The reception room for the Red Cross Guild's headquarters was bustling with activity. The three secretaries sitting behind their large desks had piles of untended to documents, and piles of ones in need of filing. Assistants moved in and out of the room like worker ants, carrying even more work for their bosses, then, of course having to take their wrath with smiles or apologies.

Adventures and company barged in, demanding outrageous things, or giving in their reports for their day's work. They tracked dirt, grime, and any other manner of repulsive organic matter. Janitors weaved their way through the busy room when they could and cleaned the messes with whatever magic they used.

Kimber Franks sat in one of the many chairs lining the wall with the ever-revolving door. His face was hidden in his deep cloak, but as with anyone who was there to see the captain, his nervousness was evident. The white noise around him let him sink into a pool of nothingness, of thoughtlessness inside his mind.

He liked activity. He liked it when people were busy and working. It felt like when everyone was doing their tasks with efficiency, his own efforts proved more fruitful, and he could remove needless thoughts.

He had been waiting for well over an hour in the busy room, not once moving from the rather uncomfortable chair. It took almost a whole day just to get an appointment, which he didn't really mind. The Captain of the guild was a busy man who managed well over a 100 adventurers, and who knows how many other related issues. And honestly, a day was rather quick. Perks of being a spotter.

A spotter's purpose in a guild was to find the young talent in their region, and adventuring came as a secondary job to that. He wasn't the only spotter in the Blood Cross Guild, unlike what might be the case for smaller guilds in smaller regions. But Finick's Bay umbrellad a large area, and many smaller towns, outside of just the city.

The lord of the region, Baron Tornin I. Finick was a surprisingly influential individual for being of the lowest noble class, and was given a decent chunk of land to add to Finick's Bay's territory by the King. This meant any guild inside that area was also privy to scout and hold sway over the people of those lands. There were, of course, ways that guilds could influence places outside their regions, but that was for guilds in the truly higher places, with high-level towers and a pool of potential much that dwarfed their own.

Because of this, there were anywhere from four to ten spotters in the guild, Kimber wasn't sure exactly. This meant he had to be a margin more careful around those higher than him than spotters did who were the only ones in their guilds. If he tried to act as arrogantly as his station might normally allow, he could very easily find that his future has a few less opportunities in it.

One of the secretaries looked down at something hidden from him on her desk, and then back up to Kimber, locking her sharp purple eyes on him. With a prompt nod, she called for him. "Mr. Franks, the Captain will see you now." Kimber sighed in relief. Even If he was level 3, sitting in that chair for an hour hurt.

Making sure the folder containing the credentials of the new prospect was still firmly in his grip under his cloak, he pushed back his hood. He had striking features; his hair was a shiny black, styled in a way that gave him an extra inch or two, and was slightly shorter on the sides. His eyes weren't blue or green, but rather a shocking black behind his round glasses, matching his hair almost perfectly. Muscle was showing around his neck and jaw, but the same could comparably be said for most adventurers, if only with slight differences.

With a wave of nervousness that he expertly hid, he made sure his hair was still as it had been in the mirror, and pushed open the door. The Captain's office was exuberant. Swords, axes, and daggers along with all manner of weapons were hung on the walls, showcasing the showstopping care that went into cleaning each one. Shields flanked the man sitting at a large wooden desk. Some sort of mural was expertly carved on the thick face of the furniture, depicting a battle between a man and a horde of Fey.

The Captain, Henry Carval, was scribbling away at something on his desk impassively when he looked up to see Kimber. He could instantly feel a wave of power wash over him, examining every nuance of his existence. He shuddered as a cold sweat began to form on his back. Level 5's truly did exist in a whole different realm of power. Most in Finick's Bay would never know what it's like to feel that much power, simply because they were too weak to sense through the barriers they put around themselves. Kimber slowly closed the door behind him and took a seat in a large fur chair.

"Who have you found this time, Mr. Kimber." The Captain said. He was a big man up close, and his long light brown hair was tied behind his head. As much as the leader of the guild using his name, and not his position perturbed him, he gracefully set the document in front of his Captain. The man's eyes widened, revealing more of the bright green in them. "You can't feel his potential?" He asked darkly. Kimber nodded.

"Then you're saying he's like Morthrid?" Kimber had seen Morthrid of the Storm when he was still a low level almost 20 years ago, and tried to report him to the guild, but another guild, a bigger guild, had gotten to him first using some questionable methods.

"Him and his Spirit familiar, Sir." He said. It was certainly an important part of the document to remember. A Spirit with as much potential as that would grow into a monster of a weapon. The Captain nodded thoughtfully for a moment before closing the article of paper.

"We need to get to them before anyone else. I won't have someone like this be taken right out from under us again." He stood, making the chair slide back.

"I'll have Lithra mentor him for a day and make sure it wasn't a false reading. But if they do turn out to be as you say..." he trailed off, looking at a sword that was clearly important even against the rest. "You will have earned yourself a proportional reward."

-

Sun beamed into Tay's eyes through the window, forcing him awake. Unable to escape the brightness flooding his room, he sat up. He looked up at the clock above the door and found it to be half past 10 AM. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the dreariness to relent, but to no avail. Even after sleeping what he guessed to be well past 11 hours, he found himself to be just as tired as when he went to sleep.

Orby, ever unchanging as it was, was floating in the far corner of his room. It moved nearer as he got up to greet it. It stayed just out of easy reach, so he didn't try to pet it. He would need to make that a mission whenever he wasn't feeling like a sack of rice.

He collected his things, fastening his sword and assorted pouches to his belt. He left the few pieces of armor he had, he didn't need to be wearing them at every moment. Walking to the inn's dining area, he found who looked to be the owner. He didn't remember her from last night but was sure that she did when she greeted him.

"Mr. Mallor and friend!" The old woman said jubilantly. "Rested well from last day's excursions have we?" She had a funny little accent that made even Tay's tired mind a little lighter feeling. He nodded to the woman and took one of the high stools going around what looked like a long bar. "Not really, but I guess we can't ask for more then being here another day." He said, laying his head in his arms. The woman chortled in agreement. "True it is."

She slid a non-glossy piece of paper to his side. He guessed that he couldn't expect everywhere to have the same niceties as the Association's Inn. He glanced over the offered items, finding many to be to his liking.

"Ah, yes." The old woman said as if remembering something. "There's a message I was requested to deliver to you. From someone of one of the big to-do guilds 'apparent." He sat up a little straighter at that. By big to-do guilds...she could only mean the Blood Cross guild. He definitely hoped he hadn't made them angry.

"What did they say?" He questioned. The woman leaned over the table conspiratorially. "Said to meet her here at 11 AM sharp. Said she has a proposition for you." She shook her head. "Wish these important people would stop being so secretive all the time. Gives me the berbly's it does." Tay smiled at the old woman warmly, who gave him a grandmotherly smile back.

He ordered a tray of fried potatoes and chicken and a shot of 'The fire stuff' as it was called, to wake him up. He devoured the meal and waited until the appointed time. When the clock rolled around to 11, the front door of the Inn swung open. The woman to enter looked to be in her early forties, though that probably meant that she was in her eighties. Aging worked like that for adventurers.

"Tay Mallor?" She asked. "That's right." He answered. The woman gestured for him to come outside, which he did after saying his goodbyes to the nice old woman. The street the Inn was on wasn't a busy one, even when the day was truly starting to get underway. The woman led him to the farthest end of the Inn's porch and turned to face Tay. "My name is Lithra Rose, and I'm with the Red Cross Guild, and we would like to mentor you." Tay's heart skipped a beat as his suspicions were realized.