David crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it to the side of the road.

- It will rot, nothing bad will happen.

And he went further into the city. On the way to the gate there was a long line of not only people, but also various other strange creatures: huge lizards, red giants with horns, or even fish-men.

- What is this, a queue for a comic con?

One person from the crowd turned to David. He was a tall, muscular man with a red bird's head that resembled a raven.

- Dear, why are you whining here... what, a mark?

- Well, yes, a mark, so what?

- Nothing at all, go to all fours, in this city you won’t catch anything for yourself.

The feathered one turned back. David had to stand in line for quite a long time, since everyone who wanted to enter the city was checked for about ten minutes each. Soon it was his turn. A guard approached him.

- Good afternoon, mark?

- What have you all got up to with this mark?! Everyone doesn’t like something about her, maybe that’s enough already?

- Show your documents.

- I do not have them.

- So let’s write it down: entering the city without the required documents. According to Article 15, 5 days of correctional labor.

- What kind of correctional work? I was thrown here by force, so I don’t have any documents with me.

- Hmm, and who threw you here?

- Some idiot who called himself God...

- More respect! Well, since God himself, then okay, you can go without documents, but you still need to be registered. What is your first and last name?

- David Lighten.

- Age ?

- 18 years.

- Purpose of arrival?

- No idea. Perhaps looking for work and housing. Can you recommend anything?

- I wrote it down. But I can’t really recommend anything with your label. You won't be accepted anywhere.

- Why ?

- The mark under your eyes symbolizes that you are a person who is unpleasant to God, accordingly, you are an enemy of the church, and the church controls everything.

- Not this... A city ruled by a church...

- You can go through, don’t hold up the line. Welcome to Aerdan.

David hastily crossed the gate and entered the main square of the city. In the center of the square stood a huge fountain in the form of a bearded man in a robe, pointing his left hand upward, from which water flowed. Throughout the area there were stalls filled with various fruits, primitive equipment, clothes and jewelry. On the outskirts of the square there were wide buildings, on which there were signs luring people inside to various establishments. Unfortunately, David was unable to read what was written on the signs.

In a situation like this, when you can't find your way around the city, the best solution would be to go and look for a tavern or something like that. So David was told by his video game experience, which in his past would have been extremely useless, unlike now. As a result, he walked straight across the entire square, catching unpleasant looks on himself.

Soon, the area with a shopping district was replaced by a residential one. Here residents often walked with their children. The parents looked at the guy with anger and contempt, but the children had a different look, only curiosity was read in it, naive as it should be. Soon a sign appeared that showed a bed and food. Without hesitation, David went inside. There were wide wooden tables with chairs around them. On the right side of the room there was a thicker table. It was something like a reception. Approaching the counter, the guy noticed a small bell. He rang it and then put it in place. A lady of about thirty wearing an apron came out of the door behind the counter. Her long brown hair was tied into a bun. She walked up to the counter with a smile on her face.

- Welcome to the Spruce Bed, what do you want... mark? In this case, please leave, we do not serve marks.

- Wait, I know I don’t have money to pay for your services, but maybe I can get a job with you?

- Get out, I said!

- Mother, what kind of quarrel are you starting here?

From the same door from which this lady came out a young girl, blonde, looked to be about fourteen. She looked at her mother with a very menacing look, judging by the fact that she called her that way.

- Alice, he is a marksman! We can't serve him!

- Mom, what does the church tell us? That's right, be kind to everyone, so why can't you be kind to him?

- But, but...

- Mother, go to the kitchen, finish the chicken, otherwise it will burn, I will serve the client myself.

The thirty-something woman hurriedly left, back to where she had come from. Alice, as she was called, approached the counter.

- Please forgive us for this incident. Let's start with introductions. My name is Alice, my mother, the owner of this inn, is called Gerda. Let me know your name, dear guest.

- David.

- What a rare name... Do you want to stay with us for the night?

- Yes, but I don’t have money... Will you hire me?

- Sorry, of course, but we can’t offer you that. However, I can tell you where you can make money, are you interested?

- Certainly ! But I’m unlikely to earn much in a day; you won’t have enough for an overnight stay...

- I’m ready to give you a thirty percent discount as an apology for my mother’s rudeness, what do you say?

- Thank you very much. So where should you go?

- Here, around the bend, there is a bright green building, the sign says “Mercenary Guild.” There you can choose a job to suit your taste and get paid instantly.

- There is a problem: I can’t read...

- A common problem. The sign has a picture of a sword piercing a piece of paper, you can't go wrong.

- Got it, thank you very much, see you tonight!

- See you soon !

David left the building and headed along the route indicated to him; he soon found what he was looking for. A huge green building, it was much more noticeable against the background of other, paler and inconspicuous residential buildings. He went inside. People of all kinds of races and species stood around and furiously discussed something. Some poured out their grief, or, conversely, celebrated something at a local bar. This time, people's looks were complete indifference. David calmly walked to the reception desk, and a girl spoke to him.

- Welcome to the Mercenary Guild, would you like to take on a task or register?

- Register.

- Here is a form for you, fill it out. Fill out honestly, without lying. If you lie, we will have to block your guild card in the future. 

David began filling out the questionnaire, calmly answering most simple questions, such as name, age, or health status. But he had a problem with other questions like: “What skills do you have?”, or “What is your rank in the church?” After thinking for quite a long time, David wrote “Absent” in both of these columns, and then returned the sheet back. The girl read the text for several seconds, but when she reached the bottom of the sheet, where there were those strange questions, she began to giggle involuntarily.

- Rin, I'm done with the joke, please come over. - the girl said somewhere behind her.

Soon a thin-looking brunette with short hair, a bob cut and small black horns approached.

- What did you want?

- Look, look. Right here, yes.

Rin looked at the answers David wrote and no longer giggled, but neighed like a horse at the entire guild building.

- Good joke, I must buy you a bottle of wine.

- You'll buy it in the evening.

Rin hurriedly left, after which the person conducting the registration leaned towards David.

- Sorry, but this answer is not suitable. I understand that you wanted to amuse us, but this is not enough to start flirting with us, please change your mind.

- I can't rewrite it. I wrote the honest truth, as you asked.

-...are you serious now? Do you have no skills at all?

- It depends what you mean by skills.

- Skills in fencing, hand-to-hand combat, a predisposition to magic, and everything like that.

- No, nothing like that.

- Oh God... What about the rank? You wrote it as if you had never been to church.

- So I’ve never been to church. I just arrived in the city.

- May the great God forgive me, why am I being punished like this?

- I can hear you.

The girl leaned over the counter, then returned to her original position and threw a brown card on the table.

- This is your card, all your achievements and ranks will be recorded on it, both in our guild and in the church. I highly recommend you visit this place now.

The board with contracts is on the left, you can read it.

- Thank you.

- Welcome out of here.

There were a lot of sheets with tasks on the stand, but without pictures, so it was not possible to make out what was on them.

- What should I do now?

The wrist of David’s right hand hurt, he looked at it, there was an inscription scratched in red: “Now I’m kind, read as much as you like.” He looked back at the board, and this time everything read normally, as if in his native language. The very inscription on the wrist disappeared. On the board hung tasks with collecting herbs, working as a guide, killing weak monsters, medium, difficult and “nightmares”, there was also a task to destroy the lair of robbers. All tasks were divided into ranks. Herbal collection - 0, guide work and weak monsters - 1, and average, complex, "nightmare" monsters - 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. David walked back to the reception.

- Excuse me, but besides an indication of the difficulty level, do those ranks give anything?

- Each rank is at the same time the number of points you will receive upon successful completion. To move from your current zero to the first, you need to earn thirty points, to the next level from that - two and a half times more points, and so on according to the scheme.

- Got it, then, I guess I’ll take... extermination of the cobalts’ lair.

- Okay, give me your card, I’ll write this contract on you.

David gave the girl the card, but afterward he had a couple of important questions.

- Tell me, what is your name?

- Rimma.

- Rimma, can you give me some starting equipment, otherwise I have nothing at all with me.

- I can give you a steel sword, a wooden shield and one healing fruit, but then you will not be paid 50 cards for the task, but only 10.

- Agree.

The girl soon returned with a map, as well as the promised starting equipment.

- Thank you very much. - said David and headed towards the exit from the guild

- *Good luck to you to survive* - Rimma said in a whisper.

- Good luck to me to survive... - the guy said to himself.