I see… let's go into the Adventurer's Guild first. Suddenly I realized I could put my mace in my item box, I face palmed as I put it in and stepped into the big hut-like structure. There were a few notice boards and a few people around them, four counters with queues and a fifth counter that was empty. The counters are respectively, '(B-D) Completion', '(B-D) Accepting', '(E/F) Completion', ‘(E/F) Accepting' And 'Registration/Miscellaneous'

I headed to the fifth counter, “Excuse me, hello. I’m a new player, could you please help me out?” When I went to the fifth counter I could feel a few stares. The receptionist smiled at me, “Oh my, how polite, I’m Martha. I shall start the guild registration process for you. Please read this pamphlet while I retrieve your information. Place your left hand here.”

Martha gave me a piece of paper and I read through it while I placed my left hand on a blank piece of paper that she had provided.

[Guild Ranks range from F<E<D<C<B<A<S<SS. Completion of a set number of quests give you a rank up. You can choose to complete quests in your own rank and one rank above you. You can choose to make a party of people with your rank or one rank above/below you (no exceptions). To select a quest, retrieve it from the quest board and register in the accepting counter. When completed, submit spoils to the completion counter. A party below rank D can consist of a maximum of 4 people (with exceptions). A party of average rank D and above has to consist of 4-8 people (with exceptions of triple parties). After reaching rank C, you will have to leave the village (no exceptions).]

Martha moved my hand and said, “Okay, I’m done. Here is the starting amount of 5 silvers. Please take care of your money. You can put it in your item box. And here is your Guild card.” She gave me a metallic identity card that was black in color, “When your card becomes white then you will be eligible for ranking up.”

My card read:

She continued, “There are various types of quests: miscellaneous, collecting, subjugation, escorting, teaching and defending. As you gain experience you will understand the types and how well they pay. The high in your card refers to the fact that you are a high ranking player. If you focus on ‘quests taken’ then the card will show the five quests you have currently accepted. Remember you cannot take more than five at a time. Also if you fail a quest it will affect your ‘quest completed’ attribute and in severe cases may drop your rank. So don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you have any doubts feel free to consult with me or more experienced adventurers for a price, that is. Good luck. Oh, try not to lose your card because to make another it costs 10 silver for a rank F.”

I nodded and thanked Martha and headed to the notice board. Just as I was about to read I heard a shout, “Oi! How do I get registered?!” It was the same guy from the gate except he had a black eye. I guess some people never learn, as I saw other adventurers giving him a glare. I ignored him and his antics and focused on the bulletin board aka the quest board. Two large letters were written on top ‘E’ and ‘F’ so this is the E and F rank quest’s board. There were a few other people who were looking at the board. But they gave me enough space to view it too. I looked at the right hand side of the board. Most were collecting quests and a few were weird (like odd jobs) not fitting into any category, so I guess they were ‘miscellaneous’.

I thought, ‘To level up I need to kill monsters I presume, and it’ll also give me experience vital for survival. I was able to kill goblins with ease so I guess that’s what I will do.’ I got hyped and looked to the left hand side of the board, for E rank quests. There were a few quests pinned up one over the other (five of them), all identical, [Subjugation: Kill 5 goblins. Proof: mana stones. Reward: 5 silver. Rank: E] Then there were other similar ones again pinned together, [Subjugation: Kill 2 wolves. Proof: mana stone. Reward: 4 silver. Rank: E]. I guess they pin up the same quest together. All the rewards in the F rank quests were barely adding up to 1 silver, most were below 100 coppers. But E rank quest rewards ranged from 1-5 silvers. I saw another interesting quest… [Subjugation: Kill 10 foxes. Proof: mana stone. Reward: 5 silver. Rank: E].   The rest (7 of them) were collection and miscellaneous (10 of them) quests. The only subjugation quest, as well as the highest reward, in rank F was [Subjugation: Kill 10 hobgoblin. Proof: mana stone. Reward: 1 silver. Rank: F].

So I decided to take the F rank subjugation quest (hobgoblin) as well as two E rank ones (Foxes and goblins). I took all three, getting a few stares on my way, to the queue for ‘(E/F) Accepting’. There were two people ahead of me, one man and one woman. The girl had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung in her back. And the guy had a sword in his waist and a shield in his back. The guy was standing close to me, so I tapped his shoulder and asked, “Excuse me?”

He turned to me quizzically, “Yes?” I asked, “Your weapons have a holder, if you don’t mind me asking where can I get one for my mace? So far I’ve been using my item box, but I would like to keep it on me, any way to do so?” His confused look cleared up and he gave me half a smile and answered, “Oh yeah, they give this for free in the blacksmiths for newbies like you. It’s a building behind the AG.” I presumed AG stood for Adventurer’s Guild, so I thanked him with a smile. His turn came, as the woman was done, “No problem.” He turned towards the receptionist and handed her his card and two quest requests. After a minute he got his card back, nodded and turned to leave. He flashed me a smile before leaving.

I went to the counter and gave her my guild card and the three quest requests. She looked surprised, “Are you a newbie? Then I suggest starting with a few F rank quests before doing the E rank ones.” I replied, “I’ll start with the F rank subjugation before doing the E rank. I have killed goblins before so I should manage two-three of them.”

She looked surprised for a fraction of a second, “I see. Okay then here is your card, I have assigned you three quests, please be careful.” I thanked her and accepted my card, just as I turned to leave I asked, “Oh, but where do I find hobgoblins, foxes and goblins?” She answered, “Ask the gate guard.” I nodded and turned just to meet eyes with the rough guy from the gate. The newbie, just like me. He scowled at me, “Oi, you’re new here right? Are you from ****? ****? ****? Huh?! Why can’t I say ****?”

I mumbled, “****”. I could not say ‘earth’, there must be some sort of restriction? I told him, “Even I can’t the place where I’m from, ****. There must be some sort of restriction.” He stopped cursing and looked at me, “So you’re a new player?” I nodded, “Yes, I arrived a few minutes before you. Anyway I have to do a few things so I’ll be going now. Good luck to you.” And before he could do or say anything more I nodded to him and left the guild.

I headed behind the guild, there was a path leading to the blacksmith. So I followed it and could soon hear hammering noises and all sorts of other noises one would expect in a blacksmith’s place. I opened the door to the blacksmith’s hut and was greeted by the sight of a counter. Behind the counter stood a young boy, but my attention was on what was behind him. All sorts of weapons were mounted neatly behind him.

“Yes, can I help you?”

I looked back at the boy who spoke, “Ah yes, I’m a new player and I heard I could get equipment… So that I can hang my weapon on me?” He nodded and replied, “Oh yes, since you’re a new player we give those for free. It’s called ‘equipment holder’. The free one can equip a mace/spear/shield in the back, two swords and two daggers in the waist. If you buy a common armour for 2 silvers, we also give a complimentary dismantling dagger, to cut out monster’s mana stone, with it. ”

I asked him, “Could you show me the armour and dagger, please.” He smiled, “Yes, of course, here you go.” He gave me two pairs of arm armour, one for each hand. Two for the upper arm and two for the lower arm. One pair of shin guards and one chest guard (that also covered my stomach). He also gave me a sharp dagger. As for the stats:

I asked him, “What does a defence of six mean?” He politely replied, “A goblin generally has an attack of 3-5 and foxes and hobgoblins both below 5. Whereas, wolves have an attack of 6-7. So this armour can at best block attacks of E rank monsters. A ‘D rank’ monster will have attacks reaching 10, which will destroy the armour.” I think I understood, “What if I want to sell my armour?”

He replied, “You can sell it here, for E rank equipment you will receive half the price you brought it in. Here is your equipment holder.” With his instructions, I put it on. There was only one strap. I just had to wear it like a shirt and then tighten the strap/belt on my waist. There were two slots to my left and two to my right, it was quite obvious which one was for the dagger and which for the sword. The back had a crooked cylindrical holder that clicked my mace into place and he explained that shield automatically clipped onto the same holder. I removed the equipment holder, paid him two silvers and wore the breast plate (chest armour), wore the equipment holder again, then wore the arm and shin guards and finally put my mace and dagger in place.

After I left the shop I stood outside and practiced taking out and putting back my mace. The mace fit almost vertically but at a slight angle, with the pointed part peaking a foot over my right shoulder and the handle reaching my waist , at my back. To take it out I had to take my right hand around my stomach reaching towards the left hand side of my back and with a slight pull could take out my mace. To put it back in place I had to hold the handle of the mace closer towards its head and take the mace over my right shoulder and then rotate the mace towards my back, with the handle side towards the outer side.