Chapter 6: The First Real Job
The Blue Roses were, indeed, a small party.
A party can at max consist of about seven people, officially, anyway. The only way to go beyond this was to form a clan, a collective of parties that could act beyond the usual limit by consisting of two or more parties. Many bigger quests were handled by these clans, necessitating enough people to fill a battlefield if need be.
As you can imagine, there were not many of those in Ars. Heck partiesthemselves were a rarity here.
The Blue Roses were a measly three the day Nyle introduced me to them.
The other two were a priest by the name of Oscar, and an archer named Leyland. Three ambitious young men who'd all found themselves as adventurers for one reason or another, and with not much to go with, decided to form up a party to cover each other's shortcomings and try to get what work they could in the bustling capital of Asura Kingdom.
Nyle and Leyland were both Asuran by birth, though neither were native to Ars and hailed from quite different regions of the kingdom. Nyle had come to Ars from Donati while Leyland was from Milbots. Regions that, as it happened, were overseen by my Greyrat relatives. Milbots was overseen by the Notos, Luke's household, while Donati was the territory of the Zephyrus clan.
Nyle was also a swordsman, more specialized in North God than I was since he traveled so much, though with some training in Sword God to shore up his offensive power. Like a lot of things for now, I'd have to take his word for it and see if we got a chance to really show how we performed in combat another time.
Leyland was an odd case as an archer. Thanks to the power of magic, archery typically wasn't practiced beyond the means for hunting. To be an archer as an adventurer was a rarity, but it also was a sign of confidence if anything. Leyland believed his skills with a bow were enough to match a mage in terms of effectiveness on the field.
Again, we'd have to see.
Oscar was the odd one out even among the other two, being from the Holy Millis Kingdom. This stood out especially, since it naturally meant Oscar was a follower of the Millis Faith. It was the single largest religion in the world and was followed by most of the human population. Though all the way out here in Asura, it was far less common to see and even less so the further north one went beyond Asuran borders.
"In fairness it makes sense. The further one strays from the holy land, the less likely they are to meet their brothers and sisters in faith."
Was what Oscar had told me when I asked what he thought about this. And truth be told it made sense. In fairness it also wasn't like the Millis Faith was compatible with Asuran culture, particularly among the nobility.
If I had to give it an analogue, I'd compare the Millis Faith to the Catholic Church. Founded by someone explicitly called a Saint, is headed by a pope, so on and so forth. And why would this make it incompatible with Asuran culture? Well… I'll let Oscar's own words describe that one.
"It's a lack of respect for the sanctity of a marriage! Allow one to stray further, and the holy bond between spouses breaks down. Few are those who truly make relations between multiple party's work."
Monogamy, pure and simple.
Millis followers believe very strongly in following monogamous relationships, meanwhile Asura has nothing against polygamous relationships. It was, to be fair, mostly among the nobility, though I'd met a few commoner students at the Royal Academy who'd come from multi-spousal households. Usually, it was just a mistress or two really.
Though I'd assume the royal family was host to more than a few royal concubines when it came to producing heirs. Not that I care that much.
"So…" and this was where we found ourselves as we were picking herbs out in the forest near Ars, "What made you come all the way form Millis here to the Central Continent?"
"Well, I can't claim I'm here to spread the faith, I'm no preacher," Oscar answered me as he stepped over with one of the gathering baskets, letting my deposit my finds into it. "Despite my beliefs I'm not quite built for temple work. Instead, I sought to ply my abilities further, so I joined with the Adventurer's Guild. Healers are valuable to any team. Being able to easily care for wounds or illness is a must, especially if one seeks to regularly take on work."
"Right… better to avoid long recovery periods from harsh injuries," I nodded along, the logic there made plenty of sense. "But then who'd you end up in Ars? There's a not lot of intense work here, wouldn't some of the smaller cities have made more sense?"
"I certainly got my start there, just like the other two," Oscar looked to Nyle and Leyland, the two finishing up their own collecting. "And perhaps our stay in Ars will only be for a time. After all, it takes time to spread one's name. One must settle where they are for a time if they want their name to spread, you know?"
"Riiight…" I nodded along.
It had been such a long time I almost hadn't been thinking about it. But this wasn't a world of rapid, near-instant communication that could let you speak to someone across the world. This world may have been one of magic, but it was still growing, developing. And because of magic, who knew if there would ever be a need for the kind of technology I used to take for granted?
Why develop modern medicine when healing and detoxification magic does the same thing but better?
History books spoke of a time when magic could even allow for teleportation across the world, so it meant that at some point even just going from place to place was easy.
But communication? That was all still done with letters, things that could take days to months to arrive at their intended destination. Not even magic seemed to have a solution to that. So even if you spent a year somewhere, getting your name out would require eventually moving to somewhere new and doing it all over again.
Perhaps these three men had some stories to tell, people in other towns who knew them and what they were capable of. But did that matter here in Ars? Nope.
And with how thin good work for adventurers was in this city, that process would only be even more time consuming.
"I mean, can't say it's too bad," Nyle chuckled as he and Leyland approached with their her bundles in hand. "Sure the work isn't the best, but the merchants and nobles pay surprisingly well for what little they have us do. Not a bad way to gather some funds for when we eventually leave the big city for the frontier again."
"Though not being able to hunt that often is kind of a pain in the ass," Leyland sighed. "The Knights in this city are a bit too good at their job."
"Well whaddya expect?" I laughed as I bagged up my share of the herbs. "The Knights would get a bad rap if they couldn't keep basic monsters away from the fields the city needs… huh, actually, I just had an idea. I can probably put in a word with the Knights I know from the Water God Style Dojo to see if we can't join them!"
"Wait, you could set that up?!" Nyle's eyes went wide. "Would they really be willing to let a younger student like you out on monster hunts?!"
"Well, I did say I'm an Advanced Rank Attack Mage. Plus, while I haven't taken the official test yet, I'm pretty much Advanced Rank in Water and Sword God styles."
"Nyle, how the hell did you stumble on some kid genius?" Leyland shot the leader a dry look, the other man chuckling.
"Guess luck was just on my side. Oscar, what do you think?"
"I say we let him ask," said the priest. "More work will always be welcome, and if we can aide the Knights as we do, so be it. Besides, Lyle, I believe spreading our name through them will also help."
"Yeah true… get an in with the Knights, we can probably get all sorts of information about what's going on here in Asura. Maybe even an in on hunts for stronger monsters the Knights would be too cautious to handle immediately," one could already see the gears turning in Nyle's head, the man chuckling as he was no doubt scheming ideas. "Alright! Let's get these delivered to the Guild first. Aegir, mind if I go with you to the Water God Dojo when we're done to see how it shakes out?"
"Not a problem at all. Though I can't guarantee anything."
"You want to lend a hand with monster exterminations?"
"Well… me and my new party, to be precise."
Currently, me and the Blue Roses were at one of the offices within the Water God Dojo. And across from us at the desk was Clive, the man now one of my mentors in full in the time since my graduation from the Royal Academy and beginning my tenure as an adventurer.
Looking across the three young men, accompanying me, Clive folded his arms over his chest, his tunic rustling softly as his trained eyes sized the three up.
"A swordsman, an archer, and a priest… all you're missing is a fighter and mage, and you'd be sorted out all right," Clive's quick assessment surprised the three, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let me introduce you three," I stood, gesturing with a hand to Clive. "This is my mentor in the Dojo, Water Saint Clive Blackhawk. He's been teaching me and my brother the ins and outs of Water God style for a long time now."
"Nyle, seriously, who is this kid?" Leyland leaned closer to his party leader. "He knows The Blackhawk! Seriously, your luck is something else!"
"I see my reputation proceeds me," Clive chuckled as he folded his hands. "And yes, Aegir is indeed one of my students. He hasn't been in the dojo long, but his talents speak for themselves. I think it won't be much longer till he's ready for the Advanced Rank test. However, we aren't here to discuss that. You're looking for work beyond what the Guild itself has to offer, yes?"
"Admittedly it was Aegir's suggestion," Nyle's honestly looked to please Clive, for now. "But yes. I'm sure you know that here in Ars, the Guild doesn't have much work for adventurers outside of more menial tasks. A sign of how well you knights manage the monsters around the city and it's outer areas, of course, and I don't mean to imply I'm bitter over such a thing."
"Tis simply the duty of knights," said Oscar. "We can hardly complain about those simply doing their duties. As we adventurers are freelancers, it is simply the way of things."
"Ahaha, please, don't feel the need to save face like this," Clive raised a hand. "I understand that work is painfully light for adventurers here in Ars. Though in that case I have to wonder why you haven't yet made your way back to the frontiers where the actual work is."
"I suppose you could say we're seeing if we can't gain some fame even in a city like this," Nyle shrugged. "As you can guess… that's rather difficult when most of the work on offer is simply cleanup duty for the Knights or whatever menial work needs extra hands. Not that it isn't valuable in its own way."
"And so the boy brings you here," Clive looked at me, and I whistled to obfuscate. "Hmm… alright then, how about this? My mine and I are due to go on patrol tomorrow. A goblin nest has surfaced in the forests once again and we're set to clear it out. You four can accompany us, and depending on your performance, I'll consider whether or not to allow you to help us with further hunts. Though, do keep it quiet. We can't have every would-be famous adventurer party knocking at our doors begging for work."
"Just that offer alone is more than enough!" Nyle bowed his head. "And this will be a chance for us to see what Aegir can do in a fight as well."
"Ahahaha, oh I'm sure you'll be impressed. Meet with us at the south gate bright and early tomorrow."
I couldn't help but snicker as Clive and Nyle shook hands. Sure it was only a trial and I was sure the knights would likely just end up doing most of the work, but it was a step in the right direction. If I could get into some serious monster hunts with these guys, it'd mean a lot more practice for my skills and that oh-so-important experience everyone always made sure to remind me I lacked.
And hey, what better way to start than on some goblins?
The sun was barely rising as the Blue Roses, myself, and Clive's knight squadron departed from Ars' southern gate. Leaving by wagon, the group consisted of us four adventurers and Clive's team of eight counting himself. Overall, a group of twelve, with the majority being Knights of Intermediate to Advanced Ranked one and all.
And I could feel the anticipation in Nyle and Leyland as the wagons were brought past the farmland dotting the outer walls of the capital. It was perhaps a couple of hours until the wagons reached the edge of the forests where we'd be searching, which was enough for me to get some light sleeping in to compensate for having to rush all the way to the gates from the noble district.
Once we were at the stopping point, Clive was the first out, taking stock of the group as we all grouped up into two bunches: The Blue Roses and the Blackhawk Knights.
"Let's remind of the situation!" Clive paced in front of the two groups, one hand on his sword as he moved along. "Today is a simple extermination, cleaning up a goblin nest that the scouts reported cropped up in the usual spot. You all the know the drill: Draw them out, cut them down, seal the next back up for good this time. Today, we'll also be accompanied by Apprentice Aegir and his party members the Blue Roses. Work with them as you would any other Knight, understood? Depending on how they perform, you may be seeing them here more often."
[Captain's doing a favor for the kid, isn't he?]
[Can't blame him. Aegir would hardly get a chance to show what he can actually do with how rarely the Guild hands out hunting jobs.]
[Not to mention they'd be too high rank to let a kid handle, no matter how talented.]
[One of them's an archer too, talk about rare. Must be good if he's doing more than hunting with that bow.]
"Chatty bunch, huh?" Nyle chuckled as the knights spoke amongst themselves, and I could only shrug.
"Don't worry, they're not bad guys," I assured, drawing my wand out and tapping it a couple times to ensure the gem was still well and secured. "Sir Clive! Would you like me to handle flushing the goblins out from their nest? A single spell of mine should be good enough!"
"Good idea. Some fire should do the job well enough," Clive chuckled as he stopped pacing, lifting a helmet from his side and placing it on. "Let's get to work! If we're swift, we'll be back in the city before lunch!"
And with that, the march to find the nest began. The woods were full of well worn footpaths made by who knew how many trips to and from over the years, winding pathways carved out from ages of footsteps making walkways through the threes this twelve strong group was following.
Being spread out was also a tactic here. Goblins, simple as they were enemy wise, also weren't against setting up things like ambushes to try and get the drop of people moving into their territory. So, by remaining spread out enough to keep watch while being just close enough to ensure nobody could be quietly picked off. Though, from what it seemed, we'd likely gotten here soon enough that none of the goblins were out patrolling either.
Perfect, I'd say.
We trekked for maybe half an hour total. The woods only grew thicker and thicker the deeper in we went, forcing the group to tighten up to ensure we stuck to the paths. But, a sudden break in the trees finally brought the trek to the end, Clive signaling for everyone to halt before we moved through the break.
"Aegir, to the front!" Clive's voice was low as he spoke, and I was quick to follow his request. Peering out through the break in the trees, I took in what our destination was.
An open clearing amid the trees, a decent break with enough space for a sizable group to work with. Animal carcasses both fresh and stripped to the bone were scattered around the clearing, and the main site of interest was a craggy cave entrance poking out at the other end of the clearing.
The crude constructions of goblin work shored up the entrance, with two guard goblins dozing just outside the front, one of them still with a hunk of bone stuck in its jaws.
"We need to take the guards out before flushing out the ones left in the cave," said Clive. "Aegir, what do you think?"
"I could use a spell on them, but that might draw too much attention even if I go for both at once."
"Then allow me," Leyland had clambered up into the branches, his bow at the ready as he moved to a spot that gave him a good view. "I'll take them before they even realize anything."
Leyland knocked an arrow, his breath leaving slowly as he drew the string back until his arms began to strain. And with a quick, quiet thunk, the arrow went shooting through the air, a soft thud following as it struck the first goblin dead between the eyes. One more quick shot followed, and the second was dead without even a disturbance to its snoozing.
[Damn, quiet as a bat.]
[Goblins didn't even make a sound. Not bad for an archer. Fast too.]
[Yeah, but Aegir can…]
[Shut! We're not supposed to talk about that!]
Nyle gave me a look as the knights muttered again, and I just put a finger to my lips. He'd find out soon enough.
"Good shots. Alright, everyone move to encircle. Once Aegir smokes the goblins out, don't let a single one even try to break for the trees."
On Clive's orders, weapons were drawn and everyone began to move around the perimeter of the clearing. Clive and Nyle were the first to move out into the clearing, and I followed soon after as they took the main front spots. With a nod from Clive, I raised my wand, my left hand resting on my sword to draw it at the first notice.
"Fireball," I didn't need something much more than that, and while silent casting would surely be fine, I didn't want to give that trick away to Nyle and his crew just yet.
The orb of flame went sailing through the air, right into the goblin nest. A moment after its light vanished through the opening, an explosion rocked the ground for a second. And after barely even a minute of smoke pouring out from the den, that was followed by dozens of goblins scrambling to escape, screaming as some of them were on fire as they fled or others choking on the smoke. Some of them were armed to boot, likely guards who'd been resting further up the nest.
"I count about twenty-five," said Leyland, already loosing an arrow at the first goblin that was armed he could see. "Make that twenty-four."
"Leave some for the rest of us yeah?" Nyle chuckled as the goblins were now scrambling on seeing one of their own go down by an arrow, not to mention the dead guards. "Captain?"
"Don't let a single one escape!" Clive barked his order as he stepped out. "There could be more still in the nest, so don't relent!"
"And if anyone gets hurt, leave it to Oscar to patch you up!"
With the orders of the Knight Captain and lead adventurers, the group dove onto the still scrambled goblins as they fumbled about for a sense of anything going on around them. What was of more interest to me in the immediate moments fighting began was watching Clive and Nyle, seeing the differences in how a Knight of Ars and an adventurer fought.
Clive, true to form for a Water Saint, was patient. Waiting for the Goblins to attack him first, then swiftly cutting them down with easy counter strikes, his sword smoothly moving like a flow of water with each strike he made.
Nyle showed the more self-taught nature of an Adventurer, the style of North God blended with some Sword God techniques, taking a more aggressive stance on the goblins he cut down rather than letting them advance on him first.
Both were complete opposites in how they fought, yet were cutting a swathe through the goblins without issue. Be it the ones that had run out of the cave first, or those starting to exit the deeper ends as the smoke within no doubt spread further. The knights were closing in more and more, tightening the area the goblins could try and work with as more and more of them fell by the moment.
A couple dozen bodies piled up all too quickly into more, those cut down by the swords piled among those stuck with Leyland's arrows.
"And here I am missing most of the action," I couldn't help but chuckle as I set my sword across my shoulders, Oscar chuckling as he approached.
"Hardly. Were it not for your fireball, I doubt this would be going as easily as it is," the priest crossed his arms, tucking his staff beneath his right arm. "I feared we'd be dealing with injuries, but I see the knights have their reputation for a reason. They're efficient and skilled."
"Ars is kept peaceful for a reason."
"Ah, crap! Aegir, a couple got past us!"
A sudden shout from Nyle yanked mine and Oscar's attention back to the fight. Four of the goblins, despite their wounds, were barreling across the clearing towards us in the backline having broken past the enclosing circle of knights. An arrow from the trees stopped one in its tracks, but Leyland wouldn't have the range for the last three.
"I got them! Fireball!" A swipe of my wand produced three bolts of flame, the orbs spinning rapidly until they sharpened up, blasting forward. Two of them struck home, the goblins screeching as the flames consumed them in small explosions.
But one, armed with a crude machete, cut through the bolt of flame, continuing its reckless charge right for me.
"Think that me being a mage makes me easy, huh?!" Pocketing my wand, I took my sword into both hands. The method I had in mind was already running as the goblin took a swing.
Flow, to deflect the goblins blade and use it's own movements against it. Followed by a move from Sword God I'd finally gotten ahold of. Longsword of Silence.
The swing the followed my deflection didn't make a single sound. The only noise was the blade cutting through flesh and bone as the goblin was struck, blood arcing along the swing as the blade cut a clean swathe deep into the goblin's gut.
Oscar jumped back in the same moment this all happened, the priest's eyes wide as I stepped aside. What he'd seen was likely barely even a moment, me simply deflecting the goblin's machete before my sword had appeared on the complete opposite side of my first move, silently disemboweling the beast and leaving it dead all in a flash.
Perhaps for Oscar, the shock was seeing a child like me pull a move like that off at all.
"That's all!" Clive's quick bark finally brought the hectic airs of the fight to a slow. Knights were still wary as they watched the opening of the den, and Clive waved me over. "Aegir, can you close this up? I know Earth magic isn't your specialty, but that shouldn't be too hard, yeah?"
"Not at all," drawing my wand out, I took aim at the den entrance. It was simple enough by this point for my to generate and control an element outside of a spell, since really spells just took that basic generation and gave it shape and intent.
So, raising some earth to seal up a goblin den was as easy as willing the ground at the entrance to reform and surge upwards and solidify, sealing the entrance tight. I'd rather not think about what this'd mean for any goblins still inside of the den, but then I'd be wasting sympathy on monsters I'd just help kill anyway.
As the knights began to gather the goblin bodies, Leyland going about plucking the arrows out of the ones he'd killed himself, Clive and Nyle gathered up while Oscar got to patching up any minor injuries that occurred during the fighting.
"So, what's the Knight Captain think?" The adventurer chuckled as Clive folded his arms, Leyland creeping over with anticipating writ all over his face.
"Well, you're certainly no slouches at Goblin slaying," Clive smirked at the two. "Far from useless. Props to your archer, it's a rare skill in this day and age."
"Hunters are common out where I'm from, so I stuck to what I was good with," Leyland plucked some flesh stuck to an arrow in his hand. "Besides, don't got talent as a mage. Arrows are faster to boot. Though little Aegir isn't a slouch. Didn't think he could use abridged incantations."
"Actually uh… I can cast silently," the statement got Nyle and Leyland to yet again go wide eyed towards me, and even Oscar snapped around to pay attention. "Though only for Beginner and Intermediate attack spells. I'm still working out just abridging Advanced rank spells. It's just a trick I picked up as a kid."
"Hahahahaha!" Clive's raucous laugh met the befuddled stares of the adventurers. "That's our Aegir for you! Lad's shockingly smart for a boy his age, and as you saw good with a sword too. Give him a few more years and I'm sure he'll only shine all the brighter."
"No kidding…" Nyle's eye twitched a bit, and he cleared his throat as he recomposed himself. "But, what do you think?"
"I think we'll need a few more hunts like this to fully establish a rapport," Clive chuckled, holding a hand out to the surprised Nyle. "Feel free to take a share of the proof of kill from these goblins. You've earned your share of the pay from this hunt. And we'll be seeing you lot next time we need some extra hands. Expect to see the Guild get some new postings too. Hehe, if talents like you lot are here in Ars, I think you all deserve to have some better work come your way."
"For real?!" Nyle let out a chuckle as Clive nodded. And he promptly took the captain's hand in a firm shake. "Thank you, Captain! And don't worry, you'll be hearing about the Blue Roses all across Ars soon enough, I promise you that!"
"Haha, I'll hold you too it, Nyle. Be sure to take care of Aegir. He's like a little brother to us Knights. So, you know the consequences to screwing up."
"Ah… r-right," Nyle chuckled as Clive's grip on his hand tightened.
"Clive, I can take care of myself, so don't scare my new friend," I snickered as Nyle sweat a bit, Leyland rolling his eyes.
"Just a joke is all," Clive released Nyle, turning to me. "And since it feels appropriate, the proctor for your Advanced rank test has been decided."
"Really? Who'll it be?"
"Your older brother," My eyes widened at that. "He came to me personally actually. Wanted to be the one to do it himself he said. Didn't tell me why though, but I suppose that's something to be left between brothers."
"Hah, sounds like something we shouldn't peek in on, huh?" Nyle chuckled as he and Leyland exchanged a look. "And I guess our own trial is up too. Well then Aegir, welcome to the Blue Roses. Happy to have you."
"Same," Nyle and I clapped hands together. "Here's to fruitful adventures together!"