CH324

Getting to the guild, Ben ignored the looks along the way he now realized were due to a combination of people learning that he wasn’t dead, as well as the secret that he was an apostle leaking to the town as they went inside. He needed some sort of distraction from the fact that Thera fully intended to fight in a war against a race that was all but certain to win, and dealing with Ceselee raising his rank seemed like the perfect way to keep his minds off things.

As they got in, Onk immediately noticed them, seeming to go through the same range of emotions that Ceselee did when they saw them, though it was harder to be certain due to a lack of any sort of facial features to help give it away.

“Ben, it’s so nice to see you alive!” She said enthusiastically despite that, though the direction of their head turned to point at where he and Thera were linking arms. “And you’ve brought a new friend.”

“No he hasn’t,” Thera said. “It’s me as usual. I, um, don’t need my cloak anymore. Hi Onk.”

“Thera! So that’s what you look like! Oh my aren’t you lovely, I completely couldn’t recognise you,” They said, any hesitation vanished, leaving them filled with nothing but the joy of the two of them returning. “It’s been so long! Ceselee mentioned that the two of you would be coming but when you walked in I… Well anyway, I was told I should check your cards.”

“Or you could not,” Ben suggested as Thera was already eagerly handing hers over.

“Come now, it’s fine, let’s see-”

Their words dropped off in an instant as they processed whatever information the guild was able to read from the cards without a person revealing it, seeming to struggle to mentally process what they were seeing before leaning forward in a hushed voice.

“You awakened two skills?”

“Mhm,” She said, trying to contain her smile.

“Not to mention all of these kills, how did you-”

“Uh, we don’t need to focus on that bit too much,” Thera told her, not wanting to think too hard on when she’d completely cut loose during her training alone in the woods. “If you just transfer over whatever I’ve earned for those kills it’s fine.”

“Of course, no wonder Ceselee wants to see you. Then how about you Ben- wait, three!”

“Ahem, anyway could we keep this private? Also, it doesn’t show which ones, does it?”

“No, our systems only pick up that you have them, none of the finer details.”

“Cool I guess.”

With the shock to their favourite guild employee out of the way, they were led to Ceselee’s office, where she sat at her desk waiting for them.

“Well Onk, how’s it look?” She asked cheerfully as she finished up the paperwork to send off to the head guild. While she had full authority to update Ben’s card then and there, it was still important to send such information out for record-keeping purposes. The issue was that everything she’d written was meaningless, and there was about to be a lot more.

“It looks like we have two rank one adventurers in town,” Onk told her happily as Ceselee took a moment to process it before sadly looking down at the papers she’d finished and tossing them into the trash.

“You could have mentioned this earlier.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Ben laughed, enjoying his bit of revenge before asking the most important question. “But more importantly, what are the actually responsibilities and benefits that will keep me from just quitting when I hear them?”

“I’m sure not as bad as you’d expect, most organizations tend to prefer to keep awakened skill holders happy, especially since it would be easy for you to find work elsewhere. Hell, at this stage we can’t even ask you to move for us, but if you take on the requests we give then there’s a lot to gain. The pay is on a different level for anything that would be a rank one quest, not to mention accommodations. If you ever take one, on the way there and the way back, whenever possible we’ll ensure you only stay in the best inns with meals covered for whatever you desire. Of course, we can’t promise that all quests would occur in areas where that would be possible, but it would happen enough.”

“Except I’m rich, and as the holder of an awakened crafting skill it would be hard to find any better cooks than me.”

“There’s more still, relax. By far the biggest benefit would be gaining access to the job ‘master adventurer’. It grants major bonuses to all skills and attributes so it’s something to be envied for anyone who unlocks it. More aligned with your interests though would be that the guild would now send you the books you’ve been ordering for free, and at a faster pace than you currently get them too.”

She saw Ben’s eyes light up at that and knew she had him. Even if he didn’t personally believe he could offer much as an adventurer to make staying worthwhile, from what she’d seen it was worth it for the guild to try and keep him.

No longer hesitating, Ben and Thera handed over their cards to be marked with their rank, and as Thera stared at hers, eyes glittering, Ben wasted no time in asking for exactly what he wanted.

“Alright, now that that’s done, send me everything.”

“Um, sorry?” Ceselee asked, thinking she’d misheard.

“You said by doing this the guild could get me any books and information it could so I want all it has to offer. Send me everything.”

“Ben, I know you’re eager but that’s thousands of books across dozens, maybe hundreds of topics, there’s no point,” The guild master argued as she tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded.

“If it’s only a few thousand then I’ll likely burn through them all in a year or two, tops. I’m very fast at it.”

She could tell from his eyes that she wouldn’t be changing his mind and gave in, accepting the fact that she would have to think hard on just how she was going to submit such a ridiculous request as she tried to finish up.

“Just don’t expect them to all come in at once, okay? Anyway, for the paperwork I am supposed to ask what skills you got to the second tier. You can decline, but we prefer to try and have an idea on where to send you that would be of the greatest assistance.”

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“I awakened my earth and life magic,” Thera shared, having no issue with the guild knowing.

“Crafting and enchanting. If the guild has a quest that would need those I guess I’d be curious.”

“What about your third Ben?” Onk asked from the back, getting a blank look from the guild master.

“You left for a few months and came back with three awakened skills?”