The Start of an Adventurous Life

There were many guilds to pick from. Jade had choices. Among all of them, he couldn't help but feel that Sabertooth would be the best pick for him. They seemed to be a well balanced guild. Good hearted, stable, plenty busy, everything you would want in a guild for heroes. If Jade was looking to do good deeds for the public, he hoped he would be just at home here.

Jade readjusted his leather pauldron as he walked across the busy streets of town. Although it was quite crowded, he couldn't help but notice all the little conversations of the people around him. People talked much more than they did in the city. It was... refreshing. Lively. It had a certain hint of character that he never really experienced all that often.

There was very little doubt in Jade's mind, he would like it here.

As a smile crept onto the mage's face, he picked up pace and began walking faster towards the central castle of the town. Three years of training, all to learn and practice so that he could become a mage, all to join a guild. Jade knew his parents would be proud of him. He couldn't wait, his excitement made apparent by his pace.

Jade's attention while walking was often on the tall castle towers of the Sabertooth guildhall at the far side of town. He took small and slow steps, as time was not of the essence, in order to keep his balance and occasionally check to make sure he was heading in the right direction.

After reaching an intersection, Jade turned right around a corner. He almost didn't notice the baby-blue haired girl in front of him before she bumped right into his chest. "OH! I am so sorry! I was lost in my thoughts," she said, bowing her head. The first thing Jade noticed was her height. He himself wasn't a very large person, but the top of the girl's head barely came up to his chin. It wasn't often that Jade found someone who made him feel tall.

When the girl smiled at him, Jade couldn't help but smile a little himself. He bowed his own head in response. "It's not a problem, miss! It's partially my fault too, I wasn't looking where I was going." Jade extended a hand out and gave a hearty grin. "My name's Jade."

When Jade first extended his hand out, he hadn't noticed where the girl's attention was. Her eyes seemed to be in a trance, as if they weren't focused on anything. It was a little peculiar to say the least.

While his hand was still outstretched, Jade's gaze shifted towards the two fluffy cat ears atop her head. Yet another oddity that perplexed him. His mouth hung barely open with silent words, but he was brought back to attention before he could say anything. "Jade...it's a pleasure to meet you," the small girl said with a nearly unsettling stillness. "My name is Velvet." Her lips didn't move, didn't part. Not only that, but there was a slight pause before she noticed his still extended hand. And it was then that Jade finally realized why her eyes threw him off, why she had left him there with his hand out for so long: she was blind.

The newbie mage couldn't help but laugh a little at himself upon the revelation. "That is a very pretty name, ma'am." He watched closely as she continued talking, but Jade couldn't get his mind off of her ability to speak without actually moving her lips. It was mind boggling, especially considering his teacher was the only mage Jade had previously interacted with, ever. So mind boggling in fact, that he could barely stutter out a response when asked about his presence in Ace of Spades. "Oh! Uh, yeah I've... uh, never been here before." Jade caught himself staring at Velvet and looked away. "I was looking... for the Sabertooth... guild."

Jade couldn't help himself, his curiosity had peaked. "Listen, I don't mean to be pushy, but how do you do that?" He asked, leaning forward a little bit. "The whole speaking without moving your lips thing?"

Walking further into Ace of Spades, Jade's attention was on Velvet. He kept pace with her while she told him about her ability to speak and how it was attached to her control over her magic. For a new mage, it was very entertaining to listen to. Eventually the conversation switched to Jade's reason for joining Sabertooth. He took a moment to think about his reasons. Nothing concrete came up, as he had no real die-hard motivation to become a guild-affiliated mage. He could have just as easily become a baker's assistant.

Then again, bakers didn't have such an adventurous career. After his slight pause, the defense mage shrugged and turned to his feline guide. "Hmm, don't know. I wanted to be a mage for a living, I guess. Thought it would be fun, and my family told me the best way to do that was to join a guild. So I contacted other guilds... but none of them really worked out for me." Jade scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Dies Irae was way too extreme and the Rune Knights straight up denied my application, so I came to Sabertooth."

After crossing the bridge and arriving at the foot of Ace of Spades' tall castle towers, Jade paused to look up with a child-like glee. "It's even more impressive up close. Does this all really belong to a single guild?"