Chapter 24 Adventurer and Promotion

It was nearly dusk, and people were slowly diminishing on the streets. Lights and lamps on the street and at home were being lit up. Workers are going home from their daily jobs.

On the other hand, three people went inside a building. The scenery of this building looks like a lobby with counters, tables, and papers tacked on the wall. The inside of this room itself is lacking in ornaments, but its minimalist style really increases the appeal of the room. They are currently inside the Adventurers Guild.

They walked to the counter of the guild; this is, naturally, the trio of Nicholas, Maria, and Clarice. They arrive here just after finishing their sightseeing to accept the invitation of the guild master.

This was not their first time coming to the Adventurers Guild since they needed tickets to enter the permanent dungeons in the town of Marchelle. It was already late, and the guild is nearly at its closing time, so there are not a lot of people still inside the building except for the staff.

As Nicholas and his team reach the counter

Staff 1: "Hello, welcome to the adventurers guild. What business do you have for today?" She said with a quite tired smile since it was already the end of their shift.

Maria: "Good evening, I am a servant of the county of Curtana. This is our young master, and he is here for the invitation from the guild master." She stepped up and answered the guild staff on Nicholas's behalf.

Staff 1: "OHH! Please wait a minute to check if the guild master is available. Randy!"

She politely responded to Maria before leading them upstairs to a guest room equipped with tables, a sofa, and some snacks. And when they arrived, she again politely excused herself.

Staff 1: "Excuse me for a bit."

After a few minutes of waiting, another person knocked and opened the door.

Staff2: "Good evening, young master and his companions. The Guild Master is awaiting your arrival, so please let me accompany you to his office."

Seeing that he had finished his introduction, they stood up on the sofa and began to follow him upstairs. He escorted them to the third floor of the guild, where the office of the guild master is located. The staff then knocked at the door and said,

Staff 2: "Guild master, the young master of Curtana and his companions just arrived."

Guild Master: "Thank you, Randy; let them in," the person inside the office said.

The staff then opened the door to let Nicholas and his team in, seconds after they were led to the couch adjacent to the desk of the guild master. After that, the clerk swiftly bowed at them, then the guild master, and proceeded to leave the room to continue his job.

Nicholas: "Hello, guild master Conrad, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Nicholas smiled slightly as he spoke to the guild master and greeted him in a calm tone.

The guild master laughed heartily, which startled the girls. It lasted a few seconds, then said

Guild Master Conrad: "The young master of Curtana, I just want to thank you for your amazing performance and your aid in defending Marchelle town. I heard of your exceptional performance from people who participated in the monster horde defense."

Nicholas: "It is fine to address me as Nicholas Guild Master Conrad; I am still young and without proper merit, and I'm also not that adept at using formal language." He replied casually.

The guild leader then used informal language to talk to Nicholas; he asked them about their experience in Marchelle. He then inquired about Curtana and the wellbeing of the count and countess, while Nicholas patiently answered them all. Sometimes Maria answered the questions, and sometimes Clarice answered.

They had a back-and-forth information exchange disguised as a lively chat. As time passed, they naturally ran out of topics to talk about. The party, feeling contented by the information they had gathered, soon thanked each other.

Nicholas: "Thank you for having us," Nicholas said with a graceful handshake with the guild master.

The guild master took a token and placed it in Nicholas arm as soon as he accepted the handshake.

Guild Master Conrad: "Nicholas, you're still young, but your temperament is really advanced. Take this as a sign of apology since I didn't invite you earlier. This token can exempt you from permanent dungeon tariffs in the area."

Nicholas smiled and accepted the gift gratefully. It may be a simple gesture by the guild master of Marchelle town; however, this means a lot to Nicholas.

Coming to the adventurer's guild today, Nicholas has two goals: gather information about Marchelle town status, gain more information about the dungeon break, and gain a connection with the adventurer's guild in Marchelle town.

They talked and had revealed some important information to Nicholas, so he also had to concede some information of his own to satisfy the guild master.

This token, however, is a visible connection between them, which satisfied Nicholas. At first, he only wanted to befriend the guild master to make a connection. But this token, however, signifies that he trusts Nicholas and is betting on him to not misuse the guild master's name.

This token can make it easier for him to make connections with another adventurer's guild nearby; even a friendly relationship between the merchant and smith guild is plausible with this token.

…

Outside the adventurer's guild

Maria and Clarice are both passing to each other the token they received from the guild master. They both inspected its intricate details and design, making comments and admiring its complex design. Each of these tokens was personally made by the royal accessorizer and is given to each guild master in the Daedric Empire.

This token symbolizes the trust and respect the royal family gives to each one of the guild masters managing their branch. This token can also be given to people they trust or choose to invest in as a symbol of trust in them. The token can be a representative, like a token of guarantee or a stamp of approval for a person or a noble.

And with Clarice's curiosity, she asked Nicholas why the guild master is so cheap, only giving them tariff tokens as a reward.

Clarice: "I mean, I'm thankful for the Guild Master. But was I wrong in expecting more rewards?" she asked him.

Hearing her stupid question. Maria visibly sighed at Clarice before flicking her forehead.

Clarice: "Ouch"

Maria: "Idiot Clarice, you won't understand the significance."

Clarice: "HAAH!! Of course I do. This token can give us free dungeon entry and discounts on adventurer's guild shops and materials. But is that all? I was expecting a large reward like an awesome skill tome or a super rare weapon rather than this coupon token."

She replied with a sharp tone while she was covering her reddened forehead, feeling offended by being called an idiot by Maria.

Feeling smug about her answer, she pushed out her chest proudly. Nicholas looked at Maria, who was ready to berate Clarice. He shook his head sideways, which indicated that she should let it go. It was not worth arguing about this since Clarice most likely wouldn't understand even if you explained it. Maria, seeing his signal immediately, calmed her down and decided to let Clarice bask in her idiotic glory.

Soon after the trio arrived at the inn, they went upstairs and convened inside Nicholas room to plan their next goals. The three of them are nearly at level 20; reaching this level means they can promote themselves and gain more power.

Promotion is an advancement mechanic in this world to learn better skill sets, increase their raw power, and even learn a new element. Each awakener can promote at levels 20, 40, and each subsequent 10 levels after that.

From Nicholas knowledge, promotion has four requirements: an enchantment stone, an elemental core, beast materials, and a promotion gem. With each promotion, you can strengthen your element or learn a new element, depending on the elemental core you used in the promotion.

This night, Nicholas had a lecture about the elemental possibilities, the pros and cons of learning new elements vs. increasing the current element level, weapon skill compatibility with elements, and a lot more for the girls to have a more informed decision on things they would choose in the future.

Since promotion is a permanent thing, their current choice may heavily impact their future path. So, Nicholas giving them options and choices is the best thing to do to move forward.

After their meeting, Maria and Clarice were in deep thought after leaving the room. They talked in the corridor and had their separate meeting in Maria's room so they could discuss more about this subject.

On the other hand, Nicholas was quite chill; he was only contemplating what element and weapon to awaken next since he had the [Promotion Slot Scroll] that could awaken another soul core that could contain another weapon and element in his body. It was a long night for everyone on the Nicholas team.