Skill Maker In A New World: Start By Creating A 10x SP Skill-Chapter 79: Becoming A Guild Member

Darien ignored his teammate's remark. His focus was on his system interface.

Leveling up to the Ascendant level of 1st Knighthood had also raised his mage class to Proficient level.

'I never really thought I could balance both… but here I am,' he thought, reflecting on both classes.

Hopefully, the next dungeons he raided would push him closer to the breakthrough point.

Back to the trial, the field and the sky of the battle plane grew dark, shadows rolling and thunder clapping.

It was time for the duels.

When Darien glanced to his right, his grateful teammate was already fading away to another instance.

Looking straight ahead, another warrior materialized, his opponent.

His opponent was the strongest among all four who had entered this set.

Everyone at the arena stage assumed that Darien would lose when they saw this pairing.

But as the fight began, many started to take their words back!

Darien was swift and smooth, traits magi often wished they possessed at low ranks.

His opponent was a Corrupted User, wielding arcane Energy as his element.

Launching warped green spells at the boy, the Rank 2 warrior grinned confidently, certain it'd be an easy victory.

"Paired against the knight?! Hoho! Make me a First Division Squad Leader already!"

FWOOSH! BAM! FWOOSH! BAM!

Each spell fizzled away the instant Darien evaded, the boy closing the gap with an artful sprint.

'Spinal Thorn!' he yelled, leaping into the air and thrusting his spear toward his hovering opponent.

The mage's eyes widened as he saw the gyrating spear, carrying a sonic tremor with it.

At the very last second, he swooped aside, barely dodging.

"Not today!" he growled.

Falling back to the ground, Darien only grinned, disagreeing with his words.

SHHHRRKKK–KRRAAASHH!!!

The entire spear tore through the mage's shoulder.

-650!

"ARRGGHHHHHHHHH!"

The Corrupted warrior screamed in agony as his health plummeted beyond recovery, his Energy faltering while he crashed hard to the ground.

Darien stretched out his hand, and the Redthorn Spike returned to him like a boomerang.

–50!

–45!

–55!

'Spinal Thorn,' Darien thought.

The mage tried to cast again, but the damage was too severe.

Darien's strike had landed at a crucial joint, right in the shoulder, crippling his ability to channel Energy.

The boy must've targeted there deliberately.

Now, the DoT effect was already eating him alive. At this rate, he would be dead in minutes.

That was enough to force a surrender.

Darien had felled his opponent with a single, precise strike!

He glanced down at his magical spear, smirking.

A flash of light engulfed both warriors, returning them to the arena stage, where the wounded one was generously attended to.

"Congratulations, you passed the test. Welcome to the Honored Spire Guild… Jakob."

Shawn said reluctantly, an edge of annoyance in his tone as he scanned the boy from head to toe.

A Spearman was still a Spearman. No matter how brilliant his techniques were, Shawn remained adamant that someone like Darien wasn't needed in their guild.

"Way to go, new friend!" Reede cheered as Darien descended from the stage.

"Since I'm the Fourth Division Squad Leader, what does that make me to you?" he asked with a sly smirk.

Darien thought for a second, then grinned.

"At your command, oh wise leader," he said.

"Vice-leader," Stacey corrected sharply, needling her brother again.

Rutha was the next person Darien looked at.

She stood beside Vela, the pink-haired guild captain whose presence always commanded attention.

Rutha stuck out her tongue as a form of mock congratulations. Darien only rolled his eyes and made his way toward the captains.

All of them, except Harwin, wore the same expression of indifference toward him, sharing Shawn's sentiment.

A Spearman held little value for a guild that prized elemental mastery and high-tier magic.

Even if he had shown remarkable potential, none appeared willing to place their mentorship on him.

After recruitment, it was tradition for each captain to personally enlist new members under their division's administration.

Things like character, training regimen, and squad assignment were decided through this secondary recruitment, an internal selection phase for orderliness.

Captain Vela seemed to have already coveted Rutha.

Since no one had claimed the young Spearman, Harwin stepped forward and did so.

That had always been the plan anyway.

None of the others knew what he knew about Darien. Harwin found that amusing, because if they did, they'd probably be grabbing Darien by the throat right now.

Darien saluted Harwin respectfully as the receptionist finalized the documentation of the decision.

Afterward, Harwin declared that he wouldn't be taking any other recruit under his wing, only Darien.

Everyone on the arena stage watched him turn and begin to leave with the Spearman.

The esteemed captain hadn't planned to recruit anyone at all this season. Darien had always been his priority.

"You're getting soft, Harwin!" Shawn roared from the stage as the last set of aspirants entered the Trial Nexus.

"Don't worry, I'll appeal to the Guild Master to evict that boy the moment he slows down your division!"

Unfazed by the jab, Harwin only smiled faintly.

Turning to Darien, he said, "You'll have a hard time here. But it'll be worth it, I guess."

Darien shivered. He had successfully made it into the Honored Spire Guild, but would he last in it?

Apparently, he wasn't influential enough to even propose a contract with the guild yet.

If the higher-ups ever decided to evict him, that would be the end of it. No negotiations, just bye-bye.

As a new member, he would begin at Rookie Grade, work his way up to Guild Support, and eventually reach Apprentice, where he might finally start to earn real recognition.

But regardless of grade or status, he was a member now, and that meant meeting every requirement that came with it.

Harwin quickly assigned him to Reede's squad, believing their closeness in age would make the adjustment smoother.

Since the squad leader was away, it fell to the vice leader to guide Darien through the essentials—his official quarters, guild uniform, and every other necessity of his new affiliation.

As Harwin and Darien walked past the guild's archery site, Darien got the feeling that someone was watching them.

He looked up and there, perched on the orbital balcony of one of the spires, stood the same wretched figure he'd seen on the arena stage.

The daylight revealed its entire form cloaked from head to toe.

Now that he could see more of it, Darien realized it wasn't just deformed—it was an abomination, truly.

"What's that?" he asked his captain.

Harwin followed his gaze until his eyes found the figure.

"That," he said evenly, "is the guild's alchemist."

Darien frowned. "What happened to him? A witch's imprecation? An alchemical disaster?"

He had never seen anything quite like it except in the form of monsters to kill. Its face was barely human, but it was human.

However, Darien didn't expect Harwin's answer.

"That's a cursed-born," Harwin said quietly, "like you are."

The two of them entered a round, dome-roofed building and made their way through the hall toward where Reede and the others were waiting, having taken a smart shortcut.

Throughout the walk, Darien was lost in his thoughts, still processing what he had just heard from Harwin.

Because of his silence, Harwin was convinced that he was indeed the snow-haired brat.

Why wouldn't Darien be silent, after all? It was his first time seeing another cursed-born other than himself!

The sight had been both incredible and unsettling.

The tomes he'd read explicitly described them as grotesque beings, but having never seen one in person until now, Darien didn't know what the standard was.

Now that he had seen one with his own eyes, he was mindless.

"He's not going anywhere," Harwin said suddenly, as though he had read Darien's mind. "You can go meet him in his office if you'd like to learn more about yourselves."

"His name's Eunice," he added after a pause, lowering his voice slightly. "And it might surprise you, but he's only nineteen."

Darien wasn't shocked by that.

"It's actually a good thing the guild gave him a home then," he thought aloud. "I bet he's a fantastic alchemist."

"Ah, very," Harwin replied with a small sigh. "I'm sure he's already healed your opponent by now. He's supposed to be indispensable to the guild… but sadly, he's not."

Darien rubbed Jakob's stubbled chin as he recalled the reputation of the Honored Spire Guild as being one of the few remaining guilds known for genuine goodwill and honor.

A cursed-born having a place among them had to be one of the greatest acts of kindness ever recorded in the Finelands.

He wondered what other good deeds the guild might be involved in, and whether that had earned them enemies somewhere along the line.

The last time, the fire mage Bennin had saved him from slavers.

Without a squad or backup, it was clear Bennin had been acting out of vigilante goodness.

Since Darien didn't quite trust himself to always be good, he figured this was the kind of guild he could appreciate.

"By the way, Captain! What about Bennin?" Darien asked Harwin. "What was in that card he told me to give to the guild?"