Chapter - 54

Leo stood in front of the old, rusty building with a half broken sign hanging above the door. The cracked, wooden sign read: "THE IRON OATH"

"What the hell?" Leo frowned. There wasn't even a guard outside.

It was supposed to be the premier gathering place for the kingdom's if not world's elite warriors.

Unsure if he was at the right place, he pushed the door open.

SCREEEEEECH!!!

The hinges of the door screamed like a dying cat.

Leo stepped inside, and his expectations plummeted straight into the basement. He was expecting to hear the roars of celebration, the clash of swords, and the exchange of curses. But it felt so dead inside.

The interior of the Auravale Adventurer's Guild wasn't aweinspiring at all. It smelled of stale ale, dust, and the pungent sweat of unwashed men.

It was dim, lit only by the sunlight filtering through grimy windows and a few sputtering oil lamps that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in years.

Unlike the guilds he was so accustomed to seeing in the game, where the halls would be bustling with adventurers, knights and mages, the large room was mostly empty.

At this hour of the day, there were perhaps a dozen men scattered across the tables. Most of them were slumped over the tables like depressed alcoholics.

"This is it?" Leo muttered to himself, his nose wrinkling in distaste, "This is the legendary Iron Oath? The oldies in the old age looked more on adrenaline than these guys."

He walked across the creaking floorboards, his boots thudding rhythmically in the quiet room. Every head turned to look at him. Dull, bloodshot eyes scanned him from head to toe, assessing his clean gear, his healthy skin, and his confident stride. He could practically taste their envy.

Leo ignored them. His eyes were fixed on the long wooden counter at the back of the hall.

Sitting there, looking bored out of her mind, was the receptionist. She had some sort of romance novel propped open in front of her, her chin resting in her hand as she lazily flipped a page.

The woman was in her early thirties. Her hair was a dark chestnut, piled messily on top of her head with a few loose strands covering her face. She did not look particularly beautiful.

But it was her body that got his attention. She was voluptuous in the extreme. Someone who couldn't run 50 meters without turning half the population's heads. Up! Down! Up! Down!

Her simple white blouse was struggling valiantly to contain a pair of massive breasts that threatened to spill over the low neckline with every breath she took.

She wasn't a refined, ethereal beauty like Seraphine. But she could surely be the queen of the commoners. She was earthy, fleshy, and overflowing at the right places.

She sensed someone approaching and looked up, her expression one of practiced annoyance.

"Quest board is to the left, drinks are to the right, and if you are here to complain about something…"

She stopped as she looked up, her eyes landing on Leo. She was taken aback by the sharp jawline, the dark hair, the fitted leather armor that accented his broad shoulders, and the smile on his face.

The annoyance vanished instantly. A slow, predatory smile spread across her red-painted lips. She put the book down and leaned forward over the counter, resting her elbows on the wood. The movement pushed her breasts together, deepening her cleavage until it was practically a display case.

"Well, hello there," she purred, "We don't get fresh meat... I mean, new faces... around here often. What can this lowly Mara do for you, handsome?"

Leo rested his hand on the counter, not looking at her face, but enjoying the view without shame, "I am here to register."

"Register?" Mara chuckled, a throaty sound, "You look a little too clean for this work, honey. If it's because of the money, do you want me to help you out?"

Leo grinned, "What kind of a man will let a woman take care of him? How about you help me register, and for my other needs, we can make an arrangement?"

"You don't have to ask me twice, handsome," Mara leaned in a bit more, her breasts pressing against the desk, "But don't throw away your life chasing goblins, okay?"

She pulled a heavy, leather bound ledger onto the counter and dipped a quill in ink.

"Alright, let's get the boring stuff out of the way," she said, her eyes flicking up to his face, "You know how 'The Oath' works?"

"Assume I know nothing," Leo said, "I am kind of new here."

Mara nodded, twirling a lock of hair around her finger, "It's simple enough. At first we rank you based on your Level. And then you progress based on your level and contribution."

She began to list them off, tapping the counter with her quill.

"Everyone starts at the bottom. Porcelain Rank. That's where you learn which end of the sword goes into the monster."

"Then comes Iron, Bronze, and Silver. That's the bulk of the adventurers in the guild."

"Above that, you have Gold and Platinum. That's where the real money starts flowing. And along with the money, you start holding some influence as well. You make a name for yourself."

"You will occasionally see these guys here."

"And at the very top," she said, her voice taking on a reverence, "You have Mithril and Adamantite. But you won't see any of those around here. They are probably off fighting mythical dragons."

"And how do I climb?" Leo asked, "You said something about rank up."

"Credits," Mara explained. "Every quest has a credit value. You complete the quest, you get the credits. You fail, you lose them. If you gain enough credits, you take a promotion exam."

She recited the numbers from memory, a speech she had clearly given a thousand times.

"To move from Porcelain to Iron, you need 1,000 Credits."

"From Iron to Bronze, it's 10,000 Credits."

"And from Bronze to Silver it takes 25,000 Credits."

"But starting from Gold, things aren't that simple. Your Level comes into play."

"For example, to move up from Silver to Gold, apart from the 50,000 Credits, you also need to be at least Level 30."

"Gold to Platinum is 100,000 Credits along with a Level 40 requirement."

"Platinum to Mithril takes 250,000 credits and Level 50."

"And for Adamantite, you need at least 500,000 Credits, Level 60 and a personal recommendation from the Guild Master."

Leo did the mental math. It was a grind. A massive, intentionally slow grind designed to keep adventurers working for years.

"What are the perks of me joining the guild?" Leo asked.

"Well, nothing comes easy," Mara winked, "In the beginning all you can do is rely on the guild. You will get all the quests in one place, the rewards are easily available, we can even buy some of your monster parts and loot."

"Then there is a wide network of the guild and its adventurers, if you want some information, there is a high chance we can get it for you."

"You can cross borders with relative ease thanks to the influence of the guild."

"And of course, you will get a Guild Card as well."

As she spoke, she pushed the register aside and reached under the counter to pull out a cloudy, crystal orb the size of a melon. It sat on a velvet cushion.

"But first, we have to see if you even have the mana to hold a card," she said, "The registration fee is 20 Gold Coins. Non-refundable. Even if you end up getting rejected."

The room went quiet. Twenty gold was a fortune to the drunks at the tables. That was a year's wages for a common laborer. They watched, expecting the pretty boy to flinch at the price.

But Leo didn't even blink. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of gold coins. He didn't count them out one by one. He dropped the stack onto the counter.

Clatter!!!

The heavy, metallic sound of solid gold hitting wood echoed in the silence. There were exactly twenty coins.

"That should be enough," Leo smirked.

Mara's eyebrows shot up. She looked at the gold, then back at Leo, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. "You came prepared, cutie."

"Touch the orb," she instructed him, "It measures your life force and determines your level which will be used to assign a starting Rank. It's only for the baseline, so you don't need to worry about it."

Leo placed his hand on the cold glass, and just as he did, he felt the crystal orb pull out his life force from his body.

The orb flickered. Then, it glowed with a steady, pale white light. A number formed in the mist within the glass.

[Level 3]

A ripple of snickers went through the room, "Pathetic!"

"Level 3?" Mara noted it down, though she didn't seem disappointed. "Standard for someone who is just starting. Nothing special, but enough to hold a spear."

She grabbed a thin rectangular plate of silvery metal and placed it onto a rune-inscribed pad. Pressing a heavy iron stamp into the surface, she activated the runes.

"Name?"

"Leo."

"Just Leo?"

"Just Leo."

The metal lit up with a sharp glow, like molten light running through veins.

Then it faded.

Without warning, Mara reached across the counter and grabbed Leo's hand.

"Hmmm?"

She pulled out a small needle and jabbed it cleanly into the tip of his finger. A sharp sting shot through him.

"Blood binding," she explained quickly, squeezing his fingertip until a drop formed, "Without it, anyone could use your card. With your blood bound to it, the card responds only to you. If someone steals it, it's just scrap metal."

She let the drop fall onto the metal plate. The runes flared again, burning blood-red before sinking into the surface like ink into paper.

Mara held the card there for a moment, letting the glow fade.

"This will be your Guild Card," she said, "This is your ID, quest tracker, keeps a note of your credits, and a spatial pocket of one cubic meter. Not huge, but good enough to stuff your loot without looking like a pack mule."

Leo nodded, trying not to stare at the blood still trickling from his fingertip.

"Does it hurt?" she asked softly, finger still in her mouth.

Then Mara lifted his hand again.

He looked as she brought his finger to her lips and wrapped them around the tip gently. She sucked lightly to stop the bleeding, her warm tongue brushing the puncture.

"Don't worry, I will make it better!"

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