Emperor's Reckoning

Nafail gulped. ( Why are they keeping their mouth shut like that? ). The smiles, the grins, the slow breath, and the smirk of confidence, were all pointing to one fact that his heart couldn't admit.

"You, faced a Leviathan before?"

"Holy shit!" said Lyon as he chuckled.

"Huh?" Nafail stared at Lyon in disbelief ( Wait a minute, what? Why is he surprised? )

"We did that?" asked Lyon as he rubbed his chin and stared at the cobwebbed ceiling. The roof of his eyes glimmered with excitement as his mind was clearly taken elsewhere. ( Taking down a Leviathan, can you believe that ).

"What? You weren't there?" asked Nafail.

"I was, I was, I just can't remember it yet," said Lyon.

"Huh?" Nafail furrowed one of his brows. Lyon's answer only gave more confusion to his mind.

"Either way," Cecile said, "Is there anything else to add besides this Leviathan Party of hers?"

"Not that I know of, no," Nafail shook his head, "However, Avi— err, I mean, Miss Avi forgot to mention the title benefit that is bestowed upon one's incredible achievements."

"Title?" Lyon crossed his arms, "As in what exactly?"

"Well a great example would be the fact that you guys faced a Leviathan and are still alive, that would merit you a title from the Guild Link, I'm sure."

"Really? That simple?" asked Lyon.

"That simple? It's a Leviathan, it's a great beast as big as a city that roamed the endless depth of the sea!"

"But meeting one merit me a title? That's bullshit," said Lyon as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Meeting one is not rare, but surviving one is!" said Nafail as he tried his best to explain the severity of the party's achievement. "You see, one slap of its tail could make a torrent and change the weather of the entire land!"

"You mean from sunny to raining?" asked Lyon.

"That's right!"

"Nah, it's probably just a quick splash, you know, it just wagged its huge tail and the droplets of the water rained down the nearby city."

"But, well, I mean that's really logical, but I'm sure Leviathan would be able to control the sea."

"Stop daydreaming," said Lyon before he sighed.

"But you met one before," said Nafail before he mustered up his strength and asked the rest of the party, "How did you guys do it?"

"Hm? Do what?" asked Kesya.

"Surviving the rage of a Leviathan," Nafail gulped.

"We killed it?" said Kesya with one of her brows raised. "I mean, it's not easy but it was worth a wrestle, jiahahaha!"

"I have to save your butt from its jaw, remember?" said Cecile.

"You did? I thought it was the young master."

"It was I who pulled you out of its stomach as he and Graham fought the beast and keep it at the bay," Cecile sighed.

"Woah..." Luna couldn't blink her eyes as she imagined the battle. She wasn't there, but she could feel the brutal fight that was occurring then from the way they exchanged words.

( ....what? ) Nafail had his lips left gaping. His eyes were dryer than shared dessert as dust couldn't make them blink. The tavern's atmosphere shifted in that split second as they casually said that they had killed a Leviathan, something that he had never heard a story about.

Nafail gulped. He didn't dare to ask them whether they were lying or not, however, he found no reason for them to lie against someone like him. They could outdo Arf in a single shot to the jaw, but it was still far from facing a Leviathan.

"Wait a minute, where was Assid in the story?" asked Lyon.

"We haven't met yet, young master," said Assid.

"Oh really?" Lyon raised one of his brows.

( This... I feel like I'm not supposed to dig deeper into this ) Nafail gulped. The cloaked group was even more mysterious as he spent time with them. More questions and fewer answers.

"However, this would be a bit troublesome," said Cecile before she sighed. "This Adventurer Pass thing is quite a useless hurdle to face."

( Useless hurdle... ) Nafail made a wry smile. "I mean, the Harp Guild still extends her hand to you guys."

"That's true, but Harp Guild is not the only guild here in Arkham now, is she?" said Lumina. "The reason Lyon said what he said back at the entrance was not only to spark rage out of Avi but to spark the attention nearby."

"That's right," Luna nodded. "Soon, they would hear our exploits, what we had done to Arf, and what led up to the situation on the street."

"Ah, that's...."

"Not bad," Cecile smiled.

"I'm always learning," Luna nodded before she darted at Lyon with a smile before finding the man was busy dunking down the red durian juice. She squinted her eyes before clicking her tongue.

"This is immensely flavorful damn it!" said Lyon as he laughed heartily.

"Are you trying to wait it out?" asked Nafail.

"I'm sure the contest of power inside this town is not really one-sided, we didn't even cover half of the city yet," said Cecile. "Also, there is more than one thing at play regarding a guild."

"Tell me about it," Kesya slouched at the table and buried her face.

"Guilds reputation is one," said Lumina. "They are really dependent on this thing. The guild gained money by taking about ten percent out of the quest placed on the board. The quester must go inside the guild, has them processed it before they could put it up on the board."

Lyon sniffed a few times audibly. "Do you hear that? Hear that?"

"Huh? What? Also, don't you mean smell?" Luna had her mouth twitching at Lyon's antic.

"It smells like corruption!" said Lyon. "And I was just testing you, I, uh, I thought that you are not paying attention." ( Nice save! )

"That's a terrible save," said Lumina.

( Kh! ).

"That's why Avi was irritated, their reputation might just be shaken by one sentence out of Sein's mouth," Cecile smiled.

"Shakened, but not crumbling," said Lumina. "It seems like they have been carried by Frost Party in this city, I have no idea what they are like in other cities, but they clearly have an overwhelming advantage over here due to that guy that almost cut you in half."

"Arf..." Nafail looked down and balled his fist.

"Guild reputation? Wait so like, the notice board we saw on the street is not the notice board for the city?"

"Nope," Kesya shook her head. "There are plenty of notice boards, and of course, the charging fees also varied."

"Also," Nafail added after a calm breath. "If an adventurer is registered in another guild, but took a quest from another guild instead of his own, he would gain less than what was posted on the board."

"This is to make sure that the guild members have the edge over the others, however, the placement fee to the notice board also varies from guild to guild. A famous guild would evidently cost more, but have a higher success rate, which is, how things are supposed to be," said Kesya.

"The less famous guilds would struggle a bit, but they got the edge by their pricing instead. Fair price for the fair quest, not too easy and not too hard."

"Then, who ranked the quest difficulty?" asked Lyon. "They can't just pull a four-star out of their ass, can't they?"

"The bigger the star, the more expensive it is to make it to the notice board, however, the actual reward is higher," said Nafail.

"That means, the guild would still have a cut for the completion right?"

"Correct."

"I see, so placing it on the board is some kind of down payment that the quester has to deliver, regardless of the success or the failure of the quest? That way, the guild can still make money even if they fail?" said Lyon.

"That's right," Cecile nodded. "In the event that it was a success, they would have gained glory, reputations, and money."

"So that's why the guild's reputation is important," said Kesya.

"Title also plays a big part," Nafail nodded.

"And that's also why, we have uninvited guests soon," Cecile smiled.

"Uninvited guests?" Lyon raised his brows.

"The recruiter, master," Graham leered over his shoulder and watched the entrance of the tavern.

Assid who was standing at the side of the table put one fresh one for Lyon. He glanced over at the entrance before pushing his glasses a bit to pivot the light just at the right reflection to reveal his sharp eyes.

A group of silhouettes was standing at the front of the old tavern.

"The seed that you planted a while ago is going to bore fruit soon, pick them carefully or don't pick at all," Cecile smirked before she gently put the glass on the table.

"I wonder what kind of wondrous words they would spring at us," Kesya grinned.

"Hmm?" Lyon raised his brows before he peeked over Graham's tall figure.

"Heh," Lyon smirked.