I clambered into the back-seat of the black sedan, the door closing with a familiar thud as I sat against the plush leather. Getting a better look at the vehicle, it was clear that Kara's car was much nicer than my own - although ninety-percent of that was probably from the fact that she actually cleaned it and took care of it. As she adjusted the rearview mirror, Leo slumped into the passenger-side seat, still tired from the night.
"Morning Leo," Kara said. "Sleep well?"
"I wish," Leo replied. "I got about as much sleep as I usually do."
"So, barely any?" Kara replied.
"Barely any," Leo confirmed. "Same as always."
As she turned the key, I could hear the engine rev to life. The vehicle roared as it charged forward, and Kara smiled as she swiftly drove the car from the parking lot, and out onto the street.
"You alright back there?" Kara asked me.
"I'm good," I replied. "Thanks for taking me down, I appreciate it."
"Not a problem," Kara said. "What made you want to do this, anyway?"
"Don't ask me. Honestly, I don't have the faintest clue myself," I answered.
Kara concentrated on the road as Leo leaned his head back and shut his eyes in the front-seat. Riding through the darkness, I stared out the window as the light of the old streetlamps passed by. The streets were nearly empty, save for the occasional garbage truck or cleaning crew driving across the roads. Driving down the main road, we took a turn to the right, and about a hundred metres up the road - we were faced with red taped bollards cordoning off the street, and a young man in a orange high-vis vest stopped the vehicle. As he came to the driver's side window, Kara wound her window down.
"Sorry ma'am, road's been blocked off. There's been a daemon incident," the worker said. "I'm 'fraid you'll have to go around."
"Got it," Kara said. "Thanks sir."
As she wound up the window, Kara turned the vehicle into a side-street to our left. Behind the barricades on the cordoned-off street, I could see the corpse of what looked to be two or three dark-furred wolves strewn across the ground, and nearby them - emergency services flocked around something covered in a dark-green sheet of tarpaulin... and from the shape of it, I thought it could've been somebody... Frankly, I didn't want to ask.
While the emergency workers unfolded a stretcher and loading the tarped figure onto it, we sped around the corner - leaving the sight behind.
"Unnerving stuff, ain't it?" Kara said to me.
I turned around with a start as Kara interrupted my trance-like stare out the window. After a moment, I sighed, as Kara continued to speed through the barely lit side-streets - like a woman who invited death.
"It's horrible," I replied. "But I guess there's not much I can do about that though."
"Yeah, we can't help everybody," Kara said, with a face of remorse and regret, a deep sadness written through her distant eyes as she drove the streets. As the car was engulfed in a menacing silence, Kara lowered her finger to the radio, and music bellowed through the car's interior - playing a boppy and upbeat melody that seemed at odds with the misery and languor of pretty much everyone else in the car. It served as an audible facade for our woes.
"By the way, before we get there, Oscar," Kara said. "I just figured I'd give you a few pointers, since it's your first day and all."
"Go ahead," I said, as I vacantly stared out the window - watching the houses go by.
"First of all," Kara said. "The boss can be a little eccentric. Just, don't worry yourself about her too much. She might not look like it... but she's very good at what she does. Secondly, I'm sure your partner will be able to teach you all about this, but do not ever let yourself get to zero mana. Thirdly, if you're given the Albersar job, whatever you do - don't take it."
"What's wrong with the Albersar job?" I asked.
"It's just not worth it, I'm telling you that right now," Kara replied. "Isn't that right, Leo?"
As Kara turned to look at Leo, he snored in the passenger seat as he slept like a baby. Gripping her left hand into a fist, she braced for impact, punching him in the abdomen while still keeping her right hand on the wheel.
"Leo!" She yelled. "Come on, how are you supposed to do your goddamn job if you're always nodding off before we get there!"
Leo breathed heavily as he got the wind knocked out of him. Struggling to breathe, as he sat there reeling from the impact, it took him a few seconds before he was able to respond.
"Hey, what the hell was that for!" Leo exclaimed.
"What'd I say about dozing off in the passenger seat?" Kara asked. "You realise how much I'd love it if I could have a lovely nap like you do? You've got to stay sharp. What happens if we get jumped by a daemon and you're out cold?"
"A daemon attacking our car would probably do a pretty good job of waking anyone up," Leo said. "Relax..."
"Whatever," Kara replied. "Anyway, could you please explain to your friend why he shouldn't take the Albersar job? I figure it'd be better if you two had that conversation."
As Leo turned around, he leaned over the console, intently staring into my eyes. Fiddling with his pendant as he spoke, his stern words drifting ominously across the air.
"Whatever you do, don't take the Albersar quest," Leo implored. "It might pay well, but it won't end well. If you take that quest; best case scenario, you become a missing person."
"Wait, what's the worst case scenario then?" I asked.
He hesitated for a moment, pondering the question.
"I'd try not to think about that, if I were you," Leo answered.
I gulped. That didn't exactly sound reassuring.
As Kara drove into an old complex near the edge of town, against the north-eastern border of Tonnick, she parked on the street - yanking the handbrake as the car came to a stop. Unstrapping her seatbelt, Kara got out of the car.
"We're here," Kara said.
"Alright," Leo replied vacantly, as he pulled himself lazily out of the car seat and up onto his feet.
I opened the car door as I stepped onto the pavement, staring up at the weathered building with the sign "Adventurer's G-ild" hanging over the door. The 'u' must have disappeared at some point.
Something told me that fixing the sign was the least of their priorities.
The building was dated, showing signs of its age. The red coat of paint that lathered the exterior was slowly fading to a washed-out pink, the colour slowly eroded by the elements, and as nature hammered the exterior - cracks stretched across the outside walls. It was an old-style austere building, dated and derelict. Though still well-kept and well-cleaned, its weathered appearance spoke for its age.
"Welcome to the place where lives are saved," Kara said. "Trust me, it looks better on the inside."
My gut instinct told me that it did not.
Kara wandered up to the building, and I followed behind her as Leo brought up the rear. I rubbed the rheum off my face with my jacket sleeve, wandering up the steps, still trying to shake the horrific nightmares I'd had only an hour or so ago. I got the feeling that no matter what I did from this point forward; nightmare-free sleep would become less of a certainty and more of a commodity. Given the world was falling apart, I was a little bit surprised that I hadn't just fallen apart completely myself - but I guess I still had time to do that.
Approaching the Adventurer's Guild, Kara pushed open the doors, and we shuffled inside into the foyer. It was dull, with brown upholstered chairs and a tan carpet that seemed like it belonged in a retirement home. A carpeted foyer definitely wasn't the most appropriate choice for an agency where people killed shit for a living: that much I was sure of. I could see dirtied bootprints wandering off toward a set of doors on the other side of the door, and though it was clear that the carpet had been cleaned somewhat recently, it had already been tracked with all manner of dirt, grime, and monster entrails. Though it was somewhat homely, whoever designed this building obviously didn't anticipate it being used for adventuring - that much was clear.
The three of us wandered up to the service desk, and sitting there - a tired assistant stared at her computer, punching something into the system. Clearly distracted by whatever it was that was on the screen, Kara rung the little bell.
"Um, sorry!" The woman exclaimed. "I didn't notice you!"
"Relax, Emmi..." Kara said. "It's just me. Leo and I just wanted to clock on quickly, if that's alright with you?"
"Right, so sorry!" She replied. "I'll get onto that right away!"
Emmi, whoever she was, seemed like a person who was constantly on-edge. She was a wiry figure, with thick glasses and a freckled face - probably about my age or slightly younger. Her short auburn hair was frazzled, hairs standing on end, and her beady eyes looked alert as they seemed to dart constantly - her gaze never remaining on anything for longer than a quarter of a second. After a moment of frantically doing something on the computer, she looked up at Kara and gave a nod.
"Um, can... can I help you with anything else, Kara?" Emmi replied, with that pitchy and worrisome voice of hers. She seemed uncertain of herself, and despite the fact that she was doing secretary work, her desk spoke of incredible disorganisation.
"Well, I've got a new adventuring candidate here too," Kara said. "If you could get him an appointment with the boss and set him up, that'd be swell!"
"Sure... yeah, I can do that," Emmi responded. Her words didn't exactly inspire me with confidence, but she seemed like a genuine person, and she had a warm smile.
"Can I grab your name, sir?" She asked me.
"Uh, Oscar McAllister," I replied. The fact that I hesitated in remembering my own name was kind of embarrasing, but she didn't seem to notice it. Perhaps it was because she'd spent so much time stammering herself? Who knows.
"Right... I'll just need you to fill this out then," she said. She lifted up a sheet of paper from under her desk, before passing a clipboard across to me. As I took the clipboard, I stood there, awkwardly looking down at Emmi.
"Sorry, but I don't think you gave me a pen," I said.
Emmi went flush red as she grabbed a pen from the pen-pot on her desk, fumbling, as the pot fell over - splaying the pens across the desk. She grabbed one and passed it over to me, trying to ignore the mess.
"Thanks," I replied, taking the pen with a smile.
"Alright, well, we're headed out then," Leo said. "Take care, Oscar."
"Will do," I replied. "See you later then."
"I'll see you in the evening," Leo said. "Don't get yourself killed or anything."
"Bye!" Kara exclaimed to the room.
As the two left, wandering into that pitch-black night, I sighed as I slumped into one of the brown chairs. Looking down at the clipboard, I read through the paper - filling out the details as I went. It was relatively standard info. Name, Age, Address: that sort of thing. At the back however was a nine-page liability waiver printed in size 8 font, asking for a signature at the end. The liability waiver was probably three times more dense than everything else in the paperwork, and something told me that even this had been trimmed down a lot over the years.
Staring down at the dashed line at the end of the liability waiver, I sighed as I put the ballpoint pen against the surface of the paper, etching my signature into the surface of the sheet. In that moment, I signed on the dotted line - and hell, for all I knew, I could've signed away my soul along with it.
Nobody ever reads the fine print.
