Remesh was looking forward to his first party. Since he had cleared the ten trials of being an adventurer he was now clear to take on quests outside the city with other members of the Guild. The fledgling swordsman could not wait to test himself against all the challenges of the world beyond the walls alongside allies who would become friends.
Only, it seemed like that would have to wait. The Guild hall near him that handled external bounty jobs was surrounded by a mob. Signs proclaiming 'Stop Harvesting Wildlife', 'Gellco exploits Slimes', and 'The Guilded are Murderers' rose and fell in the press of people.
He wove through the crowd, keeping his hood up as he moved towards the magical gates whose threshold could only be crossed by Guilded. Feet away from safety, someone pressed a pile of pamphlets into his arms, told him to hand them out. He nodded woodenly and turned to walk perpendicular to the tall marble walls.
He flipped through the pamphlet with an idle curiosity. It outlined how the Guild was harvesting the monsters outside the wall and converting them into Gel. Until now, he had never thought about the Gels that the city used in everything from medicine to energy. They just existed and he figured the material was some kind of semi-solid magic created by the Guildmages. Now though, he wondered what the Guild was doing in its depths with those bounties they paid handsomely for.
The last pamphlet handed out, Remesh once again tried to filter through the crowd to the gates. This time, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
"Hey, boy. Is that the Guild crest on your belt?"
"I...I..."
The crowd turned on him, pulling him away from the gates. The chanting murmurs became angrier. The situation was looking very bad all of a sudden. His bag was pulled off him, his sword was taken, a punch to his gut knocked him to his knees. A heavy blow hit him in the back and he dropped to the pavement like a rock. Chants of 'Kill the Guilded' rang out as a heavy boot came down on his sword arm. Another caught him in the ribs over and over. Was this how he was going to die? Beaten by the people of his city?
The junior Guilded felt ribs crack when shouts rang out from the direction of the Guild Hall. He was dimly aware of two women with spears breaking open the crowd. Face down on the ground, the shadow-clad warriors with glowing eyes towered over him like goddesses. He felt big, powerful arms lift him as he blacked out.
It was dark when his awareness returned. He found himself in bed, in a room he did not recognize. It felt like his body had been lit on fire. When he tried to sit up, nothing happened. The tightness around his chest said bandages were trying to keep his ribs in place and the swordsman could feel neither his right arm nor anything below his waist. He could not even wiggle his toes. His left arm reached up to scratch his face and bumped into a neck brace.
Overhead lights snapped on and a door opened to his left. The heavy footfalls of iron-clad boots indicated two people had entered the room. Swarthy feminine faces with worried expressions floated into view on either side.
The first thing he noticed about the woman on the right was the soft blue glow emanating from her irises. She had short, dark hair that hung over one eye, further accentuating the pulsating light as it danced over skin that was a shade darker than the bronze of Guild pennies.
The woman on the left had eyes that shimmered with a subtle green light. Her pastel hair was drawn back into two little bags tied off with cords that danced in the light. Her complexion was lighter and brought to mind warmed caramel.
Tearing his gaze away from their faces, the injured swordsman realized just how tall the two women who had come to his rescue were. It was probably an effect of being stuck on his back, but they loomed over him in their white Guild cloaks in much the same way as they had when he was dying in the street. Even so, he could really only see their faces and shoulders from how his neck was held.
"You're tough shit, surviving a beating like that." The woman with blue eyes had a beautiful, lilting accent, though her inflection dripped aggression from how she snapped her consonants. "It's too bad you'll probably never be a real adventurer now."
"Don't make him panic, Ta'lyt." The other woman's voice was just as melodic, though her tone was overall smoother. "It'll only aggravate his injuries!"
Ta'lyt looked down and him and frowned. "No offense here kid, but," her gaze shifted to her companion's face. "Look at him Za'lin! I don't think a little stress is going to exacerbate this. Even the best clerics in the city could only get him barely functioning. The damage was too great. He'll probably walk again, eventually, but traversing dungeons is likely never happening."
The woman on the right walked away, ranting about the protest and the Guild not taking steps to keep adventurers safe. The woman on the left, the one called Za'lin, sat down on the bed with him. The mattress noticeably sunk beneath her. Even though he was sure she was sitting on the edge of the bed, the curve of her ass brushed against his arm through her soft cloak. "Don't mind my partner, she's easily excitable."
"What will happen to me? I have nothing besides the Guild."
"That's actually why we're here, newbie. What if I told you I actually could fix you where all the clerics could not?"
"I would ask you what the catch is."
"It's quite straight forward," she said as she smoothed the blanket on his chest. "I can change people with my abilities. Remake them. You just have to say the word and you will be reborn so you can adventure once more."
Remesh weighed the unknown against his current situation. "Reborn how?"
Za'lin did not reply. The woman named Ta'lyt walked back to his bedside. "You'll become a new person. You'll probably look mostly the same, but this has been known to have...side effects. Unpredictable ones. Still, you'd be able to adventure again."
"We're even looking for a third right now," Za'lin added. "You could come with us!"
"You promise?"
They both nodded.
What did he have to lose? "Sure, make it happen."
A length of rubber was tied around his upper left arm. Za'lin rummaged in her cloak for a moment and then held up a needle and a vial of creamy purple fluid. She shook the bottle and, from how the fluid swirled, it was obviously a Gel-based solution. The Guilded woman drew from the vial until the chamber was three-quarters full. The metal point was inserted into his skin and he felt a slowly building pressure as the injection began to seep into his body.