The heavy silence lingering over the bar felt completely suffocating. The three low-tier thugs had just scrambled out the door like terrified rats, leaving me entirely at the mercy of the two apex predators who had casually taken their place.
And currently, the tall, fiery-haired werewolf was leaning so close her nose was practically buried in my neck, taking a long, shuddering sniff of my scent.
"You smell..." she murmured, her voice dropping a full octave to a husky whisper, "...delicious."
[Oh, come on…! Chivalry truly is dead.]
I braced myself against the counter, trying my best to suppress the urge to roll my eyes.
I had just traded one set of grabby, entitled thugs for a significantly more dangerous set. It was going to be the exact same coercive bullshit, just backed by terrifyingly high stats.
[Well…] I consoled myself, letting my eyes drop over the pristine leather hugging her impressive curves. [At least these two are actually gorgeous… maybe I should break them in…]
"Back up, Vala," the petite swordswoman ordered, her voice remaining completely flat and devoid of any inflection. "You are drooling."
The werewolf, Vala, snapped her jaws shut with an audible click, taking a reluctant half-step back, though her crimson eyes remained glued to my face with intense interest.
With the werewolf out of my immediate personal space, the swordswoman stepped forward. Her cold blue eyes swept analytically over my body, carrying the sterile, calculating weight of a quartermaster doing a tactical inventory check.
She didn't look at me with lust or hunger. Instead, her gaze cataloged the leather quiver resting on my back before noting the specific fletching on the broadheads. She eyed the black bow strung across my shoulder, finishing her visual sweep on the rare-grade abyssal steel knife strapped to my thigh.
"You did not panic when they boxed you in…" Elise stated, meeting my gaze without blinking. "You carry archery gear, a close-quarters blade, and you possess a fire affinity. You are a backline skirmisher."
I crossed my arms, resting my back against the bar counter. "Yeah…something like that."
"I am Elise," the swordswoman said, tapping her adventurer's card fastened to her pristine chest plate. "Tier 5, Mid Stage. Rank-B adventurer."
She then gestured a thumb toward the flushed redhead beside her. "This is Vala. Tier 4, Perfected Stage. Rank-A."
I kept my face perfectly neutral, letting the numbers process in my head as my mind immediately snagged on the math.
[Wait…] I thought, looking between the two heavily armed women. [Elise is an entire tier higher than the werewolf in raw stats, but her official guild rank is lower?]
It was a quiet but massive detail, slowing the chaotic pace of the morning down as I digested the implications. It told me exactly how this world actually operated. Guild ranks clearly weren't just a basic, linear measure of raw power or mana capacity; they had to be tied directly to quest completion, track records, or actual field experience. Power meant nothing if you didn't have the resume to back it up.
"We need a backline…" Vala quickly cut in, stepping forward again.
She aggressively crossed her muscular arms under her chest, clearly trying to strike an intimidating, veteran pose.
But the heavy, spreading flush on her cheeks and the rapid, excited wagging of her bushy tail completely betrayed her act. "We are diving the Crying Caves today. You should come with us."
[Here it comes,] I braced myself, waiting for the inevitable demand for 'compensation.'
"You have the option to decline if you are not comfortable…" Elise added, her voice remaining perfectly steady as she casually rested a hand on her sword pommel. "We will not force you to do anything you do not want to do. But you, specifically, will be constantly harassed by low-tier trash like the ones who just cornered you. We genuinely need a rear guard, and we can offer you a safe party."
I blinked, genuinely surprised.
It wasn't a demand. It wasn't a threat masked as an invitation either.
It was a surprisingly respectful, entirely logical proposition.
I let the silence stretch for a moment, looking between the imposing werewolf and the calculating swordswoman.
They dripped with high-end gear, carrying themselves with the absolute, unshakeable confidence of genuine powerhouses. Through the lens of a pure numbers game, they were premium targets. Farming nodes that could probably buy me months of lifespan if I played my cards right and managed to pull them into my orbit.
Plus, I desperately needed to learn the dungeon economy. Following two high-tier veterans who were actively offering me protection was the smartest, safest way to test my combat limits without dying on day one.
"Alright," I nodded, letting a lazy, confident smirk cross my face. "I'm in."
Vala's red eyes practically glowed, her tail blurring behind her as it wagged even harder.
"Luca!"
The sudden shout cut cleanly through the low hum of the tavern noise. I glanced over, finding the panther beastkin receptionist waving a shiny metal card from the registration desk across the hall.
"Hold that thought," I told the two women, pushing off the stool to make the short walk back to the counter.
The receptionist slid the metal card toward me, her golden eyes lingering on the two apex predators waiting for me by the bar.
She looked thoroughly impressed, clearly recognizing exactly who I was associating with. "Just flow a bit of your mana into the metal to confirm the imprint, and you are officially registered."
I picked up the cool metal, pushing a tiny sliver of my MP into the surface. The etched rune instantly flared with a bright, vivid green light.
"Perfect," she smiled, her feline ears twitching happily. "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, Luca."
I pocketed the card, turning my back on the desk after a polite nod and walking back to the werewolf and the swordswoman while adjusting the leather strap of my quiver against my chest.
"All set," I said, stopping in front of them. "Lead the way."
Elise simply turned on her heel, her silver armor clanking softly as she immediately headed for the exit.
Vala fell in right beside me, purposefully walking a little too close. She let her bare arm brush against mine, her nose twitching as she eagerly inhaled the scented air around me.
[Target acquired… now, time to go to work…] I smirked, stepping out of the Guild doors and heading toward my first-ever adventure.