Stepping through the large, hardwood double doors of the building, Faye immediately sensed that she was in a place that oozed professional, government-like vibes. Enough that she automatically made sure she didn’t make any noise as she closed the door.

The hushed environment was similar to that of a library or a cathedral. There weren’t many people visible and the ones that were were clearly busy.

The entry hall was floored with a highly polished stone, possibly marble, that had a smaller design embedded in its centre. This one was easier to understand, because it was roughly a third the size of the one out in the square.

It looked to be some kind of seal. A circular border contained words that Faye couldn’t make out. In the centre of the circle was a large, monstrous head that could have been a dragon, the skull was elongated, had horns, and an incredibly large jaw with equally big teeth. The skull was bisected by a sword. Behind the impaled skull were a pair of crossed weapons: a stave of some kind and an arrow.

“Good day, miss. Can I help you?” a calm, pleasant voice spoke to her.

She looked up and smiled. A young woman had approached Faye, her dress complemented by what looked like a blazer. It was a unique and interesting style, considering most people had been wearing more ordinary tunic-style dresses alone.

“Hi, I hope so,” Faye said. “What is this place?”

The woman blinked, then glanced around as if Faye meant something other than the grand hall they were standing in.

“Uh, the Adventurer’s Guild, miss. Are you lost?” The woman had a small smile plastered on her face, but Faye sensed that she wanted to laugh.

“No, no, I was… well, not looking for the Guild, but hoping that I would find it.”

Faye looked around the hall again. There were large boards against one wall that an attendant was pinning small pieces of paper to, and some not-so-small pieces of paper.

“I appreciate that it is a little smaller than most Guild halls, miss, but I assure you this is definitely the Adventurer’s Guild Hall for Lóthaven.”

“Oh!” Faye exclaimed. “Lóthaven? That’s what this town is called?”

Now the young woman’s expression did fold into a scowl. “Yes, miss.” She clasped her hands together briefly. “As I said, this is the Guild Hall. Can I help you?”

Faye turned a grin on the woman. “I think you definitely can. I need to level. What can you do to help me do that?”

The scowl remained.

“Are you a registered adventurer, miss?”

“Uh, no, I am not.”

“And did you come here recently?”

“I did, yes,” she replied.

“Then, you should be made aware that the Adventurer’s Guild will not pass on jobs to those outside of the Guild, and that local policy here in Lóthaven is that visitors are not permitted to register until they have been a resident of the local area for at least three consecutive months.” She smiled, though Faye got the distinct impression she was not amused. “Unfortunately, there’s nothing else we can do to assist you in levelling.”

“I’m sorry,” Faye said. “It seems there’s some kind of misunderstanding here.”

The woman opposite her didn’t say anything, but she tilted her head questioningly.

“I’m not a visitor, per se, and I am a resident of the town. In fact, I am not allowed to leave the town due to my level. I was hoping that the Adventurer’s Guild had training programmes, sparring rooms, or… or something? A library, perhaps? I’m not exactly sure what I want or need! Uh, I guess you could say I need help. Lots and lots of help.”

She ended her speech with a smile, and an open hand gesture that she tried to convey her apologies and need, all at once.

The woman blinked, then turned and looked at the desks laid out against the back wall. The two people there were both busy, one with someone Faye assumed was an adventurer and the other with a pile of papers.

She turned back to Faye. “I’m sorry. I’m… not sure that there is anything like that for you here.”

Faye frowned. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but it certainly wasn’t this.

“Why not? Is there nothing for training here?”

“Well of course, there are sparring rooms and a training room—”

“Great, well can I use those?”

“No.”

Faye made a face.

“Why not?”

“Because you claimed you were not an adventurer yet?” the woman said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Faye sighed.

“Okay, and I can’t register as an adventurer because…”

“You haven’t lived in Lóthaven for more than three months consecutively… unless I have somehow missed seeing you for an entire three-month span?”

“No, I only arrived four or five days ago.”

“Then in that case, you cannot register.”

Faye tapped her hand against her lips. “Is it against the rules for me to be in here?”

The woman frowned. “No, why should it be?”

“I was expecting you to try and keep me out, honestly, not just tell me there wasn’t anything you could do.”

“Miss,” the woman said, putting her hands behind her back. “I’m not sure what you expected for an Adventuring branch this far from the cities, but to be frank with you, we are not overflowing with candidates for adventurer. If you have a less than optimal class, if you are attempting to re-class, or even if you were unable to secure the referees for application to a different Guild… nothing of the sort would prevent you from waiting the requisite time before making an application, and I assure you that all requests for membership are taken with due consideration.”

It was Faye’s turn to look confused.

“Everyone else has been able to tell… why can’t you?”

The young woman’s face cleared a little here. “Ah, it’s a relatively new addition to Guild halls. We received ours only half a year ago. If you haven’t been inside a branch hall recently, you might not be aware that all Guild halls now have masking enchantments as standard. You will not be able to identify anyone in any of the main areas of the branch.”

She seemed rather pleased with her proclamation, though Faye was just as confused as before. A masking enchantment? Maybe whatever it was that was giving her away to other people was just a spell that everyone knew. If that was the case, and the spell didn’t work inside the hall, then she was rather appreciative of it.

It did mean that were this woman to follow Faye outside she would immediately be able to sense the same thing everyone else had.

Faye figured there was no reason not to tell her.

“Well, I’m uncrested,” Faye said, quietly. “The guards have told me I can’t leave the town. If I can’t leave the town, how am I meant to level? It’s an infinite loop of unfairness.”

The woman gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!”

“Huh?”

“I… well, the policy changed recently. We are to treat everyone as equals, of course, but this does make offering some of the advice that we would normally offer harder to do.” She ducked her head a little. “I apologise for forcing you to advertise your position, miss.”

“No, no, it’s okay… I guess I’m used to it.”

“Mmm,” the woman hummed. “Back to your question, which makes your previous requests make much more sense I have to apologise… my goodness. So, yes, as someone of… your position, it is within your rights to request temporary and conditional access to our training facilities.”

Faye felt her face light up in a grin. That was the best thing she’d heard all day!

“If you’d like to come over to this desk?” the woman asked, then turned and led Faye over to an alcove where a small standing table was arranged with a small pile of papers.

She picked the top sheet off a pile, then grabbed a quill from a small sliding shelf that was hidden under the table. A pot of ink came next, and she dipped the quill in it before quickly writing out something in boxes on the paper.

“May I ask your name?”

“Faye, uh, Faye Weaver.” She had a strange case of nerves, clearing her throat a little as she spoke.

“Excellent, Miss Weaver, thank you. This is just a record for the hall. Our rates are usually withheld for temporary members such as yourself. I must warn you that any damage you cause to our facilities will require either repair, or the appropriate funds to cover a repair. Do you understand?”

“Yes, no damage.”

“Excellent.”

“Ah, and how are things here, Maggie?”

They both turned to look, as a middle-aged man approached them. He was smiling, but it was the smile that reminded Faye of those salesmen that would do anything to tell you something. She’d never gotten on well with those types.

“Everything is fine, thank you, Iain.”

Faye thought she detected a hint of dislike in Maggie’s tone, despite her seemingly friendly exterior.

“And who is our guest, Maggie?” Iain said, turning his obsequious smile on Faye.

“This is Miss Weaver.”

“A pleasure, Miss Weaver. Might I presume that our good Maggie has already offered you a tour of the facilities? If not, I would of course offer to take you myself.”

His grin was, to Faye at least, obviously fake. That over-the-top sense of friendliness that sent a shiver of disgust down Faye’s back.

Faye smiled back at the man and glanced at Maggie’s face. Her eyes told Faye everything she needed to know.

“Thank you for the offer, but Maggie did indeed already promise to show me where I need to go.”

As she finished speaking, Faye brought the hand holding the sword across her chest, as if she were saluting the man, and bowed her head ever so slightly. It wasn’t something she was practised with, but she figured it might have the desired effect.

“Ah,” Iain replied. He glanced at Maggie, then bowed back to Faye, slightly deeper than she had. “Then I will allow you to resume.”

After he’d walked away again, Maggie turned to Faye and grasped her free hand.

“I am so glad that you caught on so quickly.” Her eyes were locked onto Faye’s. “Now,” she said, with a smile that was very close to her first, bright, one. “Let’s take that tour, shall we?”

Maggie was much more relaxed when they had left the main hall. The hushed atmosphere of the hall was much diminished here in the members-only portion of the building. The materials used in construction were less aimed at making an impression. It was like the difference between a storefront and the staff room, all efforts were put on the place the public could see.

“I’m sorry about that, by the way,” Maggie said, her voice low. “There have been… well, never mind. I am sorry though.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Faye said. She looked at Maggie’s face for a moment. It seemed that there was something she wasn’t willing to say.

“So, about these policy changes…” Faye tried. “What prompted them?”

Maggie turned to her and smiled. Her explanation was full of things that meant literally nothing to Faye, so it was hard to remember what Maggie was saying. She didn’t tune out necessarily, but she felt that listening to the bureaucracy of a world that she wasn’t wholly familiar with was a little too much.

They quickly found some rooms that Maggie wanted to show Faye.

“This is the changing area,” she said. Opening the door, it looked very similar to any gym or leisure centre’s changing rooms. Instead of lockers, there were large wooden shelves that had vertical dividers every metre or so. Inside each resulting square was a rolled piece of cloth.

Maggie showed Faye how to activate what she called the privacy field on each storage box.

“See the circle?” She was pointing to a small circle engraved into the wood of the slat at the front of the boxed area. It looked like it had been blackened with fire. “Press this with a finger and speak your name. Any name is fine, even if it’s not your actual name. I actually sometimes lock mine with random words.”

“It’s a password?” Faye asked.

“Exactly!” Maggie nodded. “Once you speak the chosen password, the storage area will only allow you to remove items that you’ve placed inside. To deactivate it once you’re finished, you place your finger back on the activation circle and speak the same word once more. I have to warn you that the effect lasts only for as long as you’re inside the Guild building. If you leave, the protection will dissipate, immediately.”

Faye nodded. It made sense. Magic was pretty cool.

“That’s awesome,” she said, under her breath.

The way that Maggie smiled and looked away told her that she hadn’t been as quiet as she’d thought.

“And, through here…” Maggie said, before pointing towards a doorway that shimmered with some kind of strange light. “Is the training room. Do you see the shimmer?”

“Yes, what is that? Another spell?”

“Yes! It’s a cleansing barrier. We find that it’s easier to maintain standards of cleanliness when everyone who uses the training rooms are cleansed before, and after, they leave the room.”

Faye’s jaw dropped. No more awkward semi-public showers in gym changing rooms?

“Oh, it’s a simple spell, don’t worry!” Maggie said, looking at Faye’s expression. “It won’t harm you.”

“Oh, no, that’s not… it’s amazing! I can’t believe that I won’t have to finish my work outs early just to have a shower.”

Maggie smiled. “Yes, it’s something of a necessity.”

“I wondered why this didn’t smell like a changing room.”

The room smelled more like a high-end spa than it did a musty changing room.

They both passed through into the training area. It was a mostly empty gymnasium space. The floors were wooden, solid so it would definitely hurt to throw people around in here. Along one of the walls were a few dummies. There were three different types, though the specifics of each dummy were unique. Some were wooden, others were metallic, and some were stone.

“The dummies are rated to level 15. Please refrain from using them if you exceed this in any skill or your class.” She smiled apologetically. “I realise that might seem like a long way away, right now, but it’s the standard tour.”

“Sure thing, I’ll keep it in mind. How many people does this room service?”

“We have nine full-time adventurers in Lóthaven. They are all permitted to use this room as they see fit. I must ask that you give a full adventurer priority over yourself, I’m sorry. But you’re lucky, because some of the richer ones have their own training facilities and don’t use this one. One team even refuses to stay in town longer than it takes to hand in jobs and take more. I don’t think I’ve seen them in over a year, personally.”

Faye mouthed a ‘wow’, she couldn’t imagine spending a year or more constantly in danger like she had for those few nights. It had been exhausting enough as it was.

“So, other than this, there’s a small private room you can use for skill purposes, that’s further down the same hallway. It’s impossible to miss. That’s basically everything you’re allowed to access on your own. If you had a sponsor, mentor, or paid an instructor, you could access the library.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to pay for anything any time soon,” she mumbled, half to herself. “Say, Maggie, if you were looking to do something for money that didn’t require anything special, what would it be?”

Maggie’s forehead furrowed in thought for a moment or two. She hummed under her breath for another second, then she shrugged.

“I’m not sure,” she said, eventually. “There isn’t much that you could do without… well, as an uncrested.”

“Why is that? Other than the obvious ‘not an adult yet’,” Faye asked.

“Well, almost all professions in the town are taken up by classed individuals. There’s not much point for someone to take on an apprentice, outside of their family, who isn’t the right class.”

“So, that family of bakers…”

“An excellent example!” Maggie said, beaming. “Though I don’t know the names of their classes exactly, it’s easy to assume they both had the standard Baker, at one point. Now, their sons are likely already Bakers. If they’re lucky, they’ll receive an interesting variation when they crest.”

“What do you mean, an interesting variation?”

Maggie grimaced. “Faye, I’m so sorry, but I can’t really tell you more. I’m getting close to revealing the kind of information that you’d need either a full membership, or payment, for.”

Smiling as much as she could, despite the brewing frustration in her chest, Faye nodded. “It’s all right, Maggie. I understand. Thanks, though. Every little bit helps.”

A little while later, Maggie had left Faye alone. She had needed to get back to the hall, because most tours wouldn’t last too long, and she was afraid that Iain would come looking for them both if she didn’t get back.

There was a lot to learn in this world. Faye was trying her best to learn quickly, but there were moments that she couldn’t help but wish that it was easier. That there was some kind of guide that she could read, maybe.

She thought back to the strange notifications and messages she’d gotten early on. She hadn’t seen one in days. She didn’t know why, but even those strange things would help her.

She tried to exercise a little, get the blood and endorphins flowing, but in the end she mostly sat on the floor — stretching, if anyone asked her — and thought about the things she missed most.

Fifteen minutes later, she was back in the hallway leading to the main hall. She did not want to sit in there, alone with her thoughts, for no reason.

Leaving her sword in one of the storage boxes in the changing room, she made her way back to the hall. She would find something in there to occupy herself with.

It wasn’t until she got back to the mostly empty hall and started reading through the pieces of paper pinned up to the boards that she realised something awful.

She might be able to understand everyone, and they might understand her, but she couldn’t read a single damn word she saw.