The Fearless War

Exploring Oldscar's guild

For the first time in weeks, I was able to wake up at my own pace and without any shock or pain. The cabin windows were open, and Uncle Miles was working again, his eyes showing lack of sleep but with a lot of concentration. In his hands were the handcuff cores, and he was moving and modifying the engravings on the metal. The feeling of hatred and disgust that I felt at the sight of the handcuff cores was still present, but it had been drastically reduced in only the one Uncle Miles was modifying.

"Good morning, Oz, what do you think, did it lessen the effect?"

"Enough to only make me a little uncomfortable. How much did you do to it, uncle?"

"Well, first I had to remember what s**t I did, then do everything in reverse and I was able to erase the engraving that kept the effect increased."

The frustration that clouded uncle Miles' voice the night before had partly vanished. But he was still focused on eliminating what he had created at his worst era. I changed again to start the day with a simple looking bear coat, dragged Uncle Miles into the workshop so he could at least have some breakfast. Once inside, it looked like we were the only ones awake, so I prepared a quick meal for everyone. I left extra portions on the table since neither Melinda nor Leoma showed any signs of waking up yet.

"Are you going to keep working today, Uncle Miles?"

"I still have a few things to check with Melinda, so I need you to go to the guild in town and claim the rewards from the bandits."

"I was thinking of registering for the card, so I'll check on the bounty aside. Anything else I should do? I'd like to take at least one mission."

"That would be all, just a little warning.... At the guild they'll give you a combat test, don't overdo it too much. It will be enough if you knock out the instructor.”

" Got it, give my regards to the others."

I left the workshop and with a small detour to the hut pulled my now empty backpack with only my sword and a few pieces of dried meat. I headed out into the street after feeding the vocats, and even though it was a bit early in the day, the street was silent. With few blacksmith shops and other stores open, the atmosphere I had witnessed the day before was not to be seen.

At the end of the street a blacksmith was preparing his things for work, and I approached him to ask for directions. So as not to provoke a situation, I tried to adopt a softer tone than my normal voice.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, but do you happen to know where the guild is in this city?"

"Ah, a new face huh. Sure do, go up two streets and turn right from there it's straight ahead until you see a white and red building."

" Thanks a lot."

I picked up my pace and said goodbye to the blacksmith, the end of dawn gave another appearance to the buildings and as I walked, they became more and more crowded. I walked through the streets composed of houses with stores and arrived at a more populated area with inns and general stores with also more specialized ones. The daylight had already cleared when I could begin to see a building with the colors that had been described to me, in addition that it was noticed by its height of 3 floors being the last one a little narrower than the other two, giving an appearance similar to a house of some nobleman. The entrance stood imposingly with several windows and people going in and out.

The 'adventurers' and mercenaries who trafficked through the building entrance carried various armor and weapons in their arms. One common thread was that they wore the guild card around their necks, the most common color was amber and a blue with various shades that resembled crystals. The main door of the building was made of wood reinforced with metal. I entered and the initial part seemed to be a place where you could eat and drink, while in the back, away from the tables there was a reception with several boards with papers that seemed to declare the missions. In the middle of the boards were desks with people behind them in matching uniforms, similar enough to be mistaken for those of scribes.

Most of the tables were occupied and due to the traffic of people at that time, my presence was not detected by many. I approached the reception desks and only one desk was unoccupied. The person behind it was a man with a tanned complexion and a scar on his cheek, his gaze wandered little from what he was reading to me.

"Can I help you with something?"

"I'm just here to register and claim part of a reward. A knight handed me and my uncle this note for the reward."

"If you want to register as an adventurer or mercenary, you must pass a physical test and a fee to process and engrave the card."

"Any difference between adventurer and mercenary?"

"Not much, just that mercenaries act as private soldiers for some nobles on occasion, while adventurers are normally normal people or even knights taking off-duty missions."

Truth be told if my motivation was money, I would have chosen to be a mercenary first, but with everything I had learned so far, my decision was obviously leaning towards registering as a normal adventurer. As I told the guild clerk my decision to register, I pulled out of my backpack the card with the information we had been given by the knight from the village we delivered the bandits' heads.

"Fill in these details while I check the pending reward ... Just a warning, counterfeit reward cards are grounds for arrest in this city."

Apparently, a young man appearing out of nowhere with a reward to claim greater than a few hundred crowns was suspicious. I didn't give it much thought and started filling out a sheet with what looked like a table with blank spaces of what needed to be engraved on the card. The information I filled out included name and family name, leaving one space blank as I did not have a noble household name. It also required me to fill in my skills such as mana root color, main weapon, and combat style. I filled in the data of my weapon as a double-edged sword merely, while in root color I entered red which at that time was the one I had more control over to a certain point.

I finished filling out the sheet without a problem and suddenly I heard several shouts from the back of what seemed to be registration and workspaces for the guild's employees as a discussion floated up. My unreinforced hearing was able to understand, and my slightest suspicion was confirmed when I heard that it was about the pending reward, apparently no one else believed it to be authentic but when a senior employee verified its authenticity some began to argue about whether I really could have defeated those bandits.

When other employees at the front desks began to get curious about the discussion, the one who had told me to fill out the form came out of the back with a leather bag. Not being made of thick enough leather, the shape of a few coins was visible from the outside.

"Very well young Wolfric, here is the reward for you and Miles Wolfric, that would be 800 crowns in silver coins. Will you have completed the form by now?"

"Yes, here it is. Could you deduct the card fee from the reward, and when would the physical test be?"

"Well, the next group would be in a few minutes, if you wish you can go towards the basement arena where the instructors are."

The employee directed me towards the basement of the building that acted as a small arena for training provided by the guild as well as the testing needed when someone registered with the guild. The stairs to the basement were located to one side of the reception area and with a piece of paper the clerk had given me I made my way down the stairs.

The stairs did not take up much space but when you reached the end the space opened to an area that was as bright as the outside despite being underground. The floor was divided between steps with a circular division on a sandy floor. On two walls there was weaponry of various kinds and an area with armor parts. And just as I had been told above, there was already a group of people preparing to take the physical test even though there were only five more people, the atmosphere was filled with excitement and desire.

Among the five in the arena was another guild employee who by his appearance appeared to be the instructor, wearing chest plate armor over his uniform and a full arm guard on the hand that held the pommel of a rapier at his waist. The others wore light armor and carried their weapons in hand. As I approached the group, I adjusted my leather coat that Uncle Miles had finished while I was asleep on the road, the fur at the collar concealed a chainmail guard that offered direct protection to the neck as well as parts of the chest and arms reinforced with black metal chainmail.

"Young Wolfric, I suppose, we've been expecting you. Well now I will begin to say the terms of whether or not you pass this physical test."

From his back the instructor slid out a framework with signs describing the conditions of the test as well as what was to be taken into account.

"Well, let's get started. First, whether registering as a party or as individuals, registrants must be able to demonstrate their physical and magical aptitude to prove that they are capable of taking on guild missions. To do this they will face an instructor, in this case it will be me, you can call me Edward. Secondly, the test ends in two ways, if I admit defeat or if I incapacitate either of you in the test."

"Can we use magic here?"

One of the people who showed up for the test asked in the middle of the explanation, she was carrying a staff with a blue gem on the tip and trimmed with a green metal. Next to her was a young man with a spear whose shaft seemed wider than any normal spear.

"Yes, the walls and bars of the arena are reinforced to withstand attacks and magic or mana effects. If there are no more questions, I will start with those who register as a group ... That would be Eden and Dean. To the front and draw weapons!"

Apparently the one who had asked about the use of magic in the test was registering as a group with another person to take quests together so that the partnership would be registered with the guild. They both approached the instructor as he directed the rest of us to stand behind the divisions in the arena. Eden raised her staff while Dean put his spear in position.

"Ice and cold, come together in harmony and give me a weapon to dull our enemies."

"Oh! Magic from the start may seem like a good decision but not always!"

Suddenly the instructor unsheathed his rapier and shoved Eden to the ground before her partner could react. That her concentration had dissipated caused the magic to misfire and the arena was suddenly covered in a white cold mist.