Dan followed Nora for about an hour in silence through the swamp. Occasionally, they spotted a creature of some sort, but Nora’s low light vision was good enough that they were able to avoid them. Inside, he couldn’t help but wonder how he would be able to match up to some of the more imposing creatures they avoided. The giant thin-legged spider that vaguely resembled a daddy long legs in particular piqued his curiosity. He managed to suppress that curiosity as he followed Nora. Finally, the mossy swamp gave way to a grassy plains.
“It should be safe to talk now,” she said, still setting a brisk pace. “Now that we’re out of the swamp, there shouldn’t be anything too threatening until nightfall. The last thing we needed while we raced Tanloff was to get stuck in a fight with a blood bear or a mire strider.”
“Why did you ask about magic anyway?” Dan asked. “I know it’s not super common, but I would assume you have mages of your own.”
“We do,” she replied with a helpless shrug without turning to look at him. “But most of them consider themselves too important to join the adventurer’s guild. Mages around here are elves or older humans.
“Elves don’t work with humans unless they’re the ones employing us.” Nora hopped nimbly across an empty expanse of water as she spoke. “Even then, working with an elf isn’t something I would recommend. They tend to have a rather troubling definition of ‘acceptable losses’ where we’re concerned.
Her voice dripped with disdain. “Human mages tend to be pompous and usually only know a few spells. They adventure with guild members from time to time, but they usually have really strict contracts that require bodyguards.”
“Most of the humans with any real talent skip town to join the Imperial Army.” Nora stopped for a second to glance at Dan as he struggled to keep up with her. “You might be putting your life on the line, but there you’ll at least get proper magical training and runescripted armor. The mages on Twilight that are worth a damn are all ex-imperial soldiers. They don’t need to gather mana or prove anything, so they tend not to work as adventurers. When they do go to a hunting ground, they usually do it together.”
“You look like an ex-imperial,” she glanced back at Dan, “but your armor isn’t quite there. The helmet is runescripted, but the rest of it is just well-crafted. I don’t think they would be caught dead in armor as weak as that. Still, you took the nightglider’s ‘sonic screech’ skill like a champ, and you were able to cast your own spells quickly and to good effect. That’s what I would expect out of an imperial.
“In short,” Nora shrugged. “You might be a deserter, or you might be a merc, but the one thing you aren’t is from around here.”
“I’m not imperial,” Dan replied as he jogged after her. “Just a traveler with a couple spells under his belt.”
“Very mysterious.” She nodded sagely. “I’m sure it spreads all of the village girls’ knees. Just the right amount of brooding with a hint of danger.”
Dan didn’t reply, mostly because he was blushing, and he didn’t want Nora to be able to hear it. She had been unduly perceptive so far, and he really didn’t trust his voice. He was pretty sure she was just making fun of him, but none of the women in his life had accused him of picking up on social cues. Who knew, maybe she was flirting with him. They kept jogging for another five or so minutes before she spoke again.
“But really, mysterious traveling swamp mage. What is your name? I don’t know what etiquette is like wherever you’re from, but I’ve already told you mine. It just seems easier to have something to call you. Also, if you’re going to make something up, try and keep it normal-sounding. I’m not going to be able to call you ‘Nemesis, the Hand of Darkness’ or something stupid like that without cracking up.”
“Sorry about that.” Dan blushed again. “My name is Daniel Thrush, but I usually go by Dan; is that good enough for you?”
“Good enough for now,” she replied. “We’ll be getting to Morganville shortly. Just let me do the talking. We get travelers from time to time, but usually you’re sent by a high enough leveled space mage that you arrive right next to the beacon.”
“Wait…” She glanced over her shoulder at Dan, squinting through the gloom. “You aren’t a wanted criminal or something, are you? Your teleportation has all the hallmarks of an amateurish hack job. Probably something that a low-ranked and desperate human would pull off. Sounds like someone running from the Imperial Army or a House Guard to me.”
Dan’s eyes widened slightly. She had hit it on the nose there. His teleportation had been shitty because he was weak, and any real member-state in the Tellask Empire would have access to properly-trained space mages. He had to admit that the skillset he had displayed to date screamed criminal, thief, or deserter. His mind spun frantically as he tried to come up with a believable excuse on the spot. He couldn’t believe that they hadn’t planned for this back at the Foundation. A real failure to plan ahead there. God, what did he even know about lying? Mix in a pinch of truth, try not to make it too outlandish. Shit. This is why he preferred lab to field work.
“Uh, I don’t think I’m a criminal,” he began slowly, voice hesitant. “I was training to be a bodyguard, maybe join the Imperial Army, but then a ship crashed down near my town. Where I’m from, there’s very limited access to monsters, so people who rank up are either rich or murderers. I figured that this was my chance to get somewhere else, kill some monsters, and gain some ranks. Maybe I wasn’t allowed to use the teleportation pad without permission? I suppose that might make me some brand of criminal.”
“Oh that’s fine.” She winked at him. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t a runescript thief or a serial killer after my mana or something. We’re a tributary state out here, not actually part of the Empire. No one is going to care too much about which House’s serf you were, so long as you’re willing to work.”
“Amberell,” he supplied, naming the one elven house he actually knew the name of. “I was training to work for House Amberell.”
“Tough break.” She winced. “The Orakh are pushing them pretty hard, and human soldiers under them don’t have all that great of a survival rate. A lot of the local levies end up working for them and not coming back. Made the soldiering profession unpopular as of late, but on the other hand, The Orakh are on our doorstep. Still, the last I heard, House Amberell was using us for spell fodder. I’m all for fighting the Orakh, but I would prefer to actually have a chance at coming home at the end of the day.”
They jogged in silence until Morganville’s walls loomed in front of them. By that point, Dan was sucking down harsh breaths. He might be in better shape, but jogging 3-4 miles across rough terrain while wearing a backpack and armor wasn’t his idea of fun. Of course, it was still better than being stuck outside the walls whenever this ‘nightfall’ happened. Nora hadn’t been very specific about the creatures that came out at night, but Dan was content to avoid them for now. Again, he was more in the mood for magical bunnies and chipmunks.
The gates to the town were open, and Nora went ahead to talk to one of the guards posted on duty. The other one stared him down, as if daring Dan to commit some sort of crime. He focused his energy on catching his breath and looking innocent.
A minute or two later, a cheerful Nora waved him over and they walked into the town together. Dan didn’t know what to expect from a magical medieval town, but Morganville impressed him. Every hundred or so feet, mana-infused crystals gave off enough light that he no longer had to squint. The shops were made of evenly-cut stone bricks and most of them had a fresh coat of paint or lime. There were even some planters with flowers in them outside the more affluent-looking stores. Just inside the gate stood a stable where horses and more exotic mounts were quartered while their owners explored the town. The town itself was bustling, but not crowded. Dan had to watch where he was going, but as long as he was aware of his surroundings, he didn’t run a great risk of running into any of the residents.
While Dan remained intent on gazing about like a country bumpkin and making a spectacle of himself, Nora took him by the elbow and began guiding him through the streets. Fairly rapidly, the quality of the buildings faded. They still looked well-maintained, but she had clearly moved him to a more middle class quarter of the town. As they walked, a couple of the locals glanced at them, but quickly looked away. Dan blushed slightly. They certainly looked like they were on a date, something he hadn’t had any luck with since college. Come to think of it, remembering his ex-girlfriend, he wasn’t sure “luck” was the right term for his success back then.
Finally, they stopped outside of a two-story stone building. A sign, translated courtesy of Dan’s helmet, said simply ‘Morganville Adventurer’s Guild’ above a well-drawn crossed sword and bow. She made to step inside, then stopped. She looked back at Dan and frowned, chewing on her lower lip while she stared at him, deep in thought.
“Daniel,” she said slowly. “Do you have a class rune?”
He stared back at her blankly.
“Shit,” she said. “The good news is, that means you won’t be recognizable as an outcast or a deserter, but the bad news is that it will make you weak.”
“Wait!” Her eyes widened. “You’re casting spells without a class rune? You killed a blood bear without a class rune? What have they been feeding you on your homeworld, concentrated strength potions?”
“It might help,” he replied slowly, reluctant to betray his ignorance, “if you told me what a class rune is? I was just drilled in using a sword and casting spells. No one really explained things any further than that with me.”
“Ok,” she answered, shooting him a look out of the corner of her eye. “Almost everyone who fights for a living has a class rune. They’re expensive, but not crazy expensive, at least for a basic rune. Most importantly, they let a human use their mana without having to actually cast spells. They take the form of a runic tattoo on your body. Depending upon the strength of the person who gives you your class, the power of your class varies greatly. Power takes several forms. It can be the number of abilities your class grants, the efficiency with which it lets you use your mana, or the ability to improve your physical abilities or senses. As an example, fighter and brute are two of the more common classes. They let their user channel mana to improve their strength and stamina. Fighter has a couple slots to add on skills, such as the ability to project a weak mana shield or to increase their own mass, making them harder to tackle or grapple.
“I’m a ranger,” she turned and stared directly at Dan. “Technically, it’s an uncommon class, but we’re pretty common on Twilight given the light conditions. We get minor improvements to our hand-eye coordination, but my senses and low light vision are almost triple an ordinary human’s. Pretty much every adventurer team has at least one of us, to avoid some of the nastier monsters out there. Really, the only people who fight without classes are elves. They can manipulate mana directly, and it makes them much more powerful than a classed human. It just takes them hundreds of years to manage. We can still look into getting a class for you, but we will be telling everyone that you are classed as a mage. If I were you, I wouldn’t go around advertising that you can cast spells without a class rune. It would attract the wrong sort of attention. Amberell attention.”
“Got it.” Dan nodded, sweating slightly despite the chill. “I’m a mage, but I’m shy about my tattoo, so I don’t show it to anyone.”
“There we go,” she replied, most of her suspicious glare gone. “I knew you could use that big mage brain for something useful. Now, let’s go inside and get you registered. We can probably put a new team together pretty quickly if I advertise you as a thunder mage. Then, we can get some paying work and talk things over in more depth.”
Nora pushed the door open and walked into the building. The ground floor was a bar complete with the smell of stale beer, unwashed warrior, and the acidic tang of vomit covered in scented sawdust. Next to the bar stood a kiosk where a pleasant, middle-aged woman sat bored, above her head a sign stating blandly “administration.” Nora walked Dan over to the stand and stepped forward, a bright smile on her face.
“Opal!” Nora said cheerfully. “Just the wonderful person I want to see this fine night.”
“Ms. Strasshill,” the middle aged woman replied, nodding curtly. “I just gave Ishlar the herb job out in the swamp. You know the rules; your party will have to forfeit the downpayment and pay the penalty before you can get another job. Unless, of course, you have ten pounds of bloodvine and moon root hidden somewhere on you.”
“Unfortunately, I am no longer a member of Ishlar’s party,” Nora replied, her voice dripping with faux sorrow. “Ishlar left me to die out on the swamp and didn’t put together a rescue sortie, voiding my contract with him. I am a free agent, and one that was saved from Ishlar’s negligence by this strapping gentleman right here. Alas, he hasn’t joined the guild yet, so I am here to sponsor him.”
“Sure,” Opal said evenly, never taking her eyes off of Nora. “Nothing in the rules says you can’t sponsor a newbie while under contract. What’s his name and class?”
“Dan Bird,” Nora answered with a flourish. “Thunder mage.”
“Wait,” Dan butted in frantically, eyes glued to Opal’s pen as she began writing down his information. “My name is Dan Thrush. It must be the translation runes. A thrush is a type of bird; my last name isn’t Bird.”
“You do realize that you just said ‘a bird is a type of bird,’ right?” Nora asked with a grin.
Dan groaned. Apparently the translation runes weren’t all powerful. They didn’t have an analogue for thrush, so they improvised. He had never really cared one way or another about his last name, it was just a name after all, but Dan Bird just sounded… stupid.
“Dan Bird, thunder mage,” Opal finished her writing, much to Dan’s dismay. “Rank one, I presume?”
Dan nodded, sighing as Opal’s pen scribbled something further. He supposed that he could try to make a game of it, Dan Bird could be the superman to Dan Thrush’s Clark Kent. Maybe.
The door slammed open, disrupting Dan’s moping. In walked a six-foot-three-inch man. Every inch of him that wasn’t covered in gleaming steel plates was covered in bulging muscles. The man shined in an almost unhealthy way. Dan was tempted to ask Nora if Twilight had vaseline, because he was pretty sure that the man in the doorway had used it on his biceps. Before he could say anything snide, the man began shoving his way through the bar towards Dan. Vaguely, he could make out two individuals following him, but it was hard to focus on anything else when three hundred pounds of pro wrestler and armor was approaching this rapidly.
“Nora Strasshill!” The man exclaimed, pointing at the annoyed ranger. “What are you doing here? Your contract says you were supposed to guide the party towards any designated mineral or plant deposits. You never met back up with us after you ran off. We came back here to cancel the mission and pay the penalty, all because you couldn’t do a simple job!”
“Hello Ishlar.” She glared at the gigantic man. “Nice to see you again after you left me to my death out in the swamp. I don’t suppose you even bothered to send anyone to help when I was being chased by four nightgliders?”
