Arriving at the guild hall, Zycor stopped and began scanning the building’s slightly different, yet still nostalgic, look. The most notable difference was the first floor appearing to have been expanded.

“Are you coming?” Leo questioned, giving a curious look towards Zycor.

Grinning, Zycor responded, “Yeah, I was just thinking about how much I missed this place.”

As the group entered the guild hall, Zycor looked around and saw that the building had gotten bigger. Newer tables replaced the old ones that he had come to know. There were plenty of adventurers he had never seen before, much like Leo, Sorin and Vala.

As they approached the reception counter so the trio could turn in their quest material, Zycor continued to scan the room for familiar faces. He eventually did notice something familiar, though he would have preferred not to. Zycor noticed some of the adventurers were wearing Velathrian insignias. As his blood began to boil, Novos’ eyes shot open as he began to let out a deep growl. Before Zycor had a chance to do anything, Vala tugged on his sleeve, snapping him out of it.

Worried about who was essentially her master's brother, Vala asked, “Hey, are you ok Mister Zycor?”

Looking at Vala with surprise, Zycor quickly switched his expression to a warm smile and replied, “Yeah, I’m alright Val.”

Leo whipped around to look at the two of them and loudly stated, “Hey, that’s MY nickname for her, find your own!”

Vala began to blush as Zycor stood confused about the situation. Sorin tripped Leo and apologized for his friend's conduct. Zycor chuckled at the situation, only able to think about how Aisha, Baz, Mylon and him would interact.

Their good vibes were cut short as two of the adventurers with Velathrian insignias walked over. Ignoring Zycor as just some stray kid, the duo began harassing the trio. They both carried swords on their hips, though one of them was bulkier than the other.

Getting onto his feet, Leo scoffed, “Kron. Bron. What do you two want?”

The bulkier one, Bron, laughed, “Now now, is that any way to speak to your betters? Two of you are rank sixes and only one of you is rank five, and barely at that!”

Sorin narrowed his eyes, his calm demeanor broken, and commented, “I don’t think you guys have much room to talk. You guys may be rank fours, but you have done nothing to earn it.”

Infuriated by Sorins insult, Kron drew his sword and held it at the boy's neck as he scowled, “You want to say that again?”

The whole guild hall was now watching the scene, a few groaning about how the two men were ‘at it again.’ As Kron smirked maliciously at Sorin, his sword was grabbed by a gauntlet. He traced it, attempting to find out who it belonged to, and was met with an infuriated Zycor.

Kron scoffed at this, from his point of view, random person, “And who are you supposed to be? Scram kid.”

Being called a kid seemingly triggered something within Zycor, causing him to crush the blade within his gauntlet's grasp. Kron staggered back, dumbfounded.

“You know,” Zycor began to angrily state, “I was taught to not judge someone based solely on appearance, profession, or affiliation. But, again and again, all of you Velathrian rats continue to reinforce that you are all nothing but scum to be eradicated.”

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Bron laughed hard as he exclaimed, “And what are YOU going to do about it?”

A single streak of lightning ripped across Zycors gauntlet. But before he could respond or retaliate, two doors were thrown open from the second floor. Everyone looked up as Bron and Kron both began sweating bullets. Out of the doors walked the guild master, Adria.

“What the hell is going on here?” Adria agitatedly inquired. “I have important work to do and refuse to be interrupted because of some meaningless squabbling!”

As she scanned the scene, she saw Zycor looking up at her. He gave her a smile filled with a mix of emotions, most of which was happiness. Adria instantly shifted gears and vaulted over the railing, landing softly on her feet. She pulled Zycor in close and smiled with all of her heart.

“Oh my sweet boy! You’re back! Safe and sound, just like I told you!” Adria cheerfully exclaimed. Pushing him back, but continuing to hold onto his arms, she continued, “And look at how much you have grown in just six months! I am never letting you go again!”

Pulled back into her embrace, Zycor began tapping on Adria’s back in a plea for her to release him. She finally complied and freed him from a rather dire situation. Catching his breath, Zycor commented, “I missed you a lot too mom, but you have to tone down your strength! I would rather embrace you back than have you hugging a corpse.”

A heavy silence full of shock and surprise enveloped the guild hall. Bron and Kron both began to inch back to their table. Before they made it far, Adria looked over at them as she emitted an immense amount of mana. She furiously questioned, “Did you two plan to hurt my precious boy?!”

The two of them, without a word, fell to their knees and passed out. She then turned her attention to Leo, Sorin and Vala, all of whom visibly shuddered. Before Adria could do anything more, Zycor stepped in front of them and explained, “It’s ok mom, these three are actually acquaintances of mine, we met while I was in the forest. They were no trouble at all, I promise.”

Adria glanced back at the trio then back at Zycor before letting out a deep exhale, “Very well, I trust you. As much as I want to continue this reunion, unfortunately there are other people that care about you as well. Why don’t you head around back.”

Zycor, doing everything he can to contain his excitement, nodded and quickly walked out of the guild hall. Everyone was still silent, completely dumbfounded and staring at Adria. “What are you all looking at!? As you were, I have things to attend to in my office.”

Zycor rounded the corner to the back of the guild and stopped in his tracks. In front of him stood Aisha with her back turned practicing her magic. She seemed completely different from when he left. She had her hair tied up, wore standard adventurer gear and was notably taller than before.

Aisha wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned around to get some water. As she did, Aisha saw Zycor standing there. They both stood frozen like deer in a headlight. Breaking the awkwardness, Zycor warmly smiled and said, “I’m back.”

Aisha ran over and embraced him with a huge smile of her own plastered across her face as she happily responded, “Welcome back, you idiot.”

Suddenly hearing a cough, Aisha’s expression instantly soured as she scanned the area for its source. She noticed Baz, Mylon and Aislin peeking around the corner of the guild. Aisha pushed Zycor aside as she began to blush heavily.

“Anyways, I think there are a couple of other pricks that want to say hi to you as well.” Aisha commented as she looked away to try and calm down.

Zycor looked behind him and saw Baz, Mylon and Aislin now standing in the open as Mylon put his hand up and said, “Long time no see.”

Zycor gave a relaxed smile. Now having seen them all ok, it felt as though some sinking feeling had finally been lifted from him. “It sure has.” Zycor replied.

“You know, I really won’t ever get used to this ‘new’ you!” Baz chortled, “Far too close to a normal person for my liking!”

Aislin berated Baz, “Shut it war-for-brains, be nice to Zy!”

Immediately infuriated by her comment Baz looked at her and retorted, “Yeah, little miss maid? And what are you gonna do if I’m not?”

Both of them seemingly getting ready to fight, Aislin cracked her knuckles as she violently said, “Why don’t you come here and find out!?”

“My pleasure!” Baz bellowed back.

Before the situation could escalate further, Zycor burst into laughter. Looking at him stunned Baz, Mylon and Aislin looked at each other for a moment before they began to laugh themselves.