The Saint Meets the Guild Master

In Merlin’s mind the ideal adventurer was someone who lived for discovery of the unknown and took life at their own pace. Adventurers weren’t the sort of people who could settle into a statue quo.

In The Story of Leopold, Kaiser, the second in command and eventual leader of the party was originally an outcast noble who pined for a woman above his station, the princess of the fictional country, Umstadt. He ventured out on a journey to save his love, he journey far into uncharted territory and was faced with countless obstacles and horrors, horrors that drove his men to rebellion. Eventually he was the only one left. Even so, he pressed on. He killed and brute forced his way forward. Kaiser was filled with steadfast, short-sighted determination.

At what would become the end of this journey, he was approached by a demon. This demon claimed he could concoct an elixir to heal his fair princess. Kaiser was tempted and at the end of his rope. Who knows what would have happened if he said yes, perhaps the demon was 100% altruistic, but demons who talked in terms of giving and taking were largely malevolent.

Despite his desperate state, and maybe because he was so tempted, he turned down the demon’s help and went home. His efforts, either way, would have been in vain as the princess had passed on by the time he returned.

The king stripped away Kaiser’s noble title and exiled him.

Some years later, the hero Leopold came along. He heard Kaiser’s story and at the end of it he simply asked, “Did you enjoy the journey?”

Kaiser was dumbfounded, he wondered if this guy had even listened to a word he said, but as he thought about it later he realized that despite the hardship and the results of his mission, he had felt alive in a way he’d never had as a sheltered aristocrat.

The very next day he tracked Leopold down and asked to join him. The only request Leopold had was to “Enjoy every step we take and every person we meet, so that one day we can look back and say we have regrets but we’d never take them back for every place they led.”

That was a true adventurer in Merlin’s mind.

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In the spirit of his hero, Merlin threw open the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Inside was about what one would expect in an Adventurer Guild, to the center and right were counters for taking requests and reserving rooms and other business matters. Just past the counters, to the left were stairs which led to upper floors containing conference rooms and guest rooms. There were stairs leading down as well, one could guess those probably led to a training hall and storage. On the left side of the room was a bar and dining area.

It wasn’t quite noon yet but it was late enough that it was starting to get a bit crowded. The Guild wasn’t as big as he’d been picturing so even with this many people the room filled up.

The three of them waited in line. Lila and Cate looked around at the décor and adventurers milling about. There were six in line ahead of us (one group of five and a single girl).

“Yes. We’d like to register our party, “Blue Blazers.”

“Already taken, sir.”

“Fire Force”

“Already taken. sir.”

“The Furious Five”

“Already taken, sir.”

“Ironmice”

“Already taken, sir.” The woman pulled out a book from a shelf just under the counter. It was a fairly thick tome, “This is a list of all the current and historical party names registered with the guild, it might be helpful to peruse this while you discuss among yourselves.”

A party name had to be unique, no two parties were allowed to have the same name. The only exception was a historical name, but you had to get permission from a descendant of one of the party members, or a signed voucher from a high ranking noble. There were of course some names that were completely off limits, usually those were party’s that were already household names, also S-Ranks, or party’s with equivalent accomplishments.

The man took it and bowed, the party then went over to the dining area.

“I’m looking for work. I don’t have a party, so perhaps I could be assigned to one, if it’s not too much trouble.” The girl presented herself as being very meek. She was dressed in airy blue fabric and matching blue hair.

“I’m afraid that may be difficult,” The receptionist apologized, “We currently have almost two dozen freelancers at the moment and our cap is twenty. I’m very sorry.”

“I’m gifted at water magic! I can provide drinkable water and I’m also useful in a fight!” The girl begged and though the receptionist seemed sympathetic she still wouldn’t budge.

The girl’s shoulders dropped and she shuffled away.

It was now Merlin’s turn at the counter.

“Welcome to the Cyril Adventurer Guild, is this your first time here?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve honestly never been near an adventurer guild, and my sisters here likewise haven’t either. We would like to register as a party.”

“Very well, we have a membership fee, both upfront and yearly. It’s 5000 malba upfront and 2000 yearly. You must also provide a unique party name. Right now, another group is using the book of names if you would like to wait to reference that.”

“No. That won’t be necessary. I know exactly what we’ll be called! The Knights of Leopold!”

“Already taken, sir”

“Children of Eden?”

“Already taken, sir.”

Merlin stopped to think.

“Merlin’s Angels” said Cate.

“Already taken, ma’am.”

“Afterschool Cake Club” volunteered Lila.

“Already taken, ma’am.”

Merlin snapped is fingers as a name came to him, “Bethel Knights!”

“Tentatively accepted. Though it isn’t outright banned, parties that use the word ‘Knight’ in their moniker must get approval from the guild master and the local lord. May I ask the origin of the name?”

“Oh, it’s my last name, Bethel, Merlin Bethel.”

“Very well, I should also mention that you must have all members of your party present at the time of your swearing in. You will only be able to add members once every 8 months and no one other than registered guild members may accompany you on quests.”

Merlin agreed and paid the fee, “So, when will the swearing in be?”

“Well, assuming everything gets approved, about two weeks. You will need to meet with the guild master, and though it’s a slim possibility you may need to meet with Lord Zavan, in which case it could be even longer.”

“That reminds me, I kind of needed to speak with him anyway, you see a woman named Ruth told me to-”

Before Merlin could finish that thought a bang rang out from the upper floor and loud footsteps came fast and hard across the wood flooring. A figure jumped over the stairs and hurtled to the ground like a meteor.

The floor vibrated as a tall, muscular dark skinned man with short cropped hair landed in front of Merlin and the girls. Cate cowered behind Merlin while Lila instinctively stuck her arms in front of Merlin as if to shield him.

“You. Boy. Did I just hear her name?” He took a step forward. Lila kept her arm out in front of Merlin but it began shaking.

Merlin eased her arm down and nodded for her to be at ease. Though the man’s tone was stern Merlin didn’t sense any hostility. Even so, his aura was strong enough that it might cause any normal person to vomit, which was what was causing Lila to shake.

Merlin had a combat instructor back at the church, #### was weirdly lean, in fact, he often seemed sickly. In spite of his disposition Merlin was unable to move in his presence for his first eight lessons. This was because of the intensity of his instructor’s aura. It was even difficult to breath the first few times. Normal humans didn’t naturally have an aura, it was developed through training and amplified through magic, and only after training it for long enough did it become something passive. As for it’s effects, generally speaking, there weren’t any unless you attained a power level similar to the man standing in front of Merlin. When tempered correctly Battle Aura was like a barrier that shielded you from damage and increased the damage dealt to opponents.

Merlin had trained tirelessly because what else did have to do with his time other than focus on his studies. He generally kept his battle aura off but this man in front of him was scaring his sisters so he adjusted it to match the man’s effectively cancelling it out.

Lila collapsed to the floor and Cate grabbed Merlin’s shirt for support. The dark-skinned man raised his eyebrows.

“If by “her” you mean Ruth, she directed us to you. We also ran into Renee who said you’d help us.”

“Eeek” He grabbed at his chest at the name Ruth, “Don’t speak her name!” He shouted. “You said Renee.” He sprung back up, “Did she really mention me? Does she need me! I could rush over there right this minute?”

A hand grabbed his shoulder, “No, you don’t, Guild Master.” The receptionist stopped him from leaving.

“But-”

“Guild Master.” She peered into his soul.

“Maybe tomorrow, then.” He relented.

“No can do.” The receptionist walked in front of the counter so she was right next to the guild master, “You have the Guild Master conference tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday it’s the swearing in ceremony for the Cyril Academy Cadets. Tuesday you have brunch with Lord Zavan, need I go on.” With every event his shoulders sank further. There were streaks of grey hair along the sides of his head, one could imagine why.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Ru…. Mrs. Renee, said that you’d be able to train my sisters. We were planning on becoming adventurers but while I’m confident in my abilities, they could use some assistance.”

“I…” He looked over at his receptionist who seemed unmoved by our plea and ready to dole out a lecture on the Guild Master.

“Mrs. Ru… Mrs. Renee’s sister will vouch for us, as well as Mrs. Renee and Mrs. Carrolly.”

“Really now?” He glanced at his receptionist who lowered her head. Merlin could see the guild master fist pumping in his head.

“Alright then. Let’s go upstairs and have some introduction away from prying eyes.”

Several groups of people were eyeing them, including the party picking out a name at the dining table and the water mage from earlier.

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“I’m the Guild Master of the Cyril Adventurer’s guild, Isaiah Thompson.”

“My name is Merlin Bethel of Eden, and these two are my adopted sisters, Lila and Cate.”

“I am Rashell. Guild Receptionist and Guild Master wrangler.”

“Eden? That’s way out there. You must have sailed with Captain Phoenix, he makes a trip out there twice a year, he’s the only one crazy enough to go through Umibozu territory.” He rocked back and forth in his chair, pushing his leg off his desk, “Yeah, I’m remembering now, usually we lose at least half-a-dozen on the voyage, but his first mate reported not a single casualty. The only reason we allow it is because the Captain is a former S-rank and a party mate of my predecessor.”

Merlin thought back to the rugged looking captain. He seemed capable but nowhere near as strong as Mr. Thompson, then again looks could be deceiving.

“Honestly, I might have had something to with that.” Mr. Thompson was trusted by Mrs. Ruth and the other women Merlin had met since arriving, so he didn’t think it would be a bad idea to let him in on at least a little of what he could do, “I cast a blessing on the ship to keep monsters at bay.”

“Seriously!” Mr. Thompson stopped rocking, “Do you have a holy magic Grim Stone?”

“Grim Stone?” Merlin puzzled for a second before remembering one of his magic tutor’s lessons. Grimoires were magical artifacts that stored souls and were created to preserve the memories and magics of the past and they manifested for people with larger than average mana pools. People then took the jewel, the Grim Stone, out of the center of the book and swallowed it in order to form a contract with it. You then gained access to the stored magic, in exchange your soul would be collected by the grimoire upon your death.

“No. I can manipulate mana directly.”

“Hmm.” The guild master began rocking again, “Would you say you’re strong?” He casually intensified his aura.

“I’ve never actually tested myself, so I wouldn’t know for sure, but yes, I believe I am.” Merlin activated his own aura again, this time he cranked it to about 20% which easily overwhelmed Mr. Thompson’s.

“Whoa.” He stopped rocking for a second then went back to it. He didn’t have a strong reaction or at least he was pretending not to, but Merlin could see his legs shaking a bit. On the other hand, Rashell and the other girls had retreated to the other end of the room while practically hyperventilating.

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LILA:

Mr. Merlin was a mystery box my sister and me couldn’t yet unpuzzle. He swooped and out of nowhere when we were at our most desperate and gave us something resembling a home, something we thought we’d lost. I wanted to trust him or more like I had to believe that he was trustworthy. If it turned out we were wrong, I couldn’t even think about it. It was up to me to protect my sister, we were grown now but at the same time not really. This sudden growth spurt was the third most painful experience of my life, but unlike the rest I feel stronger for it.

We were indebted to this person whether we wanted to be or not. Cate seemed to be in love with him and I could understand why, I couldn’t be though. I had to keep a clear, objective eye on Merlin. I couldn’t be swept up in these new immature emotions. That being said Merlin’s power level was on a completely different plane from anything we’d seen before, it was hard not to wrap up fascination, respect, and fear and call it love.

He didn’t even flinch when confronted by the newest monster called Guild Master Thompson. He exerted an absolutely overwhelming presence when he crashed down in front of Merlin. I shielded him on instinct. The Guild Master was a whole head taller than Merlin and two taller than me, on top of that he had more muscle than I’d seen in my whole life, he also had the darkest skin I’d ever seen, he must have come from a different country.

Merlin gently pushed my arm out of the way. Suddenly, for just a second, I felt heat coming off of Merlin and the pressure we’d been feeling from the GM vanished. I looked at Merlin who simply smirked.

The topic then moved to Mrs. Renee and Mrs. Ruth. The GM seemed to have an unhealthy infatuation with Mrs. Renee. I couldn’t blame him though, she had such a mature figure and calming, motherly tone. It kind of make me miss my mother. My days living under the same roof with Cate and Mrs. Myra were some of the happiest I’d had. I hadn’t known my actually mother and the orphanage’s mistress wasn’t mean or anything but Mrs. Myra was genuinely kind and when she told me she’d protect us I felt like she could. And then she died. As powerful as Merlin was he was still mortal, he said he would protect us and maybe he could but for how long? It was every person for themselves in this world.

The conversation was soon taken upstairs into the Guild Master’s office.

Merlin explained how he’d gotten here from his home. He still hadn’t told us exactly what his home was like, only that he was trapped in a room for most of his life. He was vague about most other things about himself.

“…Grim Stone?” I’d heard that name before. It was back at the Inn. Mei invited her to her room. Renee and Mei lived on the third floor of the Inn. Only important guests were allowed to stay on the second floor of the main building since their personal residence was on the third. She led me into her room. It was a bit of a mess with plushies and pink pastel curtains. There was also a wall of wanted posters.

“Who are these people?” I asked as she cleared her bed.

“Them? Those are the most wanted people in the kingdom! They’re a party called Toxic Poison Venom, or TPV for short! They’re part of the Anti-Guild.” She ran over the posters and slapped at the pencil sketch of a man with a sharp jaws, eyes, and hair, “This is Rex, he’s the leader, he’s so cool! They say he took down 50 armored guards single handedly his Grim Stone gives him Beast Magic, or least that’s what I heard. And this is Locke…” She went through each of the seven posters, “Next year, I’m going to go on a quest to find my Grim Stone and then! And then…” Mei didn’t really have any plans. After that the conversation turned to a much more risqué topic.

“Would you say you’re strong?”

The pressure returned. It felt the same as before so I think I was able to handle it better this time. I managed to keep myself from shaking.

“…yes, I believe I am.”

My body went cold. Shadows rose up around the room. I wanted to reach for Cate but My body wouldn’t move. My stomach felt hollow. I couldn’t even feel anything. I’m scared. Help me. I stopped breathing, how do I breathe. My throat was closing up. I can’t see! I can’t move! I can’t hear! I can’t feel!

“I’m so sorry” A voice echoed around the pitch dark veil. I blinked. The room was back and sensation returned to my arms and legs. I sucked in a huge breath and looked around. Cate and the Guild Receptionist looked as panicked as I felt. We’d somehow retreated to the wall near the door. I was on my knees.

What was that? I looked up. Merlin was bowing his head. He did that? What did he do? I’d never been so scared in my life, not even when the orphanage was destroyed and the building was falling on top of me. What was this thing we called Merlin?

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MERLIN:

“Sorry.” He turned it off.

“W-what was th-that?” Cate’s eyes were wide.

“Battle aura, b-but I’ve never felt-”

“I’m so sorry.” Merlin got up and bowed apologetically to the girls, “I didn’t mean to make you so uncomfortable, I forgot myself.”

“I-it’s okay.”

“I-I barely f-felt a-anything” Lila tried to brush it off but her entire body was quivering. Merlin couldn’t help but feel moved by her cuteness.

The Guild Master finally removed his feet from the desk and put them on the ground to sit properly.

“Let’s get down to business, why have you come all the way from Eden to my city?” He was now deadly serious. It was an obvious but important question. Why would a mage powerful enough to drive off Krackens and Umibozu cross the Ionic Sea and come into his guild. It was important to know the purpose of his visit.

Merlin hardened his face and looked the guild master directly in the eye and proclaimed “I came…to be an adventurer!”

“Huh?”

“I came to be an ADVENTURER!” Merlin shouted even louder. “When I was growing up I read the Story of Leopold the Hero and I was enamored and wanted nothing more than to set out on a journey like his! It’s been my dream! I want to head out for parts unknown with a merry band of friends. I want to enjoy the thrill of discovery and meeting new people! I want to see what it is this world has to offer!”

Silence. Rashell and Mr. Thompson stared back at Merlin dead-eyed.

“I met these two amazing girls and gave them something to boost their power levels but I need them to learn how to fight before we can really get going. I want them to be safe. Mrs. Ruth said you would help us.”

The guild master looked at his receptionist, “Would it look bad if I rushed their applications?”

“You’d have to explain it to the Chief.”

“Better to ask for forgiveness as they say.” The Guild Master turned back to Merlin, “Alrighty then, I can’t personally participate in the training but we do have several instructors on retainer whom I can personally vouch for. I will start you all off at H-Rank. You will need to spend 6 months in training, then pass a written exam and I will bump you to F rank. Rashell will tell you more about rankings a bit later.”

“Thank you so much.”

“We’ll have your swearing in next…”

“Thursday.” Mrs. Rashell whispered.

“Thursday. Until then just chill and try not to cause me any headaches. Deal?”

Merlin saluted, “This really means a lot. Did you hear that were officially adventurers.”

“Not officially.” The Guild Master interjected but Merlin ignored him and ran up and hugged him and the Rashell and then both of his sisters.

“Ha Ha!” They then ran out the door.

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 Epilogue:

Later that night the guild master finally finished his paperwork. There was a knock at his door. Mrs. Rashell walked in. Usually her hair is tied up in a tight bun but the guild was closed for the night so she let it loose. The buttons on her uniform were also undone.

“I’m still thinking about him. You?” She asked. She pulled out a bottle of alcohol from the top drawer of Isaiah’s desk.

“He’s a monster. I nearly choked from his battle aura. Do you know how many strong opponents I’ve fought, he didn’t even throw a punch and I felt completely overwhelmed.”

“Even the girls were caught off guard by it.”

“He needs training, probably even more than his sisters. That power…” He took a swig of the drink Rashell handed to him. “And did he say he could manipulate mana directly! What kind of insane shit is that?”

“My analysis couldn’t get a read on him, so at the very least he’s telling the truth about not having a Grim Stone.”

“It’s certainly possible to use magic without one but not like that. What have we let into the guild? Into the country?”

“We?”

He shook his head at the receptionist.

“And what about the sisters?”

“No Grim Stones either, but they were bleeding magic, it was like staring into a nexus.”

“What the hell did he feed those girls? This guy!” He pounded the desk.

“Careful.”

“Too many questions, Shelly. Too many uncertainties.”

“Speaking of uncertainties. Payne appears to be gearing up for something.”

The guild master sighed, “When it rains, it pours. That walking disaster is always up to no good, luckily he keeps to himself for the most part.”

“That may not hold true for much longer. He met with the prince again. It’s possible he might be planning a coup.”

“These are scary times, Shelly. Scary times.” They clinked glasses and departed for the night.