Emperor's Reckoning

The demand brought down their thoughts. A chalice of Mana Essence was something that not even they could pull out of their pockets. The rarity and the great value of Mana Essence was something that could spark murders among the adventurers. Even an entire guild had to rip out their savings to get that amount.

"A chalice..." Aeron pondered. "Do you really need it that much?"

"Y-Yeah, that's a whole lot of Mana Essence," Mona nodded in agreement.

On the other hand, Liern was not speaking out about his complaint. However, his brows were furrowing as he darted his glance toward the table under his chin. The size of the chalice was definitely something that he could give on a fly.

"What is the matter?" asked Lyon. "You seem to ponder about something."

"I am, Sein. I might not have a chalice of Mana Essence to give you, nor my guild can, but perhaps I can give you something else than that," said Liern.

"I see, that's an interesting approach," Lyon muttered. "What you have in mind."

Liern smiled, "Unfortunately, I can't speak about this unless we are alone, and by us—" he looked at the two others before darted back at Lyon. "Not with these two around."

"Stop faking it," said Mona with her hands on her waist. She frowned and raised her chin, "The Flame Guild also has an offer that cannot be disclosed with these two around."

"You guys are really pathetic," said Aeron as he rested his brows and shaking head. "Sein, the Dusk, and the Flame Guilds are at odds with each other, the Grimoire Guilds, however, are different."

"Grimoire?" Lyon raised his brows. "That book that you hold in your hand, is that a grimoire?"

"Oh, this? Correct!" Aeron proudly nodded. "This is a grimoire."

Lyon furrowed his brows. "What does it do?"

The three of them went into silence. Lyon's pure curiosity made them confused. A powerful man that lifted mere words to knock out one of the leading party's leaders, didn't know what a grimoire actually does.

"A grimoire is a weaponized book," said Cecile. "It's a weapon like a blade and the likes, but you don't bash them with it."

"Beautifully said!" Aeron nodded. "Grimoire is a book containing a written spell that you can activate at any time."

"That's kind of unfair," said Lyon.

"That's because he lied, Sein," said Liern. "Grimoire doesn't exactly work like that. A grimoire may be in the shape of a book, but it could only contain one spell or three at max. This was done by writing the spell directly into the books and storing the amount of mana necessary for it."

"Oh, that's interesting," Lyon smirked. "So you don't need to wait and charged the mana around you and write it."

"That would take time and will leave the caster vulnerable, thus preparation is key for someone like Aeron," said Liern.

"There is a caveat though," said Mona. "Not every grimoire can hold destructive spells in them."

"That depends on the QUALITY of the grimoire," said Aeron with a slightly higher note.

"I see, where can I buy one?" asked Lyon.

"In the Grimoire Guild of course!" said Aeron excitedly. "We have an array of grimoire for you to choose from. The colors that matched your personality, the size that matched your ability, we have it! Of course, I will abuse my authority for you, Sein. Join us, pick whatever grimoire you want in our guild store."

"For free?"

"For free, absolutely free, zero Adventure Token!" said Aeron proudly with his hand making a zero gesture.

"Needless to say, free is really enticing," Lyon rubbed his chin as he glanced at the other two.

"Hehe, Sein, we have an abundant knowledge more than what these two can claim," said Aeron with a smirk.

"Tch," Liern clicked his tongue. "Trash information is not knowledge."

"It seems like you have never been taught some manner," said Aeron with a glare.

"You think we will join you because we can have a free book," said Cecile with a smirk.

"That's right, go tell her sister," said Mona as she joined the fray. "The Flame Guild may not be as good as the Harp Guild inside Arkham, but in the advance city, we are one of the tops!"

"So, Flame Guild is in the Guild Link as well?" asked Lyon.

"Of course! None of these two guilds hold any notable power, but my guild has them. That's how good the Flame Guild is," said Mona proudly. "We are toe-to-toe with the Harp Guild but most of the time, we came out on top of them in other cities."

"So you are having the same power as the Harp Guild, but you can't scrounge up a chalice of Mana Essence?" asked Cecile as she crossed her arms.

"T-That's..." Mona couldn't help but look away from Cecile's sharp glance. Despite the boast, she had no power to say that her guild could give them a chalice of Mana Essence.

"It seems like we are at an impasse," said Cecile. "How about if we continue this tomorrow instead?"

"That's..." Aeron muttered.

"That's fine by me, I apologize to come at you so suddenly, perhaps the next time I see you, I'll be the host," said Liern with a smile.

"Come and visit the Flame Guild, we have tons of exciting quests and rewards, perhaps we can't give you a chalice of Mana Essence, but we certainly can offer you something else," said Mona. "I will put on the words in advance so that you can come at any time you like, we will greet you warmly," she proudly smiled.

"The Grimoire Guild will welcome you with open arms, likewise, I will tell them to treat you with utmost courtesy," Aeron said.

The three of them stood up before leaving the old unkempt tavern. The foul smell may not be adjusted to their everyday scent and may very well be lingering if they didn't take a shower, but it was worth their cause.

Lyon looked at their backs vanishing into the light of the street before he smirked, "Heh."

"What's wrong?" asked Luna.

"They worked really fast," Lyon smiled.

"You just took down the best party in town," said Lumina. "On top of that, you deliberately tease them at the street where they see us off."

"I can't help it, I'm just curious about what they offered."

"And what about their offer?"

"C'mon, one is offering me a free book, another one is offering vague mysterious information, and the last one boasts about their guild size," said Lyon before chuckling.

"It's quite depressing," said Kesya.

"I have to agree," Cecile nodded.

"Um, I think it's really hard to have a guild giving away a chalice of Mana Essence," said Nafail at the side with a wry smile. ( I doubt even the five guilds inside the Guild Link have the capabilities to give them away )

"Is it?" Kesya raised her brows.

"Do you have other alternatives that are worth listening to?" asked Lumina.

"Sadly I don't," Nafail sighed. "However, you can just go with the old ways of hunting the beasts in the deeper part of the land."

"Well that's an option," said Cecile. "Oh right, can we just go to another city without the Adventuring Pass?"

"Yes, but you will have to spend some Adventuring Token," said Nafail.

"How much?" asked Luna.

"Quite a sum I reckoned," said Lyon.

"Hehe," Nafail smiled wryly. "There is no other way around it, the deeper the region, the more you will have to spend if you are not affiliated with any guild inside the established one in the city."

"Wait a minute, so you're saying that if they don't have an already established guild in the new city, they still have to pay for the entrance fee, even if they are in a guild?" asked Lyon.

"That's right," Nafail nodded. "That's why Mona was marketing her guild that way, those who belonged in the Guild Link have every establishment in every city in the Dark World."

"Oh so that's why now it makes sense why she made it a big deal," said Lyon. "That means the Harp Guild also has the same reach as Flame Guild," Lyon nodded.

"How much is the entrance fee for the next city?" asked Assid.

"The standard one would be five hundred Adventuring Tokens per person," said Nafail.

"Is tha a lot?" asked Lyon.

"That's expensive, even this entire meal would cost less than fifty AT," said Nafail.

"Oh, hmmm," Lyon pondered. "We have the money right?"

"Yes, young master, we have more than enough," Assid nodded.

"Good! Hahaha!" Lyon laughed. "Then perhaps we should just go to the next city on our own."

"You are willing to spend that much money over an entrance fee?" asked Nafail in disbelief.

"I mean, why not?" asked Lyon.

"We can't spend that much money unsparingly, Sein," Cecile shook her head, "The Dark Continent doesn't use beads, we only have what we had earned from that previous 'transaction'.