Shapeless Hero

24 - Surprises

Thank the gods. Barely anyone pays attention to me.

But "barely" doesn't mean "no one". Gazes still linger on me from the darker corners of the guild hall. Despite the enormous chandeliers hanging here, enough shady spots remain for stereotypical rogues to brood in. There's nothing wrong with their secret surveillance, just to be clear. If anything, keeping an eye on potentially armed strangers is pretty reasonable. 

I hear more chatter, while I make my way towards the counter, still keeping an eye on the dark corners with my inhuman perception. Unperturbed by my presence, mages and warriors alike gush over their spoils of exploration or tell others about their close calls with dangerous creatures. Here and there, a bunch of questers strategize or debrief. Some parties skipped directly to drinking themselves under the table. In short, the guild hall is like my old school's cafeteria. Minus the weapons. And armor. And magic.

Rev and Kella, the elf and lizard-kin respectively, are still working their butts off, either holding the position at the counter, taking care of paperwork or serving beverages. They really seem to be understaffed, seeing how they have to switch between tasks all the time. I apologize to them in my head, as I get to the end of the queue, becoming another workload of a customer.

Somebody is trying to take advantage of the distracted duo, it seems. While the staff has all hands full, I sense someone loading their sling in the shadows. The projectile looks like an ordinary pebble. Here's to hope it's just a prank worthy of a classroom... on a second glance though, I notice a significant amount of mana within said pebble. And the sling is aimed at me, ready to shoot any moment.

I check my surroundings. I should be in the clear in terms of movement and dodging. If I were to look directly at the shooter now, would they stop? Could I startle them? In the time, that thought runs through my mind, the would-be assassin gets their sling ready for the shot. I decide to try the movie trope and turn my head abruptly towards them.

Good news: It worked! Their shoulders shoot up from the sudden attention. I can almost see the shiver.

Bad news: It worked a bit too well. I should've seen it coming, really. Getting startled, they let go of the sling and the pebble soars with a faint whistle at me.

As much as I might hold a grudge against Karl for secretly increasing the speed of the training golem back at the beach, I now get to reap the benefits of that extended sparring session. The pebble is fast. I can see the air around it distort, but it's not faster than the sand golem towards the end of the fight earlier. 

I can still see a lot of mana in the pebble. It wasn't spend on its unnatural acceleration. If there's an effect that will activate on hit using the remaining mana, I probably should refrain from catching it. I can't dodge either, though. The people in the queue in front of me don't deserve to get hit with some unknown magic.

Within a quarter of the second, the pebble travels from a far corner of the hall to merely a meter away from my head. I use the only option remaining: My hair. I execute the movement of the familiar block animation. With a ping, as if the pebble just hit a frying pan, it deflects.

And that's all that I planned for. But it didn't end there. The pebble pretty much reflects back, returning to its sender. Before they could even utter a single curse, their own projectile reaches them. And explodes.

A pain-filled scream from the shady corner accompanies the flying remains of barrels and crates that got caught in the explosion. If it wasn't loud enough already, certainly the adventurers, who have wood particles in their hair now, should notice the chaos.

The attention was quickly on the unlucky rogue. Despite the lethal dose of magic, the adventurers stay rather relaxed, as their commentary continues. "Ooh, somebody will get banned from the guild hall! Hahaha!" - "How many weeks, you reckon?" - "Whatever they tried, it was magical in nature. Two months is my estimate." - "You ruined my soup with wood chips, you fucker!" All the while, one or two mages stand up and take care of the culprit. Healers, as it turns out.

I check for any other suspicious pranksters. No one. Only now do I notice, that the remaining tricksters in the shady corners quickly avoid my gaze, when I look roughly in their direction. Despite having injured a person, I consider this a success, so I try to blend in with the queue and let the people clean up the mess.

Eventually, I am first in line. Kella greets me with a professional smile. "Welcome to the Ryelope branch of the Adventurers guild! My name's Kella and you're definitely a new face."

I bow slightly. "Hello, I'm Fylka. I'm with the commander here, for the lodgings."

"Woah there, not so formal! That just feels wrong comin' from a noble. I got you, though. You just need to fill out a form for me and we're done." Kella swiftly produces about 5 pieces of densely written parchment and a fountain pen from behind the counter. "There ya go."

As asked, I tackle the paperwork. Line by line, I go through the text and make sure, that nothing asks me to, let's say, sell my soul or something similar for a night of sleep. Thankfully, the agreement stays ordinary. House rules and punishments are covered, plus any refund policies. The only thing that stands out, are the fighting regulations. I didn't know, this building was connected to a giant cave within the cliffs, which is apparently used as a battle arena for training and disputes.

"Alright, that's signed, that's signed and... that's also signed. I think, I'm done." I raise my head, only to meet Kella's stare. "Sorry, did I do something wrong?"

Her gaze stays on me. "That... was fast." Kella finally responds.

"Was it? I thought, I was taking my time with this..." Only now, after I muttered that sentence, do I remember, that I had done quite a bit of paperwork in my old life. Due to my bad condition back then, that's all I could really help with in most projects, after all. And if you do something long enough...

I am still leaning against the counter, as I realize my oversight. Kella with her massive hand, gently grabs my forearm, before I could correct anything I said. 

"Lass, I think I have an offer for you.", she starts. Her look turns intense. "We've got a shitload of paper to process. If you lend me your full skill in bureaucracy, I'll let you and your companions stay here for free. As the local guild-master, I'll give you my word!"

"I... uh..."

Rev looks up at me from his desk. Surrounded by towers of parchment, his hands stained with ink and tears rolling down his cheeks, he merely mouths the word "please" to me. 

Did the two plan this or something?