The door was large, but nowhere near large enough for me to fit through. Even if I could, I doubted the inside of the building was going to accommodate me. I could now read the very last part of the sign above the door, but with great effort. Only the word ‘guild’ was clear enough to read. The rest was just… gone.

“If there’s anything inside that’s important, please do let me know,” I said as Cellestra walked up to the door.

“I doubt there is much, but I’ll tell you. I’ll see you in a bit.”

I nodded and watched as she disappeared inside. I then stepped away from the door and watched the crowd from a distance. Only then did I see the disgust that some people had in their eyes when looking at me. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, or whether it had been there the whole time. Perhaps Cellestra’s presence was enough for them to hide it, or maybe she had served to distract me enough to not notice at all.

Seeing the resentment, perhaps borne from fear, in their eyes directed at me, someone who’d always been looked at as a beacon of hope, as a knight, was more than disheartening.

Please hurry, Cellestra.

I wanted to avert my gaze from the crowd, but it was hard when I could see all around me, and was unable to close the vast majority of my eyes. To my relief, the door opened not much later and Cellestra stepped outside, followed by a man in black robes, carrying a wooden clipboard with a small ink pot attached to it, a quill in hand, and a pair of glasses on his nose.

He’d obviously been informed about what I was, but the clipboard still shook from his trembling.

I simply greeted him, but he didn’t seem to register. His eyes were darting back and forth over my spidery parts. I wasn’t sure whether amusement was something I should feel right now.

Only when I cleared my throat a second time, did he seem to regain his bearing, or at least some of it.

“Oh. I apologize,” He said, still shaky.

“It’s alright,” I said.

He still didn’t seem to find words until Cellestra spoke for him.

“You were going to handle our applications, right?”

“Oh, yes,” The robed man finally snapped back to reality. “The applications.”

He placed his glasses back on the top of his nose. They’d slid down from his quivers. “The applications.” A bit of a pause followed before he continued. “We’ve already got word from the mayor about some things to speed up the process. I will need you two to sign these papers and then assemble a suitable party of senior guild members or military to observe you in the Thymhil Proving Grounds.”

“What’s that?” I asked, already having some kind of idea, but I wanted confirmation.

“It’s a dungeon in the forest. One of two, actually, but this one has such a low skill floor at the beginning that we use it as a means of testing new applicants before we assign them a rank.”

I shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Can we see the paper?”

“I’ve already read it,” Cellestra mentioned while the person in charge of applications handed me the clipboard.

I quickly read through the text. There wasn’t much, but what was there was important. Members of the guild were not to attack one another, something which was obvious, but still had to be put into words. They were not allowed to go on missions or dungeons that exceeded their rank unless accompanied by a superior with the corresponding skill level. The guild would be free of liability for any accidents occurring in dungeons and more legal stuff that we would hopefully never have to deal with.

Then there were a few points that had to do with behavior inside the guild hall, which was entirely useless to me.

“Looks fine to me,” I said, before turning to Cellestra. “Have you already signed one of these?”

“I have.”

The black-robed man handed me the quill which I used to write my signature in the designated box at the bottom of the page.

“Excellent,” He said. “Now we’ll try to assemble a party and you ca—”

“I’ll go,” A familiar voice said as the door was thrown open.

Selleron appeared in the doorway, the plume of his helmet scraping against the top as he walked outside.

“I’ll go,” He said again. “I’ll take some of my men and we can have this party going within the next half hour.”

“Captain Selleron,” The guild clerk spoke. “I— Are you—”

“Sure? Yes,” The guard captain spoke. He turned to me. “Unless you have any problems with it, we can get this out of the way today.”

“I…” I stumbled. I had plans to work on my nest and to clean myself, but it seemed I was going to have to get my hands dirty again going through this trial. If that was the case, I felt I might as well do that proving grounds dungeon thing first.

I turned my head to Cellestra who nodded with her eyes closed.

“I think we’re okay with that. The sooner, the better, right?”

“Excellent,” Selleron said, a hint of excitement in his voice. “I’ve been looking forward to what you can do. I can’t wait to see it for myself.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” I admitted. “I hope I won’t disappoint. However…” I paused and looked at Cellestra next to me.

“Cellestra…” I said softly. “What do we do about your…?”

She sighed when the guard captain and the clerk looked at her. “My magic,” She said. “My magic can be dangerous to people nearby. I’m sure Kealyna will be fine, but it needs to be said, for your safety.”

“We’ll be at a distance,” Selleron said. “We aren’t allowed to interfere unless your lives are in danger. If we have to step in, it means the trial ends there.”

“I… I think we’ll be fine then,” Cellestra finished.

“Good,” The captain continued. “Let’s meet at the shrines in half an hour then. Felmar, will you join us?”

“I suppose I can make time,” The robed man said. “I’ll have to get a few things in order first, but I’ll be there.” He nodded as he scribbled down something on the piece of paper below the one on which I just put my signature.

After that, he walked back inside the guild hall.

“He needs to be there?” I asked. “Will he be fine? He doesn’t look like much of a fighter to me.”

“He doesn’t need to,” Selleron said. “He is just the observant from the guild to verify your progression and skill. He’s done this plenty of times.”

“Yet he trembled at the sight of me.”

“You’re, well… an exception, to put it lightly. Spiders don’t usually come in your size, and with elves attached to them.”

I chuckled. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Anyway,” The soldier continued. “I’ll be getting my men as well. If you need anything, you better hurry.”

With those words, he waved and was off, walking in the direction of the tower.

Things calmed down and I looked at Cellestra who still seemed to show some kind of guilt at her inability to control her magic.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I think he knows what he’s doing. Besides, we’ll practice again soon.”

She nodded. “You’re right. It’s just that I haven’t gone with a party before, so I’m worried about what I can do to them.”

“Understandable,” I said as I lowered myself again so she could hop on my back. “But Selleron knows what he’s doing, and I’ll also be there to heal if it’s needed.”

Once Cellestra was on my back, I slowly started walking to the road that we took to get inside the city.

“Things sure went faster than expected.” I sighed deeply. “And I was so looking forward to that bath.”

Cellestra giggled. “What did you think when Selleron suggested to go now? Were you relieved because you were going to get dirty again?”

“How did you know?” I said in amusement.

“You’re too predictable, Kealyna,” Cellestra replied, still smiling. “I’m curious what this dungeon looks like, though.”

“I’m curious as well, but we’ll see soon enough. I just hope we won’t spend too much time inside there. I have a little sister to entertain as well.”

The purple-eyed elf giggled again. “You can amuse her by telling her stories of your heroic adventures in the dungeon.”

“In that case, I already have some stories. However, I don’t know if it’s appropriate to tell a child about a city of the dead and how that dungeon floor was littered with skeletons.”

“Maybe skip that part.”

I chuckled at our conversation, but something dark manifested itself in my mind. I felt as if we were being followed, but as much as I saw and looked around, I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it wasn’t the case, but my intuition had seldom failed me.

Something felt off…