Chapter 425: Cain

Before Derek left the academy, he stopped back by the entrance where he had met Instructor Onis. Luckily, the man was still there, sitting behind his desk and helping what few students were still in the lobby. The man stopped everything and greeted Derek when he entered.

“Mr. Hunt,” Anthony said. “Can I assume that you found everything you needed? Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Everything was fine,” Derek said. “I’m all good. I just had a couple questions, so I decided to stop in and see if you were still here.”

“If you have questions, then I would be happy to answer,” the instructor said with a small bow.

“Great,” Derek said. Then, he asked the man what had been on his mind. “How does the academy deal with students who are… not motivated to get better? I saw a couple while watching over the exams today.”

“Oh,” Anthony said. “You’re worried about the fate of a student if they are paired up with an under-performing student. There is no need to worry—at least about that. When it comes time for the dangerous things when the instructors can’t be there to help, we take it very seriously. I can assure you that if there are slackers in the class, they will not be allowed to jeopardize any of the other students.

“We have multiple dungeons that are perfect for the students at the bottom of their class. They are very easy, and the casualty rate is almost zero. Besides, when it comes to forming those teams, it is not random. The students will be able to choose their own teams—so if there is a slacker that has yet to be expelled or held back, they will surely avoid them.”

“And what if the ‘slacker’ is part of a high noble family and they offer a commoner kid riches or status to be part of their team? I know that status doesn’t mean anything inside the academy, but on the outside, the commoner still has family, and it would not be easy to turn down such offers,” Derek asked.

“It has happened, but very rarely, and it never lasts long. We punish those who are found out harshly—with expulsion. If there is an odd pairing, we are sure to see it and investigate,” Anthony replied. “As for the current ‘lacking’ students… they are still here because there have not been any danger to having them. Since dungeons have been closed and we had to revamp our curriculum, we’ve allowed them to stay a little longer to see if they shape up. Before things go back to normal, I can assure you that there will be a massive culling throughout each class.”

“I see,” Derek said. I guess I don’t have to worry about Thomas getting paired up with those other students. That’s pretty much all Derek was worried about when he came to Anthony with his questions. Though, I’ll definitely have to warn him about that alchemist, too.

“Is there anything else?” Anthony asked.

“Nope, that’s it,” Derek said. “Thanks for all the help. I guess I’ll get going now.”

Anthony bowed again before going back to his desk and helping the student he’d been with before. Then Derek turned around and took his leave. He’d learned a lot during his day at the academy, and it was nice to see that Thomas was doing so well. He’d also met a few interesting students and instructors. He smiled to himself as he made his way out of the academy doors and to the gate separating it from the rest of the city.

Derek had the guards open the gate, and he walked through. With a quick wave and nod to the two guards—who were different guards than the ones who were stationed there when he first arrived—he left. As he was walking away from the academy grounds, he looked at the badge on his shoulder. This did come in quite useful today, he thought.

For a moment, the thought of going back to the palace and giving the token back to Phillip crossed his mind, but then he decided against it. That would be too much work, he thought. If he wants it back, he can come to me. Derek shrugged, then pulled the token off his shoulder and stored it in his bracelet.

Once Derek left the academy grounds, he decided it would be best to check on Cain Ibarra and see how he was fairing after his brush with death when they were fighting the Starfury Leonaris. And if I happen to meet the Guild Leader or come away with a diamond-ranked badge, that will just be a bonus, he thought as he made his way back through the city.

Since he’d never been to the guild in the capital, he didn’t quite know where it was located, but that was remedied with a single question to a passing stranger. They may have looked at him like he was an idiot, but he still got the location. It didn’t take him long to find almost an exact replica of the Savannah Adventurer’s Guild building. The only differences that he could see was the slightly larger size and the banners representing the capital instead of Savannah.

I wonder if this one is going to be just as deserted as the one in Savannah, he thought as he walked through the pair of doors leading to the lobby. Sure enough, it was deserted. It wasn’t as deserted as the Savannah one, as it had two workers instead of a lone Judy, and there was a young adventurer looking over the quest board with a frown.

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“Welcome to the Cydaria Adventurer’s Guild. How may I help you today?” A tall blond elven lady asked Derek as he approached her desk. She was just as stunning as the other elves he’d met lately, and her eyes glimmered with excitement.

It’s probably because she’s had nothing to do all day and she’s bored, Derek thought as he flashed her a smile. “Hello,” Derek said with a nod. “I’m looking for the Guild Leader, is he in?”

“Mr. Ibarra?” the elf asked with raised brows.

“That’s the one,” Derek said.

“Um… yes…” the woman hesitated. “The Guild Leader is in his office. May I ask your reason for visit?”

With a flick of his hand, Derek’s onyx badge appeared in his palm and he sat it down on the woman’s desk. “I need to get this thing upgraded to diamond-ranked. The guild in Savannah still doesn’t have the paperwork completed to let Shae hand them out. So I think I have to come here and get your Guild Leader to do it.”

“That…” the woman stammered.

“You can get Cain if he can do it. I don’t mind who gets me the diamond badge. I’ve just been carrying around this onyx one for far too long when there’s a much more shiny one out there for me to get,” Derek explained.

The flustered elven woman quickly calmed herself and nodded. “If you will, please wait one moment. I will go fetch them.”

Derek watched the woman vanish through a door to the back. If it was the same layout as the other guild buildings, then there would be multiple training rooms, then some offices for the managers to use. He took a step back from the desk and stretched his arms over his head, and yawned. Then Derek turned his head to look at the two other people in the lobby.

The young man with a silver-ranked badge on his shoulder was looking at Derek with wide eyes. The near empty quest board was no longer of any interest to him. On the other hand, the man behind one of the center counters was eyeing Derek skeptically, but doing his best to not let it show. Derek couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of what he said, or the clothing that he was wearing. It’s not my fault that I’m the only one in this kingdom who enjoys comfortable clothes, he thought. Well… except for those robe wearing mages. I bet those could be pretty comfortable as long as they’re not too thick.

Derek didn’t have to let his thoughts wonder much longer as the door that the woman had left through swung open and someone stepped out.

“Who could possibly be looking to get a diamond-badge at a time like… oh…” Cain’s eyes caught Derek’s and Derek smiled widely at the Guild Master.

“So, this is your natural habitat?” Derek asked as the man walked past the counters and into the lobby to shake Derek’s hand.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” Cain said. “We just sent the paperwork up to Savannah that will allow Shae to register members as diamond-rank just as soon as he fills them out, then comes here to get his own badge.”

“Judy told me,” Derek said as he gripped Cain’s hand and shook. “But I think that’s going to be awhile. He’s got a lot of stuff to catch up on before he can do anything.”

“You’re probably right,” Cain said, as he released Derek’s hand.

“You’re looking a lot better than you were the last time I saw you.” Derek looked Cain up and down. He was wearing a new robe of blue and red. I think I’ll keep to my jeans and t-shirt, he thought as he inspected the robe.

“Yes…” Cain sighed. “At least I was able to make it out… I had to go inform Layne Marshall’s family of his fate yesterday. Of course, they already knew of it, but I owed it to them to give them the details, since I was the one who led that mission.”

Layne Marshall was, of course, the sword wielding warrior who had fallen in the puzzle trial that Cain had led along with Elena Webb. Edgar had told the Guild Master that it was on him since he was the prince and leader of the raid, but it didn’t seem like Cain took that to heart.

“That couldn’t have been easy,” Derek said.

“It never is,” Cain replied. “But, unfortunately, in a life like we live, you get used to it sooner or later. I can’t even count the number of adventurers I’ve seen leave and never come back. It’s just one of the things you have to accept when you become an adventurer or warrior.”

“I guess…” Derek said. It had been a very long time since the last person he was really close with died. Seeing the death of strangers in his party was something that Derek had grown numb to over the years. But someone he was close to was another thing altogether. He wasn’t sure how he would react if someone like that died again—especially now that he was powerful. “So… about that badge.”

“Oh, right,” Cain nodded. “I don’t think you need to be tested. We’ll just wait for the leader to get here and he’ll take care of that.”

“Sounds good.”

After some time, the door swung open again, and Derek looked up from his conversation with Cain. He sighed a bit when it was just the elven woman coming back to her station. But not long after the door shut behind her, it opened again and another person walked out.

It was a dreary looking older man with dark blond hair and gray-blue eyes, wearing a set of plate armor. Derek looked him up and down, then he realized that he recognized the man, it was Nathan. The same man who he’d met at the Undying Dungeon, then again once they got out of the raid.” Derek looked to his shoulder and on it was a platinum badge where his gold one had been before. It can’t really be him… can it? He’s not going to hit me with an ‘ah-ha! I’ve been the leader this whole time,’ is he? He wondered.

“You?” Derek asked out loud, and the man looked up.

“Huh?” the man grunted then turned his head to look at Derek—recognizing him almost instantly. “Oh, Mr. Hunt. Nice to see you again.” He said as he bowed slightly. “I must thank you again for that map. Before the war began, the success rate of that dungeon had grown by leaps and bounds. I am still surprised that was you. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Derek said. “You’re not… the Guild Leader, are you?”

“Me?” The man pointed to himself, then laughed. “Oh, heaven’s no.” He looked over at Cain. “Could you imagine me being the leader?” He looked back at Derek with a smile. “No, I’m just here because I hate senseless death, and even though I’m not the strongest or the smartest, I can at least do my part to help prevent it.”

“No, Nathan isn’t the Guild Leader,” Cain said with a laugh. “He’s here often because he specializes in collecting information on dungeons for the Adventurer’s Guild. Especially any new dungeons. So, if you’re in this particular Adventurer’s Guild, you will see him often.”

“Oh,” Derek said. “My bad. I was seriously surprised for a second.”

“Yes… he is not the Guild Leader,” Cain said. “He’s just really good friends with him.”