Intolerant Guild

We made our way to Nirvan without running into any beasts or monsters in the forest. Kanae got used to running through the forest in the branches. It had many benefits.

At the gate, Kanae needed to register and I covered her visitation fee. She didn't have an ID, so they had to make one up there, and I covered that fee also. When we entered the guild, all attention was soon on us. I made sure to note the expressions on everyone present.

“Oh look, it's the Ragdoll. She's found a friend. Maybe she's starting a rags to rags party,” Damien said derisively.

“Go back to the slums. Or the Red district where trash like you belong. At least that friend of yours has a nice set of boobs,” said another adventurer.

“Why does such smelly trash even bother? Take your stench back to the slums,” said another.

We ignored them as I approached an open representative counter, which was staffed by Christine. Christine had some kind of personal issue with me, but remained professional, if dismissive, with me.

“I'm here to report completion of the quest to remove owlbears from the Demon Forest. There were a total of three. They were hunting as a group. Here's two of them. The third blew up, and not much remains of it. I brought this hind paw as proof. They all three had magik, explosive, chrystals embedded. Here's two of the chrystals I was able to disable. You might be able to figure out what kind of spell was cast, and who did it. After we finish this, my friend Kanae wants to register with the guild, in private. Lastly, we'll be forming a party, the Raggedy Raiders, once she's registered.”

The guild went completely silent after seeing the owlbears, and hearing my explanation. Damien practically ran out of the guild. Probably to tell some higher up that I'd disabled two of the bombs. I suspect those two chrystals will accidentally disappear.

“Three owlbears? Owlbears don't hunt together, you probably misinterpreted what you saw,” Christine said.

“No misinterpretation. They laid a trap for me. Not once, but twice. Kanae was a witness to the second trap,” I said.

“Owlbears can't set traps. You're mistaken,” Christine said.

“They were being controlled by the chrystals. This quest was a trap for whatever adventurer took the job,” I said.

“That's not possible!” Christine said.

“How do you explain the chrystals then?” I asked.

“I have no explanation,” Christine said.

“Was the Guild trying to assassinate me?” I asked.

The receptionists eyes went wide, her jaw dropped open, and she took a step back. Then she regained composure.

“Certainly not! The guild would never do such a thing! If you have a concern about this quest you should take it up with the guildmaster,” Christine said.

“Don't worry, I will,” I said.

There was now whispering among the folks still remaining in the guild. Several other adventurers silently left.

We finished up the completion and verification of the quest. I was given the reward for the three owlbears and the quest. I was raised to rank D.

Christine then pulled out the paperwork to register, which Kanae filled out. Christine then pulled out the elemental chrystal sphere and said,

“Please place your hand on the sphere.”

“I would like to register in private, please,” Kanae said.

“Oh, yes of course. Please follow me,” Christine said. We followed her to a private room, and Christine placed the ball on the table and repeated her request.

“I require an agreement of confidentiality, before I can register with the Guild.”

“Of course. All of our registrations are confidential,” Christine said with a note of displeasure.

“In writing, please,” Kanae said.

“This is highly unusual,” Christine said now clearly annoyed.

“I have my reasons,” Kanae said.

“Very well, here. Now place your hand on the chrystal,” Christine said signing a standard confidentiality agreement, and passing it to Kanae.

Kanae placed her hand on the sphere and the ball came to life. Blazing all six colors: red for Fire, green for Earth, blue for Water, purple for Air, White for Light, and black for Darkness.

“Ah...!” Christine gasp and almost fell over the chair as she stumbled back. Christine eyes went fully wide open.

“All elements!” Christine said in a daze. It took her several moments to compose herself.

“WHO ARE YOU!?” Christine screamed.

“I'm just an elf mage, looking for adventure, and freedom from my homeland,” Kanae said.

“Please wait a moment, I need to get the Guildmaster. She will have to witness this,” Christine said.

“Of course, I understand,” Kanae said.

Christine left the room, and we could hear her running up the back stairs to the guildmaster's private entrance.

“You did well, Kanae. It looked like her head was going to explode for a moment,” I said laughing.

“She sure did!” Kanae laughed.

“You will have to complete a low level quest as part of the test and registration. It's an easy task, and we can use that time to do some training,” I said.

The sound of running feet echoed in the hallway and the Guildmaster and Christine entered shortly after.

“I understand there is a special situation with your registration which requires my presence. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Adele Nic Fagan, Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild,” Adele said.

“Greetings Guildmaster Nic Fagan, I am Kanae Dreamweaver,” Kanae said and undoing her glamoury revealing herself as a dark elf.

“A dark elf!” Adele said.

“Yes, I hope you will keep that confidential as well,” Kanae said restoring the glamoury.

“Can you put your hand on this elemental chrystal,” Adele asked placing her chrystal on the table.

Kanae repeated the process and all six colors shone out.

“Amazing! There has never been anyone in living history with all elements. I'm sure the Queen will want to speak with you,” Adele said.

“I'd rather not. I seek only a quiet adventurer's life,” Kanae said.

“I have never heard anyone express an adventurer's life as quiet before, but so be it. I must inform you that while this knowledge will be kept confidential, we must report this to the Queen. You will likely get requests through the guild for some quests that only your talents would possibly conquer,” Adele said.

“We are aware,” I said.

“Very well, then let us proceed. If you will now place your hand on the Adventurer ID.”

“Like this?” Kanae said.

“Yes, thank you. Miss Dreamweaver. So you are level 35, and it says you are only 17? Remarkable!” Adele said.

“Thank you. Please call me, and refer to me, as Kanae. My surname is a rather obvious Elven name, and I'd like to not advertise that fact,” Kanae said.

“Of course Miss Kanae. Now we'll have to test you in combat, and you'll need to complete a quest to finalize your registration,” Adele said.

We all headed to the Guild arena where she faced off against the examiner. A real brute of a man, built like a mountain. No one knew his real name. Everyone called him Mount Rock. He was undefeated in the arena. A former Arena fighter who had tired of the circuit. He came out full bore to take down this delicate looking flower. Kanae hit him with wind blades which would have sliced him in half if not for the damage dispel magic devices all over the arena. He got up and Kanae hit him with a falling mountain of rock, which would have crushed him instantly if not for arena's protection. He was unconscious.

Thinking back, I should have told Kanae to go much easier on this part of the registration. The entire town knew in about fifteen minutes that Mount Rock had crumbled, to a new champion. The resulting attention we faced was highly undesirable, but it was too late now, the damage was done. Kanae healed up the damage to Rock that the protection didn't cover. So, officially Kanae was now known to possess Wind, Earth, and Light elemental affinities. The number of people with three affinities in the kingdom would all amount to less than two hundred.

Kanae and I then went out, and she performed a gathering request, hunted a pair of goblins, and solved a case of an unknown contamination of the drinking supply in the southern quarter of the town. We spent the rest of the day in my lodging, in one of the lower status, but not poor, neighborhoods, covering current history, traditions, and customs. All so that Kanae wouldn't make any huge blunders when mixing with the local society. We got up early the next day and went to the Guild to turn in her completed quests.

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“Congratulations, Miss Kanae. We are pleased to welcome you to the guild as its newest C ranked adventurer. Welcome also Raggedy Raiders as our newest guild party. You can accept C ranked quests and below, and specially qualified B rank quests.”

“Kanae, let's go to a practice arena and do some training. Then we should hit up the Nirvan Dungeon. It's been heavily explored, and the upper levels are fairly easy. It will give us a chance to work as a team, and still make some money. Let's go out the back to avoid all the nosy and obnoxious adventurers. You're going to draw a lot of attention, once it's known you've been started at the C rank level. A lot of guild parties will try to recruit you also. So be prepared,” I said.

“Oh, I've always wanted to explore a dungeon! That sounds like so much fun! Those other parties can shove it! After the way they treated us before they knew! I don't want to party with anyone but you, Deirdre!” Kanae said.

“Shove it? You have such unusual speech, Kanae. Thank you Kanae for believing in me! OK, let's go train!” I said.

_______________________________________________

(Kanae)

I was really lucky to meet Deirdre in the Demon Forest. I have no idea what that ditsy Goddess was thinking. Dropping me inside a dangerous forest filled with scary beasts and monsters. She summoned me and gave me all these skills and told me she needed me to help change someone's fate. Apparently some person here needed saving due to the mistake of another goddess screwing up.

I have no clue how I'm going to find her. The goddess was real secretive about the details,

“Oh you'll know her when the time comes,” Goddess Áine said.

She was such an annoying goddess! She didn't tell me anything about using magik. I've got all these spells I can look up, but Deirdre didn't do any except call out the spell titles. I'll ask her about that while we train.

“Deirdre, I'm confused. Back in the forest, when you used magik you didn't do incantations to invoke magik. You just named the spells you were using. You even had me activating the spells in a similar manner. How does that work? Why have the incantations if they aren't needed,” I asked.

“Well, Kanae, there are three kinds of spell use: chanted, chantless, and silent. Most mages need to use the incantation. It's also true that one can't use the maximum power of a spell without chanting it. Plus you can mix in other features when chanting. Casting incantations require time, a lot of time sometimes. So they aren't very useful in battle, unless you have a large army to shield the mages while they chant the spells. Even in adventuring parties they often have to protect the mages and healers so they have time to cast their spells. More powerful mages, such as you and me can call up spells without the need to chant. Among those mages who can use chantless magik are ones who can cast them silently. These activate even faster, and have the added advantage of being hidden until they activate. I cast a number of spells silently. You probably can as well. You have a huge mana aura. Many people can sense mana, but I can actually see mana. You might be able to also, but it usually requires training to acquire,” Deirdre said.

“Wow! So back then you just told me to cast without a chant, because you figured I had enough strength to do chantless magik?” I asked.

“Yes, I could sense you'd be able to do it. Remember I am half dragonkin, which gives me many abilities not available to human species,” Deirdre said.

“Oh! Right, I suppose demihumans have many skills that humans don't,” I said.

“I am a bit surprised to hear an elf use the term demihuman. Generally, only humans use that term. The other races use saiothe, the clever people, when speaking of non-humans. I'd be careful using that term very much. It's generally considered very rude, demeaning, and slanderous,” Deirdre said.

“Oh! Oh my, I'm so sorry. I didn't know! Saiothe, you say? I will remember that!” I said.

Why didn't the Goddess not teach me this stuff, even though I asked her if she could make me an elf in this world? She really seemed put off about it. Then she gave me that long lecture about the species and races. Oh, now that I think about it, she did mention something about saiothe as a term for non-humans. Oh, I wished I'd paid more attention to that lecture now!

“Kanae, did you grow up among humans? You are unlike any elf I've ever met,” Deirdre asked.

“I did in fact grow up among humans. I've never even seen another elf,” I said.

“Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to pry, I just got so curious,” Deirdre said.

“Oh, don't worry. I don't mind,” I said.

Whew, that was close. I'd better be more careful. Last thing I want is to be discovered as a summon. The goddess had sternly, and repeatedly, warned me not to let anyone know that. Something about a taboo and religious affront.

“Ok, so, let's work on training. You've not had much experience using your magik, have you. Why don't we start with you firing off some spells you know at the targets down there. There are wards and shielding built into the arena, so there should be nothing to worry about using lower level spells,” Deirdre said.

I pulled up the spell list display the goddess gave me. She said it would not be visible to anyone, but I am sure it will be very handy. I'll try casting my first spell with an incantation.

“Goddess I beseech thee, grant my desire. I call upon the wind most dire. Within my grasp a spear I desire. Wind spear fire!” I cast, holding my hand at eye level.

A phantom spear appeared in my hand and I threw my hand forward as I said fire. A spear of wind flew forward and smashed into the arena wall, missing the target entirely. A green translucent circle of light lit up a section of arena shield, preventing any damage to the arena wall. Now, I'll try doing it without the chant.

“Wind spear!” I cast using the same motion.

This time the spear hit the lower outside edge of the target.

“OK, why don't you try using that spell for a while and work on your aiming. This is a good spell to practice targeting. Once you get targeting down we can move on,” Deirdre said.

I spent the rest of the morning practicing shooting at targets. Then we broke for lunch, and spent some time exploring Nirvan. I noticed some people who seemed to be following us. We stopped at the Spotted Griffin Pub for dinner, and I asked Deirdre about it.

“I've had the feeling that someone has been following us most of the day,” I said.

“Yes, we've had several adventurers from several guilds following us, off and on, since we left the arena. We had some spying on us while we were training as well. Not really much we can do about it, unless we head out of the city to train. Remember not to cast any silent spells while we are training where we might be spied upon. I have a number of my own spells I want to teach you, but not until we can practice in private. Letting them spy on us now will make it easier to evade them at a later time,” Deirdre said.

“I've been meaning to ask, how many elements do you have? You seem to know a lot about all the elements,” I said.

“I have the four natural elements. I have neither light nor dark. I can use Earth and Water for healing. It's not as good, or easy, as light healing. Earth healing is more natural, and having that element and the Alchemy skill is useful for making healing potions. Of course making potions with Light magik is still superior. I'm real jealous you have light magik,” Deirdre said.

“This curry sure is delicious! And this honey beer really goes well with it!” I said.

“I know, right? This is the best pub in town. The food is amazing here. The honey beer is brought in from Shambyl. It's the capital city of the country, and a major trading city, it being situated in a protected bay deep upstream on the Jarvik Fjord. The city sits partly on top of a shelf on the Fresca Cliff and the rest of it running downhill to the port. I've always wanted to visit it. We should consider making a trip there. The Empire has an elite Academy of Magik there. There's probably more chances to earn a lot of money there also,” Deirdre said.

“Wow that does sound very interesting! What country are we in, by the way?” I asked

“Wha...!? You don't even know what country you're in? This is the Dargon Kingdom. Change of plans! We're going to go to the library tomorrow. I have a bad feeling you need a quick education about a lot of basic knowledge. We'll start with a map of the kingdom, the Empire, and the world. You must have been raised in some deep backwoods somewhere, or worse,” Deirdre said.

“Or worse?” I asked.

“Not here. We'll talk when we can have complete privacy,” Deirdre whispered.

I have a bad feeling about this. I wonder if she suspects the truth. I have to hide it whatever. No way can I risk making an enemy of Deirdre. She's my lifeline right now. I don't know nearly enough to be on my own.

_______________________________________________

(Deirdre)

“OK, so, Kanae, this is the Dargon kingdom. This is the capital, and we're up north here in Nirvan, It's a three-day ride by coach from here to the capital and can be eight to twelve days on foot. I could fly there in less than five hours. I've seen it from a distance, but have never flown there,” I said.

Kanae and I spent a day in the library covering some maps of our world, and the several countries, politics, and geography. We spent time going over some history, laws, and politics. She was severely unaware of the world. She spoke the common language, but I could not shake the feeling she came from another world. There were legends about such folk. It was always something bad. People summoned or reincarnated into this world always brought cataclysms and disaster. At least in the legends. I didn't trust legends. Legends were written by one side mostly. Who knows what the truth is in any "historical" document. If she was from another world, I'm not sure if I want to know. In fact, I'm fairly sure I really do not want to know. I have to be careful around her, but I feel I need to keep her around me. My dragon sense is tingling, and telling me she is going to have a major impact on this world. I need to try and guide her for the best possible outcome. Dragon vision is a weird thing. It's difficult to predict the future. It's always in motion. Some futures cannot be changed. My vision is limited. I would like to find some dragons, but they would likely shun me, at best.

“Well, Kanae. I think that should give us at least a basic knowledge of the kingdom and the world at large. Let's head back to the Guild and do some more target training for a few days. Then in a few days we'll explore the dungeon for a while, and learn how to hunt moving targets,” I said.

“Yes! I can't wait to explore the dungeon!” Kanae said.

As expected the usual obnoxious crowd was at the guild waiting to attack me, and for a chance to try and recruit Kanae.

“Oh look here come the Raggedy Raiders! Go home Ragdoll, to the slum you came from! Miss Kanae, come and join our Guild. Your talent is wasted with that raggedly, good for nothing ragdoll,” said Reginald, leader of the Donner Knights party.

A tall slim, too pretty, blond-haired man came up to Kanae and threw his arm over her shoulder and said,

“Come with me Lassie, and our party will show you real hospitality and more money than your wildest dreams. We know how to appreciate real talent. You'll never get anywhere with that talentless E-ranked ragdoll.”

Kanae shook the hand off her shoulder, and said,

“Why would I partner with a filthy idiot like you. You're not even aware that Deirdre is now a D-Rank. She'll make A rank well before you ever do. Creep.”

“Why you filthy C-Ranked ragdoll misfit! I'll teach you not to slander your B-Ranked senior!” the creep belched as he drew his sword.

“Shockwave!” Kanae cast.

A wall of wind blasted the creep away and slammed him into the far wall, barely missing crashing into several other patrons who dodged and got out of the way in the nick of time.

“Impressive! I've never heard of that spell before,” I said.

“I just made it up. Like you told me before, if I can create a good picture of what I want a spell to do, I can make it happen. It's my first spell,” Kanae said.

“Congratulations!”

We headed for the arena without any further interruptions.

“Now last time you used a wind javelin as a weapon. Other good targeting spells are rock dart and wind arrow. Rock darts are best done pointing two fingers at the target. Wind arrow can be used with s bow, or imaginary bow. So those are the three basic targeting spell methods. Basically any weapon you can imagine works. Given you are an elf, you likely have a natural skill of Archery. I'm not sure what level that skill might be, but I think we should try wind arrows. There are various arrows made from earth metals as well. So you have many options with arrows. I've known a few adventurers who use crossbows strapped on their arms,” I said.

“I don't have a bow though,” Kanae said.

“Put your arm out like you would while holding a bow, picture in your head a wooden bow you've seen or used and cast Bow,” I said.

“Bow!” Kanae said.

A tall thin bow appeared in her hand.

“Now draw it, aim, and cast wind arrow,” I said.

“Wind arrow!” Kanae cast.

An arrow made of wind magik took off and struck the bullseye on the target. Shooting straight through and pinging off the protection barrier of the arena.

“Wind Arrow!”

“Bronze Arrow!”

“Steel Arrow!”

One after another of her spells went straight through the bullseye and pinged off the barrier.

“Excellent work! So you're very skilled at archery,” I said.

“Yes, I've studied the art since I was a child,” Kanae said.

“You should try shooting rock darts too, but we now know you have one usable adventuring skill,” I said.

Kanae was able to use rock darts almost as easily as the bow and arrows.

“How are you at close quarters combat?” I asked.

“I know some martial arts, but have never had any real battle experience,” Kanae said.

“We'll have to work on that. For now practice, and become efficient at putting up, and keeping up protective shields,” I said.