Standing on the grand bridge built over the large waterfall overlooking the Roots, I looked below and thought “I’m still being followed, and with all these people around, I really can’t tell who's following me; or how many there are.” I then casually looked over the crowds of people crossing the bridge, “I could really use some armour just in case I get attacked, but I could probably wait. They just seem to be following for now.” Turning back to the Roots, I remembered the area Odelia pointed to for the Guild’s location and looked for a building that stood out.

“Good armour will cost a lot, and I still have to pay Gryphon in the following months, not to mention paying for the clothes Lavie makes and Tobias’ future work...” Peeking in my Inventory, I saw that I only had 677 Gold, 98 Silver and 65 Copper, and thought “Looks good, but I don’t think this will last as long as it looks.” I then spotted an unusually large building and knew that it was it, “Now I wonder what kind of Requests I can do here? Ideally ones that can help me Level Up too.” I then crossed the bridge and found a staircase leading down to the Roots.

Making my way through the Roots, I found that the city was vibrant and full of life, and seemingly very peaceful at the moment. I saw families walking together, children playing on the streets, couples holding hands, and the occasional pair of guards patrolling around. All 3 types of elves were present here, but I’d guess half of them were Dark Elves, while the other half was split between High Elves and Wood Elves. I quickly lost myself in the intertwining streets of the Roots, finding myself walking through a series of alleys, past countless of homelike buildings, a variety of different weapon and armour shops, and by a few smaller inns and taverns.

With the help of some locals giving me a few directions, I finally found myself standing in front of the largely overgrown stone and wood building that I saw from the bridge. It had the words ‘Adventurer’s Guild’ hanging right above the two double door entrances. The building was 3 storeys tall, opposed to the 2 storeys of the one in Asheton, but it looked to be twice—maybe three times the size. Walking up to the doors, I was about to push them open when they instead opened themselves; but actually a hooded dwarf opened it from the inside, with two other hooded people walking through it first. I politely stepped out of their way and let them all pass.

As they walked by though, I heard one of them say “Maybe that’s him?”

“Can you be serious, you said that about everyone inside.” Another responded, “Half of them weren’t even Wood Elves.”

Walking through the doors after them, I barely heard a woman say “Doesn’t matter, we can check again tomorrow. Besides, there’s still plenty of places to look for him.” The doors then closed behind me.

“They seemed to be looking for someone, can’t be me right? Maybe I’m just getting paranoid because I'm being followed right now.” Not giving it a second thought, I stared at the giant Guild Hall.

The Guild Hall was huge and I was able to count well 200 different adventurers right off the bat; all wearing and carrying different sorts of armour, weapons, and gear. While I watched them walk around and conversing with each other, it was the first time since I arrived in Ven’Thyl that I saw all 3 Races, but about 75% of the adventurers were still Elves. Other than that, the hall had tables filled with people all around, with a large bar on the left serving food and drinks; and on the right side of the hall were 4 large notice boards surrounded by constantly moving adventurers grabbing the countless pinned requests, and Guild workers struggling through the crowd to place more. There were also stairs on the left and right leading to the second floor balcony and space which wrapped around the hall, and unlike the Guild building in Asheton, which had only 1 door in the hall, this building had several placed everywhere. Then at the opposite end of the hall was a long semicircle counter where all the requests were taken in, manned by about a dozen Guild workers, all wearing the same uniform black suit clothing—I noted that workers were all Elven, as well as the people manning the bar.

Taking a seat at a recently vacant table, I covered my right eye and observed the levels of everyone in the room through my fingers. I couldn't tell if they were Guild workers, but the people working at the bar were all Lv.24-28, with one Lv.36 who seemed to be in charge of the bar. The ones that were clearly Guild workers however were all Lv.55-60. The adventurers on the other hand were pretty diverse; I could see some Lv.10-20, most being Lv.21-49, and a few dozen Lv.50+. The highest being a Lv.68 man named Morril Blake, wearing a bright suit of metal armour, a white tabard with an emblem of an open palm holding gold coins, a horned helmet that covered his whole face, and a massive dark blue crystal bladed greatsword on his back. He was accompanied by a party of four other Lv.66-67 people, all with their own unique armour, gear, and weapons; and all having the same emblem of an open palm holding gold coins on their gear. They all made their way out of the hall after deciding on a request together.

Without noticing until now, a dark elf man suddenly placed a mug of ale in front of me and sat down across the table. “I saw you eyeing up everyone in the hall, and the Avarices seemed to have caught your attention, slowpoke.” He said, taking a swig from his own mug of ale.

“Slowpoke? And where did he come from? I don’t remember seeing him around the hall, and I didn’t even sense him watching me. The only people that left or entered the hall were those Lv.60s just now, so where did he come from?” I wondered, surprised by the sudden appearance of the man.

The man continued, “Seeing your face when you saw them, I could tell that you're a new adventurer, right? But I haven’t seen you around here before, so tell me, what’s your name, slowpoke?”

Before I answered, I took a look at his name and level with my covered right eye, and was shocked at what I saw. “Lv.71 Cyspar Baen’Mtor! There’s no way I met another member of a Noble House!” I thought, staring at the man’s amethyst coloured eyes, his long flowing silvery white hair, and the fresh cut on his lower lip.

“You gonna answer me, slowpoke, or are you just gonna stare at me all day?” He asked, taking another swig of ale.

And as he tilted his head back to finish up his drink, I saw an old large horizontal scar on his partly exposed chest. When he looked at me again, I said “Eyes. My name's Eyes.”

“Well, slowpoke, drink up.” He gestured to the mug he put in front of me, and seeing that he was waiting for me to drink, I decided to quickly chug the whole mug down. Smiling, he cheered “Now that’s what I like to see!” And with some ale spilling from the corner of my mouth, I chugged it all down. “Great job, slowpoke!”

Wiping my mouth, I said “Thanks, but why are you talking to me? And what’s with calling me slowpoke?”

“It’s because I’ve been waiting for you to arrive, slowpoke.” He smiled knowingly.

***

An hour earlier…

“Ouch!” Cyspar grimaced, touching the fresh cut on his lip, “What happened to pulling our punches, Ther? It was only supposed to be light sparring, remember?”

"That was light." Ther chuckled, walking up some stairs, “And you should've been able to dodge it anyway.”

“Well I got distracted by my new hot maid who came in.” Cyspar explained, following Ther up the stairs.

"Then it's your fault you got hit then." They laughed and both made their way up the floors and left through the front doors of House Baen’Mtor. Instantly, they both noticed an unrecognizable hooded man leaving House Fre’Nddare; along with a few others from the House secretly following.

“I recognize the vassals, but who’s the other one?” Cyspar asked curiously.

“I don’t know, but I remember Myeyl saying Lady Odelia was training her today...” Ther replied, wondering about the person too.

“Woah, that’s a big deal! Why didn’t you mention that earlier?” Cyspar exclaimed, surprised by the fact.

“Ehh, I forgot.” Ther shrugged.

Cyspar sighed, “Anyway, that doesn’t look like Lady Odelia to me. And whoever it is, your siblings seem like they really want to find out.”

“I know…” Ther thought for a second, before saying “Go follow him too. Tell me what you learn when you come back. I’ll go check with my House if they know anything there.”

“You got it.” Without hesitation, Cyspar suddenly disappeared and they went their separate ways.

Cyspar was completely unseen the whole time, from both the hooded man and the vassals tailing him—following them all the way to the Roots. Though when he heard the man ask for directions to the Adventurer’s Guild, he thought to himself “Thank the goddesses I know where he’s going. I was getting so bored following him around. Now I’ll just have to wait for him at the Guild. Here’s hoping he doesn’t take too long.” Cyspar then headed directly for the Adventurer’s Guild.

***

“So you’ve been following me since I left House Fre’Nddare too?” And I thought “Wow, I really never sensed him at all, unlike the others. He must be really good.”

“I have, and I know we just met, but can you tell me why you were at House Fre’Nddare?” Cyspar inquired, while drinking some more ale.

“You expect me just to tell you for nothing? I don’t even know who you are?” I said, wanting to see if he would offer me something.

“You're right, but what if I tell you all about that high-rank party you were staring at?” Cyspar offered, “Will you tell me then?”

“No thanks.” I bluntly refused, telling him “Guessing from what you said earlier, they’re probably from a Guild Faction called the Avarices or something, but what I’m really interested in is who you are? Or more like why you seem to be familiar with these 'Avarices’, and why you're interested in what I was doing in House Fre'Nddare?”

He raised an eyebrow at me, and said “I thought you might just be a newbie copper who didn’t know anything, but I think I underestimated you.” Giving me a little smirk.

“No, you were right to think that. I only joined the Guild about a week ago, but if you're not gonna tell me who you are, we’re done here.” I got from the table.

“Wait.” He said, and I stopped to listen. “A week ago you said? I don’t believe that for a second. With your attitude, I would have guessed you were a veteran.” Letting out a sigh, he pulled out a dark metal Guild bracelet from his pocket and placed it on the table to show me, “I go by Cy in the Guild, and I’m familiar with those Avarices because I’m a high-ranking adventurer too. So could you answer my question now?”

I stared at the bracelet trying to figure out what rank it was, “It doesn’t look like the adamantite I’ve seen before, so is that mithril or orichalcum?”

“Wait, are you really just a newbie? Why are you staring at my bracelet like you don’t know what it is?” Cyspar questioned.

“Like I told you, I’ve only been in the Guild for a week, I don’t know what all the ranks look like yet.” I honestly told him.

Cyspar laughed loudly, drawing the attention of a few adventurers, “Haha...I like you, slowpoke. Want another drink? It’s on me?” He then grabbed his bracelet from the table and got up to grab us some more drinks.

Now seeing his full body when he stood up, I saw that he was wearing a long, collared, and hooded black coat that reached down past his knees. The coat was sleeveless and left completely open, exposing his shirtless torso and arms, and showing off his extremely well defined muscles. He also wore matching black pants and boots, and dirtied cloth wraps around his hands and forearms. All his clothes looked pretty simple in appearance, but I could tell they were well crafted from the little bit of shine they were giving off; though what stood out to me was that I didn’t spot a single weapon on his person.

“Why not? I'll take another.” I got up to take him up on his offer, “Just let me go look at some high-paying requests first.”

“Ooo, about that. I don’t think you’ll find any.” He gestured for me to follow.

“And why’s that?” As I followed him through the crowds of adventurers, I noticed that people got out of his way as he walked, and thought to myself “He must really be a high rank if people are moving out of the way for him, or maybe it’s because they also know he’s from a Noble House?”

While he led me to the bar, he explained “Most of the high-paying requests right now are being held hostage by either the Elvenkind, the Greenwood Striders, or the Avarice Faction. They’ll only give you a request if you pay them a fifth of the reward upfront, or if they somehow deem you worthy to be a member.” He then ordered two more mugs of ale and they were quickly passed over to us.

“That doesn’t sound very fair.” Taking a sip of mine.

“It’s not, but what can you do?” Cyspar shrugged.

“What about you then?” I inquired, “You don’t seem like you belong to either of those factions, how do you get work?”

“We ask politely, of course.” He smiled mischievously, “The Guild knows what my party is capable of, and the other factions don’t want any problems.”

“He has a party?” Wanting his help, I asked “Wanna help me get a request then?”

“I don’t know...you still haven’t answered my question from earlier.”

“Oh, that’s simple. I was only at House Fre’Nddare because my archery teacher wanted to train there.”

“No way! Are you saying Lady Odelia is your Master?” Cyspar exclaimed quietly.

“She is. Do you know her?”

“I’ve never directly spoken to her, but she partially trained my older sister and cousins.”

“Looks like Odelia isn’t just connected to one Noble House, what a teacher I got!” I then asked again, “So, what do you say? Wanna help me get a high-paying request?”

Cyspar thought about it for a moment, and said “Sure, I like you enough. What rank you looking for?”

Pulling out my own Guild bracelet from my Inventory, I said “Anything around Platinum is good.” Cyspar looked surprised, staring at me up and down. “I know it's hard to believe, but I actually did join last week, even if my rank is Platinum already.”

“It’s not your rank that I’m surprised at, it’s your whole person.” I gave him a confused look, and he elaborated. “Before you arrived, three Underground assassins were asking around for someone who fits your exact description, and who just so happens to also be a Platinum Rank."

"Three assassins?! Two I probably could've taken, but three just sounds like trouble!" I now felt more concerned than I was before.

"Did you happen to arrive from Leon recently?” Cyspar questioned.

“Yeah, yesterday. And I already knew about the assassins, but I didn’t expect them to be here already. I thought I still had at least a few days.” I tried to remember the faces of the people I passed at the entrance, but their faces escaped me.

“I can’t believe you knew assassins were after you and you still accepted a drink from a stranger—not once, but twice.” Cyspar let out an amused chuckled, “You either have a lot of guts and confidence in your abilities, or you're incredibly naïve and ignorant to how dangerous assassins and their methods can really be.”

“Maybe a little bit of both, but now that I know they’re here, I should be more careful from now on.” I then lost myself in thought, “They’re here faster than I expected, and I know I'm not ready yet, but what to do, what to do, what to do…”

Interrupting my thought, Cyspar said “It’s none of my business, but here's a little heads up because I like you, slowpoke. One of them had a Titanium bracelet on, and it's safe to assume the other 2 companions are also the same rank. Seeing how they’re all one rank above you, it might be best for you to stay low for a while and not go on a request that could lead them straight to you—I mean the people here are already spreading the news they saw you here today.” And I could hear some faint whispers around the hall about me, “The assassins will definitely be coming back here to check for you again, and this time, they'll know exactly who they're looking for.”

“Damn, that means I can't get more money until I deal with them.” I scowled in annoyance, and said “I better get out of here then, but thanks for the heads up, Cyspar. Hope we can meet again after I deal with them.”

“Likewise, and good luck, slowpoke! Oh, and if you make it out alive, drinks are on you!” Giving him a thumbs up, I made my way out of the Guild Hall and ducked into an alley nearby.

Waiting for a moment when nobody passed by, I then activated Return Home and thought “House Ven’Thyl.” and in a blink of an eye I found myself standing on the teleportation platform in the library.

Sitting down at a table, I thought about the whole situation “How do I deal with three assassins by myself? I could always ask the House for help? But what if that’s the reason I’ll end up holding Odelia in my arms…” Unsettled, I got up and walked around the library. “If they’re strong enough to injure Odelia, who’s to say no one else in the House would be in danger because of me…” Deciding, “I’ll just have to deal with them myself, and any other assassins sent after them.” I then rushed up the stairs to check if Odelia was home so I could actually learn something today.

***

Outside of the three Noble Houses…

“So?” Ther asked, wondering what Cyspar learned.

“I like him. Seemed like a pretty good guy to me...” Cyspar answered, looking back to see if he was followed.

“I'm sensing a but.”

“I don’t think it’s anything, but I introduced myself as Cy to him, but when we said our goodbyes, he called me Cyspar.” He informed Ther.

“Interesting, what else?” Ther became intrigued.

“Not much. He goes by Eyes, and apparently he’s one of Lady Odelia’s new students, like your sister.” Adding, “Oh, and he’s a Platinum adventurer.”

“That’s what Father and Lady Odelia told me too, well except the adventurer part.” Ther confirmed, “Though strangely when Lady Odelia heard he left the manor grounds, she immediately went rushing to look for him. And when Father and I were alone, he told me he wanted to make him a vassal in our House.”

“Woah, seems like the Underground isn’t the only one who wants him.”

“The Underground?” Ther repeated.

“Yeah, some Titanium assassins came asking around for him at the Guild earlier.” Cyspar relayed.

“Even more interesting…” Ther appeared even more intrigued. “Father told me he’s from outside the Kingdom, so I thought he was a nobody; but if Father wants him to join the House, and is someone who’s being hunted by some assassins, he just changed my mind about him.”

“You’re not thinking about recruiting, are you?" Cyspar looked worried at the idea, "I mean he’s only a Platinum, and besides carrying our supplies, how much is he really going to help there?”

“We all know we need someone we can trust, who better than someone Lady Odelia trusts?” Ther reasoned.

“I guess, but—”

“The big Factions are all bringing 9-10 Parties each for the Dungeon Raid; do you really think me, you, and Lua will be enough to even survive that bloodbath?” Cyspar stayed silent, “But look, we don't have to decide right now. I’m sure Lua will have plenty to say after being locked up in her House for 2 whole months.”

“She definitely will, and I guess the raid isn’t for another 3 months anyway, so maybe you have a point.”

“I always do. Now we just have to wait and see what this ‘Eyes’ does.”

“What do you mean?” Cyspar wondered, unsure what Ther meant.

“I mean how he plans on surviving three Titanium assassins.” Ther sounded eager to find out.