B4 Chapter 478: Guild Announcements, Pt. 2

“I need you up there with me,” Rieker said.

Kaius blinked. Rotten roots, the guildmaster really wasn’t one to mince words.

“You what?” Kaius replied, surprised.

Another runner had come for him and his team, meeting them at the dusty stables. Rieker had asked them to arrive at the guild an hour early so that he could brief them on what to expect. They’d barely been in the guild hall a second before one of the administrators on the front desk had shown them to a hall beneath the compound.

He had to admit, the guild moved quickly. Most of the open spaces built beneath the city were left bare during normal functioning, used for infrequent gatherings. Yet despite the late notice, the space had been filled to the brim with dozens upon dozens of round tables, each with enough seats to fit teams of varying sizes.

They’d been led to a room tucked behind the stage where Rieker and Ro waited. Kaius had barely even gotten a few seconds to breathe before Rieker had hit him with his question.

What did the man mean, that they were needed up on stage?

Beside the guildmaster, Ro sighed and leaned on the side of a desk nearby. “You are Silver, and that means more than just strength and status. The six of us are, in essence, living totems of the guild’s strength, and walking examples of capability. The city is in the grips of the greatest threat it has faced in centuries, and we’re about to throw fuel on the fire. Normally, it would be Bronwyn up there with his team, but…”

Ro snapped her mouth shut, jaw clenching.

Stoic as she was, it was impossible to miss the raw edge at the mention of the vanquished Silvers.

“Look, we need you, Kaius,” Rieker said, stepping in. “You won’t need to say anything if you don’t want to, but if the four of you aren’t up there, people will question it.”

“So we just have to stand up there?” Kenva asked.

Rieker nodded. “It’s a simple show of strength, and a display of our capability. Nothing more.”

Kaius let out a slow breath. He supposed he could manage that — even if he could feel his stomach clenching at the thought of hundreds of delvers focusing their attention on him. That said, the knot in his stomach made him feel that it was unlikely they would get away with simply being present. Their rise had been too swift and too sudden. Their presence in Deadacre too obvious. They were prodigies beyond prodigies in the eyes of many.

Somehow, he doubted that they would get away with playing mum when questions arose about Honours.

Judging by the apprehensive looks on his friends’ faces, his team was equally uncertain about being paraded in front of the entire guild. None of them had gotten into delving for fame. Really, it had just been a convenient method to make a bit of coin while pursuing their own growth, and make a few connections while they were at it. Kaius supposed that none of them should have been entirely surprised. It came with being Silver.

Still, he had other questions on his mind. Porkchop had mentioned that there were more skills being shared than just the ones he had given to the guild. By the time he had arrived back at the dusty stables, there hadn’t been time to ask after it. And in any case, he suspected that neither Porkchop nor Ianmus or Kenva knew.

“If we must be presented, then we must be presented,” Kaius said. “But tell us what will be in the announcement at least. I was told there is more being shared than simple Honours — and the skills I passed over.”

Rieker grinned. It was an enthusiastic smile, bright and wide. “Oh yes. It is just as much a surprise to me as it would be to you.”

Kaius blinked. He’d half-suspected that given their positions, Rieker and Ro would have been directly involved in these new acquisitions. But it seemed like that wasn’t the case.

“Olmos really used everything you gave him, it seems. Of all of the grandmasters, he is amongst the most seasoned, especially in the sphere of politics. He utilised everything — and what a turnout it was. Of course, there were no real outrageous legacy skills, but he managed to secure just over a dozen others, with a few reaching as many as four or five mergers.”

“What?” Ianmus gasped.

Kaius understood the mage’s surprise. That was… unprecedented. Legacy skills, so jealously guarded. Sure, there were some that were more widely known, such as Identify or Mana Manipulation, but that many?

Rieker nodded. “That’s even ignoring the more commonly known mergers. A full nine of those were gathered as well. Most came from within the guild’s ranks. Even one from Ro and I. Though… I will not say which. When you front up that much, well…” He shrugged. “The guild, by nature, is an institution of independents. There are more than a few of us old fogies who have our own secrets not bound by the oaths of dynasties. We couldn’t exactly let ourselves be shown up by young bucks now, could we?”

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Beside the guildmaster, Ro smiled as she saw Kaius’s shocked look. “There’s more than that,” she said. “Nearly two hundred skills of the more mundane variety were gathered, all between Rare and Unusual. Plus multiples of that for Uncommon and Common.”

That was too much for Kaius. He stepped back, slumping down into one of the many chairs in the room.

“So many?” he whispered.

“By the bloody Matriarchs, finally!” Porkchop said with a chuff, sitting down next to him. “I was beginning to think there was some sort of chronic head injury that you all suffered from. A den does not survive long when those of the most potential are hampered by simple lack of knowledge.”