" This way, Mr. Stargazer," Elara said, her voice a perfect blend of professional grace and warm, big-sisterly guidance.
She led us away from the busy administrative counter and into the heart of the Guild's tavern. The air here was thick with the scent of roasted meats and the rowdy symphony of clinking tankards. Elara moved with an effortless confidence that suggested she knew every loose floorboard in the building. She slid into a heavy oak booth tucked into a quiet corner, gesturing for me to sit. Snow, true to form, didn't wait for an invite; she hopped onto the table and wrapped her twin tails around her paws, looking like a fluffy, white centerpiece that expected to be served first.
A Dwarven waitress arrived a moment later, sliding two massive, steaming plates onto the table. "Courtesy of the Guild Master," the waitress grunted, giving me a skeptical look. "Adda said you looked a bit scrawny, like you were made of twigs and bad luck. Eat up."
For me, it was a massive beast steak dripping with juices, seasoned with spices that had a faint, numbing kick. For Snow, a platter of premium, silver-scaled fish that looked expensive enough to fund a small village. Snow didn't even wait for the waitress to leave; she immediately began inspecting the quality with a judgmental sniff.
The Fairy Court
As the waitress turned to leave, she stumbled slightly under the weight of a massive tray of empty mugs she'd cleared from a neighboring table. Without breaking eye contact with me, Elara's posture shifted.
In a fluid, near-instant blur, Elara's body shimmered and contracted. One moment she was sitting across from me; the next, a six-inch-tall version of her was fluttering through the air on iridescent gossamer wings. She zipped over to the waitress, caught a falling mug mid-air, and helped steady the towering tray. She stayed there for a heartbeat, helping the waitress settle the load, before looping back through the air in a sparkling emerald arc.
She landed back in her seat and snapped back to full size so smoothly I barely saw the transition. "Where were we?"
"You just... you turned into a fairy," I stammered, my fork frozen halfway to my mouth.
"Not exactly," Elara laughed, a light, melodic sound. She tapped her collarbone, and a brilliant spark of emerald light—Pip—zipped out from her vest. "Noah, meet Pip. He's a Pixie—a Fae-type spirit beast. I'm a Wood Elf, but specifically from a branch called the Fairy Court. We specialize in bonding with the Fae—pixies, brownies, sprites, and other fey-type spirit beasts. The shrinking and the wings? That's the gift I get from my bond with Pip. It's a part of our shared nature now."
Snow's ears flattened, her posture dropping low against the oak as her pupils dilated into massive, pitch-black saucers. Her tails began a rapid, rhythmic swish, tracking Pip's every move.
"Noah," Snow projected, her mental voice breathless and entirely mesmerized.
"Snow, no," I hissed, pinning her to the table with one hand. "Do not swat the Pixie. He's a friend."
"I am a Queen, Noah. I do not 'swat'—I execute," Snow huffed, though she didn't move, her eyes still locked on Pip with primal feline intensity.
Once the plates were cleared, Elara gestured toward the silver D-3 hooked to my belt. "Let's get you familiar with your Guild communicator."
I unclipped the D-3 and set it on the table. Elara reached over, showing me how to tap the center icon and swipe up. A crisp, sapphire hologram projected into the air—a 3D globe of the Aetheria supercontinent.
"The Grid System," Elara explained. "We are here, Sector Four. Neutral territory. To the North, Tronjheim (Dwarves). East, Rheyalora (Elves). South, the Asharra Dominion (Beast-Men). And West, Alvaro Negredo (Humans)."
She swiped the map, showing me the jagged, static-filled grey areas spread across the grid. "These are the Void Sectors. We avoid those unless we're on a quest for exploring or mapping. We have to send teams out there regularly just to keep an eye on things, but you don't have to worry about that right now."
I scrolled through the interface for a few minutes before looking back up. "What else?"
She directed me to another menu—a scrawling list of available quests, each categorized by Guild rank and requirement. I touched one at random to get more information:
[HUNT: VOID-MUTATED STALK-SPIDERS - BRONZE RANK]. The D-3 gave me a sharp, disappointing buzz of rejection.
> [ACCESS DENIED: GUILD PERMISSIONS NOT AVAILABLE]
>
"The system is the governor's safety as much as possible," Elara said, her expression shifting into her professional mode. "You're Copper rank. You need to complete the full adventurer's training course and get the Guild instructor's approval. You also need to spend some time in the Archives getting to know the beast types."
She pointed toward the massive, three-story-tall quest board at the back of the hall. "A bit of advice: Soloists usually pick up quests straight from their communicators for privacy, but if you want to join a team, you should probably go to the physical board. That's where the real networking happens."
"One more thing, Noah," Elara said, tapping a specific icon on the display. "You see these two bars? CP and WC."
* CP (Contribution Points): "The lifeblood of an adventurer. Use these to buy high-grade catalysts, gear, or upgrade your quarters and plenty of other things you'll figure out slowly."
* WC (World-Credits): "Universal currency. You'll need these for anything outside the Guild, like food or drinks in the empires."
"The Guild allows you to exchange CP for WC, but it's a terrible rate," she warned. "Keep your CP for your gear and growth. Only exchange what you absolutely need for the road."
"So, stay Guild-broke to stay Empire-rich," I muttered.
As we were talking, a flash of movement caught my eye. Walking past our booth was Mara, the quiet human girl from earlier with the truth-telling powers. She was clutching a stack of books, head down. I gave her a friendly smile and a wave in hopes she'd notice. She didn't. She scurried on, disappearing into the crowd toward the library.
"She reads energy, Noah," Elara said softly, watching Mara go. "She probably feels your energy even before she sees you. I can tell you're very chaotic."
"Now," Elara stood up. "Time to show you your Guild-appointed quarters."