Chapter Eight: Guild Life

Stare slowly awoke. His consciousness returned to him slowly as the heat of the sun's rays warmed him. He rose from his bed and put on his equipment. Upon joining the guild, he had received some sort of belt. It had the guild emblem on it to designate him as one of the patrol members. The lowest rank.

He had found out some things about the guild. Things like who the interviewers/ testers were. They were the three highest-ranking members. From the most powerful they were Erk La Gowe, Angelus Serra and Dominic Soreu.

Erk La Gowe had served as one of the king's generals before the Knights of Prontera had been disbanded. After which he founded the Allied Swords with twenty other knights. He soon changed the name to Allied Swords of Prontera. He kept all his medals and badges in a publicly displayed cabinet to deter those who would oppose him openly. A bit harsh, but he was a good leader anyway.

Angelus Serra was a crusader, one of the last. She knew where all the other crusaders went to and probably still knows where they are. She was one of the founding members of the Allied Swords of Prontera.

Dominic Soreu or Dominion as he is called by most is, unlike the other two, not one of the founding members. He rose in rank quickly because of his amazing skill in battle. He became a crusader through the instruction of Angelus' brother.

Stare soon found the instruction room. He was going to get his first patrol assignment that day. He entered the room and saw that Matthew was already there.

"Well, you're finally here." Said a voice.

Stare turned to the speaker and saw that an old man was there.

"Well now that you're here I may as well tell you two your assignments. You'll be working together until we can establish whether or not you are capable of handling yourselves on your own. You'll be assigned to market crossroad seven. There aren't any serious crimes there but it is a marketplace. There will be some petty thieves for sure. Just try to avoid violence okay?" the man said.

"Okay. We'll do that", Matthew said. "When does our shift start?"

"When the enchanted pendulum clock in the main lobby indicates two hours past noon."

"Okay. See you later, Stare" Matthew said as he exited the room.

Stare left as well. He saw Matthew walking down a hallway. He went in the other direction, down the path that lead to the mess hall.

Stare got to the mess hall and noticed that there weren't many people even though it was around seven hours past midnight. He approached one of the people there, a thief.

"Hey, doesn't anyone eat here?" Stare asked.

"Not really. Just the people who room here."

"So…by the way, where is market crossroad, um, seven?"

"Go to the marketplace and ask around I'm not too familiar with it myself. I work around the slums."

"Okay. Thanks."

Stare went over to a counter where a merchant was situated. He got some food and went to one of the unoccupied tables. There he sat in silence and ate. Then he became aware of someone approaching him.

"Hi Stare."

Stare turned around to face the speaker whose voice he recognized as Fiora's.

"Well, have you gotten your first assignment yet? I know they normally give them on the second day."

"Yeah. I'm assigned to the market place."

"That's a pretty broad area. Any specifications?"

"Yeah, crossroad seven."

"That's nice! You'll be nearby then." Fiora said happily.

"Near…by?"

"Yes. I'll be doing some shopping later. Y'know trading with the adventurers."

"Okay. I still don't know where that is, though." Stare said softly.

"Okay. Just meet up with me at my house before your shift, then."

"Where's your house?" Stare asked.

"West of the agit, you can't miss it."

"Agit?"

"Yeah, it's a term for guildhouse. See you later, I've got some stuff to do."

"My shift starts at two."

"I'll be at my house just before lunch, you be there by one then. Bye." Fiora said. She waved goodbye then left Stare.

Stare approached the giant manse that loomed ahead. Its gates were cobalt blue and it was at least four stories high. A gardener was tending to its massive yard.

He approached the gate cautiously and rang a bell hanging beside the gate. Nothing seemed to happen. Stare rang it again. Still nothing happened. He was about to ring it again when a servant came running up to the gate.

"I'm here, I'm here. You can stop that condemned ringing already!" he shouted as he unlocked the gate.

"There wasn't any ringing at all." Stare said.

"Not on the outside! What kind of idiot are you! Don't you know an enchanted gate bell when you see one?" The man shouted. "What business have you here?"

"I'm here to see miss Fiora." Stare replied.

"Why would she want to see a street idiot commoner like you! Begone before I set the dogs on you!"

"Fine!" Stare shouted as he walked away.

Stare stood by a house near the manse. From his point of view he could see the gates well. He just needed to wait for Fiora to leave for the market.

"Hi."

Stare turned around. Matthew was standing behind him with a puzzled look on his face.

"Hi Matthew."

"So…are you stalking Fiora or something? If any of her bodyguards find out you're going to be so dead I won't be able to resurrect you."

"NO! I'm waiting for her to come out 'cause her STUPID doorman won't let me in!"

"Okay…no need to shout…but our shift's almost up."

"I know. I just don't know where our shift is."

"Market Crossroa-"

"Where is that?"

"Oooooooohhhhhhhhhh. So that's what you don't know. Truth is I don't either. So I'll ask the 'stupid' doorman." Matthew walked towards the gate of the manse, leaving Stare to continue his obviously less effective course of action.

Matthew soon returned smiling.

"I have the location. Are we still waiting for Fiora?"

"I guess not. I'll just tell her what happened later."

Stare and Matthew sat on the paved walkway that led down to the main marketplace. No thefts had occurred and no one seemed even mildly suspicious.

People seemed to just come and go peacefully, hardly ever even stopping to look at what the merchants had to offer. There were a few kids around and the occasional thief guild member who would run into the shadows after noticing them as well.

Their shift soon ended with nothing out of the ordinary happening. They returned to the guildhouse and rested up for the next day.

Alright then. Pls. review.