Guild invitation

Mark was once again sitting in the classroom waiting for the lessons to start. His updated hunter license should arrive in the mail today. It´s not like he absolutely needs it. He is still registered with the FBH which administers all the gates in America.

It´s just proving his rank on the gate site without a license is a bother. Some people could doubt his identity if he just showed his account on the website and some problems could arise. Mark rather chose to wait for another day before diving into the dungeon alone and risking these complications. He had to finish his new spells anyway so he was in no rush.

"Mark, I´m sorry." said Lucas. "Yesterday I took it a little too far and I won´t do it again."

"Okay?" Mark said, a bit unsure about how to respond. "I mean it´s fine. You don´t really have to apologize. Just don´t bother me in the future."

Lucas walked away without a word. Yesterday wasn´t a good day for him. He was stuck in a weird place for a tad bit too long. Then his father told him to apologize for something very minute and he got scolded by his mom for inciting a fight on his first day of school.

Mark was oblivious to his troubles. He kept on meticulously preparing for his first solo raid.

[After school]

Mark was on his way home. The streets were filled with excited students and he was just walking, ignoring his surroundings and staring down at the sidewalk.

Out of nowhere, he was stopped in his stride by a hand holding him by the shoulder. With no panic in his eyes, he turned around to see who was stopping him.

There stood a man in his forties enveloped by a dark green smoke-like aura. He wore light armor, which looked fairly expensive.

"Do you need something?" asked Mark.

"Yes actually, are you Mark Williams?"

"Yep, that´s me."

"Just have to make sure I have the right person, you know?" the man said with a smile. "Let´s get straight to the point. Maybe you´ve heard of me, my name is Alexander Wright. I´m the leader of the Viper guild."

Alexander showed him a business card. It was pretty cool looking with a slithering snake on the edges.

'blonde hair, stealth skill, and a dark green aura, that makes sense.'

"What do you want from me then, Mr.Wright?"

"Mark, would you be interested in joining the Viper guild?"

"Not really" Mark answered flatly.

"Seriously?" asked Alexander flabbergasted.

"Yes?" said Mark not understanding what he is asking.

"Do you have another guild in mind or something? We are second in the US hunter rankings. I take pride in that position."

"I don´t intend to join any guild."

"So you want to create one on your own? That´s a thorny path if you are not an S-rank." Alexander started jumping to conclusions.

"No, I think you misunderstood me, mister. I don´t want to join, create, or have anything to do with a guild. That just sounds like a bother to me."

"Heh, I almost forgot people like that also exist. Well, it´s fine. If you change your decision then call the Viper guild. We´ll quickly find a place for someone with your barrier abilities. Yeah and don´t be harsh on Luke. We all make mistakes in the heat of passion. Some of us just make more of them." Alexander was suddenly engulfed in a green smoke and disappeared.

'I thought the name Wright was familiar to me.'

[20 minutes later]

"I´m home!" Mark shouted, announcing his presence. He took off his jacket, hung it on the coat rack, and stepped into the living room.

"How was school?" asked his dad.

"Fine, pretty much nothing interesting happened. Yeah, I´ve got an A from the chemistry test I told you about."

"Nice. You received a letter by the way. It´s from the Bureau of Hunters." he said holding the letter. "Why didn´t you tell me you were going for a reevaluation?"

Mark appeared calm on the outside but he was panicking on the inside. He wasn´t prepared for this conversation, but he should have been. This was brought by nothing except his stupidity.

"I don´t know why wouldn´t you want to tell me, but if you were afraid about me disapproving your life choices then just don´t. I am not the best father in the world but I think I raised you well. You have your own head and I can´t do anything about what happens in there. You´ll be out of school half a year from now for God´s sake. I just thought that you´d tell me stuff like this."

"I´m sorry, dad. It´s just... I didn´t know how you´d react."

"Oh come on. I´d be proud of you regardless of whatever carreer you chose. You could be a garbage collector and I´d respect your choice."

"Thank you"

"And if the hunting doesn´t work out. You can go do something different. Nothing´s permanent and even if you lose a few years you can always get back on track."

"I made 2k in a D-rank dungeon." he said in a quiet tone.

"Are you serious?" his dad asked with raised eyebrows.

Mark hummed and nodded in confirmation.

"Well, this calls for some quality ice cream." his father stood up and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Couldn´t have said it better myself." Mark said with a satisfied smile.