The mercenary guild fulfilled almost all of Veles’s expectations.

For starters, the building itself was enormous, capable of holding a couple hundred people at the bare minimum. Interestingly though, on the first notice, it looked more like a warehouse than a serious establishment where combatants would spend their time...

Upon entering, Veles was met with the very usual sight. The Interior was filled with wooden tables and benches on both sides. On the far left was a wall containing big boards with various papers stuck on them, all displaying numerous requests yet to be fulfilled. Upfront one could immediately encounter a couple of desks with a few beautiful ladies dressed in uniforms behind them, waiting for the next mercenary to fill out their paperwork.

Honestly, what genuinely surprised Veles was the lack of a bar on the side. It looked like this guild was overly serious. The only thing he’d noticed that they served here was food and nonalcoholic drinks. Not even a beer to quench the thirst of grumpy warriors who were about to face dangerous beasts, what a boring place…

And the moment Veles stepped in, all the eyes landed on him and Davis, scanning them up and down. A typical behavior further reinforced by the fact that they’d entered alongside a guild master—an important detail Veles learned on their way here.

However, what Veles didn’t expect was a total lack of respect. Numerous scanning and weird ocular spells were blatantly sent their way. This was extremely rude and it truly annoyed him, even if he doubted they could see something of importance, there was an urge to teach every single person here a valuable lesson.

But suddenly, he felt something even more unpleasant. His eyes turned serious, matching his gaze with a mage-looking human in the crowd who had strange symbols floating in his eyes. Veles stirred his mana and poured it inside the core stationed in his brain.

The effect of this was instantaneous. The guy observing him just had his eyes rolled at the back of his head, followed by his forehead smashing loudly at the table he was seated at.

This exchange went extremely fast. Many didn’t even notice it happen. But for experienced individuals, it was visible as a day, making their previous behavior change into a more alarming one, instantly recognizing Veles as someone who wasn’t to be messed with.

“What a nice place you got here,” Veles commented sarcastically while Davis gave a few nods, acknowledging this statement. He too was a victim of those gazes.

“It’s made in a rush, but I do think we did a good job,” Trihuis added while gesturing for the two to follow him. All this charade appeared to be of no significance to him.

On their way to the back of the building. Veles briefly observed present mercenaries. And it was safe to say that he could barely contain his shock.

The mana undulations combined with the affinities these people displayed managed to widen Veles’s horizons. There were those he could discern as Warriors, Paladins, Priests, Mages, and even Summoners. Yet, he still couldn’t find a person who shared the same traits as one another.

So far, he’d noticed around eleven different types of Mages. But not a single one of them displayed any resemblance in the aura or shared similar undulations. The one that targeted him previously was the prime example.

Veles was fairly certain that the guy used some kind of mental attack against him. Which in itself was a mistake. However, the Mage in question wasn’t psychic nor had any mental gifts. He used a pure spell to try and scrape the surface of his mind—a very impressive feat if he had to admit.

Then there were also Summoners. One of them was a lady with a strange creature resembling a dog with yellow crystal antlers sitting on her lap. It first looked like a tamed beast, but when Veles took a closer look, he noticed that both of them possessed the same mana signature. Meaning they likely share the same mana pool, a deed impossible to achieve between the sides that were naturally born…

Many more interesting things caught his attention. Veles was no stranger to most of them. During the search for his curse, he visited numerous different worlds. However, he never encountered a place with a structure such as this one.

It was complex and unique. Reminding him yet again about the thrill of exploring the unknown…

“Take a seat,” said Trihuis as he gestured at the two comfortable armchairs in front of his desk.

The moment they made themselves comfortable. Trihuis didn’t beat around the bush, he instantaneously pointed his finger at Veles and spoke aggressively. “I do not like your kind. And I don’t want you snuffing around town I’m currently responsible for. So, I’m asking you. What are your motives for making a stop in Koria? Where do you come from? And are there just two of you here?”

“You probably heard the same from the Fagor’s group,” said Veles, unbothered by the sudden aggression. “We spent our fair share of time inside that wretched forest and decided it’s time to rest. That little mercenary group was generous enough to escort us to the nearest town. As for where we came from—It’s far south. And no, there isn’t more of us here as far as I’m aware.”

“Yes, I heard all that. I also know that’s a lot of horse shit. You might pretend to be some great expert by not releasing any undulations.” Trihuis snorted as he saw Veles’s eyebrows raise. “However, someone with my experience can tell you didn’t even touch a Flesh Strengthening Stage. This means you are at least at the Forth Stage, or just like your ‘disciple’ here, you just started opening your Mana Paths. Which further means, you cannot overpower me, or any of those Fifth Stage mercenaries that are following all my orders.”

“I can also tell the disgusting amount of mana your body carries,” continued Trahuis. “Which means the words about you being a Sorcerer are likely true. And the lack of ‘human’ smell on you further proves it.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Trihuis couped his hands with his elbows resting on the desk, his shoulders slightly bent forward threateningly. “So, if I were in your position, I would start taking this situation seriously. I do not care if you are a scion of the Noble Situs clan or prince of neighborhood human kingdoms—I will end you right here if I sense a single lie within your next words.”

Veles gave his all not to show the annoyance on his face, not due to this guy discovering his bluff. But being treated as a joke just rubbed him the wrong way. This guy was the Sixth Stage and much stronger than the assassin guy in the forest or the tiger mercenary that had attacked. So, even if Veles chose a violent route out of this, he couldn’t, because Trihuis’s words were right, there was no way he could clash with this guy and win.

“Are all the mercenaries like this? Lacking common courtesy and respect?” Snorted Veles. “I see all the discipline you showed so far was just the rouse.”

But before Trihuis could reply, Veles added his deduction. “You act like a veteran soldier would. And not the one who was responsible for protecting something… You were a hunting dog—” It was written on Trihuis’s face that he’d nailed it, and the word ‘dog’ struck the nerve. “—responsible for executing dirty missions done under the table. I can tell it all by your demeanor and the way those mercenaries look at you. You are someone who takes problems into their own hands and immediately finds a way to solve them, and by the looks of it, you always went for the most direct solution.”

Veles didn’t want to go more into details, this Trihuis guy was like an open book to him. The guys like him who blindly face the unknown threats head-on were always easy to read. “So, you cannot do anything to stop me even if I wanted to leave this place. I’ve checked, and I’m sure you have nothing to prevent me from teleporting away. There is no wards or any other mages capable of stopping me from just leaving.”

Trihuis smirked at this. “Yes, but what about your disciple here? Is leaving him here to die worth it?”

However, Veles returned the smile. “You see, I’ve noticed a fascinating detail on the way here. That bag your guild rents for mercenaries to store beast carcasses is sure something…”

The moment Veles mentioned it, Trihuis’s face fell.

“You see, having Spatial affinity is very convenient,” added Veles. “I doubt anyone else would notice the tracking mechanism attached to the bag. I mean… I get it. You need to track the guild’s property. But using it to inform thugs of the position of their next target? That’s just low. I wonder how your higher-ups would react to that? Or what about the veteran mercenaries who are ‘following all your orders’, would they still continue listening to you after learning about your little side business?”

Trihuis’s silence just confirmed Veles’s words. He had, of course, checked Zunna’s bag even the first night they’d camped together. He was really interested in the item, after all. And he could say that the spices on the skewers he’d prepared weren’t just for the taste—they offered a good night’s sleep too.

This gave him enough time to study the bag thoughtfully. And the manual it came with helped him to vaguely grasp the concept of the runes engraved inside. He’d learned of the set of extra runes having no connection with the storing part. At that moment, he had a vague idea what they were, but when they got perfectly ambushed. And when he learned it was a rental item from the guild. Everything clicked in place.

“You think you are the only one who knows about this?” Asked Trihuis, he leaned back into his chair, his threatening aura a tad bit reduced.

“No,” replied Veles. “But the rumors can cause a lot of damage, right?”

“That’s true. So, what’s your suggestion?” Trihuis admitted and took a step back.

“How about we start again? Drop this superstition you hold against me, and we can forget everything we previously spoke,” proposed Veles.

“Very well,” sighed Trihuis. “I’m Koria’s Mercenary Guild Master, Trihuis.” He crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair, not providing anything else to his introduction.

“Name’s Veles,” he then pointed at Davis. “He is Davis, my disciple. And we are just humble adventurers with great ambition to travel the world.”

“Humble adventurers, my ass,” Trihuis clicked his tongue. “A Sorcerer with Spatial and probably Shadow affinity. On top of that, an awakened Psychic. And this disciple of yours is probably another freak. Sure, you’re just humble adventurers…”

“Believe it or not, I don’t care,” replied Veles with a shrug. “So, tell us, what are we doing here? If your goal was to intimidate us somehow. You’ve failed it even before you started.”

“It was,” Trihuis admitted. “I’ve never meant to go this far. My intention was to force you to leave the city somehow because I cannot keep an eye on loose Sorcerer amidst the chaos that’s currently happening.”

Veles could tell that this aged catman in front of him had a severe stigma against the Sorcerers. This raised a few extra questions, but Veles ignored them for now. However, this sudden change in tone and approach did nothing to ease Veles’s caution, in fact, it further raised it.

“Chaos?” Asked Veles. “This small town of yours looks as peaceful as ever.”

“You haven’t spent much time here. So, you don’t know… Every third day we have to defend against beast hordes. Merchants are leaving one after another. Rations have been getting scarce ever since we evacuated villagers. The kingdom’s soldiers are acting strange. And much more. It’s getting really messy.”

“Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you afraid I will spread this and cause even more chaos?” Veles questioned.

“The truth is I’m telling this to everyone,” added Trihuis, “I want people to leave this place. That’s also the reason why I sent those like Marguse to harass young mercenaries. My intention was never to embezzle the money or gain something. What I’ve aimed for was to discourage young and inexperienced and force them to leave this already abandoned town.”

Well, hearing this, Veles’s opinion of the man didn’t change at all. He indeed sounded really sincere. However, this just gave Veles another clue as to what this weird feeling he experienced when he stepped inside this town was. Even the Davis who looked at him seemed to come to the same conclusion.

“I guess it’s good that I haven’t killed Marguse guy back then…” said Veles.

“I thank you for that. He might be a ruffian, but he is also a competent guy.”

After a moment of silence, Veles asked. “You want us to leave this town?”

“Yes,” a firm reply came from Trihuis.

“How about this? Give us three days. We need to rest and get supplies to venture inside the forest again. Then you will never see us in this town again.” Suggested Veles.

“I can work with that,” Trihuis agreed. “But I will assign a mercenary party to keep you company during your stay.”

“To keep us in check, huh? Sure, I don’t mind.” Veles wasn’t surprised by this, and he was certain they would follow him anyway. So, why not just allow them to stick around?

“You agreed to it just like that?”

Veles just shook his head in dismay. Did this guy forget who he was dealing with? “It’s not like I cannot escape them if I wish to.”

Tapping his table, Trihuis said. “Yes, they did say you are a Spatial Master. Troublesome…”

“This meeting is over, right?” Asked Veles.

Trihuis nodded. “Just stay in the guild until I find someone to keep you company.”

“Understood,” said Veles, but just as he was about to stand up, “Oh, I almost forgot. Does your guild buy beast carcasses?”

“We do.”

Afterward, Trihuis led them to the back of the building where the buy-off was. Veles might as well get himself another bag full of coins. After all, those coins could come in handy.