Legend of the Spellthief

Logan took a quick trip to the G-Hall to start his recruitment drive. He had a few spaces to fill and people in mind to fill them.

“Iimi, how you been?” Logan asked as he sat at the table of the blonde Fighter he had worked with in the past.

“Logan, good, but not as much as you as I hear it”, Iimi replied, her metal signet shining slightly in the light.

“Wouldn’t say that, looks like you passed rank 15”, Logan mentioned with a smile.

“Not as grand as being a guildmaster. You worked quick.”

“What can I say, I’m ambitious.”

“Too true. So what can I do for the strong man? We’ve not spoken in close to fifty days.”

“Enough time for you to heal from scars. But yes, on to what I came to you for. I want you to join my guild.”

Iimi looked at Logan for a few seconds, “I did say before that guilds don’t exactly line up with how I work.”

“You mentioned it was due to the taxes? My guild’s tax is only 10%, max of 10 silver a week.”

Iimi raised her new eyebrow, “That’s quite generous. I rarely hear of guilds that aren’t just full of buddies with rates so low.”

“We also offer crafting services at 25% of the price of the item if you bring the materials.”

“What!?” Iimi shouted, almost falling out of her chair, “Lightbeam gives a measly 10% discount, you’re saying you’d cut it down 75%?”

“Yeah, our max tax is also half”, Logan reinforced with a smile.

“Below. You give a bargain with two oxen as a downpayment, don’t you”, Iimi rubbed her face.

“Is that a yes?” Logan held on to the last word.

Iimi waited a few seconds and then plainly asked, “Tell me the rest of the details.”

Logan then read out the rules of his guild and what he expected over the next few minutes.

“Fuck me. Sounds too good to be true.”

“Well, you know me. Would I lie like this?”

“No. No, you wouldn’t. Above guide me, you are like a silver lizard. I doubt I’ll get any other type of opportunity like this. And proper teams would be nice to have. It’s cheaper than an inn room to boot.”

“Ehh, ehh”, Logan poked.

“Fine, I’ll come to your guild house later on to talk details.”

“Great! I’ll see you there”, Logan accepted with a smile.

Logan eventually found Tenn, the brunette Rogue, however, the man had already joined another guild and wasn’t open to leaving it anytime soon. Even after Logan’s proposal, it was hard to leave your second family behind.

The next stop was the Eventa estate.

Warping at the gates had the guards stand at the ready, but softened when they recognised Logan.

“Hail, sir Logan.”

“Day. I wish to speak with Castore Eventa, please.”

One of the guards nodded, “You may enter the premises. Please talk to a butler at the entrance.”

“Thanks”, Logan replied as he warped to the entrance.

Knocking on the door had it open to a man in a suit, “How may I—ah, sir Logan. Here to meet the lord or master?”

“The master, please.”

“Very well, he is currently training in the gardens, please, follow me.”

Logan followed the butler out the front doors and around the side of the estate, the topiary looked neat as always. Logan soon came across a young, newly 15, Castore training against a man in his 30s. Lights of blue and red permeated the spar before Castore landed on his rear from a riposte.

“Well done, master. You’re improving your skill activation”, the older man praised as he helped the youth to his feet.

“One day I’ll pierce that defence of yours”, the kid exclaimed as he sheathed his sword.

Logan took a towel from the butler and approached from behind, “Your towel, master”, he imitated.

“Thanks, we’ll—” he began before realising who handed him the towel, “Logan! You’re back!”

“Good to see you too, Castore. Deep in training, I see.”

“Yeah, this is a guard that father hired”, Castore informed as he waved at the man behind him.

“The Phasing Hunter? A pleasure. I am Jenik.”

“Same, thanks for taking care of the master”, Logan said politely.

“C’mon, we’re buds here. Castore and Logan, no honoraries”, Castore waved off.

“Well, buddy. I bring good news.”

“Oh yeah? You beat up a huge monster?”

“Yes. But I would like you to do so too. My guild has been formed and I—”

“I’m in”, Castore cut off.

“As I thought.”

“Uh, young master. We should talk with Lord Armin first”, Jenik protested quietly.

“It’s fine”, Castore gave a thumbs up to the guard and placed a hand on Logan’s arm, pointing to a window, “There, warp us in, bud.”

“If you’ll excuse us”, Logan said to the guard before the two warped to their centres and disappeared.

Armin jumped out of his chair and dropped his cup of tea, “Below!” he shouted, Logan catching the cup and its contents before putting it back on the desk.

“Day to you too, Armin”, Logan smiled.

“Father, I hope the day fares you well.”

“Don’t give me that you miscreant, what did I say about teleportations in the house!”

Castore furrowed his brow and deepened his voice, “Under no circumstances outside of emergency.”

Armin then flicked Castore’s ear, turning it red and having the young boy grab it. “Keep your posture in front of company, son.”

“Sorry, he insisted”, Logan smiled with fake innocence.

“Quite. Either way, it is good to see you, sir Logan. Or, is it Dungeon Eradicator now?”

“Hear about that, did you? Good to see you’re keeping a merchant’s ear to the news.”

“The removal of component and item routes is imperative to know for the flow of coin.”

“Sorry if it caused any—”

“I won’t hear it, you did wonders for the removal of monsters in this kingdom”, Armin interrupted with a raised hand.

“Well, then thank you.”

“Now, onto the reason for your visit.”

“Father, Sir Logan has offered me a place in his guild. I believe you will find this the most suitable means to keep me safe as an adventurer”, Castore straightened up.

“Is this so? Do you have a leaflet for me to read over?”

Logan handed one over, “Of course.”

Armin read over it for a few seconds before announcing, “I accept.”

“That was easy”, Logan thought to himself. “Do you not have any questions, Armin?”

“Your rules are straightforward. You accept adventurers currently under the seven-day death timer, correct? It says you aid in assessment.”

“Yes, you inferred that correctly.”

“Then there is nothing amiss. Castore is correct. I value your defence over any wayward hands at the G-Hall or adventurers on the streets. We are also allies and friends, I trust you to continue to protect my child. It shant be the first time for you to save him from danger.”

“I did have faint memories of his capture when creating the tracking stones”, Logan admitted.

Armin smiled but hid a laugh, “I do not doubt this. Do you need anything from me?”

“Castore is 15, he can join on his own. I just felt it was right to get your permission.”

“Thank you for thinking of me. Truth be told, I would be awake half my nights if he hadn’t joined a guild”, Armin sighed.

Logan nodded, “You have my word I will do my best to teach and protect Castore.”

Castore tried to stop his movements but it was obvious he was swaying side to side with excitement, “So, does that mean I can join his guild?”

Armin nodded, “Yes, son. But that does not mean you can slack on your training.”

Castore then jumped, “Yes! Thanks, Dad”, he shouted as he hugged his father.

Logan felt a twinge in his heart at the scene but was able to speak through it, “Is it alright with you if Castore moves into the guild house?”

“Of course. We’ll have his things moved over tomorrow. We’ll meet you at your guild tonight to sign the contracts.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you”, Castore copied.

Logan’s next destination was easy to warp to, but he did it a bit away so as to not damage it any further. He gave a soft knock on the creaky door that was barely hanging on.

A gaunt man opened the door, “Evening, who is. You!”

“Hello, Vern. Keeping well?”

“Yes, sir! As is my grandfather, up and about, see”, Vern replied as he pulled the door to reveal the elderly gentleman eating at a clean table.

The man slowly stood, “Oh, you’re the Above’s hand that cured me. Thank you”, he bowed.

“There’s no issue. I am glad you’re feeling well.”

“What brings you back here… oh yeah, I never got your name. You’re the Phasing Hunter, right?” Vern asked at bullet speed.

“That is correct, my name is Logan.”

“Ah. Such an esteemed visitor”, the old man said as he sat back down out of necessity.

“Please, come in”, Vern asked as he walked to the table and pulled out a chair.

Sitting down, Logan announced, “I saw you were having trouble, so I came to offer aid again. How would you like to join my guild?”

The old man started a coughing fit.

“Grandfather”, Vern said as he patted the man’s back and handed him a cup of water.

Logan lifted a finger and quietly spoke, “Clean”, on the water before it was drunk.

“Are you sure you want me? I’m not even assessed.”

“Yes. You must jest, Sir, no guild would accept a seven-dayer.”

“No teasing here. Read over this leaflet, if you can”, Logan offered a leaflet to the older man.

“I can”, the man replied, taking and reading the leaflet slowly.

“What’s it say?” Vern asked, struggling to read the letters.

The old man’s eyes went wide, then wider, and so much so Logan was worried about the man’s eyeballs falling out of his head. “Truly!?”

“For truth.”

“What? What?”

“Your entry will be paid for, and you will be gifted a starting set of gear”, the older man said.

Vern kept jumping from one foot to another, then realised what was said, stopped, looked at Logan, back to his grandfather, and had his jaw drop.

“You will need to be with us for at least a year, but it will be a great start for you.”

“If I did not know who you were, Sir, I’d have to decline on his half”, the old man admitted.

“But Grandpa.”

The older man held up his hand, “But, I do know of you. I have no qualms. I would still like to go with my grandson to his signing.”

“That is fine with me. Do you need to speak to your parents, Vern?”

“No. I am sure they will be more than happy to accept too. I don’t need their permission anyways”, Vern laughed.

Putting on a formal jacket, if a bit raggedy, the older man went outside with both his grandson and Logan. Placing a hand on both, Logan teleported back to his guild house. The elderly gentleman would find it hard to walk all that way.

Apparating at the house, Logan entered to see Marcus serving drinks to Iimi, Castore, and a man draped in a set of brown robes that had lightning strikes form at his neck and flow to the bottom of the robe at his calves.

“Hail, Logan”, Castore greeted as he raised a mug of water, “This here is my friend, E’leth”, he introduced as he patted his friend on the back.

The 15-year-old bowed his head slightly and made a sign of two index fingers together and then separating into part of a triangle without its base, “Lightning guide you. Thank you for inviting Castore to your guild, he wishes for me to be a plus one at his side.”

“A Devout? Nice to meet you, I am Logan”, the guildmaster accepted as he shook the young man’s hand.

“I see you brought another candidate, or is it two?” Iimi chuckled.

“Oh no. My bones creak too much for this life”, Vern’s grandfather admitted.

“We’ll do the interviews in order of appearance. Iimi’s first”, Logan instructed as he led his old friend to the room to the side of the entrance.

Vern and his grandfather sat at the bar for Marcus to work up some drinks and good food with the oven on his side.

Logan talked with Iimi for a short while, only around five minutes, discussing the rules and how things would go in the guild. He was able to word it so that he could see all of her status within his system, checking to make sure she was who she said she was as well as any hidden agendas. This would be the usual routine.

Iimi did ask about the lines under his eyes as his vaskt eyes retracted during a time he had her close her own eyes, but he waved it off.

Logan did the same for Castore and E’leth who were interviewed at the same time, as they were a duo. Castore had mentioned a friend before, Logan was just happy to see it was a caster, showing the boy’s personality brilliantly. Both came up clean in Logan’s scanning.

Finally, Vern had his interview and passed without issue.

Returning to the main hall, Logan spoke, “Thank you all for coming here to join my guild, Vip. Joining us today is Iimi, a rank 15 Fighter. Castore, a rank 1 Fighter. E’leth, a rank 1 Devout. And Vern, a rank 1 Rogue. These will be our new family members, please get along.”

The group then introduced themselves quickly, shaking hands and smiling.

“For those who haven’t met us. I am Logan Hall, a rank 19 Wizard. Marcus Eren behind the counter is a rank 18 Devout. Amalia Lehmann who is currently packing up her stuff is a rank 11 Knight. We are the Guildmaster and Sub-Leaders, respectively. Please talk to us if you have any queries or discussions about the guild.”

“Huh, the G-Hall doesn’t say your rank increased”, Iimi waved it off.

“I have the same spells as the assessors at the G-Hall, hence why I was able to assess Vern.”

“Such high-ranking adventurers”, Vern announced starry-eyed.

“To continue from that, and to reiterate. Rule 5 does indeed mean we will accept seven-dayers. If you find someone who would be a good fit in the guild, please suggest they come for an interview.”

“Sir. Are all of those tomes on the bookshelf for our perusal?” E’leth asked.

Logan looked back and then to the young man, “Yes. Please place your own tomes considered tier 1 there too.”

“But. You have the entire library of tomes for the first-level elemental spells.”

“Correct. Please read them before you go questing, if possible. Each completed tome will grant you higher chances of survival”, Logan insisted with a smile.

“So many tomes. It was wise you put protective spells on this place”, E’leth spoke under his breath.

“Are there any further questions? We should be having some new members tomorrow if everything goes well.”

“Which bedroom is mine”, Castore shouted to get his question in first.

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