CHAPTER TWO: AN ADORABLE IDIOT

"Why? As you said-." Kaira defended.

-Why can't I join a stronger guild?

"I can list many uses for your ability. But as long as it cannot be classified under healing, offense, or defense categories, I'd feel guilty as your registrar if you die during exam selection because, bear in mind that, as much as the dual dagger combat type is a huge boost, there are others who have a combat type that they can augment with magic."

-Waaah! Die? How brutal are the exams?-

"Plus, most memory mages usually end up in stronger guilds even though they lack strength, so it creates disorder in the weak guilds because there are no bearers of who is lying and who is telling the truth. I feel that your presence can create some order in the weaker guilds. So I really feel that perhaps, it would be better to have you around there. Especially now, with all the recent cases that have been swarming the weaker guilds."

-You sweet talker you…-

"Well, it's better than nothing…" Kaira sighed.

Because maybe it was slightly above nothing. Weaker guilds were…are also known as cannon fodder guilds because they mostly served in the frontlines during all national wars, and worse, if you die, people don't even remember your name. Maybe Ari had the right to feel superior.

That was the kind of world Kaira lived in, a world where no-one but the strong and the Strong's appointed had second names, in other words: a world where only the chosen were allowed to be remembered.

"Lastly, I need your signature." The woman said, handing her a slip of paper.

"My signature?"

"Yes, that in three days, when a piette will be summoned at your location, you will provide an answer. As you know, a piette is a type of summoned bird that has a lifespan of two teleportations. Therefore when one is summoned to you, and you do not reply, it is an act of treason."

"Treason?!"

"Yes, all piettes are summoned by Duke Agustine Kae of the Royal guilds."

-Oh. A second name, a title, and the royal guild…of course, it would be considered treason.-

"If I don't sign?"

"Then no Piette will be summoned, nor will your file be sent to all the guilds for consideration. Your file will be treated as though you had just come to measure your strength and will remain within this facility."

"Can I withhold on signing?" Kaira asked.

The woman looked taken aback, but after a few seconds, she smiled.

*Fascination.*

This time it was Kaira's turn to be taken aback. She had just read the other woman's emotional state. It was for a split second, but that was enough to reassure her. There were already some techniques that could hinder her reading; no wonder she was not ready for a stronger guild.

"Unfortunately, today is the last day of registering. If you come next spring, we'll have to register you anew. So, maybe I can give you till the sun goes down. How does that sound?"

"Good enough." Kaira smiled, and the woman nodded.

"Next." The woman called out.

As Kaira turned to leave, a hand grabbed her wrist, and almost instinctively, she reached for one of the daggers on her belt.

"Wait for me outside, yes?" Ari asked in a sweet voice.

*Curiosity.*

"Okay," Kaira said, then turned to leave.

The woman behind the desk smiled again as she watched Kaira leave before proceeding with Ari's registration.

Should I or shouldn't I join. Sienna threatened to kick me out…What if she made good on her threat? What if…

"Arrrgh!" Kaira groaned. She was getting nowhere trying to reason with what Sienna would do or what she thinks!

What do I want?

She could stay here in Skala, continue with the odd jobs business where she tended to minor errands for the people.

Or she could go…out into the world.

Kaira stared at the blue sky then turned her gaze towards the busy port below the hill. The workers and pirates all seemed to be jam-packed loading boxes onto ships. Some of them even sang joyfully as they did their work. Would she be happier out there?

What about Sienna…a sly thought roped its way into her mind. If she left now, how would Sienna ever 'live a life of peace in the mountains raising cattle she didn't even own?'

Sienna had told her that she had just finished her last job when she appeared on her doorstep. That she had always longed for a peaceful life until she came along. Sienna was always playful about it, but what if this time Sienna meant it? What did that mean for her?

Kaira slapped both of her palms against her cheeks. This wasn't the time to be depressed.

This was the time to make a choice.

"Hiya! All done." A cheerful voice said.

Kaira turned to see a cheerful Ari bending down to her position.

"How did it go?"

"Great! I'm so going to pick crimson lilies if they pick me."

"You got accepted into a stronger guild? What's the process?"

*Pride.*

"Oh well..." Ari closed her eyes, and a few moments later, a tiny lion covered in fire appeared on her shoulder.

It was tiny and adorable but even standing across from her, the heat emitting from the little lion's body felt almost unbearable. Kaira took a step back, and Ari laughed.

"This little guy is Leo. He is my familiar. As a mage, you know that you are just a few steps shy from joining a stronger guild if you manifest a familiar. After a familiar, that's where they start considering things. I mean, you don't have to have a familiar because not everyone can manifest them, but it is quite a huge boost."

"Really? What about your grimoire?"

"Nope, because a grimoire only records your spells, by that I mean your known spells and give or take, one channeled spell based on the level of mana you can absorb, but familiars are different. They are basically your spirit essence. Spirits are immortal, but once they make a pact with you, they become mortal. They die when you die, and very few are willing to die. Meaning that only one in every fifty gets a familiar, but everyone gets a grimoire."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean-."

"You can use both your magic and your familiars, as long as you have enough mana."

"Whoa…" Kaira was stunned. So those where the merits one would need to join a stronger guild. She wasn't even close, was she?

"Yap."

"So, what are the exams like?"

"Well, there are three competition arenas. One in the capital Acai, the other in Prica, you know the world's most expensive place so, in other words, that's for nobility only, and lastly in Cegonia but I hear there are rebels and bandits there, so I'd rather avoid such an unfamiliar place. I mean, the South is one thing. I know the terrain but the North!? All we know are rumors. Who knows if they have stronger techniques there."

She knew so much about the world. Kaira was absorbed in everything she said.

How does one know that much?

"What about a grimoire? Do you have one?"

"Nope, but I'm sure it'll fill up soon."

"Fill up?"

"Well, you know…" Ari said nonchalantly, then sighed after staring at Kaira's face. "A grimoire is just an empty endless book. You know the books that once they fill up, they gain one page every three months?"

Kaira must have given her an odd look because Ari sighed, then got more comfortable and continued.

"Okay, so a grimoire is a book gifted to you by someone you care about. The book has to have a part of you. Whether it's your hair, nails, or tooth, whatever you prefer to use to make the book yours, that's what a grimoire cover is made of. The next requirement is for that book to always be in your person for, give or take four to five years."

So that's what that creepy black book with a tree-like pattern that Sienna had given her was, who would have thought.

Kaira…loathed that book, it was the opposite of cute, and it looked as if a wraith had carved it.

Wraiths are angry ghosts that dwell mostly in areas where they had died or are strongly connected to. But in the latter case, they can not do anything but stare out. They only have an influence on places with any form of their remains.

"I'm guessing you got accepted into a weaker guild?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

*Superiority.*

"Well, you don't know sh*t."

-Huh, who was this girl?- Kaira wondered.

"To be honest." Ari continued. "I was only nice to you because I thought you were stronger than me, but you're asking even the most basic things…I mean, have you lived in a cave all your life?"

-Mountains actually, but close enough.-

"Anyway, I'm not picking a fight with you or anything…not like you could win."

Kaira wanted to hit her. Was it okay to start a fight outside an official building? No? Too many guards?

"But, you just seem like an adorable idiot." Ari continued.

-An adorable idiot?!-

"Well then…I'll be off, my exam is in twenty-eight days, and that's including travel time."

-An adorable idiot?!-

"Bye!" Ari waved off cheerfully as she left.

-An adorable idiot?!-

Kaira's left eye twitched out of irritation.

-Oh, I am definitely joining a guild.-