Yori did not accept this answer and stood up brusquely, his fists clenched at his sides.

“What are the requirements? I’ll meet them!”

The Guild Master raised an eyebrow at the boy’s determination and crossed his arms in front of his chest in amusement. The corner of his mouth raised in a smirk, deepening the wrinkles webbing from his eyes.

“Well, you see my boy, you have to have a combat stat above 20-“

“But, sir-“

“As well as two combat skills, and there’s an entrance fee of ten silver pieces.”

“Sir, that’s not-“

The Guild Master was taken aback at first by Yori’s determination. He coldly laid out the truth of why it was impossible, not withholding his amusement at the thought of this Villager wanting to be an Adventurer. Although Elina attempted to interrupt him a few times, a quick glance at her proved enough to silence her beratements.

As a farmer’s son, Yori had never had a purpose in getting his statistics measured, so he had no clue what his stats were. Everyone had them. They measured things such as Dexterity and Strength. Everyone also had a set of skills at their disposal that were either passive or could be activated, such as his sister’s fire spell, Ember. He was well aware he would not have any combat skills. He neither trained in this area nor would have the necessary Blessing to gain such skills. The money was also an issue. Even if he had not lost everything he owned and held dear the previous week, he would not have had anywhere near ten silver, so that was also out of the question.

“I guess you’re right…”

A sad realization overtook the boy. Yori’s defiant and determined face softened to defeat, averting his gaze to look at the beige carpeted floor. His shoulders slumped forward as he unclenched his fists. He would have to accept his lot in life and accept his weakness. He felt ashamed at how little he would be able to accomplish in his life, especially when compared to both of the other people in the room. Even though Elina was a receptionist, to be a part of this Guild she would have to possess a decent Blessing, skills, and power of her own. She may look small but she certainly had strength to spare.

“Yori, sir, we should go. We shall return to the inn, and then head to the farm.”

She beckoned him towards the door. Following Elina back to the reception desk he found the beautiful healer was still waiting for him. She had her hands drawn together in front of her chest as if in prayer. Her brow was raised in concern. As soon as she saw Yori and Elina emerge from the hallway she perked up and waved at them.

“Well, how’d it go?”

Yori looked away, unable to face his fate out loud yet. Elina spoke up for him.

“Our Guild Master was gracious enough to put the boy up in a room at the inn and find him a job as well.”

“Oh, that is wonderful.”

The robed girl reached out and took Yori’s hand in hers.

“I should officially introduce myself. As I said before, my name is Lady Kana. I work every day as a healer, helping the people of this city. If you ever find yourself in need of healing again, please seek me out at the Church of Light.”

She bowed her head slightly in a polite gesture. Yori could not help but perk up at her cheerful disposition and met her gaze as she raised her head.

“Thank you, Lady Kana. I owe you a huge debt for taking such good care of me. I would likely be dead without you. Some day I promise to make it up to you.”

“There is no need. I heal because it is the right thing to do, and I enjoy helping others. Not for debts or payment.”

With that she smiled and took another gentle bow before walking away, leaving Yori alone with Elina. He thought quietly to himself as he watched the girl’s white robes billowing behind her from her brisk, jovial pace.

What a kind, friendly person. At least there is still something positive in this world.

Yori and Elina proceeded forward in order to return to the inn. As they were leaving Yori overheard a group of Adventurers muttering amongst themselves in hushed voices.

“…eight feet tall…”

“…deadly beak…”

“…bastard got Bill!”

He only caught bits and pieces as they exited the building, but they seemed to be talking about some kind of dangerous creature. The morning was in full swing now as the streets bustled with activity. It was so crowded that Yori had a difficult time navigating without bumping into the people around him. There was clothing of all different colours and fashions in the street stalls and the permanent store-fronts. He caught a glimpse of a price tag on what looked like a well-made shirt and it almost took his breath away. Yori imagined that most of the people shopping were from the middle to upper classes since they would have the money to spare on such items. The building the Guild was in was situated in a relatively high-class section of the city since it was an esteemed faction and important to Esaron’s prosperity and safety. The Guild of Esaron was one of the largest in the country, attracting many talented people wanting to become adventurers for either fame, fortune, or glory. All of these things were much easier to accomplish the larger the Guild since better jobs would be available, as well as more talented instructors. It also helped having a famous Guild Master.

The visit back at the inn was brief. Elina simply wanted Yori to properly thank the innkeeper and assure him that the room would be paid for by Yori thanks to his new job. The keeper of the Inn was a fairly large man with dark skin and curly black hair that he kept in a ponytail above his head. The man was a bit rough around the edges but kind and understanding to Yori none-the-less. After discussing the rent and asking about his wages from Elina he discovered that the job would just barely cover his cost of living. He would have to find another job on the side if he wanted to move up in the world, but at the moment Yori’s main concern needed to be simply paying his way and existing for a while.

It took the better part of an hour to walk from the edge of the city to the farm where Yori would work. Elina accompanied him so he would not get lost on the first trip and to properly introduce him to the couple that agreed to supply him with a job.

The farm was on the opposite side of the city he had first come from, leading him further away from his home in Oseford. Green fields stretched to either side of the road to the surrounding farms. The transparent blue shimmer of the city’s barrier glimmered beyond the farms.

This city’s crystal must be huge if it can fit all of these farms inside the barrier.

Yori had been slightly worried that the barrier stopped at the walls as it did on the other side of the city, but it was not true for this North side. He could see the forest spread to the north of the city as they neared their destination. His trek through the woods was just days ago but seemed like a dream. This entire time since he slayed the monster had felt like some twisted nightmare that he needed to wake up from.

It was apparent he was not dreaming now, though. This was his new reality.

“The messenger that was involved with communication between your new bosses and the Guild Master replayed that they are very excited to have you.”

“That’s good…”

“No one wants you to feel like a burden. You will be doing good, honest work.”

Glancing at Elina, Yori gave her a halfhearted nod. She was doing her version of trying to cheer him up, however, awkward it was appeared, so Yori attempted some gratitude. Elina led him to a dilapidated wooden gate. She opened it and stepped through towards the house. Yori followed, gently closing the gate for fear of the old wood crumbling in his hand.

“Don’t forget, be on your best behaviour and be grateful, this is a favour from the Guild Master.”

Elina kept whispering this to him over and over on their way here. She seemed very concerned with his demeanor offending anyone, reminding him also that he was from a small town and things may be different here then he was used to.

A lone carriage sat in a dirt driveway in front of the house. There was a stable and attached barn peaking out from behind the right side. Fencing made of logs and rope stretched behind it. To the left was a field. Yori could tell the tilling had only gotten partially finished. An image flashed through his mind: an old rag, brown overalls, and fiery orange hair. A stab of pain etched at Yori as he quickly averted his eyes from the field. An older couple opened the wooden door to the farmhouse and came out to greet him and Elina. The woman was smiling at them and waved while the man looked passed them with distant eyes. A pipe sat lazily in his mouth, propped up with his left hand. It seemed that the homeowners were expecting their arrival. The house looked old, but not in disrepair, like the gate would have led him to believe otherwise.

“Lady Elina, thank you for this, I hope the journey was not too much trouble.”

The woman took Elina’s hand in both of hers’ and squeezed as they met.

“No trouble at all, the Guild Master thought it best for me to escort the young sir. This is the boy he spoke of, Yori of Oseford.”

“Oh, hello darling, it is so nice to meet you. We have been told that you should be a skilled farmhand. We are delighted to have you help on our farm… Jansen, say something.”

The woman gave Yori a quick hug and then elbowed her until then silent husband, attempting subtlety. The man took the pipe from his mouth and blew a puff of smoke away from the guests.

“Yes, yes, looks like a fine young lad. Welcome.”

“As you can see, we are getting to be rather old and we can’t quite keep up with all the work that needs to be done around here. We haven’t needed help until now, so please excuse us if we seem set in our ways.”

Clearing her throat, she glanced over at her husband, who had placed the pipe back in his mouth and was looking off into the fields behind Yori and Elina once again.

It seemed apparent to Yori that they had done all of the farm work themselves because they had no children. Usually when people reached this age, they would have their children to help or take over the family farm.

With the greetings and niceties out of the way, Elina bid him farewell.

“I will return at the end of the day to escort you back to the city. I will expect an update on how the day goes when I return.”

Yori turned and looked a bit awkwardly at the old couple.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch your names.”

“Yes, of course, how rude of us. My name is Celia Rutherford, and this is my husband Jansen.”

“Thank you Mrs. And Mr. Rutherford for this opp-“

“No, no, you call us Celia and Jansen.”

Yori nodded and wondered if Mr. Rutherford was alright since he was still staring at the field behind him. The man’s eyes wandered across the horizon and up into the sky occasionally.

“I will leave you two to work and start on some fresh bread for lunch, and tend to the chickens. Jansen, give the boy a task to do, you’re boring him.”

With that, Celia left to go back into the house. As soon as the door closed, Mr. Rutherford took a deep breath and placed his pipe aside on the fence.

“Sorry about that, I like watching the birds in the field in the mornings. One of the few pleasures I have left in this world. Seems like everything always needs fixing around here. Celia and I try and keep up with everything but it gets harder every year.”

Mr. Rutherford took another moment to admire the local wildlife before turning to Yori.

“Alright, the first task we will tackle is this gate.”

He led Yori down a narrow dirt path to a wooden shed at the left side of the house. It was filled to the roof with long, irregular boards of wood. As Yori was about to help transfer some of the boards into a wooden wagon the old man had wheeled over, Mr. Rutherford stopped him. He redirected Yori’s attention and told him to grab the tool set and saw on the wall and bring it over to the gate while he gathered the wood they would need.

He must know what size boards we need to fix the gate.

When all of the materials and tools were set up at the gate Yori got ready to help saw some wood. However, Jansen instead asked the boy to hand him tools and hold some boards still as he did the sawing himself. It took about an hour but they managed to nail together a small wooden gate as a replacement for the current one. It was not perfect but it would work.

Yori spent the rest of the morning with Jansen tending to the cows and sheep. This was work that the boy was familiar with. Mr. Rutherford asked him to fetch some hay and oats to feed the animals, and did the mucking of the stalls and the heavy lifting himself. As Yori went to pet one of the sheep a memory flickered in his mind’s eye as he saw an image of his favourite sheep from home, Autumn. She was likely killed with the rest of the village. A knot caught in Yori’s throat as he choked back tears, distracting himself with another menial task.

After lunch, Jansen wanted to continue tilling the fields in preparation for planting. Yori was almost looking forward to the hard physical labour, but all Mr. Rutherford would let him do was hook up the cattle to the plow and pick up large rocks from the field to make the job easier. Yori began to feel like the man either thought he was incompetent or was babying him out of pity. He did not enjoy the thought of either case. As he watched Jansen guiding the plow another painful image of his father came to him. As he imagined his father’s face grimace with effort pushing the plow, it twisted into a grotesque, lifeless frown, lying on the floor in their family home, a green monster smirking above the still frame of his parents.

Yori started to sweat, but not from exertion. He put a hand to his chest, his heart was pounding. Taking deep breaths he slowly steadied his breathing, shaking his head in an attempt to wipe the memories away. Jansen was facing away from him and did not notice the boy’s panic attack.

The field preparation took the rest of the day and Yori was wanting to head out before Celia managed to set up dinner for him. Doubt was piling up in his mind. Could he just continue as if nothing happened? Could he really be satisfied with just going back to the life he had? It would be a simple life and one that he knew quite well already, but something felt wrong. The sympathy he was being shown felt painful somehow. Even just the mention of his hometown struck his heart. The sight of a plow, or a tool, or even a home cooked meal brought back so much pain he could barely stand it. Several times he almost broke down in tears throughout the day. The joy and sense of accomplishment he had felt at farming was no longer there and the couple, although lovely, were not his family. Besides all of this, the tasks they had given him were ones his parents would have given to Noko, entirely too easy for a boy on the cusp of manhood.

As the day ended Elina appeared again to guide him to the inn the Guild Master had arranged for him. He was grateful to be relinquished from the monotony and the painful reminders of his former home.

Yori could also feel the debts adding up. The free healing from the maiden, the discounted hotel room, the job given to him, the meals made by the Rutherfords, and all of the sad glances from the people around him. Everyone was going out of their way to help him and he did not like not being able to give them much in return. The pity and sympathy were beginning to feel like a weight on his shoulders that he would have to pay back in order for it not to crush him.

All of these things and more ran through his head as him and Elina walked back to the city. Neither of them talked this time. The sky was getting dark and the air around them was crisp, yet comfortable. The last chirps of the day were heard from the trees as the sun sank behind the edge of the Earth. Elina could tell that something was bothering him. As someone who had to work her way up to where she is now, she understood that handouts can be uncomfortable.

They eventually made their way to the inn, but again, there was no talking amongst them. Yori was too busy with his inner turmoil to strike up a conversation, and Elina was conscious of the fact that he needed time to process everything that was going on and what the future might hold.

As Elina left him to his room she stopped in the doorway with her back to Yori. The light in the hallway illuminated her as a dark silhouette from Yori’s seated position in the unlit room. She turned her head to the right and muttered. Her voice was barely audible with the noise coming from the late dinner crowd downstairs.

“There are always multiple paths. Don’t always look to the same place.”

Her words confused Yori as he sat there, alone in the dark.

What did she mean by that?

He wanted to ask her, but she was already gone. The light from the hallway flickered in her absence. He thought about running after her but decided to ponder her words instead of making a potential scene.

Sleep escaped Yori that night. Every time he closed his eyes gruesome sights flooded his mind. A hellish nightmare that he had lived through. Blood and gore threatened to overtake his sanity as visions of his family, and even the lifeless body of the creature, berated him. He tried to stay distracted by contemplating Elina’s words.

Multiple paths to what? Family? happiness?

He thought about all of the things that people should want in this world, and what he truly desired. Yori did not care about money or fame, he just wanted to be strong. To be able to protect the people around him, unlike that night. Perhaps not having people to care about would help him evade the pain of losing his loved ones again. These thoughts circled around his head until the sun peaked in from the window.

The sun arose it illuminated the calendar on the wall to the left of the bed. Yori glanced at it and let out a deep sigh.

“Happy Birthday Yori.”