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Cindy looked at Ranth for a moment and smiled sweetly at his question. In a honest and kind tone she spoke. “Huh what do you mean by skills? I just wanted to go on an adventure.” She hugged his arm and held it tightly as if hinting at the very fact that she was utterly worthless in terms of fighting and combat. What Ranth had assumed was that Cindy actually was worth anything when it came to fighting or had any skills that would be useful to adventuring at all. Cindy was a girl from a village, it was crazy to think that she had any thing useful.
With that done Cindy held up both of the quests and smiled at him. If he asked further she would show off that she has a sort of blade that she claimed her mother gave her to use for defense. The blade would be roughly the same size as a large knife. Other than that she would admit that she really didn't have that much of skills in terms of survival or combat. With that the question would go back to what quest they should take on for their first mission as a group together.
Ranth sighed inwardly as Cindy revealed no great hidden talents that would steer his decision making one way or the other. Ultimately, it seemed that anything to do with combat... or perhaps even practical skills of any kind for that matter would fall upon his shoulders. Although despite that, he didn't dismiss the girl as a complete waste of space. As a local resident of this world, she knew more about the laws, regulations and cultures than he did- not the least of which included the bizarre written language known as 'common'. For that skill alone, she could be considered indispensable.
Beyond that, he'd been watching enough people coming and going within the guild hall to realise that teams were a rather commonplace thing, with adventurers moving in groups of anywhere between 2 and 10 individuals- generally with a wide range of skills and specific functions within their specific unit. One could tell from a glance if someone was meant to be a warrior or a mage or an archer based on their equipment and general build. Perhaps having a girl with the innocent and disarming demeanor that Cindy had would enable them to recruit or at least work together with other adventurers when it mattered.
For now however, he had to put aside half baked theories and speculation and return his attention to the two missions he was to choose between. "Until we get you some combat experience, or perhaps even just some better equipment, I think we're better of staying inside the city for now. Let's go meet the Mayor", he said and pointed towards the corresponding quest form as he did so. It would be up to Cindy to indicate to Ranth on the map where they would be going based on the address listed on the form in that intelligible script and then they would be on their way.
Cindy nodded her head as she took the map that Ranth had bought that laid out the city for them. Knowing exactly where to go to meet the mayor in this wild and busy city. As they would walk down the street they would see different people walking around Ranth if he had any knowledge of fantasy he would see that there would be elves and dwarfs walking around mixed with the common folks as well as a few other races of beings that seemed to be more animal like than human walking around. The city was clearly busy.
It took about ten minutes to get to the mayor's mansion, outside a random guard would stop the two of them and speak. “Halt, what business do the two of you have here?” The man would be wearing heavy armor and brandishing a long sword at his waist side. While wearing a helmet it was one that allowed folks to see his face. The man had a stern look across his face as he looked down at the two of them. This guard was a massive man and looked like he was upset at the very fact that someone dared to come to the mayors office.
Ranth pulled up short as the guard intercepted them and instinctively he placed himself between Cindy and the guard, though he did so in a way that would not make it appear obvious that this is what he was doing. The man was obviously tired, more so than Ranth suspected that any mere guard should be. It seemed that he'd been at his post perhaps for a little too long and the exhaustion had made him irritable.
So Ranth wasted no time in drawing out the mission briefing that they'd brought with them from the guild as proof of accepting the assignment and held it up for the man to read. "We're not here to cause trouble, we're adventurers and we've accepted the assignment of guarding the Mayor for the day", Ranth explained calmly and once the man had finished reading it, Ranth rolled it up and put it back in his pocket.
"Can you take us to see the Mayor? I can only assume that he'll be glad to see us under the circumstances", Ranth prompted the man gently but otherwise did nothing other than wait patiently. The man did seem rather out of sorts and Ranth didn't want any trouble that he wasn't being paid to deal with.
The guard looked at the two of them and shook his head. “You two here for the bodyguard mission? Well fine, I'll call the head guard, there's no reason for you lot to meet the mayor.” With that the guard calls out for the head guard and waits there without saying anything else. The mayor's house was large and had a massive iron gate around it meant to keep out any sort of intruders. This was clearly a show of power and riches for the common folk. The two of them would wait for a while till the head guard would eventually show up to greet the two of them.
The head guard would also wear a suit of armor and look down at the two. “So you two the adventures who want to be a body guard for a day huh? Well come with me.” The head guard would motion for the two of them to follow him and lead them inside of the building. Once inside he would lead them to a side room that looked like a locker room with a few uniforms on some of the benches. “Both of you change, and leave your personal things in one of the empty lockers come meet me.” With that the guard closed the door.
Cindy blushed a bit as she grabbed one of the uniforms and went behind a wall of lockers. She would take a few minutes to change and before walking back over to Ranth would call out asking if Ranth was done. When Ranth was done she would add her things to his and walk out the room. The head guard would lead the both of them to a bedroom and spoke. “Both of you lot are to stand here for the rest of the day, no one is allowed in without my say so and no one is allowed out. Got it?” The head guard would look at the both of them to make sure that they knew that he was being serious.
Ranth was a little puzzled by the weary way in which the guard regarded them when he realised what their purpose for being here was. He supposed that he'd expected the man to be... perhaps not grateful, but pleased at least. Either the man was just naturally inclined towards being grumpy, or there was a lot more on his plate than worrying about the Mayor being protected.
In any event, Ranth and Cindy soon found themselves being led away to adorn themselves with uniforms- which Ranth had to admit looked quite sharp- before putting their equipment in a storage locker which Ranth locked and put the key in his pocket before following their guide through a series of corridors and then finally brought them to a large and rather ornate door.
Here, they were told to simply wait outside and ensure that nobody entered or exited the room. This seemed a very strange order and not at all what Ranth had expected 'bodyguard' duties to entail, but the instructions were simple enough. Still, he didn't like the idea that he didn't know what his role in whatever was going on here was completely unknown to him and so he nodded, but then spoke.
"Stand here and let nobody in or out. That's easy enough. However, with all due respect sir, I'd appreciate it if you could explain why we're guarding this room. Is there someone or something dangerous inside? Should we expect trouble? As one professional to another, I hope you can relate to wanting to know the specifics of the job you're being hired to perform". His voice was calm and reasonable as he spoke, not wanting to antagonise the guard but rather to try and simply get a little more information about their current circumstances
The guard just looked at Ranth for a moment before speaking. “There isn't a need for you to know that, you're just here for a day, so shut up, keep watch if not I will find a replacement.” The man leaned over and looked right into Ranth's eyes. “Got it boy.” With that the guard started to walk and leave the two of them there for the time being. It seemed as they weren't to know what or who they were guarding. It was common practice to keep help in the dark about things.
It would be a few hours later on that a round of guards would come up to them. Both of them were wearing the uniform that they were wearing as well. “Hey, were here to relive you of your shift and take over, the captain just gave us the order he also said he want's you two patrolling the outer area.” Both guards would stand there looking at Ranth and Cindy waiting for them to do something. Cindy seemed a bit hesitant to leave, but in the end she would follow what Ranth would do.
Ranth sighed loudly as the two men approached and declared to have a new assignment for them. In truth, Ranth would have quite liked to leave this corridor- it was quite chilly and the air was stuffy- and the door that they hadn't been told anything about behind and go for a stroll instead. Unfortunately, given the rather cloak and dagger feel of this mission, how could Ranth in good conscience just walk away from this post because two random people he'd never seen before told him it was okay to do so?
Evidently, Cindy must have been feeling something similar because she also hesitated upon hearing these supposed new orders and Ranth sighed again, turning to face the men with a weary smile. "Unfortunately, you're putting us in something of a difficult position my friends. We were told to stand here all day and not let anyone in or out no matter what. It would look really bad for us if we were tricked into leaving our post, so I'm afraid we can't leave due to the letter of our contract unless either the Captain or the Mayor himself comes here in person to change our orders", he said with an apologetic, but helpless shrug.
"So whilst I truly am sorry for the trouble this causes you fine gentlemen, I'm afraid that we must insist that you take word back to the Captain and tell him what I've said. I'd also like it if you could tell the Captain that if he had given me the information I'd asked for, then I wouldn't have to worry about such things and he'd have saved himself some time". Perhaps the men would be impressed by the dedication of these two adventurers, or more likely they'd be annoyed that they'd have to report back to the Captain, but Ranth hoped against hope that these two- unlike the Captain- would be reasonable enough to understand that this was about business and establishing a good reputation for attention to detail.
Of course, there was also the possibility that these two men weren't who they said they were, in which case Ranth wasn't about to be taken by surprise if they decided to go for their weapons. He knew how dangerous surprise attacks were in this world and his defense against that was to simply expect just about everyone and anyone to be a potential threat. Maybe that would work, maybe not, but prudence never hurt anyone.
Both of the men looked at Ranth with a bit of annoyance before one of them raised his hands up and simply spoke out the word “Sleep” Suddenly Ranth would see that Cindy would pass out falling to the floor while his own body would grow heavy as it overcame with the need to pass out. Ranth this time would clearly know that this world had magic and he had just became a victim of it. Well he would realize that when he woke up. The last thing he would see would be both men entering the room they were to guard.
Ranth would awaken only a minute later to see that the two men were gone the door was opened and that Cindy was waking up too. That and the captain of the guards looking at Ranth with an upset face at the fact that he was passed out. The sounds of swords clashing could be heard coming down the hall for a moment before they stopped and a voice called out to the captain. “They're dead captain, one was a bloody mage tho, damn bastard nearly put both me and John to sleep.” The captain would grab Ranth by his arm and pull him up so he was standing once more.
By this time Cindy was waking up and didn't know what had happened. “Both of you, follow me.” The captain would start to move not waiting for Cindy to stand up fully. He would lead the both of them to an office. The office it's self wasn't that impressive, a few things here and there stood out like the massive greatsword that was hanging on the wall as well as a painting that was a portrait of a young woman. The captain would sit down in a sturdy wooden chair behind a desk and pointed to the two smaller chairs across from it. “Sit down and tell me what happened back there.”
Ranth thought he'd been ready for anything, but apparently the one thing he hadn't been ready for was a surprise nap. When Cindy collapse he'd been alarmed, but that alarm had quickly faded as everything faded to black and he slumped to the ground, his eyes closing themselves no matter how much Ranth tried to keep them open. His final thought as he saw the two pairs of feet stride through the door he'd been supposed to guard was 'the Captain's going to be so pissed', and then everything was black.
When Ranths eyes next opened, he was instantly alert but as he found himself staring up at the face of the Captain he rather wished he'd still been asleep. The man looked... perhaps not furious, but certainly not pleased with what he saw. Ranth had been about to climb to his feet when the Captain seized him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him upright with enough force that Ranth was thankful the clothing didn't rip.
Although he felt awake, the disorientation of not knowing what on earth had happened or was going on currently was perhaps worse than any amount of grogginess that would have come with any normal sleep and he was glad that he could at least confirm that Cindy was unharmed- albeit looking far more dazed than Ranth was, perhaps because of his otherworldly status, or perhaps just because she wasn't as hardy as Ranth was.
With a knot in his stomach, Ranth allowed himself to be led away with Cindy following close behind until they reached the Captains office, where Ranth gave a full report to the best of his ability once prompted. "We were at our post without incident for several hours until two men arrived. They wore uniforms identical to what I'm wearing now and told us that you had sent them to relieve us and that we were to patrol the grounds instead, he saw a dangerous flash in the Captain's eyes so Ranth hastened to the next part of his report..
Given the circumstances, we didn't feel comfortable leaving our post unless you gave the order directly and we told them to return to you and tell you that. The next thing I knew, I woke up to find you standing over me", Ranth concluded his report succinctly and as accurately as he could recall. "Sir, if I may ask again, what was in that room?
The captain continued to look at Ranth as he spoke, his expression never changing. When it seemed that Ranth was all done talking the man spoke. “Like I said before, it is none of your concern. If that is everything then go back to your post and resume your post till the sun sets. I will relive you with two other men in a few hours.” That would be the end of the discussion as the captain looked at Ranth and Cindy as if they were annoying him simply by being there.
Cindy would be the first to get up and grab Ranth by his arm pulling him away and out of that room. As they walked back to the door they would see the signs of blood and two covered up bodies being carried away and out of the manor. “I really hate that damn sleep spell, gets me every time when my mom's friend use to use it to keep me from peeping on them.” She spoke in a cheery tone as she walked back as if being affected by a spell like that was common.
Ranth would now know of magic and at least one of it's effect's. While he had time he could ask Cindy more questions about magic. At the very least it seemed that she could tell what sort of spell the person was using right off the bat, or maybe it's effect was so common place that everyone knew that spell. Either way it couldn't hurt Ranth to do so. When they got to the door two other guards would be standing there and walk away letting Ranth and Cindy take their place.
Ranth bit down his frustration at being stonewalled for a second time, but showed no outward signs of it. Instead, he simply nodded once to acknowledge what the Captain had said regarding what their orders were and allowed Cindy to lead him by the arm from the room and back towards the mysterious room. As they walked, Cindy began chatting about the spell that had been used to 'defeat' them so easily.
Whilst this in itself was interesting and Ranth intended to follow up, he couldn't help but notice how unfased Cindy was by the blood that still stained parts of the corridor and the bodies that were carted past them- albeit underneath thick woolen sheets. Was it because she was a country girl, had she not noticed, or was there some other explanation? Ranth wasn't about to ask right at that moment, but he filed the query away for another time and instead asked about magic.
"Are you alright? I've never encountered a... spell like that", he said- forcibly correcting himself so he didn't refer to the spell as a Kido. "I don't suppose your mother taught you how to use it did she? Or perhaps some other spell? It'd be handy to have such a potent ability at our disposal, or if not then perhaps some way to counter it? I don't like the idea that someone can just... tell me to sleep and then cut my throat", he admitted with a shudder.
In fact, it now occurred to him to wonder why the intruders had simply put them to sleep rather than killing them. Had they been in a hurry, or had they been trying to get in and out without leaving a trace? They'd never know now, since from what Ranth could tell they had both been slain after entering the room, but it left Ranth feeling curious nonetheless. Then his mind wandered back to magic again and one more question. "Can anyone learn how to use magic? Perhaps being a Kido practioner himself would mean it would be relatively simple to pick up whatever system this world used as well.
Cindy shook her head when he asked if her mother had taought her how to do those sort of spells. “Nope~ sorry her friend was the spell caster, uncle.... hmmmm I think it was Tom, or was it Roger.... Either way nope~ not a mage here.” She seemed very happy at the fact that she wasn't a mage, or maybe just oblivious to the fact that being able to use magic was a very valuable asset that she didn't have.
“I really don't know about using magic, I never tried so I'm not too sure, but why would you want to learn magic? You have a sword and you're good with it no need to waste your time with spells and such. Besides most wizards are either old or fat.” She let out a soft giggle at the end of her sentence laughing at her idea of what a wizard was. From there the conversation would go back and forth, Cindy only providing some hints of what could be useful information. Ranth would learn that while there were ways of blocking magic, most people just used magic to fight magic and spells like that weren't thrown around if ever given that it was more effective to use something to kill rather than disable given the chances of missing or it not working.
A few hours later the guard captain would swing on by with two other men they would replace Ranth and Cindy guarding the door. The captain would lead them back to the changing room telling them to leave the uniforms behind, he would wait till they finished changing then hand them a letter saying that it was proof of task completed before walking them out of the manor and saying good night and thanks for accepting the mission. Cindy would read the note and see that they had to go back to the guild to get paid. She would start off that way with a smile on her face as the night sky lit up with countless stars.
Ranth sighed inwardly as Cindy proved herself to be not entirely helpful when it came to his line of questioning about magic, but it was a fond kind of sigh. He'd accepted that she wasn't going to be revealing any kind of tremendous hidden skills, but what she did bring to the party was the ability to read and just the simple boon of companionship. Ranth might have taken it for granted, but having someone to simply spend time with and be abe to talk to while he was trapped in this place was perhaps the greatest gift he could have asked for. Apart from cheat codes.
After discussing magic and uncles who may or may not have been named Tom or Roger for several hours- which flew by rather quickly- Ranth felt a sense of deja vu as two men in uniform approached and told them that their duty was finished. This time however, he was expecting the men and so he left with Cindy without fuss and within twenty minutes they were leaving the Mayor's mansion with the letter of completion tucked safely into his clothes.
He didn't feel any great sense of satisfaction from finishing this quest, but it was the first step towards returning to his own world and that in itself was reason enough to be satisfied. Upon returning to the guild, Ranth handed over the letter to the clerk so that she could process it for payment and while that was being sorted out, he turned to Cindy. "It's almost dark outside, what should we do for lodging?"
In all the excitement of taking their first mission, they'd overlooked something perhaps even more critical- organising somewhere to sleep. Chances were they would be spending quite some time in the city, so they'd need to go and find somewhere that was both affordable, conveniently located and most importantly, safe for however long they had to live in the city.
Cindy smiled at him and in the most innocent voice possible said “An inn duh~” If Ranth had been looking for some sort of wise and profound answer from Cindy he should have known that by now it wouldn't happen. While she seemed nice enough by this time Ranth would notice something very interesting, the girl was a straight up air head for most things. Either way she would walk back to the guild hall and turn in the mission that they had finished, between the two of them they had gotten twenty gold. It wasn't much, but they were now an official adventurer.
Before they left one of the girls at the counter told them about a relatively cheap inn nearby that dealt with adventures a lot so they often took QP points that she could tell Ranth had on him. The name of the in was Black water inn. For now it seemed that that was the best choice so Cindy dragged Ranth over there. The walk to the inn was only a few hundred feet away and as far as inns went it was reasonable. The man at the counter looked at Ranth and Cindy then looked at their plates to tell what rank they were before he spoke.
“Copper huh. Well for you lot the payment is upfront you can either spend gold or QP, don't really care what you spend tho. For a night it's fifty gold a person, that gets you a warm meal and a bed to sleep on. Or if ya want to spend QP it'll be ten a person, but tell ya what I'm a nice guy and it looks like you're new and don't have that much to spend I'll do a deal, five QP for the both of you for multiple nights, ya don't have to spend all the nights in a row if you can't, but you're guaranteed a warm bed when you still have nights. So what will it be?” The man seemed honest enough and Cindy rather liked the inn, given that the light had long faded from the sky and there was little left out there to go looking it would seem as if this was their only choice.
No matter what Ranth paid with they would get the same meal, and be shown their rooms. When Ranth was alone a voice would echo out into his head and speak. It was the Dungeon master, who had been oddly quiet till now. “Well looks like you lasted longer than I thought you damn normie, well no matter this was just the start of your grand quest, rest up because I've got more things I'll be throwing at you soon enough you worthless pig.” After that silence, Ranth would be left alone with his thoughts till the next morning, but for now he was safe, he had done the first task, become and adventurer and made his first step in coming home.
Last Edit: Apr 14, 2018 14:51:31 GMT -5 by Deleted