Tower Story -- Chapter 22

Chapter 22

“And you saw nothing?” Cherino, the Guildmaster of Lodgepoint’s local Adventurer’s Guild, asked.  He couldn’t keep the disbelief from his voice as he looked around at the gathered assortment of Adventurers surrounding him. 

“Nothing, sir.  It’s almost as if whatever monsters were here hit a wall and suddenly died.”

He waved around at the area just inside the forest near the edge of the fields.  “I can see that; what I’m asking for is an explanation.  This kind of thing doesn’t just happen.”

Glancing at his own Party, all of whom were more experienced than anyone else present, he was dismayed when they didn’t seem to have any better idea than the others who had been conducting the investigation.  Apart than them, no one else met his eye, obviously feeling disappointed by the fact that they couldn’t provide the answers the Guildmaster had asked for. 

When no one spoke, he turned to Hagrit, the originator of the Dungeon Break Task.  “What was the first wave of monsters supposed to have been?”

The Ranger’s eyes were staring around him in the same confusion that Cherino felt.  “I was only able to use Identification on a few of them before I fled, but they were Scaled Spikers around Level 30.  As soon as I recognized them as a full monster wave, likely from a dungeon break, the System automatically assigned the task.”

“I know that, Hagrit.  But did you see anything else out here that might’ve been able to do this?”

The sleek, dark-furred head of the cat-like Dwinaii shook in response to his question – which somehow didn’t surprise him.  After all, the Guildmaster couldn’t believe that anything could do this to the wave of the Scaled Spikers that had been headed in the direction of town.

“Any sign of additional waves?”  He’d never heard of only a single wave of monsters emerging from a dungeon before, even in the somewhat disjointed history that they had managed to hold onto when everyone had needed to retreat to Derelya for safety.  Even the weakest dungeons had at least 2 waves, so for there to be only a single wave was an unheard of occurrence – an even more unusual occurrence than an entire wave of monsters being killed by some mysterious means within seconds of each other. 

“There are signs of fighting further north, where there might have been additional waves, but there was nothing left behind like there was here.  I can’t tell for sure, but it seems like whatever killed these also killed the other monster waves – as unlikely as that seems.”

This entire situation was fishy, and he didn’t like it.  What could kill monsters like this in such a short amount of time.  Is it a Remnant that we’d missed?  Or is this an incredibly powerful Aberration that somehow showed up here?  Even if it’s either of those, that still doesn’t explain why they would be attacking other monsters, and not the town. 

Or what if it’s an elite Party from Arvoli?  The rumors say that there are supposed to be a few Parties that have managed to reach Level 50 through dangerously investigating reports of high-Level Remnants and killing them, but why would they be here?  Better yet, why wouldn’t they register their presence with the local Guild when they arrived in the area?

None of it was making any sense. 

As he stood there, trying to picture what exactly had happened, his excellent hearing caught a snippet of something that piqued his interest.

“—you think it could be the same thing?  I thought we agreed that they were just delusional from—”

His eyes pinpointed where the soft conversation was coming from, recognizing Palatto and his Party standing near the forest’s edge.  “Palatto!  Come over here!  What do you know?”

The addressed Adventurer swallowed nervously, before walking over to his Guildmaster.  “Sir?  What do you mean?”

“I overheard you saying something just a moment ago.  Would you care to explain?” Cherino asked, not bothering to expound on exactly what he’d heard, as he thought that the vagueness would simply draw more out of Palatto.  He wasn’t disappointed.

“Oh, uh, you heard that?  Uh, then you must’ve heard that it was probably just a delusion—oh, you want to hear it anyway?  Well, sir, you remember the appearance of the Pantherin yesterday and Arbino’s unfortunate death?  Apparently, his surviving Party claimed that something killed the monster in a single attack before disappearing, and that they had no hand in its death.  But that’s impossible, right?”

The current impossible situation around Palatto hadn’t seemed to occur to the Adventurer, but a raised eyebrow and a glance around the scene where multiple Level 30 monsters had been killed, seemingly within seconds of each other, finally got through his thick skull. 

Palatto cleared his throat.  “Oh.  I suppose that this could’ve been the same thing, then?”

“That’s what I want to find out.  I need to talk to Ladrexia and the rest of Arbino’s Party to see if I can get any more information from her.  For now, though, let’s wrap this up and get back to town; this has been enough of a disruption that there’s not point in wasting any more time.  With the Task completed, there shouldn’t be any more danger, but I want everyone to be ready if or when whatever did this decides to set its sight on Lodgepoint.”

He wasn’t sure what additional information he might get from Ladrexia that hadn’t already been reported to the Guild, but he’d do everything he could to coax any more knowledge she had of the event out of her.  As she and her Party were the only ones close enough to somewhat witness whatever it was that killed such a strong monster in seconds, they were the only source that might allow him to get to the bottom of everything.

Leaving the others to look for any additional clues around the area, the Guildmaster of Lodgepoint took his Party and headed back toward town, determined to solve this mystery – before it ended up biting them all in the butt.

It took less time to return to the wall and proceed through the town gates than it had when they cautiously decided to investigate the lack of a monster wave, and before he knew it, he was walking inside the entrance of his Guild branch.  Looking around, he didn’t see Ladrexia, Barton, or Glindir – the surviving members of Arbino’s Party – anywhere, but he suspected they were still recovering upstairs.  Losing a member of one’s Party was devasting and it typically took a few days to recover from such a traumatic experience, so they had been relieved from any Tasks until they were better; it was thought that their state of mind could lead to errors in judgment, endangering the lives of others, so unless it was an emergency – like a wave of monsters getting through the walls of the town – they were essentially off-duty.

What he did see was the enigmatic Level 2 Human that he’d been speaking to earlier after Killix ended up being injured somehow.  There was an odd confidence in the Human that exuded from his very presence that was hard to explain, especially given how weak he was, and at the time he’d been wanting to investigate further to see what was so strange about him.  Now, though, such things seemed unimportant in light of the mystery of the dungeon break that was somehow stopped by something more powerful than all of the Adventurers in town combined. 

Putting the thought of the odd Human aside, he moved toward the back of the building where the stairs were located, all of his focus on finding Ladrexia and the answers to his growing questions regarding the insanity that seemed to have infused recent events.  He’d get his answers, one way or another.

                    *

“How may I help you?” the still rattled-looking woman behind the counter asked Bax as he approached the counter.  The small bit of doubt in her tone was clear to his ears, but he thought that it was probably less prevalent than it would’ve been if he’d spoken with her before the entire dungeon breakout thing; while being attacked by waves of powerful monsters wasn’t exactly great, it had the benefit of helping to relax the suspicion and disbelief that he’d been forced to endure since he’d arrived in this world from random people who didn’t see him as anything but a Level 2 Human.

Despite hearing the slightly doubtful tone in her voice, he still did his best to smile at her in an encouraging way.  It was harder than he thought it would be to seem cheerful, as it had been nearly 2 hours of standing in line until everything in the Guild had seemed to return to normal.  He thought it might be even faster, considering that he’d seen many of the Adventurers – including the Guildmaster – return more than an hour before, but it seemed as though it took longer to put things to right than he expected.  Regardless, it was still probably a lot faster than if he hadn’t gone out and ended the threat himself, so he couldn’t complain too much.

“Hello there, Erinne,” he said, using Identification to see her name, along with the fact that she was Level 8, “I’d like to join the Adventurer’s Guild.”

She paused for a moment, before pointing over his shoulder toward the bar.  “Frindrick handles any of our new hires, and once you’ve worked here long enough, any open positions would be considered based on seniority—”

He held up his hand to stop her.  “I’m sorry, I may not have been clear.  I don’t want to work here, I want to become an Adventurer.  Can you help me do that?”

Erinne looked at him in shock, her mouth open as if she couldn’t believe what he’d just said.  “Uh, hold on a moment.  She left the counter and moved toward the Natruri in charge, and they had a short conversation that he could’ve listened into if he’d wanted, but he didn’t bother.  He could guess what is was about, after all, and he’d find out soon enough.  Erinne nodded at something the tall tree-person said, before returning.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” she apologized as soon as she was back in front of him.  “I was just confirming that we can accept any Humans into the Guild as an Adventurer, as you must be aware that such a thing is extremely rare.  Unfortunately, because there is a risk in devoting resources to a Human that may not be able to handle the demands that are required of its members, there is a hefty upfront fee in order to be accepted into the Guild.  This fee is non-negotiable, but it will be put toward any expenses such as lodging, supplies, and any other incidentals that are normally covered by the Guild for its non-Human members.”

They’re charging a fee to apply?!  And it’s only for Humans?  Now I know why I haven’t seen any Human Adventurers here.  I can somewhat understand it from the point of view of the Guild, as they don’t want to waste time and resources on Humans who have proven to be generally weaker than any other race, but it also feels extremely prejudicial and racist.

It made him slightly angry to hear why and how Humans were being excluded, but then he had to remind himself that he wasn’t there to enact a societal shift in the way things were done.  If anything, it was probably safer if Humans weren’t out Adventuring all the time, as they wouldn’t be on the front line against the monster threats out there in the world; he’d originally wanted to come to a world so that he could find a way to save as many Humans as possible, and it appeared as though that was already happening.  Except that instead of Bax swooping in as some sort of Human superhero, it was the other races that were doing everything they could to protect the Humans – even if some of them didn’t have the best attitudes toward his own people.

Nodding in understanding, he asked, “Fair enough, I suppose.  How much is this fee?”

“The fee for a Human application to become an Adventurer is 10,000 Magems.  In addition to the fee, they must also be tested to ensure they can meet the minimum standards in place for Rank 10 members.”

10,000 Magems!  That’s like 10,000 dollars back on Earth!  I can’t imagine that there are many Humans that could afford a fee like that.  They’re deliberately pricing them out of the opportunity to—

Calm down, Bax.  This isn’t the time to bitch about their policies regarding Human Adventurers.

“Wow, that’s… a lot,” he said after a moment.

“I know, and I’m sorry that you’ve wasted your time coming all the way here, but if you’re still looking for a position in the Guild, you can still talk to Frindrick at the bar—”

“Oh, no, that’s not necessary,” he interrupted her again.  Pulling out 10,000 Magems, which was thankfully easy as the tiny gems could be clumped together to form a larger magical gem when needed, he plopped the large Magem on the counter in front of Erinne.  “I’d like to become an Adventurer, please.”

The surprise in Erinne’s eyes when she stared at the large 10,000-Magem gem on the counter was like a balm to his rising annoyance.  The satisfaction as she slowly reached forward to handle the fee was worth all the bother, and he smiled at her as she looked back up at him.  “Uh, oh, alright.  I—I guess if the fee is in order, we can get you registered to apply for the Guild,” she touched the large Magem and made it disappear, likely into her internal inventory.  With it gone, she seemed to recover her composure somewhat.  “I can hold on to this for now while your application is processed, but remember that there will be a round of testing that needs to be completed in order for your membership to be approved.  If you fail, we will take a very minor fee for the testing, but the rest will be returned to you; upon failure, you will not be able to reapply for membership for an entire full year.  Are you sure you would like to commence with the testing?  Would you prefer to wait until you’ve, uh, gained a few Levels, perhaps?”

Bax shook his head.  “No, I’m good to go, anytime.”

“Uh, alright then.  Hold on for a moment.”  She went to the Natruri again, who looked up in surprise and stared at Bax when Erinne explained that the Human had officially applied to become an Adventurer and had paid the fee.  An uncomfortable minute passed as Bax stood still under the scrutiny of the Natruri, who he saw was named Arbon’thanwe’gherin, similar in length and complexity to the other Natruri he’d seen, before Arbon nodded and quickly walked toward a door near the back wall, stepping through it and disappearing.

“It’ll be approximately 15 minutes before the testing can commence.  Would you be able to sit over there,” Erinne said when she came back, pointing to a bench near the doorway the Natruri had passed through, “and someone will get you when they’re ready for the testing.”

“Sure,” he said, giving her another smile and walking toward the bench she’d pointed to without another word.  As he sat down, he felt the stares of quite a few people throughout the large bottom floor of the Guild building, but he ignored them.  Instead, he looked into his internal inventory space and saw the diminishing pile of Magems that he now had, which had taken a huge hit after paying 10,000 Magems for the application fee into the Guild.  He had just over 2,000 now, which was still quite a bit, but not as much as he’d had just minutes ago.

Then again, he had some additional things to sell now, courtesy of the monsters that he’d killed from the dungeon break.  He wasn’t able to get anything from the Spikers, as the Guild had been all over them when he went to pick them up, but from the Bearboons and Geckoyles he’d received some things that he thought that he could sell or convert into Magems.

Insulated Bearboon Fur

Uses: Material used for enhancing magical resistance in armor

Value: Unknown

Compressed Agate

Uses: Material used for adding durability to blunt weapons or sharpness to bladed weapons

Value: Unknown

He couldn’t help but think that these materials that he’d picked up would sell even better than the Carapaces and Blubber from the Bugeels, giving him more than enough Magems to get by.  But when he thought about selling them later, he quickly realized that there might be a problem with that.

If the Guild knows what kinds of monsters the dungeon that overflowed had inside of it, they might recognize the materials that came from them if they suddenly came on the market.  It might raise more than a few eyebrows if an influx of those materials suddenly showed up, and they would undoubtedly be able to track down where it came from – which would likely have me having to explain where they came from.

Crap.  Perhaps I can visit another nearby town and unload them there? 

It was a possibility that he thought might be necessary if he didn’t have another source of income soon, though he figured he’d be fine for at least a few weeks based on the prices he’d seen in town.  Plus, the “fee” he’d paid to apply for being an Adventurer was supposed to pay for things like lodging, which he now understood meant lodging inside the Guild building, so he wouldn’t have too many expenses.  Perhaps some additional clothes, given his penchant of destroying what he was wearing quite frequently, and food, of course.  But if that was it, he was pretty sure he could get by for at least a couple of months before running out of ready cash on hand.

If I don’t go visit another town or city to unload these materials, then perhaps by that time they won’t be as scrutinized when I try selling a few here and there in Lodgepoint.

He had a lot of options, fortunately, he just had to figure out what his priority was and how he wanted to handle the problems that came up.  Once he had that decided, he could work on his future plans.

The time seemed to pass slowly as he sat on the bench, and as 20 minutes came and went, he began to become impatient.  When another 20 minutes passed, he began to wonder if they had either forgotten about him or were deliberately delaying because he was a Human.  Finally, at about 45 minutes after he sat down, the door opened again, and the Natruri, Arbon, emerged and looked down at him. 

“I apologize for the delay,” he said, waving for Bax to get up and move through the door.  “After the dungeon break earlier, it took longer to arrange the testing than normal.  You may enter now.”

“Thank you,” he said, and walked through the doorway at the Natruri’s instruction, wondering what this testing could possibly entail.