". . . Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild, rookies. My name is Seven Paths. I can see that you're all eager for adventure."
"Yes!"
My friends shouted.
"I'm Kaela Orion. What are the procedures for registering my group of idiots with the guild?"
A long, massive dark wooden table, worn by time and scratched by armor, separated the adventurers from the old scribe, Seven Paths, whose appearance was intimidating.
His disheveled blond hair, heavily scarred skin, and the scar on his face caught the attention of the newcomers.
"Hmm. . ."
Seven Paths scratched the beard covering his entire chin.
"Don't take too long, old man. I'm a busy horse and I have better things to do, Kaela."
I stepped on that troublemaker's hoof.
"What did you say, Donkey?"
"Sorry, Seven Paths. My friend Donkey drank too much."
"Hahaha, interesting animal."
Interesting? Hahaha.
"Come a little closer."
I leaned forward to listen.
What does Seven Paths want?
"There is no guarantee of survival in the guild."
Hahahaha.
"Kaela!"
Lyra came running toward the counter.
"Kaela, have you already figured out how to obtain the power to turn demons into chickens?"
"That's what I'm trying to do."
". . ."
"Why are you making that face?"
"Don't think you're going to steal that power from me. I'm keeping an eye on you."
Why would I choose a power like that?
"Don't pull my hair."
"Kaela, none of the dwarves would let me cut their hair."
Seraphine wiped the saliva from her mouth.
"Really?"
"Well. . ."
What is that in her pants pocket?
"That thing in your pocket isn't hair. What is it, then?"
"You stupid girl, do you know how many years it took me to grow my hair?"
A dwarf was being beaten up.
"Sir, please, could you take that off my counter?"
The girl serving the drinks bumped into Dorian.
"Can't you see that my wife is sleeping?"
"But that's a mannequin."
"There are no barriers to love."
The bartender placed a hand on Dorian's shoulder.
"Poor thing!"
She walked away crying. . .
Please, Cement, come and get your wife as soon as possible.
"Kaela Orion, there's still time to give up."
"Seven Blades, if I give up, it'll be even worse."
"Worse?"
". . ."
Seven Paths walked over to the scroll cabinet, raised his arms, and. . .
"Reveal the path these young adventurers will take on their journey!"
"Flaash!"
I couldn't see anything.
A white light appeared in the hall. The armor began to tremble, and the drinking glasses shattered.
The light slowly faded away.
"How strange. This has never happened before."
Seven Paths stared at all the scrolls in the cabinet.
"What's the problem?"
"All explorers, whether traveling in groups or individually, always receive a scroll to guide them on their journey."
What are we supposed to do, then?
"Chief, that scroll that nobody wants to use is still available."
Aiko was holding a white and yellowed scroll.
But why did nobody want this scroll? What's wrong with it?
"They'll have to do that thing for the scroll to work."
"It's too dangerous. You know that, Aiko."
"Hmm, we're listening to the conversation."
". . ."
"Plaf!"
The scroll was opened on top of the counter, but. . .
"Let me read what's written on it."
Lyra pressed her eyes against the scroll.
"Hahaha, this is the secret to obtaining the power to turn demons into chickens."
"You're illiterate. There's nothing written on it."
"Ow, my cheek."
Lyra climbed onto Donkey.
"This scroll has been here for more than five hundred years."
Five hundred years? Incredible.
"Why can't we take any of the scrolls from the cabinet?"
Donkey leaned against the counter.
"Donkey, the scrolls choose the adventurers, not the other way around."
Aiko picked up a knife.
"If we weren't chosen, why are you entertaining us like this?"
Silence.
"I'm going to tell you what my mother told me when I was little."
"My mother heard a story from my grandmother that said one day a strange group of adventurers would appear in the city of Asterium."
As Aiko narrated the story, Lyra paid attention to every detail.
"And none of the magical scrolls would choose them."
Aiko sighed for a few seconds.
"My grandmother opened an old chest and took out this scroll."
All the while, we could hear the sound of coins spinning on the adventurers' table.
"Aiko, my dear granddaughter, my father told me all of this and gave me this scroll. He obtained it before he died during his last adventure."
Aiko began to cry and. . .
"Aiko, dear, I'll teach you how to activate it in case this group ever appears."
"BANG!"
The guild doors slammed open, and the wind rushed into the guild. The candles began to flicker. . .
And the scroll Aiko had placed on the counter began to glow.
I stepped back.
That's the blacksmith's hammer in the background. . .
"Clang!"
It echoed as it struck the armor.