5 First Contac (1/2)

Everything is fine. Don't freak out. Jin told himself as he stood outside, staring at wooden gates. He tried not to let the sight in front of him shake his resolve, but he couldn't get his legs to start moving again. So many different kinds of people walked to and from the village, carrying large objects, wearing all sorts of clothing. It was astonishing. In his life he had seen two other beings like himself, his mother and that bandit. But here he was, surrounded by them.

It didn't help that none seemed particularly pleased to see him. They all casted sideways looks at him, and groaned as they maneuvered around him. Had he already done something wrong?

”Citizen.” Someone wearing a sword around his waist spoke to him. He appeared to be middle-aged, and wore a grey suit of armor, made of a strange metal that rattled as he moved. What was a ”citizen” again!? He thought back to the lessons Elizabeth had given him regarding outsider culture, and the storybooks he'd read. He breathed and replied.

”Y-Yes?” He couldn't keep his throat from straining.

”You're standing in the middle of the road.” The man said with an arched eyebrow. Jin simply looked at him.

”Uh, yeah?” He said, pressing the man to continue. The guard arched his eyebrow higher, and Jin had the sneaking suspicion that his intelligence was being questioned.

”So, get off the road.” The man replied, a little more annoyed than he was earlier.

”Why?” The question escaped Jin's lips before he could hold himself back.

”Because you're making it harder for the carts and the servants to move around, now are you going to get off the road, or am I going to have to drag you?” Even Jin could identify a threat when he heard one. He decided to follow this strange person's orders, but his pride almost had him yelling back. The man sniffed the air, and shielded his nose. ”By Charlotte man, you stink!” The man said.

”Hm?” Jin put a finger to his chin, and then raised his eyebrows. ”Oh, you must be referring to my anti-thunder-bear nature ward!”

”Your what?” The man asked, stupefied.

”This.” Jin held up a careth kidney. But, to the guard, it just looked like some indistinct, decrepit animal organ. As soon as Jin brought it out, the man gagged. He reached for the object, grabbed it, and threw it far away. ”Hey!” Jin watched the object sail through the air.

”Fucking looney.” The man said as he walked away. ”I don't get paid enough for this sh…”

Jin breathed in, trying to resist his urge to go find the object. M-Maybe anti-thunder-bear wards aren't necessary here? He said to himself.

His face quickly became unnerved once more, as he realized he'd have to step through those gates. If the outside was this confusing, how would the inside be? He tried not to think about it, and simply walked in.

His breath caught in his throat. If you asked him how many people he was expecting, he wouldn't have been able to say. The storybooks always featured around four or five people, and so he thought the population of this place would be in that realm. Right now, however, he was seeing what had to be at least a hundred.

Men, women, children all of different shapes, sizes, and even colors. He felt overwhelmed. How had this existed so close to him, all these years, and yet that one bandit was the only person he'd ever seen. Not only that, but the buildings were impressive as well.

From the outside, it seemed like the village's structures were made of wood, but he could see now that while a few places were, most were not that simple. Metal framing lined the structure's edges, and some buildings seemed to be made entirely out of metal. The only metals Jin had ever seen were cutlery and weapons, he wouldn't have imagined people could make houses and the like out of them!

He had no idea where to go, what to do. He was at a complete loss. Then he thought of something. He decided to connect his experience in the forest, with what he was seeing now. Years of hunting had taught him how to predict animals' behaviors. Maybe he could do the same here.

He saw a large number of people, dressed not much unlike himself, wandering inside of a tall structure. Probably the tallest place around him. He decided this must be a place of food, maybe water? He walked to the side of them. Each one stood behind the other, none of them moved forwards even though the building's doors were definitely wide enough to account for at least five people entering at a time.

”Ey! Don't try to skip or something, back of the line pal!” Someone yelled at him, while pointing at the person behind them all.

”S-Sorry.” Jin replied and walked over where the person had pointed to. Already, Jin had messed up twice. He understood it would take some time to acclimate to these new rules and learn the ones he couldn't pick up from storybooks, but this was a lot worse than he had thought it'd be.

The person in front of him didn't speak. No one spoke, outside of that angry bystander. Were people always this quiet? It was a little uncomfortable. Usually, not a minute passed by when Jin and Elizabeth weren't either arguing or she was teaching him something. Over time, the people paced forwards, and Jin decided he should do the same.

Eventually, he ended up inside the building. He was shocked once more. The walls were painted black, and the floor felt odd. There was no water, there was no food anywhere. Instead, there were several tables placed throughout the area, and a few desks to the back of the room. At the moment, due to the sheer mass of those standing in the line, Jin couldn't see what was behind those desks. He waited, deciding to stay in the line and see what would happen. He didn't really have anywhere else to go, and this place was as good as any to start with.

Later on, he found himself at the front, but couldn't take a step forwards to speak to the person behind the desk, for one simple reason. He was too shocked to move. Behind the desk, was a woman, he guessed, who was of a child's size, and had bright pink hair tied into pigtails. What shocked him, were the glittery wings that fluttered behind her, and her shining blue eyes that held no pupils. Her lips were scaled, and her skin seemed thicker than that of anyone else he'd seen, but she still looked incredibly thin. It was as if her skin were made of bone and not flesh. She was writing on a piece of paper, she hadn't even looked up to see Jin yet.

”Next.” She said, with what Jin perceived to be a bored voice.

”What is this place?” Jin asked.

”Sign here, here, and… Wait, what did you say?” The woman looked up now and tilted her head.

”I… Uh, just wanna know what this place is for.” Jin said, putting a hand behind his head.

”Oh well, sir, this is the Adventurer's Guild.” Her voice perked up slightly.

”Adventurer?” Jin asked. The woman smiled. She seemed amused.

”You must… not be from around here, huh? Yes, an adventurer is someone who performs jobs for the citizens of Azeria. They do some tasks here and there, collect compensation and fame while they do it.”

”Tasks like what?” Jin asked.

”Blacksmithing, assistant work, fishing, menial labor, hunting and such. There's a lot to do, and adventurer's are people who decide to get things done. We have charters in all three of Azeria's kingdoms, you must have us at some point?” Jin wasn't even paying attention. His eyes had already lit up when he heard the last option. ”Hunting”.

”I want to be an adventurer.”

”S-So quickly?” She pulled back and chuckled. ”Okay, if you wish. But I'll need some information from you, is that alright?”

”Uh, sure.” He shrugged.