Syl

Chapter 148: Recruitment Woes

Entering the tent, I was met with the sight of many tables and benches occupied by various colorful individuals wearing assorted gear and weapons. I had to block out my notifications as Beta nearly blinded me by trying to [Identify] everyone in the room. Thankfully, only the most perceptive of the adventurers noticed my entrance, causing quite the look of confusion and startlement at their tables.

I did my best to ignore the unwanted attention and strolled to what I had to assume was the reception desk; behind it sat a man who looked more bear than human.

"Shit. I just lost ten gold." He grunted as he saw me.

"I'm sorry?" I replied.

"It's my own fault. Lisa said you would arrive a month or two ago, and when you were a no-show, I started calling you her imaginary elf friend," he said as he scratched at his arm.

"There seems to be a lot of bets around me..." I mumbled uncomfortably.

"Don't take it personally. Us guild staff get bored sometimes after living a life of constant danger. Name's Bert. Nice to meet ya."

"Syl, nice to meet you too. As Lisa said, I'm here for my Gold promotion test."

"You and half the lot here," Bert grunted, pointing towards a large wooden board. "Those are the people recruiting party members. If they aren't lacking your role, or you don't find one you like the vibe of, you can sit around here until one does."

"Just be careful, don't just accept the first party you come across. You need to trust these people to have your back in the dungeon down there."

I nodded and thanked him again before heading to the board and reading through the various recruitment attempts. There were certainly a lot of them, and it quickly became apparent that most parties lacked a healer. I doubted I'd ever fulfill that role unless I lucked across a pink slime core.

Originally, Lisa had said I could've fulfilled a caster or rogue role. That changed after coming back with my new advanced caster class, and she said I should advertise myself as a dedicated caster or a debuffer and caster. However, she said I could still advertise myself for the rogue role if I was desperate.

Either I had bad luck, or most teams already had a dedicated caster, as I couldn't find anyone actively seeking one out. Two parties were looking for a rogue, so I figured I'd at least talk to them. The bottom of the poster had a tent number to seek out the parties, so I memorized them and left the main tent.

That... Did not go well. After they got over their initial shock of "holy shit, it's an elf!" when I explained my position, they began trying to find the most polite way of letting me down. The party leader was at least courteous, but he said he didn't feel like trusting his team's lives with someone who had only touched a hybrid rogue class and then promptly abandoned it. I supposed it was understandable, so I left them after thanking them for their time.

The second party... Well. I got practically chased out of the tent. The woman seemed absolutely furious, and I had no idea why. Her other team members had seemed eager for me to join, but then she suddenly turned sour and rejected me outright. Lisa had mentioned that hybrid classes had a sort of stigma against them, but I had no idea it was this bad.

So, without more direct leads, I was forced to wait in the main tent. Since I had time to kill, I started working on my arcane affliction, only briefly pausing when someone inquired about my purpose here or tried to ask me some questions about elves, which I politely refused.

There were one or two recruitment attempts, but they all had the caveat that I'd join their Company upon completion, which Whitney had warned me against. I wanted to remain a freelancer, able to explore where I wanted when I wanted. Honestly, I wished I could've just gone and done the dungeon myself, but the point was to prove I was capable of teamwork.

The entire first day was a bust, I was offered to rent a tent, but I politely turned it down and said I'd camp in the forest. Once I was sure I was safe and far away, I melted myself down into a hole and spent the night in comfy sleep.

I was anticipating another quiet day, but fate must have decided to mess with my expectations. I was suddenly accosted by a rather rude young man. He and his group decided to strike while Bert was on break. I reflexively thought this might have been some noble arrogant bullshit again, but when [Identify] told me otherwise, I figured I might have developed a bias.

"So this is the elf whore who's trying to sleep her way to Gold?" He said with a nasty smirk.

'What?' I thought to myself. It was such an outrageous claim I didn't even know how to respond.

"And she's only level four in her class; she must have been spoon-fed and carried her entire life." His friend claimed.

"Hey, maybe if you show us a good time, we'll carry you through the dungeon," Colin said, pointing towards him and his buddy.

"No," I responded.

"Think about it real carefully, girl. Nobody is going to want to party with such an infamous elf. We might even let you follow our party around if you're good enough," Ted said with a wink.

"Like a mascot! Brilliant idea." Colin laughed with a snort.

"No," I said in a sterner voice. "I'd sooner solo the dungeon than trust myself with your lot."

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That seemed to greatly offend Colin, who reached for his sword sheath. "You bitch. Think you're hot stuff? Better than us humans, huh?"

It took the full might of [Acting] for me not to stare at him in bewildered, flabbergasted confusion. Instead, I had a stern, expressionless face.

"I challenge you to a duel!" He shouted loudly for everyone else to hear.

"Unless you're a coward," Ted added on.

A duel? Honestly, if it got rid of them, I wouldn't mind, but how would I beat him without killing him? I didn't really have non-lethal options in my magical arsenal.

'Actually, I could beat him, and that would probably prove my worth to all the adventurers. Then I'll find a party, no problem,' I reasoned to myself.

At this point, Bert had returned from his break to see what all the fuss was about. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warned.

"Don't worry, Bert. I can handle it." I replied.

Bert sighed and gave a shrug. "Make sure it's official."

"Of course. I want the whole guild to know I beat this elf." Colin said smugly.

"How do duels work?" I asked. "If I hold back my spells, I might take a wound I shouldn't have."

In reality, I didn't want to risk an arm coming off and returning to slime or something similar. Colin was smirking, perhaps thinking this would be even easier for him since I admitted to having no dueling experience.

Bert pointed a meaty finger toward Ted, who flinched. "You have [Deathward], right?"

Ted nodded frantically. "Of course. I'd be a shame of an Archpriest without it."

"Good. [Deathward] them before the duel starts." Bert said with a grunt.

"Hope you won't come up with some excuse when I beat you into the ground." Colin chuckled.

I sighed reluctantly. I'd be ending this as soon as possible. We headed outside and away from the tents. Either they planned this out, or Ted ran wingman to this operation as a large crowd followed to see the spectacle. Soon, a large ring of people surrounded me and Colin.

Bert ordered people to stand back, and there was some slight shuffling, but not much distance was put between them. I immediately wondered if this was some sort of foul play; if the audience got caught up in one of my spells, I'd likely get into trouble. Perhaps they had discovered I was the source of the lightning? Or maybe I was being overly paranoid again, and the audience was merely excited to see two adventurers dueling.

We stood a good distance apart, supposedly to give spellcasters a chance to react in time against a martial opponent. I went through my options while Ted began casting this supposed [Deathward] spell, which he seemed to be delaying as much as possible so that more of an audience could gather.

Lightning and Fire were most likely a no-go in terms of collateral damage. Ice and Corrosion left lingering effects, and I wasn't entirely sure how they would work with a [Deathward]. I could throw a bunch of debuffs and hope [Decay] would take him out, although that'd certainly be unimpressive, and he seemed like the opponent to complain about being beaten by such an obscure attack. Which left Arcane and Water. Arcane I only had [Arcane Bolt], and I'd have no benefit from Elementalist or [Elemental Shift].

So, ultimately, I was left with Water. I shifted over some additional cores to water alignment, and my plan was to rapid-fire cast the water laser spell, hopefully taking Colin out instantly or forcing him to surrender. Then I spotted it, Ted was casting far more than just [Deathward] on his accomplice. I thought I would call foul, but instead, I held my tongue and began my own preparations. [Hex], [Permeable], and [Erode] were stacked up on the unsuspecting Colin, and judging by the lack of any comment from spectators or perpetrators, nobody had noticed at all.

Ted tried to pretend he was taking the same length of time to cast [Deathward] on me, but he couldn't fool my [Mana Conception]. At least he wasn't stupid enough to not give me a [Deathward], which I had thought was a possibility.

"Right. I officially sanction this duel between Syl and Colin. Till surrender, incapacitation, or whoever has their [Deathward] trigger first." Bert said, sounding very reluctant.

Bert began counting down. Colin unsheathed his blade. I gave orders to my cores, all hands on deck; this would need to be the fastest spell construction and firing I'd ever done as soon as Bert shouted go. I was grateful Colin didn't have Air affinity and [Wind Step]; otherwise, he'd instantly be in my face.

When Bert finished the countdown, it all happened at once. The deluge of Water Mana swirled above my head. The spectators gasped. Colin actually flinched. Three overlapping magical circles formed and instantly shrunk to their minuscule size. Colin burst forward at a surprisingly fast speed. The spell was completed, and the air screeched as the water laser tore through the air at a downward angle to ensure no audience injury and aimed directly at his chest.

It happened in a blink. Colin had a gaping wound through his entire torso. His eyes were wild in horror and shock. He vomited blood. Someone in the audience screamed. Then, there was a bright flash of magic, and suddenly, the gaping wound was gone as if it never happened. The only evidence it had occurred was the clean circle where his armor and underclothing once occupied, his vomited blood, and the deep and precise hole where the deadly spell had continued its trajectory.

I wondered if he would cry foul, but instead, he collapsed to the ground as if entirely spent. Rather than rushing to his friend's aid, Ted began screaming and running away. Every witness was eerily silent. While I didn't expect a standing ovation for my victory, I hadn't foreseen this awkward and stunned silence at all.

"The winner is Syl," Bert said, breaking the stunned silence. Bert then pointed toward Colin. "Somebody please grab the brat since his friend left him."

There were murmurs; one of the larger adventurers hefted Colln up, and everyone began awkwardly leaving. I walked back, unsure of how to handle this outcome.

"Told ya it was a bad idea," Bert said as we shuffled back to the tent.

I didn't respond. I kept trying and failing to understand why my victory had achieved this result. Nobody approached me for the rest of the day.

The next day was more of the same, and I began feeling extremely frustrated with this situation. I was the one challenged; why was it my fault I had won? I didn't ask Colin to insult me or spout his petty insults and drivel for his crony to try to stack the deck against me. Whispers, terrified glances, and rumors continued to spread around me. I wanted to lash out, but I knew it would make it worse.

I began frantically thinking of solutions. I could likely solo the dungeon, but that wouldn't meet the so-called requirement. It was a stupid requirement, in my opinion. I also thought maybe I could instead get to the dwarves as Sylvester and abandon going as Syl? Perhaps I could say I wanted to get a silver core for enchanting?

Bert approached my table and sat down, giving a deep sigh. "You scared the shit out of 'em."

"I was the one challenged," I said angrily.

"I know."

"I just wanted to be left alone."

"I know."

"He called me a whore who didn't earn her rank."

Bert grimaced as he shook his head. "You're completely in the right. You'd likely be praised if you were anything other than an elf."

"Why?"

Bert sighed deeply before finally responding, "There are a lot of stories about elves from the war. Most people shrug them off when they grow older, knowing it was overblown propaganda or stuff to scare kids into line."

Seeing my confusion, Bert chuckled. "If you don't go to bed early, the elves will come get you! Stupid shit like that."

"... I see..."

"Yep. And, unfortunately, you kinda brought that irrational fear into reality yesterday. I don't know much about Water mages, but I've never seen one blow a hole through a person before."

"I wanted to end it quickly. I thought if I proved capable, it'd prove I could carry my own weight, that I'd earned my rank," I admitted.

Bert nodded. "Yeah. You can't afford to take chances as a spellcaster; you're not a frontline fighter. I understand why you did what you did perfectly, and most people probably agree as well."

"But I'm an elf."

"But you're an elf."

I sighed. Once again, things couldn't be simple. I just hoped it would turn around soon, or my plans would be ruined.