Runeblade-Chapter 179B2 : Mistakes, pt. 1

Kaius stood in front of the heavy oak door to the Guild with a heavy seed of dread burning away in his stomach.

He was not looking forward to this conversation.

Judging by the slight pallor on Ianmus’s face, and the way the Porkchop’s ears kept flicking nervously every few seconds, neither were his companions.

They’d arrived back in Deadacre after another few days of travel. Thanks to the flat plains between there and Holsborrough, the road had been an almost dead shot back to the city, which had sped up their travel considerably.

It had been a decidedly dull section of their trip, with only a few handfuls of beasts desperate or foolhardy enough to attack them—one of them being another bramble ball. Barely enough to work up a sweat, and certainly not enough of a challenge to do more than remind Kaius how much he enjoyed a proper fight.

Still, he and Porkchop had managed to eke out another few skill levels..

That had only made the problem worse though—now that he sat right at the precipice to his next class skill, he was desperate to get back out there and seize it. Still, they had a job to do, and the best place to find a good fight was right in the building in front of him.

Sighing to himself, Kaius pushed the door open, feeling the carving of a crossed staff and sword beneath his palm.

A wall of noise hit him like a punch, a roaring common room greeting him. Delvers streamed to and fro, collecting jobs, using the guilds various facilities, and above all else getting hammered at the bar.

The sheer exuberance of the energy was enough to buoy his spirits just a tad, and Kaius stepped in with a slight smile on his face.

Making their way through the throng of people—who parted rather easily between Porkchop’s bulk and he and Ianmus’s imposing height—Kaius made his way to the service desk with his companions in tow.

Ro wasn’t working the counter—another assistant that he had never met before had that duty—but he could see her flitting back and forth in the far reaches of the office as she attended to one duty or another.

As he moved to join the line, the woman caught sight of them, and gave them a smile and a wave. Barely half a moment passed before her smile became pained, and Kaius physically saw a vein start to throb in her forehead.

She must have analysed them, even if he hadn’t felt even a faint brush against his Mask.

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“Uh oh.” Porkchop said, with all the resigned doom of someone staring up at an executioner beside the block.

Ro’s eyes narrowed, and she jabbed a finger at them before pointing to the entrance of the hall where the silence room lay.

A deep sigh escaped him as he let his shoulders slump.

“Surely she won't be that mad, would she?” Ianmus said hopefully - his tone giving away that he in no way believed his own words.

“Let’s just go.” Kaius replied, leading the way to the interview room.

He watched Ro hurriedly jam things into a cupboard with a little more force than necessary and slowly walk to meet them, a storm glowing in her eyes.

As Kaius passed, a broad shouldered man in plate clapped him on the shoulder.

“Lad, I don’t know what you did, but good luck.” he said, looking at him in pity.

Kaius only groaned in response, which got him an amused chuckle.

Reaching the door to the silence room, they came to a slow stop and waited for their destiny—their own silence weighing on them like a blacksmith’s anvil.

Ro stomped up to them with a furious scowl. Reaching the door, she worked its locking enchantments with a deft flick of mana, before slamming the door open.

“In.” she said, pointing inside.

Kaius nodded stiffly, moving quickly as he could to sit at the interview table. Ianmus joined him at one of the other chairs, while Porkchop moved to his side and sat on the floor.

Ro slammed the door shut and stalked over to the head of the table. She slapped her palms down on its surface with a mighty thwack, the massive carved hardwood jumping with the force of the blow.

“Which one of you dumb fucks wants to explain how you managed to nearly double your level in a single mission?” she asked with a low voice, furious eyes scanning across their own.

Kaius took the leap - he was the de facto team leader, and it was his responsibility. Let alone that he had half of the reason they had attempted such a difficult fight.

“The spider was a higher level than expected.” he said, keeping his tone calm in an attempt to placate the guild manager.

He didn’t feel calm. Inwardly, he was terrified. Ro was furious, and he now knew for absolute certain that she was strong. Potent power washed off her in waves, throwing her fury and frustration at them with a palpable weight.

“Higher level than expected?” Ro’s voice rose. “What the fuck kind of carefully curated understatement is that? Do you think I am a moron? Do you think I don’t know what kind of fight it would take for you to jump seventeen levels in the case of a single mission? You promised me you would only act according to your abilities!” She ranted, each word punctuated by a physical flare in her mana that hit him like a brick, causing his eyes to water.

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“It was a calculated risk. I was confident in our abilities.” Kaius said cautiously, trying his best to stand his ground in the face of Ro’s momentous disapproval.

“Calculated Risk?! Do you even hear yourself.” she seethed. “You are going to put your hand on that truth-crystal and tell me exactly what that spider was, how many there were, and if you managed to clear the nest right fucking now, or, gods help me, I will ban you from the guild faster than you can blink.”

“Now!” she said with a blurring clap that left his ears ringing.

Kaius blanched and slapped his hand on the crystal set into the table. Threading his mana into the delicate runework, he activated the working.

“It was a single Veiled Assassin Spider. It was nesting in the trees by the road, trapping travellers. Two of its skills were directly related to that, and it used two more in our battle. One to split into three illusory copies, and one to spit venom.” he hurried to explain.

“Level and tags?” Ro ground out, her patience clearly waning.

Kaius gulped, feeling his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth like parchment. “Eighty-one. Ambusher and Elite.”

The stone shone true, revealing his sincerity.

Ro froze, staring at the crystal beneath his hand. All of the ephemeral pressure that had weighed on them since she had closed the door vanished in an instant.

“I…what?” she said slowly, frowning at the crystal as if she suspected it was broken.

“That makes no sense. I thought you’d found a group and had jumped in without a proper extermination team. A single spider? Truly?” she said, staring at them in plain confusion.

Kaius nodded.

“You…you should be dead. No, someone helped you. Higher level too. But if they did you wouldn’t have gotten that many levels. This makes no sense.” Ro muttered, brow furrowing as she processed their achievement.

Finally she looked up, staring at them in shock, before her face morphed into concern.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” she said with a sigh, before sinking into her chair like the weight of the world had settled onto her.

Propping her head up with one hand, she rubbed her brow. “Such a fucking idiot.”

Now it was his turn to be frustrated. What right did she have to denigrate them for their success? Sure, it was only possible because of achievements and advantages so extreme she would never guess, but their victory should be celebrated.

“I-”

“Stop.” Ro said with a raise of her hand. “Think.”

She leaned forwards, fixing them with a level stare. “What, exactly, did you think was going to happen? That jump in levels is going to be obvious. Whatever cursed reason you have to hide in the skirts of the guild, you aren't safe yet. Even if you can punch that far above your level for some gods’ forsaken reason, if whoever you are running from finds out you’re here, you are fucked unless you can defend yourselves.”

“This sort of shit spreads, Kaius! This isn’t some hot up and comer shit, this is something from a bard’s tale! A single lick of this hits the common room and all of Deadacre will know of it by nightfall, and all of the Frontier by the end of the month!” Ro yelled, slamming her fist on the table.

Kaius paused, looking sideways to see his companions' faces mirroring the same dawning horror he now felt.

He hadn’t considered that.

“And now, because you are a fucking moron, we are going to have to loop in the guildmaster in order to keep this secret! Let alone the amount of fucking paperwork I’m going to have to do passing you missions under the table to get you to the second tier as fast as possible.” with every word Ro rose further out of her seat, until she stood over them ranting.

“Fuck!” She shouted, throwing her arms up and pacing back and forth. “I fucking hate paperwork, you assholes!”

Kaius reeled back under the sudden shift in the conversation. Paperwork? Rushing them to the second tier? What on earth was Ro on about?

Whatever it was, it sounded good. While the guild manager was still frustrated, it was much closer to annoyance now than genuine anger directed towards them. Still, he understood her distaste—some of his least favourite memories were his father making him write treatises on various topics, though thankfully those lessons had been rare due to their limited supplies of paper.

Still…in hindsight, Ro had a point. While he had rushed into the mission with a burning urge to grow strong as fast as possible, now that it had been pointed out he realised he had been shortsighted to think achievements like that wouldn’t make waves. He should have realised that a sudden jump in levels like they had gotten would catch people's attention.

Kaius struggled to regret it though. It had earnt them another Honour, and Ianmus’s first—truly binding him to their cause. That, and it had meant that they had secured more help from Ro, and had potentially opened an inroads into developing a relationship with the local guildmaster.

That was massive. They were invariably powerful, and carried a significant amount of political pull. Exactly the kind of backing he would need. If it meant that they would need to rush up the ranks to secure their help, all the better in his mind.

Ro narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t think I don’t notice that grin, dumbass.”

The half smile on his face slid into one in truth. “Sorry, Ro. Not that I am opposed to taking on more difficult missions, but is it really so dire?”

The guild manager sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. “Yes, it really is.”

“I don’t know how you managed this, but I can guess. Some psychotic story involving meeting a greater beast young, far too many legacy skills than I care to think about, and some obscenely strong class. And now you’re dragging this poor asshat-” she jutted one finger at Ianmus, who winced “-by the scruff of his neck in the hopes that his next tier evolution will help him close the gap.”

“The quicker we can get you to the second tier, and Silver rank with it, the quicker you’ll be covered by the full might of the Guilds protections. That’s the start of the inner ranks, and more tightly controlled oaths—nothing subservient, but enough that attacking you would incite retaliation. Let alone any personal power you can bring to bear.” Ro explained.

“And why are you going so far to support us if it brings such risk and such personal trouble?” Ianmus asked, leaning forward with a cautious expression on his face.

Ro sighed, leaning back. “Simple, you’ve just proven yourself invaluable. Shit like this? It’s what Platinum’s are made of. I have this nagging feeling in the back of my skull that we will need another Silver in Deadacre before the year is out, especially one who is as strong as you three might end up. More warriors I can stand side by side with and trust to hold my back. If I pull through on this? You owe me big.”

Benefits and security. That justification, at least, made full sense to him. He would have been far more suspicious if the woman had pretended it was simply out of worry and concern.

“Then let’s do it. What’s our next move?” Kaius asked, leaning in.

“Now? You fuck off. The amount of shit you’ve heaped on my lap is ridiculous. Tomorrow? You come in and exchange your medallions for Bronze, you meet the Guildmaster, and we discuss the best way to nurture you into something truly wondrous.” Ro replied.

A deadly serious expression settled on Ro’s face as she looked at him with fire in her eyes.

“There will be some uncomfortable questions, and I expect the Guildmaster will need to leave his reservations at the door. Expect to fight him, he likes hands on knowledge, and we will need to know your true capabilities if we are to do this properly. I can attest that we will be able to secure our silence to your satisfaction. Okay?”

Kaius’s stomach roiled, but he nodded. This was moving faster than he had hoped, but he could only pray that it would work out to his advantage.

“Good,” Ro said with a sigh of relief. “Now get the fuck out of here and get a beer or something, I have work to do.”