Approaching the pair was a slightly changed but still familiar face, Iimi, the Fighter that the pair had worked with to help Moella some time ago. Adorning her left eye was a new scar, a large vertical slice that extended into her hairline and even created a small bald spot that was covered up by her blond hair.

“You ready to meet up with the others?” Iimi continued as she moved between the giants.

“That we are, not late are we?” Logan replied with a smirk.

“Nah, they were early. Might be some food left if we hurry back to ‘em.”

“Lead on then.”

The brutes hearing the conversation looked a bit out of place, a hint of embarrassment as they tried to play it off as if they were just walking down the street. Iimi motioned the pair to follow her as they moved in the opposite direction.

“Already looking for another duel I see”, Iimi teased as she smiled towards Logan at her side.

“They always come at the worst of times”, Logan complained as he let out a sigh.

“Thanks for the save, Iimi. I take it your quests have been going well?” Marcus asked.

“Well enough, a lot of work recently, and a lot of pay. No complaints from me, aside from having to take on a goblin-sympathetic ogre”, Iimi replied as he pointed to the scar on her face.

“We’ll have to treat you to a meal for saving us some time. We were going to the Lightbeam guild”, Logan announced.

“I know the way, we will look more like a team if we stick together for the rest of the way”, Iimi offered.

“We appreciate it. Always a fond day with allies by your side”, Marcus accepted as he kept pace with the others.

“What’s your business with Lightbeam anyway? Get scouted during the invasion?”

“Sort of, when we helped out Cassius he offered us a place when we had some free time”, Logan explained.

“Kreya mentioned that last time we met, big steps for you two.”

“We’re not certain on joining just yet, just investigating options”, Marcus replied as he kept an eye on the nearby adventurers.

“Well, they are one of the bigger guilds, since their head is a hero, or rather was before the demon invasion over a year back. I’m not too in the know since I am guildless.”

“I would have thought you’d be snatched up by now”, Logan jokingly replied.

“The fees and tax don’t line up totally with my goals, I get enough work as it is”, Iimi announced as she looked at the Spellthief.

“How much is Lightbeam’s?”

“A fifth I think. Highest I saw amongst the guilds was half, though that is the Bisectors.”

“Cani’s whip, 50% split?! How do they even get new members with that abusive tax?” Marcus exclaimed.

“The Bisectors are a relatively small guild, but houses most of the rank 30 and above adventurers.”

“And where were they during the invasion?” Logan inquired.

“Near Helm. The whole guild, or at least enough to make the guild house seem vacant, went to raid a dungeon.”

“A dungeon that warrants several 30s and above? What were they facing?” Logan thought to himself.

“It seems the invasion happened at the worst time, with all our strongest out and about”, Marcus added.

“That it did. Didn’t help that many were in the south to deal with the secondary goblin force-Oh, here we are by the way”, Iimi spoke as the group got to the exterior of the Lightbeam guild house.

The building was grandiose, red brick with golden-wood trims painted the exterior with an expensive design. Large glass windows peered inside but were glossy and only showed silhouettes moving about. A few oorans were perched at open windows on the first and second floors above, their large frames creating a daunting visual for more green adventurers.

At around 4’ tall, the oorans looked a bit monstrous for how they were described as hybrids of sparrows, ravens, and hawks. Their abyssal black plumage would make them amazing stealth birds at night, while also scaring off many predators from approaching them. Dirty-gold beaks aided Logan in spotting them on the windowsills, accompanied by piercing red eyes.

As his gaze was already skywards, Logan saw smoke billowing out from the chimney of the building. If the silhouettes weren’t enough of a sign, alongside birds and open windows, the interior was sure to house plenty of adventurers.

“I’m not too busy tomorrow, so if you’re going to be doing a quest feel free to invite me along”, Iimi spoke as she was taking a few steps to leave.

“Thanks for escorting us, Iimi”, Marcus replied.

Logan took a few steps to follow Iimi, “Before you go, I did have one question.”

“Oh? Sure, what is it?”

“Would you have helped us if you didn’t already know us?”

“You mean taking you here?”

“No, the duel situation. You know what happened to us before, so I was curious if that coloured your decision, or just because we were friends. If we were just random magi, would you have still helped?”

“This has certainly come out of the blue. Wanting to gauge my character ey?”

“Just wanting to see if I’ll be getting more help or if I am out of luck if I don’t find people on my side”, Logan spoke as his eyes drifted to the passing adventurers.

“Well. If you want honesty. Most likely not. Adventurers tend to get a reputation after duels and matches to not be messed with, you can view it as hazing. I’d get dragged into things if I tried to help every Wallace that came by, especially if they didn’t play along or failed to understand things.”

“Damn frat house mentality. That’s basically just mugging, where is the honour in that?!”, Logan cursed in his head.

“If I knew it’d work out each time, I probably would help anyone I saw. But I only have so much time myself. I had my fair share of annoyances when I came to Gauntlet. Helm is worse if you go to the adventurer districts. It’s a spellforce competition over there. Either your skills or spells are up to expectations or you have to hand over some coin”, Iimi continued with slight anger in her voice.

“Helm isn’t a friendly place to be then”, Logan stated.

“No, only a few steps over the below I’d say. My family and I had to flee it eventually since we weren’t native Helmers”, Iimi spoke with resentment, “anyway, we can chat later when we are able to have a nice sitdown. You two owe me that meal, right?” Iimi announced with a smile.

“Right, we’ll see you later then.”

Giving a final wave goodbye, Iimi returned her walk in the opposite direction out of the adventurer sector. Marcus gave a questioning look to Logan as he moved back to his ally but wasn’t going to press the matter. Giving a solid double knock to the door of the guild house the pair waited for a few moments until it opened wide.

A gentleman standing at 5’8” answered the door, wearing a clean set of brown doublet jacket and trousers. His short black hair had been gelled back, though it was more appropriate to say it was due to pomade or some other ointment. Brown eyes scanned the visitors, the guildie taking a few moments to collect information before speaking.

Speaking with a formal and clear tone the man said, “Hello, sirs. Here to sell magical services?”

Logan looked over his clothing before turning to face the man, “No. We were invited by Cassius. Logan and Marcus, Cassius said he’d note our names down?”

“Ah potential guildies!” the man said as he opened the door wider, opening a small book from his breast pocket. Reading over it for a few seconds changed the man’s face even brighter, “Cassius did mention we would be getting two visitors at some point, come in, please.”

Passing the doorway the pair entered a large entrance foyer. To the left was immediately a counter set up with an adjoining kitchen, providing quick access to food and drink on entering or exiting. Several sofas sat against the furthest wall with tables adorned with parchment and books, a few adventurers taking time off with a hot beverage and a good book

The entrance split off to the left and right, with a staircase leading to the first floor next to the seating area. As they inspected the entrance area the doorman continued speaking.

“This is the main foyer of Lightbeam, it also acts as a small resting area between quests. We have a tier 2 permit for tome sharing so reading is often done here.”

“Permit?”

“Yes, it allows the guild to share the use of tomes as long as they are not taken outside of the guild house. It comes under the tax of membership, which is 20% from each mission to a maximum of 2 silver.”

“What other permits come from joining a guild?”

“Oh, they encompass several areas of adventuring. For example, we have a yard permit that allows almost any form of skill and spells to be used within the guild grounds. Though we do ask for most to be done within the actual yard in the back.”

“We’ll have to investigate those more in-depth later I think”, Logan spoke as he continued to look around.

“You said your names were Logan and Marcus? I am Debrek, the foyer attendant for Lightbeam. I handle visitors, mail, cleaning, and sometimes interviews”, the man announced as he held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Logan and that is Marcus”, Logan replied as he pointed to himself and the Devout.

“Same from me”, Marcus repeated as he shook the attendant’s hand.

“Cassius is currently away at the time, and Sub-Leader Prevesna is currently on a quest. Cassius should return in a handful of minutes to an hour, would you like to wait for him here? Without further permissions, I can’t let you explore the guild at this time.”

As the group were conversing, one of the guild members sat at the sofas had sauntered their way over to the party.

“If you lot want to pass some time how about a match in our yard? Nothing up for grabs if you don’t want to. Be nice to see a new member’s skills”, the man spoke as he ran a hand through his brunette hair to push it back.

“Cerall, always itching for a fight”, Debrek spoke as he shook his head slowly.

Looking over the man, Logan could easily tell Cerall was a Fighter from his choice of weapons and leather-metal combo attire. A youthful mid-20s face was barren of scars, though that was either due to him being careful or paying for regeneration services. Hair flowed to just below his neck, though was most likely commonly kept tied up as Logan spotted a band around the man’s wrist.

Pressing his luck, Logan used Identification to get a better understanding of what he could be getting himself into.

“Cerall: Fighter 11, 186/186 HP, 0/0 MP. A boisterous man who is known around his guild as an avid sparring partner for guildies. Affiliated with the Lightbeam guild. Can be often found gambling to make ends meet rather than doing quests, backed up from match wins to make sure he doesn’t have to work too hard.

Skills: Axe Hurl*³, Combo Slash*², Combo Slash 2*², Combo Slash 3*², Come Forth*, Multi-Rush*³, Pommel Stun*², Power Strike*⁵, Rush*³, Severing Slash*³, ----.

Wields: Perfected Shortsword 13-16 dmg. Wears: Fighter’s Trusted Suit.”

“You want to just spar? Nothing on the table?” Logan asked as he surveyed Cerall’s stats.

“If you want, we could offer up some coin. I don’t fancy losing any of my gear right now, might be hard to buy them back”, Cerall continued with a smile.

“Would Cassius be fine with you roughing up potential recruits?” Marcus asked as he gave Cerall his own ocular patdown.

Giving a shrug Cerall replied, “I won’t be using any permanent injury moves like Severing Slash, he hasn’t had any issue with it before.”

“I could probably beat him, some of his skills are hidden but I have a good overview of what he can do. The reoccurring Combo moves he has is curious, I had thought you only had one per type of weapon. I should be able to do fine at a distance if that Rush skill isn’t a different form of Dash”, Logan planned in his head.

“Our yard features leftover weaponry if you wish to not damage your own”, Debrek informed.

“We don’t have anything else planned for the day, so I am up for it. How much money you thinking of putting down?” Logan asked.

Stroking his chin Cerall replied, “How’s 50 silver sound?”

“Make it 1 gold, we don’t have to shuffle around so many coins then”, Logan enticed.

“Hah, deal. Do you need to set up, or are you ready to head into the yard now?”

“No, we can begin now.”

Cerall clapped his hands together loudly, raising them upwards as he shouted, “A match is on. Come down to the yard if you want to watch.”

This was answered by several adjusting chairs against the wooden floor and footsteps that approached from the higher levels and nearby rooms. Cerall continued to a door at the back that led into a long hallway, waving the others to follow. Their own footsteps added to those that approached them from behind. Debrek stayed behind in the foyer, most likely to keep an eye out for Cassius’s return.

The long hallways passed a larger dining room and a few private rooms for meetings and the like for adventures. Ending up at another door, Cerall opened it to lead the party into an open space at the back. Large dark-brown wooden fences cut off the view to the outside, around 15’ feet tall and curved inwards at the top to give some shelter to the seating areas on the perimeter of the yard. Cerall tossed a gold coin on a nearby bench, to which Logan followed with his.

A swept rock flooring showed it to be quite sturdy, several training dummies stabbed into several points for practice purposes. Cerall was already in the motion of moving the dummies away to make the space even clearer. A good 50’ diameter square made up the fighting area, with a sizeable bench seating space around the edge with a chest-high rock wall to provide a bit of protection to the crowd.

It would have been a good guess it couldn’t be any larger due to the nearby buildings, but was sizeable enough to allow several training sessions to occur at once. Near the entrance Logan could find several weapon racks with varying arms on offer, picking out a few daggers he would be confident in the fact his normal gear wouldn’t suffer too much damage.

“Finally some action, being on-call for threats has left me getting sores on my ass”, a late 20s man spoke as he found a seat on the benches.

“Put me down for 20 on Cerall”, an older gentleman spoke.

“18 on our guy”, another added.

“Hey, robe-man. Yours good? Think he is worth a 30 bet?” a woman asked Marcus.

“Logan? Sure is-” Marcus began but was interrupted by another.

“Wait. Logan? That’s the fella that Cassius mentioned”, the woman replied with wide eyes.

A lot of the other guild members shared looks between them, those who had bet against the Spellthief worried about their decision.

“30 on Logan.”

“27 on the mage.”

“I’ll slap 45 on the newcomer.”

“He may be a spelly, but he’ll smash Cerall down. 20 on the man.”

The bets continued to come in, more than usual for Logan as his identity was revealed. Their coins were being placed on a portion of the benches where another spellcaster-looking individual was writing down names and bets. There was certainly no issue with gambling here, seeing the eagerness to offer up handfuls of silver.

“Any rules we want to abide by? I already said I won’t use permanent wound abilities like Severing Slash”, Cerall asked as he walked up to Logan.

“I’d say avoid scars, but that’d be hard to do. If one of us admits to a yield the other accepts, that’s all that comes to mind.”

“Basic stuff, got it. How are your spells? You used any today?”

“I have two elementals out on quests, they are day-long ones, so a few second-level spells are out.”

“Oh, got it”, Cerall spoke as he looked over Logan to spy a lie. Moving his head to the array of weapons he leant down, his body hastening to create afterimages, and then made a long charge towards the weapons. The ground beneath his feet dug into the floor and caused large friction burn marks across it, a low-pitch punching in the wind going with him.

Picking out a few weapons and placing them in his belt, Cerall turned his head back to face Logan in the distance. Another use of his Rush skill had him appear in front of Logan in a daring display of speed and power. “There, that’s two of my Rush skill uses done, should even us out a bit”, he spoke with a smile.

“Oh, wait, I have no first-levels either”, Logan spoke sarcastically with a replying smile.

“Hah, right”, Cerall laughed back.

Cerall held out his fist to Logan, the Spellthief bumping it in return. The pair then split off for a good 10’ in either direction, making a wide 20’ gap between them.

“You lot done with bets?” Cerall yelled towards the benches that now housed eighteen members.

A collection of confirmations met the arena, signalling the pair that they could start whenever.

“When the coin hits the floor, we begin”, Cerall announced as he pulled out a copper coin from his pocket.

Logan nodded, his hands close to his weapons. Placing the coin on his thumb, Cerall ducked down a bit to get into a battle-ready stance. With a flick of his thumb, the coin went spinning into the air. Logan could feel his body wash over with the heat of adrenaline, his muscles stiffening in preparation to charge at his foe.

The coin started its descent to the floor, Logan planning for his first move as his eyes tracked it. As the coin hit the floor it rang out a loud clinking noise, followed shortly by two blasts of wind from the opposing sides as the two enacted their first actions.

--- *** ---