Chapter 325 - Ardanian's Guild

"What guild are you going for?" tis was the real question asked by Anastasia who held a look of hate. Stood on the stairs before reaching the ground floor, Tony abruptly stopped. 

"Watch your step," said Harold who had been running after him. 

"Sorry," he faced the others, "-what guild should I choose?" 

"My friend," in came Timothy, "-that is entirely up to you," bearing a smug face, he took charged and stepped off.

"You seem to have made thy mind," refuted Mille who skipped down, "-tell us o' mister the genius," a quip that had him on edge.

"Is it not obvious, the Mage's guild," he shrugged.

"Hey," behind teleported a lady, "-don't you run off again," said scarily, Timothy gulped. 

"Lady Serene," he turned with a nervous grin, "-it w-wasn't my intention."

"Neither was it mind to run after kids," placing her hand atop his head, "-I've yet to taste the blood of a noble-boy," a lick of the lips had him trembling.

"Please, I'd only taste of meat and fruit," an unwilling response that had the class holding breaths to not laugh.

"Jokes aside," a grin portrait itself, "-have thee decided what guilds to join?"

"Yes," one by one, they decided with confident gazes, the remark of Eira being the strongest had lit a fire underneath all. One that would further push them into breaking current limits. 

Down the road towards the left, four buildings stood as if guardians. They were of better make than what could be seen around. In awe, faces wandered from left to right in appreciation of a different world. 

*Traders Guild,* written in bold black next to an ill.u.s.tration of gold pieces carved into the board, the door opened with bells. Stalls of various merchants stood in rows of five throughout the room. A mini-market inside the buildings, "-this is where one can find the majority of items and order special loot by the counter at the back," said Serene who showed the workings. 

"Wolf fang, spiders' eye, and witches' fingers come one come all," shouted a merchant with an obnoxious smile. 

"Be mindful of crooks," voiced Serene as they ghosted past the stall, "-there are many merchants who fake what is sold. It isn't against the law nor rules."

"Is that not false advertis.e.m.e.nt?" said Kim in a confused tone.

"That's a punishable offense," added Anastasia through her tensed lips. 

"Reminder, where are we?" 

"Right," they said with a nod, *Reception,* came in view with posters about the potential business at Town Eden. 

"Lady Serene," came a joyful voice through the counter behind which hosted a multitude of carton boxes atop shelves. Workers could be seen carrying, loading, and unloading items, "-what brings you here?" soon after a lady with a towel wrapped around her face stepped into light.

"Guild Leader," smiled Serene.

"Are these lovelies from Arda, Class 3A?" she asked bent with an elbow on the counter.

"No, Class 2A," corrected an assistant who carefully glanced her bottom. 

"Whatever," she said with a humph, "-what brings you lot here?"

"A visit to show these adventurers what to know before going on quests." 

"A visit," vaulted, "-Haru Gel is hereby Serene's assistant," she winked. 

"Please," sighed the secretary, "-I've no idea how the Guild Master deals with you." Not paying heed, Haru closely examined the female students, especially their b.r.e.a.s.ts and h.i.p.s.

"Underdeveloped," she took a step back with hands on her chin, "-not you though," narrowed eyed to Christina, she covered her chest. "I'm also in the business of dealing with panties, would like some?" she asked with a cheerful smile. Spoken loudly, the bystanders turned attention to Haru. 

"Drop it," smiled Serene with a murderous gaze.

"Fine, let's get serious. The trader's guild is self-explanatory, we deal in anything that has the potential to bring money. We buy and sell depending on the item. Not to forget, I'm also in charge of negotiations with Hidros per the king's orders. You might have heard of it from Town Eden." Nodded in agreement for they were caught up on current events, the students' attitude changed to one focused and composed. Amidst jests and relevant information, Haru explained further.

"That is all you need to know," she ended, "-now on towards the smiting guild," led Haru with a smile.

"LADY HARU," a scream broke her stride, "-the shipment of fish has been slowed. The chefs are getting annoyed, we need you on cleanup duty."

"God damn it," practically reaching for the door, her ears sulk to which it rose in anger, "-I'm sorry," she stomped her way back all the while shouting insults. 

"Quite a bundle of energy," scurried Serene, "-let's leave as long as she's occupied," twinkling of bells followed into the chatter filled road. 

"Was that not the same lady from before?" asked Timothy.

"Yes, Lady Haru is as sharp as she acts childishly. Behind her pretty face lays a demon, one who at the age of twelve took over a struggling trading company and turned it into what it stands today." Continued, they move to the Smiting guild.

Not as chaotic as before, "-here is where broken weapons are mended. Specially ordered arms are also bought and sold. Skokdrag is a busy man, I doubt a meet to be possible," the guild also held a large queue of angry looking fighters. 

Opposed came the Mage's guild with a board on which held a staff. Opened without sound, lesser people than before, two elves in robes at a table with cups in hand. They spoke over a book that showed ancient diagrams. "Welcome," said an elf with a smile. Glasses with long hair and the visage of a girl, the nameplate displayed, *Aimon Elqen.* Peering a once over at the ladies, a gasp overshadowed by Serene's sharp voice. 

"Afternoon, Aimon, is the guild leader here?" 

"Yes," a nod, "-do you have business?" 

"No, actually not, I came to have a coffee," uninterested, a sarcastic remark that had the man cowering. 

"Lady Serene, I do apologize for how I behaved, my eyes aren't that well-adjusted to recognizing people."

"Pay it no heed." 

"Master Ryul is conducting the initiation process." 

"Excellent, on that matter, could I have some recruit take the test of initiation?" 

"Are they the students of Hidros?" 

"Yes." Hunched over the desk, a quill dipped in ink wrote beautifully across the paper. 

"My lady," asked Ysmay, "-could thee explain what is happening?"

"And it's done," interjected Aimon.

"No, explanations will be given later. All who wish to be in the mages guild have thine guild card stamped." 

Admits the bunch; Ysmay, Anastasia, Kim, Mille, Christina, and Timothy, accepted her proposal. A stamp later, "Are you not joining?" asked Ysmay to Eira who shook her head in dismissal. 

The sound of conjured spells approached as if the rising sun. Louder with each step, "-here we are," said Aimon with a push of a door. Opened to the training ground with an elevated dome barrier. Disfigured, the outside world grew to be blurry. 

"Lady Serene," waved Ryul who supervised potential recruits, many o' races tried at casting magic. "Alright recruits, that is it for the test. You've all failed, please try again in a few weeks or head to another guild," not an ounce of sympathy. Disappointing look and lowered heads left the grounds.

"Are you serious?" asked Kim.

"I know," shuddered Mille and Christina.

"They had potential, even more so than I've seen from the first-year students of our academy," commented Timothy.

"Don't sell us so short," snarled Anastasia.

"That wasn't my intention, it's just that…"

"What Kim's trying to say is how powerful their auras felt," completed Ysmay.

Blue robe, a few staff at the ready; Ryul exuded an innocent feel with an underlying aura of menace. 

"Still as unforgiving as thou art renowned for," laughed Serene.

"Not that it does me any favors. The mage's guild has rare members as is. Most are tantalized by the prospect of glory in battle. None wish to be true support. The true talent knows it best to continue studying at the universities. I've to be harsh to prevent mistakes on the battlefield. So, what brings you here?" peered over her shoulder, the forehead crinkled. 

"School exchange program. These are the students you are to evaluate. Guild Master has added a new rule, if the test is passed, their training will have to be cut down to one week opposed one month. If they fail that as well, tis back to Hidros." 

Raising an eyebrow to recruits, "-passing the test is hard as is. Let's see if Highness's class is worth the trouble." 

"Alright, line up everyone," ordered Serene, "-those not in the mages guild are to not interfere," led behind a line drawn, the test was to start again.

"Class 2A, I shan't bother to remember thy names. Only if thou art worthy then I'll introduce myself. The test hereby starts, come at me with killing intent – use whatever method thou wish." 

Exchanging glances, *Spell combination: Majed,* focused on a single point with Kim as the leader, "-GO!" a beam of high velocity flew straight at Ryul. *Snap,* the ground around him turn to the abyss, *-Ether Element: Split,* the body cloned itself to dispel Majed. Surrounded by said clones, *Ether Element: Mend,* back as one, *Wave,* a stomp had the ground shaking. 

"Now," jumped, *-Five elements joined as one, come forth and heed my call, spirit of the angel Reina; Ethereal Barrier,* a circle followed by many dots conjured as a shield by Kim.

*The sound of mine voice enchants all around. Slumber as I command: Lullaby,* cast by Timothy, he knelt to conjure more barriers.

"Let's go, CHRISTINA," screamed Mille, *Come forth, weapon forgotten to the ages, Xnu's bow,* drawn, *BLOOD MOON ARROW,* a single arrow turned into five of which grew in power. 

*Amplify o' the strength of mine companions: Enhancement,* shielded by Timothy, Christina had all their mana output running at their limit. 

*Mud floor,* whispered Ysmay as a puddle of goo reached out to grab Ryul.

*Burn in hell: BLAZE,* screamed Anastasia with a surge of fire.

"Impressive," *Ether Element: Dimensional Split,* as if a broken mirror, the world around cracked, the spells seemed to stop with them stuck to the floor. *Ether Element: Void,* a vortex summoned to take away all the spells. *Release,* hands pressed, they fell to the floor.

"Did we lose?" asked Kim with a headache.

"Think so," Timothy laid face down.

"Now then," stood in the middle of the exhausted students, "-I won the moment my fingers snapped. My element allows me to create a pocket dimension that overlaps with the real world, thus, I essentially become a god in that realm. I saw the spell utilized weren't based on thy magical elements; some were incantation that used the mana to alter the workings of thy limitation. I must applaud the efforts, many scholars have studied the same thing to forget that mana is very versatile. An element is only to show that one favors a particular type. Forgotten over the ages, I think that said misinformation had mages thinking of an element being only what a mage could use."

"Is that how it works?" asked Kim.

"What do you mean, how it works?" perplexed, Ryul frowned.

"We were told to think outside the box," stood Timothy, "-so Mille and Kim figured to try and cast other types spells. It took a few months but they realized that it was possible." 

"Think outside the box," he laughed, "-Lady Serene, the recruits have passed with flying colors."

"Alright," she smiled, "-we'll head to the fighter's guild. They are in thy hands, Master Ryul." 

Left, those chosen had a more detailed explanation of how they lost. "Ma'am, may I ask who Ryul is?" questioned Harold intrigued by the fight.

"A very powerful mage, one of the best our Kingdom hosts. How fearsome isn't in his power, far from it. He has an innate talent at forcefully pulling a student's raw potential out. A highly valued Professor who represents the Elven community as representative of the Ardanian council."

Step by step, they arrived at a differing aura, from calm and compose to screams of passion and guts. "The fighter's guild, trust me, Master Ryul was harsh, however, Lady Mieshre is even worse. Get ready, her tests are brutal and always changing. Grab a sword, use magic, do whatever is necessary – she'll break the hardest man into a kitten to then turn into a lion."