The Alphas & The Posers

The Adventurers Guild usually opened early in the morning to prepare for the adventurers to show up for their daily request selection. The more eager adventurers and the go-getters were the typical regulars in the early hours of the morning such as these. And while most of the adventurers were young, many of them would be considered experienced enough to be called “veterans”.

A small crowd of adventurers were already gathering in the Guild hall, waiting for the receptionists to call out on the new requests that were made available along with those posted on their request board. Some of them were already talking about the possibility of going for the big requests to earn some money, prestige and a possible rank increase. The Guild staff were still organizing the requests and information, so there was a small queue forming up by the main desk. Others were just going to wait for the queue to ease up before approaching the desk to ask themselves. There were a lot of different approaches to taking the requests, and all of them had their promoters and detractors.

Then there were the Alphas. Those who had the reputation of being the fiercest go-getters who didn't shy away from a challenge and were usually given hand-picked requests from rich merchants, nobility and even the Royal family. Some of them even earned sponsorships from these VIPs. The so-called “Alphas” were seen with awe, jealousy and some even saw them as arrogant fools who thought they were above their given ranks.

One of these Alphas was a young man by the name of Grove. As a rank B armored knight, he led a group of adventurers who had earned some clout due to subjugating some high ranking monsters at the request of a powerful noblewoman and had become their sponsor. Grove and his crew would eventually take the name of Black Talon and were of rank B, but they claimed they were stronger than a rank A team.

Grove and his crew appeared in the Guild and immediately caught the attention of the other adventurers. They were garbed in the same dark colored clothes and armor. They carried the best weapons money could buy and even included the coat-of-arms of their sponsor on their team’s insignia to show who they were loyal to. Most adventurers avoided them, due to their penchant for roughing up newbies and their smug attitudes.

The Black Talon group approached the main desk despite the queue that had formed, making it clear that they believed they warranted special attention from the Guild. Despite the protests of some, most who voiced their frustration were quick to fall silent under the aggressive attitude of the group.

“Oi! Elf girl! I’m here to pick up a request. Got something for me?” Grove approached Alana, who was busy sorting through her papers to pay attention to the obnoxious knight.

“Requests will be posted in a little while, Mr. Grove. Until then, you can either select a request from the board or wait in line like the rest of the other adventurers.” Alana was usually calm and friendly when dealing with adventurers. However, with people that annoyed her or were being overly rude, she’d turn towards cold professionalism.

“You got some nerve to tell me that, elf girl. You know who I am? I’m the leader of Black Talon, we’re sponsored by a powerful noblewoman!” The other members of his crew smiled and made a spectacle of themselves before onlookers.

“I know who you are, Mr. Grove, as I called you by your name. As to who your team is, it’s hard not to know who Black Talon is since you make quite a show of yourselves wherever you go. And the fact that you have a sponsor is not lost to us since all of your private requests come from your sponsor.” The way Alana was talking in such a straightforward and cold manner made Grove and his crew grow angry. Other adventurers began to snigger amongst themselves. This infuriated the armored knight even further.

“Now listen here, elf girl. I’m the biggest Alpha in this town! Now you give me a special request right now-” Before he could finish his sentence, Alana looked past Grove and her face brightened.

“Mr. Wolf!” Alana called out to the bounty hunter who had just arrived while the armored knight was spouting angry words.

Now the murmuring of the crowd turned towards the newcomer. They had all heard the stories of the newest adventurer that came out of nowhere and began to make big waves. Word amongst adventurers was that he had subjugated an entire orc warband by himself, he’d been taking special requests from the Guild Master to capture criminal gangs in the city, gave sound advice to younger adventurers and was highly skilled in the use of special firearms far more advanced than the ones used by some countries and nobles. Wolf approached the front desk in his usual bounty hunter outfit, still shaking off the groggy feeling of recently having woken up.

“Morning, Miss Ali.” He looked around noticing everyone was staring at him and came to a realization. “Sorry, did I come in too early again? Aw crap... I didn’t mean to cut in line before you, guys.” The gathered crowd, except for the Black Talon crew, reassured Richard that no harm had been done and that mistakes happened. Some even joked that he shouldn’t oversleep.

“It’s alright, Mr. Wolf! I do have a special request just for you, just give us a moment to sort the other requests for the other adventurers and we’ll talk about the details.” Alana was much more cordial and friendly towards the Bounty Hunter than any other adventurer since she had been assigned by the Guild Master himself to be his handler, which was usually reserved for highly trusted adventurers. And even though he was still a temporary rank C, many believed he’s more than capable of being an A ranked adventurer without a doubt.

The Bounty Hunter nodded at Alana and walked towards the main hall where a few adventurers greeted him as he sat on his usual table, some breakfast was offered to him and a trio of adventurers greeted him and joined him for his meal.

The crowd that had watched Richard’s simple interaction with the people were quick to start murmuring amongst themselves again. Many believed that he was certainly the type of Alpha most adventurers should be aiming to be. Others spoke of how they wanted to form a team with the Bounty Hunter so they could learn from him and reach new heights. Some even spoke of how there wasn’t any other Alpha in the city that could match him.

Listening to the comments from the crowd and how they were paying more attention towards the newcomer than on his own crew, made Grove steam up with anger as he was no longer the center of attention.

“Oi! Elf girl! That request that you’re giving to that newcomer, we’ll handle it. I’m sure that old man will just blow it and fail the request. Black Talon can handle anything.” When Grove said those words, his cronies grunted in agreement.

“Mr. Wolf hasn’t failed a single request he’s taken or been handed to him, Mr. Grove. Unlike your Black Talon team members who have notoriously failed some important requests and even earned some demotions of ranking due to their utter disregard for the wellbeing of the people.” Alana was being ruthless towards the grumbling Black Talon goons and she wasn’t going to pull her punches. “If you were to behave and show the proper respect that Mr. Wolf shows to all Guild staff and adventurers, we might consider giving you some type of special treatment. But until you fix your attitude and that of your team, you’ll have to wait like everyone else before we hand over any requests.”

“This ain’t over, elf girl. You better give us something good, or my sponsor will hear all about this.” Grove made those last words sound like a threat. But for the stoic Alana, it wasn’t something to be worried about.

But truth be told, Alana was clearly trembling behind the desk. She knew that the Black Talon had a powerful sponsor and they were known for being aggressive towards people who didn’t do things how they wanted. She’d heard stories of other Guild staff members being harassed by their crew members and they practiced the deplorable “newbie bashing” on those they felt were a threat. She had a feeling that they would now direct their attention towards Mr. Wolf. Normally she’d be worried about that if it were any other adventurer. But she knew that the Outlander was not someone to be trifled with.

Sure enough, after Grove and his crew were rejected by Alana, they walked towards the main hall to find someone to bother. Like bullies in a schoolyard, they were aiming for the weakest kid. Fortunately, most of the people there were experienced adventurers while the more inexperienced ones were waiting in the queue by the front desk. There were a few rookies in the main hall, but all of them had gathered by the Bounty Hunter’s table where he appeared to be sharing humorous stories because every now and then, the gathered crowd burst into laughter followed by Richard’s own loud laugh.

The Black Talon followed Grove as they approached the crowd of adventurers. Most of them were rookies who were enjoying Wolf’s stories and how he delivered his advice on how to handle some situations. When they noticed that Grove and his men were approaching, they made a path so that they would be seen by the Bounty Hunter. The people that were sitting closest to Richard seemed to inch closer to the man as if feeling protected by the experienced adventurer. Grove looked down with an intimidating stare towards the crowd and then towards the upstart Hunter who simply looked up at him with an expression that revealed being completely dispassionate of this intrusion.

“Something I can do for you, tin man?” The way Wolf had called Grove made some of the other adventurers snigger amongst themselves, which quickly fell silent when the Black Talon members glared at them with anger.

“You’re the new guy that’s making big waves, aren’t you? The so-called Wolf.” Grove kept staring down at the sitting Bounty Hunter as he nodded in assent to the words the knight had said while he lit up another cigarette.

“That I am, tin man. And you’re that kid, what’s your name again? Groob? Leader of the Black Nail or something…?” Wolf’s obvious disregard towards the Black Talon and their leader forced many of the adventurers to stifle their laughter. Grove was furious at this insult towards his name and his proud team.

“That’s Grove, you filthy hunter! And we’re the Black Talon! Remember that name! For it’ll be the greatest team in this country!” The other members of his team growled in agreement. But to their increasing frustration, the Bounty Hunter yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes for a second. A girl that was sitting next to him offered him a cup of coffee, which he accepted gratefully.

“Whatever you say, Broog. Now, if you and the Black Salmon have any business with me, you’ll have to wait a little while. I’m telling stories to the rest of the adventurers and you’re kind of ruining the mood here.” When the gathered crowd spoke in agreement with what Wolf had said, the still fuming Grove yelled out in anger and took out his large axe, pointing it at Wolf, who was calmly sipping his coffee and taking a puff from his cigarette without flinching. The rest of the crowd yelled in surprise and fright at this violent reaction from the Black Talon leader.

“I was trying to be nice to you, old man. But now that you’ve insulted me and my team, it seems we’ll have to teach you a lesson.” The Black Talon members began to laugh with a sinister grin as they eyed the other adventurers to avoid any interference.

“I might be old, kid. But that means I’ve more experience than you or any one of your ancestors combined.” Wolf turned to one of the scared girls to his side and caught her attention. “Let me ask you something, Missy. What’s the number one rule in this business we’re in?”

Caught by surprise by the clear disregard of his threat, Grove couldn’t help but feel foolish as to how the Bounty Hunter wasn’t even flinching at his obvious challenge.

“Umm… oh yeah! Never lose your head!” The girl turned to look at Wolf who nodded with a smile, which made her smile brightly at his acknowledgement.

“That’s right. Don’t lose your head in any situation, kids. It’s hard, believe me, I know it is. But if you keep your cool in difficult situations, you’ll have an edge over any circumstance. Say, for example, someone is insulting you and is trying to get you riled up.” Wolf pointed at Grove who was puzzled by the sudden attention he was getting from everyone, even from his own crew. “If you can’t control your emotions in those situations, chances are you’re going to start acting irrationally and cause some big problems for yourself and your team members.” Grove once again felt too much attention on himself. And while he enjoyed the attention, he didn’t like it when it was in a scrutinizing way.

“What kind of problems could that bring, Mr. Wolf?” One adventurer in the crowd asked out loud, which was seconded by others, while Grove felt his axe trembling in his grip.

“That’s an excellent question, kiddo. Let’s say you were the leader of a famous team of adventurers and you broke the cardinal rule of the Adventurers Guild and drew your weapon with deadly intent inside the Guild itself.” Once again, all eyes fell on Grove who suddenly realized that he had just broken the most important rule of the Guild! But he couldn’t so easily put his weapon away given its size. “Best case scenario, that man and his entire crew would probably be expelled from the Guild, their reputation would be destroyed, their sponsor would more than likely be very upset and their hopes for glory would be gone with the wind. All because he lost his cool.”

Grove understood now what this man was doing. He was using him as an example of what NOT to do in situations where he should’ve kept his cool. The crowd of adventurers immediately caught the Bounty Hunter’s meaning and nodded amongst each other.

One of the girls leaned in and whispered something in Wolf’s ear which made him make a surprised face that was too comical to take too seriously.

“That’s another good question. Our shy friend here asked me, ‘What would be the worst case scenario for that man and his team?’ Well missy, I can tell you. Depending on who he might be threatening or if he’s picking a fight against a much stronger opponent, he’d probably end up dead in a ditch or as food for a monster. If such a person were to try to threaten me or any adventurer I knew…” Wolf shook his head as he took out one of his guns and set it on the table with its barrel pointing towards Grove. “That man better have a last will ready, because I’d pump his guts full of hot lead without a second thought.”

People had heard the stories and some even claimed to have seen Richard using those firearms. They said he could punch a hole through thick armor and shields with those weapons effortlessly. If he were to open fire on an armored knight like Grove, his protection would do little to reduce the damage. And even if his armor was made of some special material, he would simply overwhelm him with firepower.

The way Wolf was staring at him, with deadly intent but also restraint, made Grove understand that this man wasn’t someone he could deal with while inside the Guild. He’d have to wait for his moment to enact his vengeance. Before anything else could happen, one of the Guild officials approached and ordered everyone to stop fighting.

“We’re not fighting, Chief. Our boy, Rover here, was just showing me his weapon of choice, and I was just showing him and his boys of the Brown Gibbon crew here my own preferred weapon. Sorry if that caused a stir, we might’ve been a bit too proud of ourselves.” The way Wolf spoke to the Guild’s officials and how the rest of the crowd backed what the Bounty Hunter said, made Grove grumble silently as he bowed his head in apology towards the official.

Sighing heavily at how things turned out to be, the Guild official nodded and then announced that the new requests were ready to be handed over. Most of the crowd became excited and thanked Wolf for his stories and lessons. The veteran Bounty Hunter chuckled at the comments being given and reminded them that he’d be around later on to chat with them again. The trio of adventurers that had been sitting with him all along thanked him again and asked him if he’d go adventuring with them again soon. He promised he’d make some time as soon as he finished his next job and help them out.

Grove had no other choice but to look at his team and told them to find them a good request to handle. After he put his axe away and turned to look towards the Hunter again, he noticed that he was no longer sitting by the table. His instincts then told him someone was behind him, making him turn his head around and notice that the Bounty Hunter had slipped behind him while he had been distracted. Given his size, the weight of his armor and the position he was in, he was unable to react on defense. He was completely at his mercy! The cold, hard look the Bounty Hunter gave him made all alarms in his head to flash out of control.

“Next time you want to fight me, boy, do it while no one's watching. Or you’ll have your bitch boyfriends carry your sorry ass back into town and your sugar mama will be spanking you all night long.” He turned around to walk away and gave one final warning. “Come at me again, and I’ll kill you where you stand.” Then he walked over towards the main desk, leaving Grove with mixed feelings.

Humiliated and enraged, Grove silently told himself that he’d get back at that Bounty Hunter for this. He didn’t say it out loud, knowing that this man was tricky. He wouldn’t vent out his rage. Not yet. This man was no ordinary hunter, but even he couldn’t handle an entire group of trained adventurers. It was one bounty hunter against the entire Black Talon group.

“You should’ve listened to your own advice, old man. We’ll keep our cool for now, but soon, you’ll be the one humiliated.” Grove grinned in a sinister fashion as dark ideas boiled in his head.

But, nobody seemed to notice and nobody seemed to care.