It was almost noon by the time they reached their destination; the Adventurer’s Guild. It was a large imposing structure which stood at the top of a grand marble staircase, Kemari stopped and stared in awe at the high walls that shined in the midday sun. No matter how many times he visited, the sheer beauty of it always caught his eyes . He smiled and walked up the steps where Isadora waited. They approached the large Oak double doors together which swung open as they got close, stepping inside Kemari looked around the huge open area they now stood in. The floors were made of a dark reflective surface that absorbed mana from it’s occupants, making them weaker the longer they stayed, which Kemari believed to be weird, but apparently the GuildMaster had done this to prevent fighting in his hall “can’t fight if you can't freely manipulate your body’s ambient mana” the receptionists would repeat. The room was filled with a variety of adventuring folk; some wore bulky, heavy armor and carrying massive swords while others dressed lighter, wielding bows, staves, or much smaller swords. Two adventurers caught his eye, as they seemed to be out of place, one of them was a green slightly muscular being Kemari assumed to be a Half-Orc who leaned against the wall with a heavy looking broadsword leaned up next to him, and was wearing a brown tunic over black leather pants and boots, on top of that he also wore a pair of silver pauldrons and and a half chestplate, His hair was a greenish untamed mess from what Kemari could see. The other person was the second most beautiful girl he had ever seen, an Elf with long silver hair tied up in a ponytail.

“So that’s your type hmm?” His attention was drawn from her before he had a chance to observe her fully. He turned to see Isadora staring at him intensely with a huge grin on her face.

“No, that wasn’t…….that’s not…” Kemari stumbled to find words.

“Don’t worry my dear sweet companion.” Isadora laughed as she leaned in close and covered her mouth as if to whisper to him “I SHIP!” She bellowed, attracting the attention of the entire room.

Kemari looked around nervously and hissed “what are you doing, you idiot?”

“why I’m just so proud of you Kemari” she spread her arms wide and squealed “You’re finally interested in exploring the lush flesh of a –“ she issued a yelp as Kemari grabbed her cloak and dragged her away to the reception area. He blushed slightly as he stormed past snickering adventurers. The reception area was a long counter towards the back of the room, behind it stood the guild’s receptionists, all of which were identical women. The two approached the one closest and exchanged greetings, it wasn’t until then that Isadora removed her hood, revealing her face. Her skin was a smooth almond complexion and her light brown hair was cut short in a close cropped style with the sides faded, her eyes always took Kemari’s breath away, they were also a light brown with matched her skin tone and hair color and always seemed to sparkle. “keep staring at me like that and I’ll steal your heart” he was so engrossed in admiring her that he didn’t notice that she had stopped talking to the receptionist and was now starting at him smirking. “And I meant that literally” she said teasingly before returning to her conversation.

Kemari gulped and then sighed as he went about observing the room once more. He looked around at the occupants  who were all embroiled in conversation amongst their companions, the elf he had seen was no longer there, but the Half-Orc stood the same place leaning against the wall; this time he was staring right back at Kemari who quickly turned away. In the centre of the hall was a giant golden statue of the legendary GuildMaster himself: Gaelin Branandor, who had faced down the Black Dragon in the Arena pits, gaining his freedom from slavery in the process. The statue featured Gaelin in nothing but a loin cloth, with a broken sword in his left hand and the dragon’s head in the other. The statue was of a powerfully built man, with long golden hair hung low behind his back. That looks nothing like the old fool Kemari thought to himself as he shifted his attention in scorn. The walls were a chalk white, and were decorated with long portraits of the Twelve Knights of Traliseth; the only 'S' ranked heroes Traliseth had to offer. They were the strongest and their names carried a lot of weight. Kemari only knew three of them: Markus The Bear, who was a savage Hulk of a man who never wore anything apart from his brown fur loincloth and the pelt of some unknown beast around his shoulders. He was known to tear his foes to pieces with nothing but his bare hands. Next was Lucien Arengar, leader of the kingdom’s Dragon Knights which was an elite unit tasked with high priority quests from the Crown itself, he wore his signature red and gold armour with his sword held high and his shield to his side. The last was the rogue, the assassin, and the fastest of all the 12………fuck, what was his name again?. Kemari stared at the portrait of the man who stood completely clad in black and covered completely, hiding his features.

“Brinn, I think” Isadora said from beside him. She had turned towards him and noticed him staring with a puzzled look on his face.

“Thanks, don’t know why I keep forgetting his name” Kemari replied “You finished?”

“Yuuup” she bounced and grinned

“Great, let’s go then” he stretched and started to walk away when Isadora grabbed his robes

“Not so fast, my dashing knight”

“What now?” Kemari sighed

“The GuildMaster has something for us”

Kemari’s demeanor changed upon hearing that, he spun around and grabbed Isadora’s shoulders, she shuddered when she saw the cold look on Kemari’s face.

“Did they find him” he tried to ask as calmly as he could, but his voice was instead cold and tainted with anger. She nodded and turned then waved towards the receptionist who was weaving a spell, she smiled and in an instant they were standing in an empty blueish space which only had a small desk and a few chairs in the middle.

Kemari rushed towards the desk leaving his friend behind, he caught a glimpse of a giant ogre wearing full plate armour as it vanished from the room. Kemari stopped at the desk  and stared at the small sinewy man behind it. The man wore a black vest over a white buttoned down shirt, his head was completely bald and he seemed to be well over 100 years old. “You stare too much Kephirian” the man said without looking up from a paper he was scribbling on before him.

“Where is he!” Kemari slammed his hands on the desk

“Have a seat first” the man gestured at a chair before the desk “you too monk”

Kemari looked and noticed she was right next to him now, she plopped into the chair and placed her feet on the desk, which evoked a glare from the man who made to say something before shaking his head and changing his mind. “please?” He looked at Kemari this time, who sighed and sat in his chair.

“Who was that just now, GuildMaster?” Isadora spoke first

Gaelin set down his quill and leaned back in his chair for a few moments before he finally responded “Targoth IronHorn…..” he hesitated, pondering how to continue “He looks for the same man as you do”

“Did……..did you tell him what he wanted to know?”  Isadora glanced at Kemari as she asked

“I did”

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME” Kemari flared up “WHAT THE FUCK? WE HAD AN AGREEMENT YOU OLD FART” He reached across the table and grabbed Gaelin by his shirt collar.

“THAT’S ENOUGH KEMARI” Isadora shot up and took his arm, he looked at her briefly and saw the disappointed way she looked at him. He grunted as he let go and paced around the room “Great, so now we competition….”

“Does it matter Kemari?” She paused then continued “We just want him dead, so we…….you can be free from your burden.”

Kemari stood still with his fists clenched “How in the world would that relieve me of my burdens?” he looked at Isadora and said firmly “I have to be the one who kills him...…..I won’t be at peace unless I am. Why do you seem to have a problem with that? You. Kill. All. The. Time…..so what’s the fucking difference here” she didn’t answer, and the room stood in silence, waiting, before it was finally broken.

“You’re a fragile one, Kephirian…...” The GuildMaster smiled “Do you honestly believe you have what it takes to kill this monster on your own, or will you need the monk to do it for you?”

“…..” Kemari stood there in silence unable to answer.

“Nevertheless, we have a deal. The man you’re looking for is known as 'Vanther The Bold', everything you need to know is in this” he handed Isadora a small scroll.

She muttered a 'Thank You' as she turned to leave

“Oh, and one more thing” he said stopping the duo in their tracks “There was another person besides the Orc who came for information on him, so you might want to hurry”

Kemari and Isadora then vanished as they once again teleported elsewhere.