Hurriedly, like schoolboys being dismissed, we exited Darcen’s office. The whole encounter gnawed a little at me, but I was grateful for the protection that the Guild offered. My companions and I all took a deep breath before going down the stairs to find Taciano, who had, as of now, been assigned to us.

  The clerk had been dutifully waiting for us, holding a thin sheet of rectangur wood to serve as a board for him to write on. On the bottom of the board was a small pot of ink in which he dipped his fine feathered quill.

  “Interesting,” I said, pointing at his board. “But what would truly add to its usefulness would be, perhaps, a clip at the top to stop the parchment from moving.”

  His brow furrowed in thought as he considered my suggestion before his eyes lit up. “Yes! What a brilliant idea! How could I have not thought about it before? Why, thank you, Gilgamesh… now to ask the smith if he could fashion a spring of some sort…” he said as he shook my hand vigorously, his actual duties temporarily forgotten as he pondered on my idea.

  It seemed that my words must have been of some significance, as I received a notification.

  You have gained 1 Intelligence.

  Checking over my character sheet while the clerk was still distracted, trying to keep at least half a mind in the present, I noticed that my maximum Mana had risen to a respectable fifteen points. I didn’t have enough time to look over the full extent of my current status but I was pleased to learn that, thanks to my general activities, I had gained a lot of experience points and was very close to level eleven. I hadn’t quite locked down how the system worked, but outside gaining levels, gaining attribute points was definitely linked to activities, skill use, and meaningful practice.

  STATUS

  Calling: Gilgamesh Level 10 Padin of Avaria / Reaver

  Strength: 24

  Dexterity: 19

  Constitution: 34

  Intelligence: 21

  Wisdom: 18

  Charisma: 12

  Luck: 17

  SKILLS & PROFICIENCIES

  Pain Nullification (lvl.2)

  Power Strike (lvl.2) 10

  Endure (lvl.3)

  Stealth (lvl.1)

  Rest (lvl.3)

  Backstab (lvl.2)

  Dodge (lvl.3)

  Polearms (lvl.2)

  Dual Wield (lvl.2)

  Critical Hit Mastery (lvl.2)

  Mining (lvl.2)

  Unarmed Combat (lvl.3)

  Hammers (lvl.2)

  Fils (lvl.2)

  Maces (lvl.1)

  Shields (lvl.1)

  Medium Armor (lvl.1)

  Heavy Armor (lvl.2)

  Axes (lvl.1)

  Daggers (lvl.2)

  Throwing Weapons (lvl.2)

  SPELLS & MAGIC

  Heal (lvl.5) 5

  Rust (lvl.3) 2

  Identify (lvl.2) 1

  Silent Casting (lvl.1)

  Mana Regeneration (lvl.2)

  Purify (lvl.2) 3

  Greater Heal (lvl.1) 10

  Holy Aura (lvl.1) 2

  Decay (lvl.1) 1

  Drain (lvl.2) 2

  Entropic Aura (lvl.2) 2

  GIFTS

  Curse of Entropy: -20% to all starting attributes.

  Mark of the Padin: 10% resistance to Dark/Holy magic. 5% resistance to Physical.

  Touch of the Void: 10% reduced resistance to Holy/Fire magic, 20% resistance to Mental Effects, 15% immunity to Mental Effects.

  Experience to next level 2572/2583

  My mind was quickly drawn back to the present as Taciano finally remembered his primary duties.

  “... Can find jobs and on the board over there,” he said, pointing to the rge board pinned with many job requests. “You can take jobs at your rank and one rank above and all ranks below. However, should you perish whilst attempting to do a job or request one rank higher than your own then the death payment will not be given to your next of kin or chosen recipient,” Taciano continued to instruct in a slightly clipped voice.

  I selected my mother and father as my next of kin, sure in the knowledge that the potential windfall of my death would never reach them anyways, and I would, of course, do my utmost to keep myself alive. Elwin wrote another Tucker’s name down and gave the city name of Brownwood. Kidu surprisingly wrote the Three Bears Cn and ‘The North’ for the address. I was genuinely surprised, as I had thought the rge man to be illiterate. It seemed that I had kept a few of the prejudices of my old world with me.

  With this part out of the way, Taciano went on with his expnation, “If certain proof needs to be provided for the completion of a job you will need to hand them in at the counter, to me or another Adventurer’s Clerk that is on duty. Please wait for us to sign, stamp, and verify that you have completed the request and you will be paid, minus any city taxes and ordinances.”

  “One of the advantages of membership is that we enjoy friendly retions with many of the traders and merchants of the city who will be more than willing to offer you a discount. This will, however, be in retion to your current rank and, of course, having a good standing with the Guild. As your group does not have a healer I would suggest that you also make it a point to buy healing supplies from a skilled Alchemist. Here, let me write down directions for a few reliable sorts.”

  The clerk wrote down the directions, which he handed over to us on a scrap piece of parchment.

  “I am also here to advise you on future ventures and so forth, so if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask. On that note, I would advise that you first take a copper css job that you feel a three-man group like yourself can easily accomplish. Any questions?” the clerk finally finished.

  We all uniformly shook our heads and Taciano gave us one final formal smile before he turned back to the counter to continue his normal duties. My own group, as advised, walked up to the jobs board and one particur small notice in the center drew my attention. I could not read it clearly but the part that I could was definitely of interest. My knowledge of the Trade script was still patchy, so I cast Identify on the words.

  ‘(Bronze) Information on what is targeting the charcoal burners of Ansan. Reward one gold coin,’ read the job’s notice.

  Suddenly without warning the golden script of a new quest fshed before my eyes.

  Warn the Adventurer’s Guild of the Echo-Stalker’s Nest? Yes/No

  Finally, I thought, a quest that aligned with my own goals. I quickly accepted. This was, basically, the world being slightly helpful for a change. I took the notice from the board and went back to the counter.

  A few moments ter, a slightly annoyed-looking Taciano came back and asked tersely, “Yes, did you forget anything?”

  “Not exactly, but I believe we have completed our first job for the Guild,” I said as seriously as possible, handing over the slip of paper with the request.

  He looked at me as if I had suddenly grown new arms before actually reading the slip that I passed over, his eyes now narrowing before asking, “So you have information in regards to the recent attacks?”

  Gambling with the die of fate, I told Taciano about the Echo-Stalkers that we had seen in the Sainba, leaving out the obvious parts that would incriminate us. Our reason for being there was a little weak, something about Kidu wishing to test himself, but the clerk brushed this off as he was more interested in the possible location of the Echo-Stalker’s nest.

  He asked if we had any physical proof and we referred him to the Soot-Stained Pig and the Echo-Stalker parts we had sold to Cillis and her husband. Kidu also gave him a rough account of where to find the nest, a task impossible even for me with my enhanced intellect, which Taciano dutifully wrote down.

  Taciano also informed us that we would have to leave a deposit of a silver piece while members of the guild checked the veracity of our story, due to both our junior rank and the fact we were brand new members. I simply shrugged and handed him over a silver coin from my own purse. Such were the responsibilities of a leader.

  “Are we allowed to take another job while we wait?” Elwin asked greedily, posing the question we were all thinking.

  “It is usually frowned upon to do two jobs at once, but I am sure you don’t want to wait and in the light of the circumstances, I don’t see why not. Please go ahead and choose a different job, I am sure you are ready to get stuck in! Remember to please keep it to the copper requests though, I’d rather not attend another funeral this week,” said the clerk in a now ft voice.

  We nodded our assent as we went to check up on the board again for different jobs. The whole thing reminded me of the minutiae of dealing with forms and papers in my old world. Pretending to be completely literate, to save face, I tried to make out the words, but I could only recognize one letter in four making me, effectively, illiterate. Elwin would, however, save the day once more.

  “How about this one? Says collect some Moon Moss from the Sainba forest. No monster sying for a start, and I can find us some Moon Moss no problem, I’m sure. A two-day job at the most and it pays three silver!” said the Rogue enthusiastically.

  With no other options, I had no choice but to pretend to think it over before agreeing with the Rogue, “It definitely fits our initial objectives. We should set out immediately,” I said, wanting to retake the initiative as the leader of our little group. Something, however, was niggling at the back of my thoughts and I couldn’t yet pce it.

  “There are three of us, why not three jobs?” rumbled Kidu, surprisingly insightfully, and my mind snapped back to the task at hand.

  “That’s an excellent point,” I commented, nervousness stealing into my voice as I desperately looked at the board searching for another notice that I could understand.

  Leafy fronds grew from a thick bulbous base on the picture of the pnt and I guessed it must have been a notice for a gathering job. With nothing for it, I decided to frantically cast Identify on a notice that had a drawing of a pnt on it, the searching tendrils of magical energies taking longer than usual to complete their quest.

  The notice read ‘(Copper) Gather three heads of River Root. Reward two silver.’ I looked at my companions and noticed that they had all grown slightly reticent.

  “Why all the long faces?” I asked, confused by their reaction.

  “Well, it‘s not so much the River Root that’s the problem. Just that Lurkers can sometimes be found near River Root. Right fearsome beasts they are. Not always, mind you, just sometimes. But it’s always the sometimes that gets you,” said Elwin, his usual smile growing a little strained.

  The wildman, on the other hand, seemed to take this as some sort of challenge and with one of his giant hands took down another notice with a picture of a rge fearsome lizard on it. I gave the picture on the notice a look over and almost gulped. It was certainly a terrifying sight to behold, even on paper.

  The great lizard resembled a crocodile or alligator with six muscur stubby legs that each ended in four sharp-looking cws. Along its back, from the neck down to its tail were spiked ridges and bony armored ptes. The artist had captured the beast’s mouth open mid-roar, and serrated dagger-like teeth lined its huge gaping maw.

  I took a moment to look at the notice and pretended to read it in detail. While I did this, I silently cast Identify on it, growing frustrated at my slower casting speed. The notice simply read ‘(Bronze) Three River Lurker hides. Reward six silver.’ We would be well rewarded for the task. Hopefully, we could complete all three jobs at the same time.

  “Two birds with one stone,” I said with a slight grimace, waiting for the quest messages that never came, then sighing in relief.

  “I’ve never heard that before, but it certainly sounds apt. I guess if you got a sling and swung really hard…” quipped Elwin, regaining a little of his usual verve.

  “They will make for worthy prey,” said the Hunter stoically, nodding as he gripped his unstrung bow in his ham-sized hands.