Inner parts of Gorz: Common District

"Hey, do you think it was a good idea to leave those guys alone?' Mordecai asked while leading a group made up by himself, Blake, Risabeel (hood on) and Mari with Os riding Gram through the Common District.

Common District was the largest and most used of Gorz's districts, where most of the city's trading took place as well as having the city's main population being housed within it. This was because it was placed in the center of Groz with all other districts encircling it, simply put it was the primus of everything within the city. Many tried to live within this district hoping to stay in the know about the ongoings within the other parts of Gorz.

"What do you mean?" Blake answered with a question, walking a bit faster to catch up with Mordecai. "Saffire's still sick from that bite she got yesterday, Baba said she'd watch her as 'sorry for keeping me to herself for a day' whatever that means, and my student needs to work his ass off at the moment."

"I guess you're right. They should be fine, right?" Mordecai thought about it then turned to Blake to see what he was thinking.

"Ugh..." But Blake was left picturing all the ways things could go wrong with those three on their own, which went from Bread using up all of Blake's Ore to Saffire somehow sneezing down Mt. Nod, and then came the bits with Baba in there. "...I'm having 2nd thoughts about this."

"Come on, leader! You're gonna be in charge of a guild in a few moments!" Mordecai came in to give Blake a light pat on the back, trying to get him out of his slump until the smith turned slowly back to him. "Something wrong, boss?"

"Who the hell said I'm going to the leader of this thing?" Blake leaned in on Mordecai making him back into a parked cart, watching the thief meekly look away from the firey orbs that were Blake's eyes.

"You would've taken the job anyway...?" Mordecai pointed out, trying to slide away from Blake's gaze, but just like the sun, it followed him everywhere he went even as he was crawling on the ground.

"Tch, you're right about that, but it would've been nice if you talked to me about it, especially when you disappeared after the sun went down yesterday." Blake let up a bit, rubbing the back of his head, but at the same time, he was still a bit on guard about the thief.

"I have my own things to get done man. The world doesn't spin around you." Mordecai playfully joked while spinning his finger around before pointing it at a large four-story building about a block away from them with red Phoenix flags flowing in the air.

Guild Union Of Laudonia: A large and powerful organization, set in place to support and control all of the guilds within the kingdom and in some sense is seen as a 2nd army of sorts when counting the more combat oriented guilds. The union gathers and gives out requests from around the land, which went anywhere from simple town cleaning to year-long monster hunts that are taken up by the various types of guilds under its care. It stays active by taking a cut out of the reward earned by guilds in exchange for benefits only given to guilds and their members.

"And right now we have something to get done in there, so come on guild master!" Mordecai cheered, giving Blake a wide smile.

"I'd prefer smith," Blake muttered, giving way for Mordecai.

"Hmm? Guild Master Blake? I must agree, Smith-Knight suits you much better." Risabeel chimed in as the group started moving again. "I do wonder what other roles are open to us?"

"Well, that depends on that type of guild we're going for? If it was a crafting guild then it'd be set up like what Deller's working with, I guess? There'd be someone to gather resources, someone to make stuff out of it, someone to make sure everything's perfect, and finally, someone to sell it all..." Blake tried to explain not really sure about it since the only thing about guilds he knew about were from stories Reiner told him.

"Heh, not bad, leader, but we're going for an adventuring guild, so ranks aren't that important other than leader and vice-leader? Captain? Master? 2nd in command, hmm?" Mordecai listed off some of the ways one would call a next in command while looking at Blake as if he was offering him something.

"No. If anyone's going to be in charge after me, it's not going to be you." Blake shot down what Mordecai was planning. "If anything I'd sooner make Mari my vice-whatever." He added, pointing a thumb at his sister.

"Yae! And Os still gets to be the mascot!" Mari cheered with Os coming out from behind her as a slime clone of herself. "Ah!" Until Gram bucked his head up a little.

"Hey, keep that thing in its cage, would you? I said; I don't like getting my fur covered in that thing." Gram growled, looking up Os with a backward glance.

"Oraaa!" To which Os growled right back at him turning into a mini-version of the wolf with Gram coming right back with his fangs bared.

"HEY! STOP IT! YOU TWO!" Mari ordered right before smacking Gram behind one of his ears and shook Os' jar causing the both of them to calm down.

"Heh, see? Can you handle things like that?" Blake jokingly waved over to Mari while speaking with Mordecai. "Huh?"

"Ugh." But what Blake told him left Mordecai in a similar slump that Blake had. "...but then again if you're doing all of the important stuff then I get to slack off and do my own thing! Nice!" He found an upside to things, and cheerfully went on his way.

"I feel like I just got tricked?" Blake asked himself as he stared at Mordecai, skipping ahead of the group.

Guild Union House

The inside of the union house was nothing but non-stop yet orderly movement, as people came in and out of the place every other minute. Some went to the multiple posting boards that were lined quests of all kinds along with recruitment posts from other guilds. The rest went to a row of desks where tellers were handling the paperwork and gave out rewards for finished quests.

"Ah, look who's back? Mr. Honest Thief?" Said a large set man sitting at his well-kept desk as Blake and co finally got to him after going through a line with Mordecai insisted that it had to be this one.

The man appeared to be growing ox-horns along with a pair bovine ears out of his head of brown hair, and if someone looked under his desk, they would find instead of human legs he had thick fur covered hooves. He dressed in a simple uniform made up by a red dress shirt under a black vest with a golden Phoenix on the back and a pair of loosely fitting red pants.

Humanoid Monster, Beastmen: One of the more civilized races of monsters in the world. Beastmen are a mix of fur-covered, horned, tailed, and clawed beasts who have taken on a more humanoid appearance through either magical means or evolution and are all based off mammals.

Beastmen can be divided into three categories, first are Carnivores who are physically stronger, smaller in size and far more aggressive in nature, next are Herbivores who are more magically attuned, larger in size and have a kinder take on things. Finally, the Omnivores are the middle ground between the first two categories. However, there are outliers within each category, such as Carnivores having high magical power.

Items forged from these furry monsters Ore depends on the type of mammal it came from.

"Here's your reward, sir!" Came from a woman wearing the same uniform as the Beastman at another desk giving out a bit of coin to a hunter and at the other desks were others taking or trading-in quests.

"Yep, it's me! How's business been?" Mordecai cheerfully greeted the bull-man as he, Blake and Risabeel came to him, leaving Gram with Mari outside.

"Hah, pretty good actually? Finally, got someone to take care that Werewolf problem in Arocs and no one's come back to me with a fail or a return, but uh..." The bull-man seemed to be in a great mood but slowly set his eyes on Blake and Risabeel. "...who are they? From what you've been up to you don't seem like the type to have friends."

"Hey! I thought we were friends!?!" Mordecai nagged, pointing at the bull-man but the other man's face was set in a blank stare. "Can you believe this gu-ugh!" But Blake's face was set in the same stare as well. "Okay, neither of you are my friends, but anyhow this is Blake and Risabeel, and this is Tobi, he's a Minotaur who leans more on the human side."

"Yo." Blake greeted with a raised hand watching Tobi size him up.

"Good day to you, kind Sir." Risabeel went with a bow of her head.

After Tobi was done giving them a look over, he turned back to Mordecai. "Alright, so what can I do for you? Want another easy high paying quest or are you here for some..." He paused, leaning over his desk, and covered his mouth. "...Information? But it's going to cost you again..." He rubbed his fingers over his thumb on his free hand as he pulled back.

"Not right now, big guy, but maybe later..." Mordecai leaned in and did the same as Tobi making the two look out of place. "...I'm here cause this guy wants to start a guild, and I'm joining up with him." He stood back up and pulled an arm around Blake that was slowly removed by the smith. "Come on, don't be like that!"

"That so, huh? Well, I hope you told him about the requirements before dragging him down here? Because I am not trying to sound rude here, but you don't look like the type to start a guild at your age." Tobi explained after giving Blake another look over.

"I wasn't planning to, but this guy got me into it, but he didn't say anything about 'requirements'..." Blake said in a cold tone as he was looking more at Mordecai than Tobi with the Minotaur following suit.

"I might have zoned that part out after he told me that I could start one, haha...uh..." Mordecai nervously laughed it off as nothing or at least tried since Blake and Tobi weren't letting up. "...can we get to those now?"

"Gladly." Tobi grabbed a handbook from a drawer that he flipped through a few times. "Sorry about this we don't get that many guilds nowadays, most people just join up with one..." He muttered out an apology as he found the right page. "...alright, firstly you need at least four members with one person acting as a guild master by vote. Next, one of the foundering members must be a member of the Allied Races Of Laudonia. These are; Elves, Orcs, Dwarfs, Giants, Avians, Lizardfolk, and Beastmen, as to keep with the Allied Race Treaty, additionally one member must be an official citizen of Gorz. Finally, the one that usually puts everyone off..." Tobie stopped for a moment to look up at Blake, finding that he was taking everything in. "...Anyone wishing to form a guild of their own must first pay a start-up fee of 10,000 gold in full."

And like the sound of an executioner's sword getting sharpen on a whetstone Blake turned to Mordecai with a simple emotionless look. "Explain."

"I-I-I don't think that's fo-fo-for us?" Mordecai all but terrified at the look Blake was giving him, he was expecting Blake to explode after hearing the cost of a guild but being silently calm about it was just wrong and downright scary. "But I mean you got that sweet mansion to yourself, right? That must've cost a lot, right? You must have some gold laying around...yea?"

"No, I don't, that house was 1000 gold because it was run down and the owner hadn't been there for years, and that was all the money I had..." Blake explained to Mordecai making his mouth go into an 'O,' but instead of ending things then and there he turned back to Tobi. "But let's just say I had that kind of coin on hand, what does it get me?"

Tobi went to the next page over before he answered. "Well, first off its a bit of compensation for the city if your guild gets wiped out, defects to another kingdom, or gets disbanded, however, that's not what you asked for right?" He looked up to Blake and continued after a nod from the smith. "Guilds get first picks at higher paying quests based on their reputation and success. Members gain discounts on anything brought within the city and a few parts of the kingdom and free upkeep of all guild owned properties." The last of his words got Blake's full attention as he raised a brow. "For example that ran down mansion, you two were talking about, that can be made all new as long as its owned by the guild master which would be you."

"Oh, how wondrous! Although the high costs, the benefits I believe are worth it quite nicely, it is sad that we can not part take in it, Sir Blake." Risabeel drove in the final nails to the coffin of Mordecai's big plan.

"Don't say it like that Risabeel, you're just making things worse," Mordecai muttered defeated by the outcome of things. "But don't worry this honest thief has his way to work around things, just giving me some time."

"Oi, Longhorns, can you apply for a guild at any time?" Blake asked out of nowhere and wasn't all that down, annoyed or angry at the harsh guild requirements put in front of him.

"No, once you got everything I'll set up you just right boy," Tobi answered just like he did for any of Blake's questions sure he was feeling a little bit sorry for Blake due to Mordecai's idiocy, but this is his job, and he's not one for pulling strings for anyone.

"Good, we'll be back in about a day," Blake promised then suddenly left Tobi's desk leaving everyone there confused out of their minds at his words.

"Sir Blake, whatever do you mean?" Risabeel came up to ask after catching up with Blake followed by Mordecai.

"Yeah! What the hell, man!? I mean yeah getting a Beastman or whatever and some random citizen to join up with you is easy but 10,000 gold! Let me repeat that! 10,000 GOLD! More money than I've ever had in one day is impossible!" Mordecai being more vocal than Risabeel yelled at Blake as they got out of the Guild Union House. "I mean unless you want to do something that's not so 'honest' and that's coming from a thief here!"

"Good job at not getting into trouble, you guys." Blake went over to where Gram and Mari were and patted the two on the head, and then he turned to Mordecai and Risabeel who were still trying to guess what he was planning. "I have an honest way of getting that money, granted I'm not too happy about doing it but let's deal with the easy part first okay?"

"Fine?" Mordecai was left bewildered by Blake's words turning to Risabeel to see if she was acting the same as he was, but she just had a small smile on her face. "So? Since you're the guy with all the ideas, mind telling me who we're going after first?"

"As soon as you tell me where I can find the Elves of Naworth," Blake answered and waited for Mordecai to tell him, but then something else popped in his head. "By the way, aren't you an official citizen?" He asked, but all he got as an answer was Mordecai whistling to himself. "Of course, you aren't."

1 hour later

"Not bad, thief, you know your way around." Blake praised Mordecai a bit after he had gotten the group to the home of the Elves of Naworth which was a huge Guild House. It was about as big as the old one Blake owned except it stuck out like an unhammered nail since most of it was covered in a thick layer of well-kept planet life from trees growing on its rooftop, to moss acting as coat of paint over the place, all in all, it looked like a real 'green' house.

"Please! Knowing where the largest group of Elves live is easy! Now, if you want some real dirt on say a noble? That's going to cost you!" Mordecai offered with a hand held out to Blake, but all he got was a slap to it. "But, I guess, I can make a freebie if you pull this off."

"Noted, I might need that later." Blake took the offer then went to the door of the building, which just like everything around the place was more plant than anything else. "Should I knock? Or call? Or water it?" He looked at Mordecai for some help but got a shrug back at him.

"I'll take care of that, young ones." Came an old but upbeat man's voice from behind, making everyone turn around to find a group of three Elves. Two of them looked like normal rangers with bows and quivers on their backs, and the last was an old hunched over Elven man looking around somewhere in his 50's by human standards.

The old Elf was wearing a long sweeping green robe with dried out vines used as a belt, resting or growing on his shoulders were some leaves and moss and sticking out from under a brown hood were not only bangs of white hair but antlers made of wood. Finally, held in his right hand was a white wooden staff with an emerald wrapped around the top.

"Huh, thanks? And you are?" Blake asked, backing away from the door as the old Elf came up to it.

"Oh, sorry about that, child, age is coming to me now, hihic!" The Elf let out a weak laugh before waving his staff now glowing around the door, and on cue, the plants keeping it closed pulled away. "Name's Ivynns, Grand Druid and guild master of the Eye Of The Blood Leaf." He introduced himself turning back to Blake's group and tapped his staff on the ground a few times causing the leaves on his shoulders to turn blood red along with some leaves on his two guild members' shoulders.

The two guild members quickly moved to the door and opened it for Ivynns and everyone to step inside, even Gram who Ivynns took a quick look at saying that he was in excellent health. The inside of the Eye Of The Blood Leaf's Guild House was surprisingly less taken over by plants than the outside as everything looked normal for the most part apart from the indoor trees and bushes.

"Master Ivynns! You're back!" Came from a young Elf running up to Ivynns with a pot of dirt in their hands. "Look!" Their hands gave off a green aura as a small stem quickly grew out of the pot they were holding and bloomed into a lily. "I did it!"

"Oh good, good, now go make a rose like I told you the last ten times..." Ivynns patted the Elf on the head and waved them off as a hawk came swooping down at him.

"KAH!" But it missed and smacked into the floor making Ivynns grit his teeth at it.

"Oooh, nice try, remember to keep your wings folded in tighter, okay?" Some vines from Ivynns' robe reached out to toss the hawk back in the air, and it took off somewhere. "Trainees, I swear they get worse every year, but more importantly, what has brought you all here? It's very rare that we get quests asked directly to us?"

"Uh, that's not what we're here for," Blake corrected Ivynns while trying to pick out either Lu or Rena from the Elves and Fairies that were going around, but luck wasn't on his side. "I'm looking for someone named Lutwig?"

"Lutwig? Lu? Twig? Twig? Lu...?" Ivynns hummed out the name a few times, rubbing a hand across his wrinkled face until a tulip grew on one of his wooden antlers and he raised a finger. "...No, wait that was a client." The tulip dried up and turned into a hibiscus as he snapped his fingers. "Oh! Right! Yes! They came in last week along with a Fairy that had quite the mouth on her, oooh!" He mentioned, wanging a finger at Blake that was leaving trails of green mana in the air. "Might just turn her into a frog for a day..."

"Yep, that's them." Blake thought, nodding together with Ivynns at the idea, but before that could happen, it'd be best to get what he wanted done first. "Good to know, I need to talk with them about something, is that okay?"

"Oh, of course, it is! Wait, in fact, I'll show you the way to their room!" Ivynns offered with an overly gleeful look in his eyes that went away the moment another trainee came up him with a broken bow. "Take that to Rookberg. She's in charge of bows this month." He told the Elf then turned to Blake and co. "Now, let's go before anyone else comes by."

"Nah, that's okay just tell us where their room is, and we'll be fine plus you look busy...?" Blake was about to decline Ivynns' offer, but the old Elf waved at him to come closer. "Ugh, ye-whoa!?" He reluctantly leaned down only to get pulled in by an iron grip of Ivynns' free hand. "Why do I let old men near me?" He thought back to the old seer grabbing him and shuddered.

"Listen here, boy! I get stuck with about 20 seedlings every day. The only time I get away from this is on quests which do not happen a lot unless something major is going on, but this city is very peaceful...so please do me this kindness," Ivynns explained, showing some aged bitterness that he'd grain over the years. "Oh, my! How did you do that!?" He pushed Blake away just as two Elves came up with mushrooms growing on one of them. "Hmm?" He hummed, looking at Blake with a side glance.

"You could just say no?" Blake was having a hard time trying to get why Ivynns wasn't able to tell off his guild members, but he felt like he should help the old Elf, at least it made finding Lu and Rena easier. "Hey, guys, your master's giving us a tour, so he needs to come with us."

"Oh, sorry master Ivynns! We'll come by later." The Elf with mushrooms on them said as the other one was trying to pull a shroom off of them. "Ow! I told you that hurts!"

"Thank you, Beast King, Behemoth," Ivynns silently prayed to some god of nature for sending Blake his way then tapped his staff, creating a trail of vines that went off to a hallway. "Oh sorry about that, this place is very big, and I sometimes forget where things are, so this helps." He explained a bit embarrassed by his forgetfulness then started leading the group through his Guild House.

"Oh, that is quite all right, Guild Master Ivynns," Risabeel assured Ivynns that it was fine, then her curiosity got the better of her as she moved up to Ivynns' side, looking at his staff and his small shoulder garden. "But your magic is very strange from the ones I have seen so far."

"Oh my dear, it's just some Druidic Magic, very old, one of the firsts if I had to say and I'm master of my arts, you see it stems from a long relationship between mortals and a race of monster called the Dryads. They are living trees and are even more attuned to nature than us Elf and some Faries..." Ivynns suddenly went on a long-winded explanation of how druids and their magic came about with Risabeel absorbing everything like someone watering a plant.

"Guess all the years of teaching got stuck in there." Blake was zoning out on Ivynns' lecture while looking around for anything that was even a tiny bit more interesting. "Ugh..." But sadly everything in the Guild House was just as dull, plant-covered walls, some birds flying around, an empty hallway with him alone in it. "...wait? Something's not right here?" Blake pointed out to no one and was now alone with the others gone from sight. "I lost them!" He smacked a hand to his forehead then looked at the floor for that vine Ivynns had set up, but that was gone too. "Dammit!"

"~Hmmm~" A sweet voice hummed out from the right followed by some water splashing around.

"Who the hell baths in the middle of the da-" Blake was about to question just why someone was doing that but then remembered how he met Lu. "Well, its either him or Elves just like to bath at random times of the day." He muttered, choosing to follow the voice if anything he'd meet someone that could help him find his way around here.

After going around for a bit, losing and finding the voice a few times, Blake came to an open bath area that was surrounded by tall grass and small boulders, on one of which were some clothes. "Why do Elves dress the same?" Blake eyed the clothing but couldn't tell if they were Lu's or not. "Hmm?" Then his eyes went to the pool of water in front of him. "Okay, guess I wait?"

He didn't have to that long as a ripple appeared from under the water's surface as it was broken apart by Lutwig throwing back his body into the air, flicking water off his blonde hair as the rest of it washed down his lithe body with sunlight reflecting off him and literally sparkled.

"Not a care in the world." Blake thought watching Lu wash himself down with the Elf's back to him until he coughed a little. "Hey, Lu!"

"AH!?" Lu's eyes shot open wide, and he dived down into the water only coming back up as a head of yellow hair and a pair of lime green eyes looking like a scared animal. "Blake?" But once he saw Blake, he came out a little bit more now up to his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here for you," Blake answered with a smile and a wink finding Lu a bit cute at the moment. "Sorry, about taking another peek at you,"

"You could always ask..." Lu said, trying to take a jab at Blake, but he looked away embarrassed by what he said then fidgeted little as he held up a hand. "Could you...?"

"Turning around." Blake beat him to it as he turned around, letting Lu get out of the water and get something on.

"So? What do you need me for?" Lu asked, reaching the edge of the pool and climbed out, shaking himself off a little before grabbing a towel.

"Wel-" Before Blake could ask a suddenly wild fluttering of wings came around as a ball of glowing green dust appeared out of the doorway he used to get here.

"LU! LU! LU! LU!" It turned out to be Rena, but something was off. Her hair was blue, and her eyes were orange while her wings were dark green, however, her dress of green leaves was the same for some reason. "Blake's here to see us!" She cheered as loud as ever.

"Yo," Blake waved up at her confused by her new look but wasn't going to ask about it just yet. "Uh, what's up with that look on your face?" He did ask Rena this since she lost all of her cheerfulness and let her hair cover her eyes.

"Get your hands off my Lu, Blake!" Rena screamed at the sight before her as Lu was naked wiping himself down with a red face while Blake had an all too happy and satisfied look on his. "His first time was mine! You jerk!" The Fairy waved her hands in the air throwing green dust at some plants hanging above the pool.

"But my hand ar-AH!" Blake got wrapped up by some vines then taking into the air. "Put me do-mmmh!" As he was about to start yelling a vine wrapped around his mouth, shutting him up.

"Lu! How could you! I thought you cared!" Rena threw a small tantrum in the air, causing her vines to wrap around Blake tighter with him letting out muffled screams of pain. "Shut up! You caused this! You whore!" The Fairy snapped back to Blake, starting to grow thorns on the vines that crept up to Blake.

"Rena, stop it, he just got here," Lu now fully dressed told his Fairy partner before things got any more out of hand. "I told you before, ask questions first."

"Not when I see stuff like that!" Rena shot back then brought Blake down to look at him. "You weren't doing anything funny with Lu, right?"

"Mmmh!" Blake nodded wildly at her, or he was trying to hit her with a headbutt. "AHHH!" Then screamed when the vines unwarped him and he fell to the floor on his face. "Ow, I can't believe I kind of missed you." He muttered, rubbing his nose.

"Well, I sure didn't." Rena stuck her tongue out at Blake while pulling at one of her eyes. "HEY!" Then got ignored by Blake moving over Lu.

"So, like I was saying I'm starting up a guild, and I need someone from the Allied Races you in?" Blake finished what he was trying to tell Lu earlier.

"So, you came crawling back to us for help, eh? Well, you're gonna have to cough up big time, hehe!" Rena sneakered with arms crossed and took a seat on Lu's shoulder.

"Something like that, but how did you know I was here?" Blake asked, letting Rena think what she wanted as long as it meant that they were coming with him.

"The others stopped by our room, and I flew off to get Lu, but instead I find you trying to get it on!" Rena spat out still not convinced that Blake wasn't trying anything on Lu. "I'm willing to forgive him but not you!" She pointed at Blake with some dust on the tip of her finger.

"Nothing happened." Both Lu and Blake told her in monotone and gave her blank stares.

"What did not happen?" Asked Ivynns as he and the others came into the open bath.

"Damn! When you said, you knew an Elf I didn't think she'd be this cute!" Mordecai's eyes went straight to Lu as he walked right up to him with a cheeky smile in full view. "Mordecai, the Honest Thief! At your disservice!" He did a fancy bow and offered a hand to Lu.

"Ugh, I-I-I am Lutwig of Naworth..." Lu whispered as he moved behind Blake's back and held out a hand to Mordecai's. "...Nice to meet you." He gave it an awkward shake before pulling his hand back. "Could you let him know that I'm a...." Then whispered to Blake while glancing at Mordecai.

"Lu's not too good with other people he doesn't know," Blake explained for Lu, and sure enough he held back a chuckle as Mordecai got what he said through his mind.

"She's a dude?" Mordecai asked, pointing at the head of blonde hair at Blake's shoulder. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm super sure about it," Blake assured Mordecai but got some looks from him, Rena, Mari and even Ivynns who was growing some roses on his antlers. "Hey, that's not what I mean!"

"Hihic! This is quite a good bit of laughs! Indeed, young Lutwig has fooled even some of his own people since he came here," Ivynns added to the growing fire making Lu sink deeper into Blake's back. "And it's also a surprise that he is clinging to you like that, hmm...?" He silently thought to himself for a few moments before speaking again. "...tell me, boy, you must have more reason than saying hello to him and Fay if you came all the way here?"

"Fay?" Blake looked confused as he turned around to find Rena looking back at him as if she didn't know what was wrong. "...Right? Well, I don't know if this is okay or anything but I'm starting a guild, and I wanted Lu and 'Fay' to be some of my foundering members." He explained, taking some glances at Rena.

"Ah, a guild! Well, that is a bit of a problem since those two are part of my own..." Ivynns sadly explained, making him rubbing his chin a few times. "What say you, Lutwig?" He asked the young Elf behind Blake's back.

"Uhm, well, I was sent here to aid the Elves within Gorz by an order from king Dewran but..." Lu began then moved out from behind Blake once Mordecai backed off. "...do you remember what I told you about that seer we met on the way here?"

"Yes, they told this boy would lead to great changes in your fate, and they also predicted how the travels of this one would play out." Ivynns waved his staff Blake's way. "I myself have had personal experience dealing with seers, often the ones who are right in their fortunes are the ones you should listen to on everything, but yours was a bit odd? They said; that being with him would change your fate? That is something not to be taking lightly, what exactly could there be in your life that you wish to change?"

"I can not tell you, Master Ivynns..." Lu refused to answer and went back behind Blake much to the surprise of Ivynns' since Lu was usually kept to himself even around other Elves far less a human.

"Your trust in me is weak if you can not tell me your reasons for wanting to change your fate, and it seems to be stronger towards this one." Again Ivynns waved at Blake who was trying to tell Lu that everything was fine along with Rena or Fay as she was going by currently.

"Trust is a most important thing to Elves, yes, Master Ivynns?" Risabeel asked from behind the old Elf's back.

"Yes, indeed! You've taken in much of my lecture I see?" Ivynss smiled at Risabeel for listening to him. "Each and every Elf treats another as if they are family. We are all children of nature, so having an unwillingness to tell an elder a secret is most troubling."

"I am sorry, Master Ivynns," Lu apologized, grabbing his arm as he looked away.

Ivynns merely waved him off yet didn't look upset by it. "Ah, fear not that is something we can work on unless...?" He trailed off, thinking to himself now.

"Unless?" Blake spoke up seeing as Ivynns had something more to say, but by the way, the old Elf was talking it looked like he wasn't about to let Lu and Rena go.

"...Unless you two are able to show me the grit of your trust..." Ivynns finished his earlier thought bringing a grin to Blake's face. "Oh? You seem to like that idea, eh?"

"Well, as long as it's not gardening and its the two of us fighting something then I think we've got the trust do really well right, Lu?' Blake held up his arm to Lu, if this got Ivynns to let Lu come with him than taking care of wherever he had in mind would be worth it.

"Dragons, wolves, or dungeons." Lu listed off some of the stuff he and Blake had fought through on their way to Gorz and bumped arms with the Smith-knight.

"Hihic! Good to hear! Our guild recently received quite the request today!" Ivynns chuckled to himself about see if these two men could show him if they were able to work as a unit.

Chapter End