Skill Creation in the Fantasy World

Chapter 137: End of the beginning.

As Felix stood unmoving at the doorstep of the guild's building, the main hall which was filled with many of the guild members turned silent.

"Oh Felix, you're back in time!", a green-haired young man jumped out from the crowd and walked over to him.

"S-Steve, what is happening here?"

Felix gulped as he felt nervous under everybody's stare.

"Let me explain. As our guild is going to war tomorrow, the guild leader decided to have a meeting, so everyone gathered here before that."

Steve answered as he pulled him towards a corner where the rest of their team were waiting.

On the other hand, the crowd seemed to have relaxed a bit after seeing the casual attitude of Felix, as if he wasn't tense about tomorrow.

They returned to discussing and chatting, as Felix and Steve sat on the sofa where their team was sitting.

"Haha, it's like you're not fazed at all for the war, Felix.", Roven chuckled as he eyed him strangely.

'Did he grow stronger?'

Steve also nodded and looked at the bags the boy was keeping beside the sofa.

"You're right, he even had the time to go shopping."

Felix smiled wrily but didn't say anything about it, letting them misunderstand.

Eric on the other hand ignored everyone as he planted his head into a book, learning the path of a mage.

The team conversed with each other, exchanging the latest information and guessing the method by which the guild wars would take place.

The main hall turned from the tense atmosphere hungry for blood to a busy lobby of people chattering about random things.

As the guild members relaxed and chatted about, the receptionist Miss Elsa walked down the stairs.

Everyone heard the footsteps of her heels, turning silent as they all slowly got up from their seats.

Elsa stopped above a few steps on the stairs, overlooking some hundred guild members who all had different expressions on their faces.

There were some who were nervous, some eager, some hesitant, some excited; but nobody among them showed a scared face.

Opening her mouth, Elsa addressed them.

"By the orders of the guild leader, we'll be having a short meeting on the fourth floor to discuss tomorrow's events. Everyone is ordered to attend it, and are to strictly listen and follow the words that the guild leader has to say."

The guild members nodded seriously at her words and started moving upstairs.

Miss Elsa moved to the side to allow them to go and joined Felix and his team on the way upstairs.

"Is everything alright, Miss Elsa? You're acting...strange.", Felix asked as he noticed her frown and unstable walk.

Previously, she had always been calm and collected whenever the talk of the guild war came up, but today she seemed tense.

His concern was shared by his other teammates too, who looked at her in worry.

"Felix is right. I've not seen you acting like this before...", Roven looked at his sister carefully.

Elsa sighed as she relaxed her face, and gave them a wry smile as she responded.

"The situation just got worse than before. I know you want to hear what it's about, but it'll be better if the guild leader explains it himself."

Stopping on the stairs, she turned back towards them and advised grimly.

"Also, I personally suggest you four to not take part in this fight. Because you'll only be cannon fodder if you do...."

The four boys froze in their spots, understanding the gravity of the situation from her tone.

But Steve walked forward, his eyes burning with conviction as he looked at his teammates.

"Don't worry guys, we won't be alone this time. The entire guild will be together with us, and I don't think anything or anyone is capable of stopping all of us."

The other three nodded their heads with a grin, though Eric took a heavy gulp, and followed after him under Miss Elsa's widened eyes.

'Yes, how could I forget!? We're all in this together! That means all of them will be there!'

Her eyes lit up, a beautiful yet chaotic smile growing on her face when she remembered her previous comrades who had returned.

Elsa stepped upstairs behind the entire group, her lithe figure disappearing from the main hall as everyone's footsteps faded down.

*****

The fourth floor of the Twilight Chaos guild building.

A line of guild members walked on from the stairs and stepped into the massive meeting hall that could accommodate a thousand people.

Felix and the boys too entered, as they glanced around the place with Miss Elsa closing the doors after everyone got in.

The meeting hall was filled with rushing adrenaline as all the guild members stood waiting for their leader as they faced a podium.

Unlike the main hall, this place didn't have bright lighting, instead, it had dim orbs of golden light that enveloped the room with an arcane atmosphere.

Silence prevailed in the hall, the previous chattering from the lounge curbing down as everyone took soft breaths.

Creak~

A door beside the podium opened, and a few people wearing sophisticated and intricately designed robes entered.

Their presence seemed to have brightened the room as all eyes turned towards them.

At last, a man with long black hair reaching his waist and sharp eyes stepped in, after which the door was closed.

Felix glanced at the new people curiously as Steve whispered in his ears.

"That man is our guild leader."

He didn't have to point at the said person to indicate that, as everybody's eyes had naturally turned towards that man who was oozing a powerful and confident aura.

'He looks...incredibly strong.'

Felix nodded as he could feel a terrifying pressure pressing down on him just looking at the man from afar.

As the rest of the newly arrived people stood respectively at the rear side of the podium, the guild leader stood at the front as he smiled at the crowd.

"My fellow guildmates, I'm Dante Grimsby, the guild leader of Twilight Chaos.", he started by introducing himself.

"I gathered you all here to share with you the details of tomorrow's event."

Everyone nodded and perked up their ears.

"Let's not beat around the bush any longer, for this may affect each one of our lives. Something that I do not wish for."

Dante's smile disappeared from his face as he turned serious.

"Tomorrow, we'll be fighting against not four, but six guilds."

Boom!

It was as if an explosion had blasted inside their minds, as the guild members took a deep breath in shock.

Felix and his teammates widened their eyes, realising what Miss Elsa was tensed about.

Nobody let out a voice although they were astounded, but everyone shared the same thoughts.

'Is this for real?!'

Looking at the aghast faces of his guildmates, Dante glanced around briefly as he continued.

"Our Twilight Chaos Guild, along with the guild Mystic Society, will be facing off against Crimson Dawn, Fanged Legion, Mad Wolves, Grey Talons, Raven Shields, and the Flare Sky guilds."

Dante paused to take a breath as he could see the guild members showing lots of emotions as they had one or the other way come across these guilds, and not in a friendly way.

"It will be two against six, putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage. But.....is that enough to make us fear them?"

He raised his brow, suddenly letting out a bloodthirsty aura that was completely opposite to his calm attitude.

"Have we, the Twilight Chaos, ever turned our backs away from a fight?"

A sudden change erupted among the people as their eyes slowly lit up.

"HAVE WE?", Dante raised his tone.

"NO SIR!!"

The guild members replied at the top of their lungs as they grabbed their weapons tightly.

Felix gulped at the change in the environment as even his teammates were shouting out loud, but his lips were raising in thrill too.

"Are just six guilds enough to stop us? ARE THEY!?"

"NO SIR!!"

Dante smiled, putting his hands behind him as he walked around the front edge of the podium.

"That's right. With all of us together, they can never defeat us.", he narrowed his eyes as he smiled cruelly, "because they don't even know who we really are."

The ones behind him on the podium smiled similarly, as the thought of defeat never once crossed their minds.

Dante stopped back at the podium's center and ordered calmly.

"Now listen, we'll be leaving the guild building tomorrow for the guild war at 9 am sharp. Those of you not present at that time will be left behind. It's up to your choice whether you want to come or not, the guild will never force you."

Nodding at someone beside him, he concluded.

"And that's the end of the meeting. I hope you all get yourselves ready, as tomorrow will be a busy day."

With that, Dante walked down the podium along with some others and stepped out of the room.

The remaining guild members chattered among themselves as they too started walking out of the meeting hall.

Felix and his team walked back to the main hall as they talked.

"So Felix, what do you think of the guild leader? That must've been the first time you've seen him, right?"

Steve elbowed him as he asked curiously.

The others turned towards him to hear what he would say.

Felix thought for a second and replied matter-of-factly with a serious expression.

"That man was strong, confident, fearless, and charismatic. I can swear I've never met anyone like him in my life, I'm impressed."

Those were his true thoughts of the guild leader, as he had never come across anyone like that man in his previous life and this one too.

He was impressed not only by the man's power and strength, but also by his ability to transform a hesitant crowd into a fearless one.

Steve and the boys grinned as they looked at each other.

"We knew you would say that. Everyone here respects him, for both his personality and his strength. You don't know but.....", Steve suddenly started his chatterbox technique.

Miss Elsa walked down from the stairs and clapped her hands at them, making the other three thankful for the interruption.

"Well well, enough of the chatting. If you guys want to come along tomorrow, then I advise you better eat your dinners and rest early today."

Eric brightened up as he didn't want to spend another second with Steve and nodded quickly before disappearing up the stairs.

"Oh, I guess he must be tired.", Elsa shrugged before looking at the others.

"I'm going too, we'll meet tomorrow for breakfast guys.", Roven his hand and yawned as he walked away.

Steve looked at Felix hopefully, wanting him to accompany him for some more talking.

Felix completely ignored the puppy eyes and nodded at Miss Elsa as he grabbed his shopping bags from the sofa.

"I've to sort out these things for now, good night Miss Elsa."

Steve sighed, biting his lips as he was a bit disappointed.

As Felix walked away, he suddenly stopped and turned around to call.

"Come on Steve, I'm hungry. We can continue our talk in the dining hall."

A surprised gleam lit up in Steve's eyes, as he got up while nodding.

"Y-Yeah, I'm coming. Wait for me..."

He caught up with Felix, giving him help with the bags as they walked upstairs together.

Miss Elsa stared at their backs, with a faint smile stretching on her lips.

"I hope you guys survive....."