Dialysis Book: Chapter 6 - The Guild

(This is a shorter chapter setting up part 2 of the book.  Also Shadow got renamed to Shade because him having a shadow core and a shadow form was getting confusing, so Shade) (Plus I named him after a friend of my wife's dog and I got the name wrong which is really embarassing).  

The adventuring guild was located between a convenience store and a laundry, and was by far the least impressive of the three.  The building was old, poorly maintained, and as I opened the front door I had to catch it because one of the leather hinges was split.

Shade walked in and started smelling.  "This place smells bad."

I walked over to the front desk and looked around for a bell or something.  I didn't see anything so I glanced down at Shade.  He barked loudly.

Instantly the woman flew out of the back holding a broom.  She ran around the corner straight at Shade but paused when she saw me.  Shade took that moment to hide in the Shades.

I waved and showed her the notice she posted on the board.

"If you are asking for a refund, all deposits are final," she said after a moment.  "That was explained when the quest was taken."

"Um," I began.

"It has only been a week, there will eventually be an adventurer in town and we will be able to get all the quests handled," she continued.

"But," I said.

"I'm sorry, I will do my best to ensure your quest is handled at highest priority," she said, getting behind me and pushing me towards the door.

"I am an adventurer, I want to do the quest," I said.

She stopped, "Really?"

"Yeah, I'm a visiting adventurer from out of town.  I need gold.  The quest pays gold," I said.  "The notice was sparse on details though.  What is this epic quest."

She looked at me with hope brimming in her eyes, "I'm Kailee, the guild master, what is your adventurer number?"  Kailee was a dark haired woman with short, rimmed, glasses.  She might have been pretty, if she actually took care of herself.  Her hair was haphazard, with enough strands out of the bun that she looked like she saw a ghost and there were rings under her eyes.

"Number," I asked, and the hope burned away.

"Are  you licensed," she asked.

"Is that important," I replied.

"Of course," she began, staring at me.  Her eyes flickered for a moment, "You don't even have a class core."  She slumped down.

"Why does that matter, I'll do the quest.  I've killed goblins before," I said.

"Everyone kills goblins, I killed two last week," she replied.  "They are the easy to kill fodder monsters that everyone practices on unless you go into a warren."

I was about to comment when she finished.

“Like an idiot.”

Kailee slumped onto the desk, “All I want is one licensed adventurer to come into town and I can make some money, yet all I keep getting are rejects and wannabes.”  She hit the desk with her hand several times.

She might have been crying.

"Well what's the quest," I asked.

"There are rats in the inn's cellar, they want someone to go down there and kill them," replied Kailee with a sniffle.

"Are they more dangerous than goblins," I chuckled.

"Yes, everything is more dangerous than goblins," replied Kailee.  "If I send you down there by yourself you'll die."

"But what if I wasn't by myself," I said, and waited.  And waited some more.  Finally I said, "Shade."

"She has a broom," whispered the dog from behind me.

"Could you put down the broom," I said and Kailee looked at her hand.  She set the broom on the guild desk.  The moment she did, Shade appeared.

"What about him?" I asked.

"He's a dog," she replied.

"He has a class core," I said.

"I am a…," began Shade.  I cut him off with a glare.  His tail stopped wagging.

"Ninja, he's a ninja," I stated.

Kailee examined Shade for a long moment, looking more and more dejected until her eyes shot open.  "Wait a second, he's a dog."

"So," I asked.

"The bylaws on adventurers don't say anything about dogs needing to be registered," said Kailee.

"You are seriously pulling an air bud," I asked.

"Shut up, he’s a companion and no one tracks those," she said.  "I'll just send over the dog and you can help, of course.  That gets around the rules and lets you complete a quest.  I'll get my commission."

I'd complain, but I needed the money to get on the airship.  I didn’t have a rational reason for that, but seriously: Airship.  I also wanted to do a quest, because that sounded like fun, but to be quite honest that was purely secondary.

Airship.

"Hey, maybe the inn will even give me a discount," I said, remembering there were 6 days between now and the Airship.

"We have rooms for working adventurers here," replied Kailee.

I looked around, and was pretty sure I saw a hole in the roof, "Are they fit to sleep in,"

Kailee thought for a moment, "Maybe check with the inn tonight.  Here's the quest."