Upon entering the Guild Hall, even this early in the morning, it was busy. People milled about, most of them adventurers, some just standing or sitting, talking amongst each other. Others maintained equipment, and many were by the quest board, looking at quests.

  Ember stared around reluctantly. “So, how is this going to work? Am I just going to follow you around like a lost puppy? Maybe be your shadow or something?”

  Chris’s gaze was directed at the throngs of people milling about. “Well, like I said last night, I can’t use you as a poster boy. You’re not strong enough for that. Even though you might have a strong weapon, it doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone’s going to respect you, because you don’t have the strength to back up your weapon itself.

  “However, because I’m a Transitional, more people are going to take me seriously. So until you reach a point where your name is well known within the Guild system, we can’t use your reputation to our advantage. For now, I’ll be doing the recruiting. In the meantime, you can just do whatever, I guess.”

  “How long will it take for me to reach that point?”

  He shrugged, “Well, first you need to be able to actually use the thing. Then you’ll need at least one major accomplishment. The second one shouldn’t be hard to achieve if we find the right party members. The first one, though?” He sucks air through his mouth sharply.

  “That could be a significantly larger problem. If we’re lucky, you’ll adapt to the sword quickly; if we’re not, it could be months if not years.”

  Chris trailed off as his eyes focused in on somebody, someone Ember couldn’t see. “We’ll meet back here in like an hour or two.” And with that, he headed off into the crowd.

  Ember was a little upset that he was so useless, but at the same time, he also understood that there wasn’t much he could do. So with a dejected sigh, he decided to explore the Guild Hall. He never really got to explore last night, as they had just pretty much signed up and then went straight to bed. This time, he was determined to look around.

  Of course, the Guild Hall had its beautiful little waterfalls sprinkling all around. But what drew Ember’s attention were the multiple doors situated on the backside of the wall, not too far from the poster board. There were six, and each one had a name tag or a nameplate over it. Of course, he couldn’t read it, so he didn’t really know what was behind them. But now was as good a time as any to explore, so he went through the left-middle one to see what was inside.

  What he found wasn’t what he was expecting. It was a garden, maybe a quarter mile in width and length—and it was gorgeous. There were red-leaved trees scattered about and what looked to be plants similar to holly bushes with little red berries all around them. The grass was cut perfectly, and little gravel pathways cut through the garden.

  All around, there were people who were either reading books or relaxing in the fresh-smelling room, which was strange to Ember. Why is this here? A garden in the middle of the city isn’t that weird, but an enclosed one in what is basically the Middle Ages? One that is temperature-controlled, and this large? Feels a tad excessive.

  Ember walked through the garden. It was very tranquil, and it smelled fresh. Like cut grass and roses. The air was warm and slightly moist. Similar to a morning right after it rained.

  Despite the fact that it was inside a building, it was well-controlled temperature-wise. Maybe some kind of humidifier? Nobody paid him any mind as he walked among the trees and the holly-like bushes. Every now and then, he’d come across a fantastical statue, a seahorse, or a serpent, and other marine creatures. A small brook ran throughout the tranquil place, the low gurgling only adding to the calming atmosphere.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  After walking across a small bridge, he came across a mural. It almost covered an entire wall. He had noticed it before, not paying it much mind, but only now realized its magnificence. On the mural was a sea serpent. It had whiskers on its face, its fins were shaped like cresting waves, and its scales were rainbow-colored. There was something calming and mystical about it, and unnatural.

  Ember stared at it for several minutes in a trance-like state. When he finally looked away, a man had snuck up beside him, making him jump in surprise. If it even was a man.

  The person was dressed in a black robe that covered the majority of their body, and they wore black boots and gloves. Their face was masked and was the most peculiar part of their getup. It was gold and white, and where the eyes should be were star-shaped cutouts. Of course, one couldn’t see into the eye holes; it was just black, but it was a curious look. The most unnerving thing about this person was the fact that they emitted almost no sound or presence. It was like they didn’t even exist.

  On their back was a spear. The tip was kind of bulbous in shape, and the rest of it was wrapped in bandages, preventing Ember or anyone else from seeing what was underneath.

  The person stared at the mural and said, “Quite a magnificent sight, isn’t it? The Water God. A being said to have existed for time immemorial. Of course, it hasn’t been seen for a thousand years, but this mural depicts it quite well, don’t you think?”

  The voice was clearly a man’s, but it had an odd reverberation to it, almost ethereal in quality. It didn’t really fit his image, only making him seem even stranger.

  “A Water God?” Ember asked.

  “That’s what the locals say, at least.”

  Huh. What a strange guy. “Can I help you?” Ember asked after a moment.

  The masked man turned his face toward him. “No, you can’t.”

  His mask then tilted toward the sword at Ember’s hip, which Ember instinctively covered. He had been getting stares this entire time, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

  “That’s a powerful weapon you have there. Make sure you learn to master it and hold it close. It will be a significant part of your fate.”

  “My fate?” Ember looked back up, but the man was gone. There were no traces; he was nowhere in sight. Even the rocks, where there should have been small indents for footprints, showed nothing. Ember looked around for several minutes, but the strange man never reappeared. It was as if he was never there to begin with.

  “That wasn’t creepy at all,” he muttered. Are my nightmare finally getting to me? I hope not. Daydreams are not a good sign. Or would they be daymares?

  He decided that he didn’t want to stick around in the garden anymore. It didn’t feel as inviting as it once did, the tranquility and warmth feeling a little more muted. He quickly left.

  He spent the next hour exploring the other various areas of the Guild Hall. There was a massive library in one of the doors, a pool in another one for some odd reason, another had a massive amphitheater, and he wasn’t able to get to the last two doors before Chris called him over.

  “I see you’ve been getting familiar,” his companion observed.

  Ember shrugged. “Had nothing else to do. This place has a lot of things that I wasn’t expecting. It feels a little more advanced than I had expected.”

  “Right, well, I think I finally found someone, so let me go introduce you to him. I’m gonna need you to get along with him so that we can get this quest done quickly, get our money, and then hopefully work on a dungeon run.”

  “A dungeon run?”

  “Yes. That’s where the exciting stuff happens.”

  Ember doubted that, but he went along with it. Hopefully, this new party member would be someone he’d get along with, like Chris said—but he wasn’t too trusting, especially after that odd encounter he’d just had.

  Ember fell in step with Chris, gripping his sword's hilt, “This world is confusing. Things keep happening I can’t explain, and every day feels like a new challenge. Will it always be like this?”

  His companion shrugged, “Probably. A lot isn’t known about the world. I come across things I never expected all the time. That’s just the way the frontier works. It’s part of the reason so many are drawn to it. The mystique and all that bullshit.”

  Ember could tell Chris wasn’t one of them. Then again, he was trying to become a king. Worrying about what-ifs was probably at the bottom of his list.