Me and Jack sat across from each other, eating some breakfast and discussing various things. "So this guild and the hunters, explain to me what would be required of me? My goal is to travel the world; how would getting a job help?" I asked Jack. I've been thinking about this since he brought it up the other night after the goblin cave, and while it does sound interesting, I don't want to be anchored down being told where to go and what to do.
Jack swallows his food before replying, "Being a hunter is not as special as it sounds; it's practically a way to be signed up to be registered as a person of ability and be able to do jobs; these jobs can be chosen and will not be forced on you. I wanted you to be signed up as one because it will smooth things over for you, for example." Jack pauses to wipe his mouth. "Say you travelled to somewhere like Japan that has a lot of different factions and you travelled into someone's territory, let's say the Yokai's, as a random mage turning up and looking around may land you some unwanted attention. But someone registered with a guild will ease some of their worries, as you have a known background. You go from a random guy to someone potentially on a job or at a base level who is known to the world.
Contemplating that it does sound useful, "so like a supernatural passport?" I asked, drawing a comparison. Jack stopped for a moment, then hummed, "Yeah, actually, thats a pretty good way of comparing it. There is also the side benefit of being able to take any open jobs in the area if you need a bit of money."
Finishing my meal, I stand and take my plate to the side, casting a quick clean spell. "Fair enough sounds good to me; where do I sign?" I asked, helping Jack with his plate and returning to my seat. "We just need to get you to a guild HQ base; thankfully, there is one in Leeds not too far from us, and we will go through the procedure there. We will go in a few hours, so get cleaned up." Rolling my eyes and doing as requested, I head back to my home.
—Later in the day—
Walking through the city next to Jack, I nonchalantly look around; nothing different from last time I was in Leeds—still the hustle and bustle of the city, homeless people dotted around, and constant construction. Following Jack around a few alleys, we come to a stop at a wall hidden from public view. Going up to the wall, Jack places his hand on it and sends out a small pulse of mana before stepping back.
watching in interest I try to take note that as the wall light's up, different glyphs and carvings appear in an arch pattern leading all the way to the floor. As the final glyph reaches the bottom, the wall lights up, the same way Jack's portal did the other day. As I stepped through with Jack, I let out a small gasp.
At first glance, the room is a weird mix of modern furniture mixed with what I can only describe as a fantasy tavern look. In the middle, there is a large seating area with small tables and chairs, some with sofas, and nothing too outlandish. To the side of this is a bar that seems to be serving both food and drinks. Next to this, at the back centre wall, is a reception desk with a large board on the wall behind it with a few different maps, one of which I recognise as earth. This has a lot of magical glowing points dotted around in different countries. Next to it are a few maps I don't recognise, but what does catch my eye is that one of the maps is titled Simply Underworld, followed by the same glowing dots.
Looking away from the boards, I glance upward from the main lobby, which reaches up to two extra floors. On the first floor, I can see what seems to be a library or at least some bookcases, but I can't see what's on the top floor.
Whistling appreciatively, "This place is pretty cool, I gotta say." In response, Jack hummed, "You get used to it; this is only a small office; the London one makes this look like a shoe box." Taking note of that, I follow Jack towards the receptionist desk.
As we are walking towards the desk, I notice a few of the occupants that are lounging around stop and look towards us, or more specifically, Jack. "Soooo you gonna explain why everyone is staring at you?" Sending a glance to Jack, I turn and meet a few of the eyes looking our way; some look away, and some of them just keep staring.
"I've been here a while, and I have a bit of fame for being a long-standing member," Jack replies, not acknowledging our growing audience.
"Uh-huh, suuuure," I reply sarcastically, not at all believing him. I goTo question further, when we arrive at the reception desk, a small woman, maybe around 23–25, looks up at us as we approach, looking the part of any normal receptionist, which is to say bored out of their mind. That is, until she looks at Jack and immediately straightens, looking nervous. "Welcome back, Mr. Bell; it's a pleasure to have you come back so soon. How may I help today?" she asks, completely ignoring me.
Rude I thought with a roll of my eyes and seriously, 'Mr bell' I haven't heard someone say Jack's second name for so long, it sounds foreign to me.
Jack, as stoic as ever, replies, "Is the branch leader in? I want a quick word with her." Looking down at a diary, the receptionist scans it for a moment before nodding with a smile. "Ms. Blackwatch is in her office at the moment, sir, 3rd flo.."
Cutting her of Jack nods, "I know where it is; while I deal with that, I want you to set up a registration form for a new hunter license." Jack pauses for a moment, and I catch a small, amusing glint in his eye, which usually spells trouble for me. "This here is my grandson and will need to be registered." Jack stated emphasizing grandson a little louder than necessary.
With that declaration, I feel all the eyes in the room lock onto me, drilling holes into my back. Even the receptionist, who previously ignored me, gasped and looked at me, paling a little. Jack slaps me on the back before walking off to some stairs that lead to the upper floor. "Have fun, kid," he whispers to me with a chuckle.
Glaring at his back for all this unneeded attention, I turn to the receptionist and put on a smile. "Hello, my name is Cameron. Please forgive him for his rude attitude; hes going grumpy in his old age." Trying to joke with the girl does seem to help, as I can see her relax a little, though she is still looking at me like an alien. "Soo registration?"
Snapping out of her shock, the receptionist shakes her head and says, "Of course, sir, let me pull the proper forms, and we can begin." She replied, getting up and going over to a compartment on her desk, pulling out different kinds of forms.
"Please call me Cameron; there is no need for sir or anything," I explain while I watch her prepare the documents. "But you are the Berserker's family; it would be extremely unprofessional of me to talk to you commonly," she explained, an odd expression on her face as if she were explaining common sense to someone.
"The berserker? Is that what people call Jack?" I asked curiously.
"You don't know? Mr. Bell is one of the strongest people in the guild, with records going back all the way to the Great War; it's even rumored that he participated in a couple of the battles between the Christian factions." Listening, I'm a little shocked. The Great War was a war between the demonic, the fallen, and the holy forces that devastated all three sides but that cooled down hundreds of years ago. Jack never once mentioned any of this or how old he actually is.
"I see..." trailing off in thought, the receptionist places down some of the paper work, helping me fill it out; nothing about the forms is too weird, honestly. Name: Cameron Alaric, age 18, white, British, 6ft, brown hair, purple eyes, Abilities? Ill just put mage blah, blah, blah.
After spending about 30 minutes writing and filling out the form, I pass it back to the receptionist, who quickly goes through it, pausing at my name and looking as if she is about to ask a question, then decides against it.
"Right, this all seems correct; if I'm being honest, they usually only accept people with a bigger filled-out accomplishment list, but I don't think that will be an issue for you," she said. Oh god, I'm being nepotism'd, aren't I? I'm riding the coattail of Jack to the top; he's been given ammunition to use against me at any time, the perfect counter. shit.
"So that's it then; what now?" I ask, unsure of what to do.
"Usually the branch head will look through applicants and accept or decline them, then you are given a test to do—something easy, usually just to prove you can follow client requests," she explains. Thinking to myself, it seems pretty straightforward. The receptionist goes on to explain, "When you've done that to a satisfactory degree, you become a qualified hunter; you can take jobs and use guild services."
Nodding along, I take note of what she's saying: "Do you mind explaining the different services the guild provides and how I would take jobs?" I may as well get as much information as I can while I'm waiting for Jack to do whatever he's doing.
"Of course that's no issue," she explains perkily. Huh, when she's not nervous, she's kind of cute. "First accepting jobs is simple; the board behind me with the different maps on them is magically enchanted, so the glowing dots that you can see are actually live jobs that have been accepted by the guild and are currently waiting for someone to accept them, upon which the light disappears on the map unless the job is canceled or failed by that hunter, then it comes back up for someone else to accept.".
Taking a breath, she continues, "Guild services, other than providing ease of access for jobs, include guild-registered crafters such as smiths, both magical and not, alchemists, tinkers, spell keepers, and so on; mind, they charge their own prices for their skills, but their quality has been audited by the guild." Finishing with a smile, "such as this building here provides some services, such as a shared library on the 2nd floor with general information, and there are some tradesmen on the 3rd floor, a blacksmith, an alchemist, and a spell keeper."
Sheesh, that is a lot of information, but it is useful. replying to her, "Thank yo…." Being cut off by a very loud female shout that echoed from higher up in the building, "GRANDSON?!" exchanging a glance with her receptionist, I feel something akin to a wave of mana behind me. My danger sense goes crazy, and on pure instinct, I spin, launching a reinforced kick, only to be frozen, unable to move my body.
"Stand down, kid." Jack's voice rings next to mine as the magic holding me is released. Looking around, I'm no longer in the reception but in someone's office.
"OH MY, look at him, and what an exceptional kick you just did, and only a few errors in the casting of the magic. Your adorable," a woman's voice sounds from behind me, turning. A mature woman sits scanning me with long purple hair, pointed ears, and dark yellow eyes, dressed in a sensual black outfit that hugs her rather busty form well.
"Wait a minute, was I teleported here within a split second with no runes or glyphs? Who are you? Jack, what's going on?" Speaking my mind, rapid-firing questions caused the woman to giggle and Jack to sigh again.
Jack grumbles for a moment before answering, "This Cameron is Aelhara Blackwatch, a grandmaster mage and one of the heads of the guild, and she is also the one who taught me magic."
With that bombshell, it took a few moments for my brain to catch up, looking at Jack, then back to Aelhara, then Jack, and back to her. Wait, I just found out that Jack is potentially hundreds of years old. Looking at Jack again, seeing his old wrinkled face and skin that looks like leather and a permanent scowl on his face, then back to Aelhara, who is by all accounts maybe 30ish? That would make her super old…
Aelhara's eyes suddenly narrowed, and a sickeningly sweet smile stretched across her face. The pressure in the room began to gradually build up, making me struggle to stand as the air became increasingly tense. Soon, as fast as the moment came, it was gone, as she spoke in her pleasant voice: "It's not nice to comment on a lady's age, you know." The warning was clear: undercurrents of something more dangerous lurked beneath the surface.
My eyes widened, getting my breathing under control and thinking again so she could read my..
"Your mind, yes, so do be careful what you think, and yes, the dress does hug me quite nicely, doesn't it?" With a giggle, she leans over her desk, making some of her assets push up, causing my eyes to wonder before stamping down on my thoughts. Looking away from her, heat rising to my cheeks, I clear my throat. "I see. I'll keep it in mind. It's, uh, nice to meet you.".
Getting up and walking around from her desk, she puts her hand under my chin, moving my face to meet her. I can't help but notice how deep and beautiful her eyes are, something she definitely picks up on as she looks at me with a cat-like grin.
Narrowing my eyes at her, two can play at this game. I'm not some blushing virgin getting an idea; I picture a rather vivid image of me and her using her desk in another way. Seeing her eyes widen and a short-lived blush appear, I smirk in victory.
Recovering, she moves her head back and laughs, "Ohhh, I like you. Jack, where have you been hiding him? Hes just precious." Emphasizing precious, she moves away, her hand trailing down my chest as she does and moving over to Jack, who was standing there looking a weird mix of annoyed, disgusted, and funnily enough embarrassed.
"We've been over this; he's somewhat new to this world, and I wanted to keep him out of it." Jack explained, sighing as he did, as if it were an old argument by now.
"And look how well that's gone for you, honestly. Such a silly boy you are. Magic runs through his blood. I can tell just by being near him that hes an untapped well of power." Licking her lips as she looks at me and says that causes some discomfort down south on my body, before she quickly wips around on Jack with a stern expression on her face, "And besides, even if he stayed out of the supernatural, you couldn't call? Send a letter. Is that how you treat your master, young man? I worried for you. You never even visit unless it's work-related? She dresses him down.
Trying and failing to hold my own laughter at how this old, wrinkled man gets told off like a naughty child by someone who looks infinitely younger than him is rather surreal. Each time he goes to reply, she cuts him off, grabbing him by the cheek. Letting Jack go she sits on her desk "Alrighty then onto business I suppose now your application to be hunter would be declined straight out if you were anyone else, not for skill just lack of experience, you'd probably be asked if you wanted to be mentored for a few years then you'd move up."
She gives Jack a look that makes his eyes narrow, "However I have a compromise a little…task if you will and if you impress me ill authorize you today and get you your license. I go to speak but Jack growls out dangerously " What are you doing? This is not what we agreed".
Grinning at him she turns back to me "What do you say Cameron?"
Looking between her and Jack I shrug "Sure what do you want me to do?" As I agree the world around me shifts now standing in a open arena like a coliseum Aelhara stood across from me.
"Fight me" she asked her grin still in place.