Hey guys. Striker777 here with another chapter of Adventurers Guild Hero. Be sure to enjoy and let me know about ways I can improve my writing skills. This is the first chapter of the story after the background information of the story.

———

The tavern was full of life as adventurers chatted amongst their parties. Bragging about their rank or level, or monsters they vanquished on the way there. The crowd was so loud that three girls in the corner in bright clothes blended right in.

"Cheers!"

The party smacked their ale mugs together in celebration of completing their first quest. They drank from the mugs, but the leader was the most enthusiastic. A woman with leather armour, red shirt with black pants, and a sword and shield combo at her side. Her wild red hair and emerald eyes gave off the impression of chaotic beauty. Above her head, a bright green tag appeared.

{Henrietta Earlsheid}
{Warrior - Level 19}

"Talk about an awesome win. We cleared out those goblins like they were nothing. Way to go team!"
"And the reward was too good. We have enough for comfort tonight in the inn, not the stables." said an high elf. She wore her white shirt with green sleeves, her brown corset on the outside and a green skirt to complete the look. She had brown, long, curly hair and blue bell eyes. A quiver of arrows laid comfortably next to her bow under her feet. Her own green tag above her head was visible.

{Emilia Greenwood}
{Archer - Level 20}

"The reward was great, but I went up two whole levels! And I got a new skill. This block skill looks really effective for a tank."
"We'll need to try it out in the mob areas before we use it on a quest."
"I agree with Emilia, Henrietta. We would be wise in seeing the capabilities of your new skill before we use it in the field." said the final member of the party, a dark elf. Her silver hair and red eyes, matched with her tan skin, accompanied her deep blue magicians robe well. Her robes consisted of a navy, skin-tight suit, with a night blue cloak with gold linings around the edges. Another green tags floated above her head.

{Alexis Morganth}
{Mage - Level 21}

Henrietta sighed and sank into her seat. "I hear you, but seriously, a new skill! I'm just excited okay?"
"Be exited all you like, but we still need to practice before the next quest. This skill could come in handy if we know how it works." said Emilia.
"I hear you Emilia. How about we go hunt some monsters in the forest tomorrow to try the skill. We could earn a little more exp whilst we're there."
"Yeah. I'm bridging on level 22, and some more levels would be pretty good."
"And we may find some good drops to sell. Wolf teeth are in high demand at the moment."
"Then it's decided!" Henrietta stood up on her chair. "Tomorrow we farm and train!"

"Farming huh? We know a few good spots around here with monsters." The three turned to see a pair of boys looking down on them. Both wore metal breastplates and had fancy looking swords strapped to their waist. One boy had scraggy, short blonde hair, with green eyes, and one had dirt brown hair and blue eyes. The real treat was the bronze chains hanging from their necks, indicating a pair of bronze ranked adventurers.

"Hi, I'm Marcus."
"And I'm Elliot."
Their tags appeared above their heads.

{Marcus Fold}
{Knight - Level 38}

{Elliot Maive}
{Warrior- Level 40}

"We know some amazing spots around here. We'd be more than happy to show you." said the blonde one, Marcus.
"You would?" asked Emilia.
"Sure. We're all adventurers here, fighting on the same team to keep the world safe. Having powerful allies is a must have in this world." said Elliot.
"Awfully generous of you. What's in it for you?" asked Alexis, her hand resting on her staff.
"We come with you. Spend the day with 3 pretty girls and maybe level up a bit. What more could two guys want?" responded Marcus in a charismatic tone.
"They're being nice guys, let's go with them tomorrow."
"Fine then. We can go with them tomorrow." said Emilia.
"Sounds good. Meet you guys at 10 am here?"
"Sound goods. See you then." with that, Marcus and Elliot left the table.

"That was nice of them." said Henrietta.
"Indeed. They were kind. We should have fun tomorrow." responded Emilia.
"We should get some rest. I vote we stay in the inn for tonight. We have the money."
"A night in the inn sounds lovely Alexis."
"How did I know you were going to say that Emilia?"
"Okay guys. Let's sort out a room."

The three of them walked over to the reception desk. "Hi, what can I do for you?"
"We're looking to stay one night in the inn. Is that possible?" asked Henrietta.
"Not a problem. Just the one room?"
"Yes please."
"Alrighty then. That'll be 2 silver." The reception lady held out her hand, and Henrietta dropped two silver coins into it. "Here's your key, and have a good night."
"Thanks. We will." With that, the three of them went off to the stairs to go to their room.

The reception lady smiled and went back to her paperwork, only to be interrupted by a cough. She looked up and the colour drain from her face. There standing before her, is a man in a black cloak that covers his face and body. He wore no weapons, at least not nay visible to her or anyone around her, but what got her so scared were two things, his titanium chain around his neck, and the tag above his head.

{Arno Holward}
{Weapon master/Archmage - Level 154}

There, before her, was the unlucky gem. The famous strongest adventurer in the land, with luck so bad he must be a descendant of a black cat. She was speechless, terrified to speak a word to the man.

He spoke first.

"Good evening to you. I was hoping you could help me. I'm looking for a pair of bandits that are stirring trouble in these parts. I have reason to suspect that they are hiding out as guild members here. These are some sketches of the suspects." He handed her a pair of drawings, with a detailed physical description down the side. Both had black hair, red eyes, and wore expensive clothes.

"Liam and Rick Harlow? I can't say I've heard of them. And their classes?"
"They're classed as thieves, but are running a human slave ring in these parts. Their MO are inexperienced female adventurers with good gear. They strip them of their equipment, rape them, and then sell them to the highest bidder. They escaped me once before and I do not plan on letting it happen again.

Keep a watchful eye on anyone acting suspicious. These guys always work in a pair, so be sure to alert me if a pair of suspicious boys escort a party of girls out, have I made myself clear?" Not trusting herself to speak, the woman nodded. "I'm sorry if I acted in a way that offended you. I just need to bring these girls home. As many as I can. My job is quite stressful at the moment. Here." Arno flicked a gold coin at the woman, who caught it and examined it. Deciding it was real, she turned back to Arno. "For the trouble. I'll leave you to your work. Have a good night." Arno took off towards the bar, contempt on drinking his sorrows away.

The lady at the counter sunk into her chair.

'What else could happen tonight?'

———

The morning sun shone bright through the shutters. Henrietta opened her eyes to find herself on the floor of the room, with Emilia and Alexis on the bed, their bodies stretched out and everywhere over their sheets. She sighed and got up, noticing a cramp in her left shoulder. 'Must have slept on it.' she deducted, and began to change into another pair of pants and her red shirt, before equipping her armour and strapping her weapon to her side. She looked down at the sleeping forms of Emilia and Alexis, deciding against waking them up now and letting them sleep in for a while longer. She exited the room as quietly as she could, shutting the door ever so softly behind her, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

When she reached the bottom, the guild hall was all but empty, save for a few workers and a cloaked man in the corner consuming some breakfast soup. Henrietta ordered a breakfast platter of bacon, scrambled chicken eggs, and a glass of cow milk. Collecting her food after paying, she looked around, seeing no one else in the guild hall besides the man. There were an almost limitless amount of vacant seats at any other table...

But she chose to sit down with the cloaked man in the corner.

She strolled over to him, without a care in the world, despite the sound of the kitchen suddenly halting. She sat down opposite him, enticing him to look up. A singular piercing purple eye made an appearance from under the hood of the cloak, eyeing the girl, as if trying to make sense of why she chose to sat there of all places.

"Hi, I'm Henrietta."
The man continued to stare at her, obvious that his mouth was full of soup. His eye wandered higher above her head, looking at her tag.
"You really shouldn't do that, you know."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"The moment you speak your name, your tag will appear above your head, and then your enemy knows your level, class, and full name. It's unsafe to give out your name so carelessly. I'd at least be in a party with someone before I tell them my name."
"But the guild staff can see our tags."
"All non-adventurer classes have that skill, called 'Sight of Identity'. They can see anyone's tag, much like we can see a tag on a monster. Some adventurers with the skill 'Keen Eye' can see the levels and classes of people significantly lower than them. The skill needs to be at least level 8 before it works, however. But as a Warrior, you don't have that ability."
"Maybe not, but my party member does. She's an archer and has that skill."

"Mistake number two, never give out information on your party. That can prove fatal if the wrong person found out. But you have a point. Archers usually have that skill to help with their accuracy and sniping abilities. The added bonus of finding out an enemy's strengths and weaknesses is quite the add on."

"Well, since you know my name, it's only fair that I know yours."
"Mistake number three. Never assume someone is as trusting or as good hearted as you. That's a fatal flaw, trust me."
"Well aren't you just a pile of sunshine and rainbows?"
"I'm just a realist. Nothing more, nothing less. I've seen the horrors of the world and learned to live with them as if they never existed. I suggest you do the same before you get yourself or your team killed."

Henrietta looked down, obviously upset about how she was being scorned. The man gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You're only a rookie, you don't know any better. I'd tell your team however, keep them safe. Just don't make the same mistake again. It may not be to someone as kind or benevolent as me."
"Blow your own trumpet much?"
"I'd like to think of it as teaching from perspective." The two continued to eat in silence, before Henrietta asked questions.

"You're an adventurer, right?"
"Correct."
"What class are you?"
"Not telling."
"Level?"
"No."
"Name?"
"Definitely not."
"Stories?"
"Maybe another time." he said before standing up. "I'm afraid I must be off. Be sure to remember my advice, and relay it to your friends." He simply stood up and left the table, returning up the stair and into his room. Henrietta just sat there, contemplating what the man had said to her.

"What's up Henrietta? You look upset." Henrietta looked up to see Emilia sitting down at the chair where the mysterious adventurer sat before. "Something's up. You can tell me."
"I had a talk with another adventurer. He sounded around our age, maybe younger, but he was so experienced. He kinda scorned me on making some mistakes like telling him my name, and one of your skills, 'Keen Eye'. He then told us not to trust people."
"Sounds like an asshole. Don't pay him any mind."
"He raised some good points though. If the enemy knew our weaknesses, then we'd be at a serious disadvantage."
"Don't worry about it. Like anyone would be interested in us. Let's get a little more popular first before we worry about things like that." She sounded so calm and relaxed, that Henrietta just gave in.
"Alright. You're right. Let's just try out that new skill today."
"There we go, that's my party leader."

"It appears that I missed something, would one of you care to fill me in?" The two turned to see Alexis, sliding down into the seat next to Henrietta.
"Nothing important. Just some advice an asshole gave Henrietta. Real downer."
"Oh, well let's pay him no mind. We have a date today, if I'm not mistaken. Those two boys were certainly kind enough to offer to help us, it seems only fair we bring our all to the table."
"I agree, let's show them what we got."
"Yeah!"

It was then that the man's words began to sink in.

'Never assume someone is as trusting or as good hearted as you.'

'Could it be? Should I trust my party around that pair of boys? That adventurer seemed to know what he was talking about. Should I trust his judgement, or the boys?' thought Henrietta, placing a hand under her chin.
"Henrietta?"
"Oh. Sorry Alexis, what's up?"
"You seem really out of it this morning. You okay?"
"Just something that guy said to me, about not assuming that people are as nice as me. It got me thinking about the two boys."
"He's an asshole. Don't give him the time of day. These boys are nice, so don't even worry about it." Emilia sounded convinced, but Henrietta wasn't.

'It's a fatal flaw.'

"I suppose you're right."
"Besides, we have two whole hours before we meet them. Let's enjoy ourselves before a load of work." suggested Alexis.
"Sounds great to me, how about you, Henrietta, you down?"
"Yeah, I am. Let's have fun."

———

Their idea of fun, was to eat a healthy breakfast, and play cards on one of the tables, waiting for the boys to show up. The hooded man didn't make another appearance, much to the unnerve of Henrietta. 'What did he mean by what he said, I'd die for the opportunity to ask him about it. What did he mean by trust me? Especially after he told me not to trust anyone, it seemed kinda weird. Why should I trust him anyway? For all I know, he's just as new as me, and trying to intimidate me into not being an adventurer anymore. But what could he possibly gain from that? Why do I have all these questions floating around in my head?'

"Henrietta, are you still thinking about that guy?"
"I'm sorry Emilia, it just hard to get what he said out of my head. He seems to have an effect on me."
"Look, I'll say this one last time, asshole, don't worry about him, focus on today."
"Yeah. You're right. Sorry."
"Don't sweat it. I do have to admit though, he gave you some useful advice. At least about the name thing. He seems to not be completely useless, so maybe we should thank him by killing it out there and beating his level."
"Yeah! Let's do it!"
"If you two are done talking, I'd like to collect." Both girls look at Alexis, holding a full house in her hand.
"Damn it!" screamed Emilia, who handed over a wad of bronze coins. "How?"
"Just luck." smirked Alexis as she took her bronze coins from Emilia and Henrietta.

"Damn, remind me to never play with her." The three girls turned to see Marcus and Elliot standing over them.
"You three ready to go?" asked Elliot.
"Yeah. Let's do this thing." said Emilia.
"I am excited to work with the two of you." said Alexis.
Henrietta looked down a moment longer before replying, "As am I. Let's do this."
"Awesome. Follow us." And with that, the group set out on their next adventure.

They never noticed a cloaked figure by the back wall, watching them. "You may have dyed your hair, and changed your tag, but you can't fool me." said Arno, holding the two pictures of the men he was hunting. He looked up, revealing a single, red eye, watching over them.

"Gotcha."

———

And that's it for the first official chapter of Adventurers Guild Hero. Be sure to tell me what you think of the new story and the world I have created. It's my first real world, so I hope I did well in creating it. I'll include the character stats down the bottom of these notes from now on, and I hope you guys enjoy. But for now, Striker777, over and out.

———

Name: Henrietta Earlsheid
Species: Human
Level: 19
Class: Warrior
Equipment:-
Basic leather chestplate (+5 defence)
Leather leg guards (+1 defence)
Leather arm guards (+1 defence)
Standard long sword (+8 attack)
Standard wooden shield (+6 defence)
Stats:- Natural
Strength: 14
Speed: 7
Agility: 6
Charisma: 10
Magic: 0
Intelligence: 8
Accuracy: 11
Luck: 8
Attack: 21
Defence: 24

Name: Emilia Greenwood
Species: High elf
Level: 20
Class: Archer
Equipment:-
Standard leather light chestplate (+3 defence)
Forest bow (+13 attack)
Stats:- Natural
Strength: 9
Speed: 14
Agility: 13
Charisma: 5
Magic: 0
Intelligence: 11
Accuracy: 18
Luck: 9
Attack: 32
Defence: 14

Name: Alexis Morganth
Species: Dark elf
Level: 21
Class: Mage
Equipment:-
Mages Robes (+3 magic)
Mage standard staff (+5 magic)
Stats:- Natural
Strength: 4
Speed: 7
Agility: 6
Charisma: 15
Magic: 27
Intelligence: 19
Accuracy: 14
Luck: 8
Attack: 8
Defence: 6

Name: Arno Holward
Species: Human
Level: 154
Class: Weaponsmaster / Archmage
Equipment:-
Reaper's cloak (+20% base stats)
Light elf metal armor (+45 defence)
Ancient rune sword (+64 attack)
High elven bow (+52 attack, +42 accuracy)
Dragon lance (+86 attack)
Demonic war axe (+92 attack, -12 speed)
Goblin King dagger (+43 attack, +35 speed)
Ancient Scepter (+139 magic)
Impregnable Shield (+105 defence)
Stats:- Natural
Strength: 165
Speed: 172
Agility: 169
Charisma: 93
Magic: 276
Intelligence: 173
Accuracy: 164
Luck: 4
Attack: 323
Defence: 289