Luna was surprised to see how large the guild hall really was. She had seen pictures of it before on social media and the news but those didn't really do this place justice. It was massive with halls upon halls of classrooms, training arenas, specialized rooms, and living quarters.
"How big is this place?" Luna asked as she noticed that there were dozens of mages in a wide range of fashion styles moving around them. Most of them were busy and paid little attention to her or Ren.
"It's fairly large, I'm not sure exactly how big though. The inside is enchanted with dimensional magic to make it bigger."
Luna had never heard of dimensional magic before, it didn't surprise her though since there was a lot she didn't know about spellcasting.
They walked through a large foyer with a massive set of stone doors engraved with magical symbols. There was a huge set of decorative banisters that flanked large red carpeted stairs that twisted up to the next floor. It felt like this place could hold a small village of people pretty easily.
"I'll show you the training area first then the classrooms where we teach advanced magic." Ren led her out of the foyer and down into a well lit hallway. The doors in the hallway were different, steel rather than wood. By her count there was at least twenty steel doors in this hallway.
"Each door leads to a training room. The training rooms are specially designed with powerful enchantments. This allows us to train and spar without worrying about destroying our home."
Ren opened one of the doors which revealed a large circular room made entirely of grey stone. The air hummed with magical energy which seemed to emanate from glowing symbols that had been engraved in the walls circling the area.
"We'll probably start off here, this room is generally used for testing new abilities."
"You weren't kidding, the air is thick with magic."
Ren chuckled at that, "you haven't seen anything yet."
Despite the sense of uneasiness that pervaded her thoughts since accepting the offer to join the guild, Luna found herself increasingly fascinated. Ren led her to the classroom section next.
This hallway was filled with dark brown wooden doors that had brass nameplates attached to them. Luna saw that some of them were labeled enchantments, alchemy, supplies, offensive elements, and defensive wards. There was a grand total of twenty different classrooms, the same number as the training rooms.
"Here is where members of the guild study advanced magical topics not usually taught in schools. Things like conjuring, advanced alchemy, etc. You are free to explore any of these classes at any time."
"Who teaches them?" Luna ran a hand along the door labeled 'Conjuration'. She could feel the soft whispers of a cold magic reaching out to her through the wood. Pulling her hand away quickly she shivered as her skin erupted into goosebumps.
"Each class is taught by a veteran guild member. They post schedules in the dining area. These classes aren't required though so keep that in mind."
"Right, sounds good."
Luna's stomach grumbled as they left the classroom wing, face turning red she tried to downplay it but it was no use.
"Well it sounds like the dining area is our next stop then!" With a friendly laugh Ren led the way.
Luna realized that she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast the day before, she was starving despite her attempts to appear non-chalant about it. The smell of pot roast reached her nostrils, causing her to drool before they even reached the cafeteria.
As they entered Luna gasped. This place was enormous. Rows of tables with comfortable looking chairs filled the large square room. It looked like a huge restaurant. Most of the tables were currently empty save for a few.
"The menu changes daily but they usually post it anyway so it's not hard to keep up with."
Ren led her to the serving line where she quickly grabbed a plate. She forgot about trying to play it cool as she helped herself to steaming hot mash potatoes, pot roast, green beans, and water. She smiled to herself as she thought of Mary, this is a place that Mary would kill to be in.
After fitting as much food as possible onto her plate she followed Ren who led them to a large table near the back of the dining area. As they approached Luna saw three people already seated there. They looked up at her as she drew closer and waved at Ren who took a seat next to a woman with pink hair.
"Everyone meet Luna, she's the newest member of our team."
The pink hair woman squealed in excitement as she reached past Ren to grab Luna's hand.
"I'm Sarata Himezu, I'm so happy to meet you again!"
"Again?" Luna gave her a confused look. She had never met anyone like Sarata before, the pink hair was something that she would have definitely remembered.
"Yeah we were there when you went all oogey boogey at the school."
Luna turned away from Sarata's glowing friendly eyes to see that a skinny man with a small thin goatee had spoken to her. He was wearing a large beanie hat and his clothes made him look like a skater or some kind of punk music fan.
"You guys brought me here?" Luna noticed how small this guy looked next to the other man that sat on his left.
"Yep we sure did! My name's Hansho Kyoto and this hunk of a man next to me is Akami Mogoro. He doesn't say much but he loves us." Hansho threw an arm around the muscular man who simply ignored him.
The man, Akami, looked like some kind of ninja Luna thought to herself. He wore a black mask that covered the lower half of his face, his eyes were sharp and clear with a strong grey color. Sarata was the only person (apart from Ren) that appeared to be dressed in normal clothing. She at least was wearing a plain pink tee shirt and tan cargo shorts.
"How did you guys manage to bring me in?" Luna was honestly curious, apart from the incredibly strong golden chains that she woke up in, she had no clue about how they managed to subdue her.
"I easily bested you in a fight and carried you out." Hansho beamed at her with a cocky grin. Luna couldn't help herself, she laughed.
"You did?" Sarata replied teasingly. "I seem to recall you getting your ass kicked, that poor stone wall still probably has a crater in it."
Hansho glanced away and muttered, "not cool, dude"
Akami looked up at her, making direct eye contact. He seemed aloof but there was something in his eyes that spoke to a friendly nature. "After you nearly knocked Hansho out, Ren cast a binding spell on you. We carried you out and brought you here."
Luna nodded at this as it made sense. The chains were obviously the binding spell which made her feel slightly better as weird as it was. Knowing that someone had the power to stop her if she lost control further supported Sammie's earlier statements.
"This is the Rapid Viper team that we told you about." Ren had stopped eating long enough to point that out before diving back into his food. Luna realized she hadn't touched her plate yet and set to work as well. She listened to the team banter back and forth while she ate. They were an odd bunch, they looked more like a team of misfits than professional monster hunters.
***
With her belly full Luna felt a lot better. The last stop of their tour was the living quarters. After saying goodbye to her new team members, Ren led Luna out of the dining area, back through the foyer, and up the twisting red carpeted stairs. They reached the second landing which led to modern looking college dorm rooms. Luna noticed that the longer she stared down the red carpeted hallway, the farther the end of the hallway seemed to be. As they walked down the hall on the right this effect became even more pronounced.
"What's with this hallway? I feel like my eyes are going crazy."
"Oh, that's another enchantment. Any time we need additional rooms the guild generates them and places them in either the left or the right living areas."
"Generate them? Out of thin air?" Luna was caught off guard by that, how did a guild hall magically pop rooms into existence? Her head started to hurt just thinking about it.
"Pretty much, the Master designed that particular spell himself. Essentially it means that we can never run out of space for those needing a home."
"Do I have to live here?" Luna thought about her home, her comfortable bed, and of course her mother.
"You are not required to live inside of the guild hall, you have a room of course. I would recommend staying here though for the time being. Just until we can get your powers under control plus it's easier to keep an eye on things."
"The other Guild Masters?" Luna suggested dryly, she already disliked them despite knowing nothing about them.
"Precisely."
They stopped in front of a door that read, 'Luna Occulta, Exorcist'. Ren tapped three times on the door which opened, revealing a surprisingly modern room. Luna whistled as she stepped into the room and looked around.
It was furnished with a very comfortable looking bed, a desk with a new computer, a private walk-in closet, and her own bathroom. It was basically a tiny apartment that had been gifted to her.
"This is pretty damn cool," Luna remarked as she sat down on the bed. It felt like a memory foam mattress, Sammie had clearly gone all out with his spellwork.
"I'm glad you like it! It's yours for as long as you want it," Ren said as he leaned against the doorframe in a casual, relaxed pose. Luna noticed his warm, friendly smile and frowned.
"Why are you so happy and helpful?" She wasn't trying to be rude but in her experience, other than Mary, most people weren't kind unless they had an ulterior motive. Call her paranoid.
Ren didn't seem to take offense, he just laughed loudly at her question before responding, "It's simply who I am. We all choose who we want to be, I chose this. I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day, feel free to explore. There's a phone on the nightstand next to your bed."
Ren turned and left, shutting the door gently behind him. Luna glanced over at the nightstand where she saw a small new smartphone waiting for her. She fished around in her pockets before realizing her old phone was missing. She must have dropped it during the goblin attack at the school. She made a mental note to thank Sammie for the incredible gifts next time she saw him.
Laying down she powered on the phone before adding her mom and Mary's information to the contact list. She needed to call them or at least text them before she did anything else. She definitely owed them explanations.