Ardor awoke in brightly lit white room he recognized from the nightmares that would wake him up in the middle of the night. He laying on a bed in a sterile medical room. He could hear the slow rhythmic beep of medical equipment around him. How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was… was… dying. How he was alive? Was he alive, or was this hell? It certainly felt like it. Memories began to flood back into his mind and instinctively he poked at his chest where the Minotaur had skewered him. There were no holes, that was good. Had they healed? Or had he imagined the whole thing. No, not likely. The pain and memory were too vivid, that had to have been real.

  A nurse enters the room and greets him, asking how he’s feeling. He doesn’t recognize her.

  She’s pretty Ardor thought, in the traditional sense anyways.. He wasn’t particularly attracted to her though. He preferred women with a bit more… skull crushing potential. The nurse looked frail enough that he might break her hand on accident if he shook it, nothing like Melissa. He had first met her when she was fighting a small group of Goblins. She dropped her sword and grabbed a goblin by the ankles, swinging it’s body around and bludgeoning the small horde with it. With the spent Goblin’s head between nestled into her elbow, she then popped it like a melon. Her body rippled with muscle, and he had zero doubt she could’ve done even more damage with her thighs. Her chain and leather armor seemed barely capable of containing them. Ardor smiled, thinking back on the memory. Now there’s a woman of worthy of songs about death a glory he thought.

  The nurse cleared her throat, still waiting for an answer. What had she asked him? Oh, right.

  “I feel good for a dead man” Ardor said, still smiling. “Where am I?” he asked.

  “You’re at the Adventurer Guild’s infirmary. You came in last night barely clinging to life. Well, technically, I’m not sure you were even doing that. One of our healers brought you in and we treated your wounds.” the nurse said. “You took quite a lot of damage to some vital organs. Fortunately though, it was mostly destroyed flesh and physical damage, so it healed quite easily. A couple broken bones in your rib cage will likely be tender for a while though and you’re still recovering the blood you lost, so try not to push yourself too hard for a couple days.”

  Easily healed? He had died… sort of. Ardor’s mind drifted towards the message he received in his last moments of consciousness.

  “You’re quite lucky Barida was there to bring you in. They said you had mere seconds left, if that. All the blood in your body, gone! Quite remarkable. I’ve seen a lot of injuries, but few quite like yours… at least, not on the living anyways. Without the help, you would’ve definitely died. Barida asked to speak with you once you’ve awoken, should I say you’re awake now?” the nurse asked, looking at Ardor for an answer.

  Barida was a pretty name, he didn’t remember seeing a woman on the street. Just that waste of a man that had tried to scam him before getting into a fight with a Minotaur. Waste of a man… that was a harsh thought. She would’ve scolded him if he said that out loud. If this “Barida” lady had saved him and brought him to the Guild though, she had to be quite strong. Ardor was not a small, and had muscles of his own. For a moment, he fantasized about what this burly lady-adventurer might look like.

  “Yeah, that’s fine.” Ardor replied to the nurse. She nodded and walked off.

  Would she be tall? Blonde, brunette, redheaded? Perhaps she’ll be wearing armor with one of his swords at her side. It’s been long enough, hasn’t it? When was the right time? Before Ardor could finish trying to guess what she might look like, the nurse returned with the answer to his question. In tow behind her was… a man. Not just any man, but the scammer from last night.

  “Who is this?” Ardor asked. “Where is the woman that brought me here?”

  “Woman?” the nurse asked, clearly confused. “This is Barida, the adventurer who…” she trailed off, realizing that the name did sound feminine.

  The mans face went flat, as if he had heard this a thousand times before and was getting sick of it. A moment later, he forces a smile.

  “I wanted to thank you, for last night” said Barida. “I would have been dead if you didn’t step in.” The man then shifted on his feet, a little awkwardly. “But seeing as how I also saved your life in return, I say we’re even. As far as I’m concerned, that debt has been paid in full” he said with a nod. For a moment he stood there, looking at Ardor for confirmation.

  “Huh? What?” Ardor replied. Ardor didn’t really want to talk to this guy any more. It wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t a beautiful woman like his name promised… but then again he did apparently save Ardor’s life. Ardor sighed, and conceded to be polite. “Yeah, that sounds fine.”

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  Barida let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he thought Ardor would’ve wanted something because of the attempted scam? The weapon smith wasn’t sure, and he really didn’t feel like dealing with that right now. All the anger from yesterday had left him, and now he was just really tired and a little sore.

  “Speaking of debts…” the nurse added with a cough, “technically, the Guild only provides services to Adventurers as a general rule. With insistence from Barida, and the fact that you were hurt in what ultimately amounts to adventurer work, we decided to bend the rules a little bit to save you. But, the paperwork is going to get a bit… difficult… if it gets out that we healed a non-adventurer.”

  Ardor just stared at her blankly, not sure what she was getting at. She was clearly hoping he would fill in the gaps and say something, but he really didn’t know what she wanted him to say.

  “I was hoping you would be willing to register as an adventurer at the guild, it would help alleviate any undesirable questions. Combine that with your connection to The Sword Maiden, I doubt anyone would bat an eye at us lending our healing services.” said the nurse. The Sword Maiden was the nickname people gave Melissa, she was nearly unmatched in her proficiency with a blade and infamously hated carrying a shield. Swords equal damage, shields equal less swords. Therefore, shields equal less damage. That’s was her logic anyways.

  The healing industry was a bit of a political nightmare. Adventurers needed cheap, frequent, and immediate medical attention due to the nature of their work, but if those services were offered to everyone, Adventurers wouldn’t be able to rely on the system to keep them on their feet. So, Adventuring Guilds were permitted to offer free medical services to their members, so long as they didn’t heal non-members. This ensured adventurers got the care they needed, and that it didn’t negatively impact the business of the medical industry, which had been established long before the Adventurer's Guild. There were quite a lot of fines and fees to pay if they healed someone they shouldn’t.

  There was just one problem, Ardor hadn’t really wanted to register as an adventurer. Melissa had done it, sure, but that wasn’t his calling. It wasn’t just paperwork either, once you’re registered, they could call upon you and draft you at times of need. Emotive magicae could ensure people honored those contracts too, though that was admittedly incredibly rare.

  “If I didn’t want to register, how much would it cost for me to pay for the healing?” Ardor asked.

  The nurses face went a shade paler and she shifted her weight between her feet.

  “For the healing, all it took was a little emotive magicae, food, and water. Well, a lot of it, but those aren’t too expensive. 10 gold would probably cover it… the real cost is in the fees we’d have to pay the city for detracting business. That would cost anywhere from one thousand to ten thousand gold.” she said, shifting her weight between her feet. He didn’t know whether it was her decision or not to end up in the middle of this, but she was clearly not something she was enjoying.

  That was a lot of money. A lot of money, no wonder they took it so seriously. He looked at Barida once again, he must’ve put up one hell of a fight to convince them to help him. Ardor definitely didn’t have that much to spend on a whim to avoid some paperwork. He groaned. Melissa had always encouraged him to register, she thought he would be good at it. This was a no-brainer in her book.

  “That’s a lot of gold.” grumbled Ardor. “I’ll sign.”

  Immediately, the nurses face lit up as she let out the breath she had been holding. Sounds rushed out of her mouth that sounded vaguely like “I’ll be right back” as she burst out of the room. When she reached door she halted, cursing something to herself. With a forced smile, she turned back around and walked back into the room.

  “Would you like me to disconnect you from the machines so you can move about? They’re not needed anymore, now that we know you’re not brain-dead” she said, then pursed her lips as if to recognize her lack of bedside manners. But she said nothing else, pursing her lips.

  Not brain-dead, there’s a comforting thought. Ardor looked around and realized that there were indeed electrodes and the like connected to him. He nodded, and a couple moments later the nurse disconnected him with what looked like forced attentiveness. The moment the nurse finished though, she was gone.

  It was just Ardor and Barida left in the room. Barida faked a cough.

  “Yup, well. I’m glad we got that settled” Barida coughed. “And uh, I’m glad you’re alright.”

  Without waiting for a response, the adventurer-scammer left.

  Strange fella Ardor thought to himself, but none the less he was glad for it.

  Perhaps he should report the scam attempt to the guild once he was a member? After a moments consideration, Ardor decided against it. That was probably more trouble than it was worth.

  The nurse came back, this time with someone else. She was an older woman in worn leather armor with a badge proudly displayed on her shirt.

  “It’s good to see you again, Ardor. I had thought I’d never see you come through those doors again, but I suppose life is full of surprises, isn’t it?” said the woman.

  “I didn’t either to be honest, it would seem you’re right as usual Charlotte.” Ardor replied with a smile, recognizing one of Melissa’s old friends.

  Charlotte presented Ardor with a few papers and explained that normally a new recruit is required to provide some form of proof that they’re truly interested in joining the guild rather than simply trying to get free medical services. Given that he’d just fought a Minotaur, and the fact that they already know each other, the guild representative decided to waive that part of the procedure. All he had to do was sign his name.

  Pen in hand, Ardor looked over the agreement document. One clause burned into his eyes, bringing back unpleasant memories.

  “The Adventurer Guild is not responsible for any bodily harm, dismemberment, or death that occurs during the course of an Adventurer’s duties.”

  The words were seared into his mind, and for a moment, just a moment, Ardor hesitated. He knew those words by heart. Then again, he’d already died once and it was the guild that saved him. They weren’t to blame for what happened to Melissa, he knew that. Ardor let out a breath, and signed his name.

  He was now, officially, an adventurer.

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