Inside the cave systematic lights loomed which lit every corner. The cave led us to a flight of stairs into the actual guild building. We climbed till 5th floor then Stella stood in front of a fancy wooden door. "Now! Behold! To witness greatness of the second strongest guild in the entire kingdom! The Cross Guild!"
As she is proudly opening the door, I smile a little. 'Hehe. She is treating me as real child.'
The main guild office was fancy and sparkling as Stella boasted it to be, a long red carpet with marble flooring along with a really tall celling. I glanced around and saw counters on every corner of the large hall. "Resting area is on the gallery." Stella proudly whispered to me.
I looked up and saw a long wooden gallery with aesthetic tables and seats. "Is that a restaurant?"
"Yes. We have 4 best chefs of the entire city ready to serve our customers. Afterall, good food is required to keep S tier adventurers fit." I nod mindlessly while following Stella.
We walk to the other end of the hall and I see a large Cross Guild sign on the wall. I halt my steps as my eyes wander above the sign. "Is that- Is that a Great Black Leviathan's skull?"
Behind me, Stella giggles and puts her arm around my neck. "Look more above!"
Above there was more skull of dangerous mythical beasts. I even heard about them in my past life. "Blue tailed Azure dragon? Long fanged abyss serpent? Oh my god." I almost bit my tongue as I stared at the beautiful remains of the monster. "The white Thunderbird?... How did one guild defeat all of these?"
Stella laughs in a sarcastic way. "Hu. Hu. Do you understand the greatness of Cross guild? The greatness of the second most powerful guild in the entire kingdom!"
'Second? That's…. exciting.'
Seeing me shake in excitement, Stella points to the side. "Are you shaking after witnessing the glory of the guildmaster? Don't worry, first time I peed myself."
I follow Stella's gaze and see the statue of the elf through a glass window. "Uh… sure."
She immediately starts to shake my shoulders. "Sure? JUST SURE? You should be thanking the god emperor to be able to witness the guildmaster's glory!"
I raise my eyebrow in question. "The guildmaster's glory? I thought these achievements belong to the entire guild as multiple parties stained them."
"Yes. Every beast was slain by a different party but it was the guildmaster who led them as their leader."
I curl my lips in appreciation. 'So, she was the leader of every monster slaying party? Wow. She must be strong, possible a descendent of the royal bloodline or a distant relative.'
"Fufu. Do you now understand the glory of our guildmaster?"
"Yes. Yes, I do."
Stella jumps in a cute way. "Good! Now come with me."
I ignore Stella's humming as my eyes are fixed on the White Thunderbird. 'I wonder if she reached realm of gods.'
I follow Stella towards the second counter in the row. "Wait here." She told me that and ran off.
Bored, I glance around at other counters and they are empty. In fact, I have yet to see another person besides Stella in the entire office.
"Hey there! How can I help you?"
I turn to Stella who is now at the other side of the counter. "Why is every counter empty?" I couldn't help but ask.
Stella giggles as she answers. "Because all adventurers like to party every night till late and nobody shows up this early in the morning. Around this time, only me, Albert and guildmaster are present. Hehe."
"You really do like the guildmaster, right?"
Stella slams her hands on the desk. "Like? I freaking love her! I have been looking at her since I was 7! I always wanted to work alongside here. Look at these elf ears! I wear them all time! You thought these were real, right?"
Startled by her obsessive tone, I make mental note. 'Never ask about Stella's opinion about guildmaster.'
My lack of response definitely made her self conscious as she blushed and coughed. "Ahem! Now hand me the token again so that I can check it's legitimacy."
I hand the large coin to her. She takes out an old scroll and matches the coin with the scroll.
"Hmm. This coin seems genuine enough. Okay! Come on this side." Stella opens a small side door for me. "By the old rules, we have to grant you the lowest exploration rank without any exams. But we still have to do the mandatory mana inspection."
I nod at her and follow her into a meeting room. The room is fairly small with just chairs and a rock in the middle. I roll my eyes as I knew what was going to happen.
"Altaris. Tell me do you know what dungeons are?"
I know the answer but decide to hear her explanation. 'Let's see what this guild teaches about the dungeons and stuff.'
"No." I answer.
"Listen. A dungeon is essentially a crack in reality made by evil Alterums. They want to invade our lands to cause destructions and chaos. We adventurers constantly raid every dungeon to keep them at bay. If we venture deep enough to find the dungeon core, we can destroy the dungeon itself. It means no monsters, no chaos and no suffering. We, the adventurers are the heroes of this kingdom."
I nod at Stella's words. 'You forgot to mention no money. Ugh. Even if the empire fell, it's propaganda did not.'
"Now to check if you are one of those heroes or not place your hand on this tablet."
Following her instructions, I take a seat on the chair and place my hand on the stone tablet.
"Don't be nervous, simply breathe and tighten your body core."
'Ugh. Just tell me to direct my mana into it.'
"While exhaling, relax your muscles but do not close your eyes…. Oh, holy emperor. Please-" Stella halt her prayers as the stone tablet began to glow. "This! This is a birth of a generation talent."
My mood spoils as I read the tablet. 'Only B? B rank? And what the fuck do you mean generational talent? Any third rate apprentice would know how to redirect their mana.'
I look at Stella's genuine expression and eat my own thoughts. 'She really is naïve and cheerful. I wish Alexia was like that.'
Stella carefully reads the stone a few times before declaring. "B rank!!! Congratulations, Altaris! You are now an official member of the Cross Guild!"