Common District, Guild Union House
"And with that, you're all set ladies and gents." Congratulated Tobi after Blake and Stefon had signed a lengthy contract detailing everything from the starting guild members to the location of their Guild House and its main line of work which was taking on quests of any kind.
"Hmph, I hope you are happy, smith? You are now in a partnership with an Ovis! I do hope you do not drag my name down in the mud." Stefon scoffed at Blake done with his signing.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever...wait a minute? What do you mean by partnership? All you did was pay for the guild! That's it right?" Blake was about to ignore Stefon, but the noble's wording got him thinking, and he was looking at Tobi to explain.
And the Minotaur did. "He's right, as the main provider of the guild's resignation fee he's considered the guild owner, anything his 'employees' do reflects on him," He held up a hand to Stefon giving him the que to smirk. "However, you're the guild leader, most of the important tasks such as recruiting members, appointing roles/ranks, disbanding the guild, and naming it, of course." After that, he brought his hand to Blake.
"Oh yeah? That wasn't on the registration contract what gives?" Blake asked, looking at the contract that he signed.
"New guilds that just start out don't get to name themselves off the bat. You have to build up your guild's reputation first, if not we'd have a bunch of random of guilds running around with weird names," Tobi answered with an annoyed look on his face at remembering that one time when a guild wanted to call themselves something outrageous.
"No complaints here, I didn't even think about that yet..." Blake shrugged off the restriction and wasn't thinking that much about it. "...so, that means I'm in charge of your reputation, eh, Stefon?" Then with arms crossed, he asked Stefon only for the noble to flick some of his hair at him. "Hey, don't worry, there's nothing I would do that get us on anyone's bad side, right guys?" He looked at the others, but besides Risabeel and Mordecai, they all seem to doubt that. "Oh, come on! Anyway, anything else we should know before we take off?" Blake asked Tobi about ready to get back home and see what was going on there.
"Hmm?" Tobi looked up for a moment trying to guess if he missed anything. "Oh? Right! Guild Ranks!"
"Guild have ranks?" Blake asked, confused.
"Of course, they do you, idiot! That's how things work in Gorz," Nathan interjected with an insult for Blake. "We city folk like to have a way of telling who is worth time or No-! Let me go you brute!" However, Blake got him in a headlock to keep him busy.
"Continue..." Blake muttered at Tobi to go on while holding a struggling Nathan with one arm.
"Well, the guilds in Gorz all fall under a ranking system set up by the king. There three ranks to it..." Tobi held up to three fingers before he kept going with it. "First, we have the New Ashes, which is where your guild is at currently, the lowest of the lowest and get stuck doing grunt work most of the time. Next up, are the Great Embers most guild fall here, you get to name your guild at his rank and its the rank with the most work. Finally, we've got the Superior Flames, known throughout the kingdom and maybe even the whole world." As he listed each rank, he put down a finger. "Got a long way ahead of you if you want to be at the top."
"Why, though? Anything in it for having a high ranking guild?" Blake wanted to know a bit more now since he was getting partly into guild business and all that might as well know as much as he could.
"Well, there are higher paying requests the higher your guild rank is, meaning more gold. People like him become more willing to give out 'donations' to get on your good side." Tobi pointed at Stefon after that one. "And if you happen to have guild rank of Superior Flame then sometimes one of the Founding Houses might call you up for a job."
"I guess, that's the rank of that Sigil Sect thing you were going on about, mage?" Blake asked Nathan still held in a headlock after putting what Tobi said to mind and by that he meant have Risabeel write it down for him.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm! It is funny how lowly you think of them, brute." Nathan chuckled lightly, having given up on getting out Blake's hold on him. "The Sigil Sect is in direct command of the Le Fay! They are no simple guild if anything they are more like a private army of Le Fay to put in better words; they are what the Royal Gaurd is to House Penfenics."
"Just like my family's dearly loved, Ram Force. Those are the kind guards that you so often seem to get on the bad side of, smith," Stefon added with said guards currently standing attention near the entrance of the Guild Union House.
"So, that's what those guys are called? I hope you pay them well for watching your precious asses all the time." Blake, at this point, let go of Nathan and began to walk out.
"~Oh~ why yes! We do, the Ovis pays for the housing, equipment, training, food, and health for all who are willing to obey us. It would be quite the benefit if you asked me?" Stefon boasted as he walked along with Blake slightly going ahead of him as if acting like the leader of the group.
"Hah! Sounds like slavery to me, but at least they're willing, right?" Blake muttered as a joke, and for a moment he noticed a small twitch appear on Stefon's face. "Anyhow...hey, Lu, what about that Elf guild you were in? How high were they on the pecking order?"
"In the middle as a Great Ember, the Eye of Blood Leaf didn't really seem to be all about taking on quests and acted a proxy of Naworth..." Lu currently behind Blake answered, then paused to think something over. "...which makes sense since we're still under the rule of King Dewran."
Which got the interest of Mordecai. "Huh? The Elves aren't buddy-buddy with the Laudonia Kingdom?"
"I wouldn't say we're enemies, but that Elf king does put his people first before anything else even himself," Rena answered for Lu while giving Mordecai a doubtful look. "Why's that important to you, though?"
"Can't a guy be curious about the relationships between kingdoms? Never know which side you're going have to steal from, right?" Mordecai held up his hands in defense while backing away from Rena's eyes.
"Hey, hey, knock it off, Rena! We just got this guild thing put together, can you leave the rookie crushing for later?" Blake warned, seeing Mordecai getting bullied by a Fairy.
To which Rena backed off and sat on Lu's shoulder. "Whatever, and don't let that leader thing get to your head or else I'm calling for a vote!"
"I'm pretty sure I'd win that one." Blake shot back, considering the fact that he had at least four votes for him those being Gram, Mari, Baba, and Risabeel off the bat he was right, hell if Os got a vote then that was five not including himself. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways Stefon? As much as I hate it let's try to be good business partners, eh?" Once they had gotten outside of the Guild Union House Blake offered a hand to Stefon.
"Hmph! I would rather you not think of me as an equal, smith," Stefon waved Blake's hand with a look of disgust. "And I shall rid myself of you on my own terms, as such I would like to see where 'my' new guild has its base of operations. That would be the Guild House if you didn't know? I must check to see if that Dragon of yours did not burn the place down."
"I'm happy he didn't shake my hand now..." Blake thought, pulling his hand back then he remembered something once Stefon mentioned Saffire. "...Fine, but if you're driving then mind taking a stop at a place called Troville?"
"As long as lady Lu comes with me on my carriage?" Stefon agreed with a condition which quickly made Lu's face turn blue. "~ah~ I can't tell wish face I love more, the one when she is fighting or when taken aback by my charm!"
"..." Blake took a glance at Lu with the Elf slowly shaking his head while Rena was glaring at Stefon. "Sure thing! She's all yours!" He took the offer with a smile even as he felt two pairs of eyes that were quite crossed with him on his back and went up to one of the carriages.
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Blake's Guild House
"This...is...it?" Stefon asked while seated inside his carriage and staring up at the broken, old, decaying and decrepit ruin of building before him.
"Yes, and it's where your guild is staying at." Blake answered, eating up the look of sheer 'what the hell?!' on Stefon's as he got off the carriage with a small basket in hand. "Huh? Nash? Why are you just standing there?" Once he did Blake found his loyal horse Nash waiting for him like a good dog even wagging his tail.
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"~!~" Nash quickly clopped his way over to Blake then pulled at his shirt with his teeth.
"Hey! Hold on where are you taking me!" Blake yelled as he was being dragged off by Nash until the horse brought him to the entrance of the Guild House and motioned up at the sign he made. "Ugh, what is that thing?" Blake tilted his head to one side then the other trying to make heads or tails of what Nash was showing him.
"It appears to be a sign, Sir Blake." Risabeel came up to look at the sign as well. "It has a rather...unquie...design to it, yes?"
"!" Nash let out a delightful neigh at Risabeel's words coming up to rub his head on hers. "?" Then turned to Blake to hear what he thought of it as if he was a child asking their parent what they think of their drawing.
"If by unique you mean ugly as all hell? Then, yes, it's very unique," Blake answered in a flat, lifeless tone, looking right at Nash who was him giving the most heartfelt look of longing. "That doesn't work on me, you're only half as cute as Mari, plus you wasted a bunch of the nails I was planning on using to fix this place!"
"I do believe it's going to take more than just a few nails to fix all of this, smith," Nathan commented on after taking a look around the Guild House, then at the sign Nash made. "Also, I must agree that it is horrible."
"Got that right, but its kind of better than the rest of this place, geez!" Rena nagged as she flew around the building, peeking into some of the windows that were broken. "HAH! Back off, buddy!" Until she came to the window belonging to the room overran by plants with one of the hanging vines whipping out at her. "Lu! I found our room, and it's still a dump!"
"Don't be like that Rena we haven't gone inside yet so it can't be that bad!" Lu called out to her, then turned to Blake. "Right, Blake?"
"Ugh, once you get past the grass and broken floor broads, I guess you can say that?" Blake answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But the good thing is we've got that whole free upkeep thing from the Guild Union so it shouldn't take that bad for long! Come on! Let's get inside!" He waved a hand at the group to get them to get closer. "And what about you, Mr. Owner?" He stared at Stefon who hadn't moved from his seat yet even with Lu leaving his side.
"Hmph! Don't think so highly of yourself, smith. I only wished to come to this place to see it, and although it is better than I thought it would be, I must say it needs some dire work to meet my standards. I'll handle this personnel, think of it as my one and only gift to you, Mr. Leader," Stefon explained, whirling a hand in the air then rested his arm on the window of his carriage. "Until next we meet my dear guild and remember I will be taking my request at any time." He waved a hand at the driver of his carriage to get going, followed by the one the others used. "Ah! And Lady Lu! Please be safe in there! I would hate to think that anything might happen to you! My Love!"
"..." Lu had a hand pressed as hard as he could against his face as Stefon rode off into the distance blowing kisses his way.
"You know you got yourself into that one?" Blake came up to the Elf and was about to put a hand to his shoulder when Lu slowly turned to him with blank green eyes. "...and I pushed it farther than needed?"
"At least you admit it," Lu muttered, smiling since Blake flinched at his stare from earlier. "Do you think he'll ever notice?"
"Not until he strips you down or someone tells him, and for some reason, I think the first one as a better chance of happening." Blake shrugged if anything at least they didn't have to deal with Stefon until he neither comes back for a date with Lu or that deal. "Alright, time for a house tour!" He wheeled around and was met with Nash giving him the stink eye while sitting down right in front of the door. "What's wrong with you? Move!"
"..." Nash rolled around to laying down on his back with his hooves up in the air, eyes closed and blew air through his lips.
"I don't care if I hurt your feelings! I'm not going to baby you all the time!" Blake yelled at the horse, trying to get him to move. "HEY!" But all Nash needed to do was wiggled a little to get right back to where he was. "Arggh!" And soon Blake gave up on it. "Oh, right?" Which was when he remembered the basket he was carrying and reached into it. "Alright, what about now?" He asked with a muffin in hand.
"?" Nash opened one eye. "~!~" And the moment he saw the muffin he shot up to his hooves and wagging his tail back and forth.
"What is he a dog?" Nathan asked to the air at the oddities that happened around Blake.
"No, but I'm starting to think he's not a horse either." Gram answered, standing next to Nathan. "Hey, what did the Alpha do that guy anyhow?" He looked up at Mari on his neck.
"Nash's has always been like that!" Mari answered and got off Gram since they were back home.
"?" Nash was looking at the treat Blake pulled from all sides and was about to sniff it until his master pulled it away. "..." Causing the horse to blew air from his nose and glared at Blake.
"Hey, now, you know I'm just teasing you, and I'm sorry..." Blake smirked at Nash then brought the muffin to his face.
"~!~" Nash neighed, biting into the muffin and munched on it for a bit until he tasted something...sweet...bitter...and fruity...kind like a...carrot, by the thought bubble next to his head which was then lit on fire. "..." And once again Nash glared at Blake who was still smirking at him.
"What not a fan?" Blake asked, holding the muffin to his face with a few bits of carrot here and there after Nash took a bit out it. "Oh yeah? You hate these? Now more before I make you finish it."
"..." Nash silently moved out of the way, staring daggers at Blake as he went over to Mari and brought his head down to her.
"Yeah, sure thing!" Mari held two fingers to Nash's eyes then pointed them at Blake.
"Try me!" Blake threw the muffin at Nash doing the same to the horse.
"OOOO!" But Os stretched out to catch it which was quickly dissolved into nothing.
With that done, Blake went up to the doors of the Guild House and pushed them open with that same slow and dreadful creek greeting the group as the two doors slid open, however, this time instead of a thick cloud of dust coming over them it was a gust of green wind that wrapped itself around Blake.
"Oh? ~Hello~ Hubby welcome home!" Baba's voice greeted Blake warmly as the winds turned into the Ala that the voice belonged to with her arms wrapped around Blake's neck. "I missed you." She whispered into his ear, not caring about anyone that happened to be there.
"Granny get away from my brother!" Mari was now glaring at Baba as hard as Nash was glaring at Blake.
"Mari be nice..." Blake told his sister then turned to Baba, smiling at him. "...nice to see you, Baba, how was your da-"
*Clang, Clang*
But before Blake could finish his question, a loud series of clangs came from inside as if someone was trying to kill someone made of iron with something made of metal. "Pretty much that for the whole day?" Blake asked, looking at Baba who had an annoyed on her face. "I'll make it up to later, okay?"
"You better since the Dragon was being mean to me too." Baba puffed out her cheeks and snuggled up to Blake then whispered something to him.
"I'm sure you gave her a reason to do that, but why didn't she set you on fire?" Blake told Baba, being the main target of Saffire's rage most of the time he was pretty well-versed in what happens to someone she hates or gets her mad.
"I wonder why?" Baba sang out before floating away from Blake. "Hello, Lutwig, Rena and Nathan it looks like the everyone's back together, hmm? It's nice to see that you didn't turn down Hubby's offer." She greeted the once traveling members, laying lazily in the air.
"Yeah, I guess so, and it looks like we're gonna be stuck together for a while." Lu waved up at Baba, taking in the state the inside of the Guild House was in.
"Well, I'm here because of Lu and the gold we're going to make, hehe!" Rena giggled as she came to rest on Baba's stomach as she floated on by.
"The inside is just as the bad as the outside, but as long I can get a quiet space then my studies should go well enough..." Nathan was muttering to himself as he was pacing around a bit with one of his spell books in hand.
"Huh? If this is the reunion, then I wonder how they act on a daily basis?" Mordecai was leaning against a wall, watching his new guildmates check out the place. "...this should work I guess?"
"It better, cause you're the one who forced this one," Blake remarked, coming up to Mordecai then pointed behind him to the others. "Don't worry. They grow on you."
"You don't say?" Mordecai looked back at them seeing Mari and Baba having some kind of argument with Risabeel and Lu trying to stop while Rena and Os seemed to be cheering them on to keep it going. "They better cause you picked 'em." He held up a fist to Blake.
"It's a bet." Blake bumped fists with Mordecai's then shook the basket he was carrying around. "Now, if you and Risabeel can handle the tour of the place for a bit? There's a Dragon and little boy I need to go check up on."
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Blake's smithy
"Yo! How are things in here!" Blake called out to the smithy finding Saffire's Dragonic head, sticking out of the cave in the smithy while Bread was currently hammering away at a bit of Ore. "Nothing's too banged up or on fire that's a good start." He climbed down the leader and took a quick swipe of the room. "Alright, kid, show me what you got."
"Right! Boss!" Bread stopped what he was doing and ran over to the worktable he had the box of finished and usable bombs. "Here!" He brought the box over to Blake held it out to him.
"..." Blake popped it open and found 8 bombs. "Hmm?" He picked one up and rolled it around before returning it to the box. "This is all you got to show after the whole day?" Blake asked, giving Bread a piercing gaze as the boy only meekly nodded in return. "And you used up all of the Bomber Golem Ore?" He eyed the now emptied crate he used to keep the Ore in.
"..." Again Bread only nodded, keeping his eyes to the ground. "Huh?" Until he felt a hand on his hat, making him look up.
"Dammit, kid, you don't have to worry about how I feel about your work, that's what the buyers are for! For now, keep listening, training, and hold that head high." Blake rubbed Bread's head roughly while the boy kept his head up. "Yeah! Like that! Now, get out of here! I'll let you off this once!"
"See ya!" Bread ran right past Blake and went up the ladder.
Once the door to the smithy got slammed shut, Blake turned to Saffire who was silently letting the master and student talk with each other. "S,o you got the goods, Scaleless? Cause, I did my job." The Dragon asked, sharping her eyes on Blake's face.
"Yeah, yeah, I did! Do you think I'd be dumb enough to come down here if not?" Blake joked, coming up to Saffire's face and sat the basket down on one of the anvils. "Don't answer that." He held up a hand when it looked like Saffire was about to say something and pulled out a cake. "Just eat and be a big happy Dragon!"
"If doing random stuff for you comes with these then I might do some more work with you." Saffire opened her mouth, and Blake went along with it, tossing the cake in there. "Well, it looks like someone knows what to do, heh!" She chuckled, snapping her jaws shut and opened them with any sign of the treat Blake tossed in there gone. "Come on, keep it coming! I've got a bigger mouth right now!"
"Sure, sure, I guess these taste better than rocks right, hehe!" Blake chuckled along with the Dragon dumping the basket worth of cakes, muffins, tarts, some cheese and a bit of jam. "Uhm? Saffire? You okay?" He asked after emptying the basket, but unlike the first time she shut her fang down like a bear trap.
"Get out! NOW!" Saffire growled setting her mouth on fire, burning everything Blake gave like they were dried leaves.
"Yeah! Sure! Come up later and see the others! Bye!" Blake got up and ran to the exist. "Why did Baba tell me that it was okay to talk about that!?"
Chapter End