Harry and Valour had completed their business at the Administration office. Valour was allowed to stay in the Capital for a year, that was enough time for him.
Now they were headed to the guild, Hiltan.
Hiltan guild was the most popular guild in the Capital.
There were 3 guilds in total, the job of the guilds was pretty much to provide security to merchants and traders and to sent out trade expeditions of their own.
They just had to give a percent of what they make to the Belmouth family; If anyone was caught sabotaging the trade, they were executed by their respective guild.
Valour and Harry arrived infront of a grey stone infrastructure; it was square shaped, with a brown door marking it's entrance.
"Arthur, this is your home here; nonetheless, don't trust anyone here. Remember that." Harry said, in a serious and wary tone.
Valour just nodded in response. They entered the guild, what welcomed Valour's senses was a shit pungent scent of alcohol.
There were quite a few tables set up and people were drinking and laughing around; Valour stood there observing them .
'Why are these people acting funny?' he asked himself.
He had no idea what alcohol really was, or the after effects of consuming it.
"Bunch ya drunkies." Harry mumbled and made is way to the bar at the center of the building. Valour trailing behind him.
Valour had a dragon tatto on the right of his throat; he also had a snake tatto on his back and a series of more tattos running down his entire left arm.
What was the purpose of these tattoos? Were they purely aesthetic? Only time will tell.
A black flower tatto was on his left hand; however, it was hidden by his gloves. The tattoo on is neck was also hidden, by a black turtle neck, which he was wearing under his cloak
They reached the bar and Harry told the bartender "I am back from the expedition; the goods are outside. Can I speak to the vice leader?"
The bartender, who had a full head of white hair, adorned in a professional tuxedo , stood silent for somewhile before moving his hand.
He pressed a button, which in response resounded with a feminine voice.
"Your guild name please." The bartender asked Harry.
"That would be Harry_68." Harry said.
'This man sure is uncreative.' Valour said in his head.
"Miss. Veronica, Harry_67 is requesting a meeting with you; should I send him in or..." He said through the mechanical device.
Silence enveloped the room; shortly after, the feminine voice was heard again.
"Send him in." She said.
The bartender looked up and signalled Harry to climb the stairs. Harry looked towards Valour and started to ascend the stairs.
They were on the second floor of the building. The first thing they saw was the plethora of paintings on the wall. They were overwhelming in quantity. The floor was completely made out of wood; the walls were completely made up of grey stone.
In the center of the floor was a sitting area with couches arranged in a circular manner; with a round table at the center.
There was two rooms adjacent to the sitting. One had 'Vice captain' on it and the other had 'Captain' on it. These were the offices of the guild's officials.
Harry and Valour made their way to the Vice Captain's office and knocked upon arriving Infront of the door.
A voice of affirmation sounded from inside, signalling the pair to enter.
The first thing Valour noticed upon entering was how neat and tidy the office was. The sweet aroma that assaulted his senses was nothing like he had smelled before.
The floor of this room was also made up of wood, with two sofas facing eachother, in the center of the room. The sofas stood on a grey carpet with patterns scattered all over it's surface.
The left and right side of the office were populated by long book shelves. The books appeared to be neatly arranged into their respective categories.
At the far back, near the window was a classic old fashioned wooden desk. Behind the desk sat the Vice Captain.
She had golden hair tied in a ponytail, golden eyes complementing her hair. She was nothing short of being anything but enchanting and breathtaking.
She was wearing a professional attire. White collar shirt tucked into a long black skirt.
At this moment she was going through some papers, she appeared to be a bit flustered.
She looked up, acknowledging the pair's presence.
"You have 5 minutes, go on." She said, averting her gaze back on the papers.
Harry let out a dry cough, clearing his throat. Then proceeded to say "I would like to ask permission partaining to sharing my lodging."
Veronica didn't show any reaction and continued doing her work.
The air became awkward, as Harry stood there in silence.
'She appears to be so condenscending.' Valour thought, humans really loved to act superior.
"How long will he be staying with you for?" Veronica finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"One year." Harry replied.
"I approve of your request, just so you know, you will have to pay double of what you're already paying. Yes, on a monthly basis." She said.
Harry didn't plan to keep Valour with him for the whole year. He was going to send him to the border control eventually, using his connections.
So Valour just needed a temporary place to stay, a week or two at best.
"Vice Captain, he just needs to stay with me for a week or two, then he'll be on his own." Harry said, not wanting to pay the hefty amount.
Veronica finally put down the last piece of paper and looked up. " Go downstairs and tell the bartender to give you the permit. He will tell you about the rent."
Harry gave a respectful bow and turned on his heel, moving towards the door.
Valour followed suit, as he turned back, he felt a gaze settle on his departuring figure.
Veronica was examining him, trying to gauge his rank. 'Oh, he isn't even awakened yet.' she said, disappointed.
One of the tattoos that Valour had was to disguise his true rank. Humans weren't capable of seeing his Hallow rank but that wasn't the same for his Ather rank.
So to disguise this, his mother had left a ruin on his body. The giant black snake on his back. That was responsible for cloaking his rank.
'Oh, she is 'intermediate-Elite' valour said, impressed. He wondered what her rank cap was.
Since any human who awakened with a 'F' rank ability can get a 'SS' rank ability if they reach 'Apex' and a domain if lucky.
He didn't ponder too much over it, since he wasn't here to fight the guild or anyone as a matter of fact.
His mission wasn't some grandiose infiltration or some espionage. He was simply here to plant a hollow seed.
Well, the difficult part was that it needed to be in the middle of the Capital. Meaning, on the top of the Castle.
Yes, on it's peak; Valour had no idea how to reach there without getting caught.
'One thing at a time.' he said to himself as he closed the door behind him.
Harry had went over the papers with the bartender. It was settled that Harry would be paying half the amount he pays for his monthly rent as the rent for Valour.
Valour was sitting on one of the tables, waiting for Harry to submit the items he brought.
While Valour was waiting he saw 4 people seated on a round table chugging down some liquid. Yes, that was alcohol.
These people were adorned in black armour with a red emblem on the chest plate.
'Border control.' on his way to the Capital, Harry has briefed him over the differences in armours of each assigned squad.
The royal guards(the one's at the capital) wore blue and white armour. Whereas the border control squad wore black armour.
And the silver was worn by the guards guarding the Capital's walls.
"You heard about the recent distress in the forest?" One of the man with green hair said, gulping down a mug of alcohol.
"That? No, first time hearing about it. I do reckon however, there was this talk about some 'crippled' warning us about a potential hollow rift." Replied a skinny man, his voice filled with ridicule.
"Yeah, a bunch of bullshit; these crippled would do anything to gain our attention." Said the bulky guard who was quiet till now.
All of them started laughing, except the young girl sitting with them. She was playing with a cube, it looked very similar to a rubix cube.
"Are you at it again, Mantis?" The bulky man asked chewing on a piece of meat.
"Mhmm, I can't solve it; I have been trying to for a week now." Mantis replied as she let out a defeated sigh.
"What's even the point of solving this?" The skinny man asked.
"She thinks good luck will befall her if she completes it before her birthday." The green haired man said.
"Rudy and Paul, stop teasing her." The bulky man said, trying to act intimidating.
"Alright, Sir. Wikes." Rudy, the green haired man, said in a teasing voice.
Wikes was the squad leader, all of these soldiers were of 'Begginer-Veteran' rank, Wikes being the only intermediate-veteran' in the group.
This was a newly formed group, usually everyone in border control was 'intermediate-Veteran' rank.
The top groups of the border control were all in the Elite rank range, with some of them being lead by an 'General' ranked human.
Since no real threat posed itself in the last few years, this strength was adequate.
"Alright, break time is over; off to duty we go." Wikes said as he left 2 silver coins on the table, for the food and the liquor.
He left the guild and his team followed after him.
Mantis, locked her emerald green eyes with Valour before leaving the guild.
'Strange.' Valour murmured as Harry entered the building.
"Let's check out the lodging." Harry said to Valour, and beckoned him to follow.
....
I apologise for the erratic and inconsistent release schedule the last couple of days; I am working on improving it.