Sleep did not come easy, nor did it grant respite. Haunted by dreams of Issa’s expulsion, Rayne awoke no less than five times, and it was a pale shell of a man who walked the two miles from the Dregs to the market square the next morning. With each labored step, he wracked his brain for ways to earn the missing gold, but eight gold pieces was just too much to gather on such a short notice. Even on a long notice, it would have been tough. An entire year’s rent? And they expected people to be able to pay that?

  With a bitter laugh, Rayne shook his head. No, they did not expect people to be able to pay that. At least not the commonfolk. It was a well-known fact that the lord’s faction regarded the increasing number of commoner students attending their prized Academy as a blight upon the city. The costs for the academy’s upkeep were only a facade for their plan to reduce those numbers. It galled Rayne, and yet he stood powerless to stop it.

  Perhaps it was this sense of powerlessness that caused Rayne’s mistake, but he failed to notice the figure in front of him, seeing her only at the last second as he crashed into her.

  “Watch it!” the woman shouted, though Rayne could not imagine why. He had bounced off of her like a fly, and he could feel a dull ache in his ribs where he had been struck.

  “Sorry,” he attempted to apologize, but she was not having it.

  “Sorry?” she snarled. “You almost sent me flying. Why don’t you watch where you’re going?”

  Unable to say anything in his defense, Rayne was about to apologize again when the lady’s companion stepped in.

  “Calm down, Keris, I know this guy. He’s a clerk at the city office. Helped me out yesterday.” Giving Rayne a smile, he reached down and offered a hand which Rayne gladly accepted.

  A moment later, he was back on his feet, the adventurer having lifted him as effortlessly as Rayne might have lifted an inkpot. Sure enough, it was the same man he had seen yesterday, the one who’d made more in a single job than Rayne had all day.

  Patting Rayne’s chest to help dust him off, the man smiled apologetically. “Sorry about Keris. We’re about to head out on a mission, and she’s a bit on edge.”

  “No, it was my fault. My apologies,” Rayne told him, directing a short bow to Keris, who stood with arms folded off to the side.

  With a light snort, she let her arms fall. “It’s fine. Just watch where you’re going next time.”

  Promising that he would do just that, Rayne bounded off, leaving the two adventurers to go on about their day. As he did, a thought began to form. Rather than walking to the market as he normally did, he instead changed course, heading not for his job at the clerk’s office, but for another district entirely.

  Two ideas dominated Rayne’s thoughts as he walked. The first was the need for money. Without gold, Issa would be expelled from the academy, and her future ruined. The second was the need for secrecy. Because what he was planning would surely infuriate his sister, and the last thing he wanted to do was deal with that educated hellion and her flawless rhetoric.

  All too soon, he arrived at his destination, the choice weighing heavy on his mind. Was this right? Even if she could not graduate from the Academy, Issa would still have a decent future ahead of her. She was bright, extraordinarily so, and surely someone would recognize her talent and offer her a position befitting such a genius.

  A dark shadow fell over Rayne’s face. Unfortunately, he could not entertain such optimistic whims. The Academy was more than just an institution of learning. It was a place to form connections, to develop relationships with those who controlled not just Torid but the kingdom itself, and the degree it granted them offered its graduates opportunities and a level of freedom unparalleled among all the schools in the province. The capital had the Grand Academy, but out here, The Academy was the best of the best. If Issa was forced to stop now, then he would be directly responsible for destroying the promising path she was walking, and that was not something he could stomach.

  Taking a deep breath to steel himself, Rayne entered the Adventurer’s district. Technically speaking, it was located in the same outer ring as the Dregs, but it was its own distinct district, lacking the appalling poverty that characterized the Dregs.

  Central to it all was the Adventurer’s Guildhall, a large building that towered over the shops and houses in its surroundings. Built into the very wall of the city, it was three stories tall, and both the materials used in its construction and the street in front of it were of much better make than anything in the Dregs.

  Indeed, as Rayne walked down the street, he noticed the nicer looking shops and living quarters all conveniently placed to cater to adventurers trying to live as close to their jobs as possible. It was a sound business plan: if an adventurer was going on a mission and needed a longer sword, then how convenient it was there was a blacksmith right outside the Guildhall.

  The streets were abuzz with activity as he walked, with people walking by in parties of three to five, all dressed in leather or steel with their weapons prominently displayed. Occasionally, he’d even spot the distinct colors of a mage clothed not in any armor but instead fancy robes, with staffs of every conceivable material gripped in their hands.

  Torid was not a large city, and it was not long before Rayne’s destination grew near, and any thoughts of gawking fled his mind entirely. He came to a stop before the center of the district, the Guildhall. It was a large, square-built, wooden building nestled right up against the city walls, at least three stories tall with the second and third floors jutting out over the entrance.

  Adorning the walls were numerous flags and banners, each with their own distinctive sigil. He could recognize the two largest flags as being those of the Kingdom and the city, but many of the smaller banners were foreign to him, with fantastical creatures and monsters and even numbers near the bottoms.

  He knew his sister would not approve. She would drop out of the Academy in a heartbeat to find a job if she so much as sensed that he was considering becoming an adventurer. They might even manage a better life for it, move to a slightly nicer district and have slightly better meals. That would only be in the short term, though. It wasn’t fair to drag her down and keep her from realizing her potential just because some rich assholes had decided to make the Academy a private club.

  Rayne nearly spat at the thought. Issa deserved to be more than a mere fruit stall owner, cutting fruits in the market for those with means. She was fated to be a scholar, or perhaps a high-powered bureaucrat, putting her mind to use for the advancement of the kingdom as a whole. And she could not do that if her brother faltered here. She needed to succeed, and for that to happen, he needed to take a risk. This wasn’t a betrayal, it was for her own good.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Repeating that simple mantra in his head, Rayne pushed open the doors to the hall and entered the adventurer’s guild.

  The first thing he noticed upon entering was how large the interior was. The entire building was essentially one giant, open-air room. The bottom floor was monopolized on one side by clerks sat at their desks assisting adventurers, off to another side was a large group crowded around the wall. Over their heads, he could spot a board littered with papers. The other side was filled to the brim with tables and adventurers loudly discussing their next job or just chatting with one another.

  Near the walls were balconies with yet more tables upon them that allowed those on top to look down on the rest. Hanging from the balconies were old and worn gear. Broken swords, rusted helmets, chest plates with nasty holes through them, there was one shield given an unusual amount of space that was half melted. He supposed they each had a story around them and briefly wondered if his own gear would ever adorn the walls.

  Wrong idea. You’re here to earn money, not glory.

  Above the broken armaments on the second floor was another set of balconies composing the third floor. These ones had long banners adorning them similar to the ones he had been unable to recognize outside, and they fluttered down prettily over the hubbub on the ground floor.

  Returning his gaze forward, Rayne could also see another set of stairs on the wall opposite him, descending downwards, a vault perhaps or a basement storeroom.

  For a moment, Rayne just gazed around in wonder. It was a much grander building than he was used to, and far more imposing than he had been prepared for. It filled his mind with idle thoughts of heroics and glory, and he had to shake his head in order to dislodge them for the second time before beginning his search of a place to register.

  It was very loud inside. Adventurers of every stripe were shouting about needing specific roles for a party or loudly discussing various facets of a job they had just taken. Each seemed determined to drown out all the others, the relative volume similar to that of a stadium during the annual games. Rayne bore it all with what he hoped was an aloof expression as he made his way to what he assumed were the administrators of the guild, a collection of administrator-looking people who sat behind a large wooden desk built directly into the back wall.

  There were four of them, and they were all discussing with adventurers, giving out coins or stamping what must have been mission contracts similar to the one the adventurer from earlier had handed him two days back.

  Getting into line, Rayne waited. After what felt like hours but in reality had been no more than fifteen minutes, he found himself standing before one very unimpressed woman, the look in her eyes screaming at him that he didn’t belong here. He took a deep breath before saying anything and swallowed his nerves.

  “I’m here to become an adventurer?” It came out so meekly that even he wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.

  She nodded. “Name?”

  “Rayne.”

  “You got any previous adventuring or related experience? Soldiering, guard duty, the like?”

  Rayne shook his head. “Nothing past mandatory service, ma’am.”

  “Alright.” Motioning towards an emerald globe to his right, she glanced at him. “Place your hand on the orb. You’ll feel a pulling sensation. That’s normal. Don’t remove your hand from the orb, and it will all be over with in a jiffy.”

  Staring at the orb, Rayne’s eyes drifted back to her. “What is it?”

  “A measurement device. This will measure your general level of ability. D-rankers are immediately accepted into the guild and promoted straight to Silver-tier on a probationary basis. Everyone else has to go through initiation if they want to join.”

  With some sense of trepidation, and the small hope that he would be assigned a D-rank—whatever that was—Rayne put his hand on the device. The moment his fingertips brushed the surface of the orb, it shone brightly, the emerald color intensifying as it grew brighter. For a moment, Rayne felt nothing, then a tugging sensation just above his navel made its presence known, growing stronger by the second.

  Alarmed, he wanted to pull his hand back, but the words of the receptionist echoed in his mind, and he resolutely stood firm, the orb continuing to glow brightly as the sensation grew stronger. After ten seconds, it resided, and the light grew dim.

  Before Rayne could ask what it had accomplished, he was distracted by a new sight. On the surface of the orb, words had appeared, scrawled neatly across the emerald-colored glass.

  [Rayne]

  Strength - F (6/10)

  Agility - E (11/50)

  Dexterity - F (9/10)

  Constitution - F (5/10)

  Magic Power - F (Unawakened)

  Looking up, Rayne could immediately tell that the receptionist’s interest in him had waned. The orb was clearly a device that measured potential, and from what he could tell, he had failed. At least in the eyes of the receptionist.

  With an expression that was disinterested, but not unkind, she gazed at him. “You’re sure you want to be an adventurer, honey? ‘Cause let me tell you, it’s not an easy profession. I’ve seen better applicants than you die on their first mission.”

  For a moment, Rayne faltered, but then a vision of Issa floated to mind, her face downcast and her eyes dull as she chopped fruits for customers in the market, and his resolve returned. “I’m sure.”

  Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, “It’s your funeral,” she rolled her eyes and reached below the solid slab of oak that acted as her desk. When her hand returned, it was holding a small map which she spread across the hardwood countertop.

  Leaning in, Rayne immediately recognized it as a map of the city and its surrounding wilderness. He had dealt with similar maps a few times as a clerk, though none quite as detailed as this. Every single stream, trail, and cave was marked in excruciating detail, with little letters next to them that looked like descriptions rather than names.

  “Initiation is in three days. You’ll make your way here. ”She tapped her finger to a small clearing a little ways north of the city “There’ll be signs and people to help you along. The important thing to remember is just to leave through the north gate.” She rolled the map back up and put it away, the bored expression never leaving her face.

  “That’s it? You can’t tell me anything else?” Rayne asked, trepidation visible on his face. He knew that being an adventurer was no walk in the park, but this was not the welcome he had been expecting, and it made him nervous.

  The receptionist let her cheek rest against her fist as she leaned against the desk, her eyes roaming over him again before she sighed.

  “No offense, kid,” she said in a tone that told him he should very much be offended, “but being an adventurer ain’t really an occupation for… dreamers. My advice? Go back to your parents and read less fairy tales.”

  His eyes narrowed at the suggestion. “I’m here for initiation.” This time, he spoke much more clearly, but the woman just rolled her eyes.

  “Three days, north gate. We’ll provide the gear, but it’s a loan. You lose it, you pay for it.” With that, she reached below her desk and grabbed a small green piece of cloth with the guild’s insignia emblazoned on it. “The day of the test, take that to the armory on the second floor. Someone will be there to kit you out.”

  He made to grab the cloth but she pulled it back before he could.

  “This isn’t free. The second you accept this, you’ll have taken a loan with the guild that will be paid back, whether by you or your next of kin.”

  When his hand didn’t recede, she brought it back and let him snatch it away.

  “Three days,” she echoed as Rayne stalked off. “Initiation after that is a month from now. So don’t be late.”

  Too irritated to respond cordially, Rayne settled with a simple nod, not even turning to look in her direction as he left the guild and its annoying receptionist behind.