"Haha, you are interesting." Erna giggled,
"You seem to know what you want but what's in it for me?"
Lucian looked up and smiled," I will protect you! "he said with conviction," I will make sure you never lose another fight ever again."
"That's all you're willing to offer me?" Erna raised an eyebrow as she walked closer to Lucian," That's all I'm getting from you?"
"Y-yes!"
"Well, I guess it can't hurt to let you join my guild after all." You do realize what you are doing right? Aren't you a part of a kingdom's military? If you do join me you will be betraying and you are ready to abandon all of it.
"I am ready to do whatever it takes to become stronger Please take me."
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly,
"Alright, you may become my disciple. But only under two conditions."
Lucian nodded eagerly.
"First, you must promise to always remain loyal to me, even if I ask you to do something immoral or illegal.
I'll only serve whoever treats me better and who cares about honour, fame, and glory more than anyone else. Lucian thought.
"Okay, I agree to those terms," Lucian replied.
"Good, next condition is that you must keep your mouth shut about me, I've already done too much damage as it is, so I don't need you spreading the word about me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, master! "Lucian replied enthusiastically.
"Lastly, you must stop calling me master. From now on, call me by name."
"Very well, I accept all of these terms."
"So will you teach me the Searing blade?
It seems so dangerous!" Lucian asked with excitement in his eyes.
"Well, that depends on you... "Erna smirked.
I was thinking of using you to test it out and see if it works."
"Me! "Lucian squeaked out with surprise," Why me?" He was a little offended by this request since it seemed to him that Erna didn't value him as a disciple.
Erna turned her head and looked at Lucian. "Do you really think that being loyal to someone is easy?"
She said with a smile that showed off her sharp fangs, "Loyalty demands a lot of you, especially when you have been betrayed before. And if that doesn't convince you then consider this; if this sword does work out how it's supposed to then your future will be secure for many years to come."
"I'll even make you a promise, I won't let anyone hurt or use you in any way."
"Thank you, Thank you thank you thank you!" Lucian said in excitement as he jumped in front of Erna and hugged her tightly. Erna just shook her head and pulled away from him." Now let's go, there's still plenty of things for you to learn in my guild house.
"Let's leave when you get healed by Vitra"
"Whaaa! I thought you would do it" the man that was standing next to Lucian said with disappointment in his voice.
He had short brown hair and was wearing a black cloak with white fur lining. His hands were covered by gloves and was holding a large staff.
"Here drink this, it will heal you up," Vitra handed him a flask filled with red Liquid and told him to drink it all. Lucian gulped down the entire contents of the flask in one go. He felt his body heat up and then it started burning. A moment later his wounds were closed and he felt better than he had felt in the past weeks.
"Okay Vitra use your magic and teleport us to the guild hall"
Okay, Vitra said well mana poured out of his body and formed a magic circle on the ground it had three runes engraved on it; one of the runes was glowing yellow. When the magic circle completed its formation Vitra stepped onto the magic circle with Lucian on his back. After that, Vitra's face grew pale and he looked as if he was going to pass out at any moment.
Vitra fell forward and Lucian landed on his back with a loud thud.
"Oof"
His body ached as a result of being thrown onto the hard ground. His arms felt like they were made of lead as he tried to lift himself up. When he finally managed to stand up he looked around and saw that they were in what appeared to be a guildhouse. It had many rooms with several doors leading into them.
There were also multiple floors that seemed to be connected to each other via a winding staircase that ran throughout the guildhouse. It was beautiful and luxurious looking.
Lucian could see a few people in robes walking around here and there but most of them ignored Lucian. Most likely they were part of Vitra's group who did not know Lucian.
"Erna, what's the purpose of a guild house?"
"Guild houses are where members of a guild gather together to discuss matters regarding the guild or plan for their missions. They can also be used as living quarters for members of the guild or places where adventurers can rest after their adventures are complete"
A quest could be anything from finding a cat or taking down a dragon each quest has a rank to it from E Class to Calamity Class quests the rankings go, F, class E class, D Class, C Class, B Class, A Class, S Class, Calamity class.
"Calamity class quests have extremely high risks involved in completing them but reward you with powerful loot and items that cannot be obtained in normal quests"
"What is the difference between E Classes and D Class quests?" Lucian asked with interest.
"E Class quests are usually easy with little risk and have low rewards compared to D class quests"
"So, D Class quests are more dangerous and higher ranked?" Lucian asked.
"Yes," Erna replied.
"So what do S Class quests entail? What type of quests are they?" Lucian asked.
"S class quests are extremely difficult and high-risk quests that often have very large rewards and loot but even bigger dangers in order to complete them successfully. Only a select few can become an S-class adventurer." Erna answered.
"What does A Class quests entail?" Lucian asked with curiosity.
"An A class quest is an exceptionally difficult high-risk quest with extremely high rewards and loot that can only be obtained by the strongest adventurers in the guild but also the deadliest enemies in existence. These types of quests rarely come along but if one does it is considered a great honor to be able to undertake such quests." Erna responded with a smile on her face.
Lucian was amazed to learn all these facts about Guilds, Guild Houses, and Quests! But what really interested him was that all the guilds had different ranks. It didn't matter what guild he joined, they wouldn't treat him badly.
"Well, it looks like Vitra is going to need some time to recuperate," Erna said as she walked up to Lucian with her hands, well I have to train you since you are a disciple of mine now.
"So how do we start?" Lucian asked with eager eyes and excitement written all over his face.
I'm surprised you're so excited! Erna said smiling. Well, you need to master the basics first like swordsmanship and combat. Then, we can advance to harder techniques like fire magic.
And if you do well enough I might even teach you how to use my unique magic." Erna smiled and started walking off towards the Guild House with Lucian trailing behind her.
***
The Guild House was a rather large building made from brick and stone with lots of windows that allowed people from outside to look into the Guild Hall inside the Guild's members were gathered in small groups talking with each other while having a meal or doing something else entirely.
Erna stopped in front of one particular door and knocked on it loudly twice.
"Guild Master! Erna has returned!" She yelled loudly. After a few minutes, the heavy wooden doors creaked open revealing a middle-aged man with grey hair tied together with a black ribbon holding it in place.
His face was covered in wrinkles that looked like tree bark as if it had been worn down by wind and rain for centuries. He wore a dark blue robe over his light-skinned body and was quite short standing at 5'8".
He looked at Erna and then Lucian.
"Who is this? Is this some new disciple? Or do you intend to take on another pupil?" The Guild Master asked suspiciously staring at Lucian.
"No sir. This is the new disciple that I've picked up" Erna said happily introducing Lucian. The Guild Master seemed to be impressed as he stared at Lucian for a moment before speaking.
"Well, I am impressed to see your progress so far. But it seems to me that you should have more confidence than you show now" The Guild Master said as he stared at Lucian.
"Well, you seem to have some potential so let me introduce myself to you," He said looking at Erna who was smiling happily. "This is my name, Guild Master Cedric The Guild Master spoke.
Lucian looked at the Guild Master as he introduced himself and felt a little intimidated by his size and height but his eyes sparkled like a child who had gotten a toy for Christmas.
"Well, I guess you can call me Lucian then." He answered with a big grin.
The Guild Master smiled widely and nodded his head.
"Very well then I shall leave you to rest." The Guild Master turned and left the two of them alone.
"Are you done?" Erna said looking at Lucian with her hand on her chin.
"I think I'll be able to get the hang of this sword thing after practice for a few hours. I just have one question."
"Oh and what would that be?" Erna said with a mischievous smile
"How many years will it take until I can actually fight?"
Erna burst into laughter.
"You don't even know how to hold a sword? And that's your question?" Erna said shaking her head. "You should probably start from scratch."
"I have no idea how to do that..." Lucian mumbled with a confused expression.
"Well, you will have plenty of time to practice, so just relax," Erna said as she walked away leaving Lucian alone in the hallway.
Lucian looked around him and saw no one so he decided to go to his room to practice his swordsmanship skills on his own.
He went down a flight of stairs heading towards his private room when he noticed someone walking towards him. It was a man dressed in black and white. He looked like a ninja as he moved silently through the hallways with a black mask covering his face.
When he got close enough, Lucian recognized the man in the mask as someone he had met at the guild earlier but didn't remember the guy's name. The man stopped a few feet from him and held out his hand with a letter in it. Lucian took the letter and read it. It said:
─ You have been accepted into the guild!
─ Congratulations!
─ Your membership will start at level F.
─Starting Rank F Class.
The masked man sighed loudly as he stood still and watched Lucian walk off. After a few moments, the man followed behind Lucian.
Lucian opened the door to his room and shut it immediately.
He grabbed his sword, strapped it onto his waist and started practicing.
For several hours he swung the blade trying to perfect his movements with the sword as he tried to clear his mind to not be distracted by everything around him. When he finally finished his practice, he looked down at his hands and arms covered in cuts and bruises as blood dripped out of his wounds. He sighed in frustration.
After a moment, he went over to his bathroom mirror and cleaned the dried blood away. He then grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
***
Today's the day I receive training from erna! Lucian thought as he stepped outside of his room and headed straight for the training grounds As he approached the entrance, He pushed open the doors to see a crowd of people standing around watching the main event taking place. There was a large ring set up with a wooden dummy on top of it.
A group of men surrounded the ring with their backs facing the audience. One man was sitting cross-legged next to the dummy, and another was kneeling beside it. In the center of the circle, another man was holding a sword and waiting for the match to begin.
"Hey don't look that way" Erna shouted as she ran past Lucian and entered the training ground.
She looked at Lucian who was looking at the matches intently. She smiled.
"Are you ready?" she asked as she pulled out a small bottle from her pocket and poured its contents into her mouth.
"Of course I am," Lucian replied.
"Good. Since we need to build a foundation. Do 20 laps around the training grounds then meet me here."
Lucian nodded his head in agreement and started jogging.
After completing his first lap he looked at his surroundings and took in the scenery. It felt good being outside without a care in the world.
After he completed 20 laps, Lucian went to Erna and waited for her to finish her drink before they got started.
Erna swallowed the liquid from her glass.
"You're fast."
Now get you will do push-ups until I say stop." Erna said as she pointed her finger at Lucian. Lucian did what he was told. When he got into position to start his push-ups.
Thud…
"With me on top of your back, you will now do 200 push-ups," Erna stated as she placed herself on top of Lucian.
His arms shook but he managed to keep himself from collapsing. After Lucian had finished his push-ups he lay there panting heavily with his eyes closed to try to recover some energy after the intense workout. When he finally caught his breath he looked at Erna who had already gotten up and was walking towards him with her hand extended outwards with a smirk
"You will spar with me now, I'll point out anything wrong in your fundamentals or form and we will work on them. Then you will go to bed early tonight so tomorrow can be more intensive."
Lucian nodded his head in agreement and started stretching.
While Lucian was doing his stretches, Erna watched him from far off with a smug look on her face. He was so stiff. And his posture is awful...but I'll let that slide since you're only just starting out. She thought as she walked back to him.
"Let's get started!" Erna said as she took Lucian's right hand into her own hand and began doing stretches. While doing this Erna made sure that Lucian was aware of every movement she was doing so that he wouldn't make any mistakes in future battles.
When they finished the stretches Erna went for Lucian's left hand. She had a slight smile on her face as she looked into Lucian's eyes. She knew he was watching her and she liked it, but she also wanted to show him what she could really do. Erna began slowly running through her moves while holding Lucian's hand, and then she stopped. Lucian looked confused as Erna stood still while he continued his warm-ups.
"Okay let's begin" Erna through Lucian a wooden sword.
Lucian gripped the blade tightly as he readied himself to fight.
"I'll give you a handicap, if you land one attack on me, I'll consider it… your win.
"Ready? Go!"
****
In a room that looked to be a living space filled with bookshelves, paintings, and furniture. Two people were sitting. Well talking to each other.
"Did it go as planned?" A man who looked to be in his late 40s with short brown hair and blue eyes stared blankly at a monitor.
The man had dark circles around his eyes and he wore glasses despite being able to see perfectly fine without them. His attire consisted of a white button-up shirt with a tie and slacks.
"It seems our plan has gone smoothly thus far,"
A woman sitting across from him said. She was dressed similarly to the man except for the fact that she wore a lab coat instead of a suit and her hair was tied back.
"Indeed," the man agreed, "but we still have one final piece to add to the puzzle before we can declare success. What do you think?"
"Do you really believe that our plans will work?" the woman asked, "it's risky to say the least."