She navigated her way through the warren of buildings, steadily moving in the direction of the Wayfarer Aspirant’s Guild. It had taken her four trips with the thief Wisp showing her the way to memorize the location. And even now, she was starting to get turned around.
With her terrible sense of direction, she doubted she would receive a second class that had anything to do with exploring or mapmaking. Not that she thought demons had any classes like that. At best, they probably had one that ate mapmakers.
At the thought of her class, she pulled up her character sheet.
Piper Ashcroft
Race: Shadeling, Level 44
Class: Deceiver (Epic), Level 40
Attributes
Strength – 125
Dexterity – 70
Stamina - 60
Vitality – 30
Perception – 30
Swiftness - 70
Magic - 200
Mana - 750
Mana Regeneration – 750
Free Attribute Points - 0
Racial Skills (5/10)
- Demonic Blood, Level 33
- Demonic Fury, Level 1
- Demonic Intellect, Level 8
- Tail Strike, Level 12
- Quick Claw, Level 12
Skills (10/10)
- Ambush Detection, Level 5
- Animal Caretaker, Level 5
- Archery, Level 17
- Cooking, Level 6
- Enduring Casting, Level 11
- Identify, Level 10
- Hunting, Level 10
- Running, Level 12
- Stick Wielder, Level 1
- Subterfuge, Level 20
Spells (5/10)
- False Face, Level 20
- Truth Shroud, Level 24
- Umbral Terror, Level 5
- Veil of Lies, Level 16
- Wraithskin, Level 5
Since arriving in the city, she’d made almost no progress in her levels or skills. The only skill that had been improving was [Subterfuge]—not that she even knew what it did. But it must do something since she’d received a whopping 10 levels so far.
She’d also made some progress with her spells. During her travels in the city, she’d received an additional 10 levels in her spell [False Face]. Her spell [Truth Shroud] had also gained 8 levels, though she hadn’t felt anyone use [Identify] on her. Could higher levels somehow cloak the prickling sensation she normally felt from the skill?
Finally, she’d gained 2 levels in her [Veil of Lies] as she’d attempted to discover a way to conceal Gorebark. She hadn’t been successful yet, but additional levels were always nice.
Glancing up from her character sheet, she realized that she’d reached the Wayfarer Aspirants Guild. She’d been so busy reading that she hadn’t realized that she’d arrived.
The building loomed above her, with pale marble outer walls, and soaring columns. Two exquisitely carved statues of men holding long spears and round shields flanked the entrance. And for some unknowable reason, the sculptor had carved them stark naked.
Averting her gaze, she felt a blush coming on as she hurried up to the door where a woman stood guard in full armor. At her approach, the woman looked her up and down. Then she felt the prickling sensation on her skin that indicated the woman had used [Identify] on her.
“Go home,” the guard said in a raspy voice. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
Drawing herself up to her full height, which was barely to the woman’s shoulder, she tried to look imposing. And immediately failed. Still, she wasn’t going to back down. “I want to become an aspirant.”
“How old are you?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Come back when you’re off your mother’s apron strings.”
“I’ll be 14 in a few weeks,” she shot back, her brow furrowing as the woman laughed at her answer.
“Come back when you’re 18.”
“I’m going to be an aspirant,” she said. “Now let me in.”
“Do you know that they’re called gravebait?”
Piper nodded.
“And you know what that means?”
She nodded again.
“Your funeral, then.” The woman shrugged, her armor clinking. She stepped aside and opened the door for Piper.
After hesitating for a second, Piper strode through the entrance, trying to look like she belonged here. But her jaw nearly dropped as she stepped over the threshold to see a vast, crowded room. Most of the people milling about looked like heroes from light novels. Some were clad in shining armor, while others wore robes glowing with magical runes. A couple even had fantastical beasts at their side.
Piper plucked at her simple dress, suddenly feeling very out of place. No wonder the woman outside hadn’t wanted to let her in. Not only was she unarmed, but she didn’t have a single scrap of armor. All eyes in the room fixated on her before some of the closest aspirants began to snicker.
She held her head high as she walked over to the counter. While she tried to look unbothered by the spreading laughter, her face immediately betrayed her and flushed a deep red color. Which her illusion was more than happy to convey. Someday, she’d have to learn a way to stop that from happening.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
A young woman with dark curly hair looked up from a dusty tome at her approach. She didn’t look much older than Piper. “Hello!” she said cheerfully. “Are you looking to register as an aspirant?”
Piper nodded, her cheeks flushing an even darker shade of red. Most of the other aspirants were still looking in her direction and whispering. She even felt a prickle on her skin from someone using [Identify]—something incredibly rude to do—followed by a gasp.
She spun around to see a young man dressed in armor gaping at her with bulging eyes. At his side, he had an oversized lizard with shimmering scales. As she glared at him, his face went white as a sheet. Then he darted away with his reptile companion and disappeared into the crowd. A second later, she heard the front door opening and shutting.
That was strange, she thought to herself. I really hope I didn’t make another mistake with my illusion. Because if I did, I’m screwed.
“My name is Chloe,” the young woman at the counter said, interrupting Piper’s thoughts. “And just ignore them. Not everyone has rich parents to buy them gear. Now, what’s your name?”
“Piper Ashford,” she replied, relaxing slightly at Chloe’s sunny attitude.
The young woman scribbled in the massive book. “Racial level?”
“Level 35.”
Chloe pressed her lips together. “That’s a little bit low. Are you sure you don’t want to come back in a few years?”
“I really need this,” Piper said. “Please.
“I suppose… “Chloe trailed off before continuing. “Class and rarity?”
Piper was starting to regret her choice of class level. She’d been worried about drawing attention to herself by making it too high. But she’d inadvertently made it too low. If only she had talked to Lukas before coming here.
“I’m a level 27 hunter,” she said. “And it’s poor quality.”
More furious scribbling in the giant tome. “Next of kin to notify upon death?”
“My friend Ophelia is staying at the Dancing Gnome Inn.”
Chloe wrote down the information and then placed her quill aside. “As you know, imperial law states that you must have a group of at least four aspirants to attempt a quest. Do you have a group?”
Piper shook her head. In fact, she hadn’t known that. What else hadn’t Lukas told her about becoming an aspirant?
“I suppose you can try your luck in the room,” Chloe said. “I’m sure someone is looking for a ranged class for their group. For now, here’s your aspirant badge. Because you have a poor-quality class, it’s wood.”
Piper took the badge from the young woman. The insignia was about the size of her hand and felt surprisingly solid. In the center of the dark wood, a symbol of a stylized seedling had been carved into the surface.
After fastening the badge to her dress, she turned to gaze out across the room. Based on the number of people still sneering at her, she didn’t like her odds of finding a group. Of all the roadblocks she’d expected on her path to becoming a wayfarer, she hadn’t thought finding a group would be the biggest.
She took a deep breath and walked over to a group in the corner of the room. Three men stood together, and all of them were dressed in plain clothing, like her. But unlike her, they all had bronze badges. Maybe they would let her join their group.
As she neared them, the oldest one, holding a shepherd’s crook, glared at her before waving her off. She angled away, her blush returning tenfold. How the heck was she supposed to find a group?
Piper approached another party of three and gave them a warm smile. All of them wore wood badges. “Are you looking for an archer?”
A young woman with platinum blond hair and a ridiculously low-cut dress looked her up and down. “Are you really an archer or a peasant class?”
“Well… I’m a hunter…”
“It’s so not happening,” the woman scoffed. “Go back to your hovel in the forest."
Piper bit back a retort before marching away. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene at the Aspirant’s Guild. But she was also starting to lose hope of finding a party.
After being rejected by two more groups, she headed over to the corner of the room and leaned against the wall. Virtually everyone here had expensive gear. There was no way she was going to find a group today.
“They’re all jerks,” a silky voice murmured in her ear.
Piper nearly jumped out of her skin, not having noticed the woman’s approach. The young woman stood slightly taller than her, with flawless porcelain skin and a slightly upturned nose. Her long dark hair hung past her shoulders, and she had slight curls that framed her soft features.
The woman probably wasn’t much older than Piper, but she looked far more mature. Her makeup was perfectly applied, with eyeshadow accentuating the dark pools of her eyes, while her lips were painted a deep shade of red. She immediately felt flustered being in the young woman’s presence.
“Sorry, what was that?” Piper mumbled.
“I said they’re all jerks,” the woman repeated as she moved to stand next to Piper. “Their fancy gear doesn’t stop them from dying like flies.”
“Apparently, you need fancy gear to get into a group.”
“Why don’t you join mine?"
“You have a group?” Piper asked, her brow rising. “If so, I’d love to join.”
“Great! My name is Selene.”
“I’m Piper,” she replied, holding out her hand. But the woman just stared at it with a quizzical look.
I guess they don’t shake hands in the Empire.
Dropping her hand, she felt her blush threatening to return. But this time she managed to stave it off.
Selene turned gracefully and led Piper outside. She moved with surprising grace for someone who only had a wood badge. Since the woman’s stats were low, she must have trained to walk like a dancer.
Even though she knew it wasn’t mature, Piper made a face at the door guard. That would show the woman for thinking she didn’t deserve to be in the guild.
The guard simply shook her head in reply.
Piper followed Selene around the corner of the building, where another woman and a man stood waiting. Both of them had bronze badges on their chests.
“You found one!” the man exclaimed. “Thank the Undying Emperor. I thought for sure we wouldn’t be able to eat tonight. What’s her class?”
Selene shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, Basil. But I have a good feeling about her.”
“A good feeling?” Basil facepalmed. “She’s wearing a wood badge. What if she’s a farmer or a fishwife? We barely survived our last quest with a firecaller in our group.”
Selene played with her hair before shrugging. “And the firecaller claimed we were a bunch of amateurs and abandoned our group afterwards. Wouldn’t you rather have someone who will stick with us for a while?”
The young man exhaled, his cheeks puffing out. Then he pointed at Piper. “What’s your class and quality? And have you ever completed an aspirant quest before?”
“Umm.. I’m a level 27 hunter and it's poor quality…” Piper had a feeling she was about to be rejected again. Was she going to be stuck trying to complete quests on her own? Perhaps she could pay Wisp to find some other street urchins to sign up as aspirants and then bring them on her quests. As long as she did all the fighting, it might work out.
Basil rubbed a hand down his face and sighed. “I suppose that you’ll have to do. As you probably overheard, my name is Basil. I’m an Irrigator, a common quality class from the Water Realm. Over there is Althea. She’s a barber surgeon and is our group's healer. And you’ve already met Selene, who’s a jester.”
“None of you have combat classes?” Piper asked, shocked that most of the group were little more than peasants. They must have an astonishingly low number of attribute points compared to her. And yet they were going on dangerous quests.
“You’re one to talk,” Althea shot back. “I don’t even see a weapon on you.”
“My bow is back at my inn,” she said quickly. “I just thought most aspirants had combat classes.”
“Some do,” Selena replied with a smile. “However, many try to gain the deeds required to obtain a combat class by completing difficult quests.”
“Things will be much easier when we all get our second classes,” Althea said. “The last few days have been… rough.”
“But things are looking up,” Basil said, clapping his hands together. “We have a full group again, which means we can attempt a quest.” He glanced up at the sun before turning his gaze back to the group. “If we’re going to return before dinner, we should leave now.”
“Where are we going?” Piper whispered to Selene.
“We’re hunting mucklings,” she replied. “There is a report that a pair of them have pierced the veil from the Earth Realm a short distance from a farming estate.”
“Are they dangerous?"
“Not overly,” Selene whispered back. “But I’ll watch over you.”
“How many quests have you done?”
“Including this one?”
Piper nodded.
“Two.” Selene arched her eyebrow when Piper stared at her incredulously. “That’s better than most you know.”
“You’ve only done two?” Piper exclaimed. “Did the last one go well at least?”
“The clerk at the guild said we performed well above average,” Selene continued, examining her nails. “We only lost four aspirants.”
“Wait.” Piper held up her hand. “I thought aspirant groups had four members in total?”
“That’s only the minimum, silly.” Selene smiled. “For anything difficult, the groups are much larger. Our last group had eight members.”
Piper stood in the middle of the street, blinking her eyes in shock. For the first time, she realized just how dangerous it was to be an aspirant. The fact that Selene losing half of her party members was considered a good performance was chilling.
But then again, Selene hadn’t had a demoness in her group last time. Since they’d been kind enough to take her into their group, she was going to do everything in her power to ensure they all came home safely. No matter how difficult that turned out to be.