"Why is your guild hall a crypt?” Doran asked, stone faced, while Cyrus was wondering if he had suffered a blow to the head and was concussed. Silvern stood silent for a dried moment, deciding on how he should explain their odd choice in their location.

"The master kind of destroyed our original base about eight years ago and no one was willing to rent out property to us again after that. Not that I blame anyone, he did leave the whole area in a wreck."

Cyrus thought back to a year prior and how he and Doran found a completely demolished building with broken and unstable ground that was, according to one of their sources, the Blue Star's guildhall. That day the pair had decided that their source was lying to them, probably to get them out of his inn before Doran started punching more angry patrons. Though with that explanation, some things made more sense. Though what kind of man was capable of such massive destruction all on his own?

"And… how did he do that?" Cyrus asked cautiously. Silvern replied that his master just threw a punch and left it at that, which left Cyrus even more confused. Abby cleared her throat in annoyance.

"Are we going to stand here all day?" She asked. "Or are we going down? I'm hungry, now move your asses before I drag you two down!" The three stars turned their backs and began to descend the stairs with Becky lying down under the tree and Carlyle perching himself on one of its branches. The amount of questions Cyrus and Doran had were multiple but chose to follow their escorts, mostly due to the threat of being dragged down stone stairs. The pair talked to each other in quiet voices to prevent Lydia and her friends from hearing their conversation.

"Silvern say why he gave us so much trouble?" Was Cyrus’ first question, eager to know why the dark elf stole their belongings before fighting back.

"He wished to test our abilities," Doran replied while holding a speculative look. "But if that's the case then his test was too simple."

"Ain't that the truth, his pets gave a good fight though."

"Did you learn anything about Miss Abigail or Lady Lydia?"

"Abby will try to kill you if you call her 'Abigail' and Lydia has some strange scars on her ears." Doran nodded, noting that he noticed Lydia's odd scars.

Ahead of their guests, Lydia and her comrades were having their own quiet talk.

"So they weren't debt collectors?" Abby asked with Lydia stifling a laugh. The short elf fought the urge to smack the beastwoman when he saw her face.

"No," Silvern replied with embarrassment. "If I knew they were that strong I would've actually put forth some effort instead of just trying to scare them off." He rubbed his side where Cyrus’ spear struck him, wondering if Doran believed his excuse for such an easy loss.

"I told you nobody is dumb enough to come find you after what I did." Abby slapped her friend's back with a smirk. “Then again, most people wouldn’t even look at you if they knew you had a whole zoo behind you. What did you think about Doran?”

“Well, he seems like a good man, a little curt though. I’ve never met a priest that was completely alright with stabbing someone.” The elf also explained how Doran seemed to be very put together for someone who’s spent several years on the road. “What about Cyrus?”

"Well, he's seen plenty of action and seems kind enough." After a few more steps down, the light from the outside died and was replaced by lights brought by many multicolored flowers which were growing from vines that lined the stone walls. The trio of Stars stopped when they heard their guests observe the flora.

"Amazing," Doran said with keen interest. "Luminescent flowers, I've never seen these before. They're quite beautiful."

"Yeah," the spearman responded. "And they glow too." Doran rubbed his temple with a sigh in an attempt to halt his headache.

"Yes... They glow too."

"But I’m pretty sure," Abby quietly continued. "That a sack of stones is smarter than him."

"Let's keep going you two," Lydia spoke to Cyrus and Doran. "We're almost at the main hall." The group quickly continued down the stairs, hearing the sounds of voices steadily becoming louder.

Once the group finally reached the bottom of the stairs, they entered a medium sized room with a large wooden door directly facing the long staircase. More of the glowing flowers lined the walls and ceiling of this stone room and the vines seemed to keep the old bricks in place. Many voices could be heard past the double doors, Cyrus could even make out sounds of laughter as the blue dressed woman placed her hands on the wooden entrance.

Lydia pushed the door open revealing a massive room filled with round tables, chairs, and even more of the glowing flowers to make the room as bright as day. At each table was a group of adventurers, different races and ages all talking loudly, joking, and eating food. The walls that lined the room had many hallway entrances that lead deeper into the crypts. Cyrus and Doran smelled flavorful food being cooked somewhere in the main hall and their stomachs immediately rumbled. Looking at the tables, they saw that the main hall served food as everyone was either eating or drinking.

Among the massive crowd was a human man with thick stubble on his face walking around with a tray in his hand, the tray was full with plates of food and mugs of what Cyrus assumed to be beer. The smiling man weaved through the tables and walked people as he looked around and seemingly took orders.

"Hey, Aaron!" A Satyr cheerfully called out while holding up an empty mug. "Can I get a refill on this?"

"Where's my Pheasant?" Asked a curious Orc.

"We got a spill over here!" Laughed a female Elf as she looked at a beast man lying on the floor in a puddle of alcohol, the best man was laughing in a drunken stupor.

Many other voices slowly called out to the human server named, Aaron, to anyone else it would look like he’s been overwhelmed. The man laughed as he approached the curious Orc and lowered a plate with a perfectly cooked bird on it.

"Here's your order, Gron," Aaron started before addressing the rest of the room. "I'll get you a refill in no time, Havel. Snow, I'll bring out a towel but you need to have your buddy off the floor by then..." The man continued to help the members of the guild and never once dropped his sincere smile. Cyrus, Doran, Abby, and Silvern found a table and sat down while Lydia chuckled at how the guild was running Aaron ragged again before heading into one of the many halls, saying she had to make a call.

"How long did it take you to set this place up?" Cyrus asked in amazement. Abby said it only took them two years of hard work and every guild member pitching in. Silvern remarked that they only made the place their base after clearing it out of the undead that was causing Roven trouble. "And they don't care that you guys are here?"

"It's a win win for both of us," the blonde elf replied, placing his pouches on the table. "We have a place to live with no rent and we take care of any trouble Roven experiences for free." Silvern removed his gloves before rifling through his pouches, Cyrus noticed that the crest that was tattooed on Lydia and Abby's arms was also on the back of Silvern's hand. Looking around the room he saw that many other people had the mark somewhere on their bodies, he assumed any he didn't see were covered by clothes. "Not only that, but we even offer work to the people of Roven if they ask for it." Silvern gestured towards Aaron as he made his way to their table, carrying his now empty tray under his arm.

"Welcome back, Abby. You too, Silvern." Aaron said happily, his deep voice coming through all the racket around them. "How’d the job go, Abby?" The beastwoman explained everything that happened, including the attack on Roven and how their guests helped protect everyone. Aaron looked shocked for a moment but quickly regained his composure. "Well, you're alive and don't have a dark cloud hanging over your head. So I assume Roven's fine?"

“You know it,” Abby nodded. “Will even helped put out the fires with some blue goop he made.”

"My little brother's experiment paid off? That's good to know, he’s been worried if that would work.” The server turned to Cyrus and Doran before giving them a friendly nod. “What can I do for you and our guests? Brave men like them deserve some food."

"I'll take the usual," Abby said hungrily, a small trail of drool already forming on her lips. After days of nonstop fighting, Silvern imagined his friend was starving by now.

"That pheasant Gron has will do for me." Silvern voiced as he looked at the orc who was already halfway done with his food, he never did know how to savor his food.

"What's the cheapest lunch cost?" Cyrus asked. Aaron said that it was nine copper and Cyrus decided that he wouldn't have anything, deciding to eat some of his wyvern jerky instead. Silvern jumped in and said he'd treat Cyrus and Doran to lunch and put in the same order as his for the pair.

"That'll be..." Aaron said while thinking about the orders. "Sixty coppers." Silvern blushed and replied the smallest he had was a silver, Aaron smiled and said he'd bring the change.

After Aaron took the coin and walked off, Silvern looked to Doran and said he'd be right back as his guild crest began to glow with a slight blue light. Silvern suddenly popped out of existence and left the travelers in shock.

"What was that?!" Cyrus practically shrieked as Doran's eyes shot wide open.

"Our crests not only show you we're part of the guild," Abby replied as she set her shield on the floor, using the table leg as a prop. "They also let us warp around the guild base, we added that feature after we realized we set up shop in the third largest set of catacombs in Earth Realm. If you try going everywhere on foot without knowing the layout, you’ll either get lost or find one of the four other entrances." The beast woman went on to say the only downside to the warp effect was that it could only be used in the guild hall. After getting his answer, Cyrus asked Doran where Silvern went.

"How would I know?" Doran replied. "But if I had to assume, he's going to get a book that has sketches of his pets." He explained that while he and Silvern were waiting for Cyrus and Abby to be finished with their treatment, Doran had complimented how well trained Silvern's animals were. The elf offered to show the swordsman a book he had that had sketches of all his "babies", Doran figured it wouldn't hurt to take a peek and agreed. Abby snickered at the story, saying that Doran had no idea what he was getting into.

Silvern popped back into his seat with a comically thick tome in his hands, Doran realized just how long he was going to be seated there. The beast tamer quickly opened the book to show extremely detailed drawings of multiple types of animals, fish, and even insects. Silvern began running off names and personality traits of his pets to Doran, who was already regretting his decision, while Abby was having a good laugh with Cyrus as he mentioned how easy it was to annoy his pale friend.

Aaron once again wormed his way through the crowd as he made his way to the back of the room, on the back wall was a large board lined with multiple papers with "JOBS" nailed to the top of the board. To the left of the job board was a doorway that led directly to a large kitchen made with bricks that were clearly new compared to the rest of the room. The heat sources for all the cooking came from dozens of sun-stones, the guild opted for this rather than risk using wood made fire. The kitchen was lined with all manner of pots, pans, plates, bowls, and cupboards, it would be hard to believe that this room was never part of the crypt's original layout. Inside the kitchen was a young looking woman with odd, orange colored hair. She wore white chef’s attire as she bolted around the kitchen by her lonesome and showed no signs of any issues, even when she started chopping vegetables without looking so she could keep an eye on her oven.

"You seem a little lazy today, Jessica." Aaron joked. "Four more orders: three pheasant plates and a roasted board special!"

"Abby must be back," The woman called back as she stirred some soup while also reaching for a wet pan that was resting on a counter next to what appeared to be a lapis lazuli. "She's the only one who orders that." The waiter made a comment that he was taking three hundred and forty copper from the safe to make change for Silvern. "Oh, come on! I know 'silver' is literally in the man's name, but he needs to learn to carry some copper!" Jessica told the man to let her know when the two new guests started eating, she was curious to hear how they'd like her cooking.

"You knew we had two new people?" Aaron asked in amazement.

"The front hall and this kitchen are my domain, you can't replace a single brick without me noticing the difference." Jessica grunted as she pulled out a boar and quickly began carving into it like a skilled professional. While she did so, Aaron tied off a sack filled with Silvern's change and placed it along with four empty cups on his tray. He picked up the blue gem that was resting on the counter and held it over the empty cups, water streamed from the lapis lazuli and filled them to the brim.

Satisfied with what he had done, Aaron quickly returned to Silvern's table to drop off his change and refreshments. He said their food would be ready soon, but the group was too busy enjoying themselves to notice so he left Silvern's change and the cups at the center of the round table before going to help another member of the guild.

In a separate location deep within the guild, Lydia entered a room filled with scrolls, books, and gems. In the center of the room was a table with a large, well cut garnet resting on a pillow. Lydia approached the table and took the garnet into her hands, raising it to her face.

"Gaius, are you there?" Lydia asked in a sweet voice. The gem in her hands began to emit a dim light before a hazy image appeared on one its face, a gruff voice replied to Lydia's question.

"Hey, Lydia!" The voice called out in a happy tone. "How was the meeting with that noble... Waffle?" Lydia laughed at the voice’s question.

"The Noble's name was, 'Wappol', Gaius. And it went well, but I will be happy to get out of this dress and into more comfortable attire." Lydia asked why the image from his garnet was so hazy, Gaius replied by saying he dropped the gem in some mud a few days prior and he couldn't seem to get it all off yet. "Don't tell me you're still hiding from the rest of the masters." Lydia gave a sympathetic sigh before moving on to the reason why she called him. "How much longer will you be in the Realm of Lightning? We have a possible new recruit, then there's the matter of the special job that we were contacted about."

"I won't be back in the Realm of Earth for at least another week. The Master Summit is taking its sweet time getting done. Wait, new recruit? Tell me about them." Lydia told all that she knew which, aside from what Abby and Silvern noticed, wasn't much. Cyrus seemed to keep a tight lip in many parts of his life. The most she was able to get out of him from talking was that he had a strong desire to find the truth of the legends of the seven stars and lost kingdom. She also mentioned that he was friends with a member of the Fioran Church and showed no signs of directly joining the guild.

"Well, aren't they the odd couple?" Gaius laughed before growing silent for a moment.

"Gaius?" Lydia asked after he stayed silent for nearly a minute.

"Abigail and Silvern are at the guild right? Have them take on the special job and have them take the odd couple." Lydia asked if he was sure, suggesting that maybe someone else could take on the job. "Tsukasa is still here with me and Vein won't be available due to him being in the Realm of Storms. Abigail and Silvern will do just fine to both watch this, Cyrus, and handle an easy task of investigating a forest."

"But it's not just any forest Gaius. It'll be dangerous." Lydia spoke with legitimate concern for the adventurers.

"So Abigail will be eager to jump on it!" Gaius laughed. "Trust me, The Evergreen Forest will be child's play for our favorite wolf and tamer."

Many miles away from the Blue Star Guild, a city that was seated next to an immense forest was in panic. Though it was mid-autumn, the forest was still a vibrant green and alive. But this is not what was causing the panic, in the center of the city was a gruesome scene. Three bodies were flayed and left out in the sun next to the city’s large fountain, two of the bodies had a few severed limbs and the blood from the corpses stained the cobblestone street while one of the severed limbs floated in the fountain and died the water a pale red.

Several knights were busy trying to keep a crowd from gathering and attempting to keep order, though the panic was steadily spreading. Another knight walked towards a well dressed man who was investigating the bodies, the man had a saber at his side and held a grim look on his moustached face.

"Sir Auren," the knight said quietly. "Is it the same as the others?"

"Indeed," the well dressed man said solemnly. "This makes the total number of victims eighteen. First the robbery of the weapons warehouse, and now a murderer has appeared. All the while something is happening to The Evergreen Forest." Auren scratched his chin as he thought. "Increase the number of knights on patrol and enforce a mandatory curfew, I want to keep as many people safe as possible."

The knight nodded in response before returning to the crowd, the finely dressed man looked down at one of the dismembered bodies and saw that he had a crest tattooed to the back of his bloody neck. The crest was of a six fingered hand, Auren recognized this as The Phantom Palm Guild crest. The man thought aloud to himself as he looked at the body.

"Why are so many of the victims from guilds?"