Trinity of Magic

The girl's honest smile made Ezekiel feel at ease. She was one of only a few people who had treated him with kindness in the last couple of days.

"So, Ezekiel, what affinity do you have?" she asked. "I might be able to pair you up with a group, depending on the spells you know."

Ezekiel was immediately brought back to reality. He had no intention of revealing his affinities here. After what had happened at Elementium, he was very careful not to let this information slip. He didn't want to create the same kind of situation here as he had in school. He crossed his arms and looked away for a moment before he finally replied.

"Do I have to say?" he asked. "I mean, is it necessary to give out this information for me to register?"

The girl scanned his face for a moment. Her expression changed for an instant into one of pity, but then returned to the friendly one she had before.

"No, there is no such rule. You are not going to be promoted or ranked depending on your Mage rank after all. There are plenty of Adventurers that don't have a core. There is only one way to advance as an adventurer, and that is by completing missions.

"As soon as you are registered, you will be able to accept any copper difficulty missions. After you have done a sufficient amount of them, the guild will contact you. At that point, you will be allowed to take the rank-up exam. Don't worry about all that for now, though. The first step is to get you registered." The woman went through her stack of papers, looking for something.

Ezekiel was getting excited. This was turning out to be exactly as he had hoped it would. He already had one eye on the notice board with pending contracts. The next moment, the receptionist emerged from her stack of paper with a form and a pen in her hand.

"I imagine you know how to read and write?" She asked.

Ezekiel merely nodded as he took the pen and paper from her. He had been taught by his father. Ezekiel had always considered it to be normal to know how to read and write. But ever since joining the Elementium, he had been surprised at how many commoners had never learned to do it.

When he had asked about it, the students he had approached looked at him with disdain. Still, one of them had answered, even if only to get rid of him. They must have assumed that he had come over to brag about his skills. They told him that it was extremely abnormal for commoners to know how to read and write. Ezekiel wondered where his father had learned how to do it then.

Ezekiel realized that he had been staring at the paper for a while without writing. The receptionist was already giving him a pitting look. He was sure that she thought he had lied about being able to read and write by now.

He hurriedly started to read the first question. Before too long, he had scribbled his name and place of birth on the paper. The receptionist went back to her duties as well after seeing him actually write something down. After a few minutes, he had filled out everything. The form only demanded basic information, such as his name, place of origin, and current address. The only question that Ezekiel struggled with was fighting style.

He had no idea what his fighting style was. Did he even have a fighting style? Upon asking the receptionist, he learned that he could just write long-range or close-range for now.

The girl accepted the form but raised a brow when she read the line about his style. Ezekiel also thought that it was strange for a Mage to fight in melee range. So far, he hadn't learned any spells, though. He had no other choice.

The girl seemed like she was going to ask about his choice. A moment later, however, she thought better of it and let it be. She must have realized from his earlier behavior that his situation was complicated. With a professional smile on her face, she beckoned Ezekiel over to a more private area.

"Ok now that we are all set with the form, there are only two more things you need to do. I am going to explain how the guild works in a minute. First, though, there is the matter of payment for the registration."

Ezekiel immediately paled upon hearing those words. Didn't he come here because he had no money? Why would they want money from him just so that he could start working? This didn't make any sense!

"The registration cost is exactly 1 silver for a new adventurer. This is the cost of entering you into the system and creating a copper-ranked token. The guild doesn't make any profit from this." She started, but after looking at Ezekiel's face, she smiled and explained further.

"Luckily for you, students of Elementium are exempt from paying that fee. You can instead show us your token, and we will waive the fee for registration completely!"

Ezekiel gave the girl an annoyed glare. He was almost certain that she had known that he was broke. He would bet money on the fact that she had tricked him on purpose! That was if he had any money to bet.

The girl just winked at him playfully and smiled. Ezekiel sighed and brought out his token. And after a quick scan by a magical device similar to the one the gate guards used, his payment was taken care of. Ezekiel continued to stare at the device the girl put back beneath the desk. As she followed his gaze, she smiled and explained.

"That's just a Mana Wave Scanner or 'MWS' for short," the girl explained. "There are not as common in the empire, but if you ever manage to visit Tradespire, you are going to see them everywhere."

Ezekiel nodded absentmindedly, he didn't know much about the other countries. The textbooks in his classes made them out to be backward places full of savages. But if they had better magic technology than the empire, then they couldn't be that savage. Not for the first time did Ezekiel find reality vastly different than it was described at Elementium. He was snapped back to reality when the girl continued her explanation.

"Ok! Now all that is left is an explanation of the rules of the Adventurer Guild. I am going to give you the shortest version. You are going to get another explanation when you reach the silver rank. By then, the Guild will have higher expectations of you.

"For now, you only need to know a couple of things. First, if you go out on a monster hunt. You need to bring back some sort of proof for your kills. There is a guideline on which part to bring for which monster. That's on the wall over there," she said, as she pointed to a long list next to the notice board.

"The second thing is that you should never lie in your reports. Just tell us everything the way you have experienced it and answer any question that might come up, and you are golden. Understood?"

Ezekiel nodded. This was all pretty straightforward so far.

"Ok, and for the last rule. Do not attack other adventurers. For any reason."

Ezekiel grimaced at the last rule. He was reminded of the time he had heard the same rule at Elementium. It had not taken him long to realize that the rules didn't apply to the noble students.

The girl saw his doubtful eyes. Her face turned extremely serious as she looked Ezekiel in the eyes.

"I don't know what you are thinking, but I'm dead serious about this. Do not break this rule! It might be a bit more relaxed around copper and bronze rank, but if you attack a silver adventurer then there will be hell to pay. There are two organizations that nobody will go up against. Us and the Magic Association. It doesn't matter if your name is Feuerkranz or Wellenrufer or whatever. Even the fucking emperor of Arkanheim wouldn't dare. You DO NOT attack adventurers without a damn good reason. Have I made myself understood?"

Contrary to her thoughts, Ezekiel started to smile after listening to her tirade. He liked the idea of being part of an organization that was so fiercely protective of its own.

"Yes! Perfectly clear!" He said with a lot more enthusiasm in his voice.

The girl was surprised by this entire exchange and just stared at him for a moment.

"Well, whatever, as long as you understand," she finally said. "The mission board is over there! Come find me when you have picked something out."

Ezekiel could hardly restrain his glee as he skipped over to the board. He scanned the lowest-hanging contracts. They were color-coded, with copper being the easiest and deep black being the hardest. He did not yet know what ranks there were at the upper end.

Out of curiosity, he looked up to the top of the board to find out what kind of mission deserved a black border.

Mission: Defeat Goliathar the Titan.

Attention all adventurers!

The guild has received a request from the local authorities to take on a dangerous and formidable foe - the titan Goliathar. This legendary creature has awakened from its slumber and is causing chaos and destruction throughout the land.

We are seeking a team of skilled and courageous adventurers to take on this mission and eliminate Goliathar once and for all. This is not a task for the inexperienced or the weak-hearted.

Only those with advanced combat skills and experience need apply. The mission will require an Arch Mage level of strength or equivalent. You will be facing a black-level threat and will need to work together as a team to succeed.

The mission rewards will be significant. It will include a generous bounty, rare treasures, and recognition from authorities and the guild. But the risks are equally high. Failure will mean death on this mission.

If you have what it takes to take on Goliathar, sign up at the guild reception desk. We are gathering at our headquarters in Tradespire. Should there not be enough applicants by the end of the fourth month. This mission will be automatically considered a failure.

Signed,

Erena Ackermann

Arch-Mage level strength or equivalent to be even considered? Ezekiel silently lowered his gaze to the copper-level mission again. It wouldn't do him any good to start dreaming about something so far out of his reach. He noticed that most of the contracts either had a fixed time or needed a group. He had neither of these two things, so he kept searching.

Finally, he found a contract that seemed perfect for him.

Mission: Goblin Hunt. Objective: The Adventures Guild seeks copper-ranked adventurers to eliminate goblin tribes that have been attacking nearby villages. The guild will pay 3 copper coins per goblin, and there is no time limit or limit on the number of repetitions. Task: Track and kill goblins that terrorize the area. Payment: 3 copper coins per goblin killed. Requirements: Copper-ranked adventurer with combat experience. Benefits: Payment for goblin kills, counts towards advancement for all combat personnel.

Ezekiel was elated by the news. He had not expected the pay to be this good. Three copper coins were what he made after hours working at a shop. Now, he could earn the same amount of money with the simple swing of a sword.

He went over to the board called "Table of Trophies". There he searched for goblin on the list. It was one of the first monsters recorded. The proof of killing was the left ear. Ezekiel already felt like an old hand as he grabbed the contract and brought it over to the receptionist.

The girl looked at what he had brought and nodded after a moment.

"Ok, that seems like a decent pick. Goblins are not that dangerous and as a student at Elementium, you should be able to handle them pretty easily. A word of warning, though. They are not as stupid as they look. Please make sure that you do not get overconfident, Ezekiel. We have lost many promising young adventures to carelessness in the past. I don't want you to join that list, ok?"

"Don't worry... miss receptionist. I will be careful." Ezekiel promised. His head, however, was already filled with dancing coins and the delicacies he was going to buy.

"My name is Lina," she said, pointing at her name tag with a smile.

"Thank you for your care, miss Lina. I will be back tomorrow after the mission."

With those words, Ezekiel left the Adventurers Guild. Tomorrow after school he would go out on his very first mission instead of touring the shops. He was certain to have found his way out of the terrible situation he was in. With light steps, he made his way home.