Chương 17: Chapter 16: Copper 1

Seth stood alone in front of the Adventure Guild's outpost's door, its wooden sign swaying gently in the breeze. He and Renwal had parted ways, planning to meet up later that night. Unable to wait, the blacksmith had decided to buy his awakening stone for the year today. As Seth limped into the large building, a strong, musty smell and the soft tinkle of the doorbell greeted him. He adjusted his stance, easing the weight off his injured leg, and glanced around.

Lines of odd, spherical lamps hung from the arching wooden pillars, casting a steady, even light across the open floor. They didn't flicker, as if their light didn't come from flames. Artifacts? he wondered. Behind the desk at the back of the room, a man jolted awake in his chair, clearly shocked to see another human being.

"If you're looking for a room, we don't rent to travelers here," he said while straightening up, crumbs of food falling from his long, snarled beard.

"Try the inn across the street." The man's short, open-fronted leather vest exposed a laced shirt stained with beer. An insignia similar to Professor Reat's was clipped to his chest pocket; two dark gray wings and five stars under the white A.

"I'm not looking for a room, sir," Seth answered.

"I'm here to join the Adventure Guild."

"Oh, sorry!" the man exclaimed before cracking an awkward smile.

"Most people who come in are looking for rooms."

"It's fine," Seth replied. The bearded man stuck his hand out.

"I'm Warsis, the administrator of this outpost." Seth hesitated, shifting awkwardly to avoid straining his injured shoulder before finally extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir," he said, gripping firmly despite the dull ache.

"I'm Seth." Warsis chuckled.

"You can stop with the sir. I'm no noble, kid."

"Sorry," Seth said, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm… uh, not from around here." The man crouched down and retrieved a strange object from under his desk: a silver goblet-like bowl fixed to a dark trapezoidal base covered in glittering yellow runes. Before Seth could ask what it was, the man pulled out a palm-size violet crystal ball and started speaking.

"To register you and create your vita, I'll need to Identify you. You can keep any concealment artifacts on as long as I can see your name, class, and Rank."

"That's fine, I don't wear one," Seth answered, watching the man set the crystal ball in the odd bowl. Warsis glanced up at him briefly after Identify's tingling.

"Oh, a Primalist. It's been a while since I registered one." A faint smile appeared on Seth's lips—it was nice to know he wasn't the only one out there.

"How long has it been? Are they still around?"

"Um, about one or two years," Warsis answered, scratching his beard.

"And no, the poor kid got killed by a beast on his… well, on his first contract." A cold shiver ran Seth's spine, and goosebumps prickled his skin.

"Primalist's actually a decent fit for the adventurer's life," he said after a moment, still serious.

"You lot grow by surviving, after all. Just… be careful." He paused, choosing his words.

"It's easy to get intoxicated by the sudden surge of attributes you get in dangerous situations. Don't let that rush fool you into biting off more than you can chew, or you'll end up dead in a ditch."

"Are there any older or more-experienced ones around? So I can ask for advice?"

"No, sorry." Warsis shook his head and pressed his lips together.

"But last time I went to Trogan's outpost, I met a few. One of them was even at the peak of Iron. There's a chance he might've broken through Silver by now. If you ever pass by there, I'm sure you could ask him for some tips." Silver? Seth could feel his hopes soar. If that man could reach that Tier, then with Nightmare and Link, he could certainly do it too. As Warsis placed his large hand on the base of the strange-looking device, the runes shifted from their faint yellow glow to a dazzling white radiance.

Seth squinted, trying to keep his eyes open to watch, but the light was too bright. He barely managed to hold out a few seconds—enough to see the runes moving up toward the crystal ball—before shutting them tight. Through closed lids, he could still discern a change of color, the beaming light turning violet and streaming in circles. The brightness faded and vanished in an instant. Once he was sure it was over, Seth opened his eyes and blinked several times to remove the blurring veil covering his vision.

"There you go," Warsis said, handing Seth the violet crystal and an insignia similar to the man's, except this one had two dark gray wings and one star under the white A in the center.

"This is your vita and your adventurer badge. Take care of them. If you lose them, you'll need to pay to get new ones." Seth inspected the hand-sized crystal in his palm before looking up at Warsis, who was still waiting behind his desk.

"What's a vita?"

"Oh, sorry," the bearded man said, chuckling.

"It's an artifact that sums up your progress as an adventurer and provides basic info about you to potential customers." He then pointed at the orb.

"Try infusing aether inside, you'll see." Seth drew aether from his Well, pushing it through his arm despite the sharp twinge of pain that flared inside his injured shoulder. He clenched his jaw, ignoring it, and focused on channeling the energy into the violet sphere. To his surprise, the aether flowed effortlessly into the orb, causing white words to shimmer to life inside.

Adventurer Vita (Copper 1 ☆) Name: Seth Adventurer specialty: none Class: Primalist Beast slain: - Subclass: - Number of contracts: 0 Rank: 6 (Low-Copper) Contract difficulty: -"At the top, the first thing you see is your Adventurer Tier," Warsis explained.

"It has the same names as the Wielder Tiers, but each one is further divided into sub-Tiers represented by stars, going from one to five. Your Adventurer Tier increases according to your accomplishment, so it might not match your Wielder Tier. Some Silver Wielders, for example, are still Iron adventurers because they rarely take contracts."

"How do I know which contract will increase my Tier the most?" Seth asked.

"By looking at the Rank recommendations," Warsis answered.

"You'll see when we get to the boards in a minute. Let's finish with your vita first," he added, redirecting Seth's attention to the orb.

"On the left column, you'll find your basic information. The right one starts at the top with your specialty, which you'll get after completing five contracts. It tells your customers what type of contract you handle the most. Next, it shows the strongest beast you've slain, followed by the number of contracts you've completed, and finally, the Rank of your toughest contract so far." Seth frowned.

"Do I have to prove I've killed the beast by bringing its corpse or something?"

"No," Warsis answered, shaking his head.

"That's the only entry on the right that doesn't need the Vita Altar of an outpost to be updated. Just to touch its beaststone with your vita within an hour after killing it. If the beast's Rank is higher than the one you've already recorded, it will change automatically." Seth shifted the crystal in his hand, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He couldn't believe it—after years of fantasizing about it, he was finally part of the Adventurers Guild.

Holding his vita somehow felt unreal, as if he was still caught in one of his dreams. All the hours he'd spent training in the woods over the past decade, imagining himself hunting arcane beasts and forging his own Path, were no longer just fantasies. He'd taken another step toward making it all a reality. Warsis stepped out from behind his desk and nodded toward the stairs.

"Let's go upstairs to see the contract boards. It'll be easier to explain the rest there." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Seth trailed behind the man, his limp more pronounced as he climbed the stairs. His left leg throbbed with each step, but he pressed on, refusing to let the pain slow him down. At the top, they entered a spacious room filled with a dozen empty tables. Three large boards lined the back wall, various sheets of parchment pinned to them.

The middle one, which was by far the most packed of the three, drew Seth's attention. Each of the contracts described a beast, along with their locations and the price offered for their stone.

"Let's start with beast-hunting," Warsis said, standing next to Seth.

"Merchants and crafting classes that require specific beaststones come here and say how many they need and the price they're willing to pay. After that the administrator, me in this case, writes it down with a brief description of the beast and where they're usually found." The bearded man pointed at one of the contracts.

"This one, for instance, is for Three-Tailed Panther beaststones. You can see here that the customer wants eighty of them and is offering one copper coin each. There's no Tier limitation for beast-hunting contracts, but don't bite off more than you can chew. It's best to follow the Rank recommendations at the top of the contracts."

"Got it," Seth said, skimming through the contracts until one of them caught his eye.

"Why does it say 'less than ninety days' next to the number of beaststones?"

"Oh, that's for the required life span of the beaststones—the number of days since they were harvested," Warsis answered.

"If it's not specified, they need to be less than thirty days old by default. This customer probably doesn't care if there's almost no aether left inside, which is why he's paying such a low price and is fine with them being harvested months ago." A low price?! Seth exclaimed inwardly, reading the offer again. Eighty common coins. Sure, Dazzling Sabertooths sounded dangerous, but it was still a lot of money. Then, he noticed two spidery words beneath the price. Tax included.

Seth clenched his fists at the thought of giving coins to nobles like Lucius.

"Yesterday, I overheard merchants talking about another increase in the income tax. I guess that also applies to beast-hunting contracts?" Bitterness swept across Warsis' face.

"Yes. As of three weeks ago, any adventurer selling something through a contract within the city's wall must hand over sixty percent of the total cost to the Faertis House."

"Sixty percent!" Seth exclaimed in outrage.

"That's twenty percent more than the usual tax! Aren't they worried adventurers will just leave the city?"

"That's actually part of their plan," Warsis answered with a sigh, slumping into one of the oak chairs.

"They want to make the military service more appealing than the guild, so those who stay for their family and friends end up joining the army."

"That's absurd." Seth bit his lips, then took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Why isn't the head of the Adventure Guild doing something about this?"

"There hasn't been anyone in charge for a few months now. The last head resigned, like the three before him. They just"—Warsis' voice faltered, forcing him to pause for a brief moment—"haven't been able to fill Jaeda's shoes. And no one really blames them." Jaeda.

Seth recalled Sericar's words about her, describing the woman's strength, authenticity, and kindness, as well as the brutality of her death—stabbed in the heart during one of her famous speeches, in front of thousands, by a faceless assassin from the Bridan Empire.

Whenever the Wandering Merchant had told that story, he always ended up going back to his conspiracy theory: how the powerful woman couldn't have been killed so easily, that she must have been tricked, and somehow hadn't been able to use any spells to defend herself.

"You should've seen this place when she was alive," Warsis continued, eyes filled with sadness as he gestured toward the boards and the empty chairs.

"There were hundreds of people around and a mountain of contracts on those boards. Beast-hunting, rescue missions, resource gathering, escort across the kingdom, bounties for the Kastal Royal Court, investigation of secret organizations. We had contracts for every task that exists. Now, we barely have a dozen outside of beast-hunting. All resources-gathering requests, with pay so low it's practically daylight robbery. People just ask the army instead of us now." Seth's heart ached as he heard Warsis' shaky voice.

It was clear how much the man cared about this outpost, which was slowly getting crushed by the Faertis. His sole purpose was crumbling in his hands, and he could do nothing but watch.

"But why doesn't the Guild intervene?" Seth asked, unable to keep the frustration out of his voice.

"You have the manpower. You could stop the Faertis from suffocating this place." Warsis let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head.

"It's not that simple, kid. They can't just send people here to challenge a Noble House. In the eyes of the crown, that's not justice but a revolt against the king himself. It's all politics. If they stepped out of line, they'd just get themselves killed." The man then leaned back against the counter behind, looking defeated.

"They're trying to help, I know... but there isn't much they can do with the current strength of the Kastal branch. We would need support from the Guild across the world... but Kastal is, let's say... not really open to outsiders." Seth nodded grimly. He knew that all too well. Every time the villagers in Sunatown whispered about leaving the country, someone was always there to remind them of the reality: the borders were sealed.

Those who tried to cross without the king's approval and were caught ended up on the executioner's block.

"I'm sure things will get better with Kastal's next guild head," Seth said in a futile attempt to be comforting. Warsis stood up and patted Seth's shoulder, giving him a shallow smile.

"Thanks, kid. Anyway, feel free to check those contracts. The easiest ones are at the bottom. If you have any questions, I'll be at my desk." Seth watched the heartbroken administrator descend the stairs before letting out a deep breath. As he crouched to examine the four lowest parchments, his injured leg protested with a sharp throb. Biting back a groan, he shifted his weight to his uninjured one to ease the pressure as he studied the contracts one by one.

Quickly, he realized that the beasts' strength in the descriptions were pretty much the same as the Rank recommendations: Low- to Mid-Copper. That's quite vague, he thought. Seth tore off the only contract listing the Wicked Forest as the location. Red Foxes. Their name wasn't particularly exciting, but the ten common coins per beaststone certainly were. In the past, he used to work his ass off for two to three months to earn that much.

Now, all it would take was slaying a single beast—and the contract wanted as many as he could get. The life of Wielders really is something else. As he turned to head downstairs, Seth stopped abruptly. To his right, a set of massive double doors stood in the dark. A faded sign above them read 'Guild Instruction Hall,' but a heavy wooden plank with a bright red cross was nailed across the frame, barring entry. Seth stared at it for a moment, the reality sinking in.

It was just as he'd heard—the Guild used to offer classes on spell crafting and aether manipulation to independent Wielders, but Kastal's king had outlawed the practice years ago to protect himself. If one wanted to learn, they had either to serve or join one of the military academies. Shaking his head at the waste, Seth headed downstairs and went straight to Warsis, who was leaning back in his chair.

"I'd like to take this one," he said, holding up the contract. The outpost's administrator glanced at it for a few seconds then gave it back to him.

"That's a great one to start with. Just make sure to kill them from a distance. It'll be safer, with less risk of getting burned."

"Got it," Seth answered with a quick nod, recalling the beast's entry in his encyclopedia. It relied heavily on close-range fire spells for both offense and defense, so keeping his distance made perfect sense. He slipped the parchment neatly between his vita and insignia inside his leather bag, then looked back at the administrator and asked, "By any chance, would you have any books regarding the basics for a Wielder? Like spell qualities and things like that?

I don't really have anyone in my town to ask questions about this stuff."

"Hmmmmm." Warsis stroked his beard a few times, then suddenly seemed to remember something and reached under the desk, a second later pulling out an old, beat-up book with a partially erased title: Introduction to the Adventurer's Life.

"It's not much, but it should help," he said, handing it to Seth.

"Just keep in mind, it won't go into detail for the technical stuff like spell crafting or deep aether theory… I'd rather not get the outpost shut down or get us both thrown in a cell for trafficking 'restricted knowledge'."

"Thanks a lot, Warsis," Seth answered, taking the book.

"It's nothing, kid. Just doing my job," the bearded man said with a hint of a smile showing through his beard.

"If you ever need anything, just come by. I'm always here."

"I will," Seth said, before heading out.

"Take care."

"Same to you, kid." Seth tossed his leather bag under the wagon's mold riddled cover, still mulling over the previous day's events. The Faertis House had a reputation for abusing their power, but what they were doing to the Adventurers Guild was beyond infuriating. How can they get away with—"Seth, are you ready to go?" Renwal appeared from the front of the wagon, rubbing his forehead. Waking up early with a hangover had drained the usual joy from the man's large face—apparently all that drinking came with a price.

"Yeah," Seth answered, adjusting the strap of his hunting knife and giving his leg a quick rub. The pain had been worse than he'd expected last night, enough that he'd reluctantly taken one of Marcus' potions before bed—just in case they ran into bandits again today. The odds were low, but he couldn't take any chances. This time, Selena wouldn't be around to save him.

"Then, let's get moving." Renwal climbed onto his seat behind the two horses, and seconds later the wagon lurched forward. They passed through the city in no time, exchanging quick nods with the guards as they passed beneath the gate's arch. Soon, the orderly cobblestones gave way to the packed dirt of the forest road. The clamor of the city faded with each turn of the wheels, until only the steady creak of the wagon and the soft rustle of leaves brushing the path remained.

Ahead, the road lay empty, winding deeper into the greenery with not a soul in sight." Once we've crossed the forest, I'll sleep in the back," Renwal said, breaking the silence. Seth glanced at the blacksmith.

"Why? You don't want your wife to see you like that?"

"She's used to it," Renwal replied with a weak smile.

"It's for the awakening stone. I want to be well-rested when I use it tonight."

"Why didn't you use it last night?" Renwal's brow creased in confusion.

"I was drunk last night, boy." Seth facepalmed and shook his head." Before getting drunk."

"Oh, umm …because I was in a hurry to enjoy the best ale in Arthuri?" As Seth opened his mouth to retort, his core suddenly ignited, unleashing waves of its fierce energy through his body. His heart began pounding loudly in his ears and his muscles tightened while dread spread along his nerves. He'd never had his core act like that outside of direct combat. What the hell is— The wagon came to an abrupt stop as Renwal pulled hard on the reins.

"Well, well, well, If it isn't the bumpkin and his money-hating friend." Seth snapped his head forward. Further down the road, stepping casually from behind the thick trunk of an oak was Lucius. Draped in his expensive purple robe, he looked entirely out of place amidst the dirt and leaves. Behind him, three men emerged from the treeline, each clad in shining leather armor that bore the Faertis' emblem: a black lion inside a white shield.

Renwal clambered down from his seat, glancing nervously at the empty forest road behind them. There were no city guards here, no witnesses. Just the rustling leaves.

"Good morning, Sir Faertis," Renwal said, his voice trembling slightly as he bowed to the noble.

"Is there something we can do for you?" Lucius smirked.

"Seize them."