The meeting place for the alliance between the guilds was the city guards headquarters which was the official location for all guild-to-guild activities.
The Desert wolves, the only guild in Nova city whose power rivals that of the Silver talons and because of that both guilds usually stayed out of each other's business.
"We're here", Reina said as they arrived at the headquarters.
"Still as intimidating as ever", Gus said nervously.
The Guard headquarters was basically a fortress, apparently it used to be the royal palace of some ancient kingdom.
"Don't be such a wuss", Selina said teasing Gus but she understood why He was like that. This wasn't the place you'd normally want to be around.
"Don't be so nervous", Reina spoke as she maintained her usual cold posture. She wasn't even a bit intimidated by this place.
"That's right guys. There's no need to be so nervous when we're just going to talk", Ryker said.
"Easy for you to say, you muscle brained goon. That's not the only reason I'm nervous", Gus said.
"We are about to enter an alliance with the Desert wolves, the same guild that completely annihilated the last guild they formed an alliance with," He explained further.
"That's true but only because they abandoned them in a dungeon which led to casualties", Selina refuted.
"That's right. Wouldn't you want to destroy anyone who left you for dead in a dungeon of all places ?", Reina asked.
Gus thought about it for a while and replied, "true".
As they got closer to the building they were approached by several guards.
"We've been expecting you", the person who spoke was obviously the captain of the squad.
"Quite the heavy security, isn't it?", Reina asked as they walked in the building.
"You'll have to forgive us master Reina", the captain spoke.
"There's been a rise in the activities of gangs in the city especially the Serpent fangs and it's causing distress among the people", He explained.
"The serpents' movements have been strange the past few weeks", Gus said.
"We'll deal with them after the dungeon expedition, right now that's the bigger threat", Selina said.
"Agreed", Reina added though she felt uneasy about this although what made it worse was that Rio got involved with them earlier, if anything they'd want to get back at him.
"For now let's focus on this meeting", She said.
"Right", the other said.
In the war room of the castle they met Norman Thayne the guild master of the Desert wolves and also one of the few Tier-2 mages in the city.
Mages are classified into tiers 0-6 and each tier was subdivided into ranks S to C with rank-C being the novice level of a tier and rank-S being the peak level of the same tier. This meant that even mages of the same tier wouldn't be on equal footing.
"Glad you could finally join us Reina Sanchez and the other members of the Silver talons", Norman spoke with a deep yet subtle tone.
"Let's just get down to business", Reina said.
"Why the rush Princess?", the voice came from another woman in the corner of the room. Katrina the vice guild master of the Desert wolves had always disliked other guilds, it wasn't that she had any personal reason to do so, she just preferred her guild to be on top and the ones in the way were none other than the Silver talons guild with Reina at the top.
"Why did she have to tag along?", Selina grumbled.
"What did you say you say you snotty brat?", Katrina shouted.
Before they could get in each other's faces, the commander of the city guard entered the room with his escorts of guards.
" I, commander Bale of the guard welcome you great adventurers to discuss the threat that our city faces."
He tapped his gauntlet and a holographic screen that showed the map of the glades appeared in front of them.
"As I'm sure you must have heard by now a new dungeon has been discovered and I propose we make an expedition to conquer the dungeon as soon as possible", He said .
"We already know about that, let's just get to the real matter at hand", Norman said.
"And what might that be?", asked the commander.
"Obviously it's how we divide the spoils of the dungeon", Katrina injected.
"Exactly", Norman agreed.
"The two guilds here would clear that dungeon in no time and what we would have to decide is how we divide the treasures this dungeon will provide", He added.
"It seems you lot have not done a proper scouting of the place. We are most likely dealing with a mutant beast in an A rank dungeon which means the beast will be at the general class at least", Gus said.
"And don't forget that monsters in B rank and above tend to leave their dungeons which means its intelligence will also be fairly high", Ryker added.
"Which is exactly why I propose that we move two days from now", Commander Bale said.
"Why so soon?", Reina asked, voicing the curiosity of the others.
"I'm sure you've all noticed that there's been an increase in the activities of the serpent fangs", the commander said .
"We've also recently discovered that the serpents have been in contact with some renegade organizations across the continent which is also why they've grown in both size and strength in the last few weeks". He said.
"And how did you get this information?", Norman asked.
"Spies", The commander simply replied.
"We've also received reports of them going to the glades frequently to hunt for beasts and treasures in the plentiful dungeons there", He shared.
"What would an otherwise low level gang need treasures from dungeons and monsters for ?", Gus thought out loud.
"War", Reina and Norman said in unison.
Even though everyone had tried not to think about it, war seemed the most logical reason for the sudden need to start increasing their firepower.
Norman now having a better sense of the situation asked,
"How many people do we need for this expedition?".
"For a dungeon of this level to avoid the least casualties, I advise we bring everyone who can help", the commander stated.
"Okay I'll recall every member who's out on a mission", Norman said.
"Same", Reina said.
With the most important matter dealt with, they moved to other topics of discussion.
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Back at the Silver talons headquarters, Cain arrived with Davion to look for Rio.
"Impressive", Cain said as he admired the building.
"If you think that's nice wait till you see the inside", Davion said.
"How did the kid get to work at such a place?", Cain asked.
"Well, we all decided that it would be better if he had a place where he could freely practice his runes", Davion explained.
"How lucky", Cain said.
As they entered, they were greeted by the receptionist who informed them of the ongoing meeting at the city guards headquarters.
"A dungeon, this city just keeps getting more interesting", Cain smirked as he said that.
"We'll be in the lab with Rio so just tell Reina when she gets back", Davion said.
As they got to the lab, they met Rio reading a book about monsters -a beastiary.
"What are you reading?", Davion asked
"An encyclopedia for monsters" , He replied without looking up.
"I'm trying to narrow down the list of monsters we might be dealing with in this dungeon", He said.
"I'm guessing that you're trying to convince Reina into letting you tag along", Davion said.
"Is it that obvious?", Rio said embarrassed.
"She's right not to let you go, it's too dangerous and don't even try to give me a reason why I should help you convince her", Davion warned.
Rio already guessed that this was what would happen so he didn't even try to persuade him.
"Why do you want to go into a dungeon so badly?", Cain asked.
Rio noticed him for the first time since they arrived and immediately scowled.
"That's right, this guy wants to talk to you", Davion said.
"I'll be in the lobby while you guys talk", he said then left.
"What do you want?", Rio asked still scowling.
"Like he said; to talk", Cain replied.
"Well then, talk", Rio said.
"Teach me about those runes of yours", He said.
"And what do I get out of it ?", Rio asked.
Cain thought for a while and said, "I'll help you with your dungeon problem".