We reached Adventurer’s Guild after a few minutes of walking. I was expecting trouble to find me but luckily the trip was without any event. Adventurer’s Guild was a giant stone building with many windows. Seeing its contrast with the surrounding buildings, I couldn’t help but whistle. “Adventurer’s Guild must be very rich to be able to build something like this.”

Eli shook her head. “Adventurer’s Guild didn’t build this. In the times frontiers were still active, this building served as a building for high ranked and powerful people. That was 142 years ago. 47 years ago Adventurer’s Guild has been founded and these kinds of buildings in every city were given to them as housing to adventurers.” I nodded. “Let’s get inside.” She said and headed to the door. Felicia and I followed her.

I was expecting lots of adventurers inside, considering how big the building is, but there were only three of them and they seemed to belong to the same team. We walked past them and reached a counter. Behind it was a woman in her late 30s. She had brown hair with gray streaks and dark eyes. She stood up when she saw us and with a bright smile she said something about Adventurer’s Guild and Jolly but I couldn’t understand what she said exactly.

Eli pointed at me and said, “Our friend wants to be an adventurer.”

Jolly nodded and took out something from the counter. She put it on the table, a piece of paper. She then looked at me and asked “Do you know how to read and write?”

Hearing the question, I remembered the bandits. I shook my head but still took the paper from the counter, just in case. What I saw was all nonsense but I noticed something. There was a similarity between the symbols on the paper and the magical construct for magical lightning.

“Victor?”

I flinched a little and put the paper back. I sighed and said, “No, I don’t.”

Jolly nodded sympathetically. “You don’t need to be embarrassed about it. Not everyone has the means to learn these after all.”

I sighed again and nodded. “You are right, thanks.” She nodded and smiled again.

Jolly was about to say something when Eli interjected. “We can help Victor with the forms. You don’t need to waste your time with this.”

Jolly narrowed her eyes to Eli and gave her an obviously fake smile. “It’s okay. I would love to help… Victor here.”

‘Is this what I think it is? Two women fighting for me. I wonder which one is going to win. I can’t wait.’ I slapped myself. ‘What the hell is going on?!’

“Victor?” I turned to look at Eli. “Is there something wrong?”

I shook my head. “My brain just went to a place it shouldn’t, sorry for worrying you.”

Eli nodded and took the form and a pen. Jolly didn’t make a move this time. ‘I guess I creeped her out.' While I was thinking about the forming habit of hitting myself, Eli started with the questions.

“Age?”

“18.”

“Your stats?”

I frowned. I turned to Jolly. “Is this necessary?” She nodded. I sighed and said “All ten expect charm. It’s twenty.”

“Did you put your points on charm? You know it’s fake right?”

I turned to Felicia and shook my head. “It was always twenty. I didn’t put any points.” She nodded thoughtfully and we continued the questions. There weren’t worse questions than Attributes so it went without a problem. We gave the form to Jolly and she gave me an ID card.

Adventurer

Name: Victor

Age: 18

Rank: 0

Clearance: 1

From: City of Dead Lich

I inspected my card. There wasn’t much on it except. “What does clearance means?”

“Clearance is for libraries situated in Adventurer’s Guilds. What part you can use depends on your clearance. Your clearance now is one since you are new. Your clearance, together with your rank, will improve as you finish quests.”

I nodded at Jolly. “Is there anything else I should be aware of?”

“Nothing your friends can’t help with.”

I said my thanks to Jolly and turned to Eli. “What now?”

Eli shrugged and motioned us to move. “I don’t know. I will probably work on lightning with Felicia. Did you need something?”

I nodded. “I need more wood, a straw target for practicing archery, and good bowstring. We should probably do something with the potions too.”

Eli sighed. “I forgot about the potions. There are still two days for the deadline, but it’s better to sell them as early as possible lest the alchemist might decide to buy them from somewhere else.”

“I don’t want to work on that stupid spell.”

Eli and I turned to Felicia. Eli sighed and said, “Some spells take time, there is no need to rush.”

Felicia snorted and pointed to me. “I just can’t stand not being able to do something he can.”

This time the one to snort was me. “Why? Is it because I am not Eli?”

“Victor!” Eli hissed. I just nodded at her but didn’t say anything just looking at Felicia and trying to understand what she really thinks.

Felicia was looking down, there was sadness in her eyes. I wanted to say something to cheer her up but I couldn’t. I didn’t have the words to make things okay for her. Then I decided to try something. I closed my eyes and focused on my feelings about her. Then used something I decided not to use until later. ‘I hope it works.’

I activated my Word Tokens and it gave me a word. “@%&” The word was odd. It was of a language impossible for a human brain to comprehend. Even I, knowing the full meaning behind the word, only understood it enough to say it in an instinctual way. This word for me became something I would say when the time comes. Like taking a breath when your body needs it. I turned to Felicia to see the change in her but when I turned to where she should be, I couldn’t see her.

“What did you do to me?!”

I turned back and saw Felicia. She was completely flushed, trembling, and sweating buckets. I raised my hands. “I told you a word that describes what I feel about you. Is there something wrong?” I took a step towards her but she just started trembling even faster so I took a few steps back, enough to stop her trembling.

Felicia looked at me once and at Eli then started running towards the mansion. I turned to Eli and asked, “What happened to her?”

Eli shook her head. “I don’t know. Just don’t use that word on me.”

I snorted. “What? @%&?” Eli flinched and looked my way angrily. “ Don’t worry, it will only work on Felicia.”

Eli frowned. “Why?”

I shrugged. “It’s just how it works.”

***

We reached in front of a building in a few minutes. Eli went inside and I followed. Inside, there were carpets on the walls, swords, and spears on display cases, clothes on mannequins, and more.

We walked for a few seconds inside and reached a gaudy room. There were big paintings on the walls. There were golden sconces and armored models at the side. At the center, there was a golden desk and a golden chair. I looked around but couldn’t find anybody inside. So I closed my eyes and used my sensing spell. ‘I should give it a name.’ I shook my head and looked. Six different people were looking towards us, just outside of the walls. There was another man mixed with armored models.

I started inspecting models. Not to find the hidden man, I already knew his location. I did it to hide the fact that I can sense them. After inspecting two models, I reached for the fake one. I went behind him and softly electrocuted his ass.

He screamed because of surprise more than pain and turned to me slowly. Then he took off his helmet. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He looked at me and said, “Why did you do that?”

I shrugged. “It looked like a fake, so I wanted to make sure.”

He came closer to me and whispered. “I did a lot of preparation to frighten Eli. And you ruined it all.” He finished with a huff and turned to smiling Eli. “Eli! It’s great to see you. What’s happening?”

Eli smiled a bit wider and said “Hello uncle. Before I tell you my story I want you to meet with my friend here.” She pointed to me and continued. “This is Victor. The newest member of my team. He pointed to the man and said “This is Rendolf, my uncle.”

I nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

Rendolf just nodded and turned to Eli. “Does he have to be here?” ‘Well, that’s rude. What should I say? Damn! I am bad at these kinds of things.’

I shook my head but decided to listen for now. I turned to Eli and saw her looking at me apologetically. I nodded at her but didn’t say anything otherwise. She turned back to his uncle who was watching us before and said “Let’s go to your room and talk. I have a lot of stories to tell.”

‘Why am I here? Should I go with them?’ I sighed. ‘I think I have to.’

“You don’t have to come.”

That stopped my mind from working for a second. ‘Did he read my mind? Doesn’t matter.’ I turned to Rendolf and answered. “No. I would like to be present at the talk. If you don’t mind of course.”

Rendolf frowned and turned to Eli who was giving her all to her smile. He said “He talks like a bureaucrat. I hate bureaucrats.” He then leaned towards her ear and whispered something.

Whatever Rendolf said, Eli shook her head and held his hand. “Let’s go. Victor too.” They walked and I followed.

After a while, we reached a small room. The room had two sofas. Eli and Rendolf sat in one and started talking about random things. For my part, I just gave them one of my ears and started thinking about a new spell. ‘Now, how can I make the lightning jump? The electricity current always moves on the path of least resistance. So it will be grounded as soon as I hit someone on the ground or stay inside the target until it uses all its energy. So, if I want to be able to make a chain lightning spell, first I will have to create a path with the lowest resistance between my targets. It feels like too much work but I think it’s possible.’

After I was finished with my thought I looked at Eli and her uncle and saw that they were looking at me. Eli was smiling while Rendolf had his face frozen. Eli cleared her throat and said, “My uncle just asked how old you are.”

I turned to Rendolf then answered. “Sorry, I was distracted a bit and I am 18”

Rendolf nodded. “What is your class?”

I was about to answer when Eli interjected. “He is a scholar. His level is low for now but I am sure he will be able to increase his level exponentially once he starts being an adventurer.”

Rendolf nodded. “I am sure. Do you know why you are here?”

I was about to say no when I noticed. ‘If I say no I will look like a moron. I can’t afford to look that way, not to Eli’s uncle. So, what happened since we came inside? Eli’s uncle tried to surprise her but I foiled it. So I would understand if he doesn’t like me but that’s not what I should think right now. Let’s say uncle knew about me and wanted to meet me. But why? To test me! Of course.’

‘What if he didn’t know me? What does it mean?’

“Victor.”

I looked at Eli. She was smiling genuinely. I smiled back at her and turned to Rendolf. He leaned toward me and said, “So?”

I sighed. “I don’t know.”

Rendolf chuckled. “You were thinking for a few minutes there. What did you do? Did you try to prove the non-existence of your knowledge about this visit?”

I chuckled despite myself. “I guess, sorry.”

Rendolf chuckled and slapped his thigh. “Ha! At least he is honest.” He then turned to me and asked “Why did you decide to become an adventurer?”

I shrugged. ‘Good question. Why am I becoming an adventurer? I know for a fact that I have to get powerful but do I have to become an adventurer to attain that goal? I don’t even need the money. So why?’

I was going to think more, but the sound of Rendolf clearing his throat took me out of my musings. I sighed and answered. “Well. I’d like to give you a deep answer but I am afraid I am just going with the flow. Being adventurer seems cool, so there is that too.”

I looked up at Rendolf who was inspecting me seriously then turned to look at Eli, who was smiling at nobody. After a few seconds of assessment, he nodded once and said “You are good.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

Rendolf turned to Eli. “So, why did you come here?”

Eli looked at her uncle oddly and said “We are here because I wanted you two to meet. I need you to add Victor to your customer list.” Rendolf opened his mouth to protest but Eli didn’t let him talk. “I know you only serve to rich but he is my friend and you are my uncle, so you can do this for me, I am sure.”

Rendolf sighed. “Okay, I will.” Then he turned to me. “You can find all kinds of rare items in my shop but I charge twice of items value and that’s minimum. And I don’t barter like other merchants. Do you understand?” I nodded. “Good.” He then turned to Eli. “Do you need anything else?”

Eli nodded. “I need a bowstring, earth, and air mana ore.”

Rendolf nodded. “Aikr!” He bellowed. After a while, a skinny man with black robes got inside the room. He approached Rendolf and bowed once then started waiting. “Aikr, go fetch a wind mana stone, and earth mana stone for us. We will be at the bowyer section. Aikr nodded and took off. Rendolf stood up. “Follow me.”

We followed him through a hall. At the end of the hall was a spacious room. There were woodblocks of all kinds in wooden partitions, bows in display cases, several tools and strings. Rendolf stopped in front of the strings, took out a red string from its partition, and turned to us. He raised the string and said “This is fire-lizard sinew. It sets wooden arrows on fire at release.” He stopped to look at me. I nodded and he continued. “It’s only 5 Gold. Take this and you won’t regret it. What do you say?”

I shook my head. “I don’t need a bowstring like that. I need something durable with low elasticity.”

Rendolf nodded and took out another bowstring. “This is rock turtle sinew. It’s very durable and stretches little. It’s 1 Gold. “

I nodded and turned to Eli. “I think it’s good, what do you think?”

Eli smiled and nodded. “Yes, I think so too.” She took out gold from her pouch and passed it to her uncle. Seeing her pay, Rendolf raised an eyebrow. Eli saw that too. “I am keeping his money for now.” After that, Rendolf didn’t say anything, just took the money and gave me the spool.

***

After buying the ores for 3 Silvers each, we headed towards somewhere else. Having learned my lesson, this time I asked. “Eli, where are we going now?”

“We are going to another merchant. I remember her selling straw targets.” I nodded and we continued walking. I looked around to see people going about their business. We walked like that for a while and stopped in front of another building. This was a stone building too but not as big as Rendolf’s place.

Eli got inside and I followed. The entry had a counter and leaning on the counter, sitting was an elderly woman. She saw our approach and stood up. “Hey kids, how can I help you?”

“We need straw dummies.” The woman nodded to Eli and walked to the side behind the counter. After a few seconds, she came with two straw dummies. Eli inspected them and nodded. “This is good. How much is it?”

“6 Silvers in total.”

Eli frowned. “Make it 5.”

Woman sighed. “Fine. Five it is.” Eli gave money to the woman and I took the dummies. I was afraid they would be too heavy but I managed to lift each with a single hand.

When we were out, Eli walked to me and said “I am going to buy woodblocks. Can you find your way back from here?” I nodded. “Okay.” She turned and left me with the dummies.

I walked for a few minutes first, to reach Adventurers Guild. From there, I headed to the mansion.

***

When I reached the mansion it was noon. I passed the gate and dropped the dummies to the entrance. I went to my room and took out the bowstring. I fixed the string to bow then looked at my handiwork. ‘All that is left is to merge the pieces then I am done.’ I ran my hand through my hair. ‘Damn, I forgot to buy glue. Now I have to find an alchemist, and of course, money before that.’ Then I remembered my Crafting Tokens. ‘Let’s see how they work.’ I focused on my Crafting Tokens and a window popped up.

Crafting Tokens

You can exchange Crafting Tokens to learn a random method about a subject you choose instantly. The cost of the method depends on the number of filters used.

I nodded. After thinking a while, I focused on the two filters I decided to use. ‘Merge wood, Materials: wood.’ The first filter was what I needed. I picked the second too, so I don’t end up with a method I have no way to use because I have no way to acquire the necessary materials.

As soon as I used the Tokens, a splitting headache hit me. There was just too much knowledge for me to take easily. After what felt like hours of agony, I knew how to merge wooden materials. I took a look at how and saw that it requires a special machine called ‘Kan’s Merger’.

After sating my curiosity, I took the handle and body of the crossbow and merged them. I inspected the body and saw how its handle merged with the body of the crossbow. It looked like they were always one piece. I used some force on the handle to make sure it is sturdy and after I was satisfied with my work, I merged the bow the same way too. After putting the trigger and making it movable, my very first crossbow was ready.

I made two wooden bolts from the leftover wood and with them, I made my way to the straw dummies.

***

I was in the backyard working on my aim and Felicia was pointing to the wall angrily when Eli showed herself with wooden blocks on her arms. I made my way to her. She dropped the blocks and looked at the crossbow in my hands. Eli pointed at it, I gave her without saying anything and started to convert woods to bolts, leaving Eli her inspection.

After I crafted enough bolts, I noticed Felicia too was busy inspecting the crossbow on the table with Eli. I made my way towards them holding a bunch of bolts. When Eli noticed my approach she said “What kind of bow is this?”

I gave her a smug smile which the girls ignored and said “It’s called crossbow.” I took the crossbow from them and showed them how it works by setting the bolt with some effort and firing it towards the straw dummy. I turned to them to see Eli looking towards the bolt with wide eyes and Felicia looking thoughtful. “So, what do you think?”

Felicia cleared her throat. “It’s just a bow. I see nothing special about it.”

I nodded. “You are mostly right but there are things a crossbow better at than a bow. First, bolts fired from a crossbow can pierce metal armor, maybe not wooden bolts but metal ones should definitely pierce armors. And the most important thing about crossbows is that they require little training to use competently.“

Eli stood up and reached for the crossbow. I gave it to her with a bolt. She took them gingerly and set the weapon, with much less effort than me, I noted. Then she aimed at a straw target. After a few seconds of waiting she pulled the trigger. The bolt flew true and hit the head of the dummy. Eli looked at it again and said “These bolts fly faster than arrows. This should be able to hit people with less than ninety Agility. If others learn about this, it will cause a big commotion.”

I grinned. “That’s good. I can make you one too if you want.”

Eli nodded. “That would be good, thanks.”

“I want one too.”

I nodded. “I will make you one each. You should be able to make better use of it with your Attributes anyway.” Then I turned to Felicia. “It’s odd that you accept my help. What changed?”

Felicia just shrugged and returned to her place to practice lightning spell. That left me and Eli alone. I turned to Eli and said, “I need your help with the language most people use in this city.”

Eli nodded. “It’s called Rakka. It’s an ancient language that comes from before the founding of the Empire. Unlike Kantega where you use a letter for every sound, in Rakka you use certain glyphs and diagrams to write sentences or even long stories.”

I frowned. “Long stories? How can anyone read something like that?”

Eli shrugged. “It’s not known to us, but it’s been proven long ago that it’s possible. As for sentences, you just need to work on it a few hours and it will click, just like what happens when you create a new spell.” I nodded and Eli continued. “As for talking, you will need to practice, a lot. Most people take two years to learn Rakka completely but with your Class, you should be able to learn much faster.”

I nodded again. “I will learn how to read then if you are willing to teach me of course.” Eli nodded. “I will learn others when I get a Skill from Linguist to lower the time it takes to learn.”

“Follow me.” I nodded and followed Eli through the mansion, to inside a room filled with books. Eli took a book and opened the first page. There were no letters, just a single, big symbol. Eli looked at me and said, “Try to memorize the glyph strong enough to see it in your mind’s eye.” I nodded and did as she said. It took some time but I managed to do it. I gestured to Eli I was done. She said “This glyph says, ‘I was just a simple farmer outside City of Dead Lich when it happened. The dead came…’” It continued like that. It seemed to be a short story about the Lich the city took its name from. The story was nothing special but the way it was crammed into a single page blew my mind. The oddest thing was that I could slowly see more meaning as time pass.

We continued like that until I managed to learn how to read. After that, we started talking about things and people. Without even noticing we started sharing stories about our pasts and laughing at them. In that single moment, I finally felt like I am gotten much closer to Eli, and hoped she felt the same.