Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 56 Thanks Alice.

The next morning, after breakfast, Isaac and Lenna headed to the Adventurers’ Guild. When they arrived a trio of familiar faces were at Alice’s desk. “Only six gold for the whole thing?” The elvish girl with ruby goggles complained.

“I’m sorry but spider eyes are easy to come by and you didn’t bring very many of them.” Alice explained.

“C’mon sis, she’s right, there’s no point arguing with her.” Goggles’ sister with the bow and arrows said.

“Aye.” The knight agreed and sighed. “Guess we’ll be huntin’ a bit more.”

The trio turned to leave and almost didn’t notice Lenna and Isaac standing a few feet behind them. The knight’s eyes went wide. Isaac smirked. “Oh yay.” Goggles said sarcastically. “It’s trouble.”

“That may be true but you don’t have to say it.” Her sister scolded her.

“Ah, Lord Wexler. You and your guard’s badges are here.” Alice called.

“Damn. So much fer a bounty.” The knight complained.

Isaac walked up to the counter, completely ignoring the party, and grabbed the gold and electrum guild cards from Alice. The gold one was inscribed with a few details for Lenna.

Lenna Paladin: Oathbreaker Lvl 10 Gold

Bounties: 0 Completed: 0 Failed: 0

Isaac’s was just as empty.

Lord Isaac Wexler ??? Lvl 9 Electrum

Bounties: 0 Completed: 0 Failed: 0

“Thanks Alice.” Isaac said to her as he looked them over. He turned to look at Lenna. “Do you want yours?” He asked her.

Lenna thought for a moment. “No need.” She replied. It was probably safer with him. If she kept it on her person at all times it was probably going to get blown up at some point.

Isaac nodded and made a show of clapping his hands together and them disappearing. “Now for a job. Any rec…”

Isaac was cut off by Goggles. “What in the nine hells was that?! No mana just making it vanish?” Her eyes were wide.

“What are you guys still doing here? Don’t you have somewhere to go?” Isaac asked. He was annoyed at being cut off but he was also happy for the attention. He wanted to keep playing up his power without ever showing the limits of it.

“Watch it.” The knight warned.

“Uh, um, I recommend something easy for your first job so you can get a good feel for how we operate.” Alice cut in. She was trying to stop Isaac, who she saw as a monster beyond comparison, from turning the knight into a smear on the floor.

Isaac’s smirk turned predatory as he locked eyes with the knight. “Lenna? Find something easy so we can warm up a bit.” Lenna walked over to the peg board and looked at the job listings. “Shiny.” Isaac said, referring to the knight. “I hear the arena hosts duels if you wanna play.”

Alice’s eyes went wide. “Um, please, we don’t have enough adven…”

“I think that can be…” The knight cut her off.

Alice raised her voice, cutting the knight off. “Eliot stand down!” She ordered.

The knight, Eliot, froze. He turned and saw the worry, concern, anger, and terror on her face. He looked back at Isaac and his grin that reminded those who saw it of a dragon preparing a meal. “Maybe some other time.” Eliot finished.

Isaac’s grin faded to an easy smirk. “Shame. Maybe some other time then.” He told Eliot and then walked over to join Lenna.

Lenna had finally found a good job for them. There were plenty of jobs but any of the ones in town were either laughably easy or involved tangling with the underground gangs and that would get messy fast. What she settled on was a bounty that didn’t have a limit.

Routine Clear: Giant Spiders: 5 gp Each

Difficulty: Silver

Completion Requirements: At Least 2 Kills

“Spiders huh?” Isaac said as the other party headed out the door. “What part of them is the most valuable?” He looked over at Alice for an answer.

Alice breathed out a sigh of relief as the tension had entirely dissipated. “The poison sacks are worth a gold coin each. They can be distilled into a mid grade poison by an alchemist and then sold for around fifty gold. It takes between four and five poison sacks I believe.” She explained.

“What about the other parts?” Isaac asked.

“The eyes are used in dark vision potions and are worth three silvers each. I think it’s twelve eyes per potion. If you know an alchemist you might be able to get a better rate.” Alice told him. “Silk glands are hit or miss if you can sell them at all. They are used in making potions of wall walking but those are a very low demand potion.”

Isaac nodded along. “How much would they sell for?” He asked.

Alice thought for a moment before grabbing a large book and flipping through the pages. “A gold for a full set. Apparently all the fluid used in the potion has to be from the same spider so the sack needs to be an almost full set or from a very large spider.” She summarized from her reading.

“Alright. Thanks for the tips.” Isaac told her. “Ready to head out?” He asked Lenna.

Lenna nodded. Alice cleared her throat. “One last thing Lord Wexler,”

“Isaac is fine.” He cut in.

“Uh, Isaac, Since you only have an electrum badge you will only be able to take gold level bounties with prior approval otherwise it will count against you.” Alice explained.

“What does prior approval entail?” Isaac asked.

Alice replied a little more casually than she had started, there was less tension in her voice, the more she talked the more it seemed that she stopped being terrified of Isaac. “Two receptionists or the Guild Master must sign stating that you are capable of completing the job.”

“Okay. What if we run into something that happens to be a bounty, kill it, and bring it in for parts?’ Isaac questioned.

“If it is found that you did not actively hunt the creature in question it will not count as an official bounty either way for your record but you will get paid for the completion of the job.” Alice took a deep breath after her long explanation. “If that is not the case you will still get paid but your record will gain a failed bounty mark.”

“Why the mark?” Isaac asked.

Alice grabbed another large book. “We have every adventure that has checked in with us in here.” She said and flipped the book, which turned out to be a binder, open. “Sometimes people will check the registry for adventurers with a good track record and ask for them personally. The bad mark will make that less likely. We do it so less adventurers go and get themselves killed trying to fight something they aren’t ready for.”

Isaac nodded. “I see. That makes sense.” He turned to leave. ‘Thanks Alice. See ya.” He said over his shoulder as he and Lenna left to head out on their first official adventure.