Sudden Duel!

Reon saw a large round wooden building that had four large blue banners with a symbol of a bird on them. "This must be the headquarters of the Flyers guild." he thought. 

The guild hall had many strong looking people carrying weapons, walking in and out of the building.

Walking through the entrance he saw many more people all carrying some form of weapon. The people were minding their business, talking amongst their peers, and some people were taking missions. 

Striking a conversation with a muscular axe wielder who was sitting by himself in the lobby, Reon was curious about a few different things. "How can I become a guild member? Also how much money can I earn from becoming a member? I heard it was more than the average job in town." 

The axe-wielder chuckled, "Fresh Meat huh? You're going to go over to that pretty lady at the desk over there and tell her you want to register; and as for the money, well it depends. 

Some people can make thousands of Zeal on a single mission, while some can only make a few hundred. The payout is based on the level of difficulty of the mission, graded in different star levels, as well as your contributions to the mission. 

But you'll learn all that in time kid, go ahead and register, once you do, you'll see what kind of missions you're eligible to take." 

As instructed Reon walked over to the lady behind the counter. She was tall and pretty except for a large scar going across her right eye. Still, it did not take away too much from her beauty. She wore light metallic armor that looked like it didn't take away from her movement too much. 

"Fresh meat huh? You look like an academy kid. So what can you do, kiddo?" The lady spoke enthusiastically. 

"Um, Hello, I'm Reon, what do you mean 'what can I do'" Reon asked. 

The lady sighed. "What weapon do you specialize in of course. What was your star level at the academy?" she said. 

"Oh that, well I am not a master of any specific weapon but I can use almost any type. As for my star-level, I never went to the academy that you're talking about, so I'm not sure, but I'm quite strong." Reon responded.

The counter lady looked at Reon with slight suspicion. Some of the people around heard the conversation and started chuckling between each other. They had all seen a weak ass noob coming in thinking they were hot stuff before, and thought that Reon seemed just like that. 

Reon felt like she didn't trust him, "I'm speaking the truth, if you need to gauge my combat skill well, then do you know the Guard Captain Dai?" 

"Uncle Dai?" the lady thought.

"Yeah I know of him, what about him?" she said with a serious look. 

"Is he about to compare himself to Uncle Dai? What a fool!" She thought to herself. 

"I could tell he is much stronger than me, but I am stronger than most of the people in the building right now. So I would range somewhere in between them." Reon said, pointing his thumb back at the room full of Guild Members minding their business. 

The desk lady, named Silva, chuckled nervously. 

Although Reon spoke bluntly he was not trying to insult anybody. He was simply stating what he thought was a fact. Unfortunately not everyone who could hear the conversation took it that way, and a few of the Guild members thought that the kid was trying to insult them. 

"Who the fuck do you think you are, you stupid brat!?" someone yelled out. 

Silva didn't think it was good if a person trying to register would get into a fight on their first day. Shaking her head while looking to the ground she looked up, seeing that Reon had completely ignored the man cursing him from behind. 

"So, how can I register?" Reon smiled. 

The man who had cursed Reon was named Sujin, the 10th highest ranked member of the Flyers. 

"He's dead. " Thought Silva was sighing and shaking her head. 

"He's dead." Thought the axe wielding man from before also shaking his head. 

"Wow, he's dead." Thought a blue haired man who'd been looking out over the hall from the second floor. 

Reon had heard the commotion behind him, but assumed it wasn't related to him. . 

"Kid…" Silva said to Reon pointing behind him. 

Reon saw Suijin, he had a handsome face although smooth black hair covered a portion of it. He had silver colored armor pieces covering his vitals with brown leather strappings, he also wore a red scarf. 

As he walked over to Reon, Reon was surprised to see that his strong malice was aiming at him. 

"Your dead, I challenge you to a duel!" said Sujin. 

Everyone who heard was shocked.

The Duel. 

To settle any issue a duel could be called. But there was always a risk for both parties involved as duels are winner takes all. The loser would have to do whatever the winner demanded, even die. A person who was challenged did not have to accept a challenge, however they would be shamed as a coward by their peers, and lose honor. 

…

"I don't accept your challenge," said Reon. "I'm just trying to register to the guild to start earning money," he explained. 

Reon casually declining a duel was also a shocker to the spectators. They wondered if the arrogant kid had no honor to worry about. 

"You're a coward." said Sujin loudly. "You don't even deserve to become a member of the Flyers." 

Now Reon was intentionally ignoring Sujin. Looking back at Silva. 

"Alright, let's continue, I'd like to register soon and take on a mission." Reon explained to Silva. 

Jumping down from the second floor, the blue-haired man who'd been watching everything quickly captured the attention of the people in the room. . 

"It's the new Vice-Guild Master!"

Hyo walked over to the registration desk. 

"If you wanted to register for the Flyers guild, I have a proposition for you kid." said Hyo. 

"Vice-Guild Master Hyo." Silva said, slightly bowing her head. 

"You were challenged to a Duel just now and didn't accept it. If instead you accept the challenge and win, you can join the guild without having to register." Hyo spoke. 

Sujin heard Hyo's proposition, and smirked. "The new Vice-Guildmaster is helping me out." Sujin thought. 

Reon looked at Hyo, he seemed young, younger than most of the guild members he saw so far in his early 20's, yet he commanded the attention and respect of everyone else in the room. 

"Thank you for the proposition Vice-Guildmaster," Reon slightly bowed, "But it seems more like a burden, and I don't seem to get much out of it, so I must refuse." 

Reon was honest. He knew about the Duels of Akram, and to put his life on the line over nothing seemed foolish, especially since he could register just like everyone else and take jobs like he initially planned. 

The Vice-Guildmaster chuckled, "You're right kid, simply joining the guild isn't enough! In that case... I command that if you win, you get to join the guild and take the current rank of the one who challenged you in the first place!" 

"What?!" multiple people in the room shouted, including Sujin and Silva. 

"Is that good?" Reon asked Silva, curious about her reaction. 

"Yes, it's great! Sujin, is ranked 10th among the Flyer's, one of the 10 members carrying a golden guild plaque." Silva explained. 

"Being a top 10 member of the guild comes with certain special privileges, like being able to take higher level missions than other guild members, and having priority on standard missions!" 

Reon thought about it for a moment. If he could become a privileged guild member right off the bat, it would speed up his plan. 

Looking at Sujin he seemed strong but not like the Guard Captain Dai did, not even close. Even next to this Vice-Guild Master Hyo, Sujin didn't seem like much. 

"Think about it kid," Said Hyo, "If you accept and win you will have a strong start in the guild and be able to make money faster like you wanted. If you don't accept, no one will respect you and no one will want to team up with you on missions, making it much harder for you." 

Reon was convinced by Hyo's words. 

"Alright then, I take back my rejection, I accept the duel!" said Reon. 

"Yeeaahhhh!!" War cries erupted in the Guild Hall.

"The duel between Sujin and The Fresh Meat is set to take place in an hour at The Field of Bones! Let everyone know Flyers!" Hyo yelled to all of the guild members. 

The hall quickly emptied out as everyone started heading to the easter gate, to reach the Field of Bones, a place just outside the Village where many men had fallen in duels. 

-----------------------

Silva saw how the situation had played out and felt odd. 

"A kid who doesn't even have a star level is going to fight one of the strongest 2-Star bladesmen in the Village of Crux? Wait. What if that kid, Reon, was actually a 2-Star fighter from the academy? He might have a chance then, but he said he hasn't even attended the academy." She thought. 

"I need to tell Uncle Dai about this." said Silva. 

Silva rushed to the southern gate, where Reon had first entered Crux, and found her uncle, explaining the situation in a hurry.

"Don't worry that kid will be fine. Probably." said Dai. 

"What do you mean probably, uncle? He is just a kid, and you know Sujin is even stronger than me!" Silva retorted. 

"Trust me girl, I'd be more worried about Sujin, especially if someone decides to lend that kid a weap-"

"You're right uncle! The kid has no weapon, I should lend him one so he fairs a bit better at least. Thanks Uncle, bye!" Silva cut Dai off before he could finish. 

…

...

"Sorry Sujin, my niece has always rarely listened to me." Dai thought.