Becoming Legend

Chapter 189: The Meeting

Ned scanned the hunters.

Twali and the rest stood still from behind, waiting for Ned's final decision.

Swift waited at the entrance beside the door. There, she nodded to Ned, her back against the wall with folded arms against her breast.

Ned looked from his left.

A lady with furry armor, cross-legged, with axes—crafted from what seemed to be a crystal stone—hanging on both of her sides. Sitting next to her was a man, in his late twenties, hair like that of an old paper, tower-shield—pointy at the bottom, some dent, from the look it held on its own—on the table along with a meter-long sword without a scabbard. Aside from the stone fixed on the neck, there's nothing more noteworthy about the sword. A knight he was.

Next to the knight was probably a Rouge, archer type, more on scouting. A bow was slung behind her back, she must have a dagger since she kept a tiny bag behind her waist, hiding the dagger or something. She looked at Ned and gave a tiny smile. Clinging beside her was a mage, this Ned was sure as the lady—far younger than the lady rouge—wore rings that Ned could feel mana leak. Although acute, his senses regarding mana were sensitive and if he tried to focus more, he could feel their mana brimming in the room. Unless someone was good enough to hide their mana leak. Like Twali. Yes, like Twali. Ned couldn't sense out of him, any mana leak, even a drop of mana Ned couldn't feel anything.

The mage hid behind the shoulder of the lady rouge as Ned scanned her. She wore her hair as a cloak, as it hid a part of her bashful eyes.

Ned turned to the man next to her. It was a mage, and next to, him was another mage, probably their leader, as he wore his pride unwaveringly. Unable to understand the situation he was in or was it too much for him? Was Ned their employer?

"They're the Twisted Tooth team," Twali said from behind. Every time Twali spoke, the rest of the hunter looked apprehensive. What's with Twali to instill this much control, Ned thought. Nodding at Twali.

"And opposite them was the Hallowguard." Arm added.

One of the men, in the middle of the long table, next to Ulysses stood and popped a chest. He wore a complete set of armor, covering his body. He bowed, not to Ned, but to Twali and the rest of the Gold Ranked hunter. He even bowed to the man Ned thought to be Twisted Tooth's team leader.

And he said, "Master Twali. Let's cut the chase. Is the kid our employer?"

Twali replied, "No doubt."

The man said, "There is, Master Twali." His eyes went back to Ned. "A lot, actually."

"State your concern," Ned said to the man.

Out of all, Ned was the shortest, he was like a kid being grilled by them all. But he wasn't just a kid.

"How old you?"

"Fourteen."

Aside from Twali, and Swift, and Sujiro, the rest went to a silent discussion. Ned could hear a hiss and a heavy puff trying to talk with each other.

The man was speaking at one of his teammates, and as he noticed that the murmuring had quieted down, he retracted himself and went to speak. He said, "Master Twali, I don't want to gamble my team's life for this kid. We would like to withdraw from this nonsense."

"Who among of you here have ranked up for the last couple of months?" Ned asked, and it seemed that he hit something within the group.

It is a gamble, I wasn't fully aware of the ranking system. But, Ned thought. Lines of muscles forming under his jaw. But, I bet most of it will depend on the quests that a hunter was taking. There must be a specific number of quests and difficulty for a hunter to rank up. Shit, I might need to ask Twali about this one.josei

Ned was in doubt, but it seemed that he had hit a jackpot. The man who was about to argue took a seat back and pondered something, different scenes might be flashing his mind.

A moment of silence, Ned stood his ground. He continued scanning the hunters.

Besides the man who argued Ned was a lanky old-man, his face was clean of hair. But time bore instead: wrinkles around his eyes, and forehead, ears pierced of earrings. He took quite a hard turn for a mage. In fact, he doesn't look like one. Chainmail instead of the standard lightweight leather type, and instead of staff or a wand, he carries a spear as a weapon. The tip of the spear was a crystal in form, the body was wood, but it appeared to be not an ordinary wood as it looked like made of metal instead of wood. He seemed wary of Ned, but not because of his age, something more. He might want to ask him after this. His eyes made Ned anxious.

Next to the unusual-mage, was two ladies, both mages. Appeared to be twins as well. Hair knitted on both sides like a bun, eyes twinkling looking at Twali, and they both wore a bracelet that looked identical: jade green, smooth in the eyes, but jagged with crystals around the edges.

Next was Ulysses, followed by Sujiro—who, for some reason, seemed to be out of place.

Ulysses was a knight, and Sujiro was a rouge—that Ned wasn't aware at first as he didn't seem to carry any weapons at all. Concealed stuff, an element of surprise, Ned might need him. He grinned looking at Sujiro. The latter didn't seem to notice.

Ulysses was a knight of the Bronze rank. His necklace dangling like a kid trying to show off a new toy. Just like his necklace, his bronze-colored hair swept back of what seemed to be a wet gel. Perfectly sculpted jawline and even the brows were combed.

His counterpart, Sujiro, remained silently still the moment Twali entered the barrack. He wore leather gloves, again, hiding something. He stopped talking to Ulysses. But they seemed to be close of friends back at the Pint. His thin eyes resemble someone from the east.

"The quests will range from B to A," Twali said, breaking the still air. "By that, you must be aware by now how this will be an important quest for both of us. House Tarragon, and as you being a hunter under our House."

One thing was common about them, they do not have the emblem of the House Tarragon. But they do recognize themselves as Household member of House Tarragon

"So," it was the man from the Twisted Tooth that need assuming to be their leader. "How will you gauge us?" And after a long pause, he added, "kid."

"Simple," Ned said. "I won't. You gauge the other team."

Another murmur echoed the room. They were surprised by the tone of their voice. But it seemed that they agreed.

Ned doesn't exactly know how the other team fares from each other, and he doesn't have the time to test them one by one. Doesn't suit him well. So, the fastest and cheapest way to gauge them was to gauge each opposite team. Through words, Ned would choose who among the two fits best his interest.

And to push them—

"Why would we do it?" The Twisted Tooth leader said, "Why we let our team be under your command? Why would we let the other team down? Why would we accept your request?"

"All resources are on me," Ned said. Looking at the leader. "Whatever the team needs. And I mean it"—looking at the dent of the knight's shield of Twisted Tooth team—"and you need it."

"Why are so eager to do these quests," said the Hallowguard team leader. Sitting with hands crossing above the table. His fingers drumming as if excited, or was waiting for someone. "This is a raid, on what?"

"Beast settlements," Ned replied. He paused, waiting for questions to arise.

Sujiro looked at Ned and said, "Where?"

Ned said, "Middle and Inner area."

Sujiro said, "How many?"

Ned said, "How many are there that you know of?"

Sujiro paused, he looked at the table. Shifting thoughts as his eyes ran left and right, narrowing.

The rest couldn't believe what Ned had said. How many are there? Uncountable.

"We only knew forty so far," Ulysses said. The rest nodded. "And by we, it means the Association."

Forty, Ned thought. The island was so vast that even thousands of hunters could not finish raiding the entirety of it. The one that Ned stumbled upon with his former Quickfall team was found with great luck. If two raiding teams would start at a starting point, they would take an entire day to meet each other again.

"So," Ned said. "No time to waist."

"Wait," Sujiro said. "And the reward?"

Twali steeped forward. Lifted a hand over the table, and as if it was normal for him, two mana stone appeared out of nowhere and rolled over.

"Two for the initial," Twali then said. "And two of the job well done."

The rest stood and leaned closer to see the stone as close as possible. They nodded, and gasped, and stared with awe.

Sujiro coughed, looking at Twali back to Ned and, eventually, to the leader of Twisted Tooth with narrow eyes and said, "My team was ranked 20 out of thousands on Grade C tier list."