The Warrior Association building was a few streets away, from what he had seen so far, the city wasn’t spacious, the streets were narrow and the buildings clang to each other into a compact maze of mud.
People still continued to avoid him on the street, keeping their eyes and souls as far away from him as they could.
It made the situation more difficult for him since all he had were directions and a description of what the building he was looking for looked like. However, the guard had said he would recognise it when he saw it.
Indeed, unlike the brown earthed buildings crowding together on both sides of the dirt roads, the building he was facing stood out like a dog in a flock of puppies.
A fence surrounded two rectangular buildings and a small garden. Both buildings were three-stories high, overlooking the nearby commercial area.
The buildings were made with white stones, it was the first modern construction he had seen in this city.
The gate of this property wasn’t locked and there were no one around. This place appeared to be on the outskirt of the district, enclosed on all but one direction.
A few children had followed him out of curiosity but he had ignored their presences.
He glanced at the small plot of land with yellow grass growing on it. Coming to the edge of the terrace, his expression relaxed. He seemed to like the nutty smell coming from the grass, it’s wasn’t as overpowering as in the greenhouse.
The first building was shaped like a house, a single door with two delicate-looking windows, the dark frame appearing to have been made of wood were fixed on both sides of the door.
He peeked at one window, a wide hall with a counter, a few tables and chairs were visible inside.
When he opened the door, a bell made a clear sound, alerting the man sitting on a desk behind the counter.
[Welcome, what can I do for you?]
He walked to the counter and spoke in a calm voice.
[I want to register as a Bloodrainist.]
The man paused when he saw Ocelio’s appearance. His eyes swirled in their sockets as he tried to react to the situation. A small pause extended into a minute of silence.
The receptionist had brown hair with green streaks. His brown eyes were mixed with many impurities like dust in the air. His face looked delicate and small as if he had retained his youth’s figure.
A clean and simple dark blue suit covered his body which appeared to be his uniform considering the dark grey insignia of a sword crossing a wand stitched to his vest.
Ocelio gave the man an emotionless stare, he seemed unwilling to break the silence by making a sound.
[I…our association is honoured to serve a gentleman of your stature. My name is Eucliedes. I seem to have heard you wished to register in our association as a Bloodrainist, is that correct?]
The man spoke with a polite tone, a professional smile was drawn on his face but Ocelio seemed to have seen through the occasional spasms on the corner of his lips.
Ocelio was used to polite greetings and fake smiles from vampires with ulterior motives. He had grown into this environment so he had developed a talent on knowing what people hid beyond their polite appearance.
[I did say that. I heard there was a test and benefits if you registered as a Bloodrainist.]
The receptionist’s eyebrow twitched in an almost invisible manner. The micro expression was too quick to catch for a human being.
[Indeed. The process of registering as a Bloodrainist is a simple one. As long as one can manifest his aura, with our administrator as a witness, he’ll be granted a Warrior’s insignia and become registered in the Kingdom’s reservist army, affiliated to our city.]
[The Kingdom’s army? Why?]
[Well, maybe I should speak of the benefits of joining the Warrior Association first. But in essence, all Bloodrainists are expected to protect and defend any outpost, city, and military compound under the supervision of an official or ranked commander in the case of a magical beast invasion or other threat to the survival of an extensive inhabited site. The protection of towns, villages and other small camps will not be included in any Bloodrainist responsibility. Affiliation is related to sir’s location, if you are in this region and the city encounter an issue, it’ll relay a message to you, requiring sir’s assistance. If you decide to move to another region, sir will only need to register in the local Warrior Association to change sir’s affiliation.]
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The man paused, he swallowed his saliva before offering a glass of water to Ocelio.
[And what happens if I do not respond to the summoning of my affiliated city in time?]
He shook his head at the offer, leaving the man in an awkward position as he didn’t dare drink in front of him.
[Unless a Bloodrainist can provide valid justifications explaining his absence, his Warrior’s insignia will be removed and he’ll be banned from the Association for 10 years.]
Ocelio nodded his head, he glanced around the hall, noticing the comfortable atmosphere and the comfy furniture arranged in the surrounding.
[Then, what are the benefits of joining the Association?]
[Since the conditions and responsibility are so demanding, The benefits are numerous and appealing, making countless men and women yearn for this title.]
Ocelio raised an eyebrow, he gave a strange look at the receptionist’s enthusiasm.
[Sir must know, Warriors are as feared as they are worshipped. In this world, only Warriors can travel without a care in the wilderness. It is natural that the privileges offered by the Warrior Association are beyond what regular citizens can dream of.
First, all Bloodrainists are promoted to at least the fifth social class: Peritus, no matter what background and education they’ve received.
Depending on your rank and strength, it can even be possible to reach the X class and become an Aristocrat.
Every Bloodrainists receive a wage of 1 silver coin per week.
A Bloodrainist is allowed to enter any location in a city apart from its core: the official district.
The Warrior Insignia grant the permission for Bloodrainists to buy, trade and sell armaments made from Blacksmith and all other products from the Crafting Association….]
Ocelio listened to his explanation, in summary, what the Warrior Insignia provided was a change of status.
A Bloodrainist was no longer constrained by the societal hierarchy, he could ascend on a parallel hierarchy based on his strength.
From what Ocelio had witnessed in the city, he appeared to already have a basic understanding of what a Bloodrainist was.
[Then, please follow me. I will guide you to the administrator’s office.]
Ocelio appeared to be in deep thought as he followed the receptionist upstairs.
When the man was about to knock on the door, Ocelio’s stomach rumbled. Both of them looked at each other for a second before the receptionist offered to bring him to the cafeteria first to have a meal.
Ocelio didn’t refuse and soon found out that the second building he had seen from the outside was in fact catered to the Warriors’ need.
[In the two floors above are the apartments reserved for the Warriors residing in the city or passing by, each one is furnished and cleaned daily by our Association. On the third floor are relaxation and social areas, allowing guests to rest their bodies in the warm water of the bath room or hold social gatherings in the lounge.]
Ocelio sat with a plate of red meat and vegetables that smelled of elemental energy.
[What meat is this?]
[Magical beast, of course, I believe today is the Shaking Earth Buffalo. Is it not to your taste sir?]
The receptionist hadn’t left his side ever since he entered the Warrior Association. He seemed to never grow tired of talking. He stood on the side, a distance from Ocelio so as to not disturb his meal.
[What can you tell me about this region?]
Ocelio listened to the man’s descriptions while focusing on his meal.
He still followed his lifeblood’s custom of never speaking when eating.
His table manner, how he held the knife, the absence of sound as if the fork never touched the plate, everything was perfect. It seemed to have surprised the receptionist as he examined his appearance for a few seconds, then he continued talking with his eyes lowered to the ground.
[This region is a hot zone so to say. It is at the far south of the Kingdom and one of the closest inhabited sites to the Grand Eruptic Forest. It is also close to the Forbidden Forest and due to that, powerful magical beasts are all around, making Warriors unwilling to travel to this city. Only a small number of Warriors travel here each year to enter the Grand Eruptic Forest where the Elven Race live.]
[There’s also the Silverpine Forest north of the city, sir must have heard of it. It’s a dangerous area, rumours say that a 3rd rank magical beast resides in the deepest part of the forest, however, our branch never received information regarding this, our Bloodrainists only explore the outermost area where 9th and 8th ranked magical beasts can be found.]
After finishing his meal, Ocelio asked him if he had visited another city.
The man shook his head with a despondent face.
[Only Warriors and intrepid merchants dare leave the city. Us, common folks only wish to live one more day. We wouldn’t even survive one hour in the wilderness, the Warriors wouldn’t be able to protect us all the time, even if hired them to do so. I heard enough stories on this to know how it ends.]
He gave a long sigh, a sombre mood seemed to have surrounded his body after recounting the region’s peculiarities. When they walked to the previous building, he led the way in a quiet manner, leaving Ocelio in front of the administrator office after introducing him to the administrator.
Ocelio gave a glance at the back of the man, sorrow seemed to seep out of his soul, making him frown.
[Stinky man.]
Inside the office sat an old man with brown hair and a crown of silver curls. He appeared to be half-asleep, his eyes only open to a slit.
His skin was covered in wrinkles as if it recorded the map of a mountain, with countless ridges leading to a summit covered in snow and dirt.
[I hear that you wish to register in our local branch? Very well, show me your aura.]
The old man had many impurities in his eyes just like the receptionist. His iris original colour was almost imperceptible.
Ocelio used his spiritual power to coat his body, he closed his eyes, entering a similar state as when he was teleported to this power.
Just like water trickling into the earth, wisps of dark energy came out of his body as if leaving the pores of his skin.
[Alright stop. Dark energy it is. Congratulation, you’re now a Bloodrainist, tell the boy at the counter I agree to your promotion, he’ll take care of everything. Now, leave.]
Ocelio appeared surprised by how fast the process had been.
He turned around and left without minding the old man’s tone of impatience.
When the door closed, the old man turned on his chair, he glared at the ceiling of the city.
His turbid eyes flashed with a strange radiance as he muttered words in an unknown language.