Chapter 0.5

He really was cursed; from the moment those Sandworms crept out of the cave, other monsters soon followed. Burrowers, Basilisks, even Earth golems! Not just those, other smaller creatures rushed out as well.

If he was to guess, then this place must be a dungeon, or a new expansion from it, there are cases where dungeons uses its creatures to expand its territory so this thing isn’t that rare. But the timing and coincidence was something else, as if the creatures were hunting or defending? But together? Basilisks and Earth golems were natural allies but with Burrowers and Sand worms? Then this cave is probably a part of a dungeon now. And this is close to the ocean too! This could—

“[Guild Master] Hammersworth! Someone wishes to see you—” a female voice hurriedly said as if not wanting to disturb a grumpy dwarf.

The guild master slams his short hands on his table; making some paper works jump up and sways back down to their original positions.

“If it's THAT skinny human brat again I SWEAR on my ancestor's golden beards I'll nail you on that door!”

Hammersworth or Runtirl Hammersworth only meant what he swears if his words has ancestors or beards on it, which prompted his assistant to immediately close the door before she literally becomes a nail, but not before she casually tossed a small stone behind, which the guild master saw and made him consider lifting his Warhammer resting beside his chair, he grabbed it with his left hand, although it's the only hand he have and the weapons weight and height wasn't meant to be lifted with only one hand let alone a dwarf like Runtirl.

He casually threw it towards the door, not minding whether the whole building collapsed, but just before it hit the door, the destructive projectile was blocked or rather was swapped out of the building and to a vacant lot just beside it, the building shook but unlike the first few incidents, no one inside the building panicked, a few even managed to wage bets, whether if the hammer would crash somewhere within the building or not.

“Aren't you getting tired of this old man?” a human smugly said, clearly enjoying the aggravated look of the [Guild Master].

“Pfft! You're not as invincible as you think BOY! If I truly wanted to kill you, you wouldn't even see it” replied Runtirl whose anger seemed to dissipate into resignation. “And if you still insist on not telling your real name on this stone, then we cannot verify your Status and that means the Guild wouldn't be able to compensate you”

Runtirl's curse or Trafe who already heard what the guild master said last, didn't bother to listen again, instead he took the moment to tie his shoulder length black hair into a spiky ponytail after that he threw a stone at the guild master, who held his left arm up, but he didn't expect the stone to swap back with his Warhammer while in midair, making the heavy weapon swing in an uncontrollable motion.

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“[Revert]!—Damnit Boy! Do you wanna destroy my table! And why was it swinging? I heard it crash outside” Hammersworth yelled in surprise.

“Oh that? Too much mana maybe? I didn’t know if your weapon was an Artefact or just have a lot of enchantment, I guess I know now” Trafe answered like he was either confuse as well or was just confirming something, either way he learned a lot more about the weapon without needing a [Blacksmith], [Enchanter] or a similar Class.

“Pfft! You're smarter than you let on or you don't really know how to use your Skills or was it a Spell? Ah forget it, I know you wouldn't answer, you don't even want to reveal your name, let alone your class” The guild master mused. “You're either a criminal on the run or your name must be too valuable” Runtirl rambled, he isn't as talkative as his kin, but he is clearly interested in having a conversation with Trafe, even if it's a one-sided one. Now that he thought about it, his assistant was still letting Trafe in even after Runtirl warned them not to. They might have heard him talk too much whenever Trafe was around.

“My real name does not matter, although that's the reason why I'm here” Trafe said with a disrespecting tone, but the guild master doesn't seem to mind.

“And what would that be? Runtirl asked, but he already knows what Trafe wants.

“Your assistant—Sheryl? You see, I asked her if she knows a way for me to change my name permanently, and I think you already know what she told me”

“Sheryl huh, kind-hearted that lass, so? Let’s say that she told you something about it, what makes you think that I’ll help? I could have mention something like that the before if I wanted to”

“Well, I heard that you want someone to explore this cave near my ship” said Trafe with a small grin.

Runtirl sighed when he heard Trafe said that he owned Firefly’s ship, for the last three weeks since the Ship Incident, the guild was trying to reclaim the ship from Trafe, they tried but the ship keeps popping out of the port. The guild couldn’t afford or spare a mage to secure it. So for now, Runtirl decided not to bother with it.

“We do not allow non authorized personnel in to a dungeon” Rinturl flat out declared. True, he doesn’t have any competent adventurers or team available now, but he was waiting for one of his Gold rank team to return, he already ordered his assistant to send a [Message] to each one of them but, one team will be enough for a scout mission.

“Then give me one, your [Guards] can’t hold that entrance much longer, sure they can hold it for now, but that’s because me and Nayb are there helping them, well just him for now but—”

“NO! Even if I wanted to, I can’t give you one unless I confirm your name! And you want me to change it for you? You don’t look like a nobility, and I know if someone is even if they try to hide it, which means you’re hiding from someone and possibly because they can find you if you were to give your name, and only criminals do that!”

Runtirl’s sudden outburst made Trafe consider his words, especially because the guild master was gripping his now human-sized weapon.

“I can assure you…” Trafe said while he gestured his hand for Runtirl to stop whatever what he is about to do. “Hiding my name is the best for my—for everyone’s safety, I may have had took something that wasn’t mine before but that doesn’t mean I’m dangerous. Look! I really want to tell you the truth but I reassure you that hiding it is for the best, I think you’ll understand once I told you but I can’t. For now”

“Pfft! You sound like a criminal to me, doesn’t matter, I know just the thing to make you talk!” He raised his hammer. “I’m out of patience with you boy! You either get out of here now or you won’t be able to!” the seriousness on his deep voice was enough for anyone to run away immediately, but not Trafe.

“Make me old runt” Trafe declared. This prompted Runtirl to swing his weapon. A loud crash was heard yet again besides the building as Trafe swapped the hammer again but Runtirl knew it was going to happen.

“[Return!]”. Runtirl leaped forward, lifting and swinging his empty hand to the air. The warhammer returned mid-swing,

[Thunderclap!] The warhammer hit the floor, a expanding wave of sound travelled across the room, but the floor held, anyone within the room except Runtirl is surely to wail in pain as the sound hit their ears. Sadly no one other than him was in the room.

“That will teach him” the guild master murmured. He returned to his desk, making the papers and some furniture rearranged themselves back to where they were. A few minutes of complaining later, a knock on his enchanted door was heard and Sheryl entered again without bothering to wait for Runtirl to let her enter. Runtirl was sure she was just going to complain about the ruckus he made.