Chapter 13: Gathering

People present in the guild doesn't know what to do, from what they heard, Viv won't let his prey escape. If they move, what will happen to them? They are all conflicted; wanting to escape but also not wanting to anger the maniac.

"You bat!" the redhead mage whipped her lasso again to take Viv's knives away from him but he knew her plan and jumped, keeping his knives inside his belt.

As he jumped, his gaze landed on one of the adventurers who are frozen in his seat, "do you want to play with me?"

Viv's face darkened, with his eye and creepy smile the only thing visible, those who witnessed the creepy scene screamed their lungs out.

"Oi," the redhead stepped forward and splits her lasso into three thin ones with thin sharp thorns, "this is not a place for you to dissect."

Lance who didn't know Viv's reputation felt a lump in his throat. His vision blur with what he just learned and Verin took notice of this. It is not just his friend and the adventurers, but the staff are also trembling in fear.

With two ruby adventurers creating chaos inside the guild, this could harm their image and would just create more insults from others.

Verin made his way between the two and unsheathed his sword; raised it and shifted his grip.

"This is not what the guild is for. Both of you calm down!"

Everyone stood straight except for the ruby adventurers who are anticipating Verin's next move.

Lithea took the opportunity to leave and take her quest given by the keeper before they let her go. As she moved, Viv noticed it and threw a knife at her. But before it could hit her, she turned around to catch the knife.

Viv's eyes dilated, "oohh~"

Verin's veins popped on his temples and sheathed his sword to take down Viv with his bare hand. He grabbed his arms and pinned him down.

"That is against the rules, bastard!" he growled.

Viv didn't answer but just smiled still looking at Lithea, it's the first time for him to have someone catch his knives as he is one of the fastest and has the best agility out of all adventurers.

With all the commotion happening in such a short period, a thud was heard by the front desk. They all whipped their head towards who the person making the noise and to their surprise, the dark and creepy atmosphere inside the guild is slowly fading with every step this person makes.

Lilac coloured shoes, a white and golden staff with a huge orb above it and golden rays. Big fluffy dress and gigantic ribbon on top of her platinum blonde hair. Her face wore such innocent smile.

She raised her staff and lightly tap it on the ground to release a small amount of magic for everyone inside, "let's introduce ourselves properly, shall we?"

"Tia!" Viv shouted and easily broke free from Verin as he didn't pay attention to Viv when the young kid with staff appeared.

"What the!"

Viv ran towards the kid, everyone got alarmed as to what he will do but to their surprise, he stood beside her and rubbed his head on her fluffy hair.

The redhead mage blinked her eyes and was taken aback, "what the fuck is this?"

All of a sudden, an unknown surge of relaxation showered the whole guild. The short blonde's power rained on them to stop them from causing any more scene.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Thenea Ember. A light mage and a member of the ruby rank," she waved her hand and released a magic to make the ruby ranks introduced themselves automatically.

Everyone looked at each other, a short little girl is a ruby adventurer. Those who are below them and are older than her has the urge to feel angry but for some unknown reason, their negative feelings are blocked by something and they all remained calmed.

After she said her name, the redhead went next, "I'm Serene."

The redhead who introduced herself as Serene covered her mouth, "why the heck did I do that?"

She looked at Thenea and she just gave her an innocent smile.

"Verin."

"I'm Lance. An archer."

"Viv!"

They all waited for the priestess to say her name but she didn't budge. Thenea tilted her head and put a finger on her lips, wondering why it didn't affect her, "hmm?"

"That sort of magic won't work on me."

"Magic?" Serene asked, "What magic?"

Thenea didn't mind Serene and just shrugged before speaking, "well, let me ask you."

Lithea just looked at her.

"May I please know your name?"

"Lithea."

Thenea waited for her to say her complete name but it didn't happen. She clasped her hands together and hopped towards the priestess to hold her hand, "there! Now all ruby ranks have finally gathered!"

Serene, Lance, and Verin all looked at Thenea suspiciously. How could she conceal her presence the whole time when she's just there? Everyone in the ruby rank is able to detect a person if they are strong, and there are only a handful of people that are strong enough for them to sense inside the guild.

What they don't know is, it is one of the advantage of light mages, if the sun is out, they won't be able to detect her presence, but at night, it is hard for them to conceal themselves.

Lithea walked silently, trying to observe her surroundings as she's on her way north to help a village inside the capital with their problem: gigantic cursed bats. They come around once a week, destroying their crops and injuring people who goes home during the night. And since the bat attacks are unpredictable, they are getting anxious every day. With their desperation, they put in money to hire an adventurer to slay all of the bats.

And since it involves their livelihood and the kingdom's economy, the guild rated it as a B rank quest. Perfect test for the newbie who acquired the highest rank.

The streets on the way to the village are all made out of wood, those buildings made by bricks are only official structures like the guild. Lithea also observed how there are almost no children walking inside the capital, if there is one, they are accompanied by adults. She had no idea the capital is very strict. She must study their ways once she settled in.

That is, if she has time to spare.

"Remind me," Lithea broke her observation with the person who spoke behind her, "why do I have to tag along?" Verin wore a bored expression as he yawned.

"Oh," Thenea laughed, "I didn't tell you to tag along, I simply suggested to watch her performance."

Verin tried to recall what happened earlier.

"It was everyone's choice to tag along!" Thenea swayed her body from left to right as she walks.

"And," Lance pulled Verin to him with his arm around his friend's shoulders, "I was the one who dragged you here."

"And you're proud?" Verin glared at the archer causing him to slowly leave his side.

Serene played with her long braids, chewing some gum, "in my case, I feel like I need to keep an eye on that brat."

She summoned a seed and dropped it on top of Viv's head who's restlessly watching the clouds while walking; his mouth hang.

Viv only let out a breathy, "oh." Not knowing what dropped on his head.

Thenea giggled and went over to Serene to cling on her arm, "there's a reason why there's a light mage in our group!"

Serene didn't mind Thenea's actions but what keeps bugging her is her age. She's shorter than Viv and he is also known as the short adventurer, and with her cute voice and innocent face, she can't help but wonder if she's younger than 14.

"How old are you anyway? You look way too young to join the guild," Serene squints her eyes, "and judging your appearance, you're from a noble household."

Thenea blinked her eyes and laughed out loud, taking the attention of everyone else, especially Viv.

"What's funny?" Serene asked, annoyed.

"Because I am already 20 years old!" she shrugged.

Except Lithea who didn't care and continued observing her surroundings, and Viv who is blank, they all spat out their imaginary water. They keep looking at her from head to toe, and toe to head. They could not believe she's twenty when she looks like a child.

"You're telling me you're the same age as Verin?" Lance fussed, "and you're this short?"

He moved closer to her and tried to see where she stood next to him.

Thenea tilted her head and smiled sweetly before hitting him with her staff on top of his head.

"Ah!"

A tear formed in his eyes as the bump grew on his crown.

Verin fixed his cape and asked, "So, we're the oldest here, huh?"

"No," Serene shook her head and closed her eyes, proudly revealing her age. "I'm 21."

She expected for them to fuss over her too, wanting to receive the same reaction as Thenea. She wanted them to believe she's younger than that. But unfortunately for their redhead member, her mature appearance made them think she's older than that.

When she opened her eyes, she found them nodding, agreeing with everything.

She blinked her eyes and this time, everyone was talking to one another, ignoring her.

She rubbed her eyes gently and this time, everyone was laughing and giggling with each other, completely not showing interest in her.

Serene growled, if one would visualized her rage, she's covered with flames, "why are your reactions like that?!"

She whipped her lasso around having the other members running around to avoid her wrath. And when she's done, everyone panted with small cuts all over their body.

A small tear escaped their eyes.

All of a sudden, a very quiet, yet audible voice spoke in a restless manner, "I'm 21 too."

The three of them, Verin, Lance, and Serene, froze. They slowly looked at Viv who's still looking up the sky. And when Viv turned to face them, the three of them quickly backed away to avoid him.

Serene being sandwich by the two guys, trying to hide themselves behind her, she tried pushing them away from her.

"You stupid coward adventurers!"

"You're scared of his face too!" Lance screamed back but he immediately straightened his back when he realized something, "wait, does that mean I'm the youngest?"

Lance did a little dance to celebrate his accomplishment but it was received with daggers by the ruby ranks.

Serene tapped his shoulder to make him stop, "that's gross."

He glared at her.

"Also, we don't know her age." She nodded towards Lithea who never once joined them.

"Hey, priestess." Verin called her.

Lithea didn't stop walking but moved her head to the side a little, giving them her attention.

"How old are you?" Thenea asked.

"I just turned 16."

Everyone stopped walking, including Viv as Serene held his arm for him to join them.

"WHAAAT?!" they all can't believe their ears, she's the youngest.

Viv wore a heave-eyed expression, closing to dozing off, "huh?"

After knowing everyone's age and a short bicker with some members, they have finally arrived in the village.

"There's the village, Lithea." Verin informed. She only nodded as a response.

"The bats come out here as soon as the sun leaves the sky," he added, "you should be fine for a few minutes. You can prepare your mind and—"

Lithea walked towards a fenced house with a huge land filled with corn crops beside their property.

"Did she just walk away from you?" Serene tittered, teasing Verin.

He slowly moved his head to face her and sighed, rolling his eyes on her; he moved towards the others who found a spot across Lithea to watch her battling the bats.

Serene frowned and squinted her eyes, "UGH! WHY DOES EVERYONE HERE SO MOODY?"

Thenea waved her hand for Serene, "come on, come on!"

She looked up and saw the night is slowly devouring the sky and hurried towards the people she just met.

The night has finally come and everyone is excited to know how she would deal the situation. B rank missions are usually given to pearl ranks or gold ranks who are recommended for promotion.

Such a dangerous mission for an inexperienced adventurer, no matter how strong someone is, not knowing how to fight is a disadvantage.

"They are here." Viv's eyes penetrated through the woods and saw small glowing eyes moving fast to where they are.