The Axe Falls -CH4- (Patreon)

Walking in through the open door, Nick was surprised to find that there were a number of people inside. Adventurers talking to one another in small groups, several people that looked like they were holding a heated discussion, and another section of people waiting casually in chairs and at tables.

Reaching up to his neck, Nick tugged at the collar of the plated leather armor he was wearing.

He’d considered going straight to the people Sandy had written down for him, but he was a bit leery now. After Dr. Palt had seen right through him, Nick was fairly certain the other people she’d suggested would be just as potentially dangerous.

Going back to his room after meeting Dennis, Nick had thought about it for a while before he finally fell asleep. When he woke up, he decided he’d go for the basics instead.

That and it would be odd for a level one nobody to show up with gear that went above and beyond. He needed to look the part of a newcomer first and not stand out. Blending in with the crowd for the time being was his goal.

To that end, he’d purchased a set of basic Fighter equipment across the board this morning.

From leather boots to leather tassets and greaves, up to the plated leather chest piece, leather armguards, a leather cap, and leather gauntlets.

He felt rather odd wearing the dead skin of an animal that didn’t protect its original owner enough as armor, but it was better than nothing.

Though he was glad for the fact that he still felt quite flexible in all this armor. It didn’t seem to impede his movement much at all. Nor did it weigh him down very much.

Though most importantly, it’ll all protect me from critical attacks. It’s just to lessen my chance of death and protect my health bar. Not to negate attacks entirely, but to minimize them.

Even now, Nick wasn’t really sold on how a thin piece of leather on his head would stop a critical hit, but it’s just how the world worked.

Adjusting his grip on his poleaxe, Nick started walking straight toward the front desk area of the adventurer’s guild. There were five open queues with receptionists at each.

Unable to help himself, Nick picked the one with an attractive woman standing behind the counter and went to her queue. There was only one person in it that she was actively assisting.

The other lines had a similar situation, though there was one man who had an open spot, but Nick didn’t want that. He knew he was being a stupid man right now, but he couldn’t help it.

“To be fair, she is rather pretty,” commented Lucian.

At that moment, the person in front of Nick thankfully shuffled off to the side and then moved away from the counter. It gave Nick the opportunity to get a true look at her.

She had short black hair that fell no farther than her cheek bones, bright blue eyes, and pointed ears that slid up and out of her hair.

Her figure was athletic, though she did have somewhat more than average in her bust, while her waist and hips were quite slim.

Dressed in a simple black vest, white shirt, and what looked like a black skirt, she was wearing what amounted to a uniform as far as he could tell.

Everyone else working at the guild was wearing the same thing, even if she wore it better.

All in all, Nick was attracted to her and couldn’t deny that.

“Hello there,” she said in a warm, low tone, giving him a practiced smile. Nick imagined she probably got hit on constantly or had blushing fools stutter at her for a while. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to register as an adventurer. A Fighter,” Nick said clearly, keeping his eyes firmly on her own as he moved up to the counter. The last thing he wanted to do was look like a lovestruck idiot.

Even if he did want to ask her out based on her looks alone.

Raising her eyebrows, the woman seemed at a loss for words, then gave him a genuine smile.

“Wonderful. We’re always glad to welcome new adventurers. Especially right now,” said the woman, reaching down below the counter for something. “A great many of our local members quit recently. There’s a recruitment drive by the army for those in their first promotion. They’re paying far more than we could ever offer with our job board mediation.”

Breaking eye contact with him, the woman looked down to the place where she was reaching around in. Leaning a bit further down and in, she ended up giving Nick a lovely view down the front of her vest.

Unable to help it, Nick looked for several seconds, and most certainly enjoyed what he saw, before he managed to break his gaze away. Looking at the person at the counter next to him, he saw it was a young woman wearing a gray robe that covered her from shoulders to shoes. It did a fair job of blanketing any type of body definition she had, as well.

Before he could inspect her any further, his attention was brought back to the woman who was helping him and her voice.

“Ah-ha, sorry about that. New application forms aren’t as popular as you’d think,” she said as she stood back up. Nick turned his head to find she was watching him again. “First off, can you read and write?”

“Yes,” Nick replied with a nod of his head.

“Wonderful. Here, please fill this out,” said the woman, sliding the paper across the counter to him. She had laid a magic writing implement on top of it, as well.

Nick knew of them, though he’d never used one. He’d been forced to use a quill nib and inkpot with his father.

Picking up the device and the paper, Nick looked over his shoulder to see if there was somewhere he could fill it out.

“Just… stay with me here and fill it out,” murmured the woman, practically under her breath. “It’ll be nice to take a minute or two to myself, to be honest. I tend to always have a line.”

Realizing that his own action had actually been part of the problem she’d just explained, Nick just nodded his head. Saying nothing, he instead focused on the paperwork.

Reading over it quickly, he realized it was just a lot of basic information that would form the foundation of his new alias. Everything here would be what he had to live by going forward.

Firming up his grip on the writing device, he began to fill in the form.

“Nick Dol?” asked the woman, apparently reading his responses as he wrote.

“Mmhmm. I didn’t catch your name?” confirmed Nick, moving to the next field and writing in “Fighter” there.

“Sara. I’m so sorry,” said the woman with a laugh. She leaned against the counter and tilted her head to one side, reading what he wrote more obviously now. “Oh, your stats are rather high. You must have worked hard before this to get them that high.”

“Farm work is hard work,” Nick said, as he moved down the paper. “Dad could read and write so he taught me when we weren’t dealing with whatever his current crisis was.”

“What brings you here then? Farms tend to go from family member to family member, don’t they?” asked Sara.

“Burnt down. Everyone died but me,” muttered Nick, dipping into his actual emotions about the situation. “Is what it is. Gotta start all over again.”

Finishing up by writing in his physical characteristics, Nick then set the magic device down. Standing up, he pushed the paper back across to Sara.

Picking up the paper, Sara read it over despite having already read it as he wrote. Then she nodded her head and set it back down on the counter.

“I’ll be right back with your amulet. We’ll transfer the information into it and get you moving along,” she said with a bright smile and a finger wave.

Standing there, Nick kept to himself. His gaze drifted from the counter to the woman next to him again, then to those who were waiting at the tables and chairs.

Kind of weird.

I probably should have asked Sandy about what to expect here. I didn’t even think about it.

Though to be fair, I didn’t see her this morning. I think that was her daughter who I saw at the counter. I didn’t even ask for her name.

Then again, I didn’t have much of a chance. She’d brought the food to the door, handed it off, and bolted.

It was rather good though. Already eating better than I used to at home.

“Yes?” asked the woman next to him.

Blinking, Nick shook himself out of his thoughts and realized he’d been practically staring through the robed woman.

Her blond hair reached down to her shoulders and her eyes were burnished gold. Her features didn’t have the elegant and beautiful lines of Sara. Nick would honestly consider her just slightly better than average in looks.

“Sorry, uh, just… lost in thoughts,” muttered Nick, turning away from her and looking back to his counter. “Didn’t mean to stare.”

The woman didn’t say anything more and dismissed him, which he was thankful for. Right now, he just wanted to crawl into his boots and vanish.

“You know, your father didn’t do too badly by you for most things,” said Lucian after a few seconds passed. “But he really screwed up your ability to socialize and talk to other people.

“Your sarcastic, flippant attitude mixed with your lack of social grace is going to need work. A lot of polishing will need to be done to turn you into a reasonable king, Sire.

“You can’t keep vacillating between ‘uncultured farm boy’ and ‘conceited asshat’ for much longer.”

“I could be an uncultured asshat, if you like,” hissed Nick under his breath.

“Ah, yes. Conceited asshat again. My favorite. And just after having been the uncultured farm boy for a nice young woman.

“I don’t think you could have made my point any clearer,” Lucian replied in a tired voice.

“Here we are,” said Sara on returning to Nick.

Setting down the amulet on the paper, she then met his eyes once again with a smile.

It was a simple piece of jewelry, a silver chain with a gold medallion linked to it. It looked fairly sturdy, but also innocuous. Nick imagined it would fit beneath his clothes quite well.

“Don’t worry about the cost, it’ll be deducted from your guild work in small amounts. A brons here, a brons there, you’ll not even notice it,” she explained with a dismissive gesture.

“Can I pay for it up-front?” Nick asked. He’d rather not have any debt on his name if he could avoid it. “Or is it a large amount?”

Sara eyed him for a second before she made an odd face.

“It’s a golder,” she admitted and then shook her head. “The necklace is a magical device that’ll hold all your information, be proof of your identity, and can’t be taken off by anyone but you, or after your death.

“It’s honestly a bit of a loss on our part since it takes so long for an adventurer to pay it off. It’s worth it though, if we consider how the world would be without them.”

Ah… yeah.

Not paying a golder to have that wiped out. That’d make me stand out pretty badly.

“Right, yeah, sorry I asked. Geeze. Do they think we’re made of money?” Nick asked with a short laugh.

“I know, right? When I got my card a few years ago on my majority, it was a bit of a shock,” agreed Sara, pushing down on the center of the medallion. She spoke a single word that Nick didn’t catch and then the paper was pulled into the medallion. “And there we are. Just go ahead and put it on and you’re all set and registered.

“Were you also looking to pick up a job or two today? I can help you out with that, Nick. Or is your business concluded with having officially registered?”

“Oh, yeah,” Nick said, picking up the amulet. Looking at it, he realized it’d be somewhat difficult to get it on under the collar of his armor. “I could use some work, yeah. I was also thinking of heading into the city-dungeon.”

“Here, turn around, I’ll help you with that,” Sara offered, gesturing at the amulet in his hands.

Uh… okay. If she’s this friendly with everyone, and looks that good, I can see why she has a never-ending line.

It’s a problem of her own making by being too kind. People will take it the wrong way. Especially those desperate for positive attention.

“Thanks,” Nick said and turned around, putting his back to her.

“As for work, I’ll see what I can find for you. I assume it’s just you since you’re new to this,” Sara said, taking the amulet from him. He could feel her wrapping it around his neck. “I think I’ll look into some basic guild work for you that can be done by yourself on the first couple levels of the dungeon.”

Sara locked the amulet in position, then let the front of it fall down below his armor. Using her fingers she pushed and pulled at the hardened leather until the item vanished down into it.

“There, all done. Now, go have a seat. I’ll sort through what’s available and come back to you,” she said, patting him on the back.

“Thank you, that’d be great,” Nick said, taking a better grip on his poleaxe and looking to where the other adventurers were waiting.

Makes more sense now.

“It’s funny… someone the other day asked why we don’t just post all the jobs for everyone to go through themselves,” said Sara with a laugh. “Can you imagine that? Someone could just take them all and wander off with them. Or steal someone else’s. Not to mention we’d never know if one failed or was taken. Absolute nonsense.

“Anyway, listen to me ramble on like some old woman. I’ll come get you after I’ve sorted through some things. See what jobs I can match up with your abilities.”

Not turning around, Nick headed over to where everyone else was waiting and took a seat in one of the open chairs. His poleaxe came up and over, resting across his knees.

A second later and the woman he’d been accidentally staring at walked up to him. Apparently, she’d just finished up with her own business.

Realizing he was, once again, staring at her, Nick dropped his gaze at his poleaxe instead.

Surprisingly, she took the seat right next to his own at the empty table where he had sat.

“It’s alright,” she said, her words forcing him to acknowledge she was there. “Everyone has to start somewhere and it can be intimidating.”

Looking at the woman head-on, Nick found she was gazing right back at him.

“My first day here, I ended up taking a job which essentially came down to cleaning out a guild building’s shit-pit,” said the woman, raising her eyebrows. “I didn’t think that’d be the first use of my magic, but there it was.

“Cleaning out a hole filled to the brim with… the worst stuff you could imagine. Thankfully, I didn’t have to touch anything but it was still rather horrible. But that’s why they gave it to me. Was a good opportunity to fine-tune what I could do, as well.”

“Oh,” Nick said, then nodded his head. That made a lot of sense to him. “Thanks, yeah. I imagine it could be something like that for me.

“Also, uh, sorry for staring at you. I really wasn’t looking at you. Was just lost in thought. Just trying to get used to this as fast as I can.”

Smiling, she nodded her head, then reached up and pushed some of her hair behind an ear.

“I get that. It’ll get easier. I’ve only been at this for a month now, but it definitely gets easier every day,” she replied, then looked off to the side. “Oh, that was quick.”

Following her gaze, he saw Sara coming over to him with a smile and several papers in her hand. As soon as his eyes met hers, she stopped, turned partially sideways, and then gestured back the way she came.

“Excuse me,” Nick said and got to his feet. Pausing before he left, he looked at the woman in the robe. “By the way, I’m Nick.”

“Audrey,” said the woman, nodding her head at him with a smile. “Be safe, Nick.”

Hurrying after Sara, who was now walking away from him, Nick caught up to the Elf.

“That was swift,” he said, walking along next to her.

“Well, I’ll be honest, I already had an idea of which ones I wanted to get for you,” admitted the Elf. “I’d be a terrible guild host if I didn’t know what was available as far as jobs go. Given your stats and class, this was an easy choice. I just had to make sure they were still there.”

“Thanks for that,” Nick said, giving her a grin. “I’ll just have to try to get myself in your line whenever I can. Busy or not.”

“I… yes,” she said and then laughed. “I guess it’ll be a change from everyone who just gets in my line for my looks.

“Anyway, I think the two I pulled just for you will be best. Though, I did get a third one as well. The first two are in the city-dungeon and are simple butchery requests. Get in, kill the monsters, process them, and get out. Shouldn’t be that bad as there’s a number of low-level groups in the dungeon right now.

“The last one is something more traditional for our new Fighters with an axe-type weapon. It seems beneath you, but worth at least putting in front of you.”

“What is it?” asked Nick, feeling a bit odd about the way she phrased it.

“Animal slaughter at a few local farms,” Sara said in a curiously upbeat way. “It’s a good way to get some more time with the skills and provides an opportunity to let new adventurers feel their weapon bite flesh.”

Huh.

They’ve actually thought this out to a degree.

“It does seem like an actual guild with a governing body, rather than a random collection of faceless automatons,” agreed Lucian.

“Let’s get the two for the city-dungeon. I can do those today,” Nick said, finalizing his thoughts. He needed to get to work.