Asher ran down the rich oak stairwell, ready for the new day. He caught sight of light snow drifting downwards as he pulled his fur coat over his arms, hiding the Minotaur hide cuirass he had worked so hard to get. He reached the bottom and met Colin's brother, Connor in the main area.
Connor was the almost a replica of his brother, with one exception. He had a large moustache. They had the same gruff disposition as well. He hadn't taken to Asher the same way that Colin did, but he didn't cause any issues either.
Asher was staring at the board for the rank C contracts in the area when he heard a voice behind him that he hadn't heard since he started with the guild, "I heard you started at the bottom of the barrel, how ever did you manage to catch up to me?"
Asher turned around to see a mop of wheat blonde hair and striking lapis lazuli eyes staring right into him. "Curious that you remember me," Asher commented. The girl blushed slightly and retorted, "I just remember you because you helped me gather the courage to join the guild."
"After you manipulated me into joining, myself," Asher replied.
"You appear to be doing well for yourself these days," Willow smiled. "It appears as though I did you a favor."
Asher shrugged at her. "It took some work," he stated flatly. Willow giggled lightly. "I believe you need a partner, I'm willing to be of service."
Asher sighed heavily. It was true that he needed someone to work with, but he didn't expect to find a volunteer. He also had no idea what this person could do.
Willow held out her hand and said, "We never did fully introduce ourselves to each other. My name is Willow Thorn."
Asher shook her hand and simply said, "Asher." He paused for a moment before saying, "I'll take you on one job to see what you can do. Don't get in my way."
Willow agreed and they went to select a job from the board. Asher actually appreciated having backup after the last job where the golem rose from the ground. Asher didn't want to run into another situation where he had to fight more than one monster on his own again. Especially in this place where everything was on the same level as he was. The job Asher and Willow took was to kill a group of lizardmen that had made their way north.
They made their way to the village the lizardmen were occupying. The monsters were about six feet tall with scaly green skin. They wielded spears as their main weapon. When they entered combat, Willow demonstrated her special ability passed down through her bloodline. She had the ability to harden and reshape body parts. Her hand took on a silverish sheen and elongated into a blade to fight the lizardmen. It was incredibly sharp, as it passed through their weapons like butter.
Asher did just as well. He dropped the tall creatures one by one, feeling his power increasing all the while. When it was all said and done, Asher and Willow were coated in blood, standing above the green skinned creatures. After that, they heard loud thumping footsteps.
There was one particularly large lizardmen approaching with bronze scales instead of the typical green. It had a long spiked tail and nubs on its forehead, beginning to form horns. Asher cursed his luck, it was the more evolved version of the lizardmen. It was a dragonkin. They weren't technically related to dragons, being even more distant relatives than even the ice drakes that roamed the wastelands, but they had several special abilities that marked them as a very distant cousin. Notably, the ability to breathe fire.
The creature stood tall above Asher and Willow at about eight feet tall. It held a curved spear in its hands and it stared down at Asher in particular with malice in its eyes. It spoke to Asher directly, but he didn't understand a word of what was said. When he didn't respond, the creature launched an attack that nearly hit Asher head on. The blade scraped across his cuirass, scratching the finish.
Asher ducked and dodged the monster repeatedly, staying just ahead of its attacks. He blocked one hit directly and nearly lost grip on his sword when his arm went numb from the sheer strength of the blow. Asher fell to his knees under the pressure and Willow charged in. Her fingers hardened and extended into a large claw.
The dragonkin blocked the strike and skidded back several feet. Asher recovered quickly and leapt into a strike, clashing against the hard metal spear. The beast's chest began to glow red and it belched flame at the two of them in a long swirling line. Asher and Willow dove for cover behind a mound of dirt. It didn't take long for droplets of magma to start raining down on them from the rocks and dirt being melted from the intensity of the fire.
Asher had an idea and began trying to summon the ice ability he had used before. Sweat began to run down his face as he concentrated with the heat quickly getting worse. All of a sudden, he could feel a chill running down his hand into his blade. His sword glowed a faint blue and Asher dashed behind a building before making his move. The dragonkin followed Asher closely, almost entirely ignoring Willow.
It continued to spew fire as Asher slashed into the inferno, his ice imbued sword greedily devouring the flames as quickly as the creature could provide them. Seeing that the it's attack was useless, the monster quit using it immediately and went into close quarters combat with Asher.
Asher slashed wildly, trying to break past the beast's guard. This was the most that Asher had ever struggled with a creature in recent memory. Willow joined in and with their joint efforts, they had fought the monster to a stalemate. Asher felt as though the thing was almost toying with them though.
The monster spun it's spear around in a dramatic motion before slamming the handle into Asher's side. Willow rushed in and grabbed the handle, holding on with all her strength. It wasn't enough, as the dragonkin roughly yanked it back, sending her flying through the air.
The creature walked up to Asher who was still lying on the ground with broken ribs. It stared intently at him while it tightened its grip and prepared to kill him. Before it could do that, a blade intercepted it's strike. Another group of guild members had wandered by, and by the looks of it they were strong.
The dragonkin traded blows with them once or twice before it extended wings from its back, fleeing from the area. One of the adventurers went up to Asher and said, "Connor sent us, he had suspicions the lizardmen were being led by something more powerful. I'm just glad we got here in time."
Asher nodded and tried to stand. The pain from his ribs was getting to him though. It would take a while to heal and he couldn't exactly hunt monsters in the shape he was in to heal up.
"Take me back to the guild," Asher ordered. "I need to rest, I'm hurt."
"Alright," the leader of the group said. The man looked like a knight in heavy plate armor, wielding a great sword with one hand and a great shield in the other. He obviously had enormous strength as he moved as easily as Asher could whilst being in the heavy armor.
Asher could only guess with the gap in strength that the man was either an A or B rank guild member. The man sheathed his weapon and shield before leaning down and grabbing Asher, cradling him like a child. They returned to the city quickly and the knightly adventurer laid Asher in his bed.
Days passed and Asher could tell that he was healing quickly. His breathing became a lot less labored over time and he could feel the bones shifting back into place over the course of hours. Within a week, Asher felt as though he had never been injured.
There was no bruising and no pain. Asher knew he was surpassing normal human limits slowly, but this was a bonus in itself. He was almost salivating at the thought of absorbing the power of the beast that had beaten him so badly. It would boost him tremendously.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in," he said. The door opened and Willow and the armored adventurer made their way into the room. The stranger greeted Asher with, "We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Killian. I am the head of the rank B guild members. I was the one who saved you, and we need to talk."