Arriving at the second floor of the building, Meeka led them down a hall and stopped in front of a door labeled 12. “Here is your room and your key.” Meeka said as she opened the room and handed Lumina the key. “If you find anything unsatisfactory, please let the front desk know. You are responsible for your key and will be charged if you lose it. The Gorging Gorgon is not responsible for any lost or stolen items. Please enjoy your stay.” Everything Meeka had said came out in an almost emotionless and static speech. It was as if she was a recording that had said the same words hundreds of times before.

  Accepting the key and thanking Meeka, Lumina walked into the room. She didn’t know what to expect. This was her first time in a new city. She had never been to an inn. What greeted her was a sparsely decorated room with two beds. Each bed in the back corner on either side with a singular window that overlooked the central market. In front of each bed was a large chest that patrons could store their items inside. They needed to have their own padlock if they wanted to lock it though.

  Eldin entered the room shortly after his friend closing the door behind him. Lumina had already taken the bed in the back right corner next to the bathroom door. Taking the bed on the left side of the room, Eldin began methodically unpacking most of his camping gear and placing it in the provided trunk at the foot of his bed.

  While Eldin was removing things from his pack, Lumina tossed her entire pack into the trunk. Taking a seat on her bed she laid down giving her body a brief respite as she waited for Eldin to finish. “All set?” Lumina asked aloud when she heard the thud of a chest closing.

  “Ready to go. I wonder what the guilds will be like?” Eldin mused as he opened the door and the two went back downstairs and informed Inyoka where they were going before heading out.

  Once again outside, it was almost as if she had walked into a solid barrier of sound. The sheer difference in volume and multitude of noises assaulted Lumina once again. It wasn’t painful, but the current sounds were far more than what she was used to. “I just need to adapt to my surroundings.” She told herself. Thinking back to the many lessons she had learned from her training with Milli.

  Doing the best she could to calm herself down, she focused on trying to make sense of everything around her, blindly following Eldin. Taking the time to filter what she was hearing; Lumina was surprised at how many people were talking about her.

  “A Fereece with a sword? What are the guards thinking?”

  “Keep an eye on that one.”

  “You better not come over here.”

  “Is that a wild Fereece roaming the city?”

  “That kid better put a leash on her.”

  Looking around, trying to find the source of the various comments. Lumina was greeted with frowns and threats on all sides.

  “Go back to the forest!” One of the citizens jeered as he walked by Eldin and Lumina.

  “I thought this city locked up thieves.” Another woman said passing by. Acting and speaking as if she was greatly undignified for even having to walk past her.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Finally aware of the attention his friend was garnering, Eldin looked over to Lumina, “Hey. You doing alright?” He asked as he stopped in the middle of the market square to get his bearings before proceeding.

  Lumina had never felt such animosity from so many people at once. Even with warnings from her mentors, the negative feelings being directed at her all at once was almost overwhelming. Still, she held her head high. If the comments were bothering her, she didn’t show. “The only one who controls how you feel is yourself.” Lumina muttered to herself, quoting a pearl of wisdom gained from her master.

  Eldin couldn’t believe the immense hatred that was pitted against his friend. They didn’t even try to talk to her. Part of him knew to expect this after the warnings from his parents. But the other part really wished it wasn’t true. The short trip from their lodging to one of the guilds felt more arduous than their multi-day journey to Gildale.

  Letting out a sigh of relief now that he was standing in front of a solid stone structure labeled Adventurer’s Guild. Eldin pushed the thick iron bound wooden double doors open and walked in. While not nearly as noisy or busy as the Gorging Gorgon, the feeling of uneasiness from outside only intensified.

  Wild Fereece, as Meeka termed it. Where a rare find and extremely valuable. He had just walked into a building full of seasoned sell-swords and whatever else might be in here with his friend in tow. While no one immediately got out of their seat, it was plain to see that a few of the patrons were already eyeing Lumina.

  Walking up to the large counter that was being used as a front desk, Eldin was greeted by a cheery and overly animated woman. “Welcome to Gildale’s Adventuring Guild. My name is Raymi. What can I assist you with today?” Eldin didn’t respond. He didn’t even realize that he had been asked a question.

  Next to him were hefty wood tables filled with rough-looking men, inside a solid stone structure. In front of him was a colorfully dressed woman with bright blond hair and fascinating purple eyes. The stark contrast between the two was too blatant not to be caught off guard.

  The bright purple vest with flairs of yellow along the collar demanded his attention. It was at this point that Eldin realized two things. He didn’t think purple could be that bright, and that she was talking to him. “What?” He responded finally grounding himself from the energetically colorful assault.

  “How can I help you?” She said again, this time with a slight giggle.

  “Right. Well. Uhh. We aren’t from here and we were looking to join a guild. This was the first we came across. Do you know what other guilds are in the city.” He asked.

  With a heart-warming smile, Raymi started talking, “Of course. We have the Adventurer’s Guild. This building. There is the: Merchant’s Guild, Craftsman Guild, Captain’s Guild, RMA Association, and so on.” Eldin nodded silently as he continued talking to Raymi.

  Taking a better look of the inside of the guild, Lumina was able to pick out many veterans and also very new adventurers as well. Some of them looked younger than Eldin, others much older.

  As she sized up the spectating mercenaries, Lumina noticed that all of them had a unique leather patch with a small colored metallic plate embedded into it. Some had it as part of their armor, others kept it on their belt. She guessed it was something similar to the badge Eldin had. Turning back to face the receptionist Lumina interjected herself into the conversation. “What exactly is an Adventuring Guild? Is it not just a mercenary guild?”

  Raymi looked over to Lumina, “We used to be a Mercenary Guild. It only attracted mercenaries, which in this time of relative peace wasn’t very lucrative. The idea of switching it to an adventuring guild was mine. Instead of only receiving offers for hired bodyguards and the like. We now accept requests that involve gathering materials for shops, cleaning, repairing, guarding. You name it. We accept it.”

  Eldin couldn’t help but cough to stifle a chuckle, “So this is an Odd Job Guild.” He froze once he felt the steely piercing stare of the colorful woman in front of him.

  “It’s an adventuring guild.” Raymi emphasized with an uncharacteristic amount of malice that completely caught him off-guard. “We specialize in helping people find solutions to their problems and provide the wonders of adventure all at the same time.”

  Like the flipping of a coin, Raymi immediately returned to her usual bubbly energetic self and started talking to Lumina, “I haven’t seen a Fereece try to become an adventurer. You must be excited.”

  “What’s an adventurer?” Lumina asked.