A Salamander, but Mighty

POV: Tamara

Being in Luchael's company wasn't that bad, alright, she ended up in what seemed more like a brothel than an inn judging by the sounds she heard coming from both sides of the room and the ceiling on her first night, but the food was less vomiting than the walflies – not to mention the fact that it was cooked food and with some spice – and the walls appealed to her human soul and made her feel safer than inside a hole along the river.

As the sun rose, the leporan had left to go to the Adventurers' Guild as he had said the day before, which had left her locked inside the inn with a tiny amount of food and all the water she wanted. She had to eat and drink like a dog, but again: it was better than eating monstrous insects with an aftertaste of stones, dirt and grass.

“Velen? Are you here?"

The guardian spirit appeared in front of Tamara's eyes, “here I am. Everything seems to be going well!”

Tamara nodded, “for now yes, and it also looks like I'll be going with him into some dungeons… and I have a feeling I'll be the heavy lifter down there.”

SYSTEM: [Nourished] status worsened to [Hungry]. [-4] penalty to all Traits.

'Well, that's what was missing' she thought annoyed, "I know what a dungeon is, at least in the various video games and fantasy books I know, but maybe it's better if you explain to me how they work in this world."

"It's very simple!" Said Velen, “the dungeons are not actually underground labyrinths, they are more like a different dimension, with their own ecology and climate. They may look like dungeons, but in reality they can emulate any kind of environment, in any season and at any stage of the day.”

“How about the flow of time in the dungeons? The monsters?" Tamara urged.

“The day cycle can vary from twenty to thirty-two hours, but you don't age accordingly: your body continues to age like in the real world,” she flitted around the room, “the monsters are like those in the real world, fitted to the environment of the dungeons and tend to be more powerful than what you can find in the real world.”

“How much more powerful?” Tamara asked as she made herself comfortable on the bed, “can I be able to fight them?”

“They are generally four times more powerful than normal,” Velen thought aloud, “maybe you can beat them with your human intelligence, but they surpass you in statistics and without the contribution of our benefactor it is likely that every battle will be a fight to the death for you.”

“He doesn't look like a reliable fighter,” Tamara shivered, “can you help me?”

"Me?" Velen gave a bitter laugh, “I can't even follow you into the dungeons, they are worlds in themselves, so I'm effectively outside the geographical limits in which I'm confined.”

“So how do you know all this stuff about dungeons?”

Tamara could imagine Velen giving a bitter smile, “adventurers talk, especially when they drink… and after doing other things.”

“…Must be hard, I say…being omnipresent,” Tamara said after nearly five seconds of silence.

“Yeah,” Velen replied, making a sound similar to a sigh, “anyway, I think you'll have to take risks in the dungeon: locked in here you have no way to level up and prepare yourself.”

Even if I managed to get out the door or window, there would be the whole city to get through... Tamara considered thoughtfully, I need a single monster and I'll level up.

“Let's hope the leporan thrust is as legendary as you say,” Tamara concluded, relaxing on the bed, her great hope at the moment was that Luchael would bring her enough food, as the effects of malnourishment went beyond having to endure a rumbling stomach.

- - -

POV: Luchael

Leaving the lizard monster alone in the inn, the leporan set off to reach the local headquarters of the Adventurers' Guild; the building was double the size of the inn where he had settled and had a much more refined appearance, with an entrance consisting of a double door from which adventurers of every species, appearance and sex continued to enter and exit.

Luchael opened the door, rubbed his eyes – as he had spent the night in a half-asleep state, too afraid that the lizard monster would have killed him in his sleep – and found himself in a large room that partly served as a tavern. The furniture was spartan to prevent some more thieving adventurers from stealing the Guild's property, but it wasn't low-quality furniture either. Luchael defined it as sober, adequate to the image he imagined the Guild wanted to give of itself.

He approached a counter that was next to a noticeboard full of sheets of parchment that were being consulted by groups of adventurers and once he was able to place a hand on the wooden surface of the counter, a large croconoid about seven feet tall emerged from a side door and approached, causing the leporan's blood to cool.

“Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild,” the croconoid's voice was hissing and deep, bubbling, “are you here to offer a quest?”

Although the croconoid was a scaly creature with yellow eyes and black-clawed fingers, his way of speaking and his body language conveyed less hostility than the innkeeper of the inn where he stayed. “Um… no, I would like to join the Guild as an adventurer.”

The croconoid looked him up and down, "mh, adventurer," at first Luchael thought the humanoid was displaying skepticism, then he realized it was more of an evaluating look, "alright, give me a moment." The croconoid took a sheet of parchment from under the counter and handed it over to the leporan together with a nib and an inkwell, "please, fill out this form and then bring it back to me, if you have any questions or don't know how to answer, feel free to ask.”

"Thank you!" Luchael exclaimed, taking the paper and writing materials with both hands, “I'll do it right now!”

Luchael went to sit in a private place and began to fill in the fields on the form; the questions were rather simple and focused mostly on his generalities rather than specific skills, as a newbie adventurer usually didn't have any as long as they didn't decide to pursue that career later in their life.

Once completed, he returned to the croconoid, who took the form and read it quickly with his reptilian eyes.

"[Herbalist]?" The croconoid asked looking at Luchael, it was difficult to describe the expressions of a croconoid, not just for leporans. “a rather rare Class among adventurers.”

“Yeah, inherited from my mother,” Luchael said, “I know people with my Class usually become merchants, but I'd like to be on the front lines.”

“Well, whatever you want. Usually it's the dungeons and quests offered by our patreons that select who is suitable for the job and who isn't, so..." the croconoid snorted through his large nostrils, affixed a seal of approval and after taking a rectangular-shaped box and adorned with magical glyphs, he inserted the scroll through a special slot.

The box began to vibrate and glow, the glyphs pulsed with magical power, and after less than ten seconds, some sort of metal tablet emerged from a second slot. The croconoid took it, nodded to himself and then handed it to Luchael, who took it with a still amazed expression on his face.

___

ADVENTURER’S GUILD ID n.47968

Name: Luchael

Surname: Pincup

Race: Leporan

Class: Herbalist

Guild rank: E

Approved by: Fzaarokh Sst’lei

Place: Stanbroodge

___

“Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild,” said Fzaarokh, “with this card you will be able to accept quests from the questboard, venture into dungeons, and identify yourself as a member of the Guild in our headquarters in other cities.” The croconoid said, crossing his arms against his very muscular chest, “however, if you allow me… can I give you some advice?”

Luchael nodded vigorously.

“Forget about any dungeon higher than C-, nobles don't take kindly to adventurers who, in their opinion, abuse their privilege to explore dungeons.”

The nobles, Luchael had never seen them before that moment, but he knew the stories... men and women who thanks to their superior quality classes monopolized the most powerful dungeons so as to be the ones to find the highest quality raw materials and level up faster – and higher – than others.

“Okay, thanks Fzaarokh,” said the leporan, “I have one last question: are there any libraries I can visit here in the city?”

“Not for free,” the croconoid replied, smiling at him. Unfortunately, the croconoids' smiles looked ferocious and menacing even when they weren't.

Luchael sighed dejectedly, any research about intelligent common monster would have to wait.