Chapter 17

Meeting the Guild

The meeting hall was an interesting place. It was a long building, divided down the middle with a long empty thickly built hardwood table, uncomfortable looking wooden chairs lined one side, well cushioned chairs lined the other. A tall backed somewhat ornately carved, lightly cushioned chair sat at the head.

On the left side of the table, there were scattered bookcases filled with neatly shelved books. There were very comfortable looking recliners and couches scattered around in a way that would be conducive to people having relaxed conversations. A small empty bar ran along the outside wall, with a door heading into a room that smelled of a mixture foods that I would have considered healthy, but also sweets and coffee.

Three people in loose fitting comfortable, but somewhat expensive looking robes reclined in that section.

The only woman in the place, in a green robe, who had dark skin and long furry pointed ears smiled widely at me showing me her tiny sharp canines. She looked genuinely happy to see someone new. I held back the urge to smile back, given everyone's reactions to my smile thus far, and pulled my attention away from her.

A pale skinny young kid in a dark gray robe with stark white hair. I noticed a thick metal collar bound tightly around his neck, even at a distance, something about the collar felt wrong. He was seventeen at the absolute oldest. The boy stared at me with wide eyes. I noticed he was sitting some distance away from the other two, with a large book on his lap. The look on his face was beginning to trigger my instinct's prey drive, so I quickly looked at the next person.

The third person in the section stood out. He was short, with pale green skin. His large pointy ears hung down to the shoulders of his bright white robe. All of their robes were embroidered with nonsense patterns except for his. His robe had four of the elements represented in their mana colors emblazoned all over it. He looked at me over the top of a book. The look on his face made me feel like I had run over his cat. I didn't make eye contact.

I could feel mana worked into all three of their garments. The mana that clung to them felt strange, it was like it was tamed, it's emotional weight completely subdued. It did not call to me, or reach out from where it sat.

The more I looked at them, the more I noticed how the mana their robes held was shaped into motionless forms. I could see threads tying it to them, binding it into constructs the details of which I couldn't discern.

I supposed that was what normal spellcasters did to make their magic. But my experience with magic was so different, it was so vibrant. I knew mana didn't actually have complex thoughts, being contained like that wouldn't make it sad. But I couldn't help anthropomorphizing it every time I came in contact with it. So I felt terrible seeing it like that.

I looked to the right side of the table. That side smelled strongly of alcohol. The food smells coming from the kitchen behind its bar were mostly bread, meat, and cheese.

Instead of books and comfort, the area was rather spartan. Just cheap looking wooden tables and chairs. I got the feeling from damage I saw in places on the floor, that the furniture there was replaced frequently.

Five men sat around the area, all had different kinds of drinks in their hands, all were staring at me, seemingly sizing me up.

One made me question if Janus' fashion choices were normal in this world. He was bald, his lack of a shirt showed off his hairless chest and lean muscular build. A set of dark gray dice hung from his neck on a leather cord. He was wearing the same kind of tight leather pants as Janus, and for some reason, he was barefoot. At least Janus wore boots.

My eyes moved on to a pair who were sitting close to each other at a different table. One looked perfectly sober. He wore a light gray padded shirt, and had his dirty blond hair tied back neatly. He took me in with his calm green eyes. A bushy mustache sat over his expressionless mouth.

The green eyed man's companion had obviously been drinking enough for the both of them. His messy black hair hung over his dark brown eyes. He smiled widely at me waving his tankard, and almost fell over, the green eyed man reached over to steady him. It seemed like that happened a lot. Some of the beer from the tankard he was waving splashed on the drunkard's bright blue wide collared shirt, he didn't seem to notice.

The fourth man wasn't sitting at a table, but was sitting at the unmanned bar with his back to me, a nearly empty bottle that I identified is probably some of the harder stuff in his hand. He stared at me for a moment over a musclebound shoulder covered in thick black padding. His brown eyed gaze seemed a million miles away. He quickly turned his back to me, running a meaty hand over his short cropped black hair, before taking a last swig from his now empty bottle.

The last man was wearing light, flexible, dark leather coverings. His hazel eyes analyzed me, I sensed no threat of violence from him, just judgment. He didn't seem to think much of me. I noticed one of his ears poking out of his long dark hair. It was slightly pointed.

My attention moved on from them.

Beyond the long middle table stood a large open door. An exceptionally large older man had come out to see what Janus had yelled about. He filled the doorway with his hairy form. He was almost as large as me. I noticed round furry brown ears set high on his head, peaking out of his short graying brown hair. He had scattered animalistic features, including what must be a rather inconvenient set of long claws extending out of his short stubby hairy hands. My instincts showed me a picture of an enormous old grizzly standing on its hind legs over his form.

He wore rough, tough looking clothes made of thick coarse, undyed cloth. When he saw me, he smiled, exposing a mouth filled with teeth that belonged to a predator.

"Brother!" He shouted, his voice full of booming cheer. "What brings a spirit's chosen to human territory?"

I froze. My instincts, usually so aggressive, fed me fear. This man, across the hall from me, could destroy me. This was another predator, and I had walked into his territory.

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I completely lost control of my body as my instincts forced me to move. My eyes snapped away from him, my head bowed, I lowered myself to the ground, tail hit the floor, limp.

I felt something that I now recognize as my Aura of the Apex consciously for the first time, as it crumbled and retreated into me. I was not the Apex here. The beast across the room utterly crushed that concept.

I was filled with terror, I wanted to run away. But with his eyes on me, I was under his power. His will would determine whether I lived to see tomorrow. I would do anything he commanded, because to do otherwise would risk his wrath.

A part of my mind, rational and human, that had been pushed to a tiny voice in the back of my head. Argued that this reaction was drastically overblown, considering his friendly demeanor. It was ignored.

I heard laughter coming from the right side of the room. My instincts scoffed, they didn't see what the bear was capable of, I did.

I heard the beast across the way sigh. Then in a soft voice, that I heard only by virtue of my exceptional senses, he spoke to me.

"I am sorry, I forgot myself, I have spent too much time among humans." Samuel raised his voice to be heard by all in the room. He spoke with command. "Come, brother, we will speak in my office. Everyone else, be quiet, go back to what you were doing. Take your eyes off my brother, NOW."

I heard Samuel as he walked away, into his office. I still did not lift my head. I moved to follow Samuel's order. I didn't walk, but slunk across the hall. Trying to be as small as I could. I felt embarrassed to have the other adventurers see me like this, but I could not force myself to move normally.

With Samuel in his den, I felt free enough to grumble a bit at the men around me. I could feel their eyes on me, despite our leader telling them explicitly to look away.

When I entered Samuel's office, I realized that the room was large enough to house a thirty person meeting comfortably. I felt mana in the walls.

I heard Samuel's commanding voice from the left side of the room. "Close the door, and lock it." I did as he told me, finding myself completely unable to look in the direction of his voice.

"Let us help this phase pass, brother." I heard him approach. My body moved bowing my head all the way to the floor.

I heard him click his tongue. "That pack must be uncomfortable right now, set it aside."

The pack was uncomfortable, I hadn't even really noticed till it was pointed out. I shrugged it off, I also removed my staff from the loop it had been hanging from, and laid it on the ground next to my pack.

"I am level 210, and the acting leader of this chapter of the Adventurers Guild. It is right and proper for you to follow my orders. However, this level of submission speaks of a lack of control. We all feel the guidance of the wild. Chosen such as you receive a larger amount, but remember, it is guidance. You are not to let it rule you." He sighed, sounding exasperated. "You will tell me why one so inexperienced was allowed out of the homeland."

I cringed. I could only tell him the truth.

I spoke softly, barely a whisper. "I am not what you think. I am not your kind, I have never seen your homeland. I'm sorry."

I kept my head lowered, my tail curled under me. I didn't know how the man would react.

I heard a simple, hard command. "Show me."

My transformation started without my consent. I barely managed to dismiss my clothing before it strangled me.

I heard him gasp and back away as my form changed to fill much of the space in the room. I wasn't sure how I looked anymore, but I could see that I was still covered in glowing stripes. The green in them seemed brighter and more dominant.

"A young lord of the wild!" He exclaimed with what sounded like reverence in his voice.

I felt him touch my mane lightly, before pulling his hand away.

I heard him let out a breath. He spoke soothingly. "Not my kind, still my brother, please don't fear me." There was a pleading note in his voice.

"You must be so young. Why would you come to this place?" He said with wonder in his voice.

When he paused, I felt the need to to do whatever he asked of me. So I did my best. I fumbled trying to send actual words the way I had with Dux. What I managed to send were more like concepts than words. The idea of an entity greater than myself telling me to bring spirit beasts into a state of peace with humanity. The feeling that I needed to impress the humans, make myself an example of how useful we could be.

"Belua sent you? Ahh I see her mark. I wonder if she wants you to act as guardians for the humans? They are taking many losses in their conflict with the elves, and the beasts of the wild acting as a constant enemy at home has caused them great hardship. I find myself jealous, but it will be as the great mother wills." He said thoughtfully.

I nodded, slowly turning my head to look tentatively in his direction.

He spoke up, his voice filled with kindness. "Let me tell you about my people and the only one of your kind that I have ever met." He watched my face, and reached out a hand to gently stroke my mane. He seemed so small now that I was in my Mana Beast form. He was standing, and only a foot taller than me laying down. But I still sensed the power he held.

"He was a great bear, larger than my village's biggest building. A single one of his claws was as large as me. Looking upon him was like gazing upon a moving mountain. My people had a pact with him. He guarded us, and we shared a portion our hunts with him. It is because of his influence, that the people of my home village take on the aspects of the bear. Every village, town, and city in my homeland has such a guardian. Some places can provide for more than one."

His soft voice and gentle touch caused me to fully relax, I laid my head down, purring softly as he continued to speak.

"In my homeland, you would be treated with the utmost respect…" He sighed regretfully. "But the great mother's will brings you here instead. It is good that you pretend to be one of my kind. I will keep your secret. As you should as well, until you need not fear being hunted, for most humans know little of your kind. I will make sure you get assignments that will allow you to impress the humans with your might."

He backed away from me, my eyes flicked to him questioning his intentions.

His voice turned hard, and serious. "We will have to work on your impulse control. You are no longer in the wilds."

I huffed out a breath. At some point he had stopped intimidating my inner beast. I stood up, my horns almost scratched the ceiling. I considered saying something. But my grasp on mental speech with people who weren't connected to my mind already like Dux, seemed to be lacking.

I closed my eyes and began the process of channeling the desire to change back. Once I had, and I had resummoned my attire. I grumbled at him. "I think my impulse control is usually quite good. You're just scary."

Samuel burst out a loud sudden laugh. "I am scary am I? Well, you're probably right, the System saw fit to give me an aura meant to intimidate the beasts of the wild, I suppose you felt its effect." He walked towards the door, and unlocked it. "Come, bring your things, new members must be tested, you are no exception." He opened the door and sauntered out.

I scrambled to grab my staff and pack, and trail after him.