The short and direct words of Elijah made Alessia and the tall and finely cut man chuckle. Lorsen licked his lips and touched part of his black goatee that emphasized his manliness. This man was truly stunning, and definitely had a refined body under his crowned black and gold garments.

“That is quite a wish young fellow. I can tell you have a water affinity, so if you prove yourself in the early stages of being a junior hunter, you will have that spot.” Lorsen assumed Elijah knew he needed to have a certain level of power. However, it intentionally went unsaid as a test to see if this boy was truly worth caring for. It was also obvious that he would mainly be a support, but who said Elijah would simply ‘follow the rules’ when he gets that spot?

Alexia had wished for a staff of her specifications, which is something no blacksmith had, and could only be made. A bo staff was a rare choice of weapon only because of the unpopularity surrounding them. Not being able to cut through a beast signified weakness.

Niko also felt as though nothing they were offering was worth it. To a well established noble, he already had many connections and potential mentor’s without mentioning the great wealth that gets him anything he wants. “I’ll decide later…”

Trey was a simple child who relished in the hardships of living in the inner city. His family were miners, and he wanted a different life. “I’ll take gold, however much you can give me.”

Lorsen kindly shook the small hands of the potential frontliners, and walked out of the office. However, before, he said with his head peeking through the door, “You will have your gold delivered to your family house or apartment. I expect great things from you all.”

As Lorsen was walking through the hall, he couldn’t help but laugh. A water affinity mage that wants a spot on the frontlines? How pathetic. That earth mage barely has any talent considering he asked for a bag of gold. The only noteworthy people were that beautiful girl and arrogant noble…

Alessia pushed her body away from leaning against the stone and wooden wall, and flicked her hair in the wind as she said her goodbyes. “You all may leave now. I wish you goodluck in the future.”

Elijah could feel the tension in the air. They all felt used due to the way Lorsen and Alessia talked to them. Well, maybe only Elijah. “I wish you both good luck and I hope we can fight beasts again sometime soon. Have a good day.”

Alexia said her goodbyes and walked out of the organic office with Elijah and into the hallway where they saw numerous people walking. With their own personal pendants that were the size of a gold coin, they now had a physical way to prove their own identity. The air of the hallway was felt on Elijah’s back as his leather and cloth garments were ripped open. Stares were sent towards Elijah, but went unnoticed.

While walking down the carpeted wooden stairs, both Elijah and Alexia saw a familiar figure sitting down in a group of couches conversing with other hunters. The figure of Novius was making large hand motions that probably meant explaining a new magitech invention he had thought about.

“Novius!”

“Elijah! Alexia!” Novius turned in excitement. And the people who were sitting down talking to Novius looked at them in confusion, besides two familiar faces. “Based on your excitement, you passed right?!”

“Yes we did, although I am only acting this way because I need to make my day better. It was a difficult test, and the examiner left without letting us know…” Alexia moved closer to Elijah during his words.

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“W-what happened?”

“We will talk to you about it later, but just know that two of the people we were grouped with died…” Elijah somberly said.

Novius comforted Elijah and Alexia and began introducing his friends. Theon, Raylen, Emelia, Harry, and Aslan. “From what I remember, you have already met the twins. Emelia and Harry are cousins from the Rusteire family, and Aslan is the youngest son of Lorsen Creveron, the leader of this guild building.” Novius looked at his friends and pointed toward Elijah and Alexia. “These are my two friends Elijah Veran, and Alexia Sinclair!”

Novius was rather chatty in public, which is something Elijah enjoyed. His early years of being holed up in his bedroom made him feel like an outcast. If he had the same mind he used to have, he would feel second hand embarrassment just from watching Novius express himself. “It is a pleasure to meet you all! I hope in the near future we can kill some beasts together!” Elijah brought his fist to his chest and received smiles from the newly made friends.

Everyone sat down and discussed their affinities and experiences so far.

Theon and Raylen started off with their recent adventure into The catacombs where they ran into caveworms that used different types of magic. Novius and the rest of the group were part of this adventure, and they all laughed at each other when Harry swore he did not run out of mana. Emelia Rusteire, who is the daughter of the council family of the Outer West was drawn towards Elijah due to them both sharing the water affinity. Theon had an ice affinity which made him think of Amaris, when was I going to see that man again?

“Guys, I am sorry but I must return to the estate. This conversation was incredible and has made the day so much better, but I need to recover from what happened in The Catacombs. By the way, I am serious about us adventuring into The Catacombs together.” Elijah stood up which caused Alexia’s conversation with Aslan, who had an air affinity, to come to a halt.

“Wait! Let us get your pendant imprints so we can communicate with each other!” Emelia’s words confused both Alexia and Elijah.

“What?” Elijah had never heard of this before. However, with his knowledge, he knew what it meant. This also explains how Alessia knew to leave The Catacombs, she was contacted through her pendant! The true question Elijah was asking himself, was why this wasn’t mainstream?

Novius stood up to explain. “Don’t worry, every new hunter is always surprised by this invention as it is not known by the mainstream public, and only allowed with the hunter guilds when you are an active hunter or teacher within the magic academy. Pull out your pendant and let the front emblem touch the emblem of another. An imprint will appear on the back with a small name of the user below it. All you do is shuttle mana into it, tap one or multiple people, then talk. You can also create groups that take up only one imprint space to talk to a set group of people with one motion.”

Elijah was flabbergasted. “What type of magic is this?!”

Novius smiled. “I know it’s a combination of lightning and metal, but there's also something else that I have no idea about. It’s fascinating!”

Elijah exchanged the imprints of his new friends he hoped to keep. He needed to form a group fast because as Alessia explained, It is your job to choose your own missions in The Catacombs, no one else’s.

The waves of Novius and his friends towards Elijah and Alexia as they walked towards the grand front door were stopped short as a group of people led by a familiar face passed by.

“Move it!”

Emery and what seemed like his group had just slammed into Alexia’s side and sent her tumbling, only to be caught by Elijah. The group of eight seemingly arrogant kids started laughing and talking while walking out into the sunlight.

“Haha, did you see that boy, the backs of his horrible clothes were ripped to shreds. How weak can you be?”

Elijah calmed Alexia, and only smiled at his friends who had frozen in their seats. Surprisingly, he had felt this anger inside of him. A will to beat the asses of the people who so casually talked to them like rats. Elijah had never been affected by haters in his past. However, his life was wildly different now, and had been changing Elijah and ways that would only show up in random moments.

“Don’t worry about guys, let’s just let them be. Also, Novius. Can you throw me a coin for a carriage?”

Novius didn’t complain and quickly flicked Elijah a shiny silver coin. The coin tumbled through the air, and found its way to the floor as Elijah’s fast swipe motion missed the coin by a hair.

Laughter was heard within the room alongside the sound of the coin clattering against the stone floor.

Dammit, how could I do something like that? Embarrassing!