Darius and Kristina managed to snag a way in but were kept at a distance from one another by the guild members. Darius was preoccupied with a barrage of questions from Nova and Milly who continued to take his arms as they walked, and Kristina was swamped with Cline who wanted to understand her intentions better.
“A hunter, then?” Cline asked. “Why not, say, the military. More benefits, easier hours, definitely a more stable life, and a lot less encounters with dangerous creatures.”
“I’m pretty simple; I want the recognition,” Kristina responded. “I have my reasons, but I want to show certain people just who I am. Show them that I can become something special regardless of how they think of me, and let’s just say they have some military connections.”
“You’re actually a local, aren’t you?” Cline asked with a light smile.
“That obvious?” Kristina asked not really trying to hide herself.
“Why the big show? If you just showed us the griffin from the start, we would’ve taken you two in no problem. Honestly, all you really did there was waste our time, probably would’ve saved me the bruises.”
“That’s all my partner, Darius. I wanted to start off with the griffin, but he wanted to be “discreet.” It’s just how he is.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask about him. I hear those opposites attract, but I’m not seeing the attraction here. I just can’t see the two of you working well together, let alone hunting a 4-star griffin by yourselves. He looks like the type to get easily flustered.”
On his side, Darius talked with Milly and Nova with a somewhat perverted smile on his face as they continued to shorten what little space was left between the three of them. Their conversation was lively as they spoke about topics Kristina couldn’t really understand. At least everything except when the topic of potential “rewards” for joining the Researcher’s Guild popped up.
“You’d be right about that, but he comes through in a pinch,” Kristina said albeit with a little more strain than she thought it would take. “I actually haven’t even known the guy for long. He just appeared one day, and now I can’t really see my life without him in it.”
“Pretty sure they have a word for that,” Cline responded very snarkily.
Kristina didn’t like what he was insinuating, “Is that so? Pray tell, what might this little word be?” she said balling both her fist.
“Calm down liger, I don’t need any of your fangs. Quick to the bite there, aren’t ya? I’m just hazing the new blood. If you think I’m bad just wait until Nuri gets her hands on you. If just this much is enough to rile you up, maybe Hammer’s right, and you won’t last very long as a hunter.”
“That’s hardly fair. Aren’t you the one with the bruises and unconscious brother?”
Cline thought about what she said for a moment. He took a good long look at himself and Cyren, who was slowly regaining consciousness on Hammer’s back, before shrugging at Kristina. “Fair point. Maybe you’re already more like a Hunter than I thought.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“As you should! We Hunters are the cream of the crop. Not just anyone can become a Hunter, unlike some of those other guilds,” Cline said gesturing towards the others, “In fact, last year we only admitted 42 new members.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad to me.”
“We lost 50 members the same year. 10 to jobs, 15 to retirement, 20 due to insufficient work ethic, and the last 5 to the Guild Master.
“She killed them!” Kristina cried, horrified that a Guild Master would do such a thing.
“They could only hope for such a pleasant fate. No, they suffered far worse, they caught her fancy,” Cline said dead serious.
Kristina couldn’t tell whether he was joking or not, so she decided to brush it off. “Aren’t we getting close to the checkpoint?”
“That we are.”
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With a smirk, Cline hurried his stride and jumped to the front of the group. Overall, She was unsure how she felt about the guy. On one hand, he was definitely a bit off kilter, but so were the other five people she spoke with today. Maybe she’d just been gone from her home too long. Then again, she couldn’t really say it was such a bad thing, Cline did win her 10 rubies after all.
As they continued forward, they soon reached the pair of guards blocking their entry. Seeing the large group, one of the two guards, a smaller man with a disproportionately large axe on his back, sighed heavily. He kicked the female guard, wearing long blue robes that covered just about every inch of her body, who seemed to awaken from a long slumber.
“Who? What? Where? Work, right I’m on duty.” The female guard said barely able to stand on her own two feet. “State your names and show your identification plat- Well. if it isn’t Cline and crew? Usually, you’d just brush us off and walk inside, so what do you want?”
“Looking lovely as usual Nicole, at least I think you are, I can’t really tell behind all that cloth.” Nicole didn’t respond back, merely keeping quiet until Cline answered her original question. “We got two people here without plates, and we were hoping you could look aside for a bit until we can get them some. We’ll make it worth your while.”
Nicole retreated back to her smaller compatriot and spoke to him for a bit, but when she returned her body was clad in a blue aura. “With the princess missing, I’ve had to work overtime regularly for more than six months. I think we deserve something for that. Let’s say I’m interested, give me an offer,” Nicole said while holding out her arm.
A bit of sweat ran down Cline’s brow, “Can’t trust me? Come on, I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“I can feel that you’re lying from here, now grab my hand. The boy and girl going in with you too. I’m assuming they’re the ones you’re trying to smuggle in, but I still need to make sure they won’t be a danger to let inside.”
Darius and Kristina had already prepared themselves for this to happen, so they were both quick to comply. Cline was quick to capitalize on their quick movements, “Look at that, we got nothing to hide!”
“You’re lying, but I don’t think it pertains to this specifically. Rule of thumb, be a bit more specific with your answers. Broad ones like that will likely set me off, too many of those, and it won’t matter what the guilds offer us. Let’s start with an easy one, what are your names?”
“I go by Darius,” he said with a resolute smile.
“I prefer Kristina, but Krista also works,” She said hoping her name wouldn’t trigger any alarms,
“Okay,” Nicole said slowly. “What is your reason for entry?”
Darius needed a bit to think of his response, so Krista spoke first. “I want to join with the Hunter’s Guild, and I’m hoping Cline here could put in a good word for me.”
“Checks out,” Nicole responded, “and you Darius?”
“Nothing special, was having some trouble back home, and I decided to come here looking for help.”
Technically speaking what he said was the truth, but Nicole’s strong glare clued him in that something was amiss. She let go of Cline’s arm and moved away from Kristina before she used both her hands to grab onto Darius. The other guard walked behind Nicole, finally brandishing the huge axe.
“I’m going to give you a second chance here, but don’t lie to me again,” Nicole said without any sense of the easygoing guard she displayed before.
Darius knew he had to pick his words carefully here, so he spoke slowly. “I wasn’t lying, just underselling things a lot. I really am here because I think that I can find the help I need. Only, things back home are far worse than I let on. If I don’t hurry here, I fear that I may have no home to return to.”
This time Nicole eased off, convinced that Darius wasn’t here to do harm. “See that, he’s a good lad,” Cline remarked while slapping Darius on the back. “I think I’m changing my opinion on him; he’d make a fine Hunter.”
“No way!” Milly yelled. “He’s far too intelligent to be a part of your insufferable group of savages. He’d do far better as a member of the Researcher’s Guild. Plus, you already have the girl. It’s only fair that we get one of them.”
“Right!” agreed Nova.
“You three dullards don’t know a thing!” Hammer shouted. “The Artisan’s Guild is going to take the both of ‘em! You two should just be happy that you even got to meet with ‘em.”
Before the fighting could continue a large axe found its way flying in between the four near arguing people. The guard who wielded it slowly walking himself between the shocked and terrified party to retrieve his weapon from deep within the earth. Each of them no longer feeling the need to squabble.
Seeing a moment to speak, Nicole faced Darius and Kristina. “I’ll let you two pass, so please do try to be on your best behavior. As for your identification, I’m sure the guilds will be able to handle it?”
“Of course!” Cline replied. “If nothing, you can always rely on the guilds to get their way. As soon as you let us through, we’ll be right out of your hair.”
With those parting words, Cline motioned himself to pass by Nicole, but she grabbed his arm, reactivating her blue aura. “I do believe you are forgetting something.”
“What might that be?” Cline asked legitimately confused.
“Our payment,” The guard with the large axed said coming up from behind Cline.
“It’s only 10 emerald… It’s only 10 emerald… It’s only 10 emerald…” repeated Cline, stuck in a state of mental anguish after emptying his pockets to the two guards back at the checkpoint. Turns out that someone would be put in a huge disadvantage when negotiating with someone else who could tell if they were lying.