Chapter 8

Adventurer Ellen

“Thanks for the ride!”

Ellen’s friendly farewell was returned with a tip of the broad hat from the merchant, and a cheery wave from his wife. They were nice enough people, but they hadn’t let her ride for free. She’d gotten a pretty good rate of just one crest for the journey, which was a lot cheaper than she’d expected. Her mostly-true story of losing her pack during the goblin business had likely gotten her some sympathy.

She felt a little guilty about using that as her story, but she really was in a tight situation right now. Even a single crest was significant for her, but she didn’t want the charity of a free ride either. She had a sneaking suspicion the merchant had figured that out and offered such a low rate.

That was okay. She had her pride, but she also knew she couldn’t be too picky.

“Okay let’s see…” Ellen murmured, brushing away another ‘first time’ notification about setting foot in a city. She hadn’t realized that would be something anyone could get experience from. It just got in the way of her finishing up now, though. She’d picked her Fighter Class again on the way over, but her first Perk had taken some thought.

Always before, she’d selected Tireless since it was so generally useful. Both of the Ellens that had picked that option had died, though. It had often been at or near the top of the list, too. Now Pain Tolerance was at the top, and that made it tempting.

She’d never gotten this option before. As beneficial as the reduced Stamina from hiking was, this Perk was much more directly applicable in combat. The idea that she would be in fights a lot more often going forward was a fact she couldn’t ignore. Tireless was still helpful but… didn’t have a good track record of keeping her alive.

Ellen picked Pain Tolerance this time, and stepped on through to the Guild Hall.

It was just approaching noon, so the morning crowd of adventurers that were heading out was gone. The only non-employees in the tavern-like space were tucked off in one corner looking over a map, deep in quiet discussion. Two of them looked up when Ellen entered, then returned to their discussion. Judging by their armor and weapons, they were an experienced group just hashing out some details for their next job.

The clerk was the same sandy-haired young man that had been here when Ellen had taken the goblin job. She remembered him, though the heat rose in her cheeks as she also remembered how she’d clumsily flirted with him before realizing he was already married.

“Oh, Ellen wasn’t it? It’s good to see you’re okay, I was getting worried!”

Unfortunately he remembered her before she could chicken out and flee the building until evening.

Putting on her best smile, Ellen walked forward to the counter and fished out the crumpled note for the quest. She slid that forward, then the wrapped bundle of the two ears from the goblins. Good thing Village Ellen had gone in and gotten the second one.

“I had a little trouble and had to recover,” she said truthfully. The bloodstain on her cloak wasn’t visible from this angle, but a few people in the village had commented on it. She’d begged off any curiosity by saying it wasn’t as bad as it looked, and she hadn’t realized it would stain. Adventurers got bloodstains sometimes, she hadn’t expected it would draw attention.

“We just reposted the job, but nobody has taken it yet.” The young man pulled on a glove to examine the ears, holding each one up to the sunlight streaming through the nearby window. Ellen felt a moment of panic as she realized he might have a higher-ranked Appraisal-style Perk that might cause problems. Apparently some people could even tell who killed a corpse, under some conditions.

She relaxed as he bundled the two ears for disposal.

“Two goblins? No wonder you ran into trouble. Handling both solo is pretty good.” The man swept up the paper and stepped into the back, leaving Ellen with only the quiet murmuring of the nearby group to keep her company.

A quiet, heaving breath left her lungs. She’d never considered that someone this far out might have the ability to check that sort of thing. It was a pretty specific Perk… just very useful for the Guild. It had too many limitations to be useful in other situations like solving a murder, but for confirming kills it was great. It must have counted her as the one who did it despite it being a previous Ellen.

The clerk returned a moment later, sliding a thin bronze-colored rectangle toward her. It was deeply scored in two places, dividing it into thirds. He set a small pin next to it, then explained the situation—though she already knew how this part worked, so Ellen barely listened.

“Just put a drop of blood into the corner there, and it will imprint your aura onto the plate. You’ll take one of them as your identification, we’ll keep one here, and the third we’ll send to the archives at the capital.”

She was already poking her thumb with the pin, flinching despite the fact that it was a mere pinprick. Her new Pain Tolerance Perk made it hurt even less than expected. The ruby red droplet that welled up made her slightly queasy, but she fought it down. How did this make her feel ill but the memory of cutting off a goblin’s ear did not?

Before she could dwell on it further, Ellen pressed her thumb onto the corner of the metal plate. It was actual bronze, in keeping with the Bronze Rank she’d just earned. This was the entry rank for adventurers, able to take Iron and Bronze requests through the Guild. As the adventurer went up the ranks, the coloration would shift to silver, gold, platinum, and finally all the way to adamantine. The actual metal remained bronze, unless the adventurer paid for an upgrade.

The author’s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The metal card already had the name she’d given embossed upon it—Ellen Tember. Belatedly, she felt the heat of embarrassment flush her cheeks once more. Even if the clerk had the advanced Appraisal Perk, it wouldn’t have told anything since she wasn’t registered in the Guild yet. She’d been worried for no reason.

The rest of her card’s information formed, powered by the magic of the Guild.

Level 6.

Class: Fighter.

Everything worked as it should, and Ellen let out a light breath she didn’t know she’d been holding as the clerk efficiently snapped the bottom third off of the plate and passed it to her.

“Congratulations, Bronze-Tier adventurer Ellen Tember!” He grinned at her, but she was paying more attention to the gleaming card-sized sliver of metal that symbolized her entry into the world she’d been pursuing for so long. Finally.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. The card was tucked away as she gave the man a weak smile. “I um… don’t suppose you have any jobs back the way I came? It does look like the board is kind of full, and I need to head back that way.”