Horizon Odyssey, Chapter 1, A hopeful fresh start

[Rothene]

With the pot of water on top of a stove, Robin answered, "Yes, I do cook. I can make some really fine moa steak as well as make sandwiches. Cooking is going to be a very handy skill at the labyrinth, hard to fight on an empty stomach and all."

Drawing a stool from the table, Robin sat down just as the rest of the missing group returned, "I see the rest of you are back. Feel free to help Reo, the boss of the kitchen of the day. Or you can sit down and wait for the meal while swapping recipes."

The guild master decided to leave informing the rest of the guild about tomorrow being the day they can enter the labyrinth till during the meal.

[Straybow]

"Ah here at last," one of the two men in the carriage with Ezekiel said excitedly. Currently the three of them were in a carriage heading towards Horizon and, despite what the excitable man had just said, they weren't quite there yet. This particular carriage had been rather difficult to find due to the fact that it was one of the few that stopped at Horizon along it's way from the port town to wherever it was going. As such, it was a long trip, about two and a half months, and very expensive. Ezekiel was glad that he'd had the foresight to bring along his old mapping supplies and a few medicas he'd bought at the port town. He hoped that they hadn't spoiled because if they had then he'd been duped with his first purchase and would have to reevaluate how he differentiated between genuine and fake products in this foreign land.

"We're not there yet," the other man said harshly. "you should've learned by now not to over-exaggerate things; especially if you're going into the Labyrinth. Look at him for example," the man said suddenly pointing at Ezekiel. "He's calm and relaxed, probably deciding on what he should do to prepare himself once he gets to the city."

Ezekiel would've been surprised by suddenly being dragged into the conversation if it didn't happen just about everyday. To be honest, he was glad that he didn't have to forcefully include himself in their conversations and gladder still at the fact that so far the people he'd met were like the people in Etria. "Yeah, you should head to the clinic and armoury as soon as you can. It would suck if you went in without any way to heal yourself or if your weapon was but a mere dagger," Ezekiel said without missing a beat.

"Say, I've been meaning to ask but where're you from?" the excitable man asked. "I mean you sound as if you've already been to the Labyrinth. You sure you're a foreigner?"

"Have you ever heard of a town called Etria?" Ezekiel asked with a smile. For the rest of the carriage ride he told the two about his experience in Etria but left out the more grim things like occasionally going without food when he was young or that Etria would soon return to that state if it already hadn't. When it was time to see eachother of the excitable man gave the two a quick goodbye before rushing inside; presumably to do what Ezekiel had recommended.

As Ezekiel was about to head inside as well the harsh man stopped him. "Here," Ezekiel turned around to find the man holding out a spear, "take it. It was supposed to be for my son but it turns out he decided that he'd rather be a merchant and forgot to tell me until he saw me at one of the stops. Think of it as payment for all the information you shared with me." With that the man walked inside the gates; Ezekiel following after a minute of stunned silence at the man's generosity.

*~*

"I'm telling you sir, you can't get into the labyrinth unless you belong to a guild," one of the many guards near the Labyrinth's entrance repeated. "Either show me proof that you do indeed belong to a guild or kindly move along. You'll be more than welcome back here once you have that proof."

'Well so much for that,' Ezekiel thought to himself as he backtracked into the west wing of Horizon. He'd thought that flashing his former guard badge would've worked but it seemed that these guards were a bit sharper than Etria's. Then again this was a bigger city on a bigger landmass so of course they'd be better trained than a bunch of desperate for money men and teens.

The worst part of all this was that because he'd tried to enter the Labyrinth before registering for a guild it had gotten somewhat late and by now most of the guild halls were starting to limit and be pickier with their applicants. Of the few guild halls that hadn't said "we don't need another one like you" the guild hall with banner that read "Guild ITL Now Recruiting!" hanging above the door caught his attention the most; mainly because even when he'd served as a guard he'd yet to encounter such a strange guild name.

"Uh, excuse me?" he asked from the doorway. "Are you still accepting applications this late?"

[Rothene]

With hearing that was honed through years of training, Robin picked out the distinct call for a new sign up. Making his way out of the kitchen, the guild master brought fort the application forms and handed it to Ezekiel, "Yes, we are still recruiting. And, you've come just at the right time for lunch I'd say. Well, late lunch. Fill in the form and join us in the kitchen."

Robin stood nearby as he let the newcomer fill in the application. Those armour, probably a protector of sorts.

[Straybow]

"Ah, good thing that, I'm rather hungry actually," Ezekiel laughed before taking the application and sitting down at one of the nearby tables. Once he was seated he began looking over the form, ensuring that there wasn't anything too sneaky in the fine print before beginning to fill it out. He'd done the same before in Etria except it wasn't "profession" but rather "desired training". Nonetheless the answer was the same along with the majority of the form. Once he'd finished he stood up and handed the form back to the guildmaster. "Oh, my name's Ezekiel. It's nice to meet you..." he trailed off as he extended his hand.

[Rothene]

It did not take long for the food to be cooked and ready for consumption by the time Robin finished adding Ezekiel's application to his report.

Once the guild finished the oriental lunch, the guild master spared no time getting their attention and saying, "Alright everyone, listen well. Tomorrow morning, be here by seven o'clock. I believe all the inns catering mainly to explorers have a procedure of waking up explorers by six with bells. So I don't expect anyone to be late for their first prep time for the labyrinth."

"I know that we haven gotten quite large in a single day, and some of you are aware of the dangers of venturing down the labyrinth in groups larger than five. Do not fret too much about this. Some guilds have ventured in larger numbers before, although none exceeding ten so far. It actually happens a lot when rescue missions are done. Just keep in mind that be on guard as docile F.O.Es will become aggressive and chase on sight, and monsters might attack more frequently. But you will have the numbers to deal with them." Granted there is a limitation to the effectiveness of numbers, "And so, I bid you all good evening, make use of the rest of the day as you see fit, get enough rest for the big day tomorrow."

With that, the guild master sent for a messenger to deliver the report to the councilman in charge of the guilds to activate his guild's rights to explore.

***

Throughout the night, there were minor quakes, something the people of Horizon had gotten used to and largely ignore. A pack of treerats was discovered around the East Wing, burrowing out of the ground. A quick response team of soldiers and some nearby explorers put down the threat immediately.

When dawn arrived and Yggdrasil's leaves suddenly shimmered in a tint of yellow as a small quake reverberated throughout the city, causing various objects to fall and shatter. But thankfully no structures were sent crashing. With such a rude awakening, most inn keepers began work earlier than usual, unable to go back to sleep.

Robin's response was largely the same, and he made himself some breakfast and did the grocery before making it back to the guild headquarters half an hour to seven in the morning, fully prepared to see the punctuality of his guild.

[FrankerZ]

The quakes didn't phase Victor much. Victor woke up early. It couldn't have been past 5:00 AM and it wasn't the greatest night of sleep in his life, but a bed was a welcome change after a few weeks on the road. He was a morning person, he was up and raring to go. He was eager to see what his guild was capable of in combat and in other survival situations.

Victor had packed everything he thought he needed the night before. He had the medicine, the warpstone tucked away in his bag along with other basic equipment such as a blanket or things to make a fire. He had two canteens of water, hopefully it would be enough to last the day.

Were the others prepared? Hopefully Aaron was at least... Victor certainly wished he had more of a chance to meet the two most recent members, but he knew he'd have his chance in the labyrinth. With high expectations of what they were to accomplish today, Victor left his room and made his way out of the Swanback inn.

Victor walked around town a bit. It was still very early so most everything was closed, only a few people quietly walked through the streets. Fortunately enough, Victor was able to find a bakery that opened early. He was able to purchase a small breakfast that he ate as he walked. It was rather quiet in this part of Horizon, even after the tremors. People here didn't seem too bothered by them. The stillness and the dawn's light on Yggdrasil; it almost made him forget what he was here for, what he had to do. After wandering about for forty minutes, Victor began making his way back to the guildhall.

He arrived at a little after six. He didn't see anybody inside or standing around. Victor presumed he was the first to arrive as he took a seat on the ground outside the door. 'now would be a good of a time as any to look at this map I suppose.' he thought to himself.

Tobias said he got the map from a researcher or something. Retrieving the map from his coat pocket, Victor doubled over in disbelief. The entire map was written in code, and it was missing vital parts such as a scale or compass rose. The icons on the map were unreadable, he couldn't tell if something was a relic or a clover. The fact that it wasn't even finished certainly didn't help much either. Scribbled all over the map was Tobias's attempts to decode the script, and none of it seemed conclusive. The only useful portion of the map were where shortcuts and safe places to rest were, and even those would take some guess work to find due to the lack of direction or scale. He committed the shortcut that he thought would be the easiest to find to memory. He went over the map for some time more, trying to gleam any more useful information from the map to no avail.

He heard some footsteps approaching. Instinctively he shoved the map back into his pocket and quickly stood upright. It was Robin.

"Ah, good morning. I got here a bit early, I hope you don't mind." He said.

[Rothene]

Slightly surprised to see Victor waiting near the door, Robin shook his head and greeted his fellow guild member, "Good morning! I hope you haven't been waiting outside for too long. Come on in, come on in," picking up his pace, the guild master unlocked the door and entered. The map the gunner held did not even register in the guild master's mind as he had been preoccupied with his own thoughts on the way back.

Heading straight to the kitchen, Robin unloaded the grocery goods, this time with noodles, while yelling out to Victor, "I'll retrieve your guns in a minute, make yourself comfortable!"

[FrankerZ]

"nah, I've only just arrived." He nodded and entered the dining room. Victor dropped his bag off in the corner of the room. "Ha! You don't have to tell me twice!" he shouted back playfully at Robin. Victor dragged one of the chairs to the window looking out at Yggdrasil. For a moment, he almost forgot this wasn't the great tree of High Laagard.

Victor hoped that the others would arrive soon. He was quite eager to properly meet the protector and war-magus.

[CD-Man2021]

Ring of Fire. Ice Chamber. Volt Field. Simple but effective ways to use spells in order to keep an enemy isolated in an area. Lighting Surge. Freeze Blast. Fire Rush. More simple unorthodox ways to use alchemy for offensive purposes. Aaron reread key areas of the book again. Most of the spells could be used alone, but some of them needed an extra resource. The latter three could be used in conjunction with physical objects like stones to intensify their properties. Instead of a ball of fire losing its energy over distances, it would remain at the same strength until the stone itself burned or disintegrated. It was absolutely absorbing. To the point where night had already come and gone without his realization. He checked the nearby public clock. 5:30. The alchemist had decided to spend an hour reading while sitting on a bench under a light for an hour, but it seemed that time had slipped him by. The Earthquakes caught him off guard at first, since back home they were much less powerful. After the second one he got used to them. What surprised him even more was the sudden hustle of soldiers heading down the street. Following them, they were confronted with monsters. Aaron himself helped set up a wall of fire behind the treerats, stopping them from escaping. It wasn’t much, but it still helped. Not only the city, but himself as well. He was now confident that he would not freeze up in front of monsters in the labyrinth, thereby becoming deadweight. It was a good feeling.

He would need a pick me up. On his way to the guild hall, he made a quick stop to a shop and bought himself coffee a well as a loaf of bread and cheese. He saw himself briefly in a nearby mirror. He had bags under his eyes, and his eyes themselves were slightly red. He felt perfectly fine, however. Just a bit sluggish, but that was to be expected from sitting on a wooden bench all night. When he finally reached the guild hall after his quick breakfast, he found Victor already waiting.
“’Morning.” He said, giving a quick wave to Victor as Robin‘s voice rang out from the kitchen. “How are we feeling today?” Aaron asked, taking a seat on the much more comfortable chair.

[Rothene]

Getting out of the kitchen, Robin noticed Aaron had arrived and greeted, "Good morning to you Aaron, feel free to make use of the kitchen if you haven't eaten," and then continued up to the attic which he used as a storeroom.

Unlocking the door, the guild master retrieved the pair of guns he had left on a crate. After doing so, the man paused for a moment and opened the crate to gaze at its contents.

Feeling the cold solid edges of the large blade inside, the guild master inspected the gears and mechanisms built into the blade and satisfied that it was still in working condition, Robin placed a fist on his chest and bowed down respectfully to it before closing the crate and carrying on.

Returning to the hall, Robin handed Victor his weapons, "Hopefully the others arrive on time. You two sure are early," then pointing a finger at Aaron's eye bags, "are you sure you got enough rest? You might not be in the right condition to enter the labyrinth."

[CD-Man2021]

Aaron waved away Robin’s worries.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He was more than used to getting only a few hours to sleep, and this wasn’t the first time he had stayed up all night reading through a book followed by day full of labor. Although it wouldn’t do to have him nodding off during the trip. Maybe he could use this time to try something different? He thought about it for a second.
“I actually need to make a brew.” He said, standing back up from his chair. “I’ll bring out tea for everyone else as well.” After a quick jaunt, he found himself in the kitchen. Opening his bag he produced a green book and opened it on the counter. It listed various ingredients ranging from simple herbs to complex chemicals. He planned to make normal tea to bring out for the group, but for himself he’d whip up a recipe he had read, stating that it would instantly awaken anyone who drank it. The worst that could happen would be that it didn’t work, but if they did the result should be spectacular. Thankfully he had the majority of the ingredients right there in the kitchen, and those that were absent were easily replaced with something “close enough.”

The kettle was going, and Aaron was more than anxious to test out the mix of herbs. He first poured the boiling water into his own cup, which had the test recipe already inside it. Then he prepared the normal tea for everyone else. The alchemist took a whiff of his contraption. It smelled terrible. Then he took a sip. It tasted vile, but it didn’t seem hazardous to the human body. Aaron took a deep breath and gulped the drink down in one gulp, ignoring the heat that the water produced. He suppressed a belch and pounded his fist on his chest a few times, trying in vain to ignore the pain of hot water. A few seconds passed and the boy recovered. He took a look in a nearby mirror and smiled. It wasn’t perfect, but the redness had almost completely left his eyes and the bags under them seemed much smaller than before. If the whole explorer thing didn’t work out he could at least become some kind of alchemist…well, the boring kind, at any rate.

Aaron cheerfully brought out a large tray which held the kettle, cups, and a few biscuits. Setting them down on a nearby table, he quickly poured himself a fresh cup and took a sip, washing away the foul taste of his last concoction.

[Riseatrance]

Reo huddled himself against the walls of one of the buildings in the East Wing, not knowing that he was actually by the Swanback, he eyed the various people making their way in and out. He had his cloak this time (which he took out of his pouch when he left the halls to get some shut-eye) but he still wanted to stay up for a bit longer. He made his way to a less shady inn (and thus location) once he spotted some unsavory looking characters eyeing him in a rather rogueish and longing way, and as he walked away, he made the shrill sound from his blade again, scaring them away.

He looked for a short time to lodge somewhere and thus spent the rest of the night in deep thought.

***

Reo didn't sleep much. Actually, Reo never really slept much. He was already up and about in the wee recesses of the dusk, but he didn't actually make his way to the guild halls until the turn of the sixth hour, and by the time Reo got there he already saw Victor and Aaron. They were up early, but Reo had nothing to say about the fact they were here at this time. It was a common sight for Reo to see people like them who cared about the mission to be up early. Prior to the sortie Reo spent some coin on some bread which he was in the middle of eating on the way to the halls.

He entered through to where Victor and Aaron had already passed. He made his presence known by clearing his throat and firmly calling out, "Good day," his red eyes seemingly flashing in a rather unsettling way, only made clearer and more accentuated by the current state of the day, that is, it was quite early and it wasn't that bright out yet. "...Did I miss something?"

[Straybow]

"Huh? Wuzzat?" Ezekiel mumbled into his pillow as he, and everything in the room for that matter, shook. Shortly after there was the sound of glass shattering as it hit the ground and Ezekiel shot upwards into a sitting position. "Hey jeez I'm awake already! Don't go smashing my stuff just 'cause I'm sleeping!" he shouted. Looking around the room to see what had been broken and found that it had been the inn's bedside lantern. He also realized he was alone in the room. 'Oh, I guess that must've been one of quakes that I've been told plague the city.This place is more similar to Etria than I realized,' he thought to himself. 'Might as well get up now, I've never been able to get back to sleep after I wake up.'

Donning his armour and going over what he'd packed into his rucksack the night before, (his three medicas, his mapping supplies and his chisel he'd received from his parents as a good luck charm), in record time he left the room and went downstairs for a short breakfast. As he ate he saw some soldiers race by one of the windows however he ignored it for the sake of his breakfast.

*~*

After his breakfast he found himself comparing Etria and Horizon as he walked towards the west wing. While Etria was small and depended on it's labyrinth, Horizon seemed large enough that the labyrinth had merely helped it's economy rather than saving it from the brink of collapse. It was also easier to form a guild and get into the labyrinth in Etria, presumably because the more people that explored the more money Etria raked in where as in Horizon the labyrinth was something only truly serious explorers could get into; however, people's motivation seemed to be the same. Wealth and glory.

Before Ezekiel knew it he was standing in front if ITL's guild hall. As he entered he noticed that he'd been beaten there by three of the other guild members. "Hey there," he said upon noticing their presence. "You guys must be raring to go if you're here already, reminds me of the guilds back home. Anyway, my name's Ezekiel, what're your names?"

[Rothene]

Hearing Aaron beat at his chest caused Robin to look towards the kitchen in alarm, very concerned with not only the alchemist's condition, but also what he might be mixing into the tea to cause the man to react in such a way.

Wasting time debating with himself on whether or not to go investigate, Aaron had returned with the tea...and looked far healthier than when he left. Well, whatever he put in the tea must have been really good stuff.

Taking the tea to sip, Robin was disappointed at the lack of...anything special. Just then Reo came by with his question, by now Robin realised his mistake yesterday in addressing the ronin's gender but decided not to press about it, "Good morning, you missed nothing. Well, other than the opportunity to stand outside and wait for me to return from the market if you had arrived much earlier."

Four, Robin thought as Ezekiel made his way into the hall, "Good morning protector. I hope you slept well." Sweeping his gaze around the room, the guild master continued aloud, "It seems four of you are here with the warpstone. All that's missing are the remaining members, and Ihsan's holding onto the map maker last I saw it."

[FrankerZ]

Upon seeing his weapons, Victor practically lept out of his seat. "I'll be taking these back..." Without missing so much a beat, Victor quickly and methodically inspected every aspect of his weapons on the spot. After his dexterous fingers finalized inspecting all of the intricate mechanisms, he nodded to Robin indicating all was satisfactory. It was plainly clear to everybody that these weapons were very significant to Victor. "...And, thank you for the tea." He said as he took a cup and gave a small gesture to Aaron.

"Mornin' Reo, You didn't miss much." He wasn't happy to see Reo, but at the same time he didn't seem to despise the ronin's presence. Before he could enjoy the tea however, the protector entered and introduced himself. Quite eagerly, Victor set his cup on the table and rested his guns against the table's corner. 'Wait... Guilds back at home? What? He doesn't look like he is from Laagard... Can he be...?' Saying those words in that context; Victor visibly paused for a moment. He looked Ezekiel over before answering.

"I'm Victor Avary. Just call me Vic.... 'guilds back at home' you say... Pardon my asking, but where exactly are you from? To have guilds like this I mean..." He said it very eagerly. Waiting on pins and needles for the answer; Victor was curious, he had to know where this man came from. Where else besides places like Horizon or Laagard would people need to make guilds?