The night went like that before, and as they went to inspect the shack, they realized this moment for what it really was. A rich guy dumping his problems on them.

  "You see, so long as you keep sending promising students in the way of the sword my way, I'll help your organisation grow. This thing will be yours to manage and maybe even live in, given the cost of sleeping somewhere with a roof. You should repair it though, I don't think your organization will have all that much success based in an abandoned building. But you shouldn't worry, you have about one year until the next time that you will be taxed, so you should be good. Am I right?"

  Both of them just sighed and nodded.

  "Sure, Sir. Thank you for the building, I hope you recommend our services."

  Once the man was done, they stared at eachother and sighed.

  "At least we got a bit of a reputation and a nice ruin to work from, the most important part of an adventure hall is the quest board. Maybe if we set that one up, we get someone to actually give us a Quest."

  He offered, the Ranger nodding as they began their work on it.

  Once the board, a plank of wood nailed to two sturdy looking posts, was set up, Goron began to write down the text as Norman, much more dexterous than him, tried to repair the structure they would from now on call home.

  A simple informational sheet that would make sure anyone who read it would understand how to behave.

  "This should keep them motivated, and the last information of course..."

  Goron nailed the third to it, wondering if he should hammer 95 of those on a temple door.

  "Now we wait for someone to actually be interested in solving something, I guess we can focus on rebuilding the house for a while now."

  And thus, they did. They received their first contract to help a carpenter gather wood, something they where willing to do in order to receive his helo in the rebuilding efforts, a great cooperation for both sides, ending with a standing order to gather wood to be hung on the quest bord.

  It was on the third day, the money they had for food slowly slipping away, that someone unknown to them knocked on the buildings door.

  A thin figure that was hard to determine the gender of joined them, its entire body hidden behind black stained leather, the material obviously chosen for the stile rather than the limited protection it would provide.

  "Hello there, I'm Alex, can I join the guild? I ccurrently kind of need money, and you got a nice business here. And given that I got my class yesterday, I think this could work out perfectly."

  The Heroes smiled as they cut a piece of leather they had laying around into three pieces and putting a ring of tin they had found around theirs, smiling.

  "Sure, we're going to take you on the next quest we get, there's no reason to have you wait for your first rank. Currently we take whatever we can, with wood chopping and gathering for the carpenter our only job available. Though there have been some dissapearances lately. However, newbies always wait for something to become an official request. Freelance doesn't pay half as good."

  The newbie cocked her head, indicating confusion.

  "Why should they hire us and not fight the rats themselves?"

  The question was answered with a smile from Norman.

  'Don't worry. People who don't hire us will always have something to occupy them enough for us to seem attractive. There is a war to the west, an undead plague spreading in the north, and, if my guesses are right, some trouble coming from the south rather soon. Why would they care about a few rats when everything else is about to burn down? No, they will rather pay for professionals to take care of those beasts, and we make sure to hammer out a great deal with whoever comes to ask us. We won't suffer at all. We can deal with zmbies, the Empire won't be hostile to a small local business that could help them, and what's coming from the south knows under whoms protection we are. So, just wait for them to come in and wear your necklace proudly. Once we manage to hire an enchanter, we'll make sure those tokens become soul bound. We really don't want people to lose their entire career because someone snatched those bands from their necks."

  He explained, Goron and Frostbite, on the mysterious person before the newbie shrugged.

  "As long as there is something to do and we get paid, everything is better than robbing people and risking my freedom. I won't ask questions anymore, and in a city like this, you better be careful who you tell about your secret plans."

  Thus, the Trio was left alone once more, the hooded stranger disspearing into the daylight, the necklace a promise of returning.

  "I guess we only need some of those damned rat quests... I don't want to starve."

  Unlocked Skills

  Spoiler

  Unlocked perks

  Spoiler

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Unlocked Handycaps

  Spoiler