Dear mother and sister.

  I’ve been well. I got to Torid fine, found a cheap place to stay, and signed up for initiation at the local guild. I passed, obviously. Just us versus some kobolds. Nothing too interesting, sorry to say.

  All of that is boring, though. I haven’t gotten many good stories yet, but I’ve gotten some halfway decent ones.

  It's been just me and this guy I picked up from initiation. He’s nothing too special in a fight, but I knew that going in. Where he shines is in strategy. Just the other day he proved I was right to snatch him.

  Let me paint you a picture: The heroes; yours truly, him, and some extras we picked up. The job; ten or so kobolds raiding farmland. The solution: we gathered a bunch of produce for the lizards and put it out as bait, and then they were dumb enough to take it hook line and sinker. Naturally, the bait was poisoned. Nothing too dangerous, but my partner had us hunt for a sweet smelling herb that we then crushed up and sprinkled over the food. We then followed the lizard's obvious tracks, waited a few hours, and then jumped them while they were all too busy shitting out their innards.

  The village was so grateful that they threw us a feast, although it took us a while to regain our appetites.

  Oh, and guess what! I saved my first person not too long ago! He’s another adventurer in the Guild, can’t say I know him all that well, however. Apparently, he bit off more than he could chew with some goblins. Don’t think too poorly of him, though. He did take on eight greenskins, even if he got all banged up. My teammate and I helped him back to Torid, then he showed his appreciation.

  Fifty-silver! Can you believe that? I was expecting maybe five to ten coins, and that was assumed he would even bother. Part of me assumed he might pull some ‘Adventurers honor’ schtick on us, and trust me, it would have fit. He has a bit of a reputation around the Guild, and while he is a prick, after spending some time with him I can tell he’s not that bad.

  Now if only he could get the broadsword of his ass.

  Other than that, it’s been pretty boring.

  But enough about me. How’re you and Asa? Are you still keeping up your exercises? Has Asa asked out that shop-boy she’s been eyeing?

  I miss you guys. I’ll try and make my way over before I break into silver-tier.

  Asa, make sure mom is getting out enough. Mom, make sure to make fun of Asa until she asks that boy out.

  Love,

  Syra.

  Dropping the letter into an envelope, Syra dropped ten silver coins in. She sealed the letter with a bit of wax from the candle she was writing under. Upon the front of the letter, she penned her mother’s name and address in a slow hand, tongue out as she ensured she did not make any spelling mistakes. Staring at the letter to ensure it was perfect, she smiled and shook it in the air to help the ink dry.

  Now all she had to do was take it to the post office, and then a week later it’d be in her mother’s hands. Snuffing out the candle, Syra made her way out of the room she rented, and then further out of the home. She lived in a small hamlet a mile or so south from the walls of Torid, surrounded by the city’s farmland.

  It was a bit of a walk each morning, but it only took her around twenty to thirty minutes to make it to the city gates, and it was a nice way to start the day. Approaching the guards, she pulled out her Adventurers tag as she waited behind a few others making their way into the city for the morning. The guards gave her little hassle as she flashed her tag, and before long she was walking down the cobbles through the city’s Old Quarter.

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  The post office was deep in the city, nearer the center. For letters around the city, most simply made use of the clerk's office, but sending anything outside the city required extra precautions and organization. Postage was more often something the affluent made use of anyway, and she did not expect many people in the city even knew anyone outside of Torid.

  It had been almost a month since she had moved to the city, and it was still as overwhelmingly large as it had been on her first day. Having grown up in a nameless village nestled in the Argos mountain range, somewhere with less than twenty houses and a small palisade, coming to a city like Torid with towering stone walls and more houses than Syra could count made her head hurt. Every time she walked down the streets, she was amazed at the sheer vibrancy of the city around her. It was not just bigger than her hometown, it was so much more colorful too.

  Hues she might see once or twice a year were on full display painted across the buildings she passed by: Purples, Oranges, Yellows, all so unnatural, and all just vagrantly splashed across the street. Her village was so bland by comparison, even if she missed the mountains.

  Of course, the size of Torid was not the only difference. Her home village had been entirely beastfolk, even the merchants who occasionally came by were beastfolk, always glad for the ability to trade with their kin.

  It was not until she had come to Torid that she met her first humans—and first elves—and she had to say, she was not too impressed. Even now, with her just walking down the street, she could sense no less than six sets of eyes upon her. Those were just the guards! Most humans, especially in the nicer parts of town, tried their utmost to avoid and ignore her. It meant she got a nice and wide berth, but also left her feeling somewhat suffocated. She was stuck in that bubble.

  It was why, as much as she loved the grandness and vibrancy of the city, she hated walking through it. She had tried to hurry through once, but then she had been stopped and asked what her hurry had been. As if running were some crime!? They had even had the gall to ‘politely warn’ her not to cause such a disturbance again.

  She huffed at the memory, which caused one of the humans walking by to shoot her a suspicious glare, hurrying his steps as they passed one another. She realized she was frowning, or perhaps snarling, and quickly schooled it into a neutral expression. She knew better than to dwell on the causal discrimination of the city, her mother and others in the village had warned that she would face such, and it hardly helped to complain.

  It did not take long until she reached the post office. It was a three-story stone brick building, with a red tiled roof and window alcoves protruding from the wall. Taking a deep breath, Syra plastered on a small smile before entering. She had timed her arrival well, it still being somewhat early, and there was a lack of any sizable lines. A quick glance revealed three of the five postal workers staring at her from the corner of their eyes, so she took the shorter line of one of the two not doing so.

  Luckily, most people sending letters out of Torid were literate, so she did not need to wait as they dictated their letters. She did get somewhat impatient as the other lines moved faster than hers, but it was difficult to get mad at the little old lady as she sent out letters to each of her grandchildren; although twenty-nine seemed an excessive amount. Eventually, the line began moving once again, and it was not long until Syra reached the front of the queue.

  The postal worker gave her a quick smile. “Welcome, are you here for collection or post?” he asked.

  “Post,” she replied, handing over her envelope and the fifty-copper stamp fee.

  He took the envelope and the coin, but paused upon reading the address. His smile fell away. “Sorry to say, but the roads up north have recently risen to silver-tier. Some roving monster packs. Heard Thrade’s tryna take care of it, but until then it’s a silver a letter,” he explained apologetically.

  Syra sighed, but reached into her coin purse and pulled out fifty more copper. “Typical,” she complained, handing the coin over. “Just my luck. First letter home and already getting ripped off.”

  His smile returned. “All part of the conspiracy, gotta rob you of that extra half-silver.”

  “Don’t cut yourselves short, give it time and I’m sure you can start charging two silver per letter!” She rubbed a silver coin between her fingers as she said so..

  He chuckled. Before they could continue, a cough reminded them of the line behind her. Giving the worker one last awkward smile, Syra made her way out, ignoring the glares and muttered insults.

  With the letter sent, and little else to do for the day, she made her way to the Guild. Both Rayne and herself were nearly finished with their qualifications, and then it would be onto official bronze-tier jobs. Syra was certainly excited. Herb collection was well and fine, but if she was forced into too many more of them, she was afraid she’d start sprouting shrooms.

  She needed combat; those goblins a few weeks back had been a good start, but it was barely enough for a few stat improvements. If she wanted to get better, she needed stronger enemies. Unfortunately, they needed to stick to smaller missions until Rayne grew a little more, or until she could coerce him into bringing Leon along. An ass he may be, but if putting up with him meant she could start going after hobgoblins and other proper monsters, that was a burden she was more than willing to take on.

  She had time, though. Rayne was a good investment, and Leon would make for a fine addition.

  Until then—she sighed—probably just another herb collection mission.