Wild Era, Ch 12: Guild Badge

“Congratulations,” the captain said slowly as she looked at Kelin and the disappearing hydra. “I really didn’t think you would manage that.

“You’re the first person I’ve seen kill that thing who was below Level 80...and they were in a team. Usually it takes someone at the First Evolution to do it alone, sometimes even Level 125. That hydra is not easy.”

The captain shook her head as she walked forward, her smile returning.

“You realize that you just killed an Elite monster that was 45 levels above you?” she asked as she held out her hand. “Congratulations, corporal. I’ll authorize that High Bronze rank like I promised, and you’ll be able to take missions up to Level 100. I think you can decide for yourself which ones are suitable for you.”

“I appreciate it,” Kelin said easily as he shook her hand. 

It wasn’t surprising that even fighters at the First Evolution had trouble with the hydra. The monsters were Elites for a reason and one of the stronger types.

He wasn’t moved by the captain’s praise or the rewards, but he was satisfied that he’d gotten the guild’s attention. He was sure that the captain’s notes would be studied by most of the locals, and possibly even by others off-world, depending on how interested they were.

Despite that, it should be safe enough.

Even if whoever killed him somehow heard there was a promising young recruit, no one at that level would care about a Level 30 kid who used soul magic. 

It was literally beneath their notice.

They wouldn’t care about him until he was at least Level 400 and had a Concept, the spark that turned into a Law, and probably barely then. A Concept would only get their attention if it was the same as Wildfire, and that was if they could put it all together.

Until then, he would be one of the rare soul magic users, but those weren’t unknown.

“Now, how about we get you healed up?” the captain asked as she looked at him critically. “You’re in better shape than I expected, but I saw those feathers land. Those things are like daggers. You must be full of holes.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kelin said as he waved at the sigil that was still burning above him. “I’ll be alright in ten minutes or so. I might as well train my recovery spells.” Despite the wounds, he was otherwise mostly undamaged, which was as it should be. 

A mage was not supposed to get hit. If you did, you would be dead in short order.

If he saw another Silver Hawk anytime soon, he would be less conservative with his mana. A good mana shield could have prevented the flechettes from landing.

“Stubborn, aren’t you?” The captain chuckled. “Alright, I’ll wait here with you for a bit and answer any questions you have. And I’ll send word ahead about your badge, so you can pick it up on the way out. It’ll take a few minutes for them to get it ready.”

The captain pulled a chair out of a spatial ring and flopped down on it, apparently perfectly at ease waiting. 

Another chair appeared by Kelin, which he gingerly sat on while trying not to tear his wounds open. As he did, he looked down at his clothes and chuckled to himself. 

The bracers he’d made were still there, but he’d forgotten to use them, including the Missile Shield effect on one of them. He’d have to make a better set eventually that could ward off attacks on their own.

The flechettes had torn some holes in his clothing, and between that and the fires from the mine, the set was starting to look a bit battered. 

He traded a few words with the captain, but before long the conversation turned back to the fight.

“With your elemental, you’re almost the perfect blend of offense and defense,” the captain said thoughtfully. “Your only real weakness is your agility. I don’t know where you’re from, but for Level 30, you are damn impressive.

“That hydra would’ve been harder if this were in its natural environment, since the things are practically invulnerable in water, but that barely matters. Can you tell me more about this soulfire you’re using? Is it soul magic like your other spells, or is it an element?”

“It’s an element,” Kelin explained. “The spells I was using with it are based on the standard Elemental Bolt, and so like them a Soulfire Bolt only takes mana to use, not soul energy. It has a touch of soul magic to it that comes from its fusion with a higher principle, but that’s all. The other spells I used on the hydra were pure soul magic, which was how I got through its mana resistance.”

He almost explained more, since he liked the theory behind spells, but he kept it to a simple level, rather than describing it like an archmage.

He could infuse Soulfire Bolt with more soul energy now that its tier was Advanced, but it wouldn’t be that useful. 

A Soul Arrow was a more refined spell for the purpose of delivering a soul attack, and one that was hard to improve on.  

Keeping them separate let him differentiate the attacks and make the most of both types of energy.

The captain’s questions reminded him of the notifications that were pending from the battle, so as he continued answering her questions, he turned his attention to them.

They were a mix of experience and other messages.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

You have gained 3 Levels.

Your Soulbonded Elemental has also gained 3 Levels.

You are now Level 33.

You gain 9 Intelligence, 3 Wisdom, and have 15 free attribute points to assign.

Your Ability: Analyze has reached Advanced.

You have learned the Spell: Soul Star (Basic).

Three levels was decent for this fight, especially since he was splitting them with Gaius.

It had only been 14 monsters, and this type of formation didn’t provide quite as much as the real thing.

The general rule was about 20 like-level monsters to gain a level, or one monster 20 levels above you, but it could vary a lot.

These formations were about half of that, which made them good for training skills and abilities before you ranked up.

Soul Star was the spell he’d used on the hydra, and when he saw it added to his status sheet, he gave it a mental nod.

It would be his killing spell for a little while. 

75 soul energy and 30 or more mana was a lot to handle for his current build. His meridians were scorched and his soul was stressed after using it. 

The Soulfire Sigil was helping them to recover as he waited, but it would take longer than ten minutes.

A notification of attribute gains from the battle rang in his mind next.

From stressing your capabilities in battle, you have gained 2 Intelligence, 1 Wisdom, 1 Aura, 1 Agility, and 1 Constitution.

He’d earned a point in most areas, which was decent. Only Strength and Charisma were left out.

Even Agility and Constitution had gained one, which had probably been from wearing his armor and running around. He might have to incorporate that into his training more regularly. 

Attributes from battle were related to humans' elemental affinity. It was a process of stressing your body and allowing more elemental energy to flow in to strengthen you.

It went hand in hand with leveling as a process of reaching new heights, but if you stopped leveling, the battle gains would eventually disappear.

He split the free points, adding 10 to Intelligence and 5 to Aura, which brought them up to 322 and 171 respectively.

Then he checked on his wounds. 

Some of his mana regeneration had slowed and the mana was being used by his Soulfire Body as a regeneration spell. It was something that he could turn off in battle if needed, but it was a useful thing. His lung was slowly recovering thanks to that and the Soulfire Sigil, which was helping to speed it along more quickly. 

They were a good combination.

He’d been splitting half of his attention, but now he turned it fully back to the captain. 

“My name is Captain Sandren, if you didn’t catch it before,” she was saying. “You have a fantastic future ahead of you. I hope you know that and take full advantage of everything the army and the guild can offer. You’ll be a great help to us in the future, once you get a bit stronger. There are a lot of monsters on this continent, and then the world, but there are even more beyond it. You’ll understand once you get higher.”

“I’m sure,” Kelin said with a grin, not mentioning that he already knew what was out there.

He liked this captain well enough. She seemed earnest and forthright.

“I’m healed up enough to walk now, by the way.”

“I’ll show you around the guild on the way back,” she offered. “We need to make one stop to teach you the recognition seals for the army and the guild, which everyone needs to know, and then I’ll make sure there’s no delay when we pick up your badge.”

Kelin nodded his thanks and then deactivated the Soulfire Sigil. He tucked the disk away in his spatial pocket, since he wasn’t worried about showing it off here.

As he’d expected, the captain didn’t even pay attention to it. 

Sandren led the way out of the training hall, and instead of heading back toward the entrance, she headed deeper into the administration section of the guild.

The halls opened onto various sealed doors and private meeting rooms, as well as her own office that she pointed out as they walked past.

The walls were also covered with paintings and murals, as well as statues set into alcoves.

“The army and the guild share a lot of these rooms,” she explained as she pointed out various things. “Some of the art was done by locals, but other parts are routine for a guild hall. That one there has always been my favorite.”

She pointed at a painting of a golden Titan walking through the stars. Stardust and suns spun around him, like he was the center of a nebula, and worlds were forming behind him, as if he was creating them as he walked through the Void.

His face wasn’t visible, only his back and the cloak around him, as well as his shoulders, which dominated the perspective. A cloak ran down his back, merging into the stars.

The artist had imbued the painting with a sense of grandeur and bright highlights drew the viewer’s attention to various points, from the Titan’s shoulders to the horns on his head, to the stars and worlds forming behind him.

“It gives me a sense of scale,” she said as she paused, “and reminds me that a single world is very small. How many thousands or tens of thousands of them are out there? How many did he make?”

Her words held a touch of reverence.  

“The Sovereign of Silver Chaos,” Kelin said quietly. He was very familiar with that figure. “The Lord of the Path and the last Astral Titan, the one who built the entire human domain and is all that stands between us and destruction. Does he still lead the Chaos War?”

“You’re a believer?” Sandren’s eyes widened with delight as she looked at him. “He does and he always will. Many people worship him as a god. I didn’t think you would yet. It’s not too common in this country, but it’s always possible to find believers in the army.”

Kelin just gave her a slight smile and shrug, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“Hah, I knew I liked you!” Sandren said as her mood became even more boisterous. “And of course he leads the war! It’s who he is and why the army exists. We are his army. All of us are training to fight beside him one day.” 

She calmed down as she pointed at the painting. 

“There’s another reason I stopped at this one,” she said, “which is a bit more secret. This is where I need to teach you the army’s seal. It’ll work for the guild too.”

She brushed her hand over the painting, not quite daring to touch it.

“There’s a special type of energy imbued into this painting, just like there is at some location in every single army outpost. Let me show you the seal here, and you’ll see it.”

Sandren raised her hand and with a few swift strokes outlined a simple but ornate rune that looked like a star. Then she added a few lines behind it that resembled shooting comets, connecting each of them at the last moment to the original.

The rune floated in the air, and as soon as Sandren finished, a profound fluctuation of silver energy began to fill it.

Then the rune changed, its structure swiftly becoming incomprehensibly complex until its lines faded away and fused into a realistic image.

It was a nine-pointed silver star shining in the Void, and behind it an endless series of other stars streamed past, constantly shooting into the distance. 

As the seal shone on the painting behind it, the stars in the painting began to move as well, and the Sovereign moved. He walked through the stars for real, with worlds spinning around him as the stars flickered.

It was a scene of endless depths and a profound aura of magic and starlight radiated from it.

“This is the Seal of Silver Stars,” Sandren said as she pointed at the seal. “It acts as a form of recognition for the army and our allies. I don’t know how it all works, but it touches on the Sovereign’s Law and its existence is recognized by the Path. You can only summon it while you’re a loyal follower. It can also witness oaths if you summon it and swear by it. Anything false will be revealed in its presence.”

This was the seal that Kelin had been trying to summon on his way up through the mine, as a way of confirming that he still had his old identity, but it hadn’t responded to him.

If it had, it would have made the interaction with the mine foreman and the guards simpler.

“Touch the seal,” she said. “Since we’re here by the painting and you’ve seen the Sovereign, try to remember this aura. That sense of what it is supposed to be will link you to the truth of the rune so you can call on it later on your own.” Kelin didn’t hesitate to reach out and place his hand on the star. As soon as he did, it felt like a pulse of starlight flowed through his soul, and then it was gone.

Then the seal disappeared and the painting became still again, returning everything to normal.

“That’s all you needed to do,” Sandren said with a grin. “The seal knows you now. It will do the rest when you call on it. Let me show you the basics of how to create it.” 

With that, the captain began to explain in detail, going through one line of the rune after another. 

“The real seal is too complex for us to create, since it’s the Sovereign’s, but all we need to do is get close enough to make it recognize what we’re trying. Most people use a series of lines to mimic the rune, and then the trace of the Sovereign’s energy does the rest.”

Kelin just nodded as he followed along, easily copying her moves.

He was very familiar with it.

There were different tiers to this seal, and this one was the most basic, but it was the core authority from the Sovereign and that trace of energy that empowered them all.

Even if someone knew how to make the different versions, some of which were fairly complex, they wouldn’t work without the Sovereign’s approval.

After he’d copied the rune to the captain’s satisfaction and summoned it again, she showed him a variant one that the guild used, but which relied on the same principle.

“You’re a natural at this,” she said, shaking her head. “It took me almost five tries to create the seal when I started, and that was good, but you’ve got it on the first. It almost looks like you’ve done it before.”

She didn’t wait for him to say anything, since at that moment he finished forming the guild version of the seal. It was almost the same, except that it had a few different lines to create it, and when it was summoned, it turned into an image of a star and a person standing together.

The person it showed was Kelin, providing proof of his identity in the guild.

“There we go then,” Sandren said approvingly. “This is the real induction, even more than the badge. With these seals, you’re in the army reserve and the guild both. Now we can head back to the desk and get you the badge.”

Kelin had no objections, and on the way, the captain detoured through a few more interesting parts of the guild, showing off parts of their history, contributions to the world, and their ties to the greater human domain in the galaxy.

One of the most interesting images was another painting, this one of a striking blond woman who was surrounded by moonlight and ice. She was also standing in the stars and looking off into the distance as she faced a horde of enemies, but the front ranks were freezing and shattering to dust as they tried to approach her.

“The Archmage of Lunar Ice,” the captain said as she pointed at it. “I’ve always liked that one too. She’s still around, a legend in her own right. She’s one of the very few Star-Ranked members of the guild.”

Kelin had met her several times. 

Altey Hastern was one of humanity’s foremost archmages and a great ally in battle. She was a little older than he was, but she seemed younger, a practical joker who was always messing around.

He looked around as they continued to walk, but unfortunately there were no paintings of him on the wall, so he could only laugh at himself for looking for them.

“Here we are,” the captain said as they came back to the desk. 

She waved to the clerk and a few moments later, she handed him a bright bronze badge. 

It was a rectangular medallion about three inches long and two inches wide, which was strung on a steel chain. 

The image of a guild hall was engraved onto the front, and on the back there was his name and the words “High Bronze” and “Rank: Corporal.”

“As promised,” she said. “That will allow you to take quests up to the First Evolution. The corporal rank will also get you a 5% discount in the guild and some information assistance from the army if you need it for your quests.”

Kelin slipped the medallion around his neck and let it fall into his shirt, where it felt weightless and almost imperceptible. There were a few different enchantments on it to help with that, as well as to make it hard to damage.

“Jesra here can fill you in on the other details,” she added as she indicated the clerk at the desk, “like the amenities available for High Bronze and Corporals if you want to stay at a guild room while you’re traveling. That’s one thing that’s covered, as long as you’re on a mission that needs it.”

She smiled again as she shook her head.

“Anyway, it’s been fun to oversee your test, and if you ever want to join the regular army, just let me know. I have to go wrap up some paperwork, but I’m sure I’ll see you again in the future.”

“Thank you,” Kelin said again, giving her a slight incline of his head. “I’ll remember your help.”

“Anytime,” she said as she turned away. “You’re a promising one.”

Her last words were in a louder voice. It made most of the people in the guild hall turn and look at Kelin. The tingle of analysis abilities ran over his skin and then most of them looked away again, apparently not interested in a Level 33 recruit.

He ignored them and then spoke briefly with Jesra, catching up on the relevant details and some possible employment contracts from the guild.

"By the way," he added, "there's a mine nearby that might turn into a dungeon. I ran into it on my way to town. It was a mana crystal mine before, but it's been sabotaged."

He explained the relevant details, as well as how he'd encountered the mine foreman and the guards, and the suspected plot from the Wind Hunters.

"We've had a number of complaints about that group," Jesra said with a frown. "They're one of the bigger mercenary companies in the city, but they have the worst reputation of the bunch. I didn't know they had the capability for that type of runic device that caused the explosion, but the level of the Fire core you described does match their boss's reported level. The evidence sounds tangential, but we'll look into it and see what the history is between them and the mining company.

"I'll pass it on to the captain and see if we can do a public posting to investigate. The mining company should have reported the explosion and the mana density to us on their own, but apparently they're hoping it will go back to normal. If they check in, I'll tell them you're with us and were investigating on our behalf.

"We'll shut them down quickly if they try to cause any trouble. I saw how the captain treated you. The guild has your back now, and that's worth a lot."

"Thanks again," Kelin said. "Let me know what happens with that, if you're able."

"Not a problem," Jesra agreed with a smile. "I get the feeling I'll be seeing a lot of you. Take care now."

"You too," Kelin said, smiling back.

After that, he browsed the mission board for a few minutes before he turned and headed out of the guild.

He looked up at the sun, which was just past noon, and then he set off toward the edge of the city, not too far from where his old shack had been.

With the guild taken care of, it was time to check on the kids.

The Blade and Shield mercenaries were supposed to have been looking after them, so hopefully they were alright.