20) Guild

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Ember Pov

The journey took two days to complete, and it has been smooth sailing, we did encounter some monsters here and there, but they were only Goblins and Kobolds. I was a bit nervous about encountering bandits by chance, thankfully no such cliche happened. This isn't a bandit infested area due to the Guild branch and familias here, after all no God will give falna to bandits, and Adventurers who were superhuman could easily get rid of them.

Once we arrived at the town, I finally found the hustle and bustle of the people. There were many demi-humans, and humans in the town, and many were wearing Adventurer's attire. While others went to sell the goods, Edward personally took me to register in the guild. We soon arrived in front of the Guild," So this is the Guild huh?", I asked, and Edward nodded.

" Guild is a neutral body, it is only a small branch here, but it provides with many functions. Not limited to quests for adventures, the guild advisors here also detail you about the monsters, and what monster you should take on according to your parameters, they also trade the monster loot for money, and also act as a bank", he said, and I nodded.

" Now let's get you registered", he said, and we went inside, upon entering we saw a few adventurers, all of whom looked at who had entered the guild, aka us. Ignoring their stares, we came in front of a Guild advisor. " Disha, I want to register him in the guild, as our newest member", Sir Edward said to the guild member.

She had medium length brown hair, and brown eyes, she had two dog ears on her forehead showing she was a Chientrope, she nodded and then looked me with surprise," An Elf? That's like... He is the second Elf in the entire Argon!", she said with a gasp, in fact everyone stared at me, and at Argon with... Jealousy? I felt weird at the notion of it.

" It would seem Aurora Familia is really lucky", said an adventurer, while Edward glanced him from the corner of his eye, shutting him up. I was confused here," Sir Edward...are Elves here really that rare?", I whispered to him, and he nodded," Yes, Elves are well known for their talent in Magic, and archery, that's why they are really sought after", he said.

I grunted in displeasure; it was basically a genius is in low level city situation. Disha meanwhile asked," Anyway, sir you would have to fill this form to register", and I looked at the form, it was written in Koine, the most common and simplest language in the world. I filled my name as Tithonus, marked on a Familia Adventurer, there was an option of falnaless adventurers which meant they existed here.

Next, I marked my level, when I looked at the occupation column, I wondered what I should write, in the end I wrote their Archer, Magician and Swordsman. Disha gasped seeing my occupation," Sir you are really talented, more than Miss Amalda", she said, and I just stated," I am still not a magic swordsman yet, I need a lot of practice till I can become one", it was a lie to hide my true strength, and she nodded," Understandable."

Yes, while I won't hide, that I can use archery and magic and I am swordsman as well, I would leave out the fact that I am Magic Swordsman, the most powerful category of Adventurers. Then she continued to explain me the Guild services, some common knowledge and other stuff, after that together with Edward I managed to rent out a place. It wasn't something grand, just a single small room, with a bed, and sink for 5650 valis per month.

" Good, now I should just introduce you to some other people", said Edward, and he took me to a blacksmith. " Sir Tithonus, you know about the three familia here, right?", he suddenly asked as we stood in front of the workshop, and I nodded," Goddess Aurora has already detailed about it to me, there are three Gods in this town, namely Goddess Achelois, God Modi, and finally Goddess Oshun."

He nodded and said," Thanks to Guild and circumstances, we don't have any hostile relationship with any other familia, we are neutral with Modi Familia and Oshun Familia, and our Goddess is a friend of Goddess Aschelois, in fact it was her who received our Goddess when she descended, thus we can purchase items from their black smithy, albeit at the 10% raised price than what they sell to their own familia."

I understood the ins and out of the matter from the words, and as we entered, I heard the sound of metal colliding. He rang a bell, and after waiting for a few minutes, he came out," Well, who is her-", he paused looking at me, disgust appeared on his face. I sighed realizing he was dwarf and as an Elf, we had a rivalry for absolutely no reason.

Well, there was a reason, basically speaking our Ancestors insulted Dwarven ancestors due to their big heads, short stature, and hairy bodies, calling them ugly or disgusting, and praising our Kind as epitome of beauty, while them as ugly toads, and just like that, Elves and Dwarves became a mortal enemy, cursing my stupid ancestors in their mind for their actions I prepared myself for an unpleasant situation.

" Who is this fancy Elf you had brought with yourself Edward?", he asked with a snort, Edward said," Damper, listen to me. I know you hate Elves, but Sir Tithonus isn't like other Elves, not to mention you have an Elf in your familia as well", he snorted sitting on a table and said," Don't remind of her, she is so arrogant and annoying, if not for the goddess, I wouldn't even make a pin for her."

He then looked at me," He is different? Then how about having a handshake with me? Do know that I am all sweaty", he said with a smirk, I felt speechless, other Elves have hated this, like really. But for me who had no such arrogance, that was such a simple thing to do, hence I went forward and grabbed his hand and did a shake.

" Nice to meet you sir, I am Tithonus, newest member of Aurora Familia", I said introducing myself in a polite tone, he looked at me shocked and uttered out," Lad, are yer a Half-Elf?", it sounded racist, and I winced at that,' He thought I am a Half-Elf? Me a High-Elf? ', I thought a bit amused, wanting to laugh at being mistaken for a Half-Elf.

" Well, I am a pure white Elf", I replied in a calm tone, and withdrew my hand, he looked at me and frowned," You won't clean your hand with a handkerchief and berate my sweat dirtying your pristine skin?", he asked me with shock, making me scream internally, just how my kind behaves outside the fricking Alf's Forest? This dwarf seems in intense shock and surprise, he seemed to go through an existential crisis.

"Um, I don't understand?", I said in an awkward tone, and Edward coughed, finally the dwarf sighed," I see... He is really unusual for an Elf, far too easy going with no Elven pride, I even doubt he was raised in an Elf's forest, well if he doesn't annoy me, I will make him weapon and armor, and do the repairs, at 10% raised price like yours", he said.

Edward nodded in relief and so did I and we thanked him, leaving the workshop, finally Edward and rest of the familia left for the village next day, while I got ready to explore this area, before that I decided to get some information about the monsters and dangerous areas around here. Thus I re-entered guild.

" Miss Amalda, he is the new Elf you are searching for", I heard Disha's voice, with a frown I looked at the person, and realized it was the only other Elf here. She had long black hair, and black eyes, though her looks were average, in my sense. She walked to me and introduced herself," I am Amalda, from Aeshina Forest", she said with a gentle bow.

" I am Tithonus, from Alf's Royal Forest", I said with a bow as well, and she said with a slight gasp," Alf's Royal Forest? I have heard that His Highness Ember Ljos Alf, ran away from there not long ago", I acted normally upon hearing her words and nodded," Indeed, it might sound a bit foolish, but I thought on following his highness' footsteps, and decided to leave the forest", I chuckled.

She nodded and said with a relief," Finally there is another Elf I can converse with, Sir Tithonus, why don't we sit there and talk?", she asked, and I nodded, once both were seated, she said," The people here aren't bad, but they don't respect Elf customs, they are also a lot touchy, and the best blacksmith of my familia is a fricking big bearded dwarf...", just like that she kept on complaining.

My eyebrows twitched upon hearing her words, though I can guess she thought as a fellow Elf I will share feelings,' Sad for her... I don't ', I thought amused, and just listened to her words with a bit of attention to be polite, soon she stopped and said," Anyway, l guess I still didn't give a proper introduction, right? Sir Tithonus, I am Amalda from Aschelois Familia."

" I am from Aurora Familia", I replied, and she nodded, suddenly we heard a voice," Amalda! Who are you talking with?", I looked to find the owner of the voice to be Chienthrope girl, she had grey hair, and black eyes, alongside her, I could see a few people. " Guys, meet him, he is Tithonus, a White Elf from Royal Alf's Forest", she said introducing me and stood up.

" Sir Tithonus, they are my party members", she said, and I stood up, and greeted them in a polite tone," Nice to meet you all, I am Tithonus", I said, and they nodded," I guess Amalda you really wanted to meet the other Elf here", the same girl said and Amalda replied," Well, while this place is infested by a lot of monsters, and have plenty of Adventurers, it is still rare to find an Elf here, so I got curious to meet my compatriot."

" Well, anyway, introduce yourselves", Amalda said, and the Chientrope with grey hair said," My name is Aika! I am a Level 1 Chientrope Adventurer and a close combatant", then a man wearing heavy armor introduced himself," I am Bosh, I am a Level 1 Adventurer, a human and a tanker", then a girl wearing a magic robe, and long witch hat, and holding a staff introduced herself," I am Mika, I am a Level 1 Adventurer, a Chientrope and a Magician", I noticed her hair was grey as well.

Aika and Mika were defintely related, however I didn't pry to it. Then I looked a man, who looked at me with displeased look," I am Chad, I am a swordsman and the group's leader, a Level 1 Adventurer and a human", he said as he stared at me, Amalda frowned at him," Chad what are you doing? staring at Sir Tithonus like this? Don't you know it is extremely rude to an Elf?", she reprimanded him.

The man's expression took a 180 degree turn and he became panicked," Amalda it isn't that... It's just how I look", he said failing to explain himself. My eyes meanwhile fell on the last member of the group, he was covered in clothes and upon seeing my gaze on him, he quickly said," I am Newton, and I am a scout ", my eyes widened hearing his name, but I calmed myself down,' His name is a bit of amusing ', I thought.

" Sir Tithonus, now I think you are from Aurora familia, and the members of your familia should have left", Amalda said, and I replied," Yes, I plan on hunting monsters' solo", she frowned hearing my reply," How about you join our party? We are the strongest party of Level 1 in Argon", she said while Chad frowned," Amalda we can't just let anyone join our party, not to mention he belongs to a different familia!"

" He belongs to Aurora Familia Chad, our Goddesses are friends and on good terms with each other, it should be fine. Not to mention Sir Tithonus, is not only an expect Archer and Magician like me, but he is also a swordsman, just a bit short on becoming Magic Swordsman, with him our party will be able to take upon stronger enemies!", she said, causing everyone to become surprised.

Chad seemed displeased, however he also seemed in conflict." Miss Amalda, thanks for your offer, but I have no experience working in parties, I fear, I will not be able to fight efficiently", I quickly said, but Amalda said," It's fine, everyone starts somewhere, so how about it?", Bosh said," I think it would be good, other than Sir Romblo, we have no Magic Swordsman in Argon, and everyone knows how strong Sir Romblo is."

" Well, he is the only Level 4 here, duh", Mika said and then they looked at me, I sighed and after thinking for a bit, I decided to work with them, building a relationship with Aschelois Familia will be good for me, after all they have the only Level 4 here, if I am not wrong, then there isn't a single Level 3 here, only six level 2s here, including Sir Edward.

" I guess, I will accept your offer", I replied and Amalda nodded with a grin," Good, let's go on a monster hunt now!", she said, Chad sighed in defeat, though I didn't miss the jealous look he had as he stared at us. After a bit of talking with Miss Disha, we left the guild. " Sir Tithonus, forgive Chad for acting rude earlier, he is a good person, it is just he had got a crush on Miss Amalda", suddenly Bosh explained to me the reason for his earlier behaviour.

" Still, thinking I am interested in Miss Amalda is a bit of childish", I replied in a calm tone, and said," You aren't interested in her?!", he looked at me with surprised face, I looked him in confusion, and Mika beside me told," Sir Tithonus, Miss Amalda is most beautiful woman in the town, only Goddesses surpass her in the beauty, even Bosh and Newton here are smitten with her."

I finally realized that while for me, Miss Amalda is average, as I was used to surrounded by hot Elf Maids, especially Remia, then my mother and sister are extremely beautiful as well, heck Maya and others look more beautiful than Miss Amalda, and my mother's friend, they have a beauty comparable to my mother she is as beautiful as Goddess here,' Ah it is my ruined sense of beauty acting again ', I sighed.

As we left the premises of the town, I just hoped that things go better than I hope, I don't want an idiot guy in love, who tries to fight against me in jealousy, or worse thinks I have fucking cucked him for absolutely no reason. I stared at Chad with grimace.

To be continued...