Chapter 2: Adventures of a Guild Team
The twins walked down the stairs as their friends, while talking to the innkeeper, were waiting for them. Micah is her name. A fourteen year old ginger (Red) haired girl tied to a ponytail. Miya's ear twitched, indicating her perfect hearing. The cat girl turned her head towards the stairs, smiling brightly.
"Hello again, fur-ends." She says, waving. "You ready to head on over to the guild outpost?"
"Whenever you're ready." Magalyn shrugs.
"Great!" She smiles before looking at the innkeeper. "We'll be back later tonight, Micah. Gotta head to the guild to receive our payment, register these newbies into our ranks, and then get them equipped in new clothes and other gear."
"Enjoy, you guys." Micah told them, before grinning mischievously. "Hope you have a good date."
Glatyle blushes furiously.
"I-It's nothing of the sort!" The Amazon scoffs. "Keep your gossiping mouth to yourself!"
"Whatever you say, Glatyle." She winks at her, angering her even more that Miya had to restrain the Amazon from beating the shit out of the teasing ginger head. Luckily, Davenas has no idea what either Micah and Glatyle is talking about as he is confused about why the latter girl's face so red.
"So let me get this straight... The two of you don't know how to read the writing here?" The dirty blonde questions.
"Yeah." The twins told her, embarrassed.
"What? Are you guys illiterate or something?"
"Let's just say that it's a different dialect from the one we're used to."
"But you're speaking the same language right now!" The cat girl argues. "Are you telling us that the language you write is another form of common speech?"
"Common speech?" Davenas asks. "Where we're from, it's Westron. We speak the same language, but write differently."
"Westron, huh?" The cat girl repeats the name of the dialect. "We'll be happy to learn the right common speech for you. I'm sure it'll help us as well."
"And in return, we'll teach you how to read and write in our version of the same dialect." The amazon says.
"Thank you." The strawberry blonde half elf smiles.
"Alright, we're here." Miya says. "Welcome to Reflet Town's Adventurer Guild Hall!"
The two Middle Earth natives had a good look at the Guild Hall. Usually, they thought it be huge and fancy looking. BUT... it turns out to resemble a normal looking building with no additional floors. In all honesty, it's really clever as the guild would rather avoid unwanted attention, despite their widely known reputation as 'adventurers-for-hire.'
"It's SO... normal looking." Davenas pointed out, truthfully.
"What, do you have guild halls that look bigger and fancy looking in the Sea of Trees?" Glatyle questions.
"Well, guild halls weren't a thing till the end of a great war against a Dark Lord our people fought against." Magalyn explains.
"Dark Lord?" Their friends asked curiously.
"And when was this war you speak of?" The amazon questions further.
"Roughly 10 millennium ago." The twin brother answers. "Though that's one war. Combine that with two of them, it happened almost between 20-23,000 years ago if we're talking about when our homeland has been at war with him."
"Whoa... Now that is a story that we want to hear."
"It is. But we will explain everything to you. When the time's right."
"So secretive, aren't you?" The dark skinned girl suspiciously wonders.
"Come on, Glatyle." The cat girl sighs. "Leave them alone. It's none of our business, anyway. Let's go inside and inform the receptionist our job, get paid, and register these two into the guild. Then we can try out the new menu item."
"Very well. I'll drop it." Her best friend acknowledges, opening the door to the guild hall.
"Welcome back, you two." The receptionist waves from her spot. "I take it your job was a success?"
"Yep." Glatyle replies. "The herd of 15 Long-tusk Boar have been defeated."
"Great." The young woman acknowledges. "Then after we discuss the reward, then I'll update your status."
"That will be wonderful." Miya called out, before turning towards her friend. "And while we're on the subject, do you think you can give these to a helping paw to register? These two are out of town and want to earn some money."
"New recruits?" The receptionist asks, tilting her head to the side as she sees the twins. "That's great news! You're the fourth and fifth to join the guild this week."
"We are?"
"That's correct. Just the other day, three other decided to join the Guild as well. One of them in particular was from Eashen."
"Eashen?" The twins curiously ask.
"It's an island nation." Miya explains. "Just across the sea west from here."
"Or if you wanna travel by land, east."
"That's a long way." The young sibling exclaimed, sweat dropping from her head. "Trading from here to there must take ages?"
"You say it." The brown haired young woman agrees, adjusting her glasses. "All right. As soon as I help these two, I'll assit you."
"Thank you." Davenas nods. "We really appreciate this."
"It's the least we can do, Nyah." The Beastman woman told them, while the two adventurers handed the receptionist their guild cards. Soon, the two guild members received their payment of 1000 gold pieces.
"Quick question. What rank are the two of you?"
"Blue." Glatyle answers, placing the pouch of coins safely away. "Which makes us veteran adventurers. The guild has a system with 7 different ranks for each individual as they move up the ranks."
"Which means these ranks represent the type of bounties that guild members take." The twin brother deduced. "We never have anything like that back home."
"Wow. You guys sure are far behind when it comes to establishing guilds."
"Tell that to the Dark Lord who tried to dominate all of the different races in our homeland."
"What does he mean?" The receptionist was curious.
"Get this. These two are from the unexplored Sea of Trees." The Amazon whispers to the woman's ears.
"Really?" She perks up, looking at the twins before freaking out with excitement. "Eh?! Unbelievable! I never thought that area was inhabited. Let alone people leaving in one piece."
"Shhh!" The twins shushed her. "Not so loud! We rather if you don't talk about it much. Can you perhaps, keep this between us? For the time being."
"Huh?" The two veterans questioned in confusion.
"Why?" The cat girl asks. "Something wrong?"
"We... Rather not say now. At least not yet." Magalyn briefly explains.
"Alright, I won't pry." Miya nods in understanding before glaring at her best friend. "The same goes for you, Glatyle."
"Fair enough." Glatyle agrees. "I've all the time in the world. I'm not bound to be a hypocrite over respecting your privacy on the other topic we discussed before."
"Thanks." Davenas nods. "We'll tell you when we're ready."
"All right. Are you ready you two?"
"Yes."
"Good." The receptionist says. "Let's get started on your registration then."
A few minutes later...
The twins gazed at their first ever guild cards with smiles on their faces.
"Brother... We're officially adventurers from here on now." The strawberry blonde half elf announced.
"We sure are." The brown haired teen agrees. "All thanks to you ladies."
"It was no problem at all." The Amazon smiles proudly to herself. "Now we're off to the nearest boutique in town."
"So what's the name of this boutique." The half breeds were curious.
"Come with us, and you'll see." The cat girl says with excitement as she walks out the door.
"Miya! Wait for the rest of us!" He best friend declared as the Amazon and the twin half elves following behind. "Damn, that cat's fast."
"Her speed is that of a Gundabad Warg hunting." Magalyn noted as all three of them try to catch up.
"No kidding. We come across those overgrown dogs many times." Glatyle agreed. "Nasty canines they are."
"Especially their subspecies." The older twin pointed out. "One of our ancestors had a problem with them. Both parties got dragged off a cliff as a result. Luckily, he survived without critical injury."
"Glad he survived. But at least they're not as worse as cave goblins and slimes." The veteran explains, in complete disgust in her voice. "Those are the WORST!"
"Cave goblins, we're perfectly capable of handling ourselves."
"Not from these goblins." She stopped, turning around. "These ones are more dangerous than the rest of their kind. Most adventurers and townsfolk barely survive and encounter from them. Especially young women."
"W-What do you mean?" The twin sister asks, getting a little nervous. "What do these goblins do with the women?"
"What else, to increase their numbers to attack more villagers." She begins to explain. "And when they are done with them... The only thing left are their bones. And the same goes with female adventurers."
This grossed the siblings out, but mostly Magalyn who covers herself.
"I'm never going on any cave goblin quests. EVER." She swears in disgust and horror. "But what about the Slimes?"
"They're sticky. Icky. And they also look like boogers." The Amazon describes. "What's worse is that one of the types can melt your clothes off completely."
"You're kidding." The twins say with a blank expression.
"Nope." She says. "Luckily, slimes are only found in the wildlife, so they rarely EVER enter a civilization. Similar to dragons, if you would."
"You guys have dragons?"
"Don't you?"
"Yeah." The sister nods. "Only one dragon we've heard in stories."
"A Fire Drake." The brother confirmed. "Otherwise known... as Smaug."
"Smaug?" The Amazon questions. "Now that's a name I'm not familiar with."
"And that's a good thing. Not everyone wants to remember him. He made an entire dwarf Kingdom into his personal treasure trove." Davenas explains. "But good thing he was dead a long time ago."
"You do realize dragons are hard to kill." Their friend points out. "Their scales can't be pierced by any craft that either race has forged. Unless magic is involved."
"There is one non magic weapon that can kill dragons, but they're exclusively forged where we're native from." Magalyn says otherwise. "And believe us, you'd need very good aim to pull off a dragon slaying feat."
"You don't say." Glatyle rhetorically responds before turning around and continuing to walk with the twins following behind. "If you have - in someway - carry the original plans for the weapon or the metal used to make them, it'll make it easier for everyone to stave off a dragon attack. In my honest opinion, we can't always rely on magic to slay them. Not to mention that dragons never leave any mountainous landscape they deem as their territory."
"I believe we can do that." The twins smiled as they continues heading for the boutique.
--
After entering the shop, the twins are introduced to different clothing to match their style and personality. When they were finished picking out their favorites, the two went into the changing booths to wear the new outfits. After a few moments, the curtains opened up which revealed the half elf adventurers in their new attire. Glatyle and Miya were very impressed.
The brown haired boy is now wearing black trousers, a long sleeve white shirt under a maroon vest of intricate design and maroon braces. The rest of his attire includes black and brown shoes, two belts of blue and green.
The strawberry blonde girl is wearing an intricate green dress, that shows her cleavage, with separate white sleeves, black stockings and green toeless boots. And to complete her appearance, Magalyn has a black belt around her waist.
"Wow." The cat woman exclaimed.
"Yeah, wow." The Amazon agreed.
"So... What do you think?" The strawberry blonde half elf asked, giving a small twirl of her outfit.
"It looks good on you, Magalyn." Miya admits. "And interesting choice of boots you're wearing."
"Thanks." She smiles, while wiggling her toes. "I'm not sure why I picked these out."
"But they look very cute on you." Glatyle pointed out. "They're quite similar to mine."
"You're wearing sandals, Glatyle, Not boots." The cat girl blankly says. "Anyway... You look quite handsome, Davenas."
"Ehhh, it feels like I'm missing something." Davenas looks in his changing booth's mirror. He then notices his brown hooded cloak he put aside, and wears it over his new attire. "That's more like it."
"I guess so." His sister nods. "We'll take these. And I'm thinking of getting a dress for me as well."
"Maybe next time." The Amazon shakes her head before tossing a few gold coins in the strawberry blond girl's hands. "Go and pay for your new clothes."
"All right." She nods, before throwing on her own cloak.
After praying for their purchases, the adventurers walked out of the show as they headed for two other stops.
Obtaining new, non suspicious looking weapons was easy enough after a few minutes inside a blacksmith shop.
Magalyn bought a normal but durable short sword, as well as a curved dagger, both sheathed to her belt. Glatyle finds her weapons of choice even suitable to his attire and hooded cloak he wears over.
As for Davenas, he got himself two curved daggers for dual wielding, and a bow with a quiver full of arrows. His longsword holstered on his back with a sheath.
"Now all we need is to buy some supplies from the item shop." Miya explains. "But we can go do that later. I'm starving for some lunch!"
"I suppose something to eat is in order."
As they were heading for a location for something to eat, the 4 adventurers noticed a crowd in the distance.
"What's going on over there?" Davenas questions, while people started running past them. "It looks like trouble."
"What kind, I wonder?" The Amazon says with curiosity in her tone.
"Let's go find out!" The cat girl exclaims as she runs toward the crowd.
"Wait up!" The young sibling announced, as everyone else followed her.
To be continued...
