The foot traffic between the Magi Quarter and the Martial Quarter was not that heavy, and Kalamedra easily made his way through the streets. He felt like he had an extra spring in his step, having acquired a book which would let him unlock some of the secrets, or at least basic knowledge, of magic in this world.

You know when you skip around like that, I have to keep moving myself so that you don’t end up looking weird down here on the ground. You could be a little more considerate…

Kalamedra looked back behind him on the shadow behind him and shrugged. “I’m not intentionally being a dick, I was just feeling happy. I picked a path with a more difficult way, and now it is starting to pay off.”

He kept on his way down the cobblestoned boulevard, occasionally slowing to glance at the contents of a shop window or roadside stall. As he was buying some meat on a stick, he noticed 3 young men in azure robes about 50 feet back who seemed to have their eyes on him. He started walking back down the road, tearing yummy strips of meat off the stick.

System Notification Skill Increase: Perception is now Beginner 3 (+1)

“I think I picked up a tail, Xyl. You see those sinister fellows following me? Can you see if they are really trying to track me, or it’s my imagination.”

You ever see a bird looking at an especially juicy worm? You’re the worm.

“Just great. Love it. Can’t I get a break?” His voice sounded whiny, even to him and he took a deep breath and straightened himself a little.

I could just walk faster and hide in the Adventurer’s Guild, I suppose, but then I would have no idea what attracted the attention of these guys. I need more information. That’s the one thing that always seems to be true of my situation… Not enough info!

He continued walking on for a few more minutes until he was nearing the edge of the Martial Quarter. He had kept his eyes open and he saw that between some buildings on his right was a narrow alley where they were built too close together. He quickly dodged into the alley, intentionally making it seem as if he was fleeing. As soon as he stepped out of the light of day into the shadowed depths of the alley, he stepped through the shadow onto a window ledge on the second story and crouched down. He quickly drew out his dagger from his ring and waited.

The 3 young men came rushing in to the end of the alley, peering down its length to try and catch sight of Kalamedra. They were dressed in azure robes that were pouched over belts to give their legs mobility. Two of them had swords out, and the other was a sallow-faced youth with a long staff with a crystal on the end. The youth muttered some words and performed a hand movement and the crystal bloomed with light, illuminating the end of the alley.

Kalamedra felt assaulted, sitting on the window ledge he could feel that magical light eating away at the shadow he was perched in. It felt like a pressure from the deep oceans, all over his body trying to press inwards.

Well, guess I find out what the counter to my magic is! Gotta stay away from fricking magical light. I wonder if there is Light Magi? Note to self, you are not invincible. At least they are dumb like most people and haven’t looked up yet.

“Where the fuck did he go? He ran in here and just disappeared?” The azure swordsman pulled out a decent-looking longsword and slashed it back and forth in the empty alley in frustration.

“Elder Alv said we supposed to follow him, find out where he went. We weren’t supposed to do anything to him now. Just find out what we can. He got something from Old Man Persil and Alv wants to know what.” The staff-wielder was leaning nonchalantly against it, seemingly unconcerned that they lost their quarry.

“Right, well since he’s gone, let’s go to the Tavern and get some ale and whores. Not like they will know how long it really took us to follow him and it’s a cleaning day this afternoon at the Guild.” A lecherous smile dominated the third man’s face, and was soon repeated on the other two’s visages. The crystal was dimmed with another muttered phrase and the three left the alley, the shadows rapidly refilling it.

Kalamedra just sat on the ledge for a while, considering the words he had heard. It was clear that he had made himself a target once again, but not through any of his own intent.

In this world, the strong conquer the weak, and only the strong thrive. I am not content to just survive. I need to get stronger, to be stronger. I am already walking that path but I might need to hurry my speed a little.

Eventually he was firm in his mind and stepped back into the shadows in the mouth of the alley, storing the dagger back in his ring. He cautiously checked around the corner before moving back into the boulevard, but the azure-clad mischief-makers were long gone. Seeting back off on his journey, he quickly reached the Martial Quarter.

It was like there was some invisible dividing line between the Quarters, one moment he was surrounded by robed intellectuals and the next moment his fellow pedestrians were all wearing maille and plate armor, and carrying a wide assortment of battle weapons. The smell in the air changed from ink and apothecarial herbs to cinder, metal and sweat. There was also a palpable haze of blacksmithing smoke in the air.

The Martial Quarter was dominated by a huge structure, part medieval inn and part Keep. A tower stood perhaps a 100 feet high, built out of dark-grey stone, and on two sides of it were connected wooden structures of 3 stories that appeared to be sleeping quarters and relaxation areas such as a Tavern. The wooden parts formed two arcs with the tower in the center, all together forming a semicircle with training fields in the middle. This was the Adventurer’s Guild of Yulinh.

Yeah, wouldn’t be a fantasy setting without an adventuring guild of some sort. How else would everyone get jobs, or form groups to tackle more difficult dungeons? I guess it’s probably even more important in a game like this without all the global chat channels and LFG tools. I should be able to find out about some of the local Sword Schools, and maybe pick up a job or something. Get the lay of the land.

He pulled his hood over his face a little more, lifting the lower part of it over his face up to his eyes as he pushed open the doors of what was obviously the Tavern entrance. The place didn’t go all quiet at his entrance like a movie, but quite a few heads turned to see who was coming in. It was a large, multilevel facility and it had an extremely long bar along the whole back wall, and a truly varied crowd of people were all obviously enjoying their adult beverages.

Seeing he wasn’t invading, or leading the riot squad, everybody went back to what they were doing and Kalamedra stepped in and started walking around the edge of the room towards a large corkboard that covered one whole wall of the establishment. As he drew close, he could see that there were many wanted posters, job requests, and bits of information tacked on the board. There was a bowl of tacks on a small stool near the wall, but nothing to write on. They would help you hang it up, but you had to bring your own paper it seemed.

Kalamedra spent over an hour skimming the board, there were literally hundreds of items on it and some were quite densely written. It seemed that in Yulinh you could find jobs as merchant guards and the like, recovering stolen property, or collecting debts. There were also some vaguely written job notices that implied that if you had a few less moral qualms you might get some work of a slightly less legal nature, but as this was a public place they mostly consisted of people requesting to “meet up and see if we would work well together…”. There were also notices from people trying to form parties to battle local bandits, there seemed to be a bounty on them, and people planning excursions to acquire herbs and magical ingredients in the back country or lawless lands.

The most interesting of all though were people trying to form groups to explore local dungeons. Well, I would call them “dungeons” from my MMO experience, but these people seem to just say “a cave full of wee green beasties”, or “the pit of despair”. Seems like anywhere more than a day’s walk from here has a decent chance some wandering tribe of monsters will set up shop there. I don’t know that they are going to have any boss loot but they would probably supply a lot of xp.

Kalamedra took note of the details of a few of the better offers before making his way to the bar. He rapped his knuckles on the bar to get the attention of the barkeep, a tall willowy elf. She came over, and leaned forward a little to see him better over the bar.

“Can I help you sir? Need a drink?” She tried to form an ingratiating smile on her pleasant face, but it must have been a long day since it came out half-hearted.

“I’m not thirsty, just need some information. I’m new in these parts. Who do I talk to about getting a room around here for a night or two?” He skillfully produced two silvers and put them on the bar, pushing them towards the barkeep.

With a swipe of her rag the coins disappeared like they had never been there. She made a show of wiping at the bar for a second before replying. “Well, this Tavern is part of the Guild, but we aren’t an Inn. There is housing here, short or longterm, but you have to become part of the Adventurer’s Guild. If you are interested, you can head through the door over by the board you were just at and find out all about it.”

Kalamedra just nodded at her to show his thanks for the information and started back the way he had just come. As he was about to reach the door, there was the sound of a chair being pushed back across the rough-sawn floor abruptly and then a whistling noise. A half-filled metal tankard hit the wall right beside the door and the ale splashed all over Kalamedra’s cloaked face. He reached his left hand up and used it like a squeegee to scrape what he could of the liquid off as he slowly turned around.

At one of the nearer tables there was a tall half-orc standing there, chest rapidly rising and falling as he breathed heavily. He was staring daggers at Kalamedra, and his left hand was white-knuckling on the dagger sheathed on his belt.

“Yeah, YOU! I recognize that style of sword you have on, knife ear! I bet if I peeled off that doily you are wearing for a hat I’d find a little Dark Elf under there. You son of a pustulent whore! I fucking hate you little pieces of shit! How dare you even come in here! Are you looking to die?”

He was now yelling. The other people at his table were holding on to him, attempting to keep him from just throwing himself at Kalamedra in a fit of rage. They were throwing looks at Kalamedra as if they blamed him for riling up the half-orc.

“I don’t know you. I don’t give a fuck who you are. You picked the wrong day, pig-boy! Do you want to take this outside?” Kalamedra’s voice was quiet and calm.

“Fighting is strictly banned in Guild facilities! Dueling between members, however, is allowed and even encouraged.” The elven barkeep’s voice filtered through the clamor in the Tavern with a practiced ease.

Kalamedra nodded at her once more, and turned quickly to open the door. “Be right back.”

Through the door was a room that was reminiscent of a doctor’s office from his old life. There was a middle-aged woman sitting behind a nice desk. There were seats around the walls that looked like they would keep you off the floor, but were uncomfortable enough to make you weren’t here loitering. The woman’s face lifted as he came through the doorway, beckoning him over.

“Don’t think that I have seen you in here before. You new to Yulinh? Looking to join the premiere adventuring organization in Koral?” Her patter was practiced and perfect.

“Yup. Just tell me the quickest way to join, how much it costs, how to get a room, and the rules for dueling.”

She looked as if this was about par for the course, quickly pulling out some forms for Kalamedra to fill out. “As long as you are not wanted by Yulinh, and have not been previously banned from the Guild you can join. The cost is 5 gold coins, and that gets you the right to rent a room here, access to Guild healers for a separate fee, and access to our defense attorneys. As for dueling, the Guild takes no responsibility for loss of limb, life or property.”

Kalamedra rapidly filled out the forms, a skill that he had mastered in the “real” world long ago, and slapped 5 gold coins on the counter. The woman quickly reviewed the information, and then signed off on the form with a flick of her quill. She pushed over a jade slip with some kind of magical seal on it.

“This is your Guild card. It will open any room you have access to in the building, and it can be loaded with funds to be used at the Tavern, Healers, or any Guild merchants. It will also let you set up a duel at the dueling spellform outside. Good luck with that!”

Kalamedra snatched up the jade slip and headed back into the Tavern immediately. The half-orc was now seated again, but was watching the door like a hawk. As soon as Kalamedra walked in their eyes locked and Kalamedra looked pointedly at the main door. With a sarcastic wave of the arm, he motioned for the half-orc to join him outside.

The half-orc stood up so rapidly that the chair was thrown over backwards, hitting the ground with a dull thud. The other bar patrons seemed to think this was the height of entertainment, watching with barely concealed glee. The half-orc snatched a battleaxe from his belt and lifted it over his head and bellowed loudly, “Let’s do this!”

Well, that is one way to make an entrance.