Rewards, Rewards, Rewards.

Velkron returned to his desk and bade them to get closer. The man's conscience seemed lighter, a small smirk on his face as he filled in two forms and then he pushed them towards the duo.

"Which one of you two knows how to write?" Velkron asked and Kishna raised her hand. "Alright, we'll have to teach you how to read and write."

Martin nodded and watched as Kishna filled in her form, then when she finished she went to his form. Velkron was handling something else in the meantime, having gone out and told them to not touch anything, but the tent was sparse and there wasn't anything to steal other than the chair and desk.

"Where are you from?" Kishna asked, and Martin shrugged. That went on for a while, he didn't know who the person in this body was, but to allay suspicion he put in fake answers whenever he thought he could get away with it.

Because seriously, who was going to check if his fake deceased parents were named Margret and Joe? Or that he was an only child?

Velkron returned mid-interrogation with some measuring supplies, where he measured their heights, collected a drop of blood - apparently to know whether they died during a mission or not - for safekeeping and other measurements. A male and female doctor came in later, of the mundane variety, and thoroughly examined them naked in the tent while the others were outside.

The process had taken enough time that the suns had reached their peak, and Martin choked his cry of surprise at seeing a third sun racing across the sky. If he observed it for any length of time, he could visibly see that it was moving faster than the other two. It was yellow, like the one on earth. By his estimations, even though the yellow sun had risen later than the other two, they would set at about the same time.

"This world is wild." Martin gulped and moved his eyes away from the heavenly bodies. It would look decidedly odd for him to be awed at a mundane sight.

"Come in Recruit Martin and Recruit Vishna!" Velkron shouted from within the tent. They had been chased out as the recruiter was talking with the doctors. Making their way inside, they saw two new editions they haven't seen before.

A large imposing man stood there imposingly beside a short girl with blazing red hair who seemed intimidated by his presence. They both had their plaques on them, denoting the larger man as a one and the smaller girl as a two.

"Recruits, for confirmation of your recruitment into the Guilds, you must undergo a quest to test your abilities." Velkron stood in front of them and paced along the length of the tent with a paper in his hand. "Depending on your conduct, and the efficiency by which you complete this quest, you might receive additional rewards and privileges in your training. Am I understood?"

"Yes!" They chorused.

"Good. Your target for this quest is a man called Fortishe, he was a guard that was employed by one of our affiliated merchants. Fortishe stole from this merchant's stock for a long period of time, and has only been discovered recently." Velkron then brought up the paper in his hand, drawn on it was a rugged man's face, with sideburns and hooked nose. "He is hiding in the town supporting this encampment. You are to track him down and apprehend him, we will issue bonus rewards if you find the stash where he has kept the stolen goods. Do you understand?"

There was silence, before Kishna raised her hand into the air.

"What is your question Recruit Kishna?" Veklron nodded to her.

"How much time do we have? And can we get some weapons?" Kishna asked.

"You have until tomorrow afternoon to finish this quest, the town is small and strangers like Fortishe are easily noticeable. As for weapons, we'll give you appropriate equipment, in the future you'll have to source your own equipment from your own coin or take a cut from your salary for Guild provided equipment." The recruiter said. "Anything else? Ok, I'll go retrieve the equipment you need and afterwards we'll talk about your rewards before you depart."

The man left, and Martin looked at the other three. The large man was easily a head taller than both Kishna and him, while the smaller girl was a head shorter than both of them.

"Hello, I am Martin, can I get your names?" Martin smiled as he extended his hand towards the man first, who shook it surprisingly gently, his whole hand being engulfed in his.

"My name is Karvidukilar-Ignator, you can call me Kar." His voice matched his body, it was low, guttural and grating. He flashes his teeth at Martin and he saw that the man hadn't taken great care of them. The way he nodded towards Martin said something otherwise than what his stature entailed.

"Sissy." The smaller girl intoned, her hands not knowing what to do with themselves.

"Kishna, nice to meet you." His companion nodded to the two.

"How will we do this then?" Martin took control as the introductions died down. "Does anybody have anyone they know in the town? It would make finding this Fortishe easier."

"I have a cousin that works as a gate guard." Sissy muttered, then withered under the attention they were given her. She soldiered on though after a moment. "I will ask him about it."

"We will give you the drawing then so you could show it to him." Martin nodded then he motioned towards the exit. "I am famished, do you guys want to grab something to eat?"

They made their way towards the mess tent where they grabbed food from the servants of the mages, people with black cloaks wearing white masks. It was a filling meal, with chicken, potatoes and carrots seasoned to perfection. Over the meal, Martin got to know his teammates more.

Kar was the son of a mountain barbarian chief, and their resident shaman had sensed his spirit root when he was young. From then on he was pampered like a king until he made his way here with his guards. Not like the man needed any guards, his sheer size would dissuade any bandit or thief from getting close.

Sissy was perhaps the opposite, she was an artisan's daughter from a barony not far away from the encampment. Her family was large, as in multiple hundreds of relatives and dozens of siblings. From what he could infer, Sissy was the forgotten middle child, and contented herself with being unnoticed until a magus spotted her talent.

Kishna was far less cooperative with her information, and what little they could get out of the stone-masked woman was vague and unhelpful. Martin felt that was having fun being mysterious, so he let the matter slide.

"Do you think they will treat us good?" Sissy said, her expression far more relaxed as she got to know them, especially Kar, who was more soft on the inside than all of them. "I heard some bad stuff that happens to those like me, with bad talent."

"Velkron is reliable." Kishna added in, with a surety that surprised Martin. "I know his type, a soldier all the way through, he will treat us as he says he would."

"The Guilds of Asharn and their motives are clear." Kar spoke, his eyes far away. "The mercantile super-city is de facto run by them, and their only goal is the accumulation of wealth. If we do our job and justify our salary with our performance, then we will be fine."

"They could as easily sell us out if it means they could get a profit, as scapegoats or sacrificial pawns." Martin disagreed, the corporate world of Earth was far more complex and deadly than here, and those companies didn't shy away from retiring workers that had been loyal for decades.

"Then we will make ourselves worth more than they can dispose of easily." Var countered. "I have studied all the factions that come to this continent to recruit, and the guilds are the ones who stick to their word and also don't discriminate towards talent."

"So you would have chosen another faction if your talent was better?" Kishna asked.

"Absolutely." The man grumbled then looked to the side, thinking. "It is unfortunate that I ended up with only a one in my spirit root, it limits my options."

"You are very smart Mr. Var." Sissy said, then Var smiled at her.

"Likewise, you are very cute Sissy." The aforementioned girl blushed.

Martin rolled his eyes and looked outside the mess hall, wondering about the world. This whole experience felt almost serial, a mountain barbarian with the education of a noble, a sweet forgotten child inexperienced with the world, a mysterious taciturn woman with a secret background. And him, a reincarnator with overconfidence that could end him getting hurt.

Spirit roots manifested in the oddest of individuals.

A servant interrupted their chat, telling them that Velkron was waiting for them. Martin looked above him, marveling as he saw the suns unifying into a blob, as night came closer and closer, these three suns almost seemed to merge into each other. He'd have to watch a full sunset - sunsets? Multiple suns, so multiple sets, - when he wasn't busy. He briefly wondered about whether the moon would have siblings, and hoped for a spectacular sight. Sol and Luna back on earth were beautiful, but there was something exciting about having so many celestial objects so close to the planet.

Astronomers would've had a field day trying to figure out what the orbits of the solar system would be like, he couldn't even begin to imagine how it would look, hell, it could also be a big finger to science and be a purely magical phenomena.

Those thoughts followed him until he stepped into the Guilds' tent. Velkron was standing there with batons, more like staves in their design, wooden sticks with steel heads that were meant to bruise and batter rather than cut and slash. On the table were four insignia, what seemed like the symbol of the guild meticulously designed by a skilled goldsmith.

"These are your weapons, simple staffs that won't lead to the death of the guard." Velkron then handed each of them the staffs, Sissy seemed like a child holding them up while Kar handled it with one hand. The insignia were pushed into their hands and Martin fingered through the ridges and crevices. "Use these to deter any guards, they are the insignia of the Guilds, don't lose them or I'll have your head."

Velkron flashed them with his middle eye, impressing upon the importance.

"For your reward, should you be able to capture Fordishe, you'll get a Mana-Essence Gathering Pill each." The recruiter showed them a small, fingernail sized blue pill. "It is of the lowest quality, but it will be a major help for people with your talent. If you are able to complete the bonus, I'll give you one of a better quality."

At the mention of a reward, something beneath his skin tingled. Abruptly he was pulled into his soul-space, and he watched slack jawed as the golden globe at its very center flared and spread its roots throughout his soul. There was a thump, and a deluge of meaning entered his mind. He could perfectly imagine, sight, smell, taste and feel of a hundred pills. And the words that followed it.

Hundred-fold Quest Reward: One Hundred Mana-Essence Gathering Pills.

They were at the edge of his soul, ready to be sent out, but even though he pulled with all he can he couldn't bring them out to the corporeal realm. He knew that he'd have to complete the quest before they could be manifested.

Returning to reality, Velkron was at the end of explaining where they will be sleeping. Apparently the ship that would take them to the city of Asharn would be their sleeping quarters. Martin followed behind his team dumbly as he drooled at the thought of the reward at the end of this.

A one hundred multiplier was insane, and he would do anything to exploit to its maximum potential.

Fortishe? Your days are numbered buddy.