As Arad walked with Eris toward the adventurers guild, he found its doors wide open with countless adventurers going in and out. Some were injured, and some jumped with the money they got from their quests.
The moment he looked inside, he could see adventurers lined up to reach the guild’s desk, and some were even sitting beside the walls, awaiting their turn.
Arad sighed, missing the calm of Alina’s guild. “Let’s find someone to give Nina’s letter to first,” He looked at Eris.
Eris nodded from beneath her black veil, “It’s for the best. We might end up waiting for hours.”
Thud! Arad stepped inside the guild with Eris, and silence fell. All the adventurers turned around, staring at them. It was rare for someone as tall and massive as him to be seen around even among adventurers. Not many people had purple eyes, so he stood out even more.
Arad looked at Mira, “Your clothes are weird. They attract attention.”
“You’re too big and attract attention,” She looked back at him with a grin as they walked inside the guild, ignoring everyone.
“Should we cut in?” Eris asked, but Arad shook his head, “There are too many people, and the guild staff are busy at this time.”
Arad approached the desks and asked for a spot in the line. They registered his name and asked him to wait until they called him.
He turned and started heading toward the quest board to give it a quick look.
The large decorated wooden board was divided into three sections, [Kill Quests] [Guard Quests] [Misc Quests]
Kill quests revolved around killing monsters or hunting rare animals. The difficulty rank was decided by the monsters’ rank and number, as well as their rarity. They ranged from hunting rabbits to behirs and giants.
“The highest quest is A-rank, a bandit band tamed several giants and goblins are terrorizing the western fields. Guess no S-ranks. Those would be emergencies after all,” Eris sighed.
“We should be thankful there are none,” Arad sighed. His time wouldn’t have time to stay with the girls if an S-rank disaster started.
Guard quests were the simple ones. Guarding something from point A to B, whether it’s a caravan or a kid going to the forest.
Arad looked at the quests, reading them one by one until he stopped at a certain one. “I feel like someone is chasing me at night when I head to the garderobe. I need a guard and will pay 50 copper coins a night.” Arad couldn’t help but stare puzzled at the strange paper, “What?”
Eris stared at it and laughed, “Probably a prank set by a kid. What the hell is this quest?”
Misc quests usually are random or incomplete. Exploration and repair quests get posted here. Everything from cleaning the sewers to searching for missing people.
“Arad, look at this one,” Eris pointed at the wall and showed Arad a colorful poster, “Armored Gorgon testicular removal. Our Gorgon Bull has been acting up lately and attacking the cows. We want a strong adventurer to help with removing its testicles to calm its urges down. Testicules must be harvested intact and the bull unharmed otherwise. 85 Gold coins.”
As Arad read the poster, he scratched his head, “I believe I saw a quest like this before in Alina.”
“Gorgon’s meat is a delicacy. Farmers would pay mountains of gold to catch a bull and raise it for meat. Some try to breed them with cows, but they achieve minor success as the meat is barely similar to the original.” Eris explained with a smile.
The two of them spent several minutes staring at the quests, reading them as the lines progressed, “Adventurer Arad!” A voice called from the desks. It was Arad and Eris’s turn.
Arad and Eris approached the dest, “I’m Arad. Is it our turn?”
The man behind the desk smiled, waving his hand, “Of course, sir Arad. What can the guild help you with today? Hopefully, you aren’t encountering a dire situation.” The man stared back at the stack of paper behind him. “We are quite busy at this time of the year.”
Arad waved his hand, “Not at all. I can handle most problems I face myself,” he reached into his pocket and pulled Nina’s letter.
“What is this?” The man asked, looking at the sloppy cover.
“A letter from Alina’s guild,” Arad said with a passive face, “Nina sent it,”
The man’s face paled, “What?” He gasped, staring back and then at the letter. His face started sweating as his hands shook.
The man slowly opened the letter and gave it a read. The handwriting was bad as if someone wrote it with his feet. Scribbles at best and scratches at first sight. Clenching his eyes and straining his mind, he managed to piece sense from the letter.
Nina can write well when she’s doing paperwork, but when it comes to writing a letter, thinking about the words, the tone, and how to write it, she quickly falls down.
The man sighed in relief, “Thank goodness, she’s only asking for supplies.” He smiled, reading the last part of the page. “The man delivering the letter is as strong as a monster. I would say he would soon surpass me as an s-rank.” Reading the last line, the man started shaking as he stared at Arad.
Arad tilted his head, “Open the letter. There is still some on the back.”
The shaking man turned the paper, seeing a clear handwriting. This didn’t belong to Nina. But even so, he could recognize it.
“Arad is quite an astounding adventurer. He will replace me as the dragon slayer and mediator. Make sure not to anger him, okay?” His eyes paled as he read that.
“He might be a failure as a wizard, but his sorcerous powers are like a raging volcano. Don’t blame me if he burned the whole building there.” Those words came from none other than Merlin.
The letter was also signed and stamped by Alina’s lord which made it even more terrifying. This adventurer Arad can’t be a normal person.
The man stood with a smile on his face, a drop of sweat trailing on his forehead. “Sir Arad, please follow me to the guildmaster’s office. The second-in-command headmaster would fill you in on the details of the shipment.”
Arad stood, and so did Eris. They followed the man upstairs to the guildmaster’s office. The room looked simple but Doma made sure Arad knew of every enchantment hidden within the mundane walls.
Arad looked around with his void eyes as Doma explained in his head. Tracking magic, fire resistance, lightning resistance, temporal distortion making time a tenth slower inside, anti-magic field with a limited function, teleport veil that sends anyone outside in case of an attack, tens summoning circles hidden beneath the ground that could summon monsters, and more.
“This place, it reeks,” Arad growled. Even though the room looked empty, he could feel like a thousand blades were pointed at his neck. He and Eris sat on the old couch, waiting for the second in command to arrive.
A few minutes later, a black-haired woman walked in with a smile on her face and wearing a baggy wizard robe. She gave Arad a quick glance and smiled, licking her lips, “What a rare breed. You don’t see your kind often,” She walked toward her desk and sat, one leg on the other.
“My name is five, and I take the role of a second-in-command headmaster. Pleased to meet you,” Her eyes gazed between Arad and Eris.
Arad looked at the woman, his eyes feeling foggy. “Five? What’s your name?”
“Yes, my name is five.” The woman replied, “I have sisters as well, one to ten.” She switched her legs and leaned forward, resting her head on her hands. “You’re Arad Orion, am I right?”
^[Arad, that woman isn’t real. It’s an astral projection. All the magic in the room is muffling the traces and even after that, the signal is coming from hundreds of sources. It’s impossible to track the real body.]^
“Hehehe,” Five giggled. “Your witch is quite fickle, I like that.” Her eyes glow with a faint blue light, “From how many curses I sense, it’s Doma, the witch of curses,”
Arad froze in place, and his sword instantly came out of his stomach, ready to fight.
Eris looked around and then touched Arad’s shoulder, “Calm down. The real body isn’t here so fighting is useless. Let’s hear what she has to say,”
“My name is Alice Dagon, I’m six hundred and sixty-six years old. I live on the island of grief, locked beyond the eternal tempest of the magic goddess. I’m not married and have no intention to. I work as a mage for myself, crafting anything that exerts magic. I always sleep naked at dusk and wake up at the first strand of dawn. I don’t drink, but I love taking baths in alcohol to kill the tiny monsters. I only sleep while hugging a pillow, and wake up on the ground. After admiring the status of the goddess of magic and cleaning it, I do twenty minutes of stretches with my massive leather ball before going to bed. I never dream when asleep, and always wake up like a baby without fatigue or stress. I was told many times that I was insane, but I will never eat tomatoes again.”
Arad was taken aback when she started talking with a monotone voice, crackling with magic inside out. “I assume you’re the guild master, the one behind this projection.”
“No, the guild master is One. I only watch and play.” Her eyes flashed, stopping as she stared at Arad, “The supplies would be sent as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can have this.” She opened her palm and a crystal ball emerged.
Arad caught the crystal ball as it slowly floated toward him.
“An appraisal orb,” Arad recognized the crystal and smiled, “Can I ask what are you?” He looked at the woman.
“If my body is the one you ask about, I shall let you know I’m a titan. And if it’s my soul you wonder about, then it’s a devil. And if you fancy magic, then I’m but a spec of dust that once was blessed to be stepped on by the goddess of magic. A mere nothing in her presence,” ．
Arad got even more confused, “Fine, you’re devil titan with a speck of dust or whatever. Don’t tell me you don’t want.”
She stared at Arad, “A void dragon with a human father, a half dragon with a draconic father and an elf mother. A strange mix to say the least, but not the strangest I saw. Vampires even, but worry not, I do not care one bit.”
Arad looked at the crystal.
DING!
[I do not want to bloat the chapter with 1000+ words so Look at the auxiliary chapter: Arad Orion Draconic Status Status: Heavy spoiler for chapters before 400. It’s free,]
Arad blinked, “It doesn’t show my curses,”
“Of course it won’t,” She said with a smile, shifting her legs again. “You better hide those until later.”