SWNOVELXO Chapter 3: the bright siblings
"I am Maia, I run the herb emporium and this is-"
"Bjorg Dawn, aspiring adventurer", Bjorg explained, shifting his weight onto his staff, the blue crystal pulsating with a subtle light which caught this guard's attention.
"If you aren't an adventurer yet, how did you get that staff then, it looks magical" the guard looked closer, cocking his head to the side.
"It is a staff given to me by my master. You see, I am a wizard's apprentice. Unfortunately, my master's latest experiment teleported me very far away. I do not know how to return to my master, so, to make some coin, I want to become an adventurer" Bjorg smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth. The guardsman scrutinised him for another few seconds before shrugging.
"Sounds logical to me. Proceed"
That was easier than expected, then again, his story checked out and it wasn't as if he was a common man carrying that magic weapon. He was clearly a wizard, his forget me not blue robes were much alike the ones any other wizard would wear.
Walking past the gate, he marvelled at the bustling streets all around them. Street vendors were shouting out their slogans, "fresh herbs directly from the great forest of Tob!", "nothing beats a cooked potato, fresh and well seasoned!" And so much more.
"Pay them no heed. They are just relying on the fact that they are placed near the entrance of the city, their products are inferior and overpriced", Maria told him.
Children were playing in the streets, chasing each other, one girl in particular carried a toy wooden sword, with which he beat her friends, "got you!", she called out every time she hit someone.
As they walked deeper into the city, the stalls dwindled, replaced by shops and residential apartments. It was however not any less full and lively. Maia took his hand and dragged him into an alley and then her shop. It was modest, a small thing which smelled of herbal medicine and was lit by candles instead of the continual light lamps which illuminated the streets at night, "it isn't much but it is all mine"
Maia looked so proud of herself, puffing out her chest like a bird.
"It is cozy" Bjorg could appreciate the simple look of the room.
"Take a seat as I get your money, 90 silver pieces, yes?" Maia walked into the back, disappearing from sight as Bjorg took a seat, taking in the scenery. The shelves were filled with strange herbs, none of which he recognised but there were also potions, which were labelled, all of them were blue in color, so it was likely the only way of distinguishing them. Health potion, 1 gold 10 silver, minor paralysis poison, 40 silver, muscle regeneration potion, 50 silver. How did he know what these labels said, you might ask? Well, it wasn't a totally alien language, it was just German, so he could read it perfectly fine. Interesting… from what he gathered, copper rank adventurers could make a few silver coins for a simple job, which would have to be split between party members, leaving each with maybe one silver. Goblin ears were worth 7 copper pieces each, which meant that most low ranking adventurers would rather hunt goblins than take on any of the escort quests or others in that same vein. Food and boarding for one week was four silver coins at the tavern. Maia returned to the room with a full bag of silver coins in her hands, "I must thank you again for saving me, come by anytime if you need herbs or potions"
Bjorg nodded slowly, opening the bag. Indeed there were silver coins in there. He didn't count them. He trusted the woman enough to not find that necessary, "I will definitely come back here in the future, see you around Miss Maia"
He stood up, brushing dirt off his robes and walked out, waving at the woman behind him.
He wandered through the streets for an hour before he found the adventurers guild. The room was big, with multiple wooden round tables dotted across it, adventurers sitting around them. He walked towards the counter. An older woman sat behind it but she wasn't frail, no, she was muscular, probably a retired adventurer, with a sword on her waist, a warrior type most likely, "what do you need deary?"
"I want to register as an adventurer. I am an arcane spellcaster capable of casting first tier magic", Bjorg twirled his staff in his hands.
"Oh my, of course, of course. We are low on spellcasters at the moment. Do you have the 5 copper registration fee?"
"I have some goblin ears to exchange", he handed her the goblin ears and she processed them, three ears, 21 copper coins, 16 After the registration fee.
He was handed a copper plate, which he hung from his neck and he turned around to face the other adventurers. They looked at him curiously, having heard of him being a spellcaster. A group of three young men, two shorter with brown hair and that same mischievous smile on their faces, twins maybe, one in white robes, a priest and one in leather armor with an axe, and one taller, approached him. The taller man, with fiery red hair and a lithe build, carrying a bow, spoke first, "hello, I'm Larry and these two are Remi and Alex Bright, we are brothers and as you can see, we have plenty of muscle and even a healer with Alex but we lack an arcane spellcaster. We are planning on hunting some goblins near the great forest of Tob, Would you like to join us? We split the reward fairly of course"
They were all copper rank adventurers. He would've preferred someone stronger but beggars can't be choosers and besides, he was weak too, so perhaps it was for the best, "sure, I don't see why not"
"Great, we will meet up here tomorrow at sunrise, don't be late" Larry smiled broadly. His twin brothers, Remi and Alex raised their mugs to him before drinking from them.