Nephus

Chapter 1: Katsu Nephus

Year 1635, Kyoka, Central Continent, 700 miles south of Ardhi

Katsu sprints through the town, the dust of the dirt road shooting up into the air with each stride. Katsu turns a corner, the light of the morning sun just barely above the horizon, a smile growing across his face as he embraces the morning warmth.

Katsu cuts through a market, the smell of various foods and spices filling his nose, stopping in front of one of the market stands, a certain food catching his eye. Katsu looks up at the sign above the market stand, 'Bulgogi'. Katsu looks back towards the counter,

"Could I get 2 orders of Bulgogi please?" says Katsu.

The middle aged lady at the stand looks up, smiling, "coming right up!" she says.

Katsu takes his bag off his back, reaching inside to grab his money. Katsu pulls out a small leather pouch, coins clinking inside of it. Katsu looks back towards the stand, seeing the lady sliding a large paper plate filled with Bulgogi across towards Katsu.

"That'll be 4 silver," says the lady.

Katsu opens the pouch, taking out 5 silver coins and placing them on the market stand table.

"Here you go, and a little extra," says Katsu, smiling.

The lady smiles back, "thank you, come again soon!" she says.

Katsu takes the plate of Bulgogi, the steaming beef slowly rising above the plate, rice, sliced onion, and mushrooms scattered throughout the beef. Katsu begins walking away, towards the Guild Hall where he is to meet with his friends. As he walks, Katsu pulls out a fork and begins to eat his food.

"So good!" says Katsu, a smile on his face as he chews his food. Katsu turns the final corner on his route to the Guild Hall.

The guild hall itself is very large, two towers of a gray stone on either corner of the building. The entrance is a large oak double door, the wood long past its prime as the golden color of the oak now a dark dirty brown. The walls are made of stone with stone brick pillars separating each segment of the walls.

Katsu walks up to the door, pushing it open, the hinges squeaking as it slowly widens. The noises of the guild greeting Katsu, the loud shouts and chatter filling the large room. The main room of the guild hall, the room that the entrance opens up into, is broken up into two parts. On the left side is a tavern, tables lining its respective side. Many people are sitting at the tables, already drinking in the early hours of the morning.

On the other side of the guild hall sits a large reception desk, three receptionists working it as they talk to a line of adventurers. To the left of the reception desk is a large board, many papers pinned to the board, a variety of quests written on each paper. Then finally on the right side of the reception desk are a few tables and chairs, a few adventurers sat and discussing their events for the day.

Sitting at one of the tables sits three individuals, one with short and bright red hair falling halfway down her neck, her eyes turquoise, her skin a pale ivory. She wears a long sleeved white button up collared shirt, brown leather straps connecting with her pants and stretching up and over her back like suspenders with two separate straps going over and under her chest, each and every strap connected to each other, wrapping around her body. She has brown cargo pants on with a black belt, along with tall black boots, the baggy cargo pants tucked up inside the top of her boots, making the pants puff out slightly. On her back, connected to the straps is a large leather sheath, holding her sword.

Next to her sits a girl with long blonde hair flowing down her back with bright blue eyes, her skin a powder white. She is wearing a brown cloak with her hood down, sitting idle on her back. She has on a short white dress with a brown leather buckle around her waist, finishing the outfit with tall brown boots that go halfway up her calves.

The last person sitting at the table is a rather muscular man. He has short, spiky brown hair and dark brown eyes, his skin a nice clean beige. He wears a large cloak made of light brown fur, wearing a tight, long sleeved black shirt under. Along with this he wears dark brown pants and tall black boots. On the table in front of him sit two large gauntlets made of some light gray metal with the fingers of the gauntlets resembling claws, a purple aura radiating off of the gauntlets.

The man looks up at the door as it opens, seeing Katsu and grinning, "Hey!" calls the man, "Over here Katsu!" he yells. Katsu looks over, "morning Griffin," Katsu calls back as he walks over. The two girls stop chatting and look at Katsu.

"Morning Katsu," says the red haired one, her name Erin.

"Morning Katsu," calls the blonde haired one, yawning as she speaks, her name Myra.

Katsu takes his seat between Griffin and Erin, "So what are we doing today?" asks Katsu, placing his half finished food on the table as he continues to eat.

"We will be heading down to Layfod Dungeon for a quest," says Griffin, eyeing Katsu's food.

"Forb whad," says Katsu, his mouth filled with food.

"...just uh, exploring it," says Griffin, a resigned expression on his face.

Erin swiftly reaches onto Katsu's plate, grabbing a couple pieces of Bulgogi and shoving them inside her mouth. "Hey!" says Katsu, "that's mine!" says Katsu, reaching over the table, swiping at Erin.

Erin grins, bits of beef in between her teeth, "seems that is... untrue," she says as Myra lets out a small giggle.

Katsu glares at Erin, stabbing his fork into a couple pieces of Bulgogi and shoving them into his mouth, pouting as he chews.

"Back to what we were talking about," says Griffin grinning, "we will be exploring Layfod Dungeon so we should probably leave soon as it is a day's journey there," says Griffin.

"Roger that captain," says Katsu, standing up straight and saluting, a piece of bulgogi poking out of the corner of his mouth. Myra and Erin both start laughing, Griffin looking up at Katsu with an exasperated expression.

"Well if you are going to joke around, I nominate you to carry our bags!" says Griffin, smiling.

Katsu looks at Griffin, then to Erin and Myra, grins spreading across their faces, "you better not," says Katsu.

"I nominate Katsu to carry our bags as well!" says Erin and Myra at the same time.

Katsu turns to Griffin with a defeated look, "hey man... I think we should rethink this..." says Katsu.

A wide grin spreads across Griffin's face.