Fantasy Cursed Island

[Darkling0096]

"Thank you," Jalin took the amulet and tapped his cane, "I will see your return at the inn?"

"Yeah, we got it," Siege waved it off, "We'll probably end up exterminating some rats or something." Something where Jalin's blood magic would make it quicker, but having been nothing but frustrated for two days, Siege wanted to kill something. "Later."

"Indeed," Jalin nodded and went back to the inn, where he settled down in the boys' room to call Sal, closing the call if she seemed busy.


"So where's the guild?", Turac asked, realizing he didn't actually know.

 

[Fangs9090]

It took a while, but Sal eventually answered the amulet, looking at it with an eyebrow raised. “Ah, there it goes.”



Roy looked around. “It should stand out well enough. Let’s look around.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Jalin blinked under his blindfold, "I hope this isn't a bad time, captain."



"My turn," Siege smiled, rolling up her sleeves, "I've done this before." Unlike the others, when she left home she went straight into adventuring, she knew how to spot a guild. She motioned for the others to follow as she looked for the building that offered her usual source of income.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Nah, it’s fine. I just hadn’t used this before now.”



“Well, alright then.” Roy followed after Siege with the rest of the group.

 

[Darkling0096]

Jalin smiled, "I hope you are well."



It didn't take very long to find the guild, not that it was inconspicuous. If a big painted sign with a pair of swords crossed over a shield above the text "Elyon Adventurer's Guild" wasn't a more obvious sign of where they were, then all the people in various states and degrees of being armed and armored for different party roles lounging around before or after quests did. "See?", Siege asked. "Easy."

 

[Fangs9090]

Sal nodded. “Yeah, things are fine out here. Fine weather and smooth sailing. And decent profit, of course.”



“Indeed. Let’s hope there’s some quick jobs up to grab.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Jalin smiled, "I am glad you're well. We've had little trouble on our end. I didn't know there was a secondary currency on this continent." Elyon was weird.



"There's always quick jobs," Siege replied, "Nobody takes the low grade jobs because they don't advance your career." She made a face and led the way inside, "We might have to register, though."

 

[Fangs9090]

“Ah, yeah. Banks like to make things complicated. I always just pay in gold and let them handle the complicated part. Mm, when I do pay.”



“Oh, great, more formalities...”

 

[Darkling0096]

Avoid a paper trail. "Paper trails do leave much to be desired for avoiding attention."


"Relax, it shouldn't be that complicated," Siege smiled, I've done it twice without any of you."

"That does sound like it will be less than difficult," Turac nodded as Siege stepped up to the counter and asked what it would take to register with the guild.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Exactly. And if they do manage to track the gold, it'll just take them to whoever I stole it from."


The receptionist, a red fox, looked up from her paperwork. "A show of skill. You'll need to be at least a little bit competent to register."

 

[Darkling0096]

"It is good to hear you're well," Jalin smiled, "How is the stone?"



Siege looked back at the others and nodded, "And how do we go about that?"

 

[Fangs9090]

"Same as ever. Things like these don't ever change."



The fox pointed to a door off to the side. "Through there. Talk to the wolf man and tell him you're there to prove your skill."

 

[Darkling0096]

Jalin realized he wasn't very good at small-talk. Discussing your illegal activities only went so far for encouraging conversation. "I hope to see you again."



"Will do," Siege nodded and stepped away from the counter to go to the party, "Alright, we're gonna have to put on a demonstration, come on," she went through the noted door first, taking a look around the other side, soon followed by Turac to keep his sister out of trouble.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Considering you see with your hands, I share the sentiment. So, what have you been up to, over there on dry land?"



Through the door was what looked to be a training yard. Open space with different kinds of training dummies and targets. A few adventurers were there already, practicing their skills as they passed the time. Off to one side was a rather burly wolf man, sitting in a chair as he kept an eye on things. Next to him was a rather short mage, only half the height of their own staff. Any further details couldn't be made out past the robes that covered them.

 

[Darkling0096]

Jalin smirked a bit at the mention, "Well, we've secured the water stone. The King is seeing us off with a wagon and horses, I'll have to check those for prying scrying, but once we've gathered supplies, we'll be headed to Woodvale. A diviner has told us we may find another in that region." He smiled and leaned in, "The best part? The royal family didn't even know they had the stone. We gave them a forgery and they didn't even have the means to check it's validity!"



That sounded like the guy they were after. "Lady behind the desk said we were supposed to talk to you about proving skills?", Siege asked as she approached the wolf man. He smelled pretty good, too, but Siege didn't sleep around.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Ha! Stealing from royals while making them think you did them a favor. Love it.”



The wolf man looked over. “That’s me.” He stood up and rubbed his nose. “Simplest jobs here send you to kill something. So long as you can manage that, you can find work.” He gestured to an unoccupied training dummy. “So, one at a time, each of you has to prove that you can attack, at the very least.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"It works in our favor!"



Just hit the dummy, alright. "Does it matter if the dummy's in one piece afterwards?"

 

[Fangs9090]

“Keep that up and you’ll be able to get anything you want.”



The wolf shook his head. “No. In fact, if it breaks, that further proves you can actually kill something, rather than just hurting it.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"That is my hope." Jalin nodded. "I shouldn't keep you, your duties are more important than idle chat."



"Works for me," Siege unhooked her axe from her back, "Just go and hit it, huh?" She briefly considered putting on her bracelets and letting mana do whatever the magic axe did, but decided a big display wasn't as important as just getting registered. She walked up to the dummy and swung her weapon at the burlap and straw dummy on a wooden frame. The magic axe, sharpened as Siege kept it, sheared right through the burlap and bit into the wood frame, nearly snapping the dummy over .

 

[Fangs9090]

“We’re on course and sailing fine. If I had something else to do I’d say it.”



The wolf watched silently, basically waiting for Siege to decide she was done.

 

[Darkling0096]

Jalin raised an eyebrow, "As you wish." He nodded and settled forward on his elbows, "Is there anything you would like to talk about?" It was a bit awkward, trying to make smalltalk. He guessed part of that stemmed from their limited knowledge of each other, and the questionable state of their relationship.



Siege pulled her axe out of the thing, looking back at the wolf man, "If that was a living humanoid he'd be dead twice over!"

 

[Fangs9090]

"Ah...not really, now that you mention it. Guess neither of us is much for chatter, huh?" That would explain why their negotiations went the way they did...



"Indeed." The wolf didn't react much. The mage at his side lifted their staff to cast some kind of magic. The dummy that Siege had struck straightened up and the torn wood and fabric mended back together, reverting to its state before she had attacked. "Next."

 

[Darkling0096]

"That seems to be so." Even before serving as Lady Niudisa's apprentice, Jalin hadn't been a very good person for smalltalk. Straight and to the point. "I suppose, then that concludes our chat." He briefly wondered what it would take to secure some kind of gateway between himself and Sal. Maybe when he grew stronger as a magician he could make portals, or something else.



As Siege walked back to the others, she nodded at Turac, who sighed and stepped up to the area, a good bit away. He didn't see why he had to prove he could kill something, he was a dragon, killing was his existence. Hell, he ate people! Mostly bandits, but still. There wasn't space to go dragon, either. Not cleanly, anyway. "This may be chilly," he warned before sucking in a deep breath...

And encasing the dummy and everything else within a few feet of it with a thick layer of solid dragon turtle ice. Were he in his true form, he could have chilled it so thoroughly it shattered, but he wasn't in his true form, to so accomplish that effect he simply kicked it.

 

[Fangs9090]

Sal nodded. “So it would seem. Still, it was good to hear from you.”



The wolf nodded as the mage once again restored the dummy, melting ice and piecing it back together. “Next.”

Nidia hopped forward next, giving a spin as she got her flute and started playing a song. A dark cloud gathered above the dummy, punctuating her song with a thunderclap as it dropped a lightning bolt onto the target.

Once the target was restored, Emilia stepped up. She summoned a trio of imps and commanded them to destroy the target, which they did to the best of their ability. She dismissed them when they’d finished.

Roy stepped up after her. He chose to keep it simple, channeling with his staff to cast a fireball.

There was a pause before Katsuo realized he was included in this. He stepped up with his two-handed sword, giving a few simple swings to demonstrate that he could, indeed, use the sword.

 

[Darkling0096]

"The same," Jalin smiled, "Stay safe."



"How's that?", Siege asked once everyone had the chance to prove they could in fact wreck a straw dummy.