When the light faded they were standing in the middle of a town on a bright sunny day. Adora quickly patted herself down, noticing she was in her usual red jacket, while Catra scanned their surroundings.
"Ooookaaay. This is different," Catra said, half crouched, and ears flat. Adora smiled and patted Catra on the back.
"Relax Catra, it's just a normal village. I'm guessing someplace behind the front lines. Though those are some pretty major walls," Adora said, looking at the horizon which had large stone walls surrounding the town.
"Okay, so where do we go?" Catra asked.
"Umm," Adora tapped her lip, thinking. "We should go towards the walls. If there are walls, there will be a gate, and that means there will be a guard. We can ask him how we can sign up to fight against the Demon King."
"Well lead the way, Princess," Catra said, giving a faux bow. Adora glared at her, before giving her a playful shove and dashing off.
"Come on, I'll race you!" she shouted. Catra yelped before chasing after her. The two raced through the town, dodging around carts and pushing past people, which was met with amused indulgence. Soon enough they were on the main street, which quickly lead them to the gate leading into the city. The gate was more of a massive wooden portcullis, which was currently open. As expected, a pair of guards stood at them, lazily watching as the carts rolled through. Adora slowed down as she started to get close, and was promptly pounced on by Catra.
"You lousy cheater," Catra laughed, her chest rumbling with a purr.
"Speak for yourself," Adora said, grinning as she rolled, throwing Catra off, and getting to her feet. The pair circled each other, arms wide, and knees bent as they prepared to tussle.
"Oye!" one of the guards yelled, "stop blocking the road."
"Ah, sorry sir," Adora said, instinctively stopping to salute and getting herself tackled by Catra.
"Don't salute you absolute dork," Catra said, rubbing her cheek against Adora's before bouncing off of her and offering Adora a hand up. "We aren't soldiers anymore."
"I mean, we might be soon," Adora said, smiling at Catra and taking her hand. Catra pulled her up and bumped her with her hip.
"Yeah, well if we do join hopefully we won't be working under these guys," Catra said, looking critically at the primitive armor and weapons the guard had.
"Only one way to find out," Adora said, stepping forward. "Excuse me sir, we were wondering where we would go to sign up to fight against the Demon King?"
"Huh?" the guard blinked, clearly confused. "Are you asking for directions to the Adventurer's Guild?"
"Adventurer's Guild?" the girls asked in unison.
"Yeah, you know, go be a hero, hunt monsters, level up, and take down the Demon King," the guard said. "That's what Axel is famous for anyways. We're called the Town of Beginners for a reason. Most adventurers get their start here, since we've got a lot of monsters that are pretty easy to beat and give lots of experience."
"So adventurers are all aiming to take down the Demon King?" Adora asked, slowly.
"Hah! No, most adventurers are basically delinquents and glory seekers. They hunt monsters, collect their bounties, and then drink their profits or gamble them away. Eventually they get enough levels and move on to new towns and repeat the process," the guard said, laughing. "It's only foreigners like you who are obsessed with taking down the Demon King."
"Like us?" Adora asked, puzzled.
"Sure. Weird clothing, not knowing anything about how the world works, obsessed with beating the Demon King," the guard said, counting the traits off on his fingers. "Let me guess, you're from some foreign country, you can't return for some reason, and you have no money."
"That's right. How many people like us are there?" Catra asked, suspiciously.
"Hell, I don't know. You folk have been showing up since I was a toddler," the guard said, scratching his head. "Must've been hundreds over the years. Maybe even a thousand."
"And the war is still going?" Adora asked, horrified.
"Basically," the guard said, shrugging. "But things are safe here in Axel. So if you want my advice?"
"I don't but I expect that's not going to stop you," Catra muttered.
"Take your time. Play it safe, wait until you've got you're level twenty or so, and then move on. Way too many of you foreigners rush off to the front, or challenge the first Demon King's General they encounter and get themselves killed. Build up your stats, get some good equipment, and most importantly, get an actual team together, and you'll go far. Rush it, and maybe you'll pull it off, but you won't be any better off then if you took your time," the guard said. "Now go on. The Adventurer's Guild is the big building with the blue banners in the centre of town. You can't miss it."
Adora thanked the man and the pair set off, walking slowly. "So...any idea what he was talking about with the whole levels and stats thing?" she asked.
"No idea. Maybe it's a rank thing? Like it seems these adventurers don't have proper ranks, but instead maybe they count up the number of achievements they have and determine a 'level' that way?" Catra guessed. Adora just shrugged, and the pair took careful note of the town around them as they walked.
"Looks like they are pretty low tech. So I'm guessing magic based, like the Alliance?" Adora said, staring intently at a horse drawn cart.
"Great. More princesses," Catra said, looking as people all went about their different days. "There is something really weird about this place that's bothering me."
"What is it?" Adora asked, immediately going on guard.
"I don't know. There's just something missing, and I don't know what," Catra said, shrugging as she frowned.
"Hmmm," Adora hummed, stopping in the street and looking closer at the people. No matter how she looked at it, everyone was just an ordinary person going about their ordinary lives. "Everything looks normal to me. Just townspeople living peacefully. Wait, is that it? Have you ever seen normal people before?"
"Sure I have!" Catra protested, "these guys aren't acting like that. They are just...doing stuff. It's like they don't even notice us."
"Well yeah," Adora shrugged. "We're just another couple of strangers. In a town this size, random people must show up all the time and it's not like we're a threat." Adora started to smile. "So how's it feel, Miss Big Bad Horde Commander? Being in a town where no one knows you, no one is threatening you, and no one is scared of you?" she teased, punching Catra in the shoulder.
"Shut up," Catra said, blushing and looking away.
"Come on, doesn't it feel nice?" Adora persisted, grinning widely, "no one is staring, no one is bothered, no one cares about us. We could just stop here, sit on that bench, and nobody would say anything. We can just be Catra and Adora, instead of being the Commander of the Horde and She-Ra."
"Yeah...I suppose it is nice," Catra admitted. She glanced around at everyone, grabbed Adora's hand, and immediately looked around. One or two people gave her an odd look, or an encouraging smile, but overall, nobody reacted. Well, except for Adora, who immediately went as red as a tomato. "What? If you don't like it I'll just let go," Catra said, trying to pull her hand away, only for Adora to tighten her grip.
"No, no no, this is great!" Adora said, beaming. She giggled, and gave Catra a small tug. "Come on, lets go see what's at the Adventurer's Guild!" she added, bounding off, Catra being dragged behind her with a wide grin of her own.
/*/
"So it costs money to become an adventurer?" Catra asked.
"That's correct," the receptionist, an elderly lady with glasses said.
"And until we become an adventurer we can't get paid for any of those quests on the board," she continued.
"Yes. It's almost like I just finished telling you this," the lady said.
"But why though?" Catra asked, frustrated.
"Because without a card, we won't know for certain if you actually did the job. And making these cards costs money. You should be thankful really, the king subsidizes the cards so you only have to pay a nominal fee," the old lady explained, sniffing primly.
"What are these cards anyways?" Adora asked, brow furrowed.
"Have you kids been living under a rock or something? How do you not know what an adventurer card is?" the old lady snapped. She sighed at their blank looks. "They magically record what skills you know, what level you are, and what you've killed. It also makes learning new skills easier as well as keeping track of how many skill points you have." The pair stared at her silently for a few moments.
"Oh, right. Of course. Skill points and all that jazz. Super important to keep track of, am I right?" Adora said, laughing and awkwardly shooting finger guns at the old lady.
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" she asked, flatly, not impressed.
"Damn it Adora, learn to lie already. This is just embarrassing," Catra said, planting her hand over her face.
"Alright, so since you are apparently from the far side of the moon, I'll give you a quick run down on basically everything. Everything has stats, levels, and experience. When you kill something, you gain experience. Gain enough experience and you level up. Each time you level up, you gain skill points. Skill points can be spent on learning new abilities, or improving old ones. Your stats also go up when you level up."
"Wait, we get stronger the more we kill things?" Catra asked, grinning widely. The old lady gave her a weird look, but nodded. "Adora, we are going to be the strongest beings on the planet," she said, turning to Adora, eyes wide and purring.
"There's a level cap. Eventually you reach your maximum potential and stop gaining anything from leveling up," the old lady said. She smirked when Catra visibly drooped in disappointment.
"What's the cap?" Adora asked, her face scrunched up in concentration.
"Depends on how much potential you have as a person," the old lady said. "I think the record is level one hundred and four."
"Okay. Well none of this changes we need money to get the card in the first place," Adora said, frowning. "How do people make money?"
"By getting a job," the old lady said, incredulously.
"Of course," Catra said, rolling her eyes. "But we're only good at fighting. And we can't fight until we get a card. Which we can't afford. And we can't make money without fighting."
"Work a labor job," the lady said, shrugging. "So long as you can dig a hole and haul rocks, you can make money. A week's worth of work and you'll have enough for your cards and a dagger or two."
"Or you could borrow money," a girl said, standing behind them. The pair spun around, instinctively falling into a combat stance. The girl nodded appreciatively. "Nice reflexes," she said.
"What do you mean we could borrow money?" Adora asked.
"I'd loan you the money you need for a starting weapon and to get registered," the girl said. "I'm Chris by the way, and I'm a Thief."
"A thief? Wait, and you are just openly admitting it?" Adora asked, confused.
"Not that kind of thief," Chris said, laughing. "A Thief. It's a class. Which, before you ask, is basically a framework of skills and abilities that you pick after you get your card."
"And why'd you loan us money?" Catra asked, suspiciously.
"To make some easy money," Chris said, easily. "I loan you the money for registration and some beginning gear and you pay me back five times as much in a week."
"Five times? Isn't that a lot?" Adora asked, frowning.
"Eh," Chris shrugged. "It's only a thousand Eris for the registration and another five thousand for a decent dagger. You'd be able to pay me back with the money from a single quest and still have lots left over. That said, if you'd rather work a labor job, it'll only take a day or two of good work to get enough money to just pay for all of that yourselves."
"So why should we even bother borrowing money then?" Catra demanded.
"Convenience. Plus the two of you don't strike me as good labourers. Well you don't. The blond might be," Chris said, shrugging. "Like I said, I see the opportunity to make some quick cash. If you aren't interested, then I'll go away."
"Why doesn't everyone do this?" Catra asked, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Chris.
"Because if you die, then I'm out nearly ten thousand Eris and have nothing to show for it. But I've got really good judgment, and I know that you'll be fine," Chris said.
"Well lets do it then!" Adora said, perking up. "I know you'd rather skip digging ditches or whatever they'd have us doing Catra, and the sooner we get started, the more we can level up," she said, when Catra glanced at her. Catra scowled, but nodded.
"Cool. So Florence, here's the money for the registration fee," Chris said, putting a bag of money of the counter. The old lady nodded and pulled out a pair of cards.
"Alright ladies, put a single drop of blood onto your card, and it'll bond to your soul. If you lose the card, we'll resummon it for a small fee. But be careful, anyone can spend your skill points if they have access to your card, and they'll get all of your personal information," Florence rattled off. Catra pricked their thumbs with a claw and they dabbed their blood onto the cards, which glowed blue. Catra's hair puffed up, and she glared at her card suspiciously, but when nothing happened she quickly relaxed.
"Okay, we got a bunch of numbers and stuff, but they don't mean anything to me," Catra said.
"Let me see," Chris said, taking a look. "Catra. Above average strength, average vitality, slightly above average intelligence, wow, pretty amazing agility and speed. But lousy magic and luck."
"Hah! Sounds about right," Catra said, chuckling bitterly.
"Anyways it's a real shame about your magic score. That limits you pretty badly. But still, you've do qualify for some advanced classes right off the bat. Your choices are Sniper, Assassin, and my personal favorite, Thief. Well, you could also go into the Warrior branch classes, and after a few levels you could likely take Swordmaster," Chris said.
"I'm guessing Sniper is long range attacks with very few close combat abilities. What's the difference between Assassin and Thief?" Catra asked.
"Well both classes are very sneaky, specializing in sneaking up on their opponents. Thief has a bunch of unique abilities, like Disarm Trap, Open Lock, Bind, and of course, Steal. This makes them one of the strongest support classes and very popular. You'll never want for a party if you become a Thief. Assassins on the other hand are all about killing a single target from ambush or finishing off a badly wounded opponent. That's given them a really bad reputation as kill stealers and glory hogs. I'm actually not sure what their unique skills are. Regardless, I recommend going with Thief."
"Why? So a bunch of whiny assholes won't get upset because I kill things better than them? Screw that. As long as I've got Adora, I don't need any other teammates. I'm going Assassin," Catra said, grabbing her card and decisively selecting Assassin. Chris sighed.
"Suit yourself. Alright Adora, let's see what you got. Great strength, good vitality, average agility and speed, and below average luck and intelligence-"
"Wait wait wait," Catra interrupted, a wide smile on her face. "Below average what?"
"Luck and intelligence," Chris repeated, puzzled.
"Oh no," Adora sighed, covering her face with her hands.
"Looks like you are an idiot after all," Catra said, pointing at Adora triumphantly, as she started to laugh. She jabbed Adora in the side who gave her a mock offended look.
"It's not that-" Chris was interrupted as Adora lunged for Catra, and grabbed her in a bear hug.
"I don't need to be smart to catch you," Adora said, squeezing Catra.
"Yeah? You sure you didn't just fall for my trap?" Catra asked, smirking, even as her ribs strained against Adora's strength. Her tail slipped up and began tickling Adora along her lower jaw, who began to shake as she tried to keep ahold of Catra. "What's wrong Adora? Did you think you had won?"
"D-d-don't underestimate me. I know your weakspots as well," Adora said, giggling. She pressed Catra to her chest, and lowered her head to Catra's fluffy ears, gently blowing in them. Catra yelped, and the pair finally separated when Chris cleared her throat.
"Can I continue? Or do you two need some alone time?" she asked, her lips curved into an amused smile. The pair, flushed with embarrassment, nodded. "Good. Okay, Adora, besides your slightly below average intelligence," Catra giggled, and Chris glared at her. "You also have bad luck! But your mana score is amazing. Easily the equal to any Crimson Demon. As such you are a shoe in for one of the best classes around, Arch-Priest. They've got amazing healing powers, can turn undead and demons into dust, and have plenty of spells to empower their comrades. They are without a doubt, one of the most valuable classes around."
"But can they punch things?" Adora asked.
"...No, they aren't really any good at that," Chris said, sighing.
"Then it probably isn't the class for me," Adora said, simply.
"Okay then," Chris closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Well you aren't intelligent enough to be a Magic Swordsmen-seriously, stop laughing Catra! Ahem. So that leaves Paladin as your only real option. Which is not the best class. It's kinda like a combination of a Crusader and an Arch-Priest, but isn't as good as either of them. Still, they have healing, and powerful buffs they can cast on themselves and their allies. And they can wield heavy armor and all sorts of weapons to fight on the front lines."
"Sounds good to me!" Adora said, cheerfully.
"Alright, so your cards should now show your class skills and your kill history. I imagine the two of you have quite a bit of natural talent, so I expect you'll have a fair bit of initial skill points to spend on skills. Just touch the skill in question twice to learn it. You can also upgrade your skills, just tap a skill you already know and then once for every skill point you want to add to it," Chris explained.
"Nice. Stealth, definitely taking that. Oooh, Pierce Armour, that sounds good. Finishing Blow, what does that even do? Sneak Attack looks good though..." Catra muttered to herself as she picked her skills. Adora joined her and the two talked and discussed which skills would be best for them, as Chris led them to a table, and ordered a drink. She sipped on it as she watched the pair allocate their skill points, occasionally answering a question or offering an opinion.
"Okay, so we've got that all settled. Now what?" Adora asked.
"Well now we get you girls some weapons," Chris said, idly spinning her empty tankard on her finger.
"Hah, I don't need it. My claws are more than enough for me," Catra boasted, carving a chunk of the table off with her claws.
"Right, scratch that. I've got something important to tell you," Chris said, taking a deep breath, and placing the cup down. "Look, I don't go around telling people this, but I know people get reincarnated by the Heavens to fight the Demon King. So I know what's going on when people suddenly show up in Axel not knowing stuff a child learns."
"So what?" Catra asked, eyes narrowing.
"So you two somehow know even less then that. I don't usually do this, but I think you guys need a run down on what it means to be an adventurer," Chris said, meeting Catra's gaze evenly. "For starters, while it's fine for an adventurer to be a bit of a delinquent, there is a line. Namely there are three big rules. One, you can trick each other all you want. But it's got to be 'fair'. So cheating at cards? That's fine. Robbing someone blind when they're dead drunk? No go. Second, we stick together. Sure, we'll fight among ourselves all we want. But we don't betray each other to nobles or outsiders. And if you see someone about to get killed by a monster, lend them a hand. Third, no permanent harm. Feuds and grudges between adventurers are common and can get pretty extreme and elaborate. But no maiming each other, no destroying each other's home, and definitely no killing each other. Got it?"
"Seems simple enough," Adora said.
"Right. The other side of this is you are otherwise basically free. You take what quests you want, live how you want, go where you want, whatever. Piss off nobles if they try anything, but at the same time, be prepared for the consequences. Which applies to everything really. Rack up too much debt, take on a monster you can't handle, or simply getting drunk and going crazy, whatever you do, no one will protect you from the consequences. So you can do what you want, if you can handle it," Chris said.
"That sounds promising," Catra said, smirking.
"It can be a wonderful life, that's for sure," Chris agreed. "Just don't take things too far, okay? The fastest way for an adventurer to lose their freedom is attracting the wrong sort of attention. And something tells me the two of you didn't have any luck in that regard in your previous lives."
"True enough," Adora said, shrugging. "Now the weapon?"
"Sure. Here's enough Eris to buy yourself a dagger. That should be enough for beginner quests," Chris said, passing over a small bag of money. "Pay me back in a week or so."
"Sure thing. Come on Catra, lets go!" Adora said, standing up and pulling Catra to her feet. They ran out the door.
"Eris bless those children," Chris murmured, before calling over a waitress for another beer.
Author's Notes: Not much to say here, just Catra and Adora learning what a level is, what skills are, and that they can get more powerful by killing things.
Oh, I guess there is one thing. Paladin and Assassin are two classes that I just made up and are kinda sorta based off the D&D classes of the same names.