亚洲综合中美

“Sure, take your time,” she hovered away, Axius could but contain the excitement.

“Right,” Claudia handed over a steaming cup of tea. “About the opening a guild in another kingdom. I did the research and asked around the Order. Turns out, the prerequisites aren’t that hard to acquire. Well not now anyway,” the hand reached into a small bag – a notebook was pulled out.

“First: A guild master of at least Tier-Two Gold must be in charge of supervising the activities.”

“Second: The new guild in which it will reside must have permission from the ruler of the neighboring lands.”

“Third: The Guild Master must have a primary team of adventurers to leave at any given time.”

“Fourth: Once all aforementioned requisites have been met; the one in charge must meet the Queen of Hidros. As one of the leaders of the adventurers, paired with Raulf Serlo, her authority surpasses even The Order.”

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“Fifth: Headquarters from where Quests are to be handed out. In said building, the evaluation orb will be placed to facilitate the process of recruitment.”

“Sixth: The new guild master will have an obligation to help out any other foreign guild if the situation calls for it. Bound by the same line of work, independent or not – when an ally is in need; help will be provided no questions asked.”

“And that’s about it,” she finished and returned the notebook to her bag.

“I see,” the cup had time to cool, “-basically I need permission from Queen Gallienne and Raulf. After which, I need a guild building and purchase the Orb,” he took a sip, “-it’s easier than I thought.”

“I guess since monsters are only a problem in Hidros – Queen Gallienne sits atop the hierarchy for adventurers. Though in the public eye it’s Raulf. The Order links the world of magic to the world of adventurers, it’s a simple yet effective system,” her face had a reluctance whilst muttering those words.

“You fear that guilds might go to war with one another?” an educated guess.

“Yes,” she finished her cup.

“You’re making that based on the fact that mages went to war with one another?” the atmosphere tensed up.

“You know everything,” she turned and headed for the sink, “-the all-knowing brother, you sure have grown,” she averted what he said.

“Believe it or not, I always thought of you as the better version of me,” he finished as well, “-I was jealous of your magical abilities. Such promise from a young age, father and mother were both proud of you. Due to my once weak constitution; using magic wasn’t in my means. If it wasn’t for father, I’d had never gotten to where I am now. To fight my weakness, he made me into a cold-hearted killer, one who doesn’t bat an eye when taking a life.”

“I see that,” they stared at one another, “-there are no emotions behind those eyes. The smiles you give are acts – to match and use emotions and facial expressions to get into your opponent’s blank spot. There’s no mistaking it, mother was right, you did inherit father’s crazy idea of an artificial element,” her head shook, “-it doesn’t matter now, mages are too far gone, adventurers are the new evolution for humanity. Let’s just hope that things don’t turn into the same mess sorcerers caused so many years ago.”

“I’m sure they won’t, since most of them hail from an impoverished background. Fighting to save their family, fighting for a better cause than to cause havoc – that’s what they are, heroes. Unlike us mages who fought to only satisfy the lust for power and greed,” with that line, the aura around the room lessened, Staxius spoke true.

“I’ve got a question,” she asked but didn’t wait for his approval, “-what are you, adventurer or mage?”

“That’s tough,” he paused and thought, “-I’m neither, just an irregular. Those terms only apply to humans,” his finger pointed at his face and eyes, “-I’m not human.”

“Well it’s been fun to speak to you brother, thanks for taking care of Axius,” a hug to end the conversation later, Staxius headed out.

Now that all the prerequisites had been found out, there was but one thing to do. Establish the guild at last. A call to Raulf later, Staxius was given the audience. It was wise to make all those connections whether, by threats or good-will, it came in handy. Since the castle was close, the journey didn’t take that long.

“Greetings, Guild Master,” with a nod of the head, Staxius arrived.

“It’s good to see you,” Raulf replicated the nod, and both headed inside. All was told over the phone, to which, the Queen waited in her private office – the same as before.

“I’ll leave you both to it,” the large door closed with a resounding echo.

“Greetings, King of Arda,” she welcomed him with a curtsy.

“Greetings, Queen Gallienne,” fist placed on his chest followed by a bow, both parties respectfully welcomed one another. Once sat, the conversation began. Staxius went into greater detail as to why a guild was to be made in Arda. A gamble since it exposed his kingdom’s weakness in dealing with that threat – though, it was done to place the queen into a dire situation. A subtle move, one that she didn’t see coming, it blindsided her. Arda’s problem with monsters now exposed, Gallienne either had to agree or disagree. The former would be the ideal choice. However, if she chose the latter, things would get difficult in the future.

“My, oh my,” she took a deep breath, “-I realized it too late,” a smile appeared, her bafflement was a compliment. “Either I accept or risk the whole alliance falling into pieces since I’m the one pulling the strings. Well played, friend, god thank me that you’re an ally instead of an enemy.”

“I apologize for the less than honorable way of negotiating. Sadly, there were too many variables – I had to choose the one that gave me an advantage. Since I exposed my kingdom’s monster problem – as our ally, her majesty must try to help. To keep the still shaky relation stable, I had to use thy weakness when it came to unifying Hidros,” he gave a wink.

“It’s no matter, there are no harsh feelings on my part. It was well-executed, a double edge sword – all or nothing. A completely different approach from the first time we met, Staxius Haggard, you are very astute,” each took time to breathe and settle the nerves. “I must say this,” her voice turned serious, “-even if you hadn’t pulled that move – I was going to accept the proposal either way,” her gaze turned warmer.

“Once again, things had to be done.”

“I understand,” her hand reached for the drawer, “-I’m sure you know about the prerequisites. Though there’s one that not many are told, the Guild-master must be a noble of the title Duke or higher. If that isn’t in place, anyone could up and become a guild-master, we don’t want that,” her fingers signaled for him to hand over the guild-card.

“Let’s see,” a screen came from out the table, a faint trace of mana was sensed. The previous guild card got dropped and shredded. “Bear with me for a second,” her gaze focused on the semi-transparent blue screen.

[Name: Staxius Haggard]

[Title: Guild Master of Arda]

[Noble Rank: King]

[Adventuring Rank: Gold]

[Personal Guild: Kniq]

A new card materialized right before her eyes, the information above embedded itself with a fiery red beam of light. The information about the Noble Rank was removed. Now on a purple-colored card with diamonds on the back, this was the proof that one was a Guild Master.

“Watch closely,” a touch from her gentle and soft looking index finger on the card toggled a screen. Similar to the one she had in her table, it shot out as if a computer screen. “This is another invention made by the crazy scholars from the capital,” she stood and walked over, “-look into the interface.”

[Host recognized] “Greetings Guild Master,” a voice spoke.

“This little thing has the cumulative knowledge of magic and technology up to now. It’s the best of what the human race can make at this moment. There are only three in existence, I, Raulf, and now you. Through here, once the guild building is established back in Arda, it will give information such as the number of adventurers currently registered. Quests that are being displayed, call for help if the need arises, it can also function as a phone,” her explanation ended.

“I see,” rested on the left palm, he browsed around the interface that materialized from nowhere, “-who knew that magic and science could work and make such a thing,” another toggle later, the screen vanished, “-I’m guessing it requires mana to operate.”

“Congratulation, you’re now the guild master of Arda, acknowledged by the Queen of Hidros, Guild Master Raulf, and the Order as a whole. The Evaluation orbs will be sent to Kniq’s headquarters in a week. For now, I think it’s best to locate headquarters for Arda,” they stood and shook hands. “-Before I forget,” she called and handed over a necklace, “-this is the emblem for a guild master, keep it close,” shaped like a star in a deep purple color, yet another trinket to add to the collection of emblems, “-wear or safe-guard it, tis the card that matters in the end,” they walked side by side.

“Now that I’m bound to help by the contract, it will be my pleasure to assist in any way I can,” near the doorway, they stopped.

“You’re growing influential by each second, not as a noble, but a man of many connections. It’s wise to be on the lookout, the shadows are far more unforgiving than one might think,” on those words, she left for a maid requested her presence urgently.

‘A warning, I guess she’s right. I did step out of the shadows – all these titles and fame will bound to make the name Haggard known throughout the land. Just another step in life. On a good note, Arda will finally have a way to recruit people as adventurers and pay rewards for the monster-slaying. That incentive alone and the ability to include everyone as a whole will make things so much easier in the end. I can say that this quest is accomplished.” Waiting in ambush, Raulf – a few exchange of words later, Staxius left the castle. All that was needed from this place had been gained, it was time to inform Xula. Time was three in the evening, slept on the dashboard, Adete snored.

‘Best be on guard, a target has been placed on my back. I wonder who is gutsy enough to try and kill a Shadow. There’s no information about the UO. Fighting an unknown with an unknown, I wonder what Cake will decide in the end.’

Back to an empty mansion, he was welcomed with a note saying that everyone went out to have dinner. ‘This could not come at a better time,’ he thought and headed to Pandora, from there, the return to Arda.

‘He’s here,’ Xula felt the aura pass through. ‘Prophecy, go meet with Staxius at once,’ she ordered, a white aura shot out her body and straight into the portal room.

“Majesty,” Prophecy arrived with her body semi-transparent.

“Greetings, is something the matter?” he asked seeing that it was on rare occasions that Xula sent Prophecy.

“Not really, my master is meeting with the representative from a newly established village. They are of a new race. Winged wolves twice the size of a normal human. Located at the bottom of mount Blanc, tis where the pack has made their village.”

“Is it alps?”

“Yes, located around at about two-weeks on a horse carriage to the north. The area where not many reside, a territory relatively undiscovered,” she explained.

“I did forget that Arda is the largest province in Hidros. So, are they friendly or?”

“Not from what I sensed; their intent seems courteous. Rare have I seen a race with the ability to change form at will. In the latter’s case, the change is impartial – the wings remain once in human size. It could give the illusion that they were angels but are just wolves.”

“Tell her majesty to not be worried. I’ll be on the second level looking for a place to drink – the quest of opening a guild here in Arda has come true.”