Yes, as sad as it is, you have to go back and tell everyone what has happened

Everything is done. With everything that shouldn't get in the wrong hands in your bags, you head back. You have no idea where to go, so you take some time to find the way. It is already around sunset, when you arrive at the border of the village.

The villagers immediately start to rush towards you and bomb you with questions. They heard some echoes of your fight and saw the smoke. Considering your sad face and that Tocar is not with you, they already feared for the worst. Now they want to know what has happened and if the danger is over. They all start to cheer up and get excited when you tell them the chimera is gone. But many of them are shocked when they hear about your mentors ****. They are good people and nobody wanted a stranger to give his life for theirs. Still, they are glad that the danger is gone for good.

The whole village gathers at the small graveyard. An old man who serves as a priest prepares a funeral while two farmers collect the corpses of Tocar and the adventurer who came before you. You have only been at a funeral once. In Hardwood, when an elderly nighbour died during a long winter. It is a sad thing every time. Still, the small ceremony is respectfull and very nice from the villagers. Especially since none of them knew Tocar two days ago. There are some people who try to say nice things about him with their limited knowledge.

When the ceremony is over, the children are sent home. The village elder has a few words with you about how to go on. You tell him that the body of the chimera was destroyed during the fight, but if it for some reason should appear, the villagers should burn the corpse to ashes. You still have to ensure him more than once that the chimera is not going to come back to life, but the village elder is stubborn about this. He wants to make sure it can never come back.

The tavern owner offers you to stay the night for free, which you gladly accept, since it is already late. Almost half of the villagers stay with you for a while and have ad drink to honor Tocar's sacrefice. You don't mind them at all. It is really nice of them and after everything, you just need to get a little drunk now. Otherwise you probably can't sleep.

You regret it next morning when you ride back with a slight headache. You don't ride the horse very fast, but the sun and the awfully loud birds make the first two hours a very unpleasant ride. Around midday you arrive at the capital and head straight to the guild.

Raka first greets you with a usually bity comment before noticing Tocar is not with you. She immediately runs to the director, who follows her straight to you and looks worried. Professor Tiberius orders Raka to get one of the healing mages, but you tell him you are completely unharmed. Then he wants to know what has happened an why you are alone. Since nobody else is there, you just talk in the entrance hall.

You tell professor Tiberius about what has happened, about your research, how you who found the hideout and in the end, you tell him about the fight. About how intelligent the chimera was. At last, you tell him that how you finally beat the beast, but you try to keep it easy. With no success, since the director and Raka both demand details. Professor Tiberius is more than just a little shocked when you tell him about Tocar's ****. But he also is impressed, and very worried, that you finished the job.

“It was you, Clare?” Professor Tiberius asks to be sure, “but … this creature ... it killed one of our fully trained and most experienced mages. How did you do that?”

“Professor, I honestly have no idea,” you answer a little shy, “I just used my knowledge about magic and my will to survive. I had no superior tactic or complex spell.”

“And the body of this chimera got lost during the fight, right?” Professor Tiberius asks thoughtfully, “so, we have no idea where this monster came from. It is possible that it was kept by humans who most likely intended to use it as a weapon. But this is specualtion. Still, I will tell somebody to look into this. Maybe it escaped some time ago from a renegade dark mage or a hidden criminal outpost. It knew humans, magic and was trained to fight them. This is not good news.”

“Sir, I am sorry,” you apologize, “I failed to protect my mentor. If I wouldn't have paniced, I would probably have found another way to defeat this beast. And we would know more by now.”

“Stop it!” Professor Tiberius interrupts you sharp, “I don't want to hear any excuses from you, young novice. You defended yourself against a superior enemy. You survived and you did the guild a great favor. Not only did you fulfilled an important mission, you also protected a whole village of innocent humans. And you brought us the belongings of a valued member. You have outdone yourself and I don't want to hear anything like self-doubt from you.”

“You ... are sure about this, sir?” you ask unsure, “but I ... maybe I could have done better. I am trained to ...”

“I am absolutely sure, child,” professor Tiberius says serious, “we are proud to have you in our ranks. And you deserved your reward well. In the future, we will recommend you for higher missions. Well done. Speaking about the reward, it was 30 silvercoins. And since you alone brought the mission to success, you deserve it completely. As usual, the guild will withhold five coins of your reward to pay off your dept. Do you want me to send some of them to your family like last time?”

“That … is a bit too much,” you reply a little shocked, “I ... I only won after Tocar weakened the monster first. He injured it. And I was not able to save him or preserve the chimeras body. I am fine with my usual payment.”

“No, you are not,” Raka interrupts suddenly, “the director is right. You did a great job and deserve it. How about sending your family ten coins this time and keep the remaining 15. Buy yourself something nice or donate it if you want.”

“I ... guess I am overruled,” you give in and sigh, “Tocar ... he recommended me to get a real outfit for such missions. Something with protection that not limit my movement. I guess I will do that.”

“Excellent,” Professor Tiberius says pleased and hands you a small bag with 15 coins, “another victory for democracy. Ten coins for your family. They will be very happy. And I honestly think this is a wonderful decision. Honor him and his last advice by getting more effective. Then I think we are almost done. Just one last thing, Clare. You are still a novice. The lowest rank in this guild. I think you just proved this no longer suits you. I will speak with your teachers about the upcoming the exams to become an apprentice.”

“Wait, what?” you ask shocked, “but … I am only …”

“You are ready,” Raka says decided, “by the love of the gods, you killed a fucking chimera. This is not an almsgiving. You deserve this.”

“I … I am not sure,” you mumble overwhelmed, “of course it is my goal to become an apprentice very quickly … but … I am not sure I am ready.”

“Understandable,” Professor Tiberius says calm, “how about you rest a little now. Take some time to think and have a talk to you professor tomorrow. This is an important decision. By the way, you have the rest of the day off.”

You walk down the floors in silence. You are still a little overwhelmed. It is great that the guild appreciates your efforts and successes, but you were not ready for such a promotion. Of course you hoped to become an apprentice soon. It would get you access to better spells, better missions with more income and even more freedom. But this was very sudden. The director is probably right. You should come to rest and think about this. However, fate has no interest in letting you rest. As soon as you open the door to your small room, you are greeted by another surprise.