A Certified Adventurer

[Arius POV]

Hearing that we were about to enter the S.T.A., I felt the butterflies fluttering in my stomach and ants nipping my toes. There was a feeling of fear and curiosity about the unknown that just made me tingle.

Walking closer and peering down into a hole, I see a large mystical portal with a reddish hue floating there as people slowly came in and out of it. Holding Big Brother Jaques' hand, we slowly made our way down into the hole. Strangely, it felt like there was wind even though there was no wind in the hole. It started with an unnoticeable breeze, to chilling winds, turning into powerful gales that caused my fair and clothes to flutter and flap.

Foooooooooooooooooo!

Face-to-face with the source of the wind, I take a good look at the S.T.A. From the outside, all I saw was a red and blue portal that emitted some coloured smoke. Out of curiosity, I activated my Spectacles to try and see through the portal.

"agh.."

After only gazing for a second, I was hit with the feeling of my eyes burning before the skill was forcibly cancelled. Nevertheless, even for that one second, I saw something. When I activated the skill, I saw all the haze and smoke clear up and drawn all over the portal were many blotches and patches of red, seemingly all connected and even moving.

Beyond my discovery, I had nothing I could conclude. I didn't have the time nor the knowledge to begin examining those red patches. All I did know is that perhaps S.T.A.'s weren't completely natural.

"You ok there, Arius? If this is too much for you, you can still quit."

"N-no, I'm ok. Just a little tired."

Since I couldn't do anything with this new information, I decided to simply place it in the back of my mind and focus on the task at hand. I still needed to get that Fonotavic Dust.

Haa huuuu

Taking a deep breath, I see Big Brother Jaque walk in, and following his lead, I walk into the portal.

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Travelling through the S.T.A. was nothing like travelling back from Duargeinhelm. The portal from Duargeinhelm made me feel as though I soared through the cosmos before returning. Instead of that, after walking into S.T.A., you feel your body slow down to a stop as if you were slowly being in cased in stone. Afterwards, you feel as though you were being picked up before being shoved through a barrier.

Arriving on the other side, I feel a lot heavier than before. The first thing I felt and saw was dirt and the normal gravity of my world.

"Dirt? Are we back in Euqolia?"

"Of course not silly. We're in the S.T.A."

Hearing what Big Brother just said I look around to see that over our heads was a dark silvery ceiling. We couldn't be in Euqolia. Looking around, I see many people and a few buildings spotted around the S.T.A.'s portal. It was almost like we were back in town.

"Why are there so many buildings? Why is gravity back to normal? This wasn't in the book!"

"Well, you can only learn so much from books, Arius! In this country, experience really determines who you are. Remember how outside the S.T.A., there was a large amount of affected terrain? It's not really affected by the S.T.A., instead, the S.T.A. simply swapped the the two spaces. These spaces keep their normal characteristics like gravity."

As Big Brother Jaque continued talking, he slowly lead me toward a large building directly in front of the portal.

"...For this S.T.A., it's found inside a hole surrounded by extremely tough materials. So the Adventurer guild decided that simply use the space inside the S.T.A. Normally, these buildings would be outside though... Anyways, we're going to have to register in the Adventurer's guild to be allowed to leave this area."

"What! Can't we just go already?"

"Nope! You got to follow the rules."

"Come on! Why do I feel like you everyone's been treating me like a grown-up when I'm still just a kid!"

"Yeah, I guess I've been doing that unconsciously now. After the Prophecy had been prophesized, the council slowly introduced the idea that after awakening, you are no longer just a child. You must learn to grow stronger and be able to fight monsters, so you will have less time to be just a kid."

"That's unfair!"

"It is, but take it from someone who's been through it before, you'll come to enjoy the freedoms you get and you'll find a place in this world."

...

After Big Brother Jaque finished his old man talk, we were already inside the Adventurer guild building. Walking inside, it was very lively, just like Master Doherty's workshop, but instead of having an atmosphere of work and concentration, it felt more carefree and relaxed. There were tables all around the entrance, some had people simply eating, and others were chatting and playing cards. To the left side, there was a long bar with plenty of people drinking all sorts of cocktails. And to the right, there were big open spaces with pallets. Some had dead monsters on them, others had ores and minerals.

What grabbed my attention the most was right in front of us. There was a giant floating disk that showed a lot of terrain on it. Surrounding the desk were a lot of were a bunch of receptionists attending to people. On this disk, there are a lot of different coloured and sized markers scattered all over it.

Walking toward the floating disk, Big Brother Jaque goes and talks to one of the receptionists.

"Hey, Roger! I didn't expect to see you here. Weren't you suppose to be stationed back in town?"

"Well, that's a grin I haven't seen in while. I could ask the same question to you."

"Man, you're still annoying as before."

"I could say the same thin-... Ok, Ok! You don't have to give me that look. Alright! What can I help you with today."

After giving the receptionist a cold stare, it seemed that Big Brother Jaque managed to spook him. Based on their conversation, I guess Big Brother Jaque knows this person from back in his Adventurer days. Soon enough, Big Brother Jaque took my hand and pulled me forward toward the receptionist.

"Roger, we need to go and get some materials so Arius needs to register."

"Oh, I see. Just when I thought you would return to being an Adventurer."

"I will, Roger. Soon enough, I will."

"That's good to know. Alright, follow me."

Roger brings us out of the reception area, walking deeper into the building until we arrived in a large room. The room itself was empty not a single thing inside.

"Alright, let's begin."

As soon as Roger finished speaking, the door closes behind us and a hole in the middle of the room opens up. From the hole, floats up a needle. It was not your typical sewing needle, it was around the same thickness but was the length of my hand.

"Go and prick your finger on the needle, then say your name and you will then be noted in the Adventurer Guild's vast information database, Elystrid. You will also become a temporary member of the Adventurer Guild."

Walking up to the needle that was floating vertically in the air. I gently place my index finger on the tip of the needle. Strangely, the needle itself wasn't sharp, it was more rounded. Nevertheless, with my finger on the tip of the needle, I feel a small suction as I see some of my blood flow through into the needle.

'Dakria, how did that happen? My finger isn't even bleeding.'

'There's an engravement of extraction on the needle. It allowed it to extract blood through the skin of your finger.'

'That's so cool but so creepy!'

Once my blood had completely turned the needle red, it push my finger off it before resting there waiting for me to do the next step.

"Arius."

The needle then floated back into the ground and soon after a card with a black frame came out of it. Grabbing hold of the card, I see that the card had my name on it.

/////////////////////////////

ADVENTURER GUILD(Temporary)

Name: Arius

Rank: Iron

Race:???

Active quests: None

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Before I could ask anything, Roger and Big Brother Jaque look over my shoulder and look at my card.

"Wow, even Elystrid doesn't know of your race, I was sure that it knows Arius."

"Wait really! Haven't seen anything or heard anything like this at all ever since I started working in the guild."

"It's alright. Big Brother Jaque. Because I know what my race is."

"Arius, you do? Where did you find out?"

When Big Brother Jaque threw me the question, Dakria quickly rang in my head telling me to not reveal her existence, saying that it would be catastrophic. Not knowing really why I just decided to keep her a secret for now.

"Um, a person in a dream told me that I was a dwarf..."

"A dwarf? That's a race I've never heard of. Are you sure your not making it up?"

"NO of course NOT! I'm A DWARF!"

Seeing me raising my voice, Roger quickly intervened and stopped the argument.

"ALRIGHT! Enough, Arius, once you are an official Adventurer, you can put whatever you want as your race since Elystrid didn't identify your race. Man, you are just like your brother a few years back. So annoying."

...

Once we were out of the Adventurer Guild, Big Brother Jaque gave me another bag of supplies, such as potions, weapons, and food. We walked further away until I saw the terrain change from dirt to the greyish rock that I saw outside the S.T.A. Stationed directly on the border between the terrain switch were a bunch of guards and a lot of wooden walls and barriers.

By simply showing our Adventurer Guild cards to them, they opened the gate for us and we were off to find some magical dust.

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Dakria's Fun Fact: With the split second of Arius gazing at the portal, I am certain that these S.T.A.'s are artificial. While there wasn't enough time to analyze the 'patches of red' on the portal, it seems to use a similar but more primitive version of the portals to and from Duargeinhelm. More information is needed to assure anything.