Right after Luna finished fixing Hatchet’s arm someone knocked twice quickly on the door and didn’t wait for an answer before coming in.

“Guild master.” A middle aged man that wore the same garb as everyone else in the building came in a little out of breath. “ Here you are, the meeting is about to start and all the council members are already here.”

“I’ll be right there just give me a moment.” Luna said with an annoyed exhale as she waved him back out.

This interaction all but confirmed for Ajax that what she had said previously about her position as a guild master not being the same as with all other guilds was in fact true. In other guilds the meetings would wait for the guild master before they begin and he wouldn’t be rushed like this.

“Well, duty calls.” She gave a small sigh before putting up a smile. “I’ll drop by for dinner tonight and we can talk some more then, I definitely want to hear what kind of trouble someone you taught could get into.”

“You’re one to talk.” Hatchet shot back. “I distinctly remember being the one who had to smooth over the problems you created.

Luna didn’t say anything beside poking her tongue out at him briefly before she was out the door. “Give both of them one of my tokens and escort them out please.”

A few moments later a different attendant knocked on the door and waited for Hatchet to ask her to enter before she came in.

“The guild master asked me to give these to you.” she said as she handed a token to each of them. “If you’ll follow me out now.”

Her words implied a request but her tone let them know it wasn’t one but a very polite order. Ajax had no problem following along numbly, he recognised the sigil in his hand, it was the sigil of house Lighttouched. This was a house he remembered well from his time studying the map because, despite it not having any lands outside the capital and its surroundings, it was the Marquis house with the largest territory around the capital. It seemed that Luna’s position, while in regard to running the guild was not at the top, her position in the capital certainly put her high up there.

“So, what are you planning to do now that you have your arm back?” Ajax asked once they were outside.

“I will go visit some other old friends, it’s been quite a while since I was last here.” he said as he looked off towards the merchant section of the city. “How about you? Going to start house hunting already?”

“First I’m going to get myself registered at the guild, I bet they know and are willing to share a thing or two about where I should even head to find some housing.” Ajax said.

“ Ah, that could be a small problem.” Hatchet said as he thought it over. “I was going to go with you, but since I plan on staying at Luna’s for the foreseeable future it might be best if I don’t vouch for you.”

Initially Hatchet had planned on finding his own place to stay in the capital, he hadn’t seen Luna in a long time so he hadn’t wanted to impose on her but after their meeting he knew it wouldn’t be any imposition, despite growing stronger, more important and richer she was still the same Luna he knew all those years ago.

“Why would you need to vouch for me? I already got my badge back in Lessis.” Ajax asked, confused.

“The guild in the capital is run to a slightly different standard, you could say. In pretty much most guild branches influential people could get their hands on a badge regardless of their level of competence. To combat this the guild here, and in other major branches, has their own requirements.” he explained.

“But I thought that once you joined the guild they wouldn’t put you through anymore tests, that your background on file would serve for that.” Ajax was a bit annoyed at this, he had worked hard for the past months to pad out his file with all different environments in the dungeon.

“Well, technically it’s not required.” Hatchet lifted his hand and wobbled it horizontally. “Even without any testing you would still be considered a member of the guild with full access to any services and benefits. You just won’t be able to take jobs through the guild.”

“I was planning on getting you past all this by simply having me, someone who got their badge in the capital, vouch for you. This wouldn’t really let you do more than grab some basic collection jobs but you could quickly build up your reputation through them. Now all you’re left with is an inspection or the combat test.”

“Which one would be better for me?” Ajax asked.

“Better? Well the inspection would definitely be better for you as a professional adventurer, you’ll have contracts offered by the hundreds. The problem is that they would be using an orb and it won’t just read your level, it will also take you age and all Rare and under skills. The fighting on the other hand is just beating a level twenty-seven or twenty-eight depending on who is covering the shift.”

That piece of information practically made the decision for Ajax, he had way too many skills to allow them all to be put on file, even if it was only the Rare and under.

“Okay the combat test it is.” Ajax confirmed.

“You still won’t be able to take more than just open collection contracts.” Hatchet warned. “ But after you complete a few in level sixty areas or some higher dungeon collection you should be fine to pick up anything even close to your level.”

“Oh and also make sure not to lose the token.” Hatchet walked two steps before turning around like he just remembered something. “I have no doubt that I’ll be done before you and I have no problem vouching for you with Luna’s guards but you won’t be allowed back in the noble section without it.”

With a simple nod in confirmation Ajax headed towards the Adventurer’s Guild main branch. He had barely taken more than a few steps when a new idea started forming as he stared at the token he held in his hand.

What if he was to join Luna’s house? Granted this was a whim of the moment idea and he would need to get to know Luna much better before he decided for sure on this course of action. But from everything he had seen today he thought that this would be the best way to protect himself while also not holding back his own abilities.

“Have a nice day, sir.” His daydreaming was interrupted by the guards who were stationed at the crosspoint between the noble and merchant sections. Having seen the token he was staring at the guard forewent all security checks for people exiting and simply waved him off.

Ajax gave a simple nod and walked away. He also carefully stored the token in one of his inside pockets where it would be very hard to have it stolen without noticing anything. He also let go of the train of thought about joining Luna’s house as a retainer. It was a viable option but he would need to get to know Luna better before he gave it any more thought, it was a good thing she would be having dinner tonight with him and Hatchet.

Ajax spent almost the next hour trying to find his way to the Adventurer’s Guild. He only made it here so soon because he had given up about ten minutes ago and started asking for directions.

This wasn’t to say that the capital was a maze, sure it was a bit overloaded, especially in the merchant section, but not all that bad. The problem Ajax faced was that he had spent at least a week with his face in a map of the place, and one that wasn't great at representing the location of the paths navigating the capital, this led him into dead end after dead end.

As he got to the imposing building he realized that it was much bigger than the one back in Lessis. He had fully expected the guild hall to be bigger here, after all this city even required three small guild hubs beside the main branch of the guild, but he hadn’t expected the sheer size of the building. Its height reminded him of his past life on Earth more than the medieval era he found himself in now.

Entering he saw the difference in layout instantly. Back in Lessis there was a bar that spread in the space between the reception and the entrance. Here the space was taken up by numerous adventure boards, all filled up with notices of different missions and contracts. The bar was moved to an extra second floor that had an open concept and overlooked the first, not only that but it also turned into a full blown restaurant.

As he was taking in the scenery he noticed The Collectors stepping away from one of the receptionists. He was heading towards them, and the free receptionist, when a man dressed in expensive clothes approached the team.

“I couldn’t help but overhear that you are The Collectors?” he said. “I represent house Goldmancer.”