"Completed your quests?" Guildmaster Hilda asked in greeting.
Lone nodded before taking a seat. He'd come up to the second floor on his own, leaving Soph and Breena to peruse the quest boards downstairs. After all, once Lone was back in the militaristic enlistment compound, it could be a few days or longer before he'd be able to take on his next mission.
It'd be good if Soph and Breena could earn some more credit towards their next plate promotions by doing simple quests within the city, making the most of their time away from him.
"Good, good," Hilda said. "We know roughly where Gilbert is."
Lone's eyes widened.
"Naw exactly, mind ye," Hilda said, tempering his expectations. "There's only so much we can dae with 'im knowin' what position the sun is in at 12th bell, the strength o' the sea's waves, an' the creatures inhabitin' it. Still, we've got it triangulated down tae 'im being somewhere in the Northern Emerald Sea."
Lone raised a concerned eyebrow. "Isn't that directly above the sealed monster continent?"
Hilda nodded. "Just north o' its southern counterpart, aye."
Lone leaned back into his chair as he stared up at the ceiling. The sealed monster continent took up a massive swathe of the northern lands. It was enough for it to be labelled its own continent even if it was technically a part of Teresta.
A massive magical and unbreakable shield had kept it sealed for hundreds of thousands of years if legends were to be believed. The shield's dark green sheen reflected onto the ocean north of it, giving the four seas that it was made up of the 'emerald' part of their name.
That was about as far as Lone's knowledge of the topic extended. He hadn't read many books about the many, many seas and oceans that surrounded Teresta.
"You'll need a powerful and durable hull for a ship to even get out there," Lone commented, "Let alone explore in hopes of stumbling across the island they're stranded on."
Guildmaster Hilda raised an impressed eyebrow. "Ken ah thing or two aboot shipwrightin', dae ya?"
"I've got the Shipbuilding and Sailing Mastery skills. Haven't you seen my file? Appeared at Milindo's port city Ros with a ship. Well, I lived on an island for a good while before salvaging a broken ship and then sailed to Milindo with it. I've read up on all of the oceans and seas that surround Teresta as much as I could. As much as I could isn't much, mind you, given Milindo didn't document stuff nearly as much as I'd like and the dwarven kingdoms touch no oceans, so information is also lacking here. I did try though. Seemed wise in case I ever found myself in a similar situation," Lone explained.
"Ye're moor meticulous than most," Hilda commented. "Well, it's oot ah ma hands noo since 'e's basically on the other side oh the continent. The info has been verified and Grand Guildmaster Sarah has said she'll personally take care o' the rescue efforts. So, like ah said when we last spoke, ye've got some rewards tae claim."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small leather pouch and juggled it in her palm for a bit. She then sighed and tossed it to Lone who easily caught it.
"Dinnae lose 'at. Don't spend it lightly either. Ye could cripple ah local economy or two if ye'r nae careful," Hilda warned with a deadly tone of seriousness to her words.
Lone wore a curious expression as he slightly opened the pouch before peering into it, only to see a glint of ruby peering back at him. What he could see at the bottom of the small pouch as clear as day was a pair of ruby-gold coins.
"Really?" he asked in shock. This was an absurd amount of wealth.
Lone had only expected the previously stated ten white-gold coins, the equivalent of 1,000 gold coins. Instead, he'd been given a pair of ruby-gold coins, the equivalent of 200 white-gold coins or 20,000 gold coins.
"Ye underestimate 'ow much the guild values its masters. Now, ye've got some choices. Ye can keep those coins, or, ye can bank 'em wae the guild. I'd suggest doin' 'at. Only silver-plates an' above can use the guild's bankin' features, but honestly, withoot it, 'ow in the name ah the Stone are ye gonna even use so much money without havin' it split into smaller denominations?" Hilda asked rhetorically. "No bank can front that much cash unless ye're in ah massive city in ah rich kingdom or empire. Guild's yer best bet. Besides, ye'r due fer yer silver-plate promotion exam tomorrow mornin'."
'She did say before that even just a clue to Gilbert's whereabouts could lead to the promotion exam,' Lone thought.
"An' ah've seen yer skills first'and. Ah doubt the examiners will fail ya unless you cock up somethin' fierce. So, wan' me tae hold ontae those coins fae ya an' bank 'em the second ya become ah real adventurer?" Hilda offered.
With his Enhanced Vision, Lone couldn't see any signs of deception. There was a pretty low chance the guildmaster was trying to scam him out of enough money to buy a small town.
Not that it really mattered to him. Once he got his Creation Magic unsealed, he'd be able to make as many of the exceedingly valuable coins as he wished once again. That being the case, he nodded.
"Sure. I'll leave 'em in your hands," Lone said as he tossed the pouch back to her.
She grinned. "Ye'r ah smart one. Real fuckin' shame ye broke dwarven law. Ye'd 'ave been ah model adventurer tae 'elp bolster interspecies relations."
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"Coulda shoulda woulda. Live and let learn, yeah?" Lone commented.
"Weird phrases," Hilda replied. "Well, off wae ya. Be back 'ere by tenth bell the morrow, aye?"
"Will do," Lone answered.
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Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Enhanced Vision] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 4.
Lone sighed as he collapsed onto his and Soph's bed in their room at the Rusty Sprocket.
"We're being watched, aren't we?" he asked.
Soph jolted in surprise. "I was just going to mention that. How'd you find out?"
"Was looking at the rooftops as we walked here from the guild. I could have sworn I saw a copper chimney move. I got a level in Enhanced Vision at the exact same time," Lone explained.
Soph nodded. "Well, yeah. I could see them pretty clearly. There were seven dwarves following us, maybe eight. The last could have just been a coincidence. The seven were all on the roofs staring at you the entire time."
"Mages?" Lone asked.
Soph shook her head. "Not as far as me and Sophie could tell."
"Ah. So no guesses on their strength?" Lone followed up.
"Nothing certain. I'm trying to figure out ranks by magic levels, but it's hard. Your guess is as good as mine. You said you saw a chimney move? I wasn't looking at them with my actual eyes, just Mana Sensing. That sounds like illusion magic though, but I would have seen that as the magic it was..." Soph wore a confused look on her face.
Lone shrugged as he closed his eyes and slowly began stripping in a lethargic manner. "Could have been a camouflaging art or something that drains SP, not MP. I'll see if I can't find it in the guild's list of skills when I hit silver plate tomorrow."
"Confident you'll pass the exam? Even though, uh... most dwarves don't really, y'know..." Soph's words were awkward but her meaning was clear.
"The guild is impartial. I'll hold 'em to that," Lone replied. "I do wonder who our observers are though. I'd bet on servants of the dwarven kingdoms employed to keep an eye on me. Makes you wonder why they bother with scripture magic if they're gonna keep close tabs on me anyway. Then again, they didn't follow us out of the krieg, so I guess it's just to make sure I don't go berserk before the magic pops my head clean off my shoulders."
"... Sophie is asking me if you want her to make them disappear," Soph said.
"Hah. Nah. She just wants us to leave this place, doesn't she? Them vanishing would force us to flee. They can keep watching us when we're in the krieg so long as that's all they do. It's a way for me to train Enhanced Vision, if nothing else," Lone dismissed.
Soph smiled wryly as she finished taking off her and Sophie's armour. "I do agree with her. Not, uh, randomly murdering people, but on leaving. You want to go to The Academy don't you?"
"I want to do a lot of things, but that is the ultimate goal in the near future, yes. We could both learn a lot from one of the world's largest institutes of magic and magical arts," Lone replied.
"... But your mana organs need to be unsealed, which is one of the reasons we're staying here, right?" Soph answered as she yawned and began undressing. "Nap?"
"That was my intent," Lone said as he got under the covers. "But yeah, that's one reason. There are a lot of reasons. Stay above board while my organs unseal. Work off my sentence since I was in the wrong. Stay here long enough to be here for when Wilbur... passes. Earn money so I don't need to use Creation Magic on it much when my organs do get unsealed. Rank up our guild plates. Learn the dwarven languages properly. Get stronger. Etcetera etcetera. We'll be busy for the next few months."
"So long as we're only busy, and not in perilous danger," Soph sighed. "I'm still worried about that dwarven woman your arbiter warned you about."
"Sheelda? We'll be fine. No one knows what we're capable of. Even if they know I injured an X-ranker who wasn't fighting back, that's barely the tip of the iceberg. Now get over here. My tails need a cuddle buddy while I catch some winks," Lone said.
"And I will be more than pleased to oblige," Soph giggled.
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The following morning, Lone had come to the guild alone for his silver plate exam. He was nervous but also excited in equal measure.
This was one of, if not the single most important plates for an adventurer to earn.
It marked the change from a random mercenary to a trusted member of the guild. And that trust came with perks.
'Particularly the skill list Hamish mentioned. I cannot wait to get my hands on that baby,' Lone thought excitedly as he entered the building.
Instead of having to wait in a line to be served for once, he was approached by a staff member. "Mister Immortus, please follow me to the exam area."
He happily nodded and carefully followed the short dwarven man who didn't seem overly pleased to be leading him, but was otherwise doing his job flawlessly.
'Personal views exist, but professionalism prevails. I really am starting to come to love the guild,' Lone thought.
Before long, he found himself back in the same training area Hamish had almost killed him in roughly two months ago.
Sitting or standing near the back wall of the room were four dwarves and one non-dwarf - a man whom Lone recognised belonged to the Shale species.
Shale were a very small group of sentient golems, to put it simply. The man was massive and made from a mixture of some sort of stone and iron, as far as Lone could tell.
Of the four dwarves, Lone only recognised Guildmaster Hilda.
"Good luck," his guide said with a surprising amount of sincerity before he bowed his head towards the five people at the other end of the training area and then left.
"Lone Immortus," Hilda called as she stepped forward. "Welcome tae yer silver-plate exam. We five shall be presidin' over the test. Maself, the Guildmaster o' this branch o' The Adventurer's Guild, Hilda Castfire. Gold plate adventurer Lord Iroh Steamcaller o' Krieg Stern. Gold plate adventurer Isolde Steamcaller."
Lone raised an eyebrow. 'Husband and wife? Father and daughter? Maybe mother and son, though unlikely since he's of nobility and she ain't. Hard to tell who's older and who isn't with long-lived races. Wonder how strong they are to be gold plates? That's two above silver, just one above gold-silver.'
He unconsciously licked his lips at the thought of the skills they could give him if only they attacked him or the skill level ups he'd earn if they let him do the same to them.
"Gold-silver plate adventurer Reld Bellow. An' finally, Guildmaster Oror o' Krieg Stern's branch o' The Adventurer's Guild," Hilda finished with their introductions.
Lone looks at the Shale man with a raised eyebrow.
"Two guildmasters?" he whispered to himself.
Hilda nodded. "As is customary when decidin' if ah dark-steel plate adventurer should join the ranks o' silver."
Lone hadn't expected an answer but he appreciated it nonetheless. "Must have been a bitch to get any silver promotions done in Milindo given their distaste of letting non-locals in."
"Before the recent reform, aye. It was ah nuisance. Less idle chatter noo. The exam has already begun. There are three sections tae the exam. The reviewal step, the character assessment step, and the strength assessment step. Are ye ready, Lone Immortus?" Guildmaster Hilda asked.
"Of course," he nodded eagerly.
One way or another, Lone would get his hands on that mystical skill list Hamish had poisoned his mind with. Preferably through legal means.