Arcane Guardians Guild

Now that he has accepted the quest from Seth, he decided to inform Linthia.

Blake bids goodbye to the old man and thanked him for the hospitality before he got out of the Olde Tube Pub, he then heads back to the inn, humming in a good mood as everything went well.

Just then he remembered that he couldn't log out, for now, he simply can't.

'I don't know when Tara would come out of the Spectral Dimension, but I hope she wouldn't take long. I couldn't keep lying to Linthia like this' Blake thought with a sigh, he still doesn't know what to expect from Tara.

Of course, the Shadowblood told him about the process, but he didn't know it inherently.

Based on the movies he watches about Supernatural creatures in general, many things could go wrong. For instance, Tara could turn chaotic, berserk, and hard to control when she came back due to the transition from being a human to a Spectral Vampire.

It would be disastrous if she attack Linthia in the process, that'll mess up everything.

So for that reason, he can't log out for now.

Upon reaching the front of the inn and remembering that Linthia needs to rest, Blake dissuades himself from going back right now and heads to sector three of the city, he decided to pay Issaiah a visit in his guild.

As he promised to come, he decided to visit the guild first.

Despite the situation that has become chaotic with the addition of Maura attacking his real body as well as the assassins from last night, he wasted a day inside the game, and he must leave for the Asmel Elf Kingdom soon.

If he's not mistaken, the day after tomorrow in-game is the promised day to meet with Angel.

'Even though I would need to leave soon, it's best if I join his guild and get a quest that needs me to go to the Asmel Elf Kingdom, it will make my journey more effective' Blake thought as he walks away from the inn.

Reaching sector three, he then stopped in front of a small building.

Based on the people that he asked along the way, the building in front of him that seems to adopt a baroque style of architecture that is adorned in brilliant colors of deep blue and white with grand stairs and a dome roof should be the place he was looking for.

Issaiah's guild, the Arcane Guardians Guild.

Compared to the big guilds each has a huge building that looks like a castle, the Arcane Guardians' building looks like a medium-sized mansion, not as grandeur but definitely well maintained.

Instead of a huge pompous gate with guards, the entrance to the building is grand stairs.

Since Axel said that the Arcane Guardians' is a small guild that is in desperate need of a new member, Blake's expectation was at the lowest, rock bottom. However, he finds the guild is not that bad with a couple of dozens of people walking in and out of the building.

Going up the stairs, he eventually met with the entrance.

As the building adopt a medieval-style look, the roof is very high and the floor is made of polished marble that is slightly gleaming with blue magic. Blake went inside and finds himself in a circular hall.

Just when he was about to go to the receptionist, a voice called out to him.

"Hey! You're here!"

Blake turns his head to the side and finds Issaiah came running to him while waving his hand, it seems Issaiah saw him walking inside and decided to greet him. It's good though as now Blake didn't need to ask the receptionist for him.

Waiting for Issaiah to be near him, he then replied, "Yes, I'm here as promised"

"Say, I'm interested in joining your guild but can I be a non-exclusive member?" he asked.

Upon hearing this, Issaiah frowns as he was not expecting this, "Non-exclusive member? Well you can but I don't recommend it, the rewards you get from completing a quest will be halved, though I could help you apply to lower the rate but that will be entirely dependent on your power"

"What do you mean by that?" Blake asked again.

Issaiah then explained how it works, and why being a non-exclusive member is really bad.

Based on his explanation, being a non-exclusive member means that the person could accept the quest from the guild but there will be a hefty tax to its reward. On top of the non-exclusive member tax which is 50%, there's also the fact that he was a visitor which is an additional 20% tax, leaving the person to only receive 30% of the quest rewards.

As opposed to becoming a member, it was a completely different calculation.

If Blake becomes a member of the guild, then the visitor tax will be gone and the exclusive member tax will be exchanged with the member tax that only takes 5% of the reward, the difference is enormous.

"Can you help me lower the rate? I'll make a decision after I see the final result" Blake said.

Not wanting to be forceful, Issaiah nodded his head and leads him away.

Going along the hall and passing by a couple of people and doors in the process, Blake finds himself in a spacious room that turns out to be a glade in a forest. It surprises him to find that such a room existed.

Seeing Blake's reaction, Issaiah then said, "It's an illusion, you're not actually outside"

"Oh..." Blake replied with a nod, but he still looks around in amazement, 'I have the Nocturnal Blood Sight that allows me to bypass illusion, but it seems this illusion is not made of shadow or darkness' he thought.

Walking inside the room, Issaiah saw a middle-aged man sitting under a tree.

In front of him were about ten people that are trapped in a fight against a creature that seemed to be a Treant. Some of the Treants are bigger than the others, and the fight between them and the ten people is quite fierce.

Issaiah then waved to the middle-aged man, "Dylan!"

Upon hearing his name called, the middle-aged man glanced at Issaiah and stood up.

"Issaiah? What are you doing here?" the middle-man asked, but his eyes then landed on Blake standing behind him, "Are you here to bring another candidate? You're working hard these days, that's good" he praised.

Smiling wryly, Issaiah then said, "This here is..."

"MoonDespoiler" Blake added seeing that Issaiah is looking at him.

Coughing lightly in embarrassment as he forgot to ask Blake's name earlier, Issaiah then continues, "MoonDespoiler wanted to become a non-exclusive member of the guild, and I'm here to ask you to test him whether he could get a reduction in tax"

"Oh, is that so? Is there any particular reason why you want that?" Dylan asked.

Not intending to hide anything, Blake then replied honestly, "Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to join a guild or not because I'm new. But Issaiah helped me so being a non-exclusive member of the Arcane Guardian Guild seemed to be a good idea for me"

"Hmm... alright, you could transition to a member if you decided anyway" Dylan replied.

Just like that that Dylan brought the two of them to another part of the forest, it's another glade that is a distance away from the other participants. Even the sound from their battles is already further away and muffled by the dense leaves.

Blake went to the pointed spot at the center of the glade and stands there.

Knowing that Blake is unfamiliar with the procedure, Dylan decided to explain it to him, "In order to gain a tax reduction, you need to be assessed. Only the strong can get a tax reduction benefit. You will undergo two tests. In the first one, you will fight a summoned Treant while in the second one, I will only test your magical talent"

"Dylan has an Arboreal Summoner class, so he could summon monsters" Issaiah added.

[Level 71 - Dylan]

Looking at the information menu above Dylan's head, Blake could already tell that he was strong considering that his level is basically two times that of Blake's level. Moreover, he has a class that Blake has never heard of.

'Arboreal Summoner? Is that a class that focused on nature summoning?' Blake wandered.

While Blake was thinking about the class a taking a mental note about it, a magical formation suddenly appear about ten meters in front of him before it started to glow green. It takes about five seconds before the mana inside of the formation reaches its peak.

Upon reaching the peak, a hand jutted out from the formation and slam to the ground.

Crawling out of the formation should be a Treant monster, it pushes itself out of the formation before standing upright, towering over Blake. It seems the Treant is about 2 to 2.5 meters tall, and has long wooden limbs.

It was not as big as he thought it would be, and he knows why.

[Treant Skeleton]

Level: 30

Grade: Wild

HP: 40,000 / 40,000

Skill:

Entangling Roots - Manipulates the surrounding flora to ensnare enemies, immobilizing them and rendering them vulnerable to attacks.

Photosynthesis - Rapidly regenerate 3% HP per second for 10 seconds.

Since it's only level 30, the Treant Skeleton is not as big as those he watched in movies. Dylan was about to say something and give Blake a weapon but Blake didn't waste any time and quickly dashed forward with extreme speed.

Leaping up into the air, Blake uses his Colossal Slam skill to punch the Treant Skeleton.

Bam!!

Crash!

[-4,000 HP]

Under that one attack alone, Issaiah and Dylan widened their eyes when they finds the Treant Skeleton that is quite heavy toppling over, creating a loud crashing sound. It trembled the ground a little as its body is very dense and heavy.

Dylan in particular was not expecting this.

Out of the people he has tested, Blake is the fastest person to take down a level 30 Treant.

Glancing over to Issaiah, he then asked stutteringly, "W- Where did you find this guy?"

"How can his bare punch with a basic advanced fighter glove manage to knock the Treant Skeleton down when he's barely above level 30? How did he possess so much strength?" he added, completely baffled.

Seeing Dylan's surprised reaction, Issaiah could only laugh dryly, "I accidentally met him"

"I don't know what his class is, and how he could possess that much strength. But I do know that he beat Axel easily in a one-on-one and destroyed a B-grade scythe with a light swing, he's very strong" he added.

Listening to this, Dylan was flabbergasted, "What in the world...?"