Julius struggled to open his eyes—his vision blurred. The decrepit wooden ceiling of the inn greeted him in the morning, with light slowly slipping its way into the room as the sun began to rise.
He felt groggy—his head panging with a slight pain, he hadn't drunk that much last night—but then again, he was pretty lightweight. He didn't want to get out of the comfort of his bedsheets—it was cold.
I have breakfast duty today, don't I? Nine hells…
Julius groaned as he forced himself out of his bed, pulling off his sheets. The pounding in his head increased, causing him to apply pressure to his head to no avail.
Ah, right, I can just cast Lesser Cure on myself…
He inhaled through his nose, then exhaled out, "Luminarch, bearer of Light—hear my plea, restore an—" Julius felt a rush of liquid forcing itself through his mouth, but he swallowed it back—placing his hand over his mouth "...restore and make whole…: Lesser Cure…"
Julius placed his free hand over his head, and a gentle glow emitted from his palm. He felt his mana drain ever so slightly. He wasn't a Cleric or a Paladin who could use blessings, so he had to resort to mana to use Divine Magic.
Julius' headache slowly dissipated—as if it had never been.
"Gods above, that's much better…" He sighed in relief, slouching over—staring at the croaking floorboards.
Ah, right, Alaric has breakfast duty as well. I should cast Lesser Cure on him too; gods know how hungover he'd be.
The thought of it made Julius chuckle slightly.
Julius stood up from the side of his bed, looking around the room to see if anyone else was awake.
Everyone's still sound asleep, huh.
Amidst the smell of old wood, the booming snores of Kaelrith, and birdsong, Julius found it quite peaceful. He looked forward to today and what it would bring for the party. What quest would they take on today? What things will they find? What would they fight today—Goblins? Kobolds? How much money would they make? The sheer thought of it gave Julius goosebumps. He was ready for the day, whatever the world tossed at him—he'd take it head-on.
Julius caught himself in a trance and snapped out of his daydreaming—slowly walking over to the double bunk just across from him, where Alaric lay. No matter how quiet or slow he had paced himself, the floorboards screeched with every step as if they were about to snap.
Hells, this floor…
Julius peeked over the top bunk—Alaric lay quiet, sleeping his worries away like a maiden, as if he hadn't just gotten into a huge tavern brawl the night before.
"Oi. Pssst. Al', we've got breakfast duty…" Julius whispered as he shook Alaric's shoulder.
"Mmmmmm…"
"C'mon, we haven't all day. I'll cast Lesser Cure—now move." Julius pulled off Alaric's cover.
"Fuck…" Alaric plopped out of his bunk onto the floor—almost stumbling on his way down. His head scourged him—as if he had taken the full force of an Orcish warhammer.
"Just cast the bloody thing already…" Alaric groaned, placing his head on his right temple.
"Yeah, yeah, stay still."
Julius hovered his hand over Alaric's head and began reciting the incantation.
"Luminarch, bearer of Light…"
***
The sun was now in full bloom, its bright summer light shining over the inn's courtyard. The sky itself was breathtaking—a bright blue with clouds dispersed in perfection, as if the clouds themselves were carefully sculpted by a court artisan.
The party sat outside in the courtyard, surrounding the hearth where sounds of crackling of food being cooked in a pan, the faint presence of smoke, and the hypnotizing smell of eggs and bacon lingered in the air. The breakfast was a simple serving of eggs, bacon, and some bread—all coming at the low price of only five silver and two coppers from the innkeeper. That was definitely a steal, Alaric and Julius had thought.
"Now, lady and gents—we're working again today, so we need to stock up on some quick gear, like potions, spell components, or just some simple materials—anything that could help us today, but preferably cheap," Julius said, ripping his bread into two.
"That being said… Stoiarck," Julius turned his head towards the red Half-Orc. "How many health and mana potions do you have left in your pack?"
Stoiarck stroked his chin in thought, "Probably around six or seven in total, two mana, and four or five health, if my memory serves me right…" He tilted his head.
"Alright, so we'll head out to Gilmore's after breakfast, and then we head to the Guild Hall and look for any quests available for us. Hells, if a goblin hunting quest is available, we could go look for Alaric's coin purse!" Julius declared, looking at Alaric for approval.
Alaric gave no response, only a stare worth a thousand yards as he gazed into the hearth.
"There it is, the post drunk clarity," Rosa said, unsurprised.
"...You named it?" Ira asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah! Isn't it funny?" She giggled.
Ira gave no response, only facing back to his plate and taking a bite of some slightly raw bacon—as per his usual requests.
"...You guys gotta stop letting me drink more than one tankard…" Alaric said palely, "I can't believe I used a whole blessing to smite someone with a bloody tankard…" He sighed with grief.
"Ah! Don't forget you threw up all over him afterwards." Julius interjected teasingly, "That was the best thing I've seen that night." He laughed.
Alaric dug his face in his hands in disappointment, as if he was trying to hide away from it all.
"C'mon, Alaric, lighten up and eat your food. How are you going to work today with an empty stomach? Once we get at it I'm sure you'll forget about it… Hells, we could even visit the city's cathedral if you feel that bad about it, alright?" Stoiarck patted Alaric's back, with Julius and Rosa giving a smug thumbs up to the Half-Orc.
"...Fine," Alaric replied, lifting his head and biting a chunk off his bread.
***
After making it to the city's cathedral, both Rosa and Julius joined Alaric to ask for blessings upon the party and for the safety of those out on quests today as well. Alaric took a moment to take it all in—when was the last time he had been in a cathedral? When was the last time he truly felt at home? He gazed upon the towering columns, rising above like stone forests. Arches stacked upon arches, each one drawing the eye upward. The nave itself seemed as if it spanned for eternity, as if it led to the heavens.
The sounds of his chainmail echoed throughout the cathedral, making his presence known.
Amidst the endless rows of wooden pews, directly leading to the altar, Alaric and the others sat at the very front—kneeling before its splendour. Sunlight filtered through the stained glass, with colourful lights patterned across the stone floors.
Alaric gazed upon the golden idol of Luminarch—an ornamented sun. He felt both watched and welcomed, as though he was being judged by Luminarch himself. He felt solemn peace, quiet reassurance, and a crushing guilt.
He lowered his head, unworthy to look upon such holiness, and began to mutter a prayer.
"O Lichtbringer, o Rächer, o Richter, vernimm mein Flehen…Vergib mir meine Verfehlungen… Vergib mir—"
***
"I feel much better!" Alaric burst out of the giant cathedral doors, puffing his chest out of his breastplate.
Stoiarck, Kaelrith, and Ira waited outside the cathedral, looking a little baffled as Alaric seemingly shone with light.
"What a switch up…" Ira commented.
"Haha! Glad to see you're better now, Alaric." Stoiarck said.
"Mm." Kaelrith nodded.
"Now! Let's head off to Gilmore's!" Julius declared, appearing beside Alaric.
The party exited the reverent silence of the cathedral close and back into the clattering breath of the city.
The city of Estermond brimmed with life—as if Luminarch had graced the city himself. Adventurers could constantly be seen coming in and out of the city for quests and travel, attracting many merchants—causing them to flock to Estermond in droves, seeking to sell valuable gear and equipment to adventurers. The city of Estermond became an extremely popular city among adventurers and salesmen alike within the Centrolian Continent.
The city buildings—although alike, but not the same—gave a warm vibe, reminiscent of the city's Teutonic culture. Estermond's architecture was of tall vertical Fachwerk buildings tightly packed together with reddish-brown steep gabled roofs made of slate tiles, perfect for rain and snow. Banners and pennants hung between houses—sigils of those which held Teutonic patriotism, festivities, and noble households. A common banner was white with an iron cross in the middle—the sigil of the Teutonic Empire.
The streets held no discrimination, housing all races of Ethyria—from the most fiendish Infernal, to the humble halfling, everyone lived in grace amongst each other. The streets were carefully stone-paved, which were gently curved and fully wide and open—perfect for marketplaces to take hold. The constant sound of rattling carriages, along with their neighing horses, conversation flowing of trade, joy, arguments, and simple conversation could be heard with each step. The Estermond City Watch and the City's Military Garrison were always on patrol in their spick and span armour and uniform. In the Teutonic Empire, it wasn't uncommon to see military officers out and about in their dunkelblau waffenrock uniforms, as the Teutonic Empire is a nation where its military is valued highly amongst most trades.
Amidst the lively streets stood a drastically different building—it was not of Estermond's usual architecture, not Teutonic. It was more grounded, more homey. At first glance, you would think that this building was a plant shop with all the flora for sale upfront, but one would notice the signboard hanging over the door: the Sundered Sword. The name caught people off guard, but once inside, it would be as if stepping into another plane, from one of festivities and markets, to one of war.
The seemingly cozy and inviting exterior of the building and the sweet café door chime contrasted heavily with an interior reminiscent of war armouries. Countless weapons ranging from the shortest dagger to the greatest sword were racked up all over the walls, sections of the building were solely dedicated to armour—ranging from simple leather to ornate plate, and another dedicated to the arcane arts—holding staffs, wands, grimoires, scrolls, and spell components.
"This is something else…" Rosa commented as she studied the vast amounts of armour and weaponry inside the building.
Julius clapped his hands together, "All right! I'm gonna go buy some spell components, and Stoiarck, stock up on some mana potions and—" He turned his head, remembering something, "Oh! See if you can haggle for the potions, oughta keep it cheap!" He added, walking off to the magic section of the store.
"Sure thing," Stoiarck gave a thumbs up, walking towards the counter, where the potions were stocked behind shelves.
"So! What's the motiv—" Alaric turned to look at his party members, who were all gone. He gave a slight sigh, "Right…"
Alaric walked towards the weapons section, eyeing the longswords and bludgeoning weapons. He gazed at his sheathed arming sword on his belt—it was an old hand-me-down from Caelun Abbey's old armouries—it's about time this sword should see retirement. Alaric would like it replaced, but he soured at the thought of losing his coin purse.
"Tsk."
He glanced at his surroundings, noticing Kaelrith, who was browsing in the great weapons sub-section. Alaric took note of the condition of Kaelrith's greataxe. The rust crawled all over the edge—corrupting the toe, heel, beard, and cheek—eating away the purity of the metal.
"Looking for a new great axe?" Alaric raised an eyebrow.
"Mm." Kaelrith nodded.
"Maybe we can get you a good one after a week's worth of pay, huh? I'll chip in for it."
"Haven't you need of anything?" Kaelrith interjected, studying Alaric's simple breastplate, cheap hauberk and spaulders, and leather bracers—all old and used up.
"Ah, it's fine." Alaric shrugged, "You're our main fighter here; it wouldn't make sense for you to have your weapon in the worst condition."
Kaelrith pondered on it for a moment, sensing if Alaric had any other motive. "...Alright then."
"Great!" Alaric patted Kaelrith's arm, "I'm going to continue browsing the lesser weapons." He walked off.
Kaelrith scoffed.
Across Kaelrith, Ira was browsing the archery section. Ira's shortbow was old and on the verge of breaking—threatening to snap with every arrow shot.
"Y'know, Ira…" Rosa popped up behind the Blood Elf.
Ira turned his head back in surprise.
What the? I didn't even notice her presence…
"I always thought this, but I think you need to put on some more muscle before you can effectively use a bow?" She raised an eyebrow.
"...What's it to you?" Ira sneered.
"Well… I just think that you could shoot the arrows further… maybe…?" She questioned, tilting her head. "Well! Anyways! I'll ask the others to give you some extra red meat for your meals, since, well, you Blood Elves mainly eat red meat, right?" She smiled.
Rosa's angelic smile shone brightly, blinding Ira, causing him to turn back towards the shortbows.
"...Sure, thanks."
"Mhm!" Rosa giggled, walking off into the magic section with her brother, who was seemingly shoving random items into a pouch.
"Brother dearest, how much of these items do you really even need?" Rosa peeked behind her brother.
She glanced at the items he was grabbing—clay, feathers, dirt, and some random rocks?
"Enough to fill up my pouch, sister." He continued grabbing components.
"How much does this even cost?"
He came to a halt, thinking about the costs, "Maybe a couple silver? Ten, twenty-ish?" He held his chin in thought, "Either way, this much should last me a little over a week. Hopefully."
"I still don't get why you don't just use incantations…" She worried.
"Bah, using incantations limits your creativity. With spell components, I could do whatever I want—if I have the right materials." He continued shoving the components into his pouch.
"Mm… Okay then…" She walked off into another sub-section, browsing the clerical staff and wands.
Each one held the sigil of their own respective deities—the sun sigil of Luminarch, the god of Light, Order, and Subjugation. The eye sigil of Umbrosk, twin brother of Luminarch and god of Shadow, Chaos, Jest, and Freedom. And the water lily sigil of Elysia, goddess of Nature and Life.
At the main counter of the store, Stoiarck was looking at the stocked shelves behind the counter, wondering what he could get his eyes on. He pondered on the costs, how long the potions would last for the party, and who would get them. There were no status potions, like Julius had hoped for, unfortunately.
Stoiarck took his coin purse and checked how much he had.
Thirty-two silver coins, and eight coppers… That should be more than enough for two health potions and three mana potions.
Stoiarck pressed the bell on the counter, ready to buy.
"Be right there!" A voice shouted from within the room behind the counter.
Stoiarck waited, continuing to study the items on the shelves behind the counter. If Stoiarck had enough money, he would buy all of these items, wiping the shelves off clean. His backpack could hold all of it.
"Oi! Big one!" A voice shouted from below, catching Stoiarck's attention.
Stoiarck looked down, to where the voice was coming from—catching him off guard.
A gnome? A gnome owns this whole thing…?
The gnome was bald and middle-aged, his beard was full and pointed at the bottom, with his moustaches curling at each end. A long, wide scar glided across his left eye to his upper lip—this gnome has a history.
"It's rude to stare, you know that."
"Oh! Uh! Apologies, yes, I'd like to buy two health potions and three mana potions, please." Stoiarck scratched his cheek embarrassingly.
"Comin' right up!" The gnome walked off, grabbing a gnome-sized ladder and plopping it on the shelf where the potions lay. He grabbed each potion and plopped them into a large pouch hanging on his belt.
The gnome walked back up to the counter on a step-stool and placed each potion neatly in uniform, as if under inspection by a general.
"That'll be thirty-four silver coins, please." The gnome opened out the palm of his hand.
Stoiarck's eyes went wide, "What?! Thirty-four silver coins?!"
A vein bulged from the gnome's forehead, "Huh? Got a problem, laddie?"
"Well, yes! Your potions are duly over priced!"
"Hah! I'll have you know these potions are no regular potions, these are top notch—top grade I tell you!" The gnome slammed his palms on the counter.
Stoiarck's face scrunched, "Surely, you can give a discount, right?"
"Now, why would I do that? Why would a Half-Orc have need for this many potions, huh? I'd say you're up to no good… Nine hells, you're red too! That ain't regular, laddie!"
Stoiarck sighed. This was nothing new to him. Ever since he got to the Centrolian Continent, he'd been constantly judged for his Orcish lineage. Getting into a party was hard enough, so he was thankful that Julius had let him in.
"Look… uh, what's your name?" Stoiarck inquired.
"Gilmore." The gnome sneered in suspicion, not budging.
"Look, Gilmore, I'm here with my party, and we're about to head out for the day… Things have been rough for us all right? We've constantly had to deal with wounds—"
"That's normal! You call yourself adventurers?" Gilmore interrupted.
Stoiarck pinched the bridge of his nose, "Novshiin tamuud…" He sighed, "Listen, okay? We've had it rough, and we'd really appreciate it if you just gave me a discount for the potions… You've seen your fair share of battles, too, right?" He said, gesturing at Gilmore's large scar.
"Aye… I have." Gilmore softly ran his fingers across his scarred face, "What's your point?" He shot back with a stern look.
"I'd rather not have my companions bear such scars… Please."
Gilmore closed his eyes, scrunching his face in thought.
"Fine. I'll take two silver off for each." The gnome groaned, "No more, no less!" He added, pointing his finger at Stoiarck's face.
"Yes, by all means! Thank you!"
"That'll be twenty-four silver coins…"
Stoiarck grabbed his coin purse and began laying out the coins on the counter.
"Neg... Khoyor... Gurav... Döröv…"
***
"So you got ten silver coins off, huh? Nice going, Stoiarck!" Julius slapped Stoiarck's large back, "That dang Gilmore looks like he has the personality of a rock despite his stature. Definitely not as cheap as I was hoping for, but… Yeah, I'll try to repay you later."
"It was nothing, Julius. Just be sure to use these potions well." Stoiarck chuckled.
"Hey, maybe you can get us discounts for armour and weaponry next time we go there, eh?" Alaric elbowed Stoiarck's arm jokingly.
Stoiarck scratched his cheek, "Maybe, but I don't want to take advantage of him."
The group, now fully stocked on potions and spell components, headed for the Volunteer Guild Hall to look for some work. The Guild Hall was in the centre of the Lysander District of the city. In this district, you would mainly see adventurers flood the streets, all different ranks—ranging from aspiring F-Ranks to renowned B and A-Ranks. The Guild Hall building was, of course, a piece of Teutonic architecture, but it was bigger in comparison to the regular homes and shops of the city. The building had three floors and a balcony at the front of it for both the second and third floors.
Inside the building, the first floor is capable of holding one hundred adventurers, all on the lookout for quests or to socialize. The first floor effectively served as a place where you could take and turn in quests and as a lounge, where long and round tables were patterned across the floor. The second floor held rooms for meetings, whilst the third floor was for the guild staff.
By terce, the Guild Hall should now have opened to adventurers looking for quests, so the party had to quickly scramble amidst the crowds for good and reasonable quests in accordance with their rank. The party was held at E-Rank, the second most populated rank in the Volunteers' Guild.
Julius stood at the front door of the Guild Hall, inhaling and exhaling.
"All right, guys, just stick together. Kaelrith, just get people to move out of the way like usual, yeah?" He winked at the drakenkin.
Kaelrith nodded in response.
Julius opened the doors and sighed, looking at the crowds of adventurers flocking in front of the quest board.
"Okay, let's go!" Julius shouted to the group.
Kaelrith speedwalked towards the quest board, pushing all in his path amidst the cries of confusion, bickering, and distaste.
Julius and Alaric followed suit, while Stoiarck was quickly nodding in apologies to those unfortunately caught in Kaelrith's path.
Ira and Rosa struggled to keep up, being dwarfed by the crowds of adventurers.
All of a sudden, everything came to a halt. Ira and Rosa bumped into Stoiarck's back while trying to keep up.
"Stoiarck! Hey! Why've you stopped?" Rosa asked in tears, having bumped her nose.
"It's Orgrim. And Kaelrith."
"What?" Rosa asked in surprise, moving past Stoiarck to see what was going on.
"Oh by the Lightbearer…" Rosa furrowed her eyebrows.
Kaelrith and Orgrim were standing in front of each other, Orgrim clearly pissed off. His tusk was still visibly broken, and as for his party members, a beastman with a bruise on his temple and an elf with a broken nose, all from last night's tavern brawl.
"Well, if it isn't the ol' useless bunch." Orgrim spat at Kaelrith's face.
Kaelrith exhaled from his nose, smoke lightly hissing out.
"Well?" Orgrim raised an eyebrow, "What're you gonna do about this tusk?" He gestured at his broken tusk.
"Not too sure, maybe I could break the other one for you?"
By now, the whole crowd in front of the quest board was eyeing the drakenkin and orc, anticipating what would happen next.
"I'd like to see you try, fuckwit!" Orgrim threw a punch aimed at Kaelrith's face.
But it stopped.
Someone's hand was gripping Orgrim's wrist—tightly. A man clad in full ornate plate armour held him down.
"Let's try not to start a fight this early in the morning, hm? Let's save that for the quests." The man insisted.
Orgrim broke out in a sweat, whilst everyone's eyes were on the ironclad man.
"Y-yes, ser. Apologies…" He bowed his head.
The man released his grip on Orgrim's wrist.
"Good!" He gave a warm smile, walking off.
Orgrim held his wrist in pain, "Fuck're you lot looking at?!" He shouted at the crowd.
"Just get a quest, we're out of here," Orgrim told his party members.
As they walked off with their quest, Julius walked up beside Kaelrith.
"What an encounter, huh?" Julius said, clearly baffled.
"Hm." Kaelrith agreed.
"Dude, that was Sigismund! An A-Rank adventurer, what in the Nine Hells is he doing here?!" Alaric exclaimed, eyes practically glittering with adoration.
Rosa held her palm to her forehead, while Ira sighed.
"Ah, he's probably here for the raid—pretty big thing going on." Julius shrugged.
"He's a big thing going on, he saved a whole town from a calor dragon with his party!" Alaric added. "I promise you all I'm gonna get strong like that, no matter the cost."
"Yeah, sure you will…" Rosa shot down Alaric.
"Haha…" Julius chuckled nervously, "We're holding some people up, so let's just look for a quest already."
Julius turned around, facing away from the crowd of adventurers—clearly growing angry and having not forgotten how they forced their way through them to the front of the quest board.
Alaric stood beside Julius, scanning through the board:
Boar Hunt: E-Rank
Exorcism: C-Rank
Herb Gathering: F-Rank
Goblin Hunt: E-Rank
Alaric's eyes went wide, grabbing a quest from the board.
"Hey, I got one!" Alaric shoved the paper into Julius' face.
Julius grabbed the paper, looking through it.
"Goblin Hunt: E-Rank. Collect ten pairs of goblin ears, with an additional 3 silver per extra ear… Location: Eiserne Forest." Julius squinted.
"Yeah, sure, sounds good." Julius approved, "Maybe we could find your coin purse too—if that's what you were hoping for."
"'Course I was," Alaric responded instantly.
Julius walked off into the side, "C'mon, let's go, guys!" Julius shouted, waving the quest paper in the air.
The group walked off to the side, where the guild counter was.
Julius slammed the paper on the counter in front of a vacant guild receptionist.
"We'd like to take this quest, please!"
The guild receptionist turned around to see who it was.
"Oh, Julius!" The receptionist cheered.
It was a girl, a pretty one at that. Her hair was long, brown and wavy, had beautiful green eyes, a cute nose, and short pointed ears.
"Oh, hey there, Eliza!" Julius smiled.
Eliza took a glance at the quest paper. "Goblin hunting again, huh?" She looked to Julius' side, "Hope you find your coin purse, Alaric!" She cheered, smiling at him.
"Uh… Yeah, thanks—I mean! I will. Yeah." Alaric blushed embarrassingly, scratching the back of his neck.
This guy has to be an idiot. Ira and Rosa both thought.
Eliza brought over the quest paper and put it on a board, then began to log down the party as the ones who took the quest. She turned back towards the counter, facing Julius and the party.
"All right! You're all logged, may the Light shine upon you all." She smiled.
"Thanks, Eliza." Julius winked, causing Eliza to blush slightly.
"You womanizing daemon…" Alaric muttered in jealousy.