The guild — Ferris

“I’ll do it tonight. Where can I find these Blood-whatevers?”

Adriana frowns at me.

“Are you sure you’re well?”

“I’m fine.”

“Alright, if you say so. Don’t get yourself killed out there.”

She flattens out a map of Salsvale on the bar and points at a specific section.

“That’s where one of their bases is located.”

“In the slums?”

“Yes. The Bloodroots recruit their members with talk of revolution. It’s just talk, though. They’re a gang. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Why have they been bothering you?”

“They own several of the newer brothels in the city. My brothel is more popular with nobility because of its age and reputation. They figure that if they sabotage my business, they’ll get access to the higher paying customers.”

“What do you want me to do, exactly?”

“Just tell them that Adriana is under your protection and give them a show of power. Hopefully that will be enough. If not, I may ask for you to give them a little reminder in the future.”

“Sounds easy enough. Anything else I should know before I go?”

“No, just be careful.”

“I’ll be fine.”

I pick up radius and step out of the brothel, making my way through the narrow streets towards the place Adriana indicated.

As I move farther away from the central part of the city, the buildings become smaller and more decrepit. Emaciated people sit on the streets in disturbingly large numbers, looking at me with expressionless faces as I pass by. It smells of feces and rotting garbage. Whoever cleans the streets in the rich part of town doesn’t bother coming here.

When I reach the place Adriana specified, it becomes clear which building is the gang’s base. There is a large, ugly building made of stone that has been sculpted into shape, probably the work of an unskilled terramancer. The front door to the structure is an open hole through which I can hear shouting and music. A couple of large men stand by the hole, guarding it. They watch me apprehensively. One of them is awakened. The other has a rusty greatsword.

“Hi, you're the Bloodroots, right?”

“Why do you want to know?” The awakened guard asks.

“Because I’m here to tell you not to mess with Adriana anymore. She’s under my protection.”

“You can fuck off.”

“I’m going to come in,” I say.

I step towards the door, and the other guard holds out his greatsword to block my way. I don’t slow down at all, instead just making the blade melt. The guard drops the handle as it becomes too hot to hold, yelping in pain. I step inside and raise the air temperature sharply, getting everyone’s attention. Dozens of people turn their heads to look at me, their drinking and gambling interrupted.

“Hey! I could kill every last one of you without even trying, so listen the fuck up! No more messing with Adriana’s business! If she gets any trouble from you lot, I’ll come back and—”

I dodge an arrow that comes from behind. I turn my head to see an archer peeking out of a small shack across the street.

I point Radius at him and shoot out a big fat fireball. It’s not my usual style, but the flashy blast and the resulting explosion are bound to make an impression. What was once a shack is now a raging bonfire.

“Anyone else want to do something stupid?”

A man with long brown hair and a hooked nose stands up and walks towards me. He’s awakened, and noticeably stronger than the guard outside. Everyone turns to look at him.

“What’s she paying you?”

“Nothing. She’s a friend.”

“Well, shit. Fine. We won’t kill her girls anymore.”

Is that what they did?

“Let me make this clear. If you kill any more of her employees, I will slaughter every single one of you worthless pieces of scum. Like this.”

I fire a beam of white fire at the man with the hooked nose, blowing a hole straight through his chest, as well as through the building. His corpse collapses on the ground.

I turn around, walking out of the now silent room, a sick feeling in my stomach. That probably wasn’t necessary. It was so easy, though.

The walk back to Adriana’s place feels short.

“How did it go? You look alright, if a bit pale.”

“You didn’t tell me they killed your girls.”

“Will they stop?”

“Yes. One way or another. If they do it again, I’ll kill them all. I made that clear.”

“That’s… rather extreme. It’s good, though. Thank you, Ferris.”

“Sure.”

She stands up and claps her hands.

“Girls, Ferris gets drinks and company on the house tonight.”

She turns towards me and winks. What the fuck? I didn’t ask for this.

“No. I’d rather sleep alone.”

A pretty girl is already grabbing my arm, batting her eyes at me.

“What about the free drinks?” She asks innocently.

I sigh.

“Okay, fine. Get me some wine.”

…

My head hurts. I roll over in my sheets, bumping into something soft and warm. She yawns.

“Get out of my bed.”

She does as she is told. I don’t look at her face. I don’t want to remember her.

I bury my face in my pillow, falling back asleep.

…

My head still hurts, but less. I have to go to the adventurers guild today. I need to make money for Maribelle’s school, unless the Valbecks are going to pay for that too.

I push my way through the busy streets. The academy looms large in the distance, the building itself an extravagant castle even larger than the Arvali palace. It’s not my first time seeing it. I remember gawking at it when I was a child, and being harshly told I was not allowed to attend. I was to study in my home country, of course. Elania’s schools were just as good, but their architecture was far less impressive.

The adventurers guild, by comparison, is an unimpressive building. The guild doesn’t need to prove their worth. They protect the people from the things that roam outside our walls. Nothing could be more important. They are one of the only truly international organizations that exist, leading a worldwide effort by humanity to preserve our own existence. They must never get involved in politics or flaunt their power, lest the international cooperation that allows for their presence be destroyed. Thus, their building is a simple structure, just big enough for the purpose it serves.

I step inside, immediately sensing several auras around my level, and a couple far above me. The main guild hall consists of a front desk on the left, and some tables and benches where adventurers are having lunch on the right. Behind the desk, I can see a warehouse of supplies. There are racks of enchanted weapons, shelves of alchemical concoctions, and piles of armor. The young woman seated at the front desk smiles at me.

“Hello, may I help you?”

“Yes. I want to join the guild.”

“Wonderful. We’re a bit short on new recruits at the moment. Follow me.”

She leads me up some stairs to an office, knocking on the door before opening it. Inside is an elderly man with a truly fearsome aura. His presence electrifies the air. He wears an old and tattered hat, and his scruffy beard covers his face, leaving only his piercing blue eyes peeking out. He smiles at me and leans forward. A shiny gold adventurers tag dangles from his neck.

“Fresh meat?” He asks.

“Yes, finally,” the front desk lady says.

He stares me in the eyes, I feel a tingle go down my spine, some kind of magic.

“You’re a pyromancer. A strong one too. What’s your fighting experience?”

“I spent the last several years training in the southern mountains by hunting monsters.”

He laughs loudly. It’s a gruff, boisterous laugh.

“See, Kaylee? This is what happens when the higher ups put an age limit on joining the guild. This kid could’ve been a working adventurer years ago! I’m telling you, it’s a shit rule. I miss the good old days when we had little tater tots running around here.”

“Tater tots that died young, Grant.”

The man waves her off, looking back at me with a serious gaze.

“Speaking of which, we’ve gotta test you. It’s guild policy. Come here.”

He pulls out a box from under his desk and opens it. Inside is a pale crystal sphere, a strange magic emanating from it.

“Put your hand on the orb, say your name and age, and swear that you have humanity’s best interests in mind. Fair warning, it hurts like a motherfucker.”

I place my hand on the orb, and pain shoots through my body, a scream of anguish coming from the orb that reverberates through me. It distracts me for a moment before I clench my other hand and make myself speak.

“My name is Ferris. I’m seventeen. I swear that I have humanity’s best interests in mind.”

I remove my hand from the orb, gasping for breath.

“No last name?” He asks.

“No last name,” I say.

“Alright Ferris, you’re in the guild. Now we have to determine your grade. You probably know this already, but I’m supposed to explain it anyway. Adventurers are divided into four grades. Your grade determines the difficulty of your missions, and also your pay. The grades are iron, bronze, silver, and gold. For a new recruit like you, no matter how strong you are, the highest you’ll be placed is silver. Gold grade is only given to veterans who have proven themselves extremely capable in the field, and also rich-ass nobles who need their egos stroked.”

“Grant, you’re not supposed to say that,” Kaylee says.

He waves her off again.

“Do you have any manifestations?” Grant asks.

“I have three. I’m working on forging a fourth.”

“Very good. What do they do?”

“The first is a powerful mid-range attack that unfortunately causes a major environmental hazard, The second one is a long-range homing attack useful against highly mobile enemies, and the third one is an extremely powerful close-range attack meant to pierce through defenses that I would be otherwise unable to breach.”

“Reasonable choices. It sounds like you take a primarily offensive approach to battle. You might be a good fit for one of our silver grade teams. They’ve got survivability handled, but they need someone who can dish out some serious damage. Are you comfortable with being silver grade?”

“It’s what I was hoping for. You’re not going to test me or anything?”

“Of course I’m going to test you. What are you, stupid? Based on your aura alone, you definitely have the raw power for silver grade, but I obviously need to see it for myself.”

He stands up from his desk, and walks out of the office.

“Are you coming?”

“Sorry, yeah.”

I follow him out, and the two of us head downstairs, past the main guild hall and into the basement. There is a huge hollowed out underground bunker with powerful protective enchantments strengthening the walls. Even so, there are cracks, gouges, and scorch marks on every surface, scars from the many powerful magics that have been unleashed here.

Out of the corner of the room, he wheels out a training dummy. It’s essentially a sandbag on a stick, but it’s coated in a dense web of powerful defensive enchantments.

“Show me that powerful close range attack. Hit the dummy.”

“Okay.”

I raise my spear, pointing it at the enchanted bag of sand. It feels a bit strange to be using my most powerful manifestation against it. Piercing Star is a last resort, a technique meant to kill that which cannot be killed. Its use always held a certain weight in my mind.

I try to imagine that the dummy is an opponent worthy of this attack, a fearsome foe that must be destroyed. For a moment, I think of Maribelle, the thought briefly coming to mind that if we were to fight, this move might be my only chance at victory. I don’t want to hurt her, though.

I think of Malazo, his sickening smile, his violet eyes, his massive draconic form.

‘Piercing Star!’

“Fuck!” Grant exclaims, shielding his eyes from the light.

A loud bang resounds throughout the underground bunker, the walls shaking. From my brief attack, the air was heated up to the temperature of a kiln, hot enough to boil flesh. There is no more training dummy, a section of the ground melted to lava where it had been standing.

“Okay. That was pretty damn good. Congratulations. You’re a silver grade adventurer, Ferris.”

I smile at the man. That was easier than expected. We head back upstairs.

“We’ll have your tag made by the end of the day. Your first mission is in three days.”

He leads me back to the front desk where Kaylee is once again seated.

“How did it go?” She asks.

“He’s silver grade. Also, get a cryomancer down to the training room, and don’t let any iron grades in there in the meantime.”

“Understood,” she says.

“Ferris, want to meet your team? They happen to be here right now.” Grant says.

“Yeah, of course.”

He takes me across the hall to a group of three people eating lunch together.

“This is most of them. There’s one more who isn’t here.”

There is a woman with raven black hair and blue eyes, a man about my age who has dyed his hair green, and a middle-aged bald man wearing a blindfold.

“Hi, Grant. Who’s this?” The woman asks.

“Talia, this is Ferris, your team’s new attack mage. He’s a pyromancer.”

She looks me over with an appraising stare, thumping her index finger against her temple.

“Why don’t you sit down?” The green-haired man says, offering his hand for a shake.

I accept his handshake and sit down on the bench next to him.

“I’m Zach, that’s Talia, and he’s Norton,” The green-haired man says, gesturing to the others.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yes it’s a pleasure. Our last attack mage got skewered by a demonic pike bear, and we’ve been in need of a replacement for quite a while,” Norton, the blindfolded man, says.

“I see.”

I feel a bit awkward. I’m not sure what to talk about here.

“What kind of magic do you all have?” I ask.

“I’m a physical fighter,” Talia says.

“Venomancer,” Zach says.

“Healer and aeromancer,” Norton says.

“You have two rights?” I ask.

“Yes, I do,” he says.

I nod, fairly impressed by that.

Talia’s aura feels the strongest out of the three, quite a bit stronger than mine in fact. Norton feels around my level, and Zach’s aura is weaker, about as strong as Maribelle’s.

“Who is the missing member?” I ask.

“An enchanter named Ellie. She’s busy enchanting armor for the guild right now, so you won’t see her outside her workshop much,” Talia says.

I raise my eyebrows, a bit surprised.

“I didn’t know the guild sent enchanters out into the field.”

“She specializes in improvised enchantments and warding. She’s probably the most valuable member of our team. She’s versatile,” Zack says.

“Anyway, I want to see what you can do. Want to have a spar?” Talia asks me.

“Sure. I don’t mind.”

“Let’s go down into the practice room.”

All four of us walk down into the same room where Grant tested me. It’s still boiling hot in there, and when I open the door, my new teammates raise their eyebrows.

“You did this?” Talia asks.

“Yeah.”

She hums in approval, walking to the center of the room and looking at the puddle of lava. She bends down and pokes it with her finger. I’m not preventing her from being burned, but she still seems fine.

“Alright, let’s fight. Norton, heal us if we get hurt.”

A moment later, Talia is dashing towards me, her fists raised. She punches at me, and I block the strike with Radius’s shaft.

“Is that a spirit bonded weapon?” She asks.

“Yeah.”

“Pretty rare to see that. Not a lot of people are willing to make that sort of commitment.”

She spins around, throwing fast kicks at my head. I dodge them.

“Show me your pyromancy.”

I jump back and release my aura, concentrating it into a flame blade. I point it at her.

“Hmm. Looks hot.”

She charges me, and I slash with my flame blade. She dodges my attack and punches me in the face, breaking my nose. I’m sent flying, but I land on my feet. She’s already on me again. Blows strike my torso, breaking ribs with each brutal impact.

I land a kick to her stomach. It feels like I’m kicking enchanted steel, my foot not even depressing her belly, but the force of my kick still creates some distance between us.

I blast fire out of my feet to move forward quickly, the world blurring around me as I fly past her, slashing at her with my flame blade. She raises her arms in a cross to meet my attack, and her defensive magic surges.

She winces in pain as my flame blade burns into her arms, incinerating skin and muscle before the flames are dissipated.

I land in a roll, and cough blood. It hurts. Her punches definitely broke something important.

She looks at her charred arms, a grimace on her face.

“Impressive. You’re the first pyromancer that managed to burn me without a manifestation.”

“Thanks,” I groan.

I feel magic flowing into me through the air. My eyes widen in surprise as my ribs crack back into place and my organs repair themselves. The burns on Talia’s arms heal as well. Norton’s hands are glowing with golden light that is dispersing out into the air, then concentrating on Talia and I.

“You can heal from a distance?”

“Yes. It is useful,” he says.

I smile, sitting back as my body is healed. This is a good team. As Grant said, they have survivability.

“Norton, are you blind?” I ask, figuring it’s reasonably important information for me to have.

“Visually, yes, but I can sense the shape of the air. It is my responsibility to detect enemies from a distance, as long as they do not come from underground.”

“Got it.”

I stand up, already feeling completely fine.

“Want to go another round?” Talia asks.

“Sure.”

We spar for a while, and she ends up getting the upper hand in most of our exchanges. The problem is that I have trouble burning deep enough to inflict truly lethal damage before she beats me to a pulp. Her defense is incredible, and it feels like she surpasses me in fighting experience. Maybe it would turn out differently if I used my manifestations, but she undoubtedly has manifestations too.

Somehow, it’s comforting that I’m not the most powerful person on the team. I have a role to play, a simple one. I burn shit.

Eventually we are interrupted by the cryomancer who has been tasked with cooling the training room down to an inhabitable temperature. We figure that marks a good time to call an end to the sparring. I say my goodbyes for the day and pick up my adventurers tag from the front desk, a small rectangular piece of silver embossed with my first name. I hang it around my neck and head back to Adriana’s place to get myself some free dinner.

She is sitting at the bar when I step inside. Her eyes are drawn to the tag around my neck and she raises her eyebrows.

“Wow, you really made silver grade. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. Can I have something to eat?”

“Dale, get the man a meal.”

I am served a heaping pile of meat and potatoes. When I’ve made half my way through it, an unforgettable face comes through the door. He has scarlet eyes and short white hair, and is a year or two younger than me.

Theonius Arvali, crown prince of Salsvale.

“Your majesty, how may we serve you today?” Adriana bows to him.

His eyes meet mine for a brief moment, but he doesn’t seem to recognize me. It’s not surprising, considering that it’s been a decade since we last met and he thinks I’m dead. He’s clearly here for the girls anyway.

He spreads his arms, smiling broadly as he addresses the room.

“Get me ten gorgeous whores and your biggest bed!”

“Right away, your majesty,” Adriana says.

I watch as Adriana selects ten of her prettiest girls and shows Theo up to his room.

There is one thing I couldn’t help noticing, something that made me feel sick.

Theo’s aura is stronger than Grant’s.