“You aren’t going with her?” Geoff asked. “I know there’s no love lost between you two, but isn’t fighting the big ones exactly what you wanted to do?”

“Do you know why I let her follow me this far?” Christoph slumped back against the brick wall of the stable, Geoff’s horse neighing softly nearby.

The lizard-man shrugged, dust falling from his cloak as he moved. “No idea,” he said. “Why?”

“Because she’s always right,” Christoph replied, raising his hands in an expression of bewilderment. ” ‘Christoph! Do this! Christoph! Do that!’ It’s frustrating, but she was almost never wrong. Out in the desert, it’d just be stupid to do something else just because she made the suggestion, but here…”

“Here, you can tell her where to put it and then go find something else to do,” Geoff said with a grin.

“Exactly,” Christoph nodded. “Well, that’s the plan, anyway. It’s childish, I know, but Jesus Christ I was getting tired of her bullshit.”

“You’re using your otherworldly curses again,” Geoff said, a scaled brow raised in amusement.

“Ah, sorry,” Christoph said with a laugh, falling silent after a moment. “Did I ever tell you why I can speak your language?”

“I don’t think you did,” Geoff replied, reaching out to feed a sugar cube to his horse. “Do people in your world speak a different language?”

“Many different languages,” Christoph said. “Here, the gods speak one tongue, and the people do the same, but in my world the gods are distant, if they exist at all. There are thousands of languages, probably.”

“That many? Geoff sighed. “I can’t even imagine trying to trade in conditions like that.”

“Anyway,” Christoph said. “Turns out that the human god translated all my memories during the trip over here. So even if I make it back, I won’t even be able to speak with anyone I knew. It’s absurd!”

“Couldn’t you get Liam to undo the changes?” Geoff asked.

“I don’t think his gift works that way. It’s more like he can add experiences, and sort of… filter out the ones you already have.” Christoph suppressed a shudder as he recalled his last meeting with the world traveler. “I still can’t stand the sight of the cat-people. The memories I have of the village seem nice enough, but the feeling they give me is… unpleasant. Emi… Remembering my old owner in particular is enough to make me shudder.”

“I’m sure he had a reason for giving you that fear,” Geoff said. “I’ve known Liam for a while now, and he doesn’t seem like the type of person to mess with people on a whim.”

“I’m thankful for what he showed me,” Christoph said, “but even so… it’s an odd feeling, knowing what your mind is showing you is somehow wrong. Besides that, my memories… every now and then, I’ll be reminded of something from my old world, but I can never put my finger on what it was. People, places, seeing the skimmer drove me near crazy trying to drag up the past, but I got nothing.”

“Sounds like you’re getting old,” Geoff said with a chuckle.

“I’m not joking, you know?” Christoph sighed at the beast merchant’s grin, tapping his head back against the bricks. Slowly, his mouth split into a smile, a laugh building as the lizard-man continued to chuckle.

“Here,” Geoff said, tossing him a large sack. “Here’s your stuff, now get going before someone shanks you for it in the street.”

Christoph caught the sack, feeling the intense warmth leaking through the thick fabric and into his body. “Thanks,” he said, bowing his head towards the merchant. “You’re a good friend to have.”

“As are you,” Geoff replied, pointing across the street. “Look, you’re too late. Your escort is here.”

Christoph turned in the direction he was gesturing, recognizing the two independent members of the council as they approached the entrance to the stable. Serana, was it? The woman had seemed to be working with Roethus during the meeting… Well, that didn’t concern Christoph any more. He pushed off from the wall and stood as she came to a stop before him, her long skirt swaying around her legs.

“Christoph?” she asked. “We’re here to take you to the guild.” Behind her, Farrow glared over at the two men with disdain.

Christoph bowed to the pair, careful not to spill the contents of his sack as he did so. Did they bow here? No, adventurers were adventurers… Well, Liam hadn’t shared with him any knowledge on Manitas City, so it couldn’t be helped. It was probably best to err on the side of caution.

“There’s no need to bow,” Serana said, turning away from the stables. Ah. Still, better than not bowing and finding out he was supposed to.

“Thanks for everything,” Christoph said, waving a hand to Geoff as he hurried after the Councillors. “I’ll see you again!”

…

The guild building was the largest by far, standing over the city as a palace might. Rather than brick, it looked like the ground had risen into a building-shaped mountain, the rock looming solidly overhead. Serana had led Christoph through the entrance and past the milling adventurers, and he shifted uncomfortably as he recalled the awe she’d inspired in the crowd, and the scrutiny he’d fallen under as a result.

“As you know,” Serana said, “most adventurers begin as a probationary member, the Bronze rank.” She sat opposite Christoph on the lounges of the guild office, watching as he scrawled his name onto the guild admission form. “To be entered as a Gold ranker is highly unusual, and truthfully something we only offered you under the assumption you’d aid Diana in her quest.”

“I can’t imagine the other adventurers will take the news well?” Christoph asked, looking up at where Farrow stood over the table, his arms crossed in obvious hostility.

“Well, I could always go on the dragon subjugation after all,” Christoph continued, making eye contact with the haughty man. “But that’d make them think I was one of Diana’s friends. Which I’m not.”

“We’ll see,” Farrow said, shifting his arms as he replied.

Christoph shook his head, leaning down to finish filling out the form. Name, age, gender, race, place of birth… was it fine to put ‘Earth’ in that box? Achievements… Christoph noticed that Serana had already filled out that area of the sheet: Pirate subjugation, Charodontia. Pirate subjugation, Landshark’s Regret. Pilot, elvish land skimmer. Duel, Henry of God’s Compass. Beast subjugation, Guardian of the Forest (Lesser Paw).

Christoph noticed there was no mention of the knights he’d fought. Was this because of the strained relations between the guild and the church, or because they weren’t considered duels in the first place? Did the guild always fill out the achievements section of the form themselves, anyway? Serana took the scroll once he’d finished, glancing over the page before handing it back.

“Looks fine,” she said. “Although you’ll need to mark it with your blood before we can complete the ritual.” Was this an enchanted scroll? It didn’t seem to have the ordinary glow of mana Christoph had seen. Shrugging, he took the knife she offered and slashed at his thumb, smearing blood over the bottom of the scroll before his cut could heal closed.

Pulling a crystal from her blouse, Serana leaned forward over the table, long red hair drifting down to brush on the wood as she placed it over the still-drying parchment. A gold coin followed the gem, and light flashed as the crystal faded away, a small medallion left lying on the scroll when the glow had cleared.

“This is yours” Serana said, handing him the gold plate. “The guild will keep the form, and update it as necessary. A new medallion will be issued if you ever make it up to the Platinum rank, and specific gemstone ranks lie above that.”

Christoph nodded at her words. The various ranks were Bronze, Iron, Steel, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The ‘gemstone’ ranks were not tiers but rather categories or titles for the most distinguished of the Platinum adventurers. Liam had left him some information on the gemstones, but he’d since forgotten most of it. Christoph frowned at the realization. He’d only been left the most essential of Liam’s knowledge, right? How much more had he forgotten?

“Is that it, then?” Christoph asked with a blink. “I’m an adventurer now?”

“Technically, yes.” Serana rolled up the scroll and placed it into a leather tube, a cap closing over the open end. “Just so you know, adventurers are welcome in the dwarven and human lands, and the beast lands request aid at times, but don’t expect the fairies or the orcs to let you live because of your medallion.”

“Will the church still kill me if I go back to the Kingdom?” Christoph asked.

“I would assume so,” Serana said. “We’ll push to have them rescind the declarations they made about you, but I’d advise you not to set foot in the church’s lands until then.”

“Okay then. Ah,” he said, gesturing to his medallion. “Where can I buy a chain for this?”

“You’ll need weapons and armor, too, I suppose?” Serana asked, standing before he could answer. “Out of the main workshops in the city, I’d recommend either the Silent Chains or the Rigid Plate. Expensive, but worth it in the long run.”

“I’m looking for an unusual custom job,” Christoph said.”Preferably without it running too high a cost. Is there anywhere that can help me with that?”

“If your project is strange enough for you to be asking then I’d have to say the Merry Brothers would be more than happy to take you in.” Serana paused for a moment before turning away. “They do take some getting used to, though.”

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem for me,” Christoph replied. “Even the name seems familiar.”

…

“Armor comes in three basic forms – light, heavy, and plate.” The merchant had introduced himself as Jacques, having appeared to show him around the store after Serana had pushed him through the door and vanished somewhere unspecific. Christoph followed the man’s gestures as he spoke, seeing the three categories laid out on the many racks of the store. Manitas City was a city of adventurers, and where adventurers went, merchants followed. Armorers, weapon-smiths, enchanters and tailors, this city had it all in excess. Even the pirate raids weren’t enough to keep them away, and the flying ships aimed for the rare shipments of food and medicine in any case. Ore and fabric couldn’t keep a crew alive in the harsh desert heat.

“Light armor is mainly leather,” Jacques said, pulling a tan brown breastplate from a nearby rack. “Swordsmen, spearmen, archers and even some of the mages favor it, mainly for the lighter weight. It isn’t meant to defend against another person, just the smaller beasts and the occasional arrow. Enchantments can fix that, though.”

Christoph shook his head at the merchant’s hopeful expression. Leather armor… It seemed thick enough to stop a knife, perhaps even a large dog, but it hardly covered the whole body, and he’d be targeting the largest creatures he could find. The plate armor was useless, too. The interlocking steel might be effective against lightly armed people, but not large monsters, mages, or heavy attacks.

“Do you custom make heavy armor?” Christoph asked, nodding towards the relevant stands. “I need a gauntlet for my left arm only. Something plated, but thick. A breastplate would be nice, too.”

“Enchantments?” The merchant’s eyes narrowed, his fingers twitching as he scanned the store. Enchantments… No, Christoph’s regeneration relied on his mana. It wouldn’t make sense to feed energy into his armor, and he couldn’t wear anything with dedicated mana stores or he’d end up sucking it dry before battle.

“No enchantments” Christoph said, smiling inwardly as the greedy merchant’s face fell. “Just armor. If something is magically constructed for strength or weight, sure. But no crystals.”

“No crystals…” The merchant scurried away, motioning for Christoph to follow him through the tall wooden racks. “Here,” he said, pulling a dark-colored breastplate from the shelf. “This is orichalcum, orc gold. Heavier than steel, but stronger. I can have something built for a fee, if you wish?”

Christoph paused, hefting the armor between his hands and feeling the weight. Heavy, certainly, but not enough to slow him down too much. Compared to the other materials, though… “No.” Shaking his head, he passed the plate back to the Jacques, the shorter man sighing in obvious disappointment.

“There’s nothing else I can offer you unenchanted,” the merchant said. “Most of the heavy armors are built from crystal beasts, you know?”

Christoph nodded in understanding. Heavy armor didn’t cover the body as plate did, seeking instead to provide massive amounts of protection to key areas of the body. Visually, it looked almost like extremely thick leather armor, designed to defend against the monstrous yet unguided blows of the larger creatures. Because the material had crystals already built-in, leaving it unenchanted was simply a waste of material.

“Do you do custom enchantments, then?” Christoph asked. “Rather than defense, could you make something like that with an offensive enchantment built in?”

“What type of enchantment?” the merchant asked. What type? At the very least he must have a contact if he’s taking questions on the work. No, it’s possible they do the enchanting in-house as well.

“Not the kind that stores mana, something I can pour my own energy into. I’d be willing to pay well for something large enough…” Christoph broke into a grin as he paused. “Large enough to do some damage to a dragon.”