Sarah's Story Chapter 017 - The Big Book

“Oh, yeah, the Big Book of Rare and Unusual Classes. We’re supposed to study it, but, uh… I don’t really like studying?” Tiffany poked her tongue out and smiled cutely, deflecting from her negligence. “But don’t worry, looking it up will just take a minute. Oh, and did you want to register with the Guild as an Adventurer, or just put in a request for training? You get a discount if you register…” Tiffany trailed off, hopefully.

“Well, I intended to…” Sarah said, slightly reluctant now that Tiffany was pushing it.

“Great!” Tiffany smiled brightly. A little too brightly. “Let me give you the quick rundown.

“Joining the Adventurer’s Guild is free, but you start at Rank F. Your overall Rank generally determines the jobs you can take and services you have access to. At Rank F, you qualify for training, but you have to pay for it, but there’s a discount of 50%!” Tiffany wiggled her eyebrows… enticingly? before continuing. “And you get access to the bar and lodging in the racks.”

“Racks?” Sarah asked.

“It’s supposed to be like barracks, but the City Guard asked us to stop calling them that since it was giving their barracks a bad name, I guess. They’re, uh…” Tiffany searched for the right words. “Well, let’s just say you get what you pay for, and they’re free. Rank F Adventurers also get free bread three times a day, so basically signing up gets you free food and lodging, but the bread is the reject bread from Bakers’ apprentices at their guild, so it’s not very, uh, good.”

“Maybe I should just put in a request for training…” Sarah started, and Tiffany blanched.

“No, wait, let me finish! I’m just not saying it right. Uh…” Tiffany looked up at the ceiling, as though trying to remember her lines. “Yeah, so everyone starts at Rank F, but you can qualify for different ranks for different kinds of jobs. There’s city jobs–which are mainly manual labor, body guard type jobs, monster slaying type jobs, and dungeon exploration type jobs. Although the rank for dungeon exploration depends on your party, and there’s a formula for that, but, uh, you don’t need to worry about that.

“Then as you do more jobs and prove your capabilities, either by completing hard jobs or taking exams, you move up the ranks: there’s E, D, C, B, and A ranks, and A Rank is the highest. But you’d need, like, two combat classes with levels in the twenties to reach A Rank.

“At E rank, you can get the Guild to recommend you lodging and use your Rank to get a discount at inns. At D rank, you can get recommendations to shops and get some discounts on gear.” Tiffany looked Sarah up and down again, taking in her loose linen pants and blouse and braided hair. “Do Brawlers use weapons or armor?”

Sarah tilted her head in thought. “Uhm, kinda? Sometimes?”

“Are you sure that’s a real Class?”

“Yes!” Sarah responded forcefully.

“Okay, okay, where was I?”

Tiffany continued. “Right, C Rank. Before this rank you can join parties, but at this rank you can form a party as the party leader, and start taking on the better paying jobs. You’ll get a better discount pretty much anywhere around town, and you don’t have to pay the toll to enter and leave the city, just this city though, not other cities. That’s at B rank, where you don’t pay any city tolls, anywhere in Asufal. And finally, at A rank…”

Tiffany leaned in.

“You don’t even have to pay taxes.”

Sarah gulped. That was really tempting.

But Tiffany wasn’t done. “And, on top of that, you can go to any country you want and use your Guild license as a passport. No taxes, no tolls, nothing. But, from C Rank onward, you may be called up on mandatory jobs in case of Dungeon Breaks, monster swarms, invasions, etc. Not wars between other countries, Adventurers have diplomatic immunity from conscription, but–”

Sarah interrupted. “Wait, immunity from conscription? So a Baron couldn’t force me into his reserves?”

Tiffany nodded. “That’s right. But the Guild doesn’t pay a salary either. You get paid by the job, after the Guild takes their cut depending on your Rank. The higher the Rank of the job, the less the Guild takes a cut, and the bigger the reward is, so it’s worth advancing in Rank. Advancement up to D is based on job performance or entry exam, and then there’s an exam to pass for Rank C, then rank B is based on job performance, and then advancement to Rank A…” Tiffany’s eyes glittered, “is a secret! The Guild informs Rank B Adventurers when they’re eligible for advancement to Rank A, and then there’s some secret stuff they have to do, and then they may or may not advance.

“Now also keep in mind that failing jobs or committing crimes can get you demoted to lower Ranks, and the Guild won’t keep you out of jail or reduce your fines or anything, nor will the Guild hide you from justice.

“So, do you think you want to register?” Tiffany looked at Sarah hopefully.

“Well, first, tell me about the training.” Sarah said. “What kind of training do you have for finding people?”

“Hmm… finding people… you don’t want training for your, what was it, Brawler class?” Tiffany tapped a finger on her chin as she thought.

“No thanks, I already know the best Brawler there is.”

“Oh, you already have a mentor? That’s great– wait, are you like an apprentice or something?”

“Uh, no? She’s my mom.”

Tiffany paused a beat. “You… your mom… okay, hang on, I gotta look this up.”

Tiffany twirled around, causing her long skirt to flutter, and skipped back into a work area filled with desks covered in paperwork. Occupying a bookstand, tilted for easy reading, was the largest book Sarah had ever seen in her life. It was easily five feet across when spread open…

Yeah, Sarah could see why Tiffany wouldn’t be enthusiastic about studying that kind of book.

Sarah watched as Tiffany flipped towards the front of the book and quickly flipped through the pages before stopping, trailing her finger down the page, and stopping somewhere near the middle. She read… and read… and continued reading for several minutes.

Was Tiffany… a slow reader? But then Tiffany slowly turned around and looked back at Sarah with an indescribable expression of horror before quickly putting on a tight, fake smile, and quickly walked over to a door and knocked on it.

Persistently. Without stopping.

Sarah furrowed her brow, and watched as Tiffany barged right into the room as soon as the door opened, closing it behind her.

What the heck was in that big book?