A subtle and magical, I'm assuming, chime occurs when we break past the curtains with our group. The inside of the guild is much different than what I was expecting in all honesty. A few groups and individuals are scattered around the entry area, either seated on tables just standing loitering. The two corners opposite the room to us seem to lead to other areas we could simply walk to if we wanted. The far left has stairs, leading down and up this time, while the far right is actually a stone doorway with a similar light colored rocky flooring and walls leading down past further in a hallway. Next to the stony doorway, against the wall right before it, is what appears to be bulletin board made of similar ebony wood to the rest of the building. One curious person seems to be looking through papers that are nailed to said board.

"Hey ther-! Argh, my head. Umm, do you need some help today?"

I startle at the young man's voice calling out to us after taking a second to glance around. Soot seems to have been expecting it soon enough though and replies with a quick answer.

"Ha hargh! Still working off those lagers last night, eh, Maverick?"

Using my brilliant powers of deduction, I'm able to make the deduction that the human male speaking is Maverick. He sits in a small recess in the middle of the wall, immediately ahead of us. Brilliant purple rings dot his body around the joints and shoulders, making for a beautiful contrast to his darker chestnut skin. He runs a hand through his braided hair and gives a weary smile in return.

"Heh. You called it, Soot. Many drinks and few hours of sleep makes for one tired Shuttermage. They made me run the front desk for showing up so late. Morning to you too, Arc. I'm surprised you made it here this early?"

How'd he know my-? Ah! Through the foggy memories of last night I remember he was one of the young men drinking last night! He was one of the last ones to pass out from his group.

"Yeah, guess the 'alcohol' doesn't hit as hard for an Almaej. Makes for good dye though! Did a bit of a change last night."

"Oh, yeah! I was just wondering about that. You can change like an elemental too? Suppose that explains that. What brings you here then?"

I look to my left to Soot as we walk up to Maverick's counter. Soot just stares at me and I take the hint to speak first of us.

"Well, I believe Soot and I are here to fill in some reports? Something along those lines?"

Soot nods at my explanation and speaks up after me.

"Sums it up well enough. I came and mentioned something yesterday but I need to talk to you and the brass here today."

Maverick puts his chin in his hands and puts on a contemplating look. He seems to take a few seconds to think about something before responding to us.

"Yup, they did mention that. Alma portal and Water Portal? I was told I'd have to help close some up soon so the boys and I went out for some drinks before going out."

I look to Soot to my side as he speaks next.

"Yeah, so I'll bring it up with some other adventurers we'll need to bring but here's what the Explorer's Guild has thought up so far. We'll need a team of at least-. Oh, yeah. Arc."

Soot stops mid explanation and turns to me, seeming to forget my presence amidst planning for a moment.

"I'll be honest this'll be a bit boring and I'll be updating you on final plans anyways. The second objective here was for you to meet some adven-, ahem, adventurers. It'll be a good welcome bit for you to experience me and Caim thought of. Feel free to head on through the back area there and see who's in the training area."

Soot nods and Caim follows suit as well.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of back and forth here. If you head through the stone, you'll go past the forging area then see doors leading to the backyard."

I stare briefly back and forth between the two of them before nodding and heading to the stony doorway.

I can understand what they mean by how it could be boring. When traveling through the portal to Maja my group argued and had heated debates over how to do anything from enter it to how many should go to whether we should bring water guns with us as a last deterrent. Granted, in hindsight, the water guns might've been significantly less successful than we thought so I am glad we didn't choose to do that. I'd gladly wait till all the plans are made as a group then follow it if I think it's good.

The subtle thumping of my footsteps on wood changes pitch slightly higher as I traverse to the new stone structure. The hallway doesn't pass more than a dozen feet before opening up to a larger empty area with a few mare tables and want looks like a forge and anvil in the corner. A clearly magical chest, with equally magical locks, sits beside the blacksmithing area.

The entire back wall hereafter is about ninety percent curtained, all opened, and shows a wide gravelly area with a pond lying menacingly in the middle.

"[Slacker's Strike]!"

Shouting out loud, surprising me a lot while at it, is what appears to be a metallic woman of some sort. I barely even notice her at first because I thought she was a statue of some sort. She has a broad figure but generally portrays a feminine look. Guessing may be the closest I can get to answering this question, unlike what I'm used to. Rickety steel joints move a fully metal body. Her body seems to be made of a blue gray metal that I'm unable to make out the minor functions of how it works. Looking closely, I see that she doesn't seem to have any 'hair' of any sort that I can tell, the only decoration on her body coming from a pale waistcloth she wears only on her lower body. A small jaw and obsidian eyes that don't seem change make up her face.

Before shouting whatever she did, she seemed to have just been standing next to a punching bag focused for awhile. After giving her war cry, or something like it I assume, her body start to rattle briefly before she flashes a subtle blue glow.

She assumes a strong punching stance and swings her first powerful punch at the bag. With her hefty weight and steady position, I just knew she could deliver an immense blow but I'm left sorely disappointed very quickly. A lackluster swing follows the set stance and she switches to another strike halfway to reaching the bag.

I'm about to head over and give whatever small unarmed advice I have when I start to see something happening after her empty attacks. The bag is swinging! Repeatedly! I stare a bit longer and tell that something like a nearly invisible strike continues where she left off.

With every slacking attack, a ghostly follow through occurs. Slacker's Strike? Or, wait a minute. What was it? A [Slacker's Strike]? That's what she yelled!

The robotic woman gives a heaving sigh after nearly a minute. She stands stiller than anyone I'd seen so far before calling out in a ringing, nearly monotone voice.

"You are an Almaej? I am one of the Engrained."

Engrained?

"Umm, yeah. My name is Arc and I identify as male."

Ah, shit. Forgot that's kinda weird h-

"My name is Strika. I identify as female myself. I have heard about an Almaej recently. I give condolences for any losses you suffered coming to Maja."

"Oh, well." Her straightforward expression and voice shocks me with sincerity as I walk up to her. "It's..."

Water waging like I've never seen before. So much an army of Almaej couldn't liv-

Enough of that. This Engrain's tone leaves no room for me to pause as I respond as earnestly as she has spoken.

"Umm, yeah. It was rough but I'm here. Hopefully to help stop that dragon. Err, I mean wyrm. "

"Hrrr... I had heard as much, speaking honesty. My kind came from a similar rift as well. Many died there as I escaped here."

Her tone of speech rattles as she goes through her words. Whether part of her voice or maybe the way she shows nerves, I'm unsure.

"So anyways, I'm here checking what the Adventurer's Guild is like while Soot talks to some of the other higher ups inside about a plan for the water portal and wyrm. Can I ask what you do here?"

Striker nods her head and gives a small gesture to the surrounding area. She starts to walk to the border of the gravelly and steps over a little ledge marking the inner square. I follow as she makes it to an unassuming stone panel in the wall.

"We are in the training yard. I understand you may be unfamiliar with much to be known about Maja, right?"

"Ah, well. Yes. I got the pamphlet at the introduction last night but we got to... drinking? Alcohol, I think? Then one of my lecturers couldn't make it today so this is for my day two instead."

"OK, in that case I will try my best to show you what I can."

She places her steely blue palm on the flat stone in front of her, sliding it aside with a small ginding click. A series of similar stone sliders and dials are revealed along with another smaller panel in the corner.

I stare at whatever she is about to do in interest, however just as she's about to adjust something her hand pauses mid-air and she continues speaking to me behind her.

"Warning. This is going to change the bordered training area behind us so I advise you clear yourself from there."

She turns around a bit to look at me. Checking the ground below, I realize I'm stepped a bit close to the wooden border. I shift a couple feet to beside her and give a thumbs up.

She takes a second to stare at the border before shifting her gaze slowly to where my feet stand. Nodding with surety, she echoes my gesture before responding with a grin for the first time.

"Now brace yourself."

She spins a dial, small stony clicks coming off it as she does, then I see the training yard covered in another field made of some sort of transparent, milky white light. While the gravelly pond is still there, a translucent forested area takes up the same space.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Strika comments with some pride breaking through in her normally flat voice.

My head looks left and right rapidly as I take in the doubled field. Is it something like the magic counter at the Hallowed Ground? It has to be magic like that one!

"I mean, of course! I've never seen any kind of light shape this big before. I actually saw the tables in the Hallowed Ground. The extending enchanted ones? Is it anything like that?" I ask Strika, trying to show I'm not completely clueless.

"Hmmm, I think I know the ones you mean." She puts a hand on her chin thinking, the other still hovering over the initial dial she turned. "However those, I believe, were made by Worshippers of Gnat. This adjustable training field is a joint effort from worshippers of Shutter and Gnat."

Looking back at the panel, Strika turns the knob once more with a firm twist. Now there's a series of large rock walls on padded grounds.

"A worshipper of Gnat enchanted the grounds here with portals linked to other Adventurer's guilds."

She turns the knob once more to transfer the image to a series of floating platforms as high as twenty feet.

"A Shuttermage can usually open and manipulate portals at the very least. Are you familiar with them, Arc?"

She lets go of the dial momentarily, hovering her hand over it once more, and seems to pause to let me speak.

Damn.

I shake my head after staring at the field for a solid several seconds.

"Sorry, about that. The field is... very impressive." Almost as much as the battle between Hal and the wyrm if I'm honest. Almost. "Nearly more than anything I've ever seen so far. But no. Umm... I have the intro pamphlet but I didn't get too much into it yet."

"So You've Just Been Born/Arrived in/Created in Maja? I am familiar. I do not blame you. It's a bit much to ask that be the first thing you do in Maja with all there is. Eccentric though it is, I still recommend you peruse it. The Gods speak a bit through it."

'Gods'? Like a prophecy or something?

"I will summarize Shuttermages and worshippers of Gnat briefly for you then. Gnat allows one to craft magical items. They are responsible for potions and most day-to-day magic you will see."

She reaches to a small steel cube at her hip engraved with marks of sort. I stare it at closely as the slides a small panel on the side. Is it a light of some sort? Like the hovering letters I've been seeing? Or maybe-?

WATER!

I jump startled a couple feet back at a small waterfall gushes out the side. I look closely to the ground and see that a couple splashes of the foul liquid has gotten on the shoes I've been given. Hmm, I'm starting to see reason behind wearing extra clothes like others do here.

Seeing my reaction, Strika jumps nearly as much as I do before closing the cube and stopping the flow of water.

"Ah, I apologize. I should have warned you about the devices. Is it that startling?" A sad look is put on her face as her faint blue gray eyebrows crease in worry.

"Oh! Uh, I suppose so but it's not that specifically." I take a furthur step back as I notice the pool spreading closer to me.

"Water kinda..." I think of how to explain how water reacts to me more closely now than I had before. I'm starting to think it may not be best to go around spreading Almaej weaknesses to everyone. "A water wyrm blasted and killed all my fellow warriors. It just gets me a bit on edge now is all."

Nice save, Arc. Hopefully another Almaej doesn't screw it up for the rest of us now.

"That makes sense." She nods her head and looks briefly to the panel before going back to me. "I suppose it is good you have told me that then. The next field would have simply been all water."

All water! Yeah, that is good then. I might've just ran out the building if that was sprung up on me.

"Anyways, this water flask I had made was made by a follower of Gnat, as are most magical flasks. I believe I explained how Shuttermages connect and have close relations with portals as well. They also are granted raw magic reservoirs to use however they want to, although you might be better off talking to Maverick about that."

"Maverick, the front desk clerk?"

A small grin spreads across her face briefly before she responds.

"Ah, yes. Our 'front desk clerk' is also one of this guild's top adventurer's along with myself. Almost like the 'Stoic Flame' duo of Hal and Soot over with the Explorer's." She faces me fully, turning her attention away from the panel for the first time. "Hold that thought, however. You mentioned having fellow warriors? Does that mean you are a fighter as well?"

A lone, curious eyebrow raises as she pauses for me to respond, some different emotion rising in her than I've seen previously. Should I tell her I'm somewhat of a warrior in Alma? I wasn't majorly strong, not like my larger leaders and definitely not like Hal. If I want another shot at the wyrm though, I'll need to be one to get the chance to fight it again I realize.

Having made a decision that I know will change my path in Maja, I respond to her in kind.

"Yes, I was part of a group of warriors from Alma. I wasn't the strongest but I did give some wounds to the wyrm that killed them."

She nods back at my answer, an impressed look staring back at me.

"In that case, how would you like to spar with me?"