"A pleasure to meet you, Lara."
The two strangers separated afterwards and after Lara gave Caleb a good stare down for his odd presence, she spoke with a sharp glint in her eyes.
"You seem to be in a strange state and I'd like to find out more about you." She said and Clabe immediately felt a chill down his spine.
He recognized that look pathway as more often than not, he had those same eyes when he found something worth studying.
"Of course," He actually said, having no plans of following up with it. From his appraisal, he knew Lara was an academy instructor in the city and for the reason she was here, Caleb was not interested in finding out.
"Good. Here is my card" She beamed and then retrieved a card for Caleb who graciously received them.
"Thank you, Lara. Now if you'll excuse me, I was heading somewhere." He cooked up something on the spot, smiling the entire time.
"Oh.. naturally. Sorry for the hold-up." Lara accepted his plea as she herself had things to do.
After another short exchange, Caleb watched the elf leave town with the occasional back glance at him and the same burning eyes wishing to dissert him.
'Elves are dangerous. I should probably stay away.' He shook his head and then turned towards the direction of the guild.
The guild was centered close to the center of the city as there were many exits and entrances to the town.
Suddenly, under the eyes of everyone still sending a glance or two his way, Caleb disappeared. The people who saw him before Caleb disappeared gasped in shock.
It wasn't that they hadn't seen people move fast like that before but because the way Caleb moved was almost flawless with no mana flare around his body and he was incredibly fast.
Caleb came to a stop at the impressive building made of wood and with foundations of concrete and stone.
Standing in a well-laid-out street, the guild building was a one-storey building and was large enough to house more than 200 people at once and still have room for breathing and comfort.
"Impressive," Caleb muttered in awe as he watched people enter and exit the guild building. Some sent weird glances his way and at this point, he understood what they were for so he didn't mind much.
He owed no one an explanation.
Regaining his composure, Caleb then proceeded and entered the building and was equally wowed. The wooden floor creaked under the weight of his steps and the noise-filled atmosphere and sweaty odour from the men gave the place a lively feel.
Of course, there were a few women here and there, but were almost always being pestered by the males.
'Just like in the animes.'
Glancing at the sides, he noticed the mission boards with people all over them, weighing the rewards and the dangers before making a decision.
Ahead was the counter where he spotted women working as staff and guiding the adventurers with whatever they needed.
To the extremes of the counter were staircases leading up to what Caleb assumed to be rooms and the administrative office of the guild master.
Caleb made his decision and moved towards the counter to see if he could get a quick mission and get some money for food. He was still hungry after all and getting a place to rest was equally important.
As Caleb approached the counter, more and more heads turned towards him when suddenly someone called out to him.
"Well, well, well… If it isn't Caleb the rising star. Thought you were on a mission. Or wait, did you go shopping instead?"
The amusement in his voice was clear as day as the fellas around him burst into rowdy laughter. Just like that, the guild grew quiet as everyone turned to see how this would play out.
Caleb turned his head to see a burly man with a bushy beard and a voracious aura reminiscent of a beast or the like; a man the system identified as Vincent.
'I kinda like the atmosphere already. Is this like those face-slapping moments? Well, I'll bite.' He grinned and then replied to the man's words.
"Yes, I did. I clean up nicely, don't you think so? Though I can't say the same for you." He shrugged with a sly grin with both hands in his coat.
"Oooo…"
The crowd felt the burn in the air and turned to Vincent to see how he'd reply. But the dark gloom on his face told everyone it was his loss.
Then the people broke into laughter with some falling off their seats in exaggeration. Vincent gritted his teeth in anger.
'What's with Caleb? He never talked back like this. The mission was all he cared about.' Vincent couldn't place the current Caleb to the one he saw earlier today.
'Something doesn't add up.' He thought but he had nothing to go by. 'I can't let this be his win.'
He was prepared to slam the table in anger and go beat some sense into him, and while fights were not allowed, it was still possible if one was willing to pay the price.
*BAM!*
However, before Vincent could move to put his plan in motion, the loud bang from the door turned everyone's attention over, including Caleb.
"You, you're not supposed to be here?"
The strange words of the person who just entered confused everyone. If Caleb wasn't supposed to be here, then where else? Caleb was an adventurer just like everyone else in the guild.
*DING*
But while everyone was trying to make heads or tails of the current situation, Caleb was staring at the prompt that popped out of nowhere the moment his eyes laid on the man at the entrance.
He then gave the man another look and noticed how the man's eyes trembled slightly and his hands quivered just so-so. He would have missed it if not for his enhanced senses.
'So he is one of them.'
Caleb narrowed his eyes at the man and then looked behind to see if there were others but the man seemed to be alone as everyone else just looked on in curiosity.