After a couple of days following Master Kaius's departure, we set out early for Klearon. It still took half a day on the horse carriage to make it into the city. That could have been shortened if we had flown the entire way, but we had Diana and her mother joining us on Mum's insistence.
Waygates had made travel around the world effortless; unfortunately, they also prevented any proper transport system from growing beyond horse carriages. For most of the journey, I kept myself amused with a book or by writing down important things—like making a list of potential nas for my sibling. Most of them were girls' nas, and only a agre few sounded good on the lips.
The first thing we did upon reaching the city was look for a house. We were going to stay for as long as a whole month, and even the grandest of inns did not make the cut for Mum when it ca to longer stays. So we went looking—one house after another—until settling on one at the periphery of the inner city. It was a two-storeyed building with an empty basent that could be repurposed for so artificing work.
There were a few things I needed to get done in Klearon. By order of magnitude, the tournant ca first. I planned to earn as many honours there as I could, though I believed we were restricted to joining no more than two contests. Then ca the apprenticeship under Master Kaius. Neither of the two was getting done any ti soon. At least a date had been announced for the forr, while the elder man might just wind up on our doorstep soday without notice.
The only thing I could get done early was make a trip to the Artisan Guild and grab my Journeyman artisan badge. So while my parents went to shop for so essentials, I made my way to the guildhouse. Diana decided to tag along, if only to slow down.
The inner city housed the wealthiest and most noble families. The architecture did not differ greatly from the outer ring, however, it was a great deal cleaner while still being just as crowded. People ca and went all the ti, especially since the waygate picked and vomited out a number of people at short intervals of only a few minutes.
Diana walked beside , barely keeping pace with my strides, her eyes wandering everywhere.
"There are so many people here. Look!" She pointed at a group of people in heavy armour and weapons, strolling along as if their family owned the road. All the people on the street gave them a wide berth. "Are they from the adventurer guild?"
I pulled her away before they noticed, because that lot felt like the type to take offence at the littlest of things.
"Don't point fingers at strangers," I advised.
We had not even quite made it to the guild when a wave of Influence flooded my surroundings.
"Mum, I'll be fine," I said. "I'm not a child anymore."
The domain of Influence brushed against my skin as though it very much doubted what I'd just said, but she withdrew it nonetheless. I exhaled.
Can't catch a break from her, can I? It was a city brimming with people. What was she even worried about?
"Was that Auntie?" Diana looked around, as though she couldn't quite figure out what had just happened.
I nodded. "Let's go. I figure it's going to take a while at the guild."
Many of the guilds and pavilions were located in the sa region, divided either by a wide street or a block or two. Even among them, the Artisan Guildhouse stood out—a lavish four-storey building with plastered white walls and neat runic decoration, as befitted the artisans' guild. The interior, however, lacked compared to other opulent establishnts I had been to. Well, it was a public guild, not a private business venture like Dragonforge.
A couple of dozen folks milled about the guild hall, keeping all four receptionists busy at all tis, though the hall was wide enough to accommodate a hundred. After a thorough inspection, I deduced that most people here were only patrons, while only a handful were artisans themselves or employees. Before lining up in the queue, I led Diana to the large commission board that covered almost half a wall. Dozens of leaflets were pinned there, containing information pertaining to commissions as well as an approximation of the pay.
There were only three classes of commissions, each divided further into three stars, though there were more of the Noble Class than there were of the Common and Prestigious classes put together. For anything above, I presud nobody was obtuse enough to post them out here.
"NO!" A loud, crashing voice pulled my attention to it. "I'm not paying you for this stupid shaft!"
It was a boy, only a little older than I, with curly brown hair and slight facial hair growing on his chin and both sides. He wasn't particularly tall but held a rather impressive-looking spear.
"I'm not sure where your complaining's coming from," said a bored voice. It was a bland-looking young woman with hair even shorter than mine. The most impressive thing about her was likely the black robe she wore and the silver token latched onto her waist, signifying her role as a Journeyman artisan. "The spear is Prestigious grade, and it has all the features you specified."
"I didn't ask you to make it uneven," the boy growled.
The woman snorted derisively. "You get what you pay for, kid. Now stop wasting my damn ti and pay up."
"Oh no, I'm not paying for this."
Their conversation was already drawing more eyes than the woman liked, but she did not seem the kind to fold. "Either way, you aren't walking away with the spear." She gestured towards the guards, who stood straighter, waiting for their presence to be required. "Either pay up the rest of the Leafs or have your spear confiscated. It's your choice."
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The two guards edged a couple of steps forward. The boy was not impressed. He was Noble Class, as the guards were. With a firm hand on the spear, he glared at them before cutting the queue to make his way to a receptionist. So people complained, but a single fuming glare from him convinced them to give him a wide berth.
"I want to file a complaint against one of your artisans," he said, dropping the heavy spear over the table.
"Seriously?" The artisan's expression twitched. Her gaze darted to the receptionist. "Ana, don't give the kid any clout. I've already fulfilled the commission. You can check it in the appraiser's note."
The receptionist looked between the boy and the woman, unsure what to do.
"I want to file a complaint against one of your appraisers," the boy said.
Ana shook her head. "Listen, kid, you won't get anywhere with this. How about you—"
"I want to file a complaint against an artisan and an appraiser." His tone was as even as it could be, though he looked like he might lose his composure any minute and break into a fight.
The receptionist narrowed her eyes, and when she opened her mouth again, the tone had beco utterly businesslike. "Sir, you may lodge a complaint, but if we co to see that you fabricated it all to put bla on our mbers, you may be banned not only from this compoundnt but from all the other branches as well."
That stopped the youth for a mont. But soon he shook his head. "Doesn't matter if I get banned," he said. "It'll be a couple of years before I have enough coins to commission anything new either way."
"You can be banned for life."
An irritated look surfaced on his face. "Why do you think the bla lies on ?"
For a mont, I really wanted to see how this would play out—or even pick up the spear to see on whose shoulders the bla lay—but it wasn't a situation for to stick my nose in. Besides, the receptionist confiscated the article and gave the youth a form to fill.
I waited no longer. Taking Diana, I pushed my way to a desk.
"Good evening," the receptionist's voice was lodic as she smiled. "How may I help you?"
"I'd like to go through the Journeyman assessnt."
The receptionist looked at closely, as though checking she'd heard correctly. "You're an artisan?" she asked. "Of the Journeyman rank, no less?"
"Is it that hard to believe?"
Her expression alone indicated so, but she slipped into a businesslike deanour. "The Journeyman assessnt will require a deposit of sixteen silver Leafs, and you'll need to fill in this form."
I blinked as she handed a paper and a pen. There wasn't much to fill in, though the fee surprised . I paid up without a fuss and filled in the form, having wasted enough ti already. Using the blessed stone to fish out the coins out of thin air would have helped convince her, but she was not my test proctor, and I was to keep the relic a secret.
"Thank you," the woman said, counting the coins. "Your assessnt will be…" She checked a few papers. "The day after tomorrow, at two o'clock."
That disappointed . I'd hoped to grab the badge today, but it couldn't be done. This is what bureaucracy gets you, I guessed.
"Can I take any commissions in the anti?" I asked.
"Of the Journeyman rank?" the woman said with a polite smile. "No. Not before you get your badge."
Which ant I would have to restrict myself to Noble Class commissions. Fine by . It wasn't like I had too much free ti to work on Prestigious projects—not after I'd decided to turn Eran's set of armour into sothing a little more ambitious. I wished he had co along to Klearon. Thankfully, he would not lack any training under his father before the tournant.
There were a few on the commission board that caught my fancy; even so, I chose the ones that would take the least ti to complete while earning the highest number of coins. I had recovered all the gold Leafs I'd spent for the levitation boots with the first issue of pay for the Stormguard, but my pockets were still far from warm, not when I was still short on a few projects I wanted to craft.
Most of the commissions on the wall paid decently—better than what I could get in Karl—despite all the guild fees and taxation, which shaved off as much as a third of the pay. So of them varied depending on what the patron asked and how early. There were also guild contribution points to note, which could be expended to receive various benefits from the guild.
I picked a few well-paid ones I believed I could finish within a few hours. Surprisingly, there were so high-paying ones going as far as twenty gold Leafs, though those were mostly about refurbishing building formations and the like. Those would take a lot of ti, and I'd have to go on-site to fix them. It could have been a teaching mont, but I wasn't looking for that right now.
With half a dozen Noble Class commissions—which would put my profit at almost fifty gold Leafs and fifteen contribution points—I returned to the receptionist and handed them over. She gave back more paperwork.
Each of the commissions required to fill out one form with my na, current location, and approximate ti fra of delivery. I handed half of them to Diana, asking her to copy .
"Please give your Novice badge," the receptionist asked once we returned the filled forms.
Now I did need to access my relic to get it out of the blessed stone, since I had never got to flaunt the Novice Artisan badge since I'd received it. Thankfully, I still had a way to hide it.
I tucked my coat aside, pushed my palm towards its inner pocket, and accessed the blessed stone. The badge was not important enough for to keep it at speed-recall, so it took a bit of ti for to find it and pull it out.
"Is there sothing wrong?" The woman cocked her head in my direction.
Even Diana looked at , wondering what it was about.
"Here you go." I handed over the bronze token Mum had gifted once I made it into Novice Artisan. It had my na carved in runic letters, along with a signature from Mum.
"This does not seem like it's issued by our guild," the receptionist said, looking over the badge. "You got it from so other branch?"
"No. My mum made it for ."
As soon as I said that, her expression darkened.
"Well, she's kind of like a ntor to ," I added quickly.
"Sir," she said with a level of condescending politeness I'd only seen in so nobles or patricians, "only Master Artisans and above can issue a Novice-rank badge without notifying the guild."
Perhaps it really was a bad idea to co here on my own, I sighed.
"She's a Master Artisan. The badge should have an enchantnt in it to prove it," I said, keeping my tone level.
The woman still looked as though she didn't believe . Perhaps she knew all the local Master Artisans by repute, and my mum was not exactly local.
"Please run it by soone of higher rank," I said. "I believe it will all co to light once they check it."
She looked over from head to toe, her gaze lingering on my levitation boots. "Fine. I might get yelled at for this, but I'm only doing it because you look like you're from a well-reputed house. Wait here a mont."
With that, she strode away with my badge in hand.
"Cities are complicated, I guess," I said, turning to Diana.
In Karl, we didn't even have to worry about paperwork, haggling, or commission fees and taxes—at least not if we didn't want to. I supposed it could be done here as well, but I was led to believe that being a mber of the guild ca with certain benefits.
But after minutes passed and there was no sign of the woman, I began to wonder if the benefits outweighed the boredom of standing there like a fool.
Another receptionist ca to take her place so ti after. I asked if she knew about my situation, to which she pointed towards a bench and asked to sit politely.
Mum's domain of Influence prodded once more as we waited. Then, almost half an hour later, the receptionist returned. Thankfully, her face was graced with a smile as she made her way towards us. It seed all had gone well.
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