It’s a book, morons, you read it. Or just fucking skip to whatever section your instructor told you to read next. Or, you know, whatever sounds like fun. I don’t give a shit.
Also, let this be a lesson to you: DO NOT piss off the Guildmistress ‘cause then you get assigned shit-work like updating the fucking handbook!
-
There were sentries atop the wall, but they made no move to stop us as we walked right up and through the open gates and passed under the thick walls. Once inside, we looked out into the valley they protected. Ahead of us loomed the ridgeline of the Eastern Range, several thousand feet above us. To the sides, the valley widened from the several-hundred foot opening spanned by the wall until it was perhaps half a mile across.
Scattered throughout the space were a variety of buildings of different sizes with different training areas here and there, none of which were in use. Everything seemed very quiet, but then I didn’t know what to expect. Mason didn’t hesitate in leading us towards a large building relatively near the gate. It was three stories high in the center, with a two-story wing on one side. A few broad stone stairs led us up to the entrance.
Inside, it was the most luxurious building I’d seen, easily surpassing the inn in Sunland. Mana lanterns with decorated glass shades hung from the ceilings, while the stone floor was covered in red carpet and the interior walls were paneled in wood. The air was markedly cooler than outside, more than I’d expected, and felt refreshing.
Across from the door we’d come in through was a large, wooden desk with a young man behind it. As we filed in, he jumped to his feet in surprise, looking back and forth between Mason and the orcs.
“Sir! What can I do for you?” he asked Mason, and I suppressed a snicker. Strangely, Mason didn’t object to the title.
“Brought in my group of recruits, need to get them sworn in. Where’s Kiana?”
“One moment, I’ve alerted her of your arrival,” he replied, sitting back down slowly.
It took maybe two minutes for the door behind the desk to open. The woman who emerged looked to be early middle aged, with lines around her eyes and steel-grey hair. She was about my height, though broader in the shoulders, and was dressed casually in clean jeans, a white long-sleeved blouse, and a silver necklace. Her eyes were grey and piercing in their intensity as she glared at Mason.
Name: Head Instructor Thompson
Class: Instructor
Tier: 4Stolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.
I swallowed at her Tier, then my brain caught up with what she was saying.
“I see you’ve dragged in quite the motley crew, Mason. And they’re practically dripping dust on my floor. All of you, get out and clean yourselves off outside! Go!”
Her voice cracked with authority, and even Korgath didn’t hesitate to obey. Mason didn’t move, though he did wave the rest of us out. Once outside, we each ran mana through our armor, causing the dirt of the road to fall off of us in little puffs of dust. When we returned, Mason was waiting for us with his arms folded.
“Better,” she sniffed, then looked at Korgath. He opened his mouth to say something, but she spoke over him. “Chieftain Korgath, I understand your children will be joining the Guild. Once they’ve signed the contract, they’ll be treated the same as any other recruit. No special treatment because of who their daddy is. If they perform poorly, they’ll be dismissed, just like any of the others would be.”
She briefly turned her glare on us, then looked back at the big orc.
“They will do their Clan proud, Head Instructor,” he responded calmly.
“Good.” She nodded once, then looked at us. “Recruits, in my office. The rest of you can wait here or outside.” She turned and strode through the door, her back straight.
The room through the door was even more impressive than the waiting area. The walls were paneled in wood, as was the floor. Light poured through a large window to the right side, and an elaborate mana lamp hung from the ceiling overhead. There was a round shield mounted on the wall opposite the door, made of black metal and bearing the same Delver’s Guild insignia as we’d seen above the gates.
The Head Instructor circled her massive wooden desk to a cabinet, then removed some papers. She produced a set for each of us and handed them out. There were only two chairs on our side of the desk, so we were all just standing there awkwardly. At least there was plenty of space in the substantial room.
“These are your contracts. I’ll save you the trouble of figuring out all the legal nonsense and give you the key points. By signing up with the Guild, you’ll receive training here at the Academy, including food and lodging, until you’ve either reached my standards or been dismissed. Dismissal can occur for any reason at my discretion. The most common ones are incompetence, laziness, unsanctioned fighting, and general troublemaking.
“You’ll be training as part of a Squad throughout your time here. Generally, rookies are free to choose their Squads and Squad leaders, but the team needs to be balanced. I can tell you already that we’ll make some changes with your group, but I’ll need to wait and see what the rest of the incoming class looks like before making any final decisions. Any questions?”
Her tone made it clear there had better not be any dumb ones. No one spoke up, and I looked at the papers in my hands. They were covered in dense legal text, which I struggled to follow in detail, so I looked at the headings of the different sections.
“Will?” asked Alyssa.
“That’s ‘will, Head Instructor?’” Thompson corrected her, then continued without waiting for a reply. “You’ll be required to file a will before graduation. The contract stipulates that your System Account goes to the Guild first, which will claim any outstanding taxes, with the rest to be paid to your designated heirs via Courier, minus any delivery fees.”
I swallowed, thinking of the kids back in Sunland. There was no doubt I’d leave them everything, though I certainly wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“How exactly does the Guild Badge work, Head Instructor?” asked G’hala.
“Enchantment. It’s complicated and relies on the System status of the Guild. Basically, it enforces a magical contract between you and the Guild, tracking all of your earnings from the System. You’re required to display it at all times during training and when working a Guild job.
“Even if you take it off, you’ll still appear as Guild-affiliated to the right Identification Skills. Once you’re out of the first five years, you’ll be allowed to disable it when not on Guild business as that income won’t be subject to Guild dues. But during your initial term, is Guild business. Clear?”
G’hala nodded, though I’m not sure she understood any more than I did. I wasn’t sure how a little badge could do all that, but then again, I didn’t really know how Classes or Skills worked either. Hopefully I’d learn more about that here.
When there were no further questions, the Head Instructor produced a pen, which must have been enchanted because it seemed not to need ink. We each signed and dated the contract.
I wrote carefully in the blue ink, then handed the pen to Raylan. The Head Instructor took my papers, then handed me a Guild badge in exchange for my Guild pin. They were basically identical in appearance, but the badge was heavier.
Made of some kind of dark metal, with the crossed pickaxe, sword, and staff logo of the Guild embossed in crimson, it looked like the shield hanging above the Head Instructor’s desk. Once everyone had finished and was holding a badge, the Head Instructor directed us to channel mana into it. A System message appeared in front of me.
Do you wish to confirm your contract with the Delver’s Guild, with all of the rights and obligations so entailed?Stolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.
I accepted, and felt a strange pulse of energy run through me as the badge melted into my hand, then reformed on my chestplate directly over my heart. I blinked my suddenly moist eyes.
I’d already decided to embrace the name Mason had given me, even before I’d known he was the Black Razor. There was no better time than now to make it official.
[Of course, Delver Ashley!]
[I would be happy to change your name in the System, for a modest fee of one eagle, Gunner Zimmerman!]
I scowled briefly, but even PAST’s weird greed couldn’t dampen my mood.
“Very good, now, all of you out,” Thompson pointed at the door. I had just started to turn when she continued, “not you, recruit Az. Take a seat.”
Raylan gave me a reassuring smile as we walked out the door.
“Mason says you’re the leader of this bunch and mentioned something about a dungeon. Give me a summary.”
“Yes, Head Instructor. It all started on the road from Sunland to…”
I tried to keep the story as brief as possible but it still took at least five minutes to cover the key points, including the bit about Elin leaving the group in Arcadia. Thompson didn’t interrupt me with questions, merely nodded and frowned at various points.
“Well,” she said with a sigh, “you’re telling the truth at least. I’ll be requiring you, along with recruits Raylan and Zaire, to submit a formal report here tomorrow. My assistant will help you with that. Mason’ll need to do one as well before he leaves, and I’ll be asking him and his team more about this strange dungeon behavior. Regardless, you’ve done something quite rare for any new student here, surviving a dungeon besides the Tutorial.”
“It was hard, Head Instructor, but I’m not sure it was any harder than the Advanced Tutorial.”
Of course, I then had to explain to her why I’d been in the Advanced Tutorial in the first place, which got me a raised eyebrow.
“And your companions?” she asked when I’d finished.
“Uh, I don’t know for sure but I think all of them did the Standard Tutorial. Except maybe the orcs, I’m not sure.”
“Orcs can’t take the Advanced Tutorial,” the Head Instructor commented almost absently, seeming to be lost in thought for a moment.
She continued as if what she had just said was common knowledge. “Do you know about the different kinds of students here at the Academy?” she asked, and I shook my head.
“There are two main groups among the students here. One group is the recruits like yourself. The other is the paying students, called trainees – generally children of wealthy citizens of Lost Angels. The ones whose parents can afford to give their kids the best training, gear, etc. We only get a small fraction of them here, of course. They not only have parents that believe in their kids learning how to fight and defend themselves but who also took a combat Class.
“The students as a whole are split up into different tiers or tracks – basic, standard, and advanced. It’s got nothing to do with your Class rarity, and everything to do with ability. Basic is mostly for the rich kids who don’t apply themselves or simply aren’t suited for combat or demanding training. If you’re a regular recruit, and your performance is poor enough to get shifted into basic, you’ve got a month to show improvement or you’re out.
“Standard is the biggest group, with the majority of the recruits, and typically half of the trainees. Nothing wrong with being in the standard tier. The advanced tier, however, is intended to push the best to be even better. The majority of the advanced tier for the first few months is paying students, the ones who really worked hard with their fancy tutors. Eventually some of the recruits will stand out and get moved up to join them.
“Occasionally, we get a recruiter that tells me the kids they just dragged in off the streets are worthy of starting off in the advanced track right from the start. Most of the time they’re wrong, but I’ve never had the Black Razor make the claim before. So, recruit Az, what do you think? Is your Squad ready to join the advanced track?”
“I think most of us can handle it. H’ruk, G’hala, Raylan, Zaire, and me. But the other two, Alex and Alyssa, I’m honestly not sure. We were in a few fights, and they did fine, but I haven’t seen them pushed to the limit like Raylan, Zaire, and I were in the dungeon. The orcs, well, their training looks pretty brutal from what I’ve seen, so I’m not worried about them,” I replied.
“I’m glad you’re able to be forthcoming about your team. Your Squad is unbalanced anyway, with far too many ranged fighters and not enough defense. I’ll take the twins – the human twins, that is – and shuffle them off to another group once everyone is here. Finding you suitable replacements will be a bit trickier.
“I’ll warn you now that you might see some more changes later if the initial replacements prove not to be up to the challenge. Or, of course, if you or any of your friends fails to live up to my expectations. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Head Instructor.” Hazel would be impressed at how polite I’d been, but then again, she’d rarely intimidated me the way the woman casually sitting behind the desk did. “We won’t let you down.”
“See to it that you don’t. You are dismissed, recruit Az.”
“Head Instructor, I’d prefer to be called Azure now that I’ve joined the Guild,” I blurted out.
“Oh, you want a callsign already? Did you pick it out yourself?” Her tone was even, but I could tell she wasn’t taking me seriously.
“Mason gave me the name after the dungeon, Head Instructor.” I pointed at my eye, and I saw that she’d figured it out.
“Very interesting, recruit Azure. Dismissed,” she repeated, but I felt a rush of pride at hearing her use my callsign. I walked out of the door with my head held high and a smile on my face.