Seraphine led the way back to into the foyer to start the tour. “Alright, this here is the grand foyer of the guild building. The banners hanging from the roof are the sigils of the former guild masters. Once a guild master retires his sigil is added to the banners above” Seraphine explained to the students. Sam looked up at the multicolored banners hanging from the ceiling. There were hundreds of them which signified how long this guild branch had existed. “Please follow me here to the right where we have the tavern” Seraphine said as she led them through the door on the right side of the foyer.

  They entered a large room that smelled of beer and roasted meat. There were around 30 long tables each capable of fitting at least 8 people at each. On the right-hand side there was a bar. There were racks filled with wine and casks of beer sat on the bench waiting to be tapped. Down the end of the room was what looked to be a food serving area. There were metal pots with ladles sticking out of them. “There’s normally some down time around this time of the day, so the cooks are prepping meals for the late afternoon and evening when adventurers start getting back from their quests” Seraphine said. “During peak hours this place is packed to the rafters” she said turning back around and heading back into the foyer.

  The students followed after the vice guild master through to another door on the left side of the foyer. As they entered they immediately realized that this was an armory. “This here is the guild armory. It serves a dual purpose. The first is as a weapons shop providing basic weapons for those going on quests that require a different type of weapons than those they normally carry. The second is to provide adventurers with specialized equipment that isn’t normally found in the city. This equipment is loaned out to those who need it to complete a quest.

  Sam took a brief look around the room eyeing some simple blades and shields. “I think I will drop back in here again before we head back, I want to see if I can get a short sword” Sam whispered to Albert who was standing next to him also eyeing some of the equipment on display. “I might have to join you. I know we will be diving the “Small Cave of the Undead” as our first dungeon and there are many narrow passageways you need to pass through. A short sword and a short mace are a must” he explained. “I see, I hope my first week allowance will cover it” Sam said. “If not I can loan you a few silvers” Albert said. “Thanks, I might need them if I’m to get both weapons” Sam said before Seraphine spoke again. “On top of weapons you can also get some basic potions or purchase alchemical ingredients to brew your own” she explained.

  “Now that you have seen the armory let’s move onto the most important room of the guild” she said as she exited the room and leading them back towards the reception desk and through a door just off to the left side of it.

  “Welcome to the Quest Hall” Seraphine announced as they walked in through the open double doors. Sam looked around as they entered. It was a huge room with a few long tables that could probably seat four of five parties on each. On the right side of the room next to the door Sam saw a reception desk. This looked like it was linked with the reception desk on the other side of wall he thought as he looked at it. The wall jutted out a bit where the desk was, which made him think that there was probably another small room between the two reception desks.

  Sam pulled his gaze away from the reception desk and looked out into the rest of the room where there were eight large boards posted up around the room, three on either side of the room and one at each end which Sam assumed must be the quest boards. His assumption was proven correct when Seraphine spoke again.

  “These here are the eight quest board where the quests issued by the guild are posted for parties to accept. At this end of the room is the G rank quest board. This is where you will all find the quests that you can accept. Then on the left side you have the F, D and B rank quest boards. Then on the right you have the E, C and A rank quest boards with the S or S+ quest board at the end” she explained. Sam had a quick look at the G rank quest board that was next to them at the entrance. There were a couple of quests listed at the bottom of the board which instead of the having a single post like the rest had little tabs that could be torn off at the bottom of the quest page. Sam decided to ask about it.

  “Excuse me Vice Guild Master. Why are these quests at the bottom different to those above it?” Sam asked her. “Ah yes, those ones at the bottom are daily quests. They are quests that can be taken by multiple parties each day. Each one allows 10 separate parties to take one each day they are posted. These are mostly simple chore like quests. For example, this one here is an herb gathering quest” Seraphine explained as she pulled one of the quests off of the board. This one is posted every day as we’re constantly in need of healing herbs. These are crushed into a paste by the alchemists and rubbed onto small wounds. The magical properties of the crushed herbs provided a small healing effect. They’re a lot weaker than a lesser healing potion but also much cheaper and easier to acquire and the guild goes through a lot of them every day. Therefore, we have a daily quest that new adventures can take to earn a bit of money and help fulfill our quota” she explained. “I see, thank you for the explanation” Sam said with a slight bow. That seemed very useful for solo adventurers who not only didn’t have a party but were also inexperienced. Sam through as they moved out of the quest hall.

  Seraphine led them back towards the entrance of the guild where there was a staircase up to the second floor. It was quite a steep climb because of the high ceilings of the foyer but once they reached the top Sam noticed that the height of the ceiling of the second floor was a more normal height. He was glad as he didn’t fancy having to climb up another set of stairs as steep as these first ones were. There was a small sitting room at the top of the stairs with a small table and a couple of couches. Aside from that there were also a couple of corridors branching out from the small sitting room. One went down the left-hand side of the building and the other was directly in front of them at the top of the stairs. Seraphine made a B line down the left-hand side. As they walked down the corridor Sam noticed that there were quite a few staff only rooms. Likely for filing paperwork and the such he thought dismissing the observation. Finally, they reached the end of the corridor where a picture of a bookshelf sat on a sign above the door. Seraphine opened the door and walked through it with the students following close behind her.

  As they entered the room Sam realized that it was a library. “This here is the guild library. Kept here are records of all the known dungeons in the country. There are maps and dungeon floor guides telling you what monsters spawn and the best ways to beat them as well as a lot of other information regarding adventurers from the guild and passed quests complete here. The diver’s sub guild doesn’t have its own library, so their records are also stored here. You can find hundreds of diving reports for parties that dive into the local dungeons” Seraphine revealed. “This here is Maxine. She has been the librarian here for nearly two hundred years now. Please come to her for any questions you may have” the Vice Guild Masters said as she putting her hand on the shoulder of a dwarven woman sat behind a small reception desk. “Pleasure to meet you all. I hope you will find something interesting in the library you will want to get a copy of” Maxine said. “Ah yes, that’s right. You can request a copy of any records you find in the library as well. It will cost you to have it produced but it’s a small fee that covers the cost of the paper and the time to copy the book without using one of the magic scribing tools” she said. “Now enough about the books follow me to something a little more interesting” Seraphine said the librarian rolling her eyes behind her in exasperation. Sam thought the library was plenty interesting but after another quick look around and a mental note to come back to see if he could find anything good, he joined the rest of the students in following the Vice Guild Master out of the room.

  When they entered the next room the first thing Sam’s attention was drawn to was a huge round table at the front of the room. That was then followed by about 10 rows of chairs facing towards a huge magic board similar to those in the academy classrooms. Something else Sam noticed was that the big table had a small hole in the middle of it which was around the size of a teacup.

  “This here is the Strategy and War Room. It is used for planning major expeditions or emergency responses to dungeon breaks or reports of adventurers in trouble. This is once again something the diver’s guild building doesn’t have. The diver’s sub guild branch building is one of the smallest in the country despite being in the capital. There is a good reason for it thought. You’ll probably understand when you see it” the vice guild master said. “Now where was I? Ah yes, so this is the strategy and war room. There is a large magic board for displaying information and formations and such. The most impressive thing about this room, however, is the magic projector in the middle of the table. It is capable of displaying a three-dimensional image above the table. This is normally a dungeon map but there are a few other things we display on it as well. It isn’t used all that often however as it takes a lot of magic power to charge so any high-ranking magic crystals that are brought in to be sold to the guild are normally stored to keep this thing powered” she explained.

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  “Wow, that’s amazing” Darren exclaimed. “Yeah, I wonder if my family can get something like that” replied Albert. “Unlikely, they’re incredibly expensive. So expensive that there is only 2 of them in the Royal Palace” Alice interjected. “Seriously, I wonder where they get them from?” Sam said. “Excuse me Vice Guild Master, how did the guild acquire the projector?” asked Chloe who had stayed mostly quite during the tour so far.

  “Where did we get it? Well, it was donated a long time ago by a very powerful adventurer as to how he got it. Well, we have been unable to reverse engineer them so the only way to get them is by going down to the 750th floor of the SS ranked dungeon Schmerz located in the south of The Albrixion Empire” Seraphine replied. “No wonder they’re so rare and expensive then” Albert said. “There have only ever been about 8 successful dives down to the 750th floor and each time they returned with one of the projectors. Other than the 3 here in Keivania, The Holy Kingdom of Marthias has one and the other 4 are within the Albrixion Empire. Well, at least as far as I know” Seraphine said. “Wait, how did we get so many?” Sam asked. This time it was Alice who answered. “One of my ancestors maybe 8 or 9 generations back was the leader of one of the parties that made it down to floor 750. They actually did it twice the second time completing the dungeon. That is where the two that are at the palace came from at least, although I know not of where this one came from” she said. “Well, time is getting on and you all still have much to do so let’s move onto the next room shall we?” Seraphine said as she beckoned the students out of the room while she checked her pocket watch.

  “This next room is the Alchemy and Enchanting Labs. There are three sealed enchanting rooms and 5 brewing stations including utensils. This is where adventurers can prepare for their adventures by brewing their own potions. They can also sell them to the guild after they have been made so they can be sold to other adventurers. We used to actually have 5 sealed enchanting rooms, but something happened and two of them got blown up and repairing them was deemed impossible. This was only recently however, and they should be rebuilt sometime in the next year. Does anyone have a quick question before we move up to the third floor?” Seraphine asked.

  “Are any of the potion stations set up specifically for the basic potions. For example, less equipment so us rookies can better navigate the workspace?” one of the other students asked. “Yes, stations four and five only have the basic equipment and is normally reserved for lower ranked adventurers. Stations one through to three have all the standard equipment for brewing Basic to Advanced type potions” Seraphine answered. “Alright, if there are no more questions let move on up to the third floor” Seraphine said directing the students towards another staircase on the opposite side of the building to the first one they went up.

  “Alright, the first room we’re going to be checking out here on the third floor is the Sparring Dojo” Seraphine said as she opened up the first door on the left after reaching the top of the stairs. “This here is our indoor sparring dojo. There are 4 partitioned areas that parties can book to practice hand to hand sparing or sword sparring with wooden sword which can be loaned. It’s not used that often as most people prefer using the dueling arena outside for sparring but there are those who prefer it inside as it’s closer to what it’s like in some of the dungeons” she explained. “How much does it cost to rent out one of the four areas?” asked Darren. “It cost just 5 copper coins to rent one of the four areas out for an hour or 15 for all four” she replied. “Alright, let’s move on as we’re running out of time” she said as she guided them out of the room.

  The students followed the vice guild master down to the end of the hall where she stopped. “These here are the guild dormitories. The guild rents these out to visiting party’s and newly registered adventurers who have left their homes and have nowhere to stay” Seraphine explained. They are also used as part of the infirmary for those who cannot yet leave but don’t need to be constantly monitored. And speaking of the infirmary. Jackson, come and meet our newest recruits” Seraphine called down the other side of the hallway at a man approaching them.

  “Good afternoon kids. I hope our Vice Guild Master isn’t causing you all too much trouble” he teased. “Enough of that. This here is the guild doctor Jackson Mint former healer of the Double Moon party” she introduced. “Pleasure to meet you all. I do hope I won’t be seeing much of you though” he said. “He means to be careful and not get hurt as we don’t want you all spending too much time in the infirmary” Seraphine corrected. “Isn’t that what I just said” Jackson questioned. Sam saw the Vice Guild Master roll her eyes at that last comment. They sure seemed like a lot of fun he mused as another person approached from behind at a quick pace.

  “Doctor, Michael Douwiger has gone into shock again” a woman wearing a white unform said. “Damn it, any word on when the antivenom will arrive?” he asked. “Still a couple of hours. They’ve only just returned with the required doses of venom” she replied. “Okay, sorry kids, I’ve got to go” the doctor said as he gave a quick wave and jogged off after who Sam assumed was a nurse. “Anorack Vemom, nasty stuff and the whole party got caught in a trap” Seraphine explained. “Barely made it out of the dungeon, half the party was unconscious, and the other half were dragging those who were unconscious out with them. The three of them collapsed right past the entrance. We also only had enough antivenom potion for two of them” she explained to them. A somber mood lingered over the top of them before Seraphine spoke again. “Well, other than the infirmary which is at the end of this corridor that is it for the third floor. The last two places to go are the rooftop and then we’ll do a quick once over the facilities outside. Now come along” she said to them in a cheery tone clearly trying to lighten the mood.

  The students followed the Vice Guild Master up another set of stairs up onto the rooftop. “Here to our left are the rooftop gardens. There are a few flower beds and some grass as well as a couple of benches to sit on. It’s mostly used by staff during their lunch breaks, but anyone is welcome to come and sit up here” Seraphine said. “Finally, to the right is a greenhouse where we grow some herbs that tend to be hard to find in the winter. There isn’t anything growing now as most of the local herbs would cook in the heat but once late autumn rolls around it will be filled up with all the herbs that we will need to hopefully get us through the winter without having to buy large quantities from merchants at inflated prices” she explained.

  Everyone was given a few minutes to walk around the rooftop. You could get a good look over the city from the roof of the guild building and Sam could see the hill that the academy grounds were sitting on to the south of them. To the southwest Sam could see what looked like a large castle. “Hey Alice, that castle over there, is that where you live?” he asked her. “No, the castle sits in front of the palace to defend it if the walls are breached. It’s more of a fortress than a place for royalty to live hence why the palace was built behind it” she said. “Oh, I see” he replied as he turned his attention back to the horizon.

  They made it back down to the ground floor and were now being shown around the training grounds. They were a bit like the academy’s combat arena and archery range except combined into the same area and with no seating for spectators. They were also a lot smaller than that of the academy which made sense considering they were limited with space here unlike the academy grounds.

  They made their way back into the foyer where they ended the tour. “Alright everyone I hope you all enjoyed the tour of the guild building and the facilities we provided to guild members. I hope to see you all frequenting the guild from time to time even outside of your dungeon diving classes. Especially after you have completed your first dive and done a couple of gathering quests” she said excitedly. “Anyway, I’ve got some paperwork to get back to. Good luck with your diver’s guild registrations” she said as she headed off towards the staff only door.

  “Alright everyone we’ll be taking the carriages over to the diver’s guild building now. Please get into the same carriage that you arrived here in” Professor Voss instructed. Sam had nearly forgotten she was here. She hadn’t said anything since she introduced the Vice Guild Master. “Guess that means no stopping by the armory” Albert said. The students followed the professor’s instructions and got back into the carriages they arrived in and departed the adventurer’s guild a short time after heading for the diver’s guild.