The rain came early that week, sweeping the dust off the cobblestones and into the gutters where it ran brown and quick. The streets of Kevarith always smelled different after a storm. Dye and clay. Wet earth. Old stone.
For Kael, it smelled like curiosity.
Because whenever the rain cleared, people came out of their homes to tell stories, and the best stories were the ones that involved adventurers.
---
It started that morning with shouting at the southern gate.
Kael had been walking back from the market with a basket of onions when a crowd began to gather at the corner near the smithy.
Somebody muttered, "It's the Guild people," and Kael's head snapped up.
---
Two men stood by the gate, their cloaks stiff with wet from the rain. They didn't look like anyone from town: one had a pair of swords strapped to his back, the other a long spear. Even without the weapons, they looked different. Stronger. Like the air around them was thinner, sharper.
---
"Adventurers," someone whispered.
Kael had heard the word before, but this was the first time they'd seen someone who actually was one.
---
The men weren't here for a fight. They were talking to the guard, trading something that looked like paperwork. People whispered that they were from the Guild Annex on the north end of town.
Kael stood on tiptoe to see better.
---
"They'll be gone by noon," a woman near Kael said. "Just stopping on their way back to the city to file their report."
"What's the quest this time?" another asked.
"Something about a wild boar, I think."
---
The conversation blurred, but Kael caught pieces of it:
The Annex handled quests for the whole southern half of this valley.
The real Guild headquarters was in a city far away, but towns like Kevarith had small offices so adventurers didn't have to travel so far for work.
Every job they took had to be recorded and turned in.
---
By the time Kael's errands were finished, they couldn't stop thinking about it.
They wanted to see the Annex.
---
After lunch, Kael came to their father's workshop where the smell of dye clung to everything, and waited until Tarren glanced up from his vats.
"Can I ask something?" Kael said.
Tarren wiped his hands on a rag. "Ask."
"What's an adventurer?"
---
Tarren smiled a little. "You've seen the two at the gate, then."
Kael nodded. "Everyone was watching them."
"They're not soldiers," Tarren explained. "They're hired for all kinds of work. Dangerous work. Hunting monsters, clearing out wild animals that get too close to towns, escorting caravans. Sometimes people hire them just to find something that's been lost."
---
"Like heroes?" Kael asked.
Tarren hesitated. "Sometimes. Not always. There are good ones and bad ones. The Guild tries to keep the bad ones out, but power draws all kinds."
---
Kael thought about that. "What's the Guild?"
"An organization," Tarren said. "Every adventurer answers to them. They keep records, hand out quests, pay the rewards. Without them, adventurers would just be… mercenaries."
---
"And that little place by the north wall?"
"That's the Annex," Tarren said. "Too small a town for a full Guild branch. So they set up a single office and send one or two Guild scribes to run it. Everything done there gets sent back to the main Guild hall in the city."
---
Kael had walked past that building before. It was small — little more than a square room with a roof of dark tile. They'd never seen anyone go in.
"What happens if you want to be one?" Kael asked.
"You register," Tarren said. "They'll test you. If you pass, they give you a beginner's tag. After that, you take jobs, and you prove yourself."
---
"How do you get better?" Kael asked.
"You take harder jobs," Tarren said. "You can only climb the ranks by doing work fit for people one step above you. Every rank, the jobs get more dangerous. It's not easy."
---
Kael frowned thoughtfully.
Tarren chuckled. "Why the sudden interest?"
"I just wanted to know," Kael said, but their eyes drifted toward the window.
They wanted to see what kind of place trained people to stand with swords like that.
---
That afternoon, Kael lingered near the north wall.
The Annex looked even smaller up close, but there was something about it that made them stop. It wasn't the size of the building, but the people who came in and out.
---
They saw a woman with a bow, her arm in a sling.
A man with a scar across his jaw, tired but grinning as he carried a bundle wrapped in cloth.
A group of three laughing, shaking rain from their boots, swords clanking as they went inside.
---
Inside, a tall desk stood behind a half-open door. Papers. Ledgers. Wooden boards with notices tacked on them.
Kael stood at the edge of the doorway, peering in.
---
"Can I help you?" a voice asked.
Kael jumped. A scribe in a neat green cloak looked up from behind the desk, quill still in hand.
"I was just looking," Kael said quickly.
"Looking is fine," the scribe said. "Just don't get under anyone's boots. This isn't a safe place to play."
---
Kael nodded, eyes sweeping over the boards. Most of the words meant little to them — subjugate, escort, retrieve. Each had numbers scrawled beside them.
"Those are the jobs," the scribe said when Kael's gaze lingered. "Quests. Adventurers come here to take one, and when they finish it, we record it."
---
Kael pointed at the boards. "Can anyone take one?"
"Only registered adventurers," the scribe said. "And even they have to take ones that match their rank."
---
"Rank?"
The scribe smiled faintly. "You'll understand when you're older. Start at the bottom, prove yourself, and climb from there."
---
A loud crash behind Kael made them turn.
The three laughing adventurers had come back out, one of them holding a wet cloth to a fresh scrape on his cheek. They walked past without even noticing Kael.
---
The scribe said quietly, "You might want to move. You'll get stepped on if you stay in the doorway."
---
Kael nodded quickly and stepped aside.
---
By the time they returned home, their head was full of what they'd seen:
The boards. The tags. The scarred faces and proud voices.
That night, after dinner, they found Tarren in the workshop again.
"Do you think it's dangerous to just go there?" Kael asked.
"It's dangerous to be an adventurer," Tarren said without looking up from his work. "But looking? That isn't dangerous. Just don't let yourself get noticed for the wrong reasons."
---
Kael leaned on the table, thoughtful.
"I think I want to know more," they said.
Tarren's lips pressed into a line. "There's no harm in learning. But don't rush. A life like that burns people up young."
---
Outside, a faint roll of thunder came from the mountains.
Kael listened to it, imagining the roads beyond the gate, the forests, the dangers that must be out there if people needed swords and quests just to survive.
For the first time, Kevarith felt too small.
---
Over the next week, Kael passed by the Annex every day on their errands, watching the adventurers come and go.
Some came alone, others in groups.
Sometimes they were smiling. Sometimes limping. Once, a man came back so pale and weak that he had to be carried by his companions.
---
The more Kael saw, the more they realized there was a pattern:
The ones who came often had lighter jobs, errands or guard work.
The ones who came back rarely looked worn, but their gear was scarred.
There was a rhythm to it, just like the haiku spells.
And Kael, with their old memories, couldn't stop themselves from looking for the rules in everything.
---
One day, Alren found them there, standing under the eaves, rain dripping from their hair.
"You're staring again," Alren said.
"They're different," Kael said quietly.
"Of course they're different," Alren said. "They're adventurers. They can go anywhere."
"Anywhere?" Kael asked.
"Anywhere that doesn't kill them," Alren said.
---
Kael looked up at the notice board again, the papers fluttering in the wind.
They didn't say anything, but their eyes were bright.
---
That night, as the rain beat against the roof, Kael whispered their glow-spell into the darkness.
A soft light bloomed in their hands, and they watched it, imagining it one day strong enough to light the roads they'd never seen.