Black lotus guild hall; scarlet cove sewers

Seshwan stepped through the guild hall entrance and was met with cheers! The whole guild was their usual rowdy selves, unlike usual today they cheered and greeted their new fellow thief for successfully stealing items from the one place no one could hope to touch.

Seshwan ascended to the top of the hall to find four of the six masters present; all seated at a long table with his allies seated on the opposite side. The mood here was fouler than the greetings Seshwan had previously received.

"Ah boy, you finally here!" Master crest stood and exclaimed.

"Yes, I was occupied previously with ensuring grey got medical treatment. If he hadn't been carrying a warden with him he would have succumbed to his injuries before we escaped the crypts." Seshwan explained to the group.

"That's fine Sesh, I'm glad you made it out safe but we're gathered here to debrief the four of you on this mission." Walter had a stern expression on his face.

"Master Walters right! Congratulations on a successful heist but you four are in a world of trouble if you can't explain why your mark is now dead!" Master Hilliard slammed his fist down on the table.

Master lotus sat calm faced and speechless.

"Tell us why you killed Cedric! And how did you escape the vault after the door was sealed?" Master crest was more excited than upset and was amazed Seshwan found a route out of the vault.

Seshwan gave a brief recount of what had happened at Cedric’s home and how Xerxes had killed him with Seshwan permission.

At this moment Xerxes wished to speak up but Seshwan glared at him. His eyes shooting daggers.

A hum started in Seshwan's ear

"Screw you, playing the hero! I killed that guy because I wanted to! let me take the credit!" Xerxes’ voice spoke in Seshwan head.

"With that masters; I hope that issue is put to rest it was my idea to kill Cedric because he was a disgusting waste of life and I could not turn a blind eye to the injustice. Now as for the vault escape there was a secret tunnel leading to the Geohmn crypts that we used to escape. Thought the guild will be unable to use this tunnel again as the crypt is full of undead and was resealed by the Knight Commander of the Holy Knights." Seshwan explained

He was covering the fact he had entered the void and met the void master. The masters also did not need to know about Drax or the Dragon stone. So he explained that portion in vague detail.

"I guess that makes sense. What became of Vanessa? This assassin from the Scarlet Gem was she arrested?" Master Hilliard asked.

"No sir, she should be along anytime. I invited her to travel with me in the future." Seshwan said this with a smirk.

'I have no choice I saved her life her tribal code won’t let her leave my service till she repays me. Just another killer following me around, it’s bad enough I have Xerxes.' Seshwan thought as the conversation continued.

"If she joins the guild then we shall allow it." Master lotus had broken his silence. "As for you four, I'm splitting you up. You will also pay a heavy tax for killing against orders. Do you understand want I've said to you?"

After a brief discussion, it was decided that master crest would remain as Colm teacher. Walter would escort Elise to train with master Flamehammer in the Republic of Commons at another chapter of Black lotus. As for Seshwan and Xerxes, they would be leaving for the midland swamps to meet master Kubard to finalize Xerxes becoming Walter’s new student.

The new assignment had been handed out and the serious tone was dropped as a few servants were tasked with retrieving the loot from the vault along with wine to celebrate a large score. The guild was taxing this loot at eighty-five percent as a penalty for killing and breaking rules.

All the cultivation materials from the empire would also go to the guild as these things required delicate handling when sold to fences and back to the suppliers for the empire.

Of the loot, they got to keep Elise got a flame attribute leather jack, her resistance against other essences, other than water, would greatly improve. The jacket was also enhanced with inscriptions to bolster her fire essence when fighting in tandem with a Wind Element user.

Colm took the set of knives Seshwan had taken from Cedric’s home along with a water attribute ward totem. The set of Herman Gentry Knives suited someone who was trained in dual-wielding short weapons perfectly; though Colm had a small amount of training with two knives he was confident he could master these weapons. The water totem he had selected was a basic elemental totem that could store the essence of its user out of combat and later supplement it back to the user during a fight. What made this particular totem special above a run of the mill totem was who crafted it. A Smith known as Raging Tides; who was famous for his unique inscriptions. This totem had a high-risk inscription called lifeline; if the life of the user was in danger it would act and boost his regeneration and essence abilities by almost two-hundred percent at the cost of the totem.

Xerxes took a smiting hammer weighing about two hundred pounds. A beginner’s hammer for demonic craftsmen. At a glance the hammer looked completely average; though the moment Xerxes' essence made contact with the handle the hammer transformed. The head was engraved with depictions of a great battle of angels and demons at the beginning of time.

"Hey, Colm! Did you find what I asked you for?" Xerxes shouted toward Colm who was busy filling his totem with essence across the room.

"Look with your eyes man. It’s in that box." Colm said calmly. Eyes closed as he concentrated on his totem.

Xerxes looked once more through the chest to find a weapon he had asked Colm to find above all else.

One of Master Hilliard's apprentices approached the chest and retrieved a bow, "Cool a lighting essence bow!"

A grim expression crossed over Xerxes’ face. "What was that? A lighting bow?" Xerxes asked.

"That’s what I said!" the apprentice’s gaze transferred from the bow to Xerxes. "are you okay?"

In a moment the apprentice found himself on the floor, blood trickling down from his nose. His head was spinning.

Seshwan had only just seen what had transpired as Xerxes turned toward this other apprentice and sucker-punched the poor kid in the face. "Come on guys, at least don’t get blood on the carpet," Seshwan said shaking his head.

"Okay, Colm I found the bow, thanks, buddy!" Xerxes shouted toward Colm.

Colm still focused on his work raised his center finger as a response.

"Okay, Fuck you too," Xerxes said with a smile as he went to help the other apprentice to his feet.

The lighting bow Xerxes had requested Colm to find was a high-grade piece of equipment; These kinds of weapons didn't do a lot of physical damage to users of the same level but they scale to the user’s level accurately and could grow with the user. A bonus was after apprentice-level three the user would no longer require arrows. Instead, lighting would form as the missile to be fired. Causing a discharged explosion when the arrow landed.

Seshwan had given up his portions of gear and gold to the guild as a sign of good faith. He had accumulated Drax's sword and knowledge on the Dragon stones. His trip was worth the headaches.

After the loot was divided up Seshwan raised a hand toward Colm. "Pay up she didn't sleep with him."

With this Colm's eyes shot open breaking his concentration.

"To hell with you! You killed the guy so she couldn't! The bets off." Colm shouted. He knew he had lost but didn't want to admit it.

Elise had remained silent the whole time while being reprimanded, after the mention of a bet was made her eye lit up with a deep disgust for her fellow team member. "You bastards had some kind of bet on me sleeping with Cedric?"

Xerxes saw a moment to throw Colm to the wolves and took it. "If it makes you feel better Seshwan bet you wouldn’t sleep with him. Only Colm thought you would do it to get the seal. This was completely his idea from the start." Xerxes smiled from ear to ear; as he watched Elise's gaze fell onto Colm

Colm glared at Xerxes, 'this bastard trying to avoid the fact he was the one to suggest the idea of a bet.'

Elise flew into a fury; "You Bastard! How dare you assume I have no morals. I should gut you right here!"

Master Lotus was at the end of the table tallying the count of pills and elixirs they had pilfered from the empire as these children squabbled opposite himself. "I understand you trying to have fun. But I'm trying to work here." he calmly stated.

The master was calm and collected as always but anger rose in his face as the fighting continued and he had been ignored.

"Colm I am going to kill you! And Xerxes like id trust a demon’s word you probably put him up to this!" Elise was fired up and not listening.

Master lotus stood "All of you shut your damn mouths! You’re the most successful recruits we have brought in in a long time! And Possibly future leaders of this guild! Take your fighting and childish games the hell out of my sight!"

Walter couldn’t help start laughing at the old man’s scolding. "Master we were all like this at one time, they’re just kids! Let them have fun."

Lotus' gaze snapped over to Walter. A cold piercing light could be seen in the master’s eyes, "You’re the master of this guild halls training. Go put their energy to work. Perhaps do something useful, you brat!"

"Wow, you are pissed! aren't you? Fine ill set them to training. Couldn’t hurt to teach them something before they all head out in a few days." Walter submitted out of respect for Master Lotus. "Come on newbies we’re going to learn some new skills to keep you from getting killed in the outside world."

Walter stood and motioned toward the bunch; all seated now and scared witless by Master lotus' outburst.

As the group left the room master lotus heard Xerxes utter a quiet "He was so nice before" This quip sent the master overboard one last time throwing a sword toward the exiting group. Xerxes turned back with a mocking smile.

'Damn demon child he's going to be a huge headache when he's older.' Master Lotus thought while rubbing his temples

Black lotus training rooms; Walters room

This was the largest training room in the cistern. The walls were scorched, scraped and smashed. Many different techniques were practiced here, along with all the guilds sparring. Walter sat cross-legged smoking his pipe on a pedestal overlooking the training area.

“Okay two of you will spar; Xerxes and Colm since you two enjoy fooling around your first.” Walter addressed the four youth from his seat. “As for Elise you will take Seshwan copy of the technique [Shadow Step Transition] you will learn this technique for the next three days then I will assign new work. Lastly, Seshwan, since you possess talent in all essences I’d like you to start meditating where ever you feel suits you. In three days I hope to see you form a new real guard. We don’t have any training techniques like your [Tectonic Shell] so I don’t know if you will be able to achieve a new real guard. Regardless you will try.”

The group separated to their respective training. For the next few days.

Eight hours into the training session the group was surprised by the arrival of Vanessa and Master Crest.

“Recruit for you, Walter. She’s a level three Apprentice with a water essence and She’s already received training as an assassin.”

“Is that so? Very well miss, you are going to join our training for now.” Walter stood, jumped to the ground level and walked over to a chest. After a moment of digging through the chest, he retrieved a scroll. “Here’s a water technique for stealth and tracking. [Mist Form Divination] mastering this will allow you to mask your essence to avoid any kind of detection and you can use moisture to sweep for hidden enemies that try to escape you or lay an ambush.”

“Thank you master ill work hard.” Vanessa was determined to do her best.

She accepted the scroll and walked out into the cistern. Within the room, she could see Colm in a stranglehold by Xerxes. Elise was climbing a crumbling wall repetitively. While Seshwan sat motionless on a destroyed wall eyes closed and face moulded with determination.

She found a spot near a drainage channel that was running water. As she sat down Vanessa recounted her last few hours having met the guild masters. ‘as a mercenary I had always heard of the black lotus, I should have sought them out a long time ago. This place should be beneficial for my future. Though I wonder what became of the others.'

when Vanessa had arrived she received no hostility whatsoever. Master lotus had invited her to join the guild and serve as a future guide and companion to Seshwan. The master had said; “Seshwan is extremely important to the future of this guild you must give your life to ensure no harm comes to that boy.”

Vanessa pondered as she scanned the contents of the scroll; ‘Was he that important? He had guided them through the void and helped them escape the treasure vault. But he was a level two apprentice with earth essence. This boy was going to be a purely defensive fighter why would he need companions to guard him?’

At the End of the first day of training, the group gathered for a meal; introduced Vanessa and shared their experiences from the day. Xerxes had won every match against Colm.

“There’s a thought that keeps reoccurring in my mind, how did the last part of the heist go?” Seshwan was curious as he was within the void at the time.

“They used the route you told us they would use, Elise, blocked their advance while Colm and I approached from behind. They didn’t last long, those guards handed over the chest without a fight. It all went over easily!” Xerxes explained.

Elise took a moment to interject “Only because you held the highest-ranked guy at knifepoint and threatened to assault his manhood!”

The men all winced in unison.

“Xerxes that not what we discussed. I told you not to do that.” Seshwan mockingly said toward Xerxes.

“Eh, it worked didn’t it. Let god judge me another time” Xerxes smirked.

Walter sat up high meditating with a smile on his face Seshwan had started to come out of his shell and was gaining confidence. ‘That boy in time will make a great guild master.’

The group continued to train for three days. Xerxes began to lose one or two fights to Colm. Elise trained in basic combat techniques of an assassin along with studying techniques with a rapier. On the fourth day, Vanessa and Elise began sparring.

All the while Seshwan sat silently meditating. ‘why can’t I feel any kind of change within my realms today? I thought for sure there was something present yesterday, maybe if I move spots?’

Seshwan stood with his eyes closed sensing the essence around him. Walking around the training ground aimlessly. Before approaching Xerxes and Colm and sitting directly in the center of where the pair were sparring. ‘finally, I feel it again!’

“Umm Sesh? You want to not sit directly where we’re fighting?” Colm had been confused when he saw Seshwan walk over.

Xerxes used Seshwan's distraction to land a high kick to Colm's shoulder knocking him off his feet.

Seshwan raised his index finger to his lips but didn’t say a word.

Walter understood what was happening and knew Seshwan shouldn’t be disturbed. “Colm don’t let your guard down cause an obstacle appears, continue sparring, if you hit him he gets a free hit on you. That you’re not allowed to block.”

Within Seshwan’s realms, he could feel a warm fuzzy tingle, and after a few hours, the meditating a spark ignited within Seshwan. *Boom* a sound resonated throughout the cistern as if thunder had clapped within the training room. Seshwan opened his eyes now shining with heavenly light. He felt as if he had undergone a massive change.

“Seshwan!” Xerxes smacked Seshwan across the face dispelling his feeling of tranquillity.

“Why did you hit me!?” Seshwan was outraged from being smacked. As he stood to retaliate he noticed everyone had stopped training. The masters had entered the room along with other members of the guild.

Seshwan inspected himself to find a band of energy around his finger! “I did it! I've formed the lightning real guard!”

Everyone stared in disbelief.

“It’s not fair”

“The gods are unjust”

“Why this kid? Why not me?”

Master Hilliard stepped forward with a grim expression. “This is truly an impressive boy, though I’m going to ask you to not celebrate yet. The only cases of a dual essence user having both earth and lightning essences have never been any kind of useful. The earth acts as a grounding insulator that suppresses lighting. Your two essences may hinder your future growth if used in tandem.”