Guildmaster Hilda put the artefact cube away for the final time as she asked, "How long 'as it been since ye were summoned?"

Lone frowned as he held his chin in thought. "A year or so? I don't exactly have a calendar, but yeah, about that long."

Guildmaster Oror stepped forward, quickly closing the distance between himself and Lone. He put one of his massive stone hands on Lone's shoulder and smiled while he said, "It has to be one of your unique skills. What a truly unique skill it is to let one learn almost 100 skills in less than a full year. Come, I'll personally walk you through the benefits of being a silver plate adventurer. Assuming that's okay with you, Hilda?"

The short dwarven woman scowled then sighed. "Fine. Whatever project ye've in mind though, save it 'til after 'e's oriented. An' ye, Lone. Ah'll get yer plate ready. Come pick it up from ah desk employee in aboot an 'our or so."

"An hour?" Lone asked. Normally, it took about five minutes or less for a new plate to be minted.

Hilda waved dismissively as she started walking off, choosing not to answer him.

Iroh and Isolde Steamcaller stretched as they made to leave as well. They gave Lone a brief farewell and wished him well before they were gone.

Reld Bellow approached Lone after that and said, "Silver an' above plates need tae be enchanted to prevent theft an' impersonation."

Guildmaster Oror nodded. "Indeed. That's the primary reason every guild branch has at least one mage proficient in enchanting magic stationed at them. Usually as a desk employee."

'Huh. That's neat. Maybe I can learn enchanting magic sooner than I'd imagined if I can get my hands on the mage they have stashed away here,' Lone thought.

Reld held out a hand for Lone, who promptly shook it.

"It was good tae meet another 'ero. If ye ever see ma full party, ah'd love fae ye an' Frido tae 'ave ah chat. He's mah group's resident 'ero. Though... well, ye'r whole Steamforgin' debacle has ruffled some feathers. Mah party didnae even wan' me tae take this job - y'ken, assessin' ya fae promotion," the stocky dwarf admitted.

Lone shook his head. "I don't blame them. I'll be sure to look you and your party up if I'm ever in..."

Taking the cue, Reld said, "Krieg Offtommer. We're the Silver Cog Company. Most well-known group in the krieg."

Lone and the gold-silver plate adventurer spoke for a short while longer before the dwarf gave a warm farewell and left.

Guildmaster Oror had silently waited all the while. "What a lovely young man. Well, shall we? I have some official things to show you and inform you of, then we simply must discuss something a bit more private if you'd humour me."

Lone followed the golem as he exited the training area. A sceptical look dominated his face. 'That didn't sound ominous at all. Fingers crossed my trust in revealing my uniqueness wasn't misplaced.'

"Depends on the nature of it. I only intended to come here for the exam. I still want to enjoy my holiday before the scripture magic forces me back to my cell," Lone commented.

"Aha, of course. Speaking of magic, we will need to have you be bound by contract magic to not reveal certain things you are about to learn and be given access to," the large man said as he lead Lone through the guild lobby and up to the second floor. "Hold my hand, would you? Actually, you're rather tall. My shoulder will do too."

Lone raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Please, without your silver plate, you'll need to be under the enchantments of my own adamantine plate for us to go where we need to," the Shale explained.

'Adamantine? That's four plates past silver. I wonder what rank he is? S? SS? Hmm... Speaking of, I wonder what plate Gilbert has? I've never asked him.' Lone frowned but complied nonetheless, reaching up to put his hand on the golem's shoulder. "Any chance you'll tell me why I need to do this?"

Guildmaster Oror rumbled out a chuckle in response, choosing not to reply. Instead, he walked forward into a wall.

Lone expected the man to bump against the stone bricks but he instead slipped right through them as if they weren't there.

Watching in muted shock as he, too, passed right through the wall and onto a set of hidden stairs, Lone mumbled, "An illusion? No. I'd have sensed it with Illusion Detection unless it's super strong. Even then, I'd have gotten a level or two in Illusion Magic Resistance from going through it."

"It's a series of enchantments, Lone. Still, you've encountered illusions despite only being on this world for about a year? What stories you surely have to tell..." the Shale gushed.

Lone let go of the giant stone man for a moment and said, "If I can't come in on my own in a minute, reach through and grab me. I wanna try something."

Guildmaster Oror raised the stony outcrop that was his left eyebrow before nodding. "I'm in no particular hurry."

Lone smiled at that then dashed back through the enchantment. He then stared at the wall as intently as he could for a good 5 minutes straight.

"Still can't see any difference at all... The skill's rank must not be high enough... That sucks. Can't I at least get a level or tw-"

Congratulations! The host's passive skill Enhanced Vision has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 5.

"Fuck yeah!" Lone could now see a very slight ripple at the edges of the open archway if he focused enough.

He couldn't actually see through the stones but he could tell there was something obscured there now. "This skill rocks."

Lone then threw himself at the stones and bounced off rather comically. A dribble of blood flowed down from a cut in his palm that had come as a result of slamming into the stones, but his skin quickly sealed up as if the wound had never been there.

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"Okay. That was dumb," Lone sighed as he got up.

The next moment, Guildmaster Oror's massive hand shot through the enchantment and grabbed Lone before dragging him back in.

"Please don't do that. Any more and it would be considered an attack of the enchantment formation. That, or you'd break the whole thing. Anyone can leave, but a silver or higher plate is needed to enter them. What were you doing anyway?" the Shale questioned.

"Oh. That's a shame. I was working on Enhanced Vision. Got a level, so it was worth it. Me trying to force myself through was an attempt to level Enchantment Magic Resistance. It's already expert rank so a level was unlikely, but how often does one run into new enchantments? I was hopeful," Lone explained.

"Hmm... You and I are going to get along rather well I feel, Lone. The mindset to learn and level skills almost zealously is a mindset I, too, possess. Now, come. Let's get that contract magic set up first so I can show you all of the fun parts of becoming a real member of the adventurer's guild." The Guildmaster from another krieg seemed rather excited.

----------------------------------------

"And that's everything," Guildmaster Oror rumbled happily as he delicately handed a pen to Lone. "Just sign here, here, and here, then the magic'll settle."

The contract was pretty simple. It prohibited Lone from revealing anything he learned by becoming a new silver plate adventurer to anyone who wasn't also a silver plate or higher. This included the fact that every guild branch had a hidden third floor.

Lone wondered if perhaps there were more than just three floors to the central lobby of each branch, but he'd only figure that out if and when he got promoted again, he figured.

If Lone somehow managed to act against the clauses of the contract while it was still in effect, the contract would break and send a signal to the closest branch of the guild. That branch would then inform headquarters and he'd be hunted down.

He wouldn't be killed, only captured and interrogated. Still, the secrets of the guild weren't to be taken lightly.

He carefully reread the contract once more before nodding and signing it. Immediately, the words lifted off the page and flowed into Lone's body, settling onto his soul as far as he could tell.

The host has developed the passive skill: Contract Magic Resistance.

Passive Skill: Contract Magic Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist the compulsion of contract magic used on the host when the host was not willing to enter the contract.

Chance to ignore the punishment of breaking contract magic clauses of forced contracts: 5%.

Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1

"Oh, Contract Magic Resistance. Awesome," Lone said aloud. "I wonder why I never got this the time a slave collar was put on me?"

Guildermaster Oror's smile disappeared. "You have been enslaved before?"

Lone waved the massive man's worries away as he replied, "For a day- well, more like a few hours, really. Used a skill to get rid of the collar and Mental Destructioned the guy who slapped it on me."

"I... see," the Shale said. "Well, to answer your question, a collar or any other item is an indirect use of contract magic, so it is quite impossible to gain the resistance through them. That is, sadly, by design. I'm glad you got the skill though. It can quite literally save one's life."

"Oh, I'd imagine. So, what's next?" Lone inquired.

The golem's smile returned. "First I'm obliged to tell you that if the contract breaks somehow, you are required to come to your closest guild branch's third floor and have the local guildmaster restore the contract. Accidents happen and magic is a vast power, but it isn't infallible. Contracts can be accidentally broken in many different ways. And I do not mean if you somehow break a clause, I mean if the magic itself breaks and the contract disappears."

The massive man then walked over to one of the floor's walls where a series of quest boards were nailed into the stone bricks. "These here are the silver plate exclusive quest boards. Sometimes higher-ranked plate quests can be found on the first floor, as I'm sure you've seen on floor one. That's just to let prospective members be motivated to get promoted. This is where you'll find 99% of the requests that require the attention of a silver-plated adventurer."

Lone nodded. That all made sense.

"Now, follow me to the thing I suspect you will enjoy the most." As they moved through the open hall that was the third floor, the handful of silver plate adventurers going about their business gave way to them.

"As a silver plate, you are now entitled to begin instructional courses for other adventurers. You will need to register the skill you wish to teach, but besides that, it's a fairly loose system. You can charge what you want for your services. You can also now apply to have the local guildmaster - that being Hilda - teach you the Teaching Mastery skill to help with your own lessons should you not already possess it. You can ignore the entire tutoring programme as well if you so choose. It's a benefit, not an obligation," Guildmaster Oror said.

Lone held his chin in thought as the two of them approached a large metal tablet of sorts with runes plastered all over it. A silver plate was interacting with it in some way so while they waited, Lone's mind raced.

'That's what Hamish alluded to in his retirement plan, wasn't it? Teaching new adventurers. I've never bothered with that system before but if I could become the teacher... couldn't I charge people with them using their skills on me? I'd get new attack skills and resistances for free basically.' That was an incredibly appealing idea to Lone.

About 10 minutes passed before the dwarven man using the tablet was done. He turned and bowed his head respectfully at Guildmaster Oror but scoffed lightly at Lone's presence.

It wasn't as bad as how the lower plated adventurers treated him, but the man clearly has his biases despite having passed the silver plate promotion exam. Lone couldn't really fault him for that. Culture was a tricky thing like that.

After the dwarf had wandered off, Lone asked, "So... what is this thing?"

Guildmaster Oror gestured grandly at the metal tablet before saying, "This, Lone, is the credit slate. Each guild branch has one - well, more than one, but that isn't important."

'Was that a hint? Does my theory of more hidden floors hold weight? I'll have to try to find the entrance to the fourth floor with Enhanced Vision at some point,' Lone decided.

"It's a rather intricate artefact. I won't go into the specifics of its making but what it does is it allows you to record your skills, skill ranks, special effects, and acquisition methods. Each of those gives a different amount of credits based on the skill, rarity, difficulty, usefulness, etcetera, etcetera. These credits can be used to search up information on skills others have submitted," the Shale explained. "It's perhaps the biggest benefit to becoming a real adventurer - a silver plate."

'So this is the way to access the skill list Hamish alluded to? It must not actually be a list if he was able to tell me that and not get slapped by the contract magic. Sneaky little dwarf,' Lone thought with a grin.

"I think I'll have a lot of fun with this thing," Lone replied.

"With 95 skills? Pardon, 96. Yes, I think you will. We encourage all our silver plates and up to record everything they learn about skills. It is all done anonymously and the more data we get, the more we can make newer and older adventurers alike stronger. Even just knowing what skills are out there can be a huge boon," Guildmaster Oror said.

Lone nodded at that. Information was power.

The massive golem rumbled out a chuckle and said, "Now, take your time experimenting with the credit slate. My official job - well Hilda's official job that I commandeered - ends here. I'll stay on the third floor for some time though. Please come to me once you're done so I can talk to you about my private request."

Lone still wasn't sure he trusted the idea of that 'private request'. Call him paranoid but he'd been through too much to blindly believe in something so suspicious sounding from someone he had just met this morning.

"Sure," he replied in a noncommittal manner.