I woke the next morning in a daze, the comfortable feeling of something warm hugging me nearly making me fall back asleep. I shifted a bit closer to the warmth, purring lightly. A sigh from behind me woke me fully, and I raised my head slightly, blinking away the sleep from my eyes. I turned towards the door to see Marcus grinning at me, and I realized what the warmth was. Ava was asleep next to me, hugging me softly and smiling in her sleep as we cuddled. I snorted softly at Marcus before nudging Ava gently. She mumbled something about fuzzy pillows before slowly blinking awake. She looked at me and then Marcus before blushing furiously, jumping up from the bed as Marcus left, laughing.

"Good morning, Vira. Sleep well?" She asked, still blushing as she dressed for the day. I yawned and nodded, padding to the door before using [Polymorph]. This time, I paid attention to what happened. My wings collapsed into a black mist, swirling around me as I grew in height. I instinctively knew that should I try, I could reform my wings. Black leather armour formed around me, a few straps holding it in place. A couple pouches were scattered around on it, with a larger one on my hip. My chest also grew, but not enough that it became awkward. When the shift finished, the mist condensed into a black metal pauldron on my shoulder. I turned to Ava and smiled.

"Great, actually. You're a great cuddler." I said, grinning mischievously. She blushed even harder at that, to the point I thought she would burst into flame. She stumbled over her words as she tried to formulate a response, but I just laughed and walked out of the room, the heavy wooden door closing behind me. The others were waiting for us in the dining room of the inn, with Corin already having finished eating. I sat next to Iven and ordered from a passing server, Ava arriving shortly after, still blushing slightly. When my food arrived, Ava ordered and I dug in, not having eaten since yesterday morning. By the time I finished, everyone else had as well.

"Alright, if everyone is done, let's go do a quest or two." Marcus said, rising from the table. I nodded, standing and shifting to my natural form. I caught Iven send me a look of envy as he followed Marcus out of the inn. Ava and Corin followed shortly after us. We went to the guildhall, a few conversations silencing as I entered. The man who confronted me yesterday immediately ran off into the arena.

I snorted in disdain, keeping my intense desire to castrate him in check. We walked over to the quest board, the quests sorted into their respective ranks. Everyone other than me was silver rank, so we chose a subjugation request from the silver ranked section. It was a request from a neighboring city to scout and clear a nearby nest that recently showed up. According to Iven, nests were large groups of monsters of one type that gathered to an area for some reason, usually because of a strong aligned mana source. This resulted in one of them becoming the leader and evolving. This nest was an unknown, as the bronze rank scouting parties hadn't returned after the city dispatched them, so it was upgraded to a silver rank quest.

We registered the quest with a receptionist and left the hall to begin preparations. Ava went off to buy more potions and medical supplies, Corin left to get food, as in his own words, "You bunch o' ninnies wouldn't know good booze if it were dumped o'er yer heads!" Iven went to stock up on arrows, and Marcus excused himself to go do who knows what. When asked, he just smiled and responded that we would see. I sighed, left to my own devices. I decided to just look around town some more.

After wandering for a while, I found myself in front of a massive, ornate stone building. A similarly opulent sign out front declared the place as the artisan's guild, small print underneath claiming the entire place was made by members. A steady stream of people were entering and leaving through the double doors, and the sound of countless conversations rang through the area. The crowd parted around me, many casting nervous glances my way before hurrying up just a bit. I entered the building, the flow of people stopping abruptly at my intrusion. I saw the blacksmith I had met yesterday and nodded in greeting. He grinned, responding with a friendly wave. The people nearby gave him looks that were obviously questioning his sanity. I saw one of the receptionists freeze at my approach, and then flee into a door behind the long counter that dominated the room.

A guard exited the same door a few seconds later, his hand on his sword as he stepped around the side. Keeping a wary eye on me, he turned to the blacksmith.

“Sir, I must request that you remove the beast from the premises immediately. It is causing unrest among our members.”

The blacksmith just laughed in response.

“Lad, she ain't my beast, nor would she take kindly to you addressing me rather than her. I do believe that if you don't solve that problem rapidly, you might be leavin’ here with a few less teeth.”

The guard gave him a questioning look before turning to me.

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“What in the hells are you talking about, old man? A mere beast can't understand me.”

I gave a low growl before activating [Polymorph], my wings collapsing as my height grew. I soon towered over the bewildered guard as the last of the smoke solidified and crossed my arms.

“I am not usually the type to press issues like this, but the old man's right. If I'm not mistaken, calling a beastkin a “mere beast” is incredibly offensive. I will let it pass this time, as I can see the misunderstanding, but do not make the same mistake again. Alright?”

I nearly growled the last word at the terrified man as the crowd that had gathered began to slowly disperse, not wanting to be caught in a fight between a towering beastkin and a guild guard. The man nodded furiously, rapidly apologizing and backpedaling to the door he entered from. The blacksmith guffawed at the spectacle before returning to his business. I grinned slightly as I walked up to one of the receptionists who seemed completely unfazed by the proceedings.

She was scribbling on a sheet of paper as I approached, and without looking up asked, “Name and business?”

“Vira, and I am here to join the guild.”

She glanced up, looking me up and down before dipping her pen in a nearby inkwell.

“Profession and class?”

“Adventurer, [Master Blacksmith].”

She raised an eyebrow at the adventurer part. A craftsman class, especially one at the [Master] level being an adventurer was incredibly uncommon, after all.

“To join you will need an example of your work and at least one witness of you crafting it. Do you have these things?” She questioned. I nodded, waving over the blacksmith and explaining while retrieving Solis from my vault. As the old man confirmed that I crafted the sword, the receptionist identified it and her expression transformed to one of absolute shock. I had learned from Marcus earlier that [Identify] was not a skill, but was built into the system.

She floundered for a moment before somewhat regaining her composure. “I… I need to get the guildmaster, please wait here for a moment.” She said, gingerly setting the khopesh on the counter as though it would shatter at the smallest touch. I snorted in amusement, since that sword would probably outlast the planet itself. She scurried out of the room and up some stairs off to the side.

While I was waiting, me and the blacksmith began chatting about differing smithing techniques. He was fascinated by scale armour, so I carefully explained the process of crafting it. When I finished, there was more than a few other blacksmiths listening in and giving suggestions on how I could improve the process. A few of them were good, such as adding a soft leather underlayer to help against the blunt force that scale and chainmail are both notoriously weak against. Another one suggested adding doubled leather everywhere flexibility wasn't needed, such as the chest or forearm.

I asked what doubled leather was and he smirked, launching into an enthusiastic explanation. It was a technique he devised to remove the biggest weakness of boiled leather, as despite it being the best for armour it would crack under stress. To solve that, he added a layer of water hardened leather over top and riveted them together. The flexible top layer would stretch when bent, and prevent the boiled leather underneath from bending too far and cracking. The underlayer, in turn, would help with the weakness of the water hardened leather, that being it was too soft for armour normally.

I thought for a moment before thanking the man, my mind already spinning with plans for a set of reinforced scale armour. I would have the doubled leather on the body and other unbending parts, while leaving just the water hardened leather across the joints.

The receptionist finally returned, an older man built like a cement mixer following. I assumed he was the guild master, judging from the respect she was showing him. I looked him over with a critical eye, taking in his dark hair and bright emerald eyes, and his towering height rivaling mine, through still a bit shorter. He had laugh lines creasing his face, and an impressive beard that reached his lower chest. He looked like a dwarf if said dwarf was taller than an elf. I could feel him doing the same to me before nodding approvingly.

He walked over to me with a confident stride. “So, what's this I hear about a sword?” He asked, clearly avoiding the tier of Solis. I grinned at his obvious tactics and pointed at my khopesh. He stepped over to it and looked at it closely, examining every fine detail with a keen eye. I could see the exact moment he identified it, as his face lit up and his jaw dropped.

After working his jaw for a solid minute, he turned to me.

“How about we move this to my office?” I nodded, following him as he went deeper into the guild building. He led me through a twisting maze of hallways and rooms before eventually reaching an ornately carved door, reflecting the front of the guild. He tapped a few places within the carvings, a faint ping echoing with each, and the door swung open silently. The guildmaster stepped aside, motioning me inside. I stepped through the door, taking in the surprisingly plain office.

A massive shelving unit dominated one wall, filled with books and trinkets alike. The wall opposite the shelf held a hearth, with a small fire smoldering away cheerily. The final one across from the door had a large window, in front of which stood a hefty oak desk with a matching chair. There were a few other chairs scattered about, and a single table set near the fire.

The guildmaster stepped inside, closing the door and walking around to the desk. With a heavy sigh, he sat in the chair and leaned onto the desk, motioning for me to sit as well. I dragged a chair over and sat, tail curling lazily behind me.

The guildmaster looked me over again before speaking. “So, to get straight to the point.” He snapped, and gleaming barriers covered the door and windows. He sat back, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “I will ask this once, and only once. Who did you steal that blade from?”