The Outlands

Tess gently tugged Jacob further into the guild’s main hall, trying to get her stunned friend moving again. “Remember, don’t stare.” She hissed. “I know it’s hard.”

“You can’t tell me you didn’t stare when you first saw this too!” Jacob whispered back.

“People already knew we were from Mael, and it was way more crowded than this, so we were less conspicuous.” Ellie replied. “We’re trying to keep the fact that you’re from Mael on the down-low, since people are going to treat you differently if they know. Someone might try and take advantage of you.”

“You can’t tell me you’re any different!” Jacob protested.

“Unfortunately, we are.” Tess responded, steering the group towards the line for people with personal receptionists. “People aren’t going to try and take advantage of us because we’re related to Gramps, and they’re way too scared of him to do anything.”

“Him?” Jacob said incredulously. “He’s the least threatening guy I know! He put relighting candles on your birthday cake that one time and nearly died laughing when you couldn’t blow them out! He can’t be that scary.”

“Well, this is a familiar conversation.” Graham said, taking his place behind the desk. “As I told Tess, him being goofy doesn’t mean he’s any less scary. Trust me, if you had seen him in action, you wouldn’t think the same way.” He paused, giving Jacob a careful look. “You’re a new face around here, are you a friend of these two?”

“Yeah, from school.” Tess replied. “We’re here to get him registered, and Gramps told us to use this line.”

Understanding dawned on Graham’s face. “I see how it is. Alright, give me a moment and I’ll pull out the papers…” He reached down, groped around for a moment, and then looked up, giving them an embarrassed smile. “I forgot, we don’t keep registration papers at this desk. Let me go grab some.” He stood up and walked over to one of the other counters, where he began talking to the receptionist manning it.

“Is he a minotaur?” Jacob asked. “Looks like one, but I don’t want to assume, you know?”

“Yeah.” Ellie confirmed. “Really nice guy, too. Puts up with the weirdness that Tess and I occasionally put him through without any complaint.”

Graham returned to the counter, sitting down and sliding a small stack of papers and a pen to Jacob. “So, this is going to work a little differently than normal.” He said, pulling something up on the desk’s computer. “Ignore any fields that have to do with where you live, other identification, and things that would immediately give you away as being from Mael. The Guildmaster will figure out something to put there that won’t be too conspicuous. If you have questions about if something would give you away or any other questions, feel free to ask, alright?”

Jacob nodded, and began filling out the sheet in front of him. There was a minute or so of him writing away before he looked up at Graham questioningly. “So…couple of questions.” he began. “First, this ‘Special Skills’ field, does that refer to general things I know how to do or is it like…the abilities you get from dungeons or whatever?”

“Proper Skills you get from dungeons.” Graham confirmed. “Most newcomers don’t have any, so we don’t bother checking for them, but occasionally they do, so we have that field. There’s a rare item or two that will grant Skills that our scanners won’t pick up very well, so we just like to make sure.”

Jacob nodded. “I’ll just put ‘none’, then. So, for my other question, it wants to know about prior experience and capabilities, is that like…work experience in general or just dungeon-y type stuff or…?”

“Work experience in general.” Graham confirmed. “Freelancers don’t just raid dungeons, they do all sorts of odd jobs, so it’s important to know beforehand what they’re able to do. For you specifically, you probably shouldn’t name any specifics, since that’ll…probably give things away, but go ahead and list anything you can do.”

“Alright.” Jacob replied, getting back to work on the application. It took him a few more minutes to finish, but once he had, he slid the papers back over to Graham. “Alright, now what?”

“Now, we go get you scanned.” Graham replied. “Ess is going to be your scanner today, room 210. Tess and Ellie should be able to lead you there.”

Tess nodded. “Yup. Thanks, Graham!”

Graham gave them a smile. “Don’t mention it. You all have fun, alright?”

“Will do!” Ellie replied, and the group left the counter and began trekking back through the halls of the guild until they reached room 210. Tess knocked, and there was some shuffling from within the room.

“Come in.” A sleepy voice said. The group entered the room, and Ess, the elf woman who had first scanned Tess and Ellie, was waiting for them inside. “Oh, it’s you two again.” She said. “Here for your friend?”

“Yes.” Ellie said. “We were hoping to get him scanned, you can take care of that, right?”

“That’s my job. Sit there, if you would.” She said, motioning to a chair at a table with a large glass ball similar to the one that was first used to scan Tess and Ellie. Jacob obediently sat, and Ess sat down across from him. “Place your hands on the ball and we’ll have this done soon.”

Jacob did so, and Ess stared into the ball for a few moments before nodding and standing up. “Give me a moment to grab the sheet and then we’ll be done.”

“That’s it?” Jacob asked.

“That’s it.” Ess confirmed. “Give me a moment.” She exited the room, leaving the three alone.

“So…what are your stats, and what’s normal?” Jacob asked.

“Um…well, I’ve got the worst, and Ellie has the best.” Tess said. “I guess average is…five for each of the normal stats and fifty for HP and stuff? I don’t really have a good frame of reference for what’s normal, though, so take that with a grain of salt.”

“So…they’re not that important then, right? I’m assuming the gods only pick people who are really good, so…”

Ellie shook her head. “No, Tess is just an exception, stats are super important. Fortune is working off of different rules than the others.”

“I…see. So, do I just…hope that I don’t get trash, then?” Jacob said, somewhat apprehensively.

“Pretty much.” Ellie replied. “It’s almost completely random, to my knowledge. I mean, apparently genetics have some limited role in things, but not that much. And it’s basically going to be entirely random if your parents would have had good stats or not, so don’t worry about it.”

The door opened and Ess came back in. “Here you are.” She said, handing Jacob a paper.

Jacob read over it for a moment, then shrugged. “Seems…average. High magic defense, but nothing else really noteworthy, I think.”

“It’s definitely serviceable.” Ess said lazily. “You can make a living with those stats, no problem. Anyway, you’re all done, your ID will be ready in a couple of hours, so come pick it up then. If you don’t, we’ll send it to your address within the week. Now, hurry on out, we need to keep this room open for other registrants, and I’m sure you have other plans.”

“We do, thank you Ess.” Tess said, opening the door and stepping out. She was followed Ellie and Jacob, whom she took to the room that she usually met up with Alice in.

“Yo, all done?” Alice said as they walked in.

“Yup.” Tess replied. “They’re making his ID now.”

“Good. What’s the plan?”

Tess shrugged. “Dunno, I think we should leave it up to Jacob. What would you like to do first?” She asked, turning to Jacob. “We can see the sights of the city, run through the beginner dungeon once or twice…basically whatever, really.”

“Um, I mean, going through a dungeon sounds like a neat experience, but I don’t think any of us are exactly equipped to do that right now.”

Alice snorted. “Tess is always equipped to do something, and Ellie and I could run through Slime Tower with our bare hands if we wanted to. It’s really not a threatening dungeon at all.”

“I have some hand-me-down armor and a weapon that you can use, though.” Tess replied, reaching into her bag and pulling out the quarterstaff and leather armor she had been given on her first day in the Outlands. “I don’t really use weapons and have way better armor so…”

“He has a point, though, we should probably change out of our uniforms, at least.” Ellie said.

“Oh, yeah, wouldn’t those have kind given us away as being from the same school?” Jacob asked. “I thought we were trying to avoid that.”

“Nah, you’re good.” Alice replied. “No one’s ever really seen those two in their uniforms before, they’re more likely to think that you’re some friend they met at some noble’s fancy party or something.”

“Yeah, but why would they be at some noble’s fancy party?” Jacob responded. “It’s not like they could just waltz into one, and I don’t think they’re exactly important enough to get an invite, no offense.”

Alice smirked. “Wrong there. I’ve turned down at least three requests to introduce Tess to some pretty important people, and I’m not even her guardian, just a teacher. I’m sure the Guildmaster’s gotten way more. Plus, they’ve got a literal crown princess joining their party in a couple of weeks.”

“You’re messing with me, right?” Jacob asked, laughing nervously. “There’s no way that’s true.”

“Their grandfather is the de-facto ruler of the most important plane, the strongest mage alive, and, in a way, the most influential person in existence right now.” Alice said. “In many respects, they’re far more important than the crown princess of some random kingdom. As far as most people know, they may not have any direct impact on how laws change, but they’re the people the Guildmaster cherishes most, and knowing them could mean having some degree of influence with him.”

“So…what makes this other princess any different, then? Why does she get to meet them when everyone else doesn’t?”

“She’s the descendant of an old colleague of Gramps’s.” Tess said. “We met her by happenstance, and one thing led to another and…well, she has promise, so we’re going to try things out with her for a bit, see how it goes.”

“I…see.” Jacob replied. “I suppose that…makes sense. Well, let’s give this thing a go, and who knows, maybe I’ll like it and I can look into joining your party too?”

Tess and Ellie shared a look. “Um…we’ll have to wait and see what stuff you get from running the dungeon.” Ellie said. “Our party is…well, for the time being it’s only open to people who are really above the average. We’ll have to see if you’re capable of keeping up before we can make a decision.”

“Sorry, I know it’s kind of disappointing.” Tess said. “But, well, right now we can’t afford to take on people we aren’t sure will be able to keep up. We’re going to be doing some dangerous stuff while working for the gods, and we don’t want you to get hurt. Even if you can’t, though, we’re still totally down to run a few dungeons with you from time to time.”

“Tell you what,” Alice said, “if the day comes that you can handily beat one of Tess’s attendants in single combat, then that’ll probably be indication that you’re equipped to keep up with her. Call it a goal of sorts.”

Jacob frowned. “Attendants? What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, right, forgot to mention.” Tess said. “I have a couple of…well, think of them like tamed and customized monsters. Um…here, Silky, Isabella, come introduce yourselves.”

Understood! Silky said enthusiastically, scuttling out from within Tess’s shirt and onto her shoulder. She gave a little salute and then an approximation of a bow while Jacob stared on.

“This is Silky.” Tess said, giving the spider a couple of fond pats. “She’s super smart and loyal, a real ball of sunshine to be around.” Tess could feel Silky beaming with pride, so she continued. “She’s even able to read and write a little, so don’t go underestimating her.”

“…I suppose it is my turn.” Isabella droned, floating out of Tess and giving a small curtsey. “I am Isabella.” She said, then retreated back to her usual hiding place.

“She’s a little shy, but she’s every bit as much a valuable member of our little crew as Silky.” Tess explained.

Jacob gave Silky a calculating look. “I…just have to beat one of them, right?” He asked. “I could…probably take Silky.”

In response, Silky raised her front legs and swiped them in front of her as if she was a boxer warming up for a match.

“Don’t even think about it.” Ellie warned. “Not yet. Silky may look like just a slightly bigger than normal spider, but she could kill you in a heartbeat. She’s made from the boss of a level thirtyish dungeon, just without the whole giant-size thing that normally comes with, trying to squash her with a shoe wouldn’t cut it. You’re not anywhere near strong enough to think about fighting her.”

“Oh.” Jacob replied, deflating a little. “I suppose we should…get ready, then.”

“Yeah. Sorry.” Tess said, handing him the quarterstaff and armor. “This stuff is magic, it’ll automatically resize itself. You can go ahead and put it on over your clothes, I need to go to a changing room since my armor is more like…well, regular clothes, honestly.”

“And I’m just going to change into regular clothes.” Ellie said. “Shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes.”

Jacob nodded. “Alright, I’ll just…wait here, I guess.”

“Let me know if you’re having issues.” Alice volunteered. “I wear heavy armor, so I know a thing or two about getting stuff on.”

Tess and Ellie left the room and began heading towards the changing room further down the hallway. “Do you think we were…too harsh? About the party thing, that is.” Tess asked.

“I don’t know.” Ellie replied, frowning. “It’s hard to tell with this sort of thing. I don’t know if there was a gentler way to say that, but I think we were pretty close to as gentle as we could get without being patronizing. Who knows, maybe he will get something crazy and we can add him to our party, but…”

Tess nodded. “Yeah. I don’t really like his odds, though. It would be nice, but…yeah.” They reached the changing rooms and the two girls parted momentarily, slipping into separate stalls as they changed their clothing.

A minute or so later, Tess left the changing room. She had chosen to keep her armor in suit mode for the time being, since Alice had yet to see it, but she imagined that she’d usually keep it as casual clothing; wearing a suit all the time seemed like it’d draw attention and she didn’t want that.

Ellie appeared to still be changing, so Tess waited outside the door for her to finish. It probably wasn’t necessary, but Tess didn’t want Ellie to somehow end up waiting for her when she had already finished, so she did it just in case. Plus, Jacob was still probably getting his armor on, so it wasn’t really a waste of time, either.

After another couple of minutes, the door to Ellie’s stall opened. “Thanks for waiting, Tess, I…” Ellie trailed off as she stared at Tess, mouth still slightly open as her eyes roamed up and down Tess’s body.

“What?” Tess asked, blushing. “You saw me in this earlier, didn’t you get this all out of your system then?”

“I…thought so, but I guess not.” Ellie replied sheepishly. “Um…we should get back to the room, Jacob’s probably done changing.”

The two walked back to the room, where Jacob was indeed done changing.

“Woah.” Alice said, blinking in surprise. “Where’d you get that? What is that?”

Tess blushed, looking away. “Um, Fortune had Gramps custom-order it as something to specifically go with my Blessing. She wanted me to have a uniform of sorts so I wouldn’t look scruffy while dealing with gambling places. But, um, if I do this,” she said, pouring a bit of Mana into it and watching as it changed to a simple shirt and pants, “it changes to something better for day to day wear.”

Alice raised an eyebrow, walking over and looking intently at the clothing. “This is some seriously good stuff.” She said. “I’m no expert, but this is definitely not your ordinary set of armor, right? Mind if I ask who made it?”

“Um…”

“I believe his name was…Kane Io, I think.” Tess said, pretending she was trying to remember his name. Hopefully that would help give the idea that Kane was just someone Gramps had commissioned, not another Appointed.

Alice gave a low whistle. “Kane himself, eh? That musta cost the Guildmaster an arm and a leg, he doesn’t do things cheap.”

“I don’t know, it didn’t…seem like it was costing Gramps a bunch of money.” Tess said. “That’s not the impression I got, anyway. Maybe Kane owed him a favor or something?”

Alice nodded. “That makes sense. Mind if I ask what exactly it does?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. As long as Jacob is fine with hearing it and wouldn’t rather just get to things straight away.”

“What? Um, no, that’s, uh, fine.” Jacob said awkwardly, looking away.

“Are you sure? It can wait until later.” Alice offered.

“No, really, um, just getting used to the armor.” Jacob replied.

Ellie slung an arm around his shoulder. “You’re just flustered because she looked good in that suit, aren’t you?” She teased.

“No!” Jacob said quickly.

Ellie raised an eyebrow. “Really now?”

Jacob sighed. “Fine. Maybe a little. It’s just…still a little weird for me, like, she was a guy before and then she just suddenly wasn’t and I didn’t remember and then…I don’t know, I just had to reconcile that again.”

“What she’s not telling you is that she was way more flustered when she first saw the suit than you are.” Tess said, smiling slightly.

“Hey, you didn’t have to tell him that!” Ellie protested, face turning red.

“Just don’t worry about it, I get it.” Tess said. “It was weird for all of us at first. Alice, I’ll tell you about the armor later, I think it would be for the best if we got him actually doing things for a bit.”

“Sounds good.” Alice said. “So, Slime Tower, then?”

“Yeah.” Tess said. “Let’s go.”