The journey back to the city of Athria, the capital city of the kingdom of Brea, was an uneventful and short one as usual. The forest was a relatively safe and tame place when compared to the cavernous dungeon that lay underneath the ground the trees rooted themselves in.
The duo made it inside before the afternoon glow of the sun had fully dimmed into the dying embers of the evening. The stone walls around the city replaced the unending borders of the outside; the houses and buildings took the place of the trees of the forest, and the gravel road did the same with the dirt and grass of the woodland they were in shortly before.
"Safety" of civilization and of a settlement at last.
Liam could feel the eyes of the people around him locking on him, or rather, on the woman trailing behind him. He didn't blame them for staring, as he had done the same himself before, yet he did feel a flicker of irritation and annoyance at the hunger some of those gazes held; an irrational reaction he could not quite understand.
The party of two slowly made their way towards the adventurers' guild; he had technically cleared the bare minimum requirement of registering as one. The fact that he had almost died and survived purely out of luck and the grace of the healer behind him was not enough to act as a deterrent; he was too stubborn for logic to stop him from chasing what he desired, even if it would spell his doom. Therefore, the near-death experience was rather irrelevant when it came to whether he would carry on to become an adventurer or not.
They stopped briefly in front of the ornate wooden doors that led inside the largest building in the district, one made of dark oak matching the doors and carrying the insignia of the guild; a shield and a sword side by side, a symbol that was meant to convey the fact that the members were both the weapons that pruned the dangers and the shields that safeguarded the rest from the evils of the world. A noble notion, albeit a false one. A fair number of the members were less than savoury; some were barely better than mercenaries and above scavenging goods off the dead bodies of their so-called comrades, and some were almost as bad as the bandits they were sometimes hired to hunt down.
He pushed the doors open and stepped inside the main hall that served as both the quest acceptance area and a tavern. The scent of sweat, food, and stale alcohol dominated the room, yet somehow the sweet, flowery scent of Melissa still lingered in his nostrils, refusing to be outdone and drowned out by the lesser smells.
"I'll go ahead and head to the desk to go through the registration process"
Liam pulled out the magicore he had harvested off the dead body of the little green sucker that had almost killed him; he had barely remembered to do so. Well remembered was perhaps the wrong word, as he was more reminded by a soft "Are you not going to take the core that almost killed you?" from Melissa right before he had stepped out of the cave entrance that led down to the dungeon.
Melissa smiled and nodded, the same gentle and soothing look on her face that she had worn the entire time since their meeting on her face.
"Alright, I will wait for you here. You did promise to take me out to dinner as a thank you, and I intend to hold you to your word."
Her voice carried a light teasing lilt that bordered very lightly on being flirtatious.
He turned around quickly on one heel, the same efficient way of moving he was taught in the academy. Though this time it was used to cover a flush that was ever so slightly threatening to show on his face instead of combat. His steps felt far steadier than he currently did. He made his way towards the desk where the guild receptionist on duty for the evening could be found.
"I want to register"
He spoke as he slid the core towards the man behind the desk. The eyes of the receptionist scanned him, looking him up and down with an appraising gaze. The familiar feeling of insecurity and inadequacy crept in as the larger man stared him down. He was not a scrawny man himself, but one couldn't exactly call him an impressive specimen either, like they could for properly ranked adventurers and the man before him.
Liam was a man of slightly above average height, a physique that was rather common among the graduates of the academy that chose to pursue adventuring; a lean body with some muscles. Compared to how tall and frankly overmuscled the guy in front of him was, he felt utterly unimpressive. He also did not have unique eyes or hair like Melissa to make him stand out either; he had short black hair and brown eyes, a very easy-to-come-across combination unlike her ruby eyes and white hair.
"Here is your adventurer card; you're starting as an F rank, as you only submitted the bare minimum to register. Do try not to lose the card, as a replacement will cost you."
The man slid him his card after stamping it, along with the meager payment for the core and a piece of paper.
"Your name and signature on the paper so we have records of your registration if you lose your card. This will allow us to help you retain your rank and not go through the registration process again. You might not care much now, but it is a huge time saver when you lose your card at a higher rank, as it lets you pick up where you left off instead of grinding your way back up."
Liam wrote down his name and signed without much thought; there was no reason to debate policy with the man. He grabbed the card and the fee coins on it before turning around to head back to the woman he was hoping to find waiting for him by the doors, as she said she would be.
He soon got close enough to notice the men crowding her; a party of adventurers that were perhaps a rank or two higher than him, given the basic equipment they had. The flicker of annoyance and irritation reared its head once again, and he quickened his pace.
Pushing through the group with an ease that surprised him, he managed to grab Melissa's arm.
"Let's go; I owe you a meal"
He pulled her towards the exit, shoving one of the men as he did so. The audible crack that rang in his ears was not something he had expected.
Did I really push that hard? I doubt it; there was no mana infused into the exertion. I don't have any, nor ever had even a flicker of it, so it shouldn't have been enough to break anything.
"Oh dear, that looks painful. What a pity that I am out of mana and therefore cannot heal you."
Melissa's voice rang out in its usual melodic, soft, and gentle tone, though for some reason he felt a shiver run down his spine as if the air had grown chilly for a moment; a reaction he attributed to the fact that he had broken someone's arm without meaning to and that the party would likely hurt him badly if not outright kill him once they were away from the safety of the settlement, the laws and the guards that enforced them.
He kept moving without looking back or stopping to check on the man; he wasn't going to apologise as he genuinely didn't feel that he was in the wrong; they were bothering his saviour after all. His refusal to even spare a glance backwards made him entirely miss the smile that formed on Melissa's full lips for a flickering moment, the exact time the arm had broken.
"So where are you taking me, my chivalrous knight?"
They were outside as she stepped in front of him with a small tilt of her head, an innocent smile, and leaning slightly forward.
She really looks like an angel like this.
The torchlight from the lamps around the streets made her hair almost shine as if it were made from ethereal silk. His heartbeat quickened ever so slightly, inexplicably, as he took in the sight.
"There's a decent place near where I live. Please pick something that's not too expensive; I'm not exactly loaded"
He let out a self-deprecating laugh as he opened his coin pouch, which held the coins from the registration and a few more from odd jobs he had done around town. It wasn't exactly enough for a feast.
"Perhaps not a full meal but just drinks to toast in celebration of your registration, then?"
Instead of the displeased look he had expected, she had suggested a compromise with a level of gentle understanding that didn't trample on his ego by suggesting a cancellation nor threaten to bankrupt him by demanding he pay for an expensive meal. The act made his heart skip a beat.
He nodded in agreement before leading the way again, or at least attempting to. However, this time she kept pace with him, walking beside him.
Soon enough, they had had their toast and more. He looked at her face, and an idea that was born out of the liquid courage that was alcohol came to his mind.
"Would you like to create a party?"
He asked whilst not exactly brimming with optimism.