minute before remembering that the Adventurer’s Guild had an inn, and they had discounts for adventurers!

Perfect, now all I need is money! He thought.

He was honestly just making up his plan as he went along. He had brought some food, water, and basic supplies, but other than that, he was broke. Being the son of poor farmers had a few drawbacks after all.

Maybe I can try selling some of my food, or maybe…

His mind wandered, he did not know how to make reliable money. He entertained several thoughts before the image of his family pendant flashed before him. Shaking his head slightly, he dismissed the idea as soon as it arrived.

I can’t sell my pendant! It might be worth a lot of money but it belongs in my family. Plus, who knows what kinds of powers it has?

He was not about to let something as important as his family heirloom get sold off, even if it meant sleeping on the street.

What about… no. Oh and if I… no that won’t work… But if I…

Lost in his own thoughts, Owwen ran headfirst into a large and burly man. The man’s appearance was rugged and his clothes could’ve used a bit of washing, but his calm attitude indicated that he probably wouldn’t knockout Owwen for running into him. Probably.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s ok. Just a small accident right? But be careful. The street is no place to get distracted.” He said calmly, while tapping Owwen’s shoulder with his hand.

Any fear that he had vanished and he realized that the man was an adventurer. Instantly he began to think of questions to ask the man, but the shock kept him from asking any of them. Leaving him there standing in silence, his mouth only barely open.

“C’mon Dorus, we’re going to be late!” Chimed a woman standing behind the adventurer he now knew to call Dorus.

She wore purple robe with intricate embroidery at the sleeve, in addition to that, the staff she carried and slightly oversized hat indicated that she was a student of magic. However, most importantly, she was also an adventurer. Beside her was man with a beard, from the look on his face and the daggers at his side, Owwen quickly figured out that he was a rogue. Most rogues kept to the shadows and worked as thieves, but some had decided to take a nobler path in life and devote themselves to questing and adventuring.

“Excuse us now, we have to get going.” Dorus said.

“Oh right. Sorry! I’ll get out of the way…”

Avoiding running into more people and taking a step back, close to a street vendor, Owwen gazed at the group heading most likely to their next quest. He couldn’t help but stare even if he was the only one on the street doing it. They held a confident gaze while they walked, a gaze he knew he would soon have as well.

“Hey kid! Are ya gonna buy anything?” Asked the man tending the stall.

“Uh…. No, I don’t have any money, sorry.”

“Then scram!” The owner screamed.

Owwen held his backpack as he ran away from the angry man. He could still hear screaming coming from behind him.

Geez! You don’t have to be so angry! You’re not gonna get any money with an attitude like that.

Not that he had any personal experience with selling things, but he knew that customer service was important. Had the angry old man screamed any louder at him, he would’ve forgotten the reason he came to the city in the first place.

Now to start my life as an adventurer, I just need to find the guild. It shouldn’t be too hard. The guild hall is one of the most famous buildings in the city after all.

It was true that the Adventurer’s Guild had quite a reputation in Anderess, and it was even known across the kingdom, but he had never seen the building itself. He knew that the guild itself was made up of three buildings that sat side by side, the Tavern/Guild, the Inn, and the Shop. This made it look like a single large building rather than three separate ones. This is all he knew since the books he read as a child had no drawings of the guild itself. But he kept walking, trying to find the largest building he could. Many caught his attention, like the Builder’s Guild and the Town Hall, which were the largest buildings he had ever seen, but still no signs of the adventurer’s guild.

Maybe it’s not that big. Since adventurers are humble, they wouldn’t want to spend too much money on three large buildings. So I’ll just keep looking.

An hour of wandering later, Owwen was starting to get tired, even after looking more carefully at the smaller buildings in town, he still couldn’t find it.

How am I supposed to finish quests and become an adventurer if I cant even find the building!? But I’m not giving up, I have to…

He froze just as he turned a corner on the street. Owwen found himself staring at the same vendor who had screamed at him earlier.

Did… Did I just go in a big circle?

“Get out of here Carim. What did I say about setting up shop in front of the guild?”

The voice came from inside the building behind the stall. A man, probably in his late twenties, early thirties, walked out and began arguing with the salesman.

“Aw c’mon Gherson! You know that I don’t get any business in the marketplace.”

“You don’t get any business here either.”

“It’s been a tough week! People don’t wanna buy used wares anymore!”

“Maybe they would buy something if you didn’t scream at them so much.”

The argument kept going back and forth but Owwen stopped listening as soon as the man said ‘guild’. Looking at the building behind the shack, he could clearly see it was large. Despite the construction going on in the entire city, it seemed well maintained, even more than the Builder’s Guild. Right in front of it there was a sign written: “The Adventurer’s Tavern”.

So if that’s the tavern, then that means…

To the sides of the building there was another entrance with a sign: “The Adventurer’s Inn”, and to the other side a third entrance to what he assumed was the Adventurer’s Shop.

It was here. It was here this entire time. And I missed it. Just because of that old man screaming, I missed it.

After getting over his initial shock, he realized the vendor was already packing up and leaving after losing the argument with the man. He didn’t catch his name but reminded himself to thank the guy later for getting rid of that particular nuisance. Not wanting to waste any more time, he hurried into the tavern, doing his best not to run into more people on the way.

Walking in he stopped, not expecting to find that the inside was as bright as it was. He always thought taverns would have at least a candle or two to make up for the lack of natural light. However, it seemed the large windows brought in enough light for the whole room. The place was larger than he was expecting, and he was already expecting something quite big. Adventurers of all kinds sat around the tables scattered across the left and the middle of the room. Waiters brought food and drinks and took back empty plates and orders for more food. The tables ranged in size from just enough for two people to large wooden platforms that could seat at least a dozen. Near the back he could see the bar and more alcohol than he ever knew existed. Just behind it, closer to the middle, was the door to what he assumed was the kitchen.

On the right side of the tavern there were no tables but instead there was a large balcony with a sign written: “Information Desk”. Just behind it, pinned to a wall, was the largest notice board he had ever seen, filled with all kinds of papers and posters. He assumed those were quests. He knew there was an abundance of quests to be done but had no idea there were so many. Next to the desk was another smaller notice board titled: “News”. As he walked closer, he saw that it was also filled with different kinds of warnings and the latest reports that could be useful for someone going on an adventure. He decided to read one of them.

“WARNING: Goblin camp spotted in Grove Valley. Avoid unnecessary encounters.”

Wow, an adventurer really needs to be prepared for anything. I guess this board is going to be very important for me in the near future.

Glancing at another warning, he walked towards the information desk. The attendant behind the desk was busy looking at some papers so she didn’t notice him immediately. She was cute. Her hair was short, barely reaching her shoulders, and the guild uniform she wore was modest but stuck a little bit closer to her form than he was expecting. He didn’t want to interrupt her but after almost a minute Owwen cleared his throat hoping she would notice him.

“Oh I’m sorry! How can I help you?”

He was caught off guard by her warm cheery voice, so after stumbling a bit he prepared to say the words he had wanted to say for so long.

“I want to be an adventurer!”

His heart was pounding. He had no idea if this was because he had just stared at the cute attendant for about a minute or if he was just excited to begin this new part of his life. Either way, it was not a bad feeling.

“A new adventurer, huh? We don’t get a lot of new people here but it shouldn’t take long to get the paperwork ready.”

“Ummm, paperwork?” There’s paperwork to become an adventurer? This was not in any of the books I read.

“Yeah, its hard work to keep track of the number of adventurer’s who come through here daily and what quests they might have finished or failed. So we have to fill out paperwork to make sure that we know exactly who you are and what you’ve done.”

It sounds like they’re making a criminal profile for me. But it makes sense, I cant expect them to know what hundreds of adventurers are doing without some form of organization.

“Ok, I’m going to ask you some questions and please answer as honestly as you can.” The attendant said with a smile.

“O-ok.” Owwen stuttered, trying and failing to smile back at her.

“Name?”

“Owwen Draumur”

“Age?”

“Sixteen”

The questions she asked were very basic so he didn’t really struggle to answer any of them. It really was just boring old paperwork. He was almost a bit glad that he wasn’t going to be stuck behind a desk and he would soon be off fighting monsters or helping people. Just then he remembered.

“Umm, small question I have.” Owwen chimed. “Who was that man who got rid of that cranky salesman?”

“Oh that was Aurus Gherson, the guild master.”

“I’m sorry but…” Did she just say that man was the guild master? “That was the guild master?”

“Yes, he’s the boss of everyone around here.”

“But he didn’t seem that old or...”

In his mind, the guild master was someone with a lifetime of experience. Whose wisdom and leadership led and inspired the rest of the guild. The man he saw was barely in his thirties, and he didn’t look anything like he imagined. He didn’t have lots of battle scars, each one with a story behind them, or a huge frame like many legendary warriors of the past had. If anything, the man he saw was average. Short brown hair, dark brown eyes, average build, and just slightly taller than average, very slightly.

Still trying to wrap his head around this new image of a guild master that formed in his head, Owwen thought of a good question.

“But why was he the one out there arguing with the vendor? Isn’t he someone who is very busy?”

“Well, he’s the only one who can get rid of him. When we try to do it he leaves for just a few days, but when it’s the boss we can go almost two months without seeing him here.”

“I see…” I guess there are some things only the guild master can do. “Can I thank him later for doing that then?”

“Sure! Now we’re almost finished with these documents, so once you pay the fee I can go ahead and hand them over to my supervisor.”

“Fee?” I forgot the fee.

“Yes, the beginner’s fee. All adventurers have to pay for it.”

“Right” The fee, how could I forget? “I’ll just pay for it.” How am I supposed to pay for the fee and still have leftover money for the inn? I would have to sell everything I own or… the pendant. I cant sell it, its too valuable! But if I don’t do it I might never have enough money to actually become an adventurer. But I don’t even know what it does!

“Can you give me a few minutes?” He asked.

“Sure. I’ll just hold on to these papers for now.”

Owwen sat at the nearest empty table and removed the pendant from his shirt pocket. He stared at it all the while thinking of some way of securing his life as an adventurer without having to sell his most prized possession. His mind pondered idea after idea but it all seemed in vain. He would have to sell his pendant, or at the very least offer it as payment until he had enough money from quests to buy it back. Of all of his ideas, this one seemed the least risky since the chances of someone else buying the pendant were very low. This was now his plan, all that was left was for the attendant to accept it as a way to pay the fee. Making his way back to the desk, he griped the magical item in his hand.

“Will this do as payment?” Owwen showed the woman the trinket.

“Hmmm, it doesn’t seem very valuable.”

“It’s a magical item. It has been in my family for generations. Please, can this be my form of payment?” Desperately hoping she would accept.

“I’ll have to check.”

Getting up she walked towards a door in the back of the room. Owwen was surprised he didn’t see it earlier. The Information Desk was so big it actually reached towards the back of the whole area, and at the end of it, on the back wall, there was a door, probably leading to the management area upstairs. The girl opened the door and screamed.

“Hey Nia! Need your help with something!” She made her way back and sat down.

“Who’s Nia?” Owwen asked meekly.

“She’s my boss.”

“I thought the guild master was your boss.”

“He is. He is also my boss’ boss. Nia’s his assistant.” The cute girl replied bluntly, with a look on her face that seemed more annoyed than anything.

Moments later a beautiful girl, not much older than the attendant, showed up. Her hair was longer than the attendant’s was. It light brown, as were her eyes. In fact, at just the right light her eyes almost seemed golden. Her uniform was well fitted so it didn’t stick to her like it did with the attendant. She had a slightly annoyed look on her face, almost as if she had been interrupted from something important. If Owwen wasn’t already nervous in front of one cute girl, two pretty girls made him even more jittery.

“I was in the middle of some important stuff, but what it is?” She asked with a small sigh.

“This young man here wants to be an adventurer; he probably doesn’t have any money and wants to pay with this thing.” All of the niceness of her voice was gone. Did she even realize he could listen to everything she was saying? What happened to the cute, cheerful attendant that sat before Owwen not long ago?

“You don’t have to be so blunt about it you know. Other people’s financial situation is none of your concern.” Nia said in a matter of fact way.

“I just don’t have patience with people who try to waste my time; he shouldn’t have come here if he had no way of paying for the fee. I even filled out all the paperwork!”

Is that why she’s being so cold to me right now? She could’ve just told me about the fee before asking any of those questions.

“This is the ONLY paperwork you’ve done in the past week. I don’t know why you are complaining. Now what is this ‘thing’ that you want to pay with?” Nia asked, turning her attention to Owwen.

Stuttering a bit, “I… uhh… this pendant. It’s been in my family for years, and is an incredibly valuable magical item.” He stuck out his opened hand, with the pendant resting on his palm. The woman he now knew as Nia examined it a bit before taking it into her own hand.

“Hmmm. It does seem to fit the characteristics of a magic item, but we’ll need to check more closely to make sure it’s not fake.”

“I’m absolutely sure that it is not fake!”

He hadn’t ever used this assertive tone before, but after hearing the accusation that something his family held in such high regard was fake, he could not hold it in. He probably spoke a bit too as a few people sitting closer to the desk turned towards him. Realizing he was making a scene, he blushed in embarrassment and went back to being mostly quiet once again.

“I believe you.” Nia said with a smile. “Looking at it closely I can feel some sort of magic within, so it must be something, but we still have to check to see what it is exactly. I’ll go give this and the paperwork to the guild master to have everything finalized.”

“So this means…” Owwen said, not really believing what he had heard.

“This means that in a few minutes you’ll be an adventurer.” The attendant said impatiently, going back to whatever she was doing before Owwen arrived.

“You can stop by the shop and get a beginner’s pack while you wait. Its cost is covered by the fee so all you need to do is ask.” Nia said, sweeping up the paperwork from the desk walking back towards the door.

I can’t believe it… its happening! Owwen thought as a huge smile made its way through his face.

He stumbled to the shop, barely containing his excitement. Just before he entered, he saw the sign in front of it: “The Shop Shop”. He was a bit confused. Wasn’t this the shop? He walked inside and sure enough, he was greeted with rows and rows of items all on display. From regular weapons and armor, to potions and ingredients. He even saw a few, extremely expensive, magical items on sale. He hoped he wouldn’t see his pendant there one day, and if he did, he hoped he would have enough money at the time to buy it back. Not wanting to spend more time between him and his destiny, Owwen got the beginner’s pack and headed back to the tavern to wait for the news.

Sitting at one of the few empty tables, he kept his eye on the desk, waiting for Nia or someone to show up with the news that he was now an adventurer. Thinking about how the guild ran on a lot of paperwork he realized he was probably going to wait a while until he received the greenlight to go on quests. Looking over his beginner’s pack, he saw it contained the essentials for an adventurer, a short sword, a small leather pouch for herbs or ingredients, and a few small health potions, nothing too crazy.

Seems like everything I need to start out, but I have a strange feeling I’m forgetting something… Oh right! I have to thank the guild master for getting rid of that annoying old guy!

Walking back to the info desk, he stood before the same attendant that had lost her patience with him. He didn’t even remember to ask for her name and her annoyed face just discouraged him for asking at this point.

“Excuse me; I’d like to thank the guild master for dealing with that old man.”

“The GM is very busy, but you can leave a message for him if you want.” The attendant replied, not even looking up from what she was doing.

She really doesn’t like to waste her time, either that or she was faking the whole cheery thing from the start. At least she is being nice enough to let me leave a message.

“I’d like to leave a message for him then!” Owwen tried his best to sound cheery.

“Leave a message for who?” Asked Nia, who had overheard him speaking just as she entered the room again.

“Oh! Umm. The guild master, I want to thank him for getting rid of that street vendor.”

“Alright, I’ll write it down somewhere and hand it to him when he’s not too busy. Speaking of busy, what are you doing Karla!?”

Her name is Karla then, I should probably remember that.

“Just reading a magazine.” Karla said with disinterest.

“Don’t you have any work to do?”

“I can do it all later, besides this is a new edition it has all the gossip directly from the capital.”

She was reading a gossip magazine this whole time!?!?

Owwen’s outrage was short lived however as Nia’s next words made such an impact on him he completely forgot about Karla.

“I don’t even know what you see in those magazines. Either way, here you go!” Tuning to Owwen, Nia reached out, she had a small bronze badge in her hand. “I officially announce you a new member of the Adventurer’s Guild!”

Owwen had to keep himself from tearing up at those words. The small bronze badge was proof that he was now an adventurer. He knew bronze was the lowest rank in the guild but he took the badge and placed it on his chest, proudly. He finally did it.

“There are a few quests here that should be beginner friendly. If you work hard you’ll start climbing the ranks in no time.” Nia added just before making her way back upstairs.

“Thank you!” Owwen struggled to speak those words without choking up.

Looking at the huge notice board, he tried to figure out which quests were the easiest, but the sheer number of them just made him confused. He kept trying to look until he ran across a piece of paper pinned up with a green border around it. It seemed to be a quest to help nearby farmers harvest their crops, and it actually paid decently. Most farmers were poor, so they probably would not be the ones giving the gold. Owwen remembered how the guild sometimes liked to provide community service using their quest system.

Sounds easy enough, I have been helping my parents harvest the crops for most of my life. It seems a bit ironic that the first thing I do as an adventurer is work part time as a farmer, but I have to start somewhere.

“Hey, I want to do that quest.” Owwen said, pointing at paper. “The one with helping farmers harvest their crops.”

“Sure. There aren’t a lot of people doing it since it doesn’t pay well, so there should still be reward money by the time you come back.” Karla said, reaching underneath the desk and handing him a copy of the paper on the notice board.

It doesn’t pay well? That seemed like a decent amount of money for me. Just how much do these quests pay anyways?

“So how will you know that I’m done with the quest when I come back?”

“The farmers usually send a letter as proof, sometimes a gift from the harvest itself. It varies, but we know.”

“Ok thank you!”

Owwen set out with a huge smile on his face. He stepped out into the open street; the city was just as busy as it had been when he arrived in town. He started walking by a building with large cranes taking up supplies, intent on making his way to his quest. He was about to start his new life, his new life as an adventurer. He was finally fulfilling his dream and nothing would stop him now. He was on the path towards his destiny and he felt good*CRASH*