6 Joining the Hunter's Guild

Back on the surface, Velk and Ash were waiting on one of the sofas in the guildhall. They had seen Sylas off, as he wanted to watch the race while they were being tested. Doing so left them waiting for a guild receptionist to make themselves available. There were around 30 men and women taking the test to become a hunter today. Most of them are the same age as Velk, but there are a couple of older individuals.

They didn't have to wait long as a felyne had just finished taking a test made for the lynians wanting to become lynian comrades. Lynian comrades are different than palicos, as they are not bound to a specific hunter and are allowed to join any party they so choose or even sell themselves out as a mercenary within the guild. Being a mercenary is a common occupation as not only do they get the rewards for completing a mission but they are also paid for their services by the one who hired them.

"Well, it's your time buddy, go and become a felyne comrade." Velk sent Ash off to complete the test with the receptionist, who mainly works with the felynes and melynx. Melynx is a race of lynians who look like felynes, but their fur is usually darker while the felynes have lighter coats. Ash could easily be misidentified as a melynx due to his light grey fur, but he is, in fact, a felyne.

Velk watched Ash make his way up to the guild receptionist. The counter was a little too tall for lynians, so they had to step up onto a platform made to boost them up. The receptionist had short brown hair and had a gentle smile on her face as she looked at Ash. She was dressed in the iconic guild uniform made for the receptionists of Rak-Al-Faar. It was a brown dress that cut off at the thighs, and although Velk could not see them right now, she had knee-high socks and was wearing a pair of soft slip-on shoes.

She then proceeded to ask Ash a couple questions and nodded when he answered. Velk was once again dumbfounded as he watched the girl respond to Ash's answers. There must be a trick that he was not getting, and he wanted to learn it. The guild receptionist then pulled out a paper and placed it on the counter, and slid it to Ash along with a pen.

As Ash filled out the form, Velk looked around the room to see other people doing the same thing with other receptionists. The only difference was that the guild receptionist was filling out the application while the people only gave their answers. He concluded that the guild receptionist could not fully understand Ash and only knew tidbits of information or asked the questions in a way that she could understand as long as Ash responded at all. This made Velk feel better about himself.

At some point, Velk saw Ash gesture towards him and answer one of the guild girl's questions. The receptionist looked at him and nodded. She then took the paper back from Ash and rolled it up. Then put a band around it to keep it closed and stored it within the counter. She then had Ash follow her as they went off into a specialized room for testing new prospective hunters.

Since it will take a while for Ash to come back, Velk could only wait around for another receptionist to finish up with their client while Ash took his exam. Ethran never told him what tests he would need to take to pass the exam, but they shouldn't be too hard. He had heard that the test was apparently different for everyone, so no one ever came absolutely prepared. Just like monster hunting, you must be prepared for anything.

Velk didn't have to wait too terribly long, as only forty minutes after Ash had left did another receptionist make themselves open. Another man was still waiting, but he was not paying attention and just seemed to stare into space, so Velk quickly got up and made his way over to the guild receptionist. She had long purple hair put up into pigtails and green eyes. The girl's hair and eyes stood out quite a bit, but Velk was in no position to judge, as he had an abnormal hair color himself, and his eyes shone blue like no other.

The girl seemed to be a little distracted by some documents on the counter; she did not greet him upon his arrival. Velk did not know if it would be rude to interrupt her while she was focusing on the papers or if he should just make his presence clear. Fortunately for Velk, he did not need to decide, as the girl lifted her head and gave him a warm smile.

"Welcome sir, my name is Abigail Purcell, a guild receptionist. Are you here to join the Hunter's Guild?" She seemed very experienced with these words, and she was very expressive with her hands and head. Velk watched as her eyes traced across his entire body, seemingly trying to ascertain every last thing about him.

"Yes, mam, I would like to register into the guild as a hunter!" Velk came off as very excited, as he had exclaimed his words louder than needed.

Abigail widened her eyes and backed her head away in surprise. "Perfect! I will need you to answer a few questions before we start the test. Would that be fine with you?" She had decided to mimic his excited nature and clapped her hands twice as she said 'perfect' and proceeded to pull out a scroll before he had even answered.

"Ye... yes, I am willing to answer any question, as long as it will allow me to join the guild." Velk was a little surprised by how excitable she was after stating that he wanted to join the guild, so he sounded a bit embarrassed.

Although Velk missed it, Abigail showed a hint of a smirk as she heard the boy stumble on his words. Working as a guild receptionist was not an exciting job, so she loved to tease any new hunters she could get her hands on. Everyone was unique, so she had to act in different manners to pull off the teasing, and she had gotten good at reading her clients because of it.

"Alright, let's start then. First, I will need your full name." She unrolled the scroll and took up a quill with ink.

"Ah, yes... sorry, my name is Velk. Nice to meet you." Velk realized that he had not given her his name when she first introduced herself, causing him to grow even more embarrassed.

The girl started to giggle while watching him, "Do you happen by chance to have a surname?" She still had a smile on her face while saying this.

Velk started to panic a little. He had never actually learned his last name; he didn't even know if he had one. It had never been necessary up to this point, and both his grandfather and Rose neglected to ever mention it, not that he ever asked, so he is partly to blame.

"My name is... Velkhana, no last name..." Velk could not shake his head ashamedly. It was really embarrassing, not knowing if he had a surname or not.

"You're named after an elder dragon? Interesting." She was pushing up her cheeks with her pointer fingers and rocking her head from side to side. It was a little distracting for Velk, just watching her bob her head and try to act so cutesy.

Velk had been picked on a lot when he was younger for having been named after a monster. Ever since then, he had regularly introduced himself by the nickname his grandfather gave him. He has asked Rose if she knew why he had been named what he was, but she only responded with, "I don't know, but it sounds like the work of your father, that's for sure."

"Hmm. Do you know if you have any family members who had joined the Hunter's Guild in the past? It would be helpful to get a description of them along with their names if they have." She was a little annoyed that she needed to put in a bit of extra work, but as this wasn't the first time she needed to do this, it's not that big of a deal.

"Yes. Both my father and grandfather are registered in the guild." He didn't actually know if his father was in the guild as he only heard stories from Rose, but he knew that his grandfather was definitely registered within the guild.

"Great, now if you can only give me their names, I can help you out." She appeared to get excited again, probably matching the mood that Velk had set.

Velk started to scratch his cheek in embarrassment and said, "I don't know either of their names..." Velk then chuckled lightly, He believed it was kind of pathetic to not even know the name of your very own father, but it was once again one of the things Rose omitted from her tales of him.

Velk watched as Abigail visibly tilted a couple of degrees to his left and gave him a face of absolute irritation. Her brows were twitching while she sighed in exasperation. "Fine, fine, it's not very important anyway. Can you at least tell me where you live?"

He saw her write down a few things on the document as he told her where Rose's house was. Once he mentioned Roses' name, she looked at him in surprise. "Do you happen by chance to be a survivor of the Talbiet Incident?"

Talbiet was the name of the village that was burned out of existence ten years prior. The one that Velk's grandfather died protecting. It was now known as Heated Valley because no plant life grows around the area anymore. There is a residual heat that has stayed even after the flames disappeared that threatens off most wildlife.

"Um... Yes. That is where I grew up until the dragon attacked. I retreated along with the others, and my grandfather died in the fire while defending the village." He did not know how she had guessed that he was a survivor, but if it helps him, then that's good!

The girl turned around and headed towards a large, shared cabinet behind the counter. She skimmed through the multiple different folders until she found what she was looking for. Traveling back to the counter with the folder in hand, Abigail had a rather serious look on her face.

She opened it up and scanned through the contents. "Can you describe what your grandfather looked like to me?" She questioned Velk.

Velk had a hard time recalling his grandfather's appearance, but there were a couple things that stood out enough to be rememberable. "He had white hair, green eyes, a large beard, and... oh, he also often used a long sword for combat, or at least, that is what he told me..."

Listening attentively to what Velk told her, Abigail began marking people off the list for potential family. Once there was only one option remaining, she lifted her brows in surprise and exclaimed, "Oh..."

The final answer made the most sense at the given moment, even though it was also the most improbable option left.

"I will be right back. Stay here, please." She gave him a crooked smile.

After saying this, Abigail turned around and started heading towards a door in the back. She was mumbling to herself in frustration while on her way there.

Velk could hear her talking to herself while leaving, and he knew what she was saying about him. "Not knowing his own grandfather's name, my ass. He must be playing me. How could he possibly not know that man's name? I will get him back for this. Wasting my time just to brag. Jerk... Meanie...Asshole..."

Velk did not know what he did to warrant such a response. How could he possibly be the one at fault for not knowing his grandfather's name if no one ever mentions it?

Velk waited for around ten minutes before the girl showed back up. She looked a lot calmer and a little apologetic as she made her way back towards the counter. "Thank you for waiting, Velkhana, now that you are all signed up, all we have to do, is have you take the test, and you will be able to join the Hunter's Guild. This way, please."

She opened up a section of the counter and allowed him to pass through. As they made their way towards an office, Velk looked around and saw multiple trophies hung up on the walls. There were heads, fangs, jewels, weapons, and armors decorating the halls. It really was quite a beautiful place.

Upon entering a room, aptly named Testing Room, Velk was surprised to see that the short guild master was waiting on a chair behind a desk. This would not have been so surprising fifty years ago as a guild manager or above would always oversee the recruitment process, but the policy has changed where they only promote those already within the guild while rarely doing the recruiting themselves to allow time to manage the more critical business.

The guild master promptly stood up and slowly walked towards Velk. She pulled him down by the arm when she got close enough. This all happened too quickly for Velk to react, and he was then face to face with the old lady. Before he knew what was happening, she started acting very eccentric and grabbed hold of his head, making him look into her eyes. She pulled on his cheek and lips, revealing his teeth, and pushed upwards on his eyelids to open his eyes more.

All while starring into Velk's eyes, she touched all over his torso, thighs, legs, and at one point, she even grabbed his palm and gave it a firm squeeze. Velk felt very uncomfortable, but he did not voice his concerns as he didn't know if this was for the test, and he knew that wyverians could be a bit wacky in nature. He did not dare say anything in fear of accidentally offending her.

Once she was finished, she gave him two quick slaps to the cheek and pushed him back into a standing position as if he was an animal. The guild master turned to Abigail, who just stood off to the side in shock, and said, "He has passed the test. Would you be a dear and get him properly situated, also get him bonded with that felyne of his while you're at it..."

At this point, Velk's mind was beyond chaotic, and he suddenly blurted out, "Wait a minute, what about the tests? Was I not supposed to take a physical body test and be quizzed on my knowledge or something?" Velk's brain was racing in every which way, trying to understand what just happened.

"Shi-shi-shi-shi," the guild master started to laugh. "You already passed the physical test. You are a very healthy young boy. Scarily so, and I could tell by the look in your eyes that you would have passed the written test anyway. Not everyone comes into the guild with the same level of confidence you have. And even if you didn't, there is always time to learn those things later." The guild master started to wave her hand in dismissal.

"Velkhana, let's go pick up your friend. I still need to show you around the guildhall and make sure you are measured for your equipment." Abigail wanted to get moving as quickly as possible. She desired to get home for an early dinner. The tour will take a bit of time, and Velk still needed to get his measurements taken so that some gear could get crafted for him.

The guild would not usually give out a set of free weapons and armor, but he was an exception due to his 'familial background.' The guild master had ordered a free iron weapon of his choice and a light pair of leather armor for the boy. All this came out of her own pocket, of course, not that such things mattered in the slightest as she was notably rich.

Still, in a mild state of disbelief, Velk stumbled out of the room with Abigail, who kept casting glances towards the guild master, who only sent a warm smile back, one that only a grandmother could match.

After the two left the room, The old lady returned to her seat and silently mused to herself, "That boy is a fifty-fifty split between his grandfather and his father. A little more talkative than his grandfather, while a lot more innocent than his father." She sure will have fun teasing the poor youngster who she had now set her sight on.