You may leave now. I hope my words have met your expectations, though please forgive my boldness in asking—aren't they your friends?
The pointed hats peered out from the back of the room, silent and without uttering a word, and just as quietly they left by another route—but not before placing a bag of sacred gold coins on the table.
What strange sorcerers—but this money won't go amiss for this decaying guild.
Here are your plaques. Please tell me your names, and I'll link your essence to these plaques. The first was Alexa. Liss took her hand and pricked one of her fingers, spilling a drop of blood onto the plaque.
---NO NAME APPEARED ON IT---
"Isn't it supposed to show her name?" Aisha asked, confused, as she looked closely at Alexa's plaque.
"Try imbuing it with energy," Liss suggested with a smile, and Aisha did so. The plaque lit up, revealing a reflection to those present—it was indeed the elf's face, and her name, written in magic, was written above it, undulating above her head.
"See, with this method, the guild ensures it can recognize you even if the name you've given isn't the one by which you're known in other places. We value the privacy of those who help us keep this place safe."
"That sounds a little suspicious," said Elise, who, when she appeared, made Liss jump in surprise.
"Shhhhhh…" she whispered, playfully placing her finger on the girl's lips. "You could give me one, too," said the little girl, perching on Liss's shoulder.
One by one, they came forward and received a plaque that had the same effect; however, there was a problem with Tylos's—his plaque only showed his name, but not his appearance.
"This is the first time I've seen something like this since I've been working here," Liss explained, adding as a point of curiosity, "Still, I heard it once—it must be that your energy is so low that it doesn't show up on the plaque… or are you perhaps suppressing your power?"
The girls fell silent, lost in thought, as they hadn't considered that possibility since they'd met him.
The boy smiled and cleared his throat emphatically. "I think you attribute many virtues to me that I don't possess. What you see is exactly who I am; I'm not trying to be any more or less than what you've seen."
"Heeeee…" Alexa sighed. The little fairy and Aisha smiled shyly, a hint of sadness on their faces at Alexa's rejection.
"Hmm, hmm," Liss cleared her throat. "It's time for you to take on your first quest. Now let's go to the hall—there are more adventurers there, and you'll be able to see the bulletin board with the pending quests."
"And one more thing: I advise you not to take the guild master's quest seriously—that place is very dangerous. It's better to start with simpler tasks. In fact, I want you to take a quest to a place on the outskirts of the village. In case of an emergency, you can enter the rift, but please follow my advice—I implore you. I wouldn't want to have to hang those plaques next to the others."
Liss sadly pointed to the ceiling, which was covered with plaques of adventurers who had fallen victim to the dream of conquering that place.
"Follow me to the great hall; I'm going to remove the mission from the bulletin board so you can do it for me."
So they entered the hall, and to their great surprise, they found the place filled with adventurers—some seemed like veterans, while others were newcomers just like them. One might think that so few would dare to enter such a dangerous place, but nothing could be further from the truth, for with danger come rewards, and that crevice was no ordinary place—the materials and riches found there could easily provide a life of luxury for any ordinary person.
Their outfits weren't flashy; some even looked like poorly made junk, especially the younger ones, who—even at Tylos's age—looked like twelve-year-old kids. They'd most likely do anything to be the heroes who closed the rift that had been open for so many years, since glory was guaranteed for those who completed that feat.
Come on, guys, here's the assignment I want you to take on as your first mission: leave the village via the southern road and head into the forest. Halfway to the rift, you'll find a small detour; I want you to take the provisions I've prepared in the wagon behind the guild, and I also want you to make sure there are no monsters around the building located there—you'll understand when you get there.
The boys took the paper along with their badges and left the place to carry out the mission.
Liss waved them off and said, "Good luck. Remember, if it gets late, you can come back the next day and continue."
The doors closed, and one of the adventurers sighed and said mockingly, "So every time new adventurers arrive here, you're going to use them to help that witch. I can tell they're not from around here… Can they even defend themselves?"
"That's none of your business—or anyone else's sitting here. The notice has been up here for a month, and no one has taken it on. Does it bother you that some new adventurers actually want to help?" "Tell me, Faran," said Liss, raising her voice above the hooded figure who was twice her size. "Aren't you the ones who just want to go into that hole in search of riches and fame, ignoring the minor tasks that plague this city?"
The man took off his cloak, revealing his scarred face and fierce, werewolf-like eyes, then said, "Do you think any of the people here came to grow old, gathering herbs and running errands back and forth? I'm sure most of us here don't even have a village to return to; few places are safe these days, and making sure we have enough to live on within these walls is the only way to survive. So spare us your speeches about helping the weak.
IF THEY'RE NOT WILLING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES, NO ONE WILL RISK THEIR LIFE FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN'T WORTH A SINGLE GOLD COIN!
The room fell silent, and Liss returned to her seat with her head down, without uttering a single word of rebuke.
"Don't you think you went too far, brute?" said a little girl with cat ears…
"Went too far, huh? Maybe so, but nothing has been the same since the day that girl became a heretic." I don't think anything will ever be the same again, even if Liss tries to fix it.
And I don't think you'll be able to win her over if you keep confronting her like that, Faran. I know you've always been in love with her, ever since those days. But she wouldn't give up her friendship with Silly for anything in the world—you know full well they're like sisters. Now come on, sit down.
Rea, Gastón, we have to do this to put an end to this once and for all; we must seal that damn hole that took our home away from us.
"You don't have to tell us that," added the assassin and the paladin. "After all, we all grew up in the same place, and it's our duty to reclaim our home."
In the back of the guild hall, Tylos was loading everything onto the wagon, and this time Alexa was going to drive. "Do you know where we're going?" Tylos asked. "They didn't tell us the name of the place, but we have to be prepared for anything—they say monsters roam the area quite a bit."
"According to the directions, we should head south," Aisha added, "toward the forest. There should be a building a good distance from here, though with Elise's help, we shouldn't have any trouble finding it."
"All right, I've finished loading everything up. Let's get going, then—I don't want night to catch us before we get back. We still don't even know where we're going to sleep."
Once inside the wagon, Elise appeared again and immediately asked, "Don't you think that, despite being a fairly large town—I'd even dare say it's the same size as the big city—the poverty is quite evident?"
"I don't think it's hard to figure out why that is. Look at these fields and the farmers—much of the crops look ravaged by monsters, and look at that barn."
"Those look like some kind of guards…" said Aisha.
"Yes," replied Alexa, "they're taking the harvest to the big city, it seems. Judging by their ostentatious clothing, that's the only explanation I can think of."
Tylos turned toward the inside of the wagon and said, "Even if they're paid for what they're taking, the problem is that it's not enough to feed this many people."
"You're right," replied Alexa. "It's a precarious situation; their worried faces are well justified. Although I can't figure out why the monsters are attacking this place—the guild is full of adventurers—and I don't think they're that dangerous based on the damage; maybe even newbies could handle them just fine."
"All right, it's time to go through the wall."
The wagon stopped, and Alexa showed the guard the mission sheet. He frowned as if what he was reading bothered him, but in the end, he let them through without asking any further questions. Now the vast, seemingly all-consuming forest was the only thing lying ahead of them.