Chapter Text
This was the big day. When they entered this building, a new page in their lives would be turned, and there would be no turning back. It was still quite early, the sun had just risen, and the city streets weren't too crowded, at least for now. In just an hour or two, things would be very different...
Three people stood in front of the most important building in all of Etria, the Explorers Guild. Two young men and a young woman.
The first man was the tallest of the group. He had medium-length brown hair that looked almost orange from a distance. He wore a fairly long white jacket, which fell to his lower thighs, and also carried a rather imposing satchel, held by a strap that passed over his right shoulder and against the side of his left thigh. He also had brown eyes, the same color as his high boots, and wore golden earrings that dangled discreetly.
On his right was a second man, slightly shorter than him, recognizable from afar by his red hair, but above all by his pink armor, which glistened in the morning sunlight. He carried two rather imposing weapons on his back: a large sword, undoubtedly two-handed, and an axe, just as large, with a weathered wooden handle. Only his left eye, blue as the sky, was visible, since the other was covered by his glowing hair.
Finally, to the left of the first young man, was a young woman, the smallest of the group, with long, straight blond hair and eyes as blue as the sea. Her armor was much more discreet, the natural color of the steel it was made of, but what made her stand out from afar was her shield, a bright red, hanging directly from her back. It was as big as she was, or nearly so, that she could be mistaken for a wall if seen from behind. She too had a weapon, a long sword tucked away in its leather scabbard.
"Do you think the building is already packed with people like us, at this hour?" the young woman then asked.
"There are always new guilds forming, no matter the time or the day, Alina. But we might be among the first, at this hour," replied the man in the white jacket.
"You think so, Vincent? I really don't want to spend all day waiting in line for our turn to sign up for the guild register…"
"Impatient as ever, I see…" sighed the young man in the pink armor.
"Egil! I'm sure you agree with me, anyway..."
Indeed, even though Etria was a rather modest town, many people, both locals and travellers from the rest of the world, visited the little town for one and only one reason: the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. A thousand-year-old tree, taller than the sky itself, teeming with treasures and mysteries. But treasure and mystery also meant danger, traps and monsters. Yggdrasil was a very dangerous place, and many people had died there. Yet curiosity always attracted Man, and so a city was formed at the foot of the tree and the forest that surrounded it. Etria was born, and many explorers, gathered in guilds, settled there, led by a man of boundless wisdom and knowledge, Visil. Visil was head of the Radha, the organization that governed Etria, and thanks to him, the city continued to prosper, even if many adventurers never returned from the Labyrinth.
At first, anyone could enter Yggdrasil, but soon, because of the danger involved, access was restricted to the city's official guilds, registered with the Radha, to avoid too many unfortunate deaths. It was for this very reason that Egil, Alina and Vincent presented themselves at the Headquarters of the Exploration Guilds: they wanted to form their own guild with the aim of exploring the Labyrinth. Of course, they were far from alone in their desire. The vast majority of Etria's population was made up of explorers and adventurers who had formed multiple guilds, and some were better known than others. The Golden Deer Guild, for example, had given its name to Etria's best-known pub, and Visil was even said to have an elite guild at his personal service.
It was the dream of all guilds to make a name for themselves by accomplishing great feats, but few succeeded in achieving this goal...
When Egil finally opened the door to the building, it was already crowded inside. All the check-in counters were besieged by gigantic queues of would-be explorers, and despite the early hour, the common room was far noisier than the city streets in the middle of the afternoon.
"I told you we should have arrived earlier! Now we'll have to wait until evening before we can even get to the counter to register…" Alina was already complaining, as the trio had just started waiting in one of the queues.
"We'd have been here sooner if I hadn't had to come straight to your room to wake you up... Besides, you didn't make it easy for me, growling like a bear in need of sleep and honey…"
"But I was fine, in my bed, it's not fair! Do you see that Vincent? Egil is so mean to me!"
"How old are you, 22 or 15?" replied the interested party, amused.
The three friends continued to tease each other for a while, following the movement of the queue. They still had long hours of waiting ahead of them, so they had to try and occupy all that time spent in line, moving even more slowly than a sleeping snail... But in the end, their patience paid off, as the counter was finally within sight. Next in line to register a new guild would be their group, but there seemed to be a problem…
"I'm sorry, but I can't grant your request. A guild must have at least two members, that's the rule."
"This is ridiculous! I'm telling you, I've explored the Labyrinth before! I know exactly what awaits me there, so I'm just asking you to give me permission to–"
"That won't be possible, sorry. I'm going to ask you to get out of the queue and leave, you're just slowing everyone down for now..."
The man, who seemed to be arguing with the registration officer behind the counter, was about the same height as Vincent, and probably about the same age as Alina. He was dressed all in black, with short, almost yellow blond hair and blue eyes. His face was partly covered by his red scarf, but so was his hair that you couldn't see much of it.
After yet another remark from his interlocutor, he turned to face Egil and his two friends. He stared at them for a brief moment, and seemed to reflect for a few minutes before turning back to the counter.
"And if I sign up with these three people right here, will you finally leave me alone?"
Sign up... with them? Neither Egil, nor Alina, nor Vincent knew this person, and here they were already being swept up in this stranger's troubles before they'd even founded their guild...
"Wait a minute before you try to–" Vincent began, but was quickly interrupted by the stranger.
"Listen, you three. You want to form a guild, but none of you has any experience with Yggdrasil, and I need to get to the Labyrinth, but this idiot won't let me go alone. Besides, having an alchemist who can master magic well enough in your group probably won't do you any harm."
From what Egil had heard earlier, the blond boy sounded experienced, and even if he hadn't presented himself in the best possible way, he would indeed be a great asset to the group. Besides, it would seem they had no choice in the matter anyway...
"Very well, we accept." replied the red-haired young man, aware that the others were bound to react to what he'd just said, and perhaps not very positively...
"But Egil! He's a stranger, we know nothing about him, and besides–"
"He's right, Alina. Even if we don't know much about him at the moment, his presence will be useful to us."
All the more so as another important detail had jumped out at the young man: the symbol on the left shoulder of the stranger's black jacket. The crest of a fairly well-known guild in Etria, having disbanded a few days ago for reasons as yet unknown. The Black Eagle Guild. Vincent seemed to have seen the same thing too, for he fell silent again, only to look at his friend.
"Good. Looks like you've got a working brain, landsknecht, unlike your comrades. Now that we've got that out of the way..."
He turned back to the counter and addressed the registration officer once more.
"Is that all right now? Is it possible to register?" he asked, in a tone both irritated and scornful at once.
"I need a name for your guild," replied the officer, not without a sigh. "You won't be able to change it afterwards, so choose wisely."
"Hey, pink landsknecht! I think the lady at the counter asked you something."
Egil ignored the nickname the alchemist gave him and his tone, and took a moment to think about a name their guild could bear. It wasn't a question he'd thought of before... After long minutes of reflection, he spoke again :
"How about... the New Dawn Guild?"
"It's a nice name, I like it!" replied Alina, who had regained her usual enthusiasm.
"Well, why not? New Dawn ... Yes, it's a good name for a guild!" agreed Vincent.
- In that case, if your friends the protector and the medic agree, I won't stand in your way. Did you hear that, behind the counter? I hope you got it all down!"
With a further sigh of exasperation, the woman behind the counter noted the name of this brand-new guild, as well as the names of all its members. It was then that Egil learned the name of the stranger. His name was Seth, and he was indeed an alchemist, as he had explained earlier. No mention had been made of his former guild, however, which was rather strange, but the landsknecht would ask Seth about it later.
Finally, the lady behind the counter handed Egil an old blank parchment, along with a sealed letter, formalizing the creation of their guild.
"Your guild has officially been registered with the Radha, but you still need to complete an initiation test before you can explore the depths of the Labyrinth. You see this blank parchment I gave you? You must map the most advanced part of the First Stratum of the Labyrinth and bring it back to the Radha Hall. Once you've completed this task, you'll be recognized as a guild in your own right and will be able to accept the missions posted on the big board at the Radha Hall."
Egil thanked his interlocutor, and the group finally left the common room of the Exploration Guild Headquarters, with a new objective in mind.
"Well, now that all that's settled... We'll meet tomorrow morning at the entrance to the Labyrinth to make that damn map. Until then... Bye!"
And without even giving anyone a chance to reply, Seth set off again, disappearing into the crowd that now filled the city streets. It would seem that things are more complicated than expected...