While gazing out of the back of the carriage, the scenery started to change as we finally made our way out of the forest. Not long after, I saw people working on fields “Oh, looks like we are close.” I turn to see Chelsey looking out the back as well.

“How big is Trennet Village?” I asked, curiously.

“Hmm, I would say it’s a medium sized village. It’s bigger than Last Haven but smaller than the capital.” She had a finger resting on her lip as she spoke.

Soon after, the carriage comes to a stop and we hear Vaero talking to someone “Is everything alright here?”.

“State your name and business here.” is what we heard from the other party.

“My name is Vaero and I’m a travelling merchant, I came here to do business.”.

“Hmm.. Alright, you’re free to come in, just be careful around the forest, there’s been reports of bandits in the area.” and with that the carriage started to head into the village.

After seeing the village gate come into view, the scenery changed once more. The sides of the road were full of life with many people walking around with their own agendas.

A short distance into town, we arrived at the inn we were staying at. Once the horses were taken care of and the carriage was put off to the side, we all headed inside to get some lunch that wasn’t just dried meat.

While we all sat around the table, Chelsey had a smile with a hint of sadness as she pulled out a small pouch and placed it in front of me. “Well, since we made it to Trennent Village, it’s time to give you your pay.” After she said this, I remembered the deal I made with her. “So what will you be doing now? Do you have any plans on how to meet with the Duke? I don’t think it would be easy to just get a viewing with him if you’re a nobody.”.

I was stumped from her question, I didn’t think much after reaching Trennent Village. “For now, I’ll get my bearings around the place.”.

“Since we are staying in the same inn for a few days, feel free to ask me anything if you need help.”. While I was nodding to her, our food was placed in front of us in a swift fashion.

I looked down to see my plate filled with chicken and potatoes. “Let us eat well, for maybe the last time we eat together.” I looked to Chelsey to see her with a bittersweet smile as she said a few words before digging in. Shortly after the only noise heard was them eating.

Once we finished, Chelsey looked towards me “If you haven’t thought of anything to meet with the Duke, I might be able to help.”.

Shortly after, a thud hits the table, belonging to Vaero as he looks towards Chelsey “No, you can’t do that, it is too dangerous!”.

“He will have a very little chance to meet the Duke if he doesn’t get help!” Chelsey claimed while peering towards him.

Vaero with his eyes closed, sighs “No, is a no, you of all people know why.”. He opened his eyes, looking towards me “The only way he could get an audience with the Duke is if he was a well known person since he isn’t a noble of high statues.”.

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“If that's the case, there might be one way! If he goes to the guild and becomes known then he could!” Chelsey’s gaze turns towards me as well.

Vaero looks to Chelsey “Becoming known isn’t something that happens overnight. He would be spending months, if not, years before the Duke would accept an audience.”.

Chelsey lets out a soft sigh “That’s true.” her eyes looked towards the table as she slouched down.

Before silence started to linger, I looked towards Chelsey “That’s okay, I’ll be fine on my own. I’ll figure something out when I get to the guild.”. I get up from the table while saying “Thanks for the food. I’ll be leaving for my room now.”. I then started to walk towards the stairs that lead up to the rooms before they could say anymore.

Once I was up the stairs, it brought me into a long hallway with doors on both sides. I walked down the hallway with my eyes looking at each door's number. I finally stopped and turned to the door labeled one hundred eleven and opened the door.

I entered inside and closed the door behind as I glanced around the room. The room kept to the bare minimums of just a bed with a night stand beside it, it was much like the room in Last Haven. As I walked towards the bed, I took my sword off my back and placed it against the night stand. I don’t like sleeping but when I looked at the bed it looked very welcoming so I laid down.

While I laid there, I looked towards the ceiling and started to think about what I should do. All I know is that I should go to the guild they were talking about earlier.

I laid for for a while longer before deciding to get up and asking Chelsey a few questions about the guild. With my sword behind my back again, I go to the door and right as my hand lays on the door handle, someone starts knocking.

With the person mid knocking, I open it as my hand naturally grabs onto my sword. On the other side of the door was a surprised Chelsey who was caught knocking on the air. “Oh, were you leaving?” She says while tilting her head slightly.

“I was going to look for you, I had some questions about the guild.” My hand drops from the sword returning to my side.

“It seems we have the same agenda, do you mind if I come in?” She looks at me curiously and I turn to the side to let her in. She makes her way over to the bed and sits at the end of it while I stay standing up. “So what were your questions?” She says as she tilts her head and rests a finger on her lip.

“Ultimately, what is a guild and how will it help me?” I asked curiously.

With a smile on her face she started to explain “In majority of villages that are big enough to support it, there are guilds which take in requests from the townspeople or higher ups and distribute it based on ranks.”. “When someone joins the guild for the first time, they judge your mana, type of magic and fighting capabilities and from there they give you a rank from F being the lowest and A being the normal highest.”.

She pauses for a moment and I take the opportunity to ask “What do you mean normal highest?”.

“What that means is the highest rank someone can get when joining the guild would be rank A, after that they have to use their own abilities to get the ranks above which are S, SS, and SSS which from my knowledge there’s no one at SSS in our current times.”. She stops to think “Well there was one person I heard of who could have made it there but apparently they died on a mission three or four years ago.”.

I intently listen to her and when she stops again, I use it to ask another question “So how will it help me in the current situation?”.

“Well from what I know, they won’t give you a low rank to start and if I tell them about your employment to me, it’ll help the leeway to a higher rank possibly.” She answered. “It wouldn’t be good today but tomorrow morning let us both go to the guild and get you set up, if possible it wouldn’t be long after that before you have a good chance to meet the Duke.”.

Understanding what she’s saying, I agreed to meet her in the morning but I was curious to why in the morning “But why not today?”.

She looked at me with a gentle smile “I have a few things I need to do in town today so tomorrow morning lets meet up in front of the inn.” she says while getting up. After nodding to her, I take a step back to let her out and with a smile on her face “I will see you tomorrow then.” and with that she left the room, closing the door behind.

I stood there for a few moments after she left thinking on how to fill the rest of the evening but couldn’t think of much. The one thing I did decide to do though was cultivate and so I went and sat down on the bed crisscrossed and closed my eyes.

After a few calming moments, I visualized myself in my subconscious. Once I was in the empty void, I felt a pain in my chest, it felt like my heart was on fire and the air around me started to thin out even more. I felt like I was suffocating myself so I roused myself out of meditation.

After I was conscious again it felt like my lungs were empty as I desperately grasped for air. After I calmed my body down I decided not to meditate anymore for now. I then got up from the bed and walked over to the window, parting the curtains to let in the little bit of sun left that was on the horizon.

With lots of time before morning, I decided to go outside to practice more swordsmanship. Once outside I headed around the back of the inn to find a suitable place but what I found behind the inn instead was Vaero practicing with his swordsmanship already. He noticed me as soon as I entered the area and turned to me.

“You know, we never got to finish with our sparring from before.” He claims while bringing his sword up, pointing it towards me.

“I was thinking the same thing, shall we pick up where we left off?” I answer with a question while my hand finds its way to the hilt protruding from my back.