And until then, I will use all available means to become stronger.

For the first time, he saw himself in his new form. He saw the wooden structure of his arms all over his body. His auburn brown hair. And his minions, the two thin layers of wood that had nestled around one of each of his arms.

Even if I lose my human body for it.

Chapter Begin

A few hours later Elijah stood in front of the inn. He had slept a few hours and felt well-rested. Usually, the amount of sleep he got wouldn’t have been enough for him to recover from the trip but it looked like five hours were enough with his new attributes.

Should I just ask for the way and go there by myself? Erik had told him to meet up with him in front of the inn and Elijah had been waiting for him for what felt like an hour. It was somewhere close to fifteen minutes probably.

He had spent the time waiting with watching the city’s residents. The streets were packed and Elijah stood at the edge of the path to avoid anyone walking into him.

People of all kinds walked by and Elijah considered waiting inside for a moment but decided against it as he would go to the guild on his own if Erik didn’t appear in the next ten minutes.

As he expected, his friend was nowhere to be seen even ten minutes later. Elijah threw a last look in each direction, trying to see if he could spot Erik in between the people walking past him. Where is he?

He was about to ask a stranger for the way when he spotted Erik in the distance.

“You’re early,” Erik called as he waved at him.

“You’re late,” Elijah answered as he looked at Erik’s clothes. He had different clothes than the last days of their trip. A long-sleeved brown shirt was draped over his shoulders and he wore a sleeveless green top. Elijah liked his style but the wide dark red pants were not his taste. It suited Erik though.

Elijah was wearing the same black leather vest, pants, and the deep red cloak he had been wearing for the last few days and he already planned to get new clothes first thing after going to the guild. He did not feel comfortable at all in the sweaty dirty ones he had been wearing since arriving in this world.

Once more, Erik began leading the way through the city. Elijah was surprised that there were fewer people walking through the streets than in the morning. Erik told him that people preferred to stay at home during the middle of the day because of the heat of the midday sun.

It only took them ten minutes to arrive at a building that visibly stood apart from the rest. The Lepus headquarters towered over the other buildings at almost twice the size of the surrounding structures and Elijah knew it was their destination as soon as he saw it. The bunny ears on top of the building were a dead giveaway.

“Really?” Elijah gave Erik a flat look as he pointed at the almost rabbit-shaped building.

Erik only shrugged before he answered. “Our guild master is a Hopkin.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Hopkin?” Elijah raised an eyebrow as they entered the building.

“Half human, half rabbit,” Erik explained before he asked, “First time seeing one?”

Elijah nodded absentmindedly while his eyes wandered over the room. There were only five people there but all of them shouted some kind of greeting or waved at Erik when they saw him entering.

“Back for the wedding?” A man asked from behind the counter at the end of the room. He was completely dressed in yellow clothes and wore what looked like the official uniform of guild members working at the headquarters as Elijah spotted another one standing in front of a huge board to their right. The two reminded Elijah of plumbers with their brown braces.

“There is still a lot to be done until next week!” Erik answered as the two walked toward the counter. Elijah noticed everyone glancing at him before they returned to what they were doing. Only the employee at the counter kept his eyes on him.

“Are you a Dendrian?” he said, surprising Elijah as he had expected a comment about his body.

Erik asked the question Elijah had in mind. “What’s a Dendrian?”

The employee grinned. “Judging from your puzzled look, you don’t seem to be one.” He said to Elijah before he turned to Erik. “It’s a race of wooden people. Had a friend who was one of them. Man, did he pack a punch.”

“Elijah here isn’t any different,” Erik put his hand on Elijah’s shoulder, “We met on the island.” He introduced Elijah before he pushed aside a barrier and went behind the counter.

“The name’s Mark. I’m looking forward to sparring sometime when you’ve reached Tier 3.” Mark raised both fists and hit the air in front of him a few times.

“Sure,” Elijah nodded and followed Erik behind the counter after his friend gestured for him to come through. “But I’m human.”

Mark’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? I didn’t expect that.”

Elijah stretched both hands in front of him. “I’m only made of wood. I’m actually human.”

Erik and Mark looked at his hands before they shared a glance. Erik took a step toward a door and asked, “Is Alex upstairs?”

“He’s with Aric and Kael, they’re waiting for you.”

“Why didn’t you tell us right away?” Erik hurried through the door and Elijah followed him, leaving the room.

He turned around mid-walk, looking back at Elijah. “Aric and Kael came earlier to tell Alex everything. We’re going to miss all the fun.”

Elijah shook his head as he paced after Erik who led them through several rooms and to the upper floors of the building. Elijah noticed more people in each room and a lot of them called out to Erik who only waved at them instead of stopping to chat. The rooms functioned mostly as lounges for the members of the guild but they also walked past a good number of offices.

While the heat outside was bad enough and Elijah had begun to sweat a bit, it got worse inside the building. All that rushing around isn't much help in that regard either. He took off his coat and slung it over his shoulder. He considered taking off the vest as well for a minute but didn’t feel comfortable walking around topless with his wooden body yet.

On the fourth floor, Erik stopped in front of a round, wooden door. He knocked and waited for a moment before he pushed against the door. Elijah could hear Aric’s voice before they stepped into the room.

He wanted to follow Erik but stopped at the entrance when he saw Alex. The guild leader was quite literally half human and half rabbit. Although he was sitting, he easily reached up to Elijah’s height. Instead of human ears, two fluffy rabbit ears hung down on both sides of his head. He was wearing a black shirt but Elijah could see brown patches of hair which could only be described as fur growing out of his chest. His hands were folded on the table in front of him and brown fur covered his entire arms.

“You’re late,” Aric said, sitting in a chair opposite Alex.

“I had a few things to do before picking up Elijah, this is exactly why I told you to pick him up,” Erik countered as he dropped into a seat next to them.

“I could have found myself here alone,” Elijah said, taking a seat next to the others and nodding at Alex.

They looked at each other before Alex sighed. “Try to be more subtle the next time you see a non-human for the first time.” He continued with a deep voice, “Aric and Kael told me about you. I would like to express my thanks to you. It was an important mission and the new Rift means new resources for our guild.” He looked at Erik. “We will set up a new base there and have a spatial formation built to shorten the way to the island. We’ve already worked out the details with Aric and Kael.”

Alex put his hand in a drawer, took out a carrot, and bit off a piece. "Now that everyone is here, let's get to the part about your rewards."