B2 Chapter 179: Mistakes, pt. 1

Kaius stood in front of the heavy oak door to the Guild with a heavy seed of dread burning away in his stomach.

He was not looking forward to this conversation.

Judging by the slight pallor on Ianmus’s face, and the way the Porkchop’s ears kept flicking nervously every few seconds, neither were his companions.

They’d arrived back in Deadacre after another few days of travel. Thanks to the flat plains between there and Holsborrough, the road had been an almost dead shot back to the city, which had sped up their travel considerably.

It had been a decidedly dull section of their trip, with only a few handfuls of beasts desperate or foolhardy enough to attack them—one of them being another bramble ball. Barely enough to work up a sweat, and certainly not enough of a challenge to do more than remind Kaius how much he enjoyed a proper fight.

Still, he and Porkchop had managed to eke out another few skill levels..

That had only made the problem worse though—now that he sat right at the precipice to his next class skill, he was desperate to get back out there and seize it. Still, they had a job to do, and the best place to find a good fight was right in the building in front of him.

Sighing to himself, Kaius pushed the door open, feeling the carving of a crossed staff and sword beneath his palm.

A wall of noise hit him like a punch, a roaring common room greeting him. Delvers streamed to and fro, collecting jobs, using the guilds various facilities, and above all else getting hammered at the bar.

The sheer exuberance of the energy was enough to buoy his spirits just a tad, and Kaius stepped in with a slight smile on his face.

Making their way through the throng of people—who parted rather easily between Porkchop’s bulk and he and Ianmus’s imposing height—Kaius made his way to the service desk with his companions in tow.

Ro wasn’t working the counter—another assistant that he had never met before had that duty—but he could see her flitting back and forth in the far reaches of the office as she attended to one duty or another.

As he moved to join the line, the woman caught sight of them, and gave them a smile and a wave. Barely half a moment passed before her smile became pained, and Kaius physically saw a vein start to throb in her forehead.

She must have analysed them, even if he hadn’t felt even a faint brush against his Mask.

“Uh oh.” Porkchop said, with all the resigned doom of someone staring up at an executioner beside the block.

Ro’s eyes narrowed, and she jabbed a finger at them before pointing to the entrance of the hall where the silence room lay.

A deep sigh escaped him as he let his shoulders slump.

“Surely she won’t be that mad, would she?” Ianmus said hopefully – his tone giving away that he in no way believed his own words.

“Let’s just go.” Kaius replied, leading the way to the interview room.

He watched Ro hurriedly jam things into a cupboard with a little more force than necessary and slowly walk to meet them, a storm glowing in her eyes.

As Kaius passed, a broad shouldered man in plate clapped him on the shoulder.

“Lad, I don’t know what you did, but good luck.” he said, looking at him in pity.

Kaius only groaned in response, which got him an amused chuckle.

Reaching the door to the silence room, they came to a slow stop and waited for their destiny—their own silence weighing on them like a blacksmith’s anvil.

Ro stomped up to them with a furious scowl. Reaching the door, she worked its locking enchantments with a deft flick of mana, before slamming the door open.

“In.” she said, pointing inside.

Kaius nodded stiffly, moving quickly as he could to sit at the interview table. Ianmus joined him at one of the other chairs, while Porkchop moved to his side and sat on the floor.

Ro slammed the door shut and stalked over to the head of the table. She slapped her palms down on its surface with a mighty thwack, the massive carved hardwood jumping with the force of the blow.

“Which one of you dumb fucks wants to explain how you managed to nearly double your level in a single mission?” she asked with a low voice, furious eyes scanning across their own.

Kaius took the leap – he was the de facto team leader, and it was his responsibility. Let alone that he had half of the reason they had attempted such a difficult fight.

“The spider was a higher level than expected.” he said, keeping his tone calm in an attempt to placate the guild manager.

He didn’t feel calm. Inwardly, he was terrified. Ro was furious, and he now knew for absolute certain that she was strong. Potent power washed off her in waves, throwing her fury and frustration at them with a palpable weight.

“Higher level than expected?” Ro’s voice rose. “What the fuck kind of carefully curated understatement is that? Do you think I am a moron? Do you think I don’t know what kind of fight it would take for you to jump seventeen levels in the case of a single mission? You promised me you would only act according to your abilities!” She ranted, each word punctuated by a physical flare in her mana that hit him like a brick, causing his eyes to water.

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“It was a calculated risk. I was confident in our abilities.” Kaius said cautiously, trying his best to stand his ground in the face of Ro’s momentous disapproval.

“Calculated Risk?! Do you even hear yourself.” she seethed. “You are going to put your hand on that truth-crystal and tell me exactly what that spider was, how many there were, and if you managed to clear the nest right fucking now, or, gods help me, I will ban you from the guild faster than you can blink.”

“Now!” she said with a blurring clap that left his ears ringing.

Kaius blanched and slapped his hand on the crystal set into the table. Threading his mana into the delicate runework, he activated the working.

“It was a single Veiled Assassin Spider. It was nesting in the trees by the road, trapping travellers. Two of its skills were directly related to that, and it used two more in our battle. One to split into three illusory copies, and one to spit venom.” he hurried to explain.