Aurora Scroll

Viers spent the rest of the day cooped up in his room, resting and recharging his enervated body after all that time he’d live on the road.

The sun came up on the next day and Viers was refreshed. He had an ample good night’s sleep, on a decent bed. He cleaned his body before bed and had a healing factor as a pick me up. Viers was ready to butt heads with the Sin City head-on.

Wearing his partly tattered clothes, Viers left the Bird Nest inn to get his first objective done.

First order of business… this place.

The Adventurer’s Guild.

Viers was looking at the big building with complex emotion.

I must register as a newbie adventurer… for the third time! I swear this is the last account reroll. My identity as Avel of Javia will be an adventurer without criminal records. Mark my words! Enough is enough!

As soon as Viers went in, judging eyes fell upon him from the other adventurers. Viers took a moment to assess the company/competition then he went to the clerk.

“Greetings. I want to register as an adventurer.”

The receptionist girl threw the glass guild tag like throwing a dog treat to a mangy dog.

“There’s your tag. Go complete some quest, tiger.”

Just like that. There was no test, no interview, no exam, no nothing.

“That’s it?” Viers asked. This was too different from his two previous registrations.

“When you get to obsidian rank, then you’ll be worth my time. The available quests are over there. At least try not to die on the first day.”

The receptionist girl gave him an ice-cold welcome and shooed him away with her hand.

Huh. Didn't see that one coming.

The other adventurers smirked and talked in whispers, mostly about ‘another lamb coming to the slaughter’.

Viers was visibly wearing new clothes and his equipment was spick and span. He looked just like a green rich kid who just bought some gear with his parents’ money.

He paid them no mind and went to the quest board. After a while, he picked up two quests. It was at high difficulty for Glass-ranked adventurers which mainly consist of Level 0s and 1s. Since Viers was a Level 2 those two quests would be a cinch.

He would take Obsidian quests if he could, the same rank quests where he hunted Giant Chicken eggs with Lena and the others. But Glass adventurers must take Glass quests if they are solo.

Oh?

Something caught his attention. There was a section on the guild where posters of wanted criminals were displayed. Viers’ face exists among them.

WANTED

Cain of Ur

150 gold

Alive Only

The poster was issued by the church so it must be the work of Freya and her master. There was a bit of detail about his Level, affinities, abilities, histories, and charges.

Since Viers wore face covering as if he was in the harshest desert of Arabia, nobody had seen his face.

150 gold coins should be about... the price of a house plus land? Not bad for my first bounty. Alive only? They really want to look inside my head. The wanted name is Cain, a false name but the face is Viers’, my true face. Can't be helped, I didn't have a face-changing Arte and still don't. If this has spread to Peja town, my parents and some others might have recognized my face. There’s a possibility that my true identity will come to light.

Fortunately, Viers had already cut relationships with his family. Even if they investigate that angle, they would only find a dead end.

Unless they use some bizarre mumbo-jumbo like divination or some such.

His train of thought was interrupted by a rowdy sound. Viers turned in that direction and saw the other adventurers were placing bets on when he was going to die. Most bet on the first week, a sizable portion on the first three days.

Adventurers in a city of sin, how can you expect them to be a decent bunch?

Viers, unintimidated, walked to the boorish man that seemed to be the organizer.

“I want to place a bet.”

“Sure, kid. Bet away, hehehe.”

The man was looking at Viers as he was giving them free money. Naturally, Viers bet for himself to reach obsidian.

“I have had training so I’m confident in reaching obsidian. 5 gold coins,” Viers placed the coins on the table and the crowd went wild with jeering.

“Damn. That’s a lot of money!”

“What a poor boy. He will lose his hard-earned money, kakaka!”

“What are you talking about, man? It is our duty as adults to teach children about the dangers of gambling.”

The boorish man chipped in his words of wisdom.

“Bwahhahaha! Look kid, we have seen people like you croak in the first day fighting Giant Cockroaches in the sewers. They are kids with ‘training’ and ‘experience’ like you. Go back to your mommy’s tits, kid, before the monsters take a bite of your fatty butt.”

Clearly he mistook Viers as a sheltered boy from the surroundings of Marakkus dreaming to be a grand adventurer. The face covering was unusual but that was it. As for the youth himself, there was nothing remarkable about him.

The people that hang out in the guild were almost all Pathseekers, But since Viers did not let any of his Victa leak out, they thought he was a Level 0.

“Excuse me, sir and sirs, have you ever heard the saying that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover?” All this time, his tone was polite.

“Book? You mean those collections of paper things with words in them? I have no use of it. I don't need to read, I have people doing it for me! Ha!”

The guy’s companion cheered as if he was saying something badass and not something tragic.

“It appears talking is useless. Good day gents. I’ll seek you out when I reach obsidian.”

Another round of mockery as Viers walked out. There was even a thrown vegetable which he dodged with a slight sidestep.

“You better be ready to pay up, Crunch-mouth Ago.”

Someone spoke after Viers left.

“Ahhh, Mister too-cool-to-speak-up spoke! To what do we owe the pleasure, your highness?” Ago, the boorish man spoke with an undermining tone.

The one called ‘your highness’ was a handsome young human in his early twenties wearing a rogue-style outfit in brown and black colors. The most eye-catching thing about him was the bandolier filled with knives across his chest.

He didn't reply to the question, walked to Ago’s table, and put a bet on that Viers would reach obsidian. Another 5 gold coins.

“He reeks of strength,” said Alan. A Level 3 and Bronze ranked adventurer, also known as the Prince of Thieves.

He left after saying his piece.

The guild floor went still like a frozen pond. The people who had bet against Viers were having second thoughts, some were regretting their decision, as did Ago.

***

When he walked the streets, Viers did so with vigilance. He felt eyes on him, judging, assessing, weighing the risk. It was no different than being surrounded by man-eating beasts, hundreds of them.

But Viers did not become a Pathseeker yesterday. He didn't flaunt his strength to threaten the potential attackers but he simply walked without giving any openings to exploit. Confident but not cocky. His senses spread out, one arm hidden beneath his robe.

Was it grabbing the hilt of his sword? Or was it hiding small weaponry? Perhaps an Arte was ready to blast the head of the first attacker?

Such thoughts made some pause. And those who saw his gait soon understood that Viers was not an easy prey.

I wonder how I can find ‘that’ place… Oh! I got an idea.

He moved to the next street and started walking absentmindedly. He also looked left and right at interesting landmarks as if he was a tourist. Sure enough, 15 minutes later, a brave soul decided to take a swing.

A street urchin, face dirty with soot. The boy was about 12 years old, only skin and bones but his hands moved with the precision and smoothness of a well-oiled machine.

“Perfect! Thank you for volunteering to be my guide.”

“Aaah! Let me go!”

Viers caught his hand before he could steal his coin pouch. Viers took a silver coin with his other hand and dangled it in front of the boy’s face.

“I’m in need of direction. If you can lead me to the place, then this is yours.”

“...Where?” The boy warily said.

Viers whispered two words then he let go of his hand.

“...Follow me.”

See? Local guide. So helpful.

“If I find what I want from the place you recommended, I’ll give you two coins. Give it your best shot,” Viers added an incentive, giving the boy more motivation.

Viers followed the street urchin without question but he kept being vigilant. Getting mugged then stabbed was not in his to-do list today. In this city, the order of those two might be backward.

After twists and turns through the alleys, Viers was led to the bad part of the town.

Worse than the main street.

Not in a sense that it was full of trash and smelled like a pile of dung, no.

The streets were cleaner and more well maintained. The shops were nicer looking, and the people around Viers wore better clothes. It was a place where the people that belonged to the underworld came to visit. The place where the guards turned a blind eye.

“We’re here,” the boy spoke to Viers before shouting to the inside. “Hey boss, got you a customer.”

A man in his fifties with sunken eyes and a round belly wearing expensive formal clothes greeted Viers.

“Welcome to my humble establishment, honored customer. My name is Barnabas, at your service. We have all kinds of merchandise for sale. What kind of slave are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for a combat slave. Gender or race doesn't matter. Young, Level 2 or below.”