"Sit down and relax, we won't be starting for a little while still." The woman tells me calmly. "My name is Fara, I hope you enjoy your stay with us."

"Nice to meet you, I am Meidu. Thank you for helping me out." I reply respectfully.

Fara nods lightly. "You are welcome, now tell me why you want to join a guild."

That question takes a second to answer since I hadn't really thought about it until right this instant. "Well… uhm…" Looking back at her, I think back to everything that happened to me recently. Coming up with a lie I speak up quickly. "Um, well I'm looking for a job. I heard that a good guild will pay better wages than working heavy labour and I wanted to earn enough money to buy something nice to eat every day." I say smiling nervously, hoping that doesn't sound like an outright lie.

"Hmmm," Fara ponders aloud. "Are you familiar with the concept of mercenaries? Do you know what a contract entails?"

"Not really, I never worked with any groups before."

A slight frown crosses her lips as she considers the situation, thinking about whether or not to trust the story I told. Finally shaking her head slightly, she sighs softly. "Very well, I suppose it shouldn't matter anyway if you have experience fighting. You may begin."

As Fara speaks the woman sat with her stands up, readying her blunt iron sword as I'm gestured to pick something from the nearby table. Taking hold of a nearby metal sword I prepare to size up against my opponent, raising it above my shoulder and swinging downwards to strike.

We square up ready to fight and with the signal we both engage, swords meeting in a bind immediately as a test of strength occurs. A quick glance shows me that I am faster and strong than her with the help of my bionics. Our blades clash repeatedly, causing sparks to fly from our weapons as we swing wildly, pushing back and forth. Swinging harder I force her backwards across the room, making her stumble towards a corner before turning around and lunging after her, catching sight of the other woman who looks surprised.

Switching tactics I decide to attack her legs first, forcing the woman to move slower and easier for me to catch up. She dodges my attacks easily despite being pushed back further, twisting and dodging left and right to avoid getting hit by the blows. Slowing down a little, I switch to a feinting pattern, putting all my effort into slowing her down and gaining an advantage.

With the enemy slowed I lunge forwards, striking at her chest, aiming to knock her over. She is caught off balance by the thrust and ends up falling backwards out of the ring. Grinning internally leaving just a slight smirk on my face at my success, I turn away to look at the other woman who stares at me in shock. "Congratulations Meidu, you passed your trial. As a tier 3 guild we are capable of allowing you the rank of gold on condition that you are supervised for a month while on quests and while in town. As you represent a powerful part of our guild if you are to take the rank. It would also mean that you cannot quit without agreement and notice."

Shaking my head lightly I nod, accepting the offer. "Of course, thank you very much for the opportunity."

Smiling broadly Fara nods approvingly. "Excellent choice, welcome to the guild! If you can wait a moment I'll get someone to find you a change of clothes and a room while we sort out the contracts for you to sign. Follow me please."

Walking along behind her, I watch as she goes through the motions of registering me within the guild, having to sign various documents and agree to certain rules before finally receiving a badge and a new outfit. While walking down the corridors of the building I ask Fara, "So, what kind of work do you do here?"

"Ah yes, well, I help review and train people who wish to train their physical skills and knowledge here in our training grounds. Of course, once they become skilled enough they can rank up and go on harder missions safely, though many choose to remain here in the lower tiers because they prefer it so."

Nodding slowly I consider what she had said. "What kinds of things are available in the higher levels?"

"Mostly more dangerous tasks. Most adventurers don't want to risk their lives unless it pays quite nicely." Smirking faintly at my response she continues, "There are plenty of other jobs we offer however, such as clerical or management roles."

"Management positions?" I ask curiously, trying to imagine myself in a position like that. "Do you oversee everyone?"

She laughs lightly. "No no, we have the handlers and receptionists who manage most of the basic things for the guild, the rest is done by the team around the guild master." Nodding firmly she explains further, "The guild master oversees the daily operations and manages the finances of the guild, ensuring that it stays solvent. They ensure that the workers have supplies and equipment necessary to complete their jobs, including managing the storage areas used by the guild. Although people still have to pay for the facilities and tools if they want to borrow them. The guild master ensures that people are paid correctly and that any disputes are dealt with appropriately. Beyond that they mostly act as mediators between the different guilds in case of conflicts. Their main duty however is to keep the peace among guild members and prevent fights breaking out."

After a long discussion and review of contracts I return back to reception, curious about the job board and still needing information on selling artefacts. After a few minutes waiting I hear footsteps approaching from behind me and turn to see another young woman dressed similarly to Fara heading my way. "Hello again Meidu, I forgot to introduce myself earlier but I am Ena, I've been informed that you were successful in your trials, congratulations!" She greets cheerfully, offering me a handshake.

"Thank you, I did pass my tests thankfully." I respond happily, shaking hands with her.

"Great news, glad to have you aboard! Now, if you'd follow me please?" She gestures towards one of the doors leading deeper into the building. "This way we have the job listings for you to browse through. Let me show you around while you make your decision."

Following her lead, we walk down several hallways filled with rooms and offices, eventually stopping outside a door marked 'Job Board'. Opening it we step inside and stare at the huge amount of posters advertising different opportunities for employment. There are dozens of pages of them, ranging from simple courier runs to complex security detail assignments. Some of the postings are old, showing when they were last updated but there are newer ones mixed in amongst the older.

"Usually you won't visit this room much, once we know how you do with different tasks, whoever is assigned to help you will sort through some of the tasks and present them to you when you visit in one of the meeting rooms. I expect I'll be assigned to you because you are familiar with me and I don't have many people I manage yet." Ena explains. "Now, which direction would you like to start with?"

I blink, staring blankly at the wall of signs and wondering where to even begin. "I think it is best I have jobs for Exploring, Scouting and maybe Hunting and Gathering, the other specializations like bodyguarding and defending locations aren't really suitable for how I fight."

Ena chuckles at my assessment, nodding in approval. "Yes, those seem appropriate choices, I'll arrange for someone else to assist you in one of those jobs then for the month long assessment period. We'll send someone who knows how to hunts as they would make a good instructor to get you used to the area you might decide to operate in. For scouting and exploring I'll assign someone experienced in that field to teach you. Are either of those acceptable?"

"Hunting sounds perfect, although I could use some assistance in navigating unfamiliar places too. Scouts should be fine, I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about navigation."

"Excellent, I shall contact someone to come and instruct you tomorrow morning, they will explain exactly what we require from you." Turning to leave, she pauses briefly before speaking. "Oh, I almost forgot. If you need to have anything identified, sold or otherwise processed we can give a quote for the price and assessment. I expect you have some idea of the areas around here but it is good to remember that information about older ruins can go for quite a price depending on how untouched things are. When you want to rest you can ask to be taken to a room at the reception." she finishes up by handing me the guild emblem and rank tag, both golden with green trimming. "These will allow you access anywhere in the guild's territory, including the city itself. Enjoy your stay."

Turning away from me, she leaves me standing there alone. Shrugging lightly I close the door, leaning against it and taking a deep breath. That's going to be interesting, I think to myself, glancing back at the large number of posters on display.