Chapter 18: ...

Warm air caresses my face. Voices assault my ears.

“Oh, Goddess.”

“What happened?”

“Does anyone have a healing potion?”

“Someone call Chloe.”

“Drink this,” Bridget says, holding something up to my lips. “It’ll stop the bleeding.”

“Alright,” Chloe says, “you should be fine.”

I open my eyes and slowly roll myself into a sitting position. The pain is gone, but I feel exhausted and drained.

I glance down at my chest. Underneath the bloody remains of my shirt, the skin is as good as new.

I reach up and touch my neck, the skin there is healed as well. Healing magic sure is amazing.

“Your turn,” Chloe says, grabbing Bridget’s arm.

“I’m fine,” Bridget says, trying to free herself.

“No, you’re not fine,” Chloe says. “Sit down and let me do my job.”

Bridget sinks to the floor next to me and reluctantly lets Chloe take care of her.

After giving Bridget a quick once over, Chloe places her hands on Bridget’s shoulders and murmurs something under her breath.

Chloe’s eyes flash purple, and Bridget is engulfed in a soothing white light. When the light fades, Bridget looks as good as new.

“All set,” Chloe says, clapping Bridget on the shoulders. “Now, we just have to wait for Samantha.”

The lobby, where we’re sitting, is in total chaos. Hundreds of adventurers fill the room, chatting excitedly with each other.

It’s early evening, the time when most adventurers knock off from work, so the number isn’t surprising. However, today, instead of leaving after they turn in their quests like they usually do, the adventurers are sticking around to see what’s going on.

In addition to the six guild advisers standing behind the reception desk, a dozen guild advisers stand in a group near the lobby’s entrance. This group is the center of attention, which isn’t surprising because all of them are wearing full combat gear.

Six members of the group, the melee attackers, are wearing full plate armor. The other six are wearing a mishmash of gear.

There’s a mage dressed in long flowing robes, with a long wooden staff strapped across her back. There’s an assassin dressed in a black tunic and black trousers, with a mask strapped across the right half of her face.

The remaining four consist of three archers with longbows and an adviser with a long coiled whip strapped to her hip. These four are wearing chain mail tunics, which glitter in the lobby’s magic stone lamps.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“They’re organizing a party to go out and recover the body of the monster the two of you killed,” Chloe says. “Because it was found in a secured area, the Guild is treating it as an emergency.”

“Do you know what type of monster it was?”

“From what Bridget told me, I would guess that it’s probably a Blade Claw. However, we’ll know for sure once they recover the body.”

As one, the guild advisers step through lobby entrance and out into the night. Before the doors slam shut behind them, I catch a glimpse of the mage and bow users raising MSPD lanterns to light up the path in front of them.

“How long will it take them to retrieve the monster?” Bridget asks.

“If they don’t run into any trouble, they’ll be back within an hour or two. Once we verify what kind of monster it was, the Guild will issue the two of you a reward for killing it.

Samantha sprints into the room, her face white. When she spots the three of us sitting next to the wall, she springs over.

“Are you okay?” Samantha asks, throwing her arms around Bridget and me.

I nod.

Samantha releases her grip on the two of us, and sits back on her heels “What happened?” she asks, her voice tense.

“On our way back from the quest,” Bridget says, “we were attacked by a monster.”

“What kind of monster?”

“A Blade Claw,” Chloe says, placing a hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “A party has already been dispatched to retrieve the body.”

“A Blade Claw?” Samantha asks. “Did you kill it?”

“Bridget killed it,” I say. “I was just bait.”

“How did you kill it?” Samantha asks, turning to Bridget.

The two of us relay the story of what happened to Samantha. When we finish, she and Chloe stare at us dumbfounded.

“You killed it with a broken branch?” Samantha asks, incredulously. “Didn’t you have a weapon?”

“N-No, I didn’t.”

“What about you, Sage?”

I shake my head.

Samantha and Chloe stare at us in shock, too stunned to speak. Finally, Samantha says. “Why not?”

Bridget glances over at me, tears in her eyes. She doesn’t seem to know what to do with Samantha’s smoldering anger.

“The harvesting area was located in the secure sector, so we didn’t think we’d need weapons,” I say, covering for her.

“Are you stupid?” Samantha shouts, gripping my shoulders and shaking me like a ragdoll. “Just because the sector is secure, doesn’t mean you don’t carry a weapon. Monsters aren’t the only things that want to kill you, hundreds of adventurers die from bandit attacks every single day.

“Your weapon is your lifeline, you should carry it with you at all times.

“Do you understand?”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

Samantha lectures us for more than an hour, on the importance of carrying a weapon at all times, before Chloe finally steps in.

“I understand you’re worried,” she says, “but look at them, they’re scared to death.”

Silent tears are running down Bridget’s cheeks, and I feel like crying too. I know Samantha isn’t wrong, but her teaching style is a bit over the top.

Without weapons, the two of us were helpless. If Bridget hadn’t found that stick, we both would be dead.

But, even if I’d had a weapon, would I have been able to do anything?

No, I wouldn’t have.

The monster was overpowering. Once it pinned me to the ground, I couldn’t do anything.

Samantha’s eyes go wide and her angry aura disappears. “I’m sorry,” she says, pressing her forehead to the ground. “I didn’t realize…”

“Thank you for the advice,” Bridget says. She stands up and bows to Samantha, then bolts out of the lobby and down the hallway out of sight.

“I’ll make sure she’s alright,” Chloe says, standing up. “You, take care of Sage.”

Once Chloe disappears, Samantha slumps against the wall next to me.

“Sorry about that,” she says, “I let my emotions get the best of me.”

“Don’t worry about it, I totally understand.”

“As an apology…will you let me treat you to dinner? You don’t have any other plans for tonight, do you?

“I would invite Bridget, but she’s probably terrified of me, so…”

The truth is, I want nothing more than to crawl into bed and go to sleep. But, Samantha looks so forlorn, and I’m a little bit hungry, so I decide to take her up on her offer.

“I’ll go,” I say, “but let me shower first.”

“Great, let’s meet up in front of your room in half an hour.”

After returning to my room, I take a shower and change into my spare set of clothes, then I stand in the hallway in front of my room, waiting for Samantha.

A few minutes later, Samantha sweeps into view at the end of the hallway and waves.

Tonight, she’s wearing a deep purple dress with a flowing mithril vine cascading across the bodice.

The vine, which is inlaid with diamonds the size of my thumb, winds its way around the voluminous skirt, which pools on the floor at her feet.

“Ready?” Samantha asks, carefully adjusting the flower shaped, diamond encrusted, hairpiece that is perched on the back of her elaborate updo.

“Yeah, where are we going?”

“The Guild’s restaurant. I managed to get us a last minute reservation.”

When we arrive at the restaurant, Samantha takes my hand and leads me to a table at the front of the room. Countless stares pierce my back, each one filled with killing intent, but I ignore them and try my best to walk confidently by her side.

For some reason, our table only has two chairs.

No, it’s not just our table, all of the tables in the restaurant only have two chairs.

I scan the room in a panic, the reality of the situation sinking in. Tonight, the restaurant is filled with couples, and every single one of them appears to be deeply in love.

Wait, I shouldn’t get the wrong idea. This was a last minute arrangement, there’s no way Samantha could have known about this ahead of time.

Be still my beating heart. There’s no way this is a date.

“U-Um,” I say, my voice smooth and confident. “W-What’s g-going on, is t-tonight a s-special e-e-event?”

“I’m not sure,” Samantha says, glancing around the room. “I had Natalie make the reservation.”

See? She didn’t know. She didn’t even make the reservation.

This isn’t a date, it never was.

Wait, why am I so disappointed?

“I see,” I say, burying my disappointment in the depths of my heart.

“Is there something bothering you?” Samantha asks.

Oh no, was I too obvious? Did my disappointment show? I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it.

“W-What do you mean?” I ask.

“I might be wrong, but ever since Benton’s Hill, you’ve seemed a little down. If there’s something bothering you, don’t hesitate to tell me. After all, that’s what I’m here for.”

So that’s what she meant. I’m glad she didn’t guess my current thoughts.

It’s true, I have been down. I’ve been frustrated, ever since I learned that I was at the bottom of bootcamp.

I know, I shouldn’t compare myself to others. It’s stupid, and it makes me feel horrible, but for some reason I can’t stop myself.

Should I tell Samantha? Should I come clean?

I suppose, there’s no reason not to. Some guys hide their feelings in order to appear stronger, but the orphanage’s director always told me that honesty is the best policy.

“You won’t tell anyone else, right?” I ask.

“Of course,” Samantha says. “This conversation stays between the two of us. I promise.”

“Okay. I…um…”

The lights go dark, and all eyes turn towards the stage. The audience, which had been buzzing with excitement, goes quiet.

The tension in the room is unbearable. The audience waits with bated breath for something, anything, to happen.

With a swish, the curtains are drawn back and heart shaped spotlights train themselves on the stage. In the center of the stage stands No Money and his band, except today, instead of wearing suits, each of them is dressed in a long black high collared trench coat with a single hot pink heart embroidered on the left side of their chest.

“Are you feeling the love?” No Money shouts.

“Yeah,” the crowd shouts back.

“Come on, that was pathetic,” No Money shouts. “Are you feeling the love?”

“Yeah,” the crowd cheers, shaking the restaurant.

“That’s better,” No Money says, giving the crowd a thumbs up. “As you already know, tonight is couples night, the most important night of the month.”

The crowd cheers, rattling the silverware on our table.

“Usually, we sing sappy ballads to make your hearts beat a little faster, but today we have a special treat for you. Are you ready?”

The crowd cheers, shattering several wine glasses.

“That’s the spirit,” No Money shouts. “Get ready, because tonight I’m excited to present to you our newest song, Love and Death.”

Broken Mirror counts them in, and the band starts to play.

To my untrained ear, it sounds like discordant screaming. The song is reminiscent of screamo from my previous life, except 10,000 times worse.

Deeeaaath and loooveee. Deeeaaath and loooveee.

The red roses bloom in the underworld’s soil. A thorn in the palm of the broken season’s child.

Deeeaaath and loooveee. Deeeaaath and loooveee.

The red roses bloom in the underworld’s soil. A thorn in the palm of the broken season’s child.

Death. Love. Death. Love.

Death. Love. Death. Love.

Death. Love. Death. Love.

Death. Death. Love. Love.

To be fair, in my past life, I knew several people who were really into screamo. I just wasn’t one of them.

Instead of his trademark sultry crooning, No Money screams at the top of his lungs.

Broken Mirror hammers on the drums like his life depends on it, headbanging with wild abandon.

Shattered Diamond jumps up and down, waving her arms above her head, and Fools Gold’s harp and Bruce’s flute appear to be connected to some sort of MSPD which is providing them with hair raising distortion.

In this fantasy world, the entire spectacle is bizarre. It’s like a cross between a certain grunge band’s music video and a chamber orchestra.

Throughout the song, the lyrics stay pretty much the same. At one point, No Money repeats the line “deeaaath and loooveee” sixteen times in a row, but that seems to be pretty much the only change.

Surprisingly, the crowd is loving it. Even though everyone is dressed in expensive suits and dresses, they’re jumping up and down and screaming their heads off like they’re in the pit at a concert.

When the song ends, I glance over at Samantha. “What did I just listen to?” she mutters, shaking her head.

“Anyway,” Samantha says, “I hope their next song is a bit less…destructive.

“Now, what were you going to say before we were interrupted?”

I clench my fists and stare down at my hot pink place mat.

“I know this is stupid,” I say, “but I feel like I’m being left behind.

“It’s frustrating. Every single one of you is so much better than I am.

“Earlier, when I was attacked by that monster, I couldn’t do anything.

“Once it landed its surprise attack, that was it. The only reason I’m still alive is because Bridget saved me.

“Everyday, I work my butt off during training, but no matter what I do it doesn’t feel like I’m improving.

“No, I am improving, but it feels like Bridget and Wolf are leaving me behind.

“I’m sorry for venting.”

“Don’t apologize,” Samantha says. “I’m glad that you trust me enough to be honest.

“Don’t worry about appearing weak in front of me. There are times when even I feel weak and helpless.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what your title is. It doesn’t matter what skills you have or how much you’ve trained. There will always be times where you feel like you can’t continue and that’s okay.

“That’s why the Adventurer Guild exists, to support and guide you during your darkest hour.

“I know you feel like your title holds you back, but try your best not to worry so much about it.

“Your title is unique, which means you don’t have a predefined path laid out for you, but that also means you are free to take any path that you want.

“People who receive titles like Warrior, Knight, or Hero, blindly follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.

“They trained this way, so I need to train that way too. They received this skill, so I need to receive that skill as well.

“For some individuals this is the right decision, but more often than not there are better paths available to them that they ignore because it isn’t the correct one.

“Having a unique title is a double edged sword.

“It’s bad, because you don’t know what your full potential is, and it’s good, because you don’t know what your full potential is.

“Because you don’t have any preconceived ideas, you have infinite potential, which isn’t something that very many people are lucky enough to experience.

“Throughout time, there have been countless examples of people with trash tier titles, becoming the best in their chosen profession.

“Take for example one of the guild advisers who joined us last year. Like you, this adviser was blessed with a unique title that no one had ever heard of before.

The title she received was Cleaver Master, and because of it, everyone thought she would become a butcher. In fact, several nobles tried to hire her to work on their estates, but she refused their offers, saying she wanted to become an adventurer.

“At first, everyone laughed at her. She was delusional, she was crazy, there was no way she would make it as an adventurer.

“However, by the next year that girl had become one of the strongest adventurers in the capital city. In fact, she was so strong that the Adventurer Guild recruited her as a guild adviser, making her the youngest guild adviser in the history of the Guild.”

“This was all thanks to her perseverance and the fact that she wasn’t afraid to try something different. Instead of letting her title control her destiny, she forced her title to work for her.

“Keep this a secret from everyone else, but that guild adviser will be teaching a special course for the three of you before we start the second half of bootcamp, so you’ll get a chance to meet her then.”

“How can I take advantage of my lack of a predefined path?” I ask.

“To answer your question, let me tell you what that guild adviser told me.

“First, start by finding the limits of your title. Practice your skills until you can do them in your sleep, and look for opportunities to use them in unorthodox ways.”

“At some point, you’ll receive a new skill and you’ll repeat the same process with it as well.

“With persistence and a little bit of luck, this process will help you to get to where you want to go.”

“Given what you know about my title, do you think I can make it as an adventurer?”

“Just between you and me, I think your title has more potential than both Bridget and Wolf. Whether you can harness that potential is up to you, but I definitely believe it exists.

“Thanks. That makes me feel better.”

“No problem,” Samantha says, leaning across the table and pulling me into an awkward hug. “I’m glad I could help.”

“Wow,” No Money shouts, “What have we here? Has the great Samantha fallen in love?”

The two of us jerk apart as spotlights lock onto our table.

“Let’s play a song to commemorate this momentous occasion,” No Money says.

“Don’t you dare,” Samantha says, jumping up onto the stage and grabbing No Money by the collar.

Despite my earlier misgivings, I’m glad I decided to accept Samantha’s invitation. I got to have a “date” with Samantha, but more importantly, now I have some hope for the future.