The Start of Changes

The guild master of Emblem, Duram Thunderbould, is considered as one of the best tankers in the continent, if not the best. Whether during dungeon runs against boss monsters or during guild wars, no one could match his prowess or actually rival him.

He was one of the three founders of Neublox, the oldest and rumored to be the first guild ever officially established and recognized by the kingdom.

As the Kingdom's strongest and largest guild, Neublox is surrounded with a lot of rumors. While some of those have no truth in them, some are just exaggeration of actual facts; then again, there are also things that no one knows about.

Like the fact that the three founders of Neublox were in fact apprentices of someone from the Demonoid Clan, who was also the first guild master. Of course nobody knew of his existence, after all, the guild was established after the fall of the clan, in times when demonoids were believed to be hunted by the Dragon emperor and anyone with known association with them are considered in danger.

The founders, however, are all very loyal to the guild master even to this day, and even after he had suddenly disappeared one day. Which was the day that everything changed with the apprentices' relationships.

From the start, the three of them were really different and wouldn't have gotten along in normal circumstances. It was only because they have the same master that they tried to get along. One overanalyzes everything, another one takes everything lightly while the last one thinks that strength is everything.

Trouble brew the day their master disappeared without any word, to the point where the guild was about to disband. The three of them had different opinions on everything, and the only thing they agreed on is the fact that they would end up killing each other if they continued to stay together.

While the oldest apprentice stayed with the Neublox as the guild master, the other two transfered from one guild to another, and later formed and led their own respectively guilds. Although they have not seen each other for years, they secretly kept tabs of each other's actions. After all, a couple of days before their master disappeared, he had told them his true will by building Neublox.

Each of the apprentices, however, had different interpretations of this will. Duram Thunderbould, for one, thinks that a friendly relationship should be formed with the Dragon Kin for his master's will to be realized. It's for this purpose that he had formed Emblem, a guild who only looks at a member's strength and not his appearance, gender or race. Elves, dwarves, sprites... as long as they had proven their strength, they are allowed in the guild. However, having a Demonoid could pose a problem.

"This letter is confidential, sent by the king himself." Duram handed Teiran a paper with the king's seal.

The guild master had immediately called for him the moment he had received it, wanting to confirm it himself before he'll take any actions regarding the matter.

"This- !" Teiran's eyes widened in surprise, he couldn't believe what he had just read.

"Apparently, when she registered in the Arena it showed that she's a Demonoid."

Not just the Arena, but in all dungeons and towers where adventurers are to fight each other, the kingdom had imposed a magical identification orb to be able to know the basic information of the participants. Ultimately, the main purpose of it is to avoid weaker races like the cat kins and sprites to be petted against stronger races such as the orcs; never was it meant to discover someone from a clan than was long known to be extinct.

"The king wanted me to decide on how to go about this since she's part of my guild, but I can't just decide without knowing everything." Duram looked at Teiran, seriously. "I know that she's not really biologically related to you, but I had to ask, did you know?"

Teiran shook his head. "My parents found her abandoned in the Heavy Forest as a baby, we're the only family she had known since. And she never showed any signs before this."

"I understand. What's confusing is the fact that this is not the first time that she's used the orb, and yet this time it showed this result. Why now?" Duram sighed. "Could it be related to the trial? She had been acting different since then."

It was said that Demon Blades had to die and get resurrected by the goddess of underworld before they could receive the strengths and power of a true Demon Blade.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter." Teiran said seriously.

"She could get prosecuted, Teiran. And even though it's been a long time, the the 'emperor' might- "

"She's my sister and whatever she is or will be, she'll still remain to be my sister. I'll protect her even if it means I have to go against you or kill that bastard myself."

It was Duram's turn to be surprised. Instead of saying anything however, he just burst out laughing.

"Only an Emblem would dare say something like that, although I'm pretty sure you would only do that for the sake of your sister."

"So what are you going to do about this? The fact that she could really be a Demonoid might mean she's could pose a threat to the guild's goals." Teiran looked at the guild master coldly. Depending on his answer, not only will he leave the guild, but he'll also kill him himself if needs to.

"Relax." The guild master smirked. "Avyzhia is part of Emblem, and everyone in this guild is family to me. We'll figure something out later, for now I can assure you that I'll make sure to protect her... even if it means going against the empire."

"...then I'm grateful."

Duram blinked a couple of times at what Teiran said. "Whoah. So you could also act like this? Who knew?"

Teiran just glared at him. "If that's all, I'm leaving."

Before he could open the door to the guild master's office though, Duram spoke again. "For now, let's just keep this between us. I know what I'll do, but I can't assure you that the other members would think the same."

Teiran just silently nodded.

~}×××@×××{~

"Why are we here again?" Avyzhia complained for the nth time since they arrived and started hunting for the demihuman monsters of the Dark Wood Cemetery, one of the spookiest places in the whole continent. "It's dark, creepy and full of undead creatures."

Although she kept on complaining, she still made sure to hunt and kill the monsters, just like her partner.

"Demihuman monsters are still part humans, if you want to train they're more than enough, not to mention, safer for you."

"Nero, we've known each other for a long time, I know I'm not as strong as you, but you can't underestimate me." She pouted crossly. "I'm not bragging, but I know I have better skills and higher levels compared to the other members, the only thing I don't have is enough experience, which I would get from the Arena and not here!"

"I'm not underestimating you." He just sighed. "Think of it like this, since the guild war is tomorrow, take it like a light training or something."

Avyzhia though about it for a while, "You're, right. I should take it easy today. Hmmm... I should also check my weapons and items on hand later."

Although he stayed in the bleachers, Nero was with her everytime she went to the Arena. He was on edge the whole time, however, worried that something might happen to her. And knowing her, she wouldn't want to stay put, that's why he dragged her here to hunt monsters.

Well actually it's not her that's he's worried about, it's her opponents.

"Nero! Hey, are you listening to me?"

"W-What?"

"I said, isn't that Jeila?"

Nero turned to the direction Avyzhia was pointing not too far from where they were. Indeed, it was Jeila who was fighting against a couple of undead demihumans by herself.

"Her holy powers work perfectly against the undead, but isn't it too much that she's here alone? Although she's a skilled priest, she's non-combatant."

Nero didn't say anything, nor did he show any signs of doing anything about it. That is, until his best friend hit the back of his head in frustration.

"What did you do that for?" He growled at her in annoyance.

"You haven't been yourself for the last couple of days, and we both know why. So why are you just standing here doing nothing?"

"..."

"In the past, you always made up after a couple of days, and like you said the guild war is tomorrow... shouldn't you go with a load off your chest?"

"It's... not as simple as that." He looked really conflicted.

"You know you'll have to fix it or at least talk to her, sooner or later, this is your chance." She grinned. "And I think I'm really done for today. I'll probably just buy some supplies and then head back to the guild. Well?"