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    Sitting at the table with the truthstone in a room enchanted with silence, Ro—the Guild receptionist—smiled at him and waved at the other chair.

    “Chop chop, we don’t have all day.” she teased.

    Kaius sighed and walked over to the offered chair, Porkchop following to lay at his feet. Though, with his new size, Porkchop could still easily peer over the table’s edge. Which he did, playing the part of a placid warbeast.

    “So, it’s really just an interview? Will there be any intrusive questions.” Kaius asked, curious about the process. He’d always heard tales of brutal sparring matches with Guild officials to earn the right to join, and increase in rank.

    “Ehhhh,” Ro answered, tilting her hand back and forth in the air. “Kinda. Most people do have to take a test, but most don’t walk in here missing two fingers, with a dozen little scars on their face from preintegration. Most definitely don’t have a warbeast that looks right out of a Duke’s menagerie, nor do they take a dozen analyze skills straight to their Mask and then keep on their feet, and they absolutely do not walk in here draped in the exact sort of hodge-podge collection of artefacts that a proper Delver would have.” she explained, shooting him a look like he had been a little bit of an idiot.

    “Ah.” Kaius said. He’d definitely already given the game away, at least a little.

    “Yes. Ah. Hence why I rushed your ass into this silence room, so that we can have a little chat and get you some protection.” Ro replied. “Not that you’ll find all that much trouble in Deadacre, but still, rumours do what rumours do. Spread.”

    Kaius frowned, he hadn’t even really stopped to consider that, but he did have to say it made a certain kind of sense. Maybe if he’d been level forty or fifty, but a level twenty? That made him stand out. Almost certainly not enough for anyone to reasonably suspect any of his more dangerous secrets, but enough that he would be a person of at least passing interest.

    Ro leaned forwards, setting her elbows on the table. “So, before we jump to the whole interview thing, I thought I would ask you a few questions. Nothing personal, nothing dangerous, just a few generalities. What do you think?”

    Porkchop grumbled, shoving his huge head on his lap and forcing his nose under Kauis’s hand, perfectly hiding him as a talented, but nervous youngster whose bond jumped to provide reassurance.

    “Damn, you’re good.” Kaius said, scratching his brother behind the ears.

    “Best at lying to the Matriarchs in the whole Den, and don’t you forget it.” Porkchop replief, leaning into his touch.

    Kaius let a touch of a quiver slip into his breath. “I reserve the right to refuse to answer.”

    Ro smiled. “Of course, of course. Now, what are you doing here? Why the Guild, and why Deadacre?”

    “I really am from the north, lived near the Sea my whole life. Deadacre was the closest settlement I knew of with a guildhouse. As for why? Backing, and a place to grow in strength until I’m less of a minnow in a wide, wide ocean.” Kaius explained, pausing every few moments to choose his words.

    Ro nodded, tapping the table. “Vague, but you can’t expect much else in a world with secrets like ours.” she smacked the table with her fist, the bang loud enough that Kaius nearly jumped out of his seat. “Well, that’s good enough for me.”

    “I…what?” Kaius asked. He’d been expecting some kind of interrogation, some kind of pressure to obtain leverage. Not a single question, with a weak answer.

    Ro gave him a flat look. “Boy, I’m the manager of a branch of the Delver’s guild. Sure, Deadacre is a remote hole in the dirt, but there are standards. People get shipped in, out, move all around doing my kind of work.”

    Ro was the manager of this branch? That was surprising to Kaius, only the branch master and vice master would have seniority over her. He was about to ask why she was spending her valuable time on him, when she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

    “Shush. Like I was saying, I’ve been around the block. You reek of a dispossessed scion. Too strong, too sure, too trained, and too fucking green.” Ro continued.

    Kaius froze, his heart skipping a beat as soon as she said the word ‘scion’. Porkchop lifted his head and fixed her with a flat stare, his hackles raising.

    The manager of the guild was entirely unflustered by the display, fixing his brother with a cold stare that screamed of barely restrained violence. In a blurring display of speed and control, she swept her bastard-sword faster than the speed of thought from where it rested against the table, levelling it directly in line with Porkchop’s eye. Idly, as the electrical storm of processing the sudden change worked its way to his brain, Kaius noted that it was still sheathed.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    “And don’t even get me started about you, Porkchop. A fucking greater beast? In my guild house? and you didn’t expect me to notice? We’re barely a month’s walk from the Sea!” Ro said, her voice frustrated to the point of verging on anger.

    She flicked her eyes back to him, hammering him to his chair with a will of steel. “Too. Fucking. Green. So yes, I wanted to know why the fuck you are here, and yes, the fact you need backing tells me everything I need to know. You’re stuck in the Sea without a tent, and need help. Probably also want to stab some bastard of a usurper or three, have a handful legacy skills you are holding onto for dear life—maybe more if you managed to befriend a fucking greater meles—and probably genuinely do need as much backing as you can get. That sounds about right?” she stared at him challengingly.

    Kaius sat rooted to the spot, his mouth flapping ineffectively for a moment, before he slumped in defeat. He was about to answer before his brother beat him to the punch.

    “Yeah, that’s about right. Is any of it going to be a problem?” Porkchop asked, giving up all pretenses.

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