Izik could have just passed out the moment he saw his bed however he couldn't bring himself to sleep with all the grime and dirt in him. Taking off his clothes and mask, he stepped inside the bathroom. Carefully, he removed the Caligo Earrings from him and he watched in awe as the color of his hair turned back to black and his eyes were stripped of that gold color. Just as he thought, he really prefer his green eyes more compared to the gold ones. But he can't ignore the fact that changing his hair and eye color did help him slip away from Xanthe and the manhunt he just launch out of whim.
For Izik, no reason was enough for the prince to just decide to put 10,000 gold coins value on his head.
He was still immensely pissed about the whole thing as he entered the bathroom and peeled off all his clothes. The moment the warm water hit his muscles, Izik let out a moan of relief. His muscles needed that comfort after being thrown around and forced to exert way too much effort in the raid. His mind wondered at the raid. He thought about the monsters he fought and how the others seemed easy to kill compared to the others. For a single dungeon, he managed to level up six times and get more than 3,000 gold coins. It was more effective compared to doing the daily quests. He would be lying if he was not excited to enter more dungeons and gain more experience, gold coins, and skills.
Seemed like joining a newly built guild was a great choice. He was also lucky that the guild members were all skilled. Izik deliberately chose to ignore the fact that they basically have four ghost members and that they're basically committing a crime.
Shaking his head, he focused on cleaning himself. When he got out of the shower, someone was knocking on his door.
"Error!" Aleksi happily called. "The Acolyte and Guide are here!"
"I'll be out soon," Izik replied, hastily putting on his Caligo Earrings. As soon as the earrings were secured, his hair color turned back to red and his jade eyes turned golden. His heart was loudly thumping against his chest. That almost sent him into a panic. Good thing Aleksi knew his manners. if he was just like Sinclair who barge into his room without a word, Izik was screwed.
Putting his clothes on, Izik put the effort into drying his hair with a towel. When it was no longer dripping, he went out to the lounge area where all the members were there. He didn't really need much healing but it would be too suspicious if he refused one especially when he was going to refuse the guiding already.
"The Count is panicking," the Guide laughed, both hands holding Kameron's. Izik could see a faint light coming from their connected hands. "He didn't expect the Soleil Prince."
"I don't think anyone expects him to be here," Kameron replied.
"That is true. Everyone is convinced that Izik Arden is in Ozryn so a lot of Hunters are looking for him right now." Izik wanted to laugh at their faces. They can all waste their energy looking for him while he sleeps like a baby.
"Seriously though, what did this Izik Arden do to the Soleil Prince?" Smythe joined the conversation while being healed by an Acolyte. Izik was tempted to say that he didn't do anything. For sure, him leaving the north mansion was not the reason for this manhunt, right? Besides, he left him a goddamn note.
For days, Izik had been thinking what in world did he ever do to Xanthe Soleil? Did he offend him somehow? Did he accidentally take something from him? He's not even sure why the Crown Prince candidate was looking for him. And desperately at that too.
"I want to know too," The Acolyte sniggered while Izik inwardly rolled his eyes. He tried his best not to think hard and to imagine that they were not talking about him. "Since the reward money went up from 10,000 to 20,000."
"Holy shit! For real?" Aleksi almost choked on his tea. Izik did choke on his own saliva and he was coughing badly while pounding his chest. Quinlan gently patted his back as Izik glanced at his guildmate, thanking him wordlessly. Quinlan just gave him his signature smile.
"Forget raiding a dungeon, we need to find this Izik Arden," Kameron whistled.
Why? Why does Xanthe Soleil insist on making life difficult for him?
Izik just settled on one of the empty seats, nursing an upcoming headache while trying his best to ignore the conversation around him.
"We're all done," Aleksi announced after almost an hour. "Error what do you want to do first?"
"I'll just do the healing, I have a Guide back home and I don't need guiding yet." Well, it's more on he probably will never need any guiding at all.
"Wait, don't tell me you're that kind of Hunter?" Kameron asked. Izik only raised an eyebrow at his question. "You know, those Hunters that can't just accept guiding from any Guides. Hunters that needed to be at least 80% compatible to the Guide..." The guy explained.
"Uh," Izik awkwardly rubbed his nape. "Yeah, something like that."
"That's a hassle," Smythe sighed. "How compatible are you with your guide?"
"Around 87%," Izik switched seats. Positioning himself in front of the Acolyte their guild hired.
"That's high," Quinlan commented. Was it? Izik felt like it was low.
"Usually compatibility ranges from 60 to 75%," Aleksi nodded. "My highest is around 68%. I guess that's the reason why you would not really want to be guided by other Guides." They began talking about Guides and Guiding, jumping from one topic to another.
"Huh?" Their conversation was cut off by the Acolyte checking and healing Izik.
"Is there any problem?" Izik asked.
The Acolyte tilted his head as he held Izik's wrist again, pressing two fingers against his pulse. Lifting his gaze, the Acolyte met Izik's current golden eyes. "Whenever an Acolyte is healing someone with a mana path, we utilize their mana path and used some of their mana to heal them. Of course, it's different if we're healing a Laic." Izik suddenly felt tense that he found himself straightening up. "Because of this, I have come to memorize the mana paths for each designation. It's subtle but there's a difference between each designation."
The guild members glanced at each other while Izik kept his eyes on the Acolyte in front of him. The guy looked down and continue his check-up. "Your mana path..." his brows furrowed. "Is not for a Hunter." That almost made Izik flinch.
"What do you mean?" Izik carefully asked.
"Your mana path resembled more of a Guide than a Hunter," The Acolyte met his gaze again. A silence broke, and the atmosphere somehow shifted.
Izik let out a chuckle, "Well, I am not a Guide." He knew he was an awkward liar but at that moment Izik prayed so hard that he sounded natural.
"He's right," Quinlan backed him up. Izik almost wanted to thank Quinlan for speaking. "You should have seen how he fight in the dungeon. There's no doubt that he's a Hunter." The others followed soon. Some even recount what Izik did in the dungeon.
"Maybe I am wrong," The Acolyte said. "Sometimes, there are things that are weird and unexplainable." He started healing Izik. The Acolyte also apologized for what he said and Izik simply told him that it was nothing and he wasn't worried because he knew he was a Hunter.
That night when Izik went to bed, he realized that he was starting to get better at this lying thing and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Izik woke up in the morning from a knock on the door. He didn't realize how tired he had been that he slept heavily. When he got out of the room, breakfast was ready courtesy of Aleksi. Everyone was at the table. The Guild Master told them that he would be going to the Guild Castle after to get their rewards and when he get back they'll check everything they got and divide it accordingly. Smythe was once more excited for her share. Her and Kameron even agreed to go on a small shopping spree before another raid was scheduled.
After eating, Izik resigned to his room and he began checking the skills and items he got from the raid. He first checked on the artifact that he received after defeating Lovelia.
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[ š° BAG ]
[ DELANEY'S FAMILY RING
Class : S
ā An artifact that allows its user to call for Delaney's knights three times.
Read more... ]
[ EQUIP ] | [ SELL ]
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"Woah," Izik muttered, astonished by the artifact. He remembered the soldiers that Lovelia called back in the dungeon. To think that he has the chance to summon them three times using a single artifact was something Izik didn't expect but certainly delighted him. He doesn't want to find himself in a situation where he might need to use the ring however he can't help but to look forward to seeing its power.
Closing the window, he checked on the weapon he received. It was a beautiful shortsword by the name Fifth Heaven. According to the description, it was part of a series. There were seven other swords, each created and embedded with its own element.
The Fifth Heaven sword held the power of the great winds. Izik had only used weapons that were fire affiliate considering his skills involve the same element. Summoning the sword out of his bag, he stared at it. The sword was beautiful, filled with carefully crafted designs, and embellished with beautiful green gems but what really amazed Izik was the fact that it felt like he wasn't holding anything. It was so light and swinging it felt and looked so easy.
A knock on his door snatched him from his reverie, returning the sword back to his bag, Izik exited the room where they gather by the lounge. His eyes darted to the pile of gold coins and items in the middle of the room. Hearing Atticus hiss, Izik was reminded that the snake swallowed all of that.
"Don't worry, there's no saliva on them after all Atticus is not really an ordinary snake," Quinlan said as if reading Izik's mind. Izik only cleared his throat.
"Before we split everything up, I have some exciting news!" Aleksi grinned. "We're going on a raid!" No one replied and just looked at the Guild Master. All of them knew that there will be another two raids, it was just a matter of when. "It will be a week from now!" They just all nodded. Aleksi continued to talk about the guild status and their progress as they work on being a recognized guild.
"One last thing," Aleksi kept his huge grin. "We will be going on a little get-together tonight," he rubbed his hands together. "It's Guild Initiation." Everyone started to cheer except for Ryo who was still as quiet as ever.
Izik only blinked wondering what the heck was Guild Initiation.