"While diving a dungeon, I met a man named Lumino. He told me he was an adventurer and about the adventurer guild he was part of." Grey started blurting out the story he had already prepared beforehand.
But not all of this was made up. 'Lumino' was the code name of Paul Fremen. Grey had read through every word of his backstory. He didn't even ignore the mini episodes.
Paul used to coarse vagabonds all around the continent to bring them in the guild. He had made so many people join that remembering each and every one of their faces was impossible. But what worried Grey was, he didn't know where Paul was in this part of time.
He was shooting an arrow in the dark. If it hits the target, he'd be walking out a happy man. and if it doesn't, well, he'd have to lose an arm, at the least.
"I was intrigued by the workings of the guild and asked him how I could join. It was him who informed me about your shop branch leader, and also about the secret code."
Elara looked at him with furrowed brows. Staring skeptically. Grey didn't steal his eyes away from him, he tried to keep eye contact, acting just a bit uncomfortable. If he showed too much confidence, He would be caught without a doubt. But inside, he was dying with nervousness.
If he fails to acquire that map, all his future plans will be derailed. Having a map and not having one, had stark differences, which he had experienced a short while back in the forest.
Elara's furrowed brows relaxed, the corners of his lips lifted up into a wide smile.
"You're in the right place then. Joining the guild puts you under no boundness. You are free to do whatever you want. Just one thing though...the guild will cut a small fee for the loot you sell to us. We have to stay in business too, you know!" Elara winked at Grey, giving him a playful smile.
"Y-Yes, I'm aware of that."
"Great then! Let's get you registered." Elara clapped his hands excitedly. He then pulled out a small badge, having a white crescent moon engraved on it.
"Put a drop of your blood here. What did you say your name was?" Elara said pointing at the badge, asking for his name.
"I'm Austin. Austin Brown." Grey used his name from earth, since no one would be familiar with it and there were no records of him to investigate.
"Welcome to the guild Austin." Elara smiled, extending the badge and a small pin towards him.
Grey pricked his finger with the needle and squeezed a drop of blood on the badge. The white crescent moon turned crimson when his blood fell on it. It started glowing bright crimson after absorbing the blood completely.
"Done. Congratulations on joining the guild." Elara passed the badge to Grey when the light died down, and the crescent moon now stayed crimson, with a small F at the lower end of the badge.
"You'll start with the lowest F rank. The more you trade, and higher the materials you bring, you'll rise up. Unlocking access to higher tier information, artifacts, weapons and many other things."
Grey nodded. He knew all of this anyway. He then moved his hand inside his jacket, fiddling to reach for something. But what he was really trying to do was getting the beast cores and the skill stones out from his inventory.
"How much will I get for this?" He passed a pouch filled with the eclipse beast cores towards Elara on the desk.
Opening the pouch and seeing the number of cores, Elara's eyes opened wide in shock. "You hunted all these beasts?"
"Yes. They are all Warped class, with just a single scourge. I hunted them over a few days though." Grey said with an embarrassed laugh, trying to ease his shock. Elara would be blown of if Grey tells him the truth about him hunting all these beats in just a few hours.
"One of the beasts also dropped a skill stone." Grey said passing him the skill stone.
Elara pulled out a small round glass and placed it over his eyes as he inspected the skill stone.
"Hmm…it's a C rank skill, Claw strike. It'll definitely sell." Elara said looking at Grey with a smile.
"Let me calculate the total for you." Elara then checked all the 100 beast cores and after he was satisfied, he looked up at Grey.
"The warped class each will be two silvers, eight silver coins for the scourge one, and for the skill stone, I can give you a gold coin. So, the total amounts to 21 gold and six silver coins. After deducting the guild's cut, it will be 18 gold and 4 silvers."
"Even after the cut, its still not bad." Grey thought. 18 golds from just a lower level dungeon, with just a few hours of exploration was splendid income.
But what he needed right now, was not gold coins, but the map.
"Do you have a detailed map with the dungeon locations? I tend to get lost and waste a lot of time you see." Grey said in an embarrassed tone.
"I'll take that for the coins if it's possible." He added hurriedly.
Elara was a bit surprised. he had never seen a newbie asking for a map instead of salivating upon seeing the shining coins.
Elara's silence was making him nervous. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.
"I would have given you a general map upon joining anyway. But if you want a detailed map. There is something special. But it's a bit expensive. You'd have to give up all the coins and also have to pay four gold coins more. You okay with that?" Elara asked with a smirk plastered on his face. Testing Grey, whether he'd chose the map or rather give up to his greed.
"I don't have the money with me though. Can I pay it later?" Grey said nervously.
Elara was shocked. She couldn't believe he was giving up 18 gold coins, just for the map. A chuckle escaped him as he shook his head in amusement.
"Alright. I like you, Austin! You're quite different from the others. Just because I'm in a good mood, I'll give you a discount. You can have the map for just 18 gold coins." Elara said, winking playfully.
"Why does this bastard keep winking at me." Grey gave an uncomfortable smile though his thoughts were betraying his outer expression.