Drifting Embers
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[MGM]: 37 - Origin Of Everything
🕑 Added 2025-01-26 15:24:01 +0000 UTCRegistration for the guild as a hunter involved a three-step process. The first and easiest one was where the hunter would be asked to input their details—name, race, level, origin, and whatnot—on a ready-made document. Amara was quick to start filling the form.
Tania and I took to the sides as we watched Amara go through the motions. The woman from before—who identified herself as Zyra—stood beside us, her gaze locked intently on the vampire's back.
"Ahem." I cleared my throat and said with a lighthearted tone. "Honestly, it's a bit of a surprise that the guild would allow a vampire to join as a part of their organization."
"Why?" Zyra asked, her posture shifting in interest.
I hesitated briefly before answering. "Well, you know the prejudice our people harbor toward The Empire and other races in general. I expected the guild to offer similar treatment."
"Then you think too lowly of us, um..." She paused, directing an inquiring look my way.
"Markus." I provided.
"Yes, Markus." She nodded. "As I was saying, the guild is separate from the kingdom even if we draw on the same roots. There is an even minor branch of our guild running in The Empire, and you know who operates it?"
I knew what she wished from me, so I simply inclined my head and asked, "Who?"
"Vampires." She smiles. "We even allow Elves to perform trade in our city, though they do have to be covert about it. Erdewatch is still a part of the Kingdom after all."
We traded a few more words before Amara announced she was ready.
"Excellent." Zyra clapped her hands in excitement. "Let's proceed to the next level."
The next level involved the confirmation phase. The guild used the World Seer Orb to produce a copy of the Soul Record. I watched curiously, expectant to see the Night Veil in action.
Surprisingly, Amara made no effort to disguise her attributes; the only thing she changed was her origin and its rarity. It would seem Zyra wasn't intent on probing through her profile at a microscopic level.
"Such attributes at only Level 92." The woman spoke with an awe-filled expression, astonishment written all over her face. She then offered a gentle smile to Amara and continued, "There's no need for further tests. If you desire so, we can conclude the process here and confer you a formal guilder status."
Amara exchanged a glance with me, and I offered a subtle nod. She shifted her attention back to Zyra. "Sure. The sooner we finish, the better."
Zyra led us through the hallways—a bundle of papers, alongside a translucent crystal bar that recorded Amara's mana signature—grasped tightly in her hands. Just then, a shout sounded from behind.
"Miss Zyra, wait!"
Our procession came to a halt as we turned around in sync to regard the mousy-haired girl from earlier.
"They have finished their preparations..." She spoke, panting heavily. "They are waiting for your order, miss."
Zyra eyed the heavily breathing form of the short girl before she briefly shifted her gaze to Amara and then turned back. "Very well, they have my permission to commence with the operation. As for what I demanded earlier, has there been any reply?"
"Yes." The girl nodded. "They say they are en route and estimate the time of their arrival to be before the sun sets."
The entire conversation was lost on me, though it wasn't difficult to infer some minor details. Clearly something had gone wrong with their so-called 'set the forest alight' plan. I had feared something like that happening, but it nonetheless took me by surprise.
"Alright, relay my orders to the committee immediately."
The girl curved a shallow bow before bolting with the fastest speed she could muster, which turned out to be quite fast, as even I was surprised.
"Apologies, let's not waste any more time. Please come." Zyra took the charge and marched forward with a solemn air.
I took a quick few steps to fall in line beside the guild woman, though she chose to ignore my presence. I wasn't deterred by that and instead decided to ask directly.
"What happened at the wall, Zyra?" My question was simple, but it addressed the heart of the issue.
A conflicted look passed through her face as she gnashed her teeth. "Those knight bastards..." She muttered a low curse before sighing. "They took their armies overnight and left the city."
"What?" The information took me by surprise that I nearly stopped. "Why did they do that?"
She shrugged. "Apparently some big shot in the capital was killed. They have everything under lock and key there. Even called in everyone from all over the kingdom."
"Wait, what about the Feylance Barony then?"
I had previously heard from the guy who escorted us into the city that the Feylance Barony was dealing with stuff on their own. With the guild trying to establish a semblance of stability and the County fighting their own wars, the Barony only had the support from the Royal Family.
But if they supposedly withdrew everyone, then...
"I don't know. It's already bad enough here as is. Not to mention after Master Julian suffered grave injuries, we are currently scrambling to avoid a spillover."
Ok, I might've hugely underestimated the shit the city seemed to be in. Why they hadn't issued a mass evacuation notice must be because the guild was confident they could bring the situation under control. That said, I wasn't exactly keen on offering trust to the people who had already made massive fuck-ups.
I saw Zyra offer tentative glances Amara's way, probably expecting the aloof vampire to provide her own analysis of the events. She was guaranteed to be disappointed, though.
Of course I knew the only reason this woman had coughed up so much information was because of Amara. I didn't know what she exactly desired from the vampire, but when working under desperate straits, people would grasp anything proffered.
We were ushered inside a room with plush furniture and a comfortable atmosphere.
"Normally, Master Julian himself handles such tasks, and when unavailable, the duty falls on Brandon." I recognized both names, though I quickly associated the latter with the 200th ranked on the top 200 hunters of the kingdom. "With the former being incapacitated and the latter not available, it falls on me to proceed with the initiation."
Judging by her tone, Julian had probably suffered serious injuries. I didn't know what that would mean for the Erdwatch or even this situation in general. Zyra seemed to have called on the reinforcements, but again I wasn't willing to extend my trust.
"What kind of benefits does registering with the guild provide?" Tania asked, leaning against the wall.
Zyra smiled and answered. "Of all kinds. Let me explain them to you as I finish this entry..."
It was a spiel I had already weathered through once, so I shifted my attention to examining the room. Honestly, while the guild provided a number of perks, most of them came with a cost. And they were beneficial only to those at the lower ranks who wanted to start low and build up from there. Powerful hunters not affiliated with the core structure would hardly align themselves with the guild.
Tania asked a few more questions until Amara finally asked one herself. "How can a hunter cancel their contract with the guild?"
Zyra's smile stiffened at the question. "W-why would you wish to break away from the contract?"
"I didn't say I wanted to." Amara said. "Just curious."
"The process isn't that difficult, though you would have to meet with the guild master himself."
No one asked another question afterward, and we all kept silent until Zyra finally finished the paperwork and pulled out an ID badge. She transferred a copy of Amara's mana signature and offered the badge to the vampire.
"With this, you're officially a part of the guild. Though like everyone else, you will start as an Iron Rank hunter."
Although it was only days prior that I worried about the ranking myself, thinking back on it now, I couldn't help but let out a snicker. Guild rankings were what decided your capacity as a capable hunter. At Iron Rank, you could only take missions up to Level 20. Completion of three such missions would promote one to Bronze rank. Most of my former party had been at this ranking. It was the reason why we were so desperate to clean a Yellow-Rank Event. If they had completed that mission, they would've been promoted to Silver Rank. Or rather they already had.
Somehow the incident of that day felt so far away. So much had happened in this past week that I found it hard to believe that only so little time had passed.
I recalled the mines where I had spent years working, the days bleeding into monotone. It was the exact opposite there. So many days would pass, and I wouldn't even know about it.
"As for your teammates, would you provide their info, please?"
Zyra's words broke me from my recollection, and I quickly relayed the information. She had to look up the records of the team and their last assigned mission. The process was cumbersome, as she sifted through entry after entry.
It was about ten minutes later that she finally found the names.
"They seemed to have left with a group of another 10 hunters to provide support to the Barony."
Huh?
My former teammates were in the same place where I grew up. How ironic.
Comments
Immortal Phoenix
I think lack of information is the primary cause here. We'll have to wait and see
hawkshe .
Wait, the guild has branches in multiple countries? They are essentially a mercenary organization who seems to control a significant portion of the countries elite. Why would a country allow something like that to form in the first place when it could just as easily be used to destabilize the country and owes no allegiance to them? (I know these guilds being multinational is a trope, but it's never made much sense to me.)
