Chapter 2 Part 2

"Would you mind taking your arm off my shoulders now?" Christopher says.

"Ah yes, boundaries, I forgot that they exist. Not really, I just like to get to know people up close and personal." Relov says.

"You're strange." Heather bluntly says.

"I get that a lot." Relov laughs.

"So why did you target us?" Heather asks.

"What do you mean?" Relov starts sweating a little.

"I can use my Mana Sence up to a mile away. I saw you swoop in to about a hundred metres from the east side of the village. You then tried to subtly walk towards us." Heather explains.

Relov pouts lightly and mutters, "Aw nuts." under his breath. "Well. I sensed some strangers coming in from the west, so I came to check you out."

"That's a lie." Heather says.

"You picked up on the sudden fluctuation changes in my mana, didnt you?" Relov says. Heather nods. "Ugh, fine. I felt several powerful presences enter the city so I needed to make sure you were no threat."

"Your verdict?" Christopher asks.

"You're just kids, I don't see any reason to suspect you guys, maybe we can even be good friends. What business do you have here?" Relov asks.

"Well, hopefully there is somewhere we can stay for a while. I'm going to go to the library for a while to do some research about this country." Christopher says.

"I know a fantastic inn, it was built here fairly recently but it makes some of the best food in all the realm." Relov says, bouncing a little and gesturing to our trio to follow him.

On the walk towards the inn, Lizardmen, Orcs, Dragon Newts, Dwarves, and Satyr often look at them with curious eyes. "Don't mind them, it's not very often you see Humans this side of Maranus." Relov says, noticing the civilians' stares. "Or it could be that they see someone famous with Humans." he boasts.

"So you're saying that you're easily recognisable here?" Haider asks.

"Mmmhmm, I'm in a guild that has their base here, we're quite famous." Relov says.

"We have no idea how guilds work here. In Stocaea, there is an adventurer guild that does basically everything. From what I've heard it's different here." Christopher says.

"Well that's a complex subject to tell someone not from this country. Maranus' adventurer guild is the only place in the realm directly under its royalty. It works as so. The king or queen takes care of the requests of the guild and sends them out to separate guild teams who have the appropriate resources to deal with the quest. Sometimes multiple guilds have the same request and compete for credit. Then again there is a ranking every year, with The Rise Of The Sleeping Prince consistently on the top." Relov explains.

(Narrator) Wait. what?

"So how does the credit work? Like, does the client decide?" Christopher asks.

"Not really. So the guild factions will send out paperwork when the quest is submitted, and an assistant at the capital will take them and add a portion of the reward money to the member that completed the quest. If multiple guilds were involved then it would be split. Does that answer your question?" Relov answers.

"Perfectly, thank you." Christopher says, writing down the information.

The group arrives at the inn not long after the end of the conversation.

"Here we are! The Karthein Inn." Relov says.

(Narrator) You have got to be fucking kidding me!

"For fucks sake!" Heather yells.

"I'm sorry?" Relov asks.

"We know the woman that owns this place." Haider says.

"You know Zoey?" Relov asks curiously.

"She must've opened a branch here." Christopher says.

"Well it's your lucky day. She's moved into this Inn for the foreseeable future." Relov says.

(Narrator) Well isn't that convenient.

Zoey comes bursting through the door, a sinister glint in her eye. "I smell you!" She leaps at the trio and embraces Heather in a deathgrip hug. "I miss you guys so much!"

Heather, barely able to breath, says. "We missed you too!"'

"But why are you here?" Christopher asks, pulling his sister from Zoey's grasp.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Engilram said that Heddwyn was disappointed with you three. He's apparently going to be testing your guards." Zoey says, approaching Heather and she matches her pace.

"We already know about that. He ran into Simon just after he harassed us." Haider says.

Zoey stops her approach on Heather and looks at Haider, then the soulustriousized leopard. "I forgot about this little guy!" she outstretches her hand. Simon nuzzles her hand. "Has he gotten bigger?"

"I think so. I feed him sunlight pellets so he grows a bit every day." Heather says.

"No wonder he's so happy, you're spoiling him." Zoey scratches Simon's chin and he starts purring.

"Makes him loyal." Relov says.

Heather glares at him. "All wrong. We have a mutual agreement. I feed him and make sure he stays healthy in exchange for protection."

"But you send him commands right?" Relov says.

Heather stares at him a little annoyed. "I guess you have a point. But you ain't an Alustrious. We talk to one another and he has the ability to refuse a command if he feels."

"You're absolutely right, I apologise for my rudeness." Relov bows his head slightly and the people that saw audibly gasp.

"Why do I get the feeling you're a bigger deal than you're letting on." Christopher says.

"I said I'm a member of a guild." Relov says, dodging the statement.

"Yeah, but what guild and how high." Christopher asks.

"I'm part of the Dark Star Eaters. We're number 3 in the ranking." Relov pulls his plate from his pocket.

"He's a fucking Platinam plate." Haider places both his hands atop his head and paces back and forth.

"If you're that high status then why are you talking to us?" Heather asks.

"Because people get snobby and I prefer to be humble." Relov says.

"I wanna punch you so hard right now." Christopher says.

Heather uses her mana sense to measure Relov's mana capacity. "Holy fucking shit." Heather trips over her own foot and falls on her ass.

"How much does he have?" Haider asks curiously.

"I-uh so Mylzronth had 100,000 points when we met her, which is way more than when dad last saw her. He has about half that." Heather says, climbing back onto her feet.

"Haha, the Empire uses "Points." as a measurement? Here we call them units or millilitres." Relov says.

"Like how you would measure a liquid?" Christopher asks.

"In a way. That's why some people say units, because mana is an energy source I guess it makes sense." Relov explains.

"It does, doesnt it...why the fuck were we using points this entire time?!" Haider shouts.

"Why the fuck are you looking at me? I know as much as you do!" Christopher bites.

"So what do you plan on doing Relov? I mean, you're clearly high ranking in your guild, you must have important missions to do." Heather asks, dusting off her dress.

"Ah, well this is where I believe our guilds systems cross, we can take jobs whenever we want. Not only that but I'm teaching in the college at the capital, in the next town starting after the final semester." Relov says.

"Why don't we talk inside? I already have rooms for you three here." Zoey says. Haider goes to open his mouth but Kate predicts what he is going to say. "How? It's easy, Heddwyn told me that Christopher is a risk so I had rooms made here too. It's the closest border so it made sense."

"Huh, so how much are the rooms here?" Heather asks.

"Free, the money you left with me more than pays for it." Zoey's smile lifts the dining area as the group enter Karthein 2.0.

Simon sniffs the air and catches Heddwyn's scent. "By the Mother. DAD! Stop hiding your presence, I can smell you!" Heather shouts.

"I hate that damn leopard." Heddwyn says, releasing all of his concealment spells.

The towering 6'8 Nekojin stands tall in front of them, his signature pitch black spear in his hand. "Not even a week passed in the capital before you idiots got yourselves in deep trouble. Some of the blame is on me, I knew he wasn't ready with his instability but I trusted nothing would happen! I'm very disappointed in you three!"

"What is this Nekojin referring to?" Relov asks.

Heddwyn's dart-like pointed eyes glance over at the Dragon Newt. "And who might you be?"

"Relov, Heddwyn Longstaff. Heddwyn, Relov Janyl." Heather says.

"Hello Relov, pleasure to meet you. To answer your question, these little fucks killed a very important influential figure less than a week after they signed their collage applications." Heddwyn explains.

"Actually it was just me." Christopher admits.

"I don't care, the other two were supposed to make sure your rampaging was under control." Heddwyn growls.

"You must be pretty tough if you offed someone like that." Relov says.

"I wouldn't encourage that behaviour." Heddwyn says.

"Heddwyn, can you not discuss such things in front of my customers please?" Zoey asks politely.

"Right, as you wish. Sorry." Heddwyn bows his head and gestures to them to follow him upstairs.