“The favor of saving my life is hard to repay. Ethan, if you ever need my help in the future, just leave me a message at the guild—just say it’s for Captain Wood of the Swordfish.”

Most people in this world seem to have no surnames, so to avoid confusion with people of the same name, everyone adds extra notes. The method used by the Maritime Guild is to distinguish people by the name of their registered ship.

“And here, take this as payment for your meals these past days.” As he spoke, Wood took out a small red stone and pressed it into Ethan’s hand. “This is a fire-attribute magic stone. It should be useful to you.”

Chapter 5: Endless Lands

The Adventurers’ Guild—that’s the official name of the guild Wood mentioned.

The guild’s office is located right at the end of the main street outside the port, very conspicuous—you can see it as soon as you come out. The only confusing thing is that the huge building has several doors. With so many entrances and not a single sign, any clueless newbie would probably get a headache.

Fortunately, with Wood’s guidance, Ethan knew he should enter through the leftmost door, which is specifically for newcomers. That’s where you handle membership applications, arrange accommodation for new arrivals, and so on.

Wood and the others, meanwhile, had to go to the main hall where the veterans usually gathered to take care of some matters. Their ship had sunk, and several crew members had died—these things needed to be reported, and they also had to withdraw stored assets and buy a new ship.

Watching Wood and Rodney gradually disappear into the growing crowd, Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that Rodney kept glancing at him, intentionally or not—and that look was definitely not friendly.

“Is it because of the magic stone?”

Magic stones are the most mysterious things in these seas, and also the hardest resources to obtain. Even if you don’t use one yourself, just finding one can be traded for many things you need—they’re the real hard currency of this world.

“A fire-attribute magic stone… I wonder what exactly it can do?”

Besides being used as currency, the greatest value of magic stones lies in their magical effects. For example, the most useful for adventurers is a water-attribute purification magic stone. With just a small one, if you put it in a barrel of stored water, whether it’s seawater or dirty, polluted water, the magic stone will purify it into the clearest, cleanest water.

“Too bad this isn’t a water-attribute purification magic stone… I wonder what this fire-attribute one can do?”

He put the magic stone away and tightened his backpack, which held all his important belongings—most importantly, the big stack of books that Eleanor had given him.

He didn’t dare leave these things on his little, completely unprotected boat—who knew if someone might just steal them?

Hurrying into the Adventurers’ Guild’s newcomers’ lounge, Ethan found that, compared to the bustling main hall, this place was much quieter. Looking around, he realized he was the only one here.

At the front desk by the main entrance stood a single young man, who was enthusiastically waving him over. “Welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild! Are you here to apply for membership?”

“Ah! Yes!”

Ethan nodded and walked up to the counter.

“Excuse me, is there a membership fee or anything like that?”

He had actually forgotten to ask this before. After living in this world for so long, he’d never seen any kind of currency—he was used to bartering for everything, and it hadn’t occurred to him that guilds usually charge fees.

“There’s no need. You only pay a portion of your goods when you use the guild’s services—like storing supplies, customizing or repairing ships, or handling commissions.”

Ethan nodded. So you only pay when you use the services—perfect for a broke newbie like him.

“In fact, even though you don’t have to pay anything to join, there are fewer and fewer new members these days.” The young man across from him, perhaps not having seen anyone in a long time, started chatting away as soon as he saw Ethan: “You’re actually the first person to apply for membership in the past six months.”

“Huh?” Ethan could tell the place was a bit deserted, but he hadn’t expected that no one had joined in half a year. Was it really a good idea for him to join so eagerly?

The clerk immediately noticed Ethan’s hesitation and quickly tried to persuade him: “Actually, there are a lot of benefits to joining the guild. We can provide better ships and help you recruit more experienced sailors—there are plenty of adventurers in the guild who’ve lost their ships or are on the verge of bankruptcy. Their situation might not be great, but they’re very experienced. Plus, storing and consigning goods through the guild saves adventurers a lot of time.”

“In short, we help adventurers take care of all their worries, so you can focus on exploring the seas and gathering resources.”

“What’s more, every time an adventurer returns from a voyage, even if they come back empty-handed, we provide three days of free lodging and food, so they can rest up and head out on their next adventure in top shape…”

After a long spiel, Ethan felt that the guild really was quite considerate, and that joining didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.