The First Adventure

"Emee, wake up," Raiden hums, nudging her awake. She blinks up at him sleepily before sitting up with a yawn, almost falling out of the hammock. He catches her shoulder with a chuckle. "Careful."

"Thanks. Let's get ready..." She rubs her eyes, staggering for the door.

"Splash some water on your face." He recommends after her.

Entering her room she's greeted by Varen filling up the tub with fresh water. "Perfect timing, it's ready for you." He greets.

"Oh. Thanks." She blinks at him. "How long have you been up?" She inquires, the sun barely showing itself on the horizon.

"Not too long. Get ready, Jinx is already making breakfast." He tells her before going out. She hums and splashes her face before stripping to take a quick bath before getting ready to go. She decides to go with the black and navy messenger dress she had purchased the day before.

"I'll have to find something different for jobs." She mutters looking in the mirror at herself. She smoothes the dress before going back out and heading down to the dining room as Jinx and Varen set up the table.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?" Jinx beams.

"Yes. Thanks for getting everything ready you two." Emelda tells them taking a seat.

"It's our job." Jinx reminds her before leaving to get the food.

"You're all ready to go? Need anything else?" Varen asks. He seemed more attentive today.

"Um... I'm not sure. Probably will need a weapon..." She admits thinking over the task. "But I'm sure Caster will have that covered.

"You can use weapons?" Raiden suddenly leans into view with a curious smile, making her jump slightly.

"No. But I can bludgeon someone if needed." She responds with a shrug. Raiden laughs as he sits down.

"Then maybe bring that skillet you bought yesterday, you did say you always wanted to hit someone with it." He chuckles, making her blush and glance at Varen quickly.

"Shh! You're not supposed to let other people know that!" She gasps in embarrassment.

"Ah, come on Emee. I thought it was funny." He chuckles.

"Here we are!" Jinx rushes in with a tray of food for the pair.

"What about you guys?" Emelda frowns.

"We already ate," Varen assures.

"Alright then." She nods starting to eat with Raiden who seemed very eager.

"This is gonna be great!" Raiden rumbles happily. Emelda smiles peering at him briefly.

After they finish eating, Raiden gives Jinx the money for shopping before bidding farewell and rushing off to pay for a carriage for a ride to the guild.

This outcome was the last thing Varen expected. He had simply entered the manor to check how bad everything was after he had posed as the merchant. He did let himself get caught just to see what would happen, and she surprised him by offering him a place to stay in exchange for work. Although it wasn't really offered, just decided. He hadn't meant to tell her his name either, she had surprised him with the sudden question.

He had thought it over during the night, he did want to monitor her after all, to see what would change if she was free to do as she pleased. So far she had changed a lot of his novel.

"I hope they'll be okay." Jinx breathes, making him blink back from his thoughts. She held the money sack in her arms and frowned lightly in worry.

"They'll be fine. Raiden's strong after all." He responds. He follows her gaze to where the pair had disappeared. A fiery orange glow builds around his pupils but only covers half of the amethyst color. "Now. Go place the pouch in Raiden's wardrobe." He orders. Jinx straightens in a trance and goes to do so. He then snaps his fingers, adding dishes, curtains, and various miscellaneous things to improve the manor.

Jinx soon returns to him and her trance breaks. "We did all that shopping pretty fast, thanks for the help Varen." She smiles. He returns the smile, eyes returning to normal.

"It's no problem. I'm going for a walk now, take care of the house while I'm gone." He requests.

"Alright. Have a good walk." She waves. With that he heads after Raiden and Emelda, deciding to take another form.

Emelda and Raiden reach the guild as the Adventurers ready a carriage. Caster comes to meet them. "Good timing, we're nearly ready to go." He greets.

"Great. Check out Emelda's weapon." Raiden points at the iron skillet in her hands, making her blush.

"Really Raiden?" She huffs making the demon chuckle in response.

"While I approve the enthusiasm..." Caster hides a chuckle behind his fist. "You're going to need something with more reach." He breathes, calming his laughter. Emelda blinks up at him with a deadpan expression and blush.

"Right. Something like a mace?" She asks, recovering from her embarrassment.

"What if we tied it to a stick with a long rope?" Raiden suggests.

"Pfft." Caster can't help but laugh at that one.

"That would work but the rope might break." Emelda nods in thought.

"No. We don't have time to make a ridiculous yet effective weapon like that." Caster chuckles.

"Eh. Next time then..." Raiden shrugs.

"Anyway, are you sure you want a mace, Emelda? It is pretty brutal." Caster tells her.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. I've never used a weapon before." She shrugs.

"Then how about we give you a spear for the time being." He decides going to the carriage and bringing back a spear with a knob on the end of it. "Here. It's perfectly balanced and if you don't want to stab someone you can hit them with the other end to knock them out." He hands it to her.

"Okay. Thanks, Caster."

"Just remember, there's no need to kill them. So knocking them out is just fine." He informs them.

Once the others are ready, some call on their riding beasts while the rest get in or on the carriage. Raiden and Emelda sitting together at the back of it with a few others. Four others to be exact, who did not try to hide their stares. Emelda self-consciously shifts closer to Raiden after a moment, earning a glance from the demon.

"If you're just going to stare I'm going to get annoyed." He warns them.

"Sorry, I think we're all just shocked that you're here." A younger man with blond hair and a scar over his right eyebrow says sheepishly. "I'm Ivan, this is Jake, Emerson, and Bane." He gestures to each man.

"Hello. I'm Raiden and this is Emelda." The demon rumbles.

"So did you guys just get bored when you decided to join?" Bane inquires, his reddish hair stuck up to one side like a wave, his blue eyes shining with a friendly gleam.

The pair share a glance before replying together. "Yes."

"I'm kinda excited about this. It's not often we do a job with the boss, but now we get to see the Grand Duke in action." Jake rumbles, he was another younger guy with wavy black hair and green eyes.

"If Caster's joining, does that mean it's dangerous?" Emelda asks.

"Not exactly. It depends on what the client perceives as a threat. Sometimes he'll get called on to deal with an orco which only needs two of us to take out." Bane points out.

"So Caster is stronger than two men?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Caster once defeated a stosuss barehanded." Emerson rumbles. Emelda blinks, from what she remembered from her lessons is that a stosuss was a creature much like a mammoth, only covered with jagged bones instead of fur.

"And he wasn't hurt?" She blinks.

"He was, got gored on the side. A miracle it didn't tear any vitals." Bane pats under his ribcage to show the spot.

"Wow." Emelda breathes in awe.

"He sounds much stronger than the dukes." Raiden smiles.

"He is. But since he's not from this kingdom he can't get a leg up into the ranks." Jake shrugs.

"Sounds familiar," Emelda comments as Raiden frowns slightly.

"But he's happy with what he's got. The boss likes helping people you know. Sometimes he'll personally take on the easy jobs just to show the commoners and peasants that they can ask for help too." Bane assures.

"Sounds like we've joined a great guild." She remarks to Raiden, earning his gaze. He blinks at her and grins brightly at that.

"I haven't doubted your ideas yet Emelda." He rumbles.

"Well, we wouldn't have gotten in without your self-claimed title." She shoots back.

"You're right about that, usually there's a trial to join unless the boss sees something special in you." Jake chuckles.

"Oh. He can see things differently too?" Raiden asks.

"He calls it instinct," Bane tells them thoughtfully.

"I'm sure that's what it is." Emelda hums peering out behind them. The Kingdom was nearly out of sight now, filling her with a sense of unease and excitement for the adventure ahead.

Something scratching the wood against her back makes her turn her head to a snow-white creature that looked like a sugar glider with amethyst eyes and speckled feather wings. It blinks at her and tilts its head.

"Wow. There are a lot of creatures colored like this." She comments.

"Really? It's my first time seeing one." Bane raises an eyebrow.

"I heard creatures with white fur and purple eyes bring good luck. Maybe Emelda here is super lucky." Jake rests his cheek on his fist, looking at the creature.

"Lucky huh...." She carefully reaches over to scratch the creature's head. "What is this cutie anyway?"

"That's a Skippy. They're fast flyers since they have wings and skin flaps under their arms." Emerson lifts the creature's arm to show her. "They're generally gentle creatures." He adds as Emelda shifts unsurely.

"What color are they normally?" She inquires starting to pet its velvety fur.

"Hmm, black fur, gold markings, and red eyes. They hunt bugs at night." Jake answers.

"The other variant sounds cooler." Raiden comments and the creature's ear flicks at that.

"Hmm. I like the eyes on this one though." Emelda rubs the creature's face. "You're so cute." She purses her lips at it as she baby talks. The guys start to chuckle at that.

"I hope you don't get any jobs about hunting a triboo." Bane shakes his head.

"What's that?" She blinks at him.

"A big cute round beast, but they blow out fire so we regularly have to go hunt it down." He informs.

"Oh no. I wouldn't want to kill anything cute." She agrees, imagining a giant fire-breathing kitten.

"Alright. Noted." Raiden nods.

It was close to sundown when they arrived at the village as Caster had said. They climb out of the carriage and start stretching. The village elder comes to speak with Caster before the Adventurers are brought food from the villagers to eat.

"Alright, split up, find a place so you can ambush effectively," Caster tells everyone. Emelda and Raiden look at each other at that.

"Do your best Emee. If trouble finds you just call." He grins seeming excited.

"I will. Try not to burn the place down." She nods, smiling a bit as well. Raiden chuckles at that.

"I'll try." He rubs his neck sheepishly. With that, they separate.

Emelda looks around before finding the church, children ducking inside and out of sight. She hums before going inside and then climbing up to the bell to hide there, peering over the wall to see where the others were choosing to hide. Caster was also on the roof of a building that was a bit shorter than her vantage point.

So they waited, the sun went down, and after a few more hours, the glow of a fire could be seen to the east of the village. Emelda sits up, shifting to wake her muscles. The glow grows as it comes closer to the village, soon revealing the bandits. Only two rode in on creatures that looked like giant hairless rats with three tails.

Emelda swallows down her nerves and sits up more as the bandits enter the village, knocking on the doors and being noisy.

"Ya know the drill! Cough up the goods or we're taking some of ya for labor!" One of the men calls. One comes to the church, yanking the door open and ceasing a child. The child screams in terror, struggling in the man's grasp.

"Make it quick now unless you want-" The bandit didn't get to finish as Emelda came down on him with the blunt end of her spear.

"Get back inside." She hisses to the child as she stands up. A nun swiftly pulls the child back inside at that, shutting the door. Emelda looks over as the bandits look at her curiously starting to approach.

"You really shouldn't have done that girlie. We're gonna haveta' punish ya now." The one that had been announcing their arrival tells her with a sick grin.

She should feel scared right now. A part of her should be trembling. But scared children were watching her from within the church, and she simply had to protect them.

"You're free to try." She points the spear at him.

"Alright then. You heard-" A large shadow comes over him before Caster lands a double fist blow on the bandit. The Adventurers show themselves at that, leaping out and attacking the confused bandits. Chaos follows after that.

A bandit charges at Emelda, arms raising to strike down with a mallet, but she clocks him in the groin with the blunt end of the spear. He squeaks releasing the mallet and it drops on his head taking him out.

She looks about to see if she could help anyone in the skirmish. She spots Raiden as he cheerfully tosses bandits at other bandits with overwhelming strength. She can't help but chuckle at his grin.

A glint in the trees nearby makes her look over as a flash of silver comes at her face. Something lands on her shoulder, catching the arrow in that same instant. Emelda blinks at the arrow tip inches away from her eye. Past it she spots the archer getting another arrow ready. She turns her body to him, throwing the spear at him. From what she could tell, the spear meets his shoulder and he goes down.

She looks at the white Skippy as it chirps, throwing down the arrow. "Thanks for the save little guy." She scratches its head as the chaos subsides, the bandits getting tossed into a pile as they're taken out.

"Emee! You okay?" Raiden runs over, looking refreshed.

"I'm okay. There's a guy down over there, almost got me with an arrow." She points.

"I got 'em." He says rushing to collect the bandit. Caster comes over to get the one Emelda had downed next to the church.

"I would say that you surprised me back there. But I just felt some pride instead." The big man tells her. "Good job."

"You sure that wasn't too risky?" She frowns.

"Perhaps. But it worked out perfectly." He pats her shoulder before taking the bandit to add to the pile, Raiden meets him at the pile to add the archer before bringing over the spear to her.

"Alright. I think we're done." He comments to her, peering at the Skippy on her shoulder. "Ah, so the little guy came back." He pets it.

"Yeah. saved me too- oh there he goes." She blinks as the creature takes off again.

"Guess Jake was right about it being lucky." Raiden blinks after it.

"He's not here! The leader isn't here!" They look over to find the village elder searching over the bandits.

"Calm down, I'm sure he is at their camp. We'll go find him." Caster tells him calmly.

"You don't understand! He-" The Elder breaks off as a horn sounds in the woods to the east.

"... Was that..." Caster straightens, the ground tremors beneath them. Emelda grabs onto Raiden's arm in alarm as everyone looks to the east, a shadow appearing behind the trees in the darkness.

"What is that?" Raiden gasps.

"It's a Gigbear. They've summoned the beast." Caster breathes, as green glowing eyes focus on the village.