The man's facial expression changed abruptly after he saw Az using a mage spell, and he conjured a mana shell around his entire body. Az's blow evaporated on the man's mana membrane, and the man just laughed. "Young man, I must tell you that you really scared me for a moment there," he answered loudly while ruffling through Az's hair.
Az just looked up and asked, "And did I pass?"
"Of course, you passed. Well, actually, you are now hunter rank F since you made me use my mana membrane. Hunter rank F corresponds to trained apprentice mages. Of course, you can become hunter rank F without being a mage apprentice. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how trained you really are," the man told him, and Az smiled at Ogron. Ogron just gave a thumbs-up as a sign of approval.
"So, Az, you or rather your troop has accepted guild missions as unofficial members until now. Would you be interested in becoming an official guild member? It would only cost a small joining fee. But it has more advantages than disadvantages," the muscular man stated. He still hadn't introduced himself.
"I'm interested, but I'd like to know more about it," Az replied while scratching his head. By now, Ogron was standing behind Az again, and he put his hand, which was in an armored glove, on Az's shoulder.
"So the difference between an official guild member is the following. An official guild member gets 20% in rewards for missions as well as guild credits.
At the same time, official guild members get a larger number of missions, as well as extra services.
However, due to our many locations, the guild functions not only for missions. The right arm of the guild is the mail and transport carrier. We also forward a large number of messages, as well as equipment. Of course, the stuff costs a lot more than if you send it from somewhere else...," before the man could continue, Az interrupted him.
"What about missing person posters, by the way??? Do you have such a service," Az asked with sparkling in his eyes.
"Someone is looking for their relatives," the man replied with a smile before continuing, "Well, we have several ways to find missing persons. You can release a missing person mission if you want. But you also have to tell us in which radius to search. But that would be very expensive in the long run.
It is also possible that you give us posters that we could hang up in guilds. Doing that would also be expensive in the long term and depends on the number of guilds in which you want to hang the posters.
But the cheapest method is usually the most efficient. You could tell us your full name and the names of your siblings, and their ages. We would store the data on our databases. If they are guild members or join a new guild then they would be asked if they know you or not. If they know you, we will inform you immediately, as well as the location of the guild," the man said with a smile.
"I-I want the last option. Could we hurry up with the registration, because I want to release an order right now," Az answered excitedly?
The man smiled and said: "Of course, of course. All you have to do is fill out this document here and let your blood drip on it."
Az looked at the sheet, and it mainly asked for simple information like Name, birthplace, pseudonym or guild affiliation, talent, specialization, and much more.
Primarily, it was required that you either give your name or a pseudonym. The rest was actually voluntary. Az filled out the form completely and handed it to the man.
The man looked perplexed at the document. He shifted his gaze from the document to Az and back several times.
"You're really from there?" He asked.
"Yes, that was my home," Az sobbed, clinging to Ogron. Ogron just smiled and stroked his hair. "Stay strong, my young master. We will find your siblings soon. I promise," Ogron whispered while wiping Az's tears with his glove.
"My condolences. A few days ago, I read a report that stated that an entire village was wiped out in the middle of nowhere. The information on why it happened was classified," the man sighed before continuing, "According to the report, there would have been no survivors. I'll have to report that soon."
After Az filled out the documents, he received an emblem and a guild card. "Oh yes, before you go. Guild credits can be used to obtain certain equipment as well as certain information," the man told him while attaching an emblem to Az's chest. It was made of bronze, and the letter F was engraved in red runes. After Az stroked the emblem with his finger, the letter began to glow.
'This thing looks cool. I wonder what kind of emblem Ogron and the other two could get. That should be proof enough that I'm strong.'
Az's party left the guild, and some guild members looked at Az in confusion because he forgot to put on his hood. At first, they mistook Az for a short teenager and not a child.
Ogron bent down while walking and whispered, " They can see your face." He quickly pulled his hood over his head. But by then it was already too late.
"Whatever. Let them know what I look like then," Az muttered before walking to the mission board.
Az had now completed all of his previous missions and wanted to participate in more of them. Ogron, who was standing next to him, mumbled and chose a few missions, from picking plants to fighting a monster with a magic talent.
"Are you sure I'm strong enough to take down a magical monster?" asked Az, confused.
"Well, if you keep training certainly," Ogron replied.
The group then left the guildhall and went shopping inside the small town for needed utensils. Az needed several things, such as clean water, a first aid kit, alcohol (not for drinking, of course), and arrows. But that should be easily bought. Furthermore, they went to the blacksmith to sharpen the Az iron spear.
It was not until the troop had almost left the small town that the group noticed something. "Wait! We have to buy Satoshi or whatever his name is an armor," Az called to the group, and they headed back. "Otaz should we get him the same armor as well, or should he wear a cloak?" asked Az.
"Well, let's get him a cloak. He certainly has his own cloaks, but I think he'd be happy to have one anyway," replied Otaz, while a yellow glint was seen under the helmet.
