The stone doors rumbled open with the weight of judgment, revealing the second trial chamber beyond. It was larger than the first—darker, colder, and much quieter. Smooth obsidian walls curved into a dome, and at its center stood a circular arena surrounded by jagged obsidian spires pulsing with slow crimson light.
The moment Squad Seven stepped through the threshold, glyphs lit up along the walls, spiraling toward the top of the dome. A voice echoed down from above:
"Phase Two: Survival. Defeat the opposing team and the summoned relic beast. Time limit—fifteen minutes."
Drathan narrowed his eyes. "Opposing team?"
On the far end of the arena, another team materialized—four combatants clad in silver-trimmed gear, their eyes already locked on the trio.
Seme stepped forward, raising her sword to shoulder height. "Guess we don't get time to chat this round."
Kenshin grinned, electricity starting to hum from his body. "Let's give 'em a show."
The signal came with a sharp gong. GONGGG!
Two of the enemy rushed forward—a halberd-wielding bruiser and a whip-using scout. The other two held position: a fire-casting warlock and a rearguard cleric.
Drathan vanished in a blink of void light. SHHHWUMP!
He reappeared mid-dash behind the warlock, palm open. "Void Cage."
A spinning vortex erupted around the caster—FWOOOOOSH!—locking them inside a swirling black dome that muted sound and drained light.
Kenshin collided mid-air with the bruiser, both weapons clashing—CRACK! BZZT!—the arena floor cracking beneath their impact.
Seme met the whip-user head-on, parrying three lashes in quick succession before countering with "Abyss Carve."
SHIING—WHUMP! Her blade struck the ground and unleashed a wave of blackened energy that tossed the scout like a ragdoll.
The opposing team scrambled, but within sixty seconds, they were forced to retreat as the relic beast appeared in a pillar of red flame.
The creature was massive—a molten lion with obsidian claws, its eyes burning pits of heat. Lava dripped from its mane, sizzling where it landed.
"Formation!" Seme barked.
Drathan opened a void rift at the beast's side while Kenshin channeled a field of charged lightning.
"Stormfall!"
BZZZZZZT-BOOOM! A column of pure electricity speared down from the ceiling, striking the relic's back.
The beast roared, turning toward Drathan—only to get pulled sideways into a collapsing gravity well.
"Void Pressure!" Drathan snarled, his eyes glowing violet.
Seme delivered the finishing blow, her sword cleaving clean through its molten skull—KRAKKKK!—as the beast let out one final death howl.
Silence followed.
Then the room shifted. Walls shimmered. The light warmed.
"Phase Two complete. Squad Seven: Clear."
—
Back in the guild plaza, dozens of adventurers gathered beneath the ranking board as names were carved magically into stone.
Drathan leaned against a pillar, wiping sweat from his brow. Kenshin sat on the stairs, gulping down a flask of lemon elixir. Seme paced silently, waiting.
"Squad Seven," called the overseer. "C-Rank. Top five finish."
Applause rang out. The trio exchanged nods.
A voice cleared behind them.
"You're the ones who fried a relic beast and humiliated Team Ashrune."
They turned to see a tall woman in polished blue and silver armor. Her black hair was braided down her back, and she wore a white cloak marked with the Tierwyn Guild sigil.
"I'm Aelira, Tierwyn's guild branch leader."
Seme stepped forward with a half-bow. "We're Squad Seven."
"I know. I watched your trial personally." Aelira's tone was sharp but not unkind. "You fought like veterans. I'm offering you full benefits under C-rank status: housing, contracts, and priority resources."
Drathan raised an eyebrow. "That easy, huh?"
Aelira smirked. "You think I'm easy, wait until you try escorting a noble through fire lizard territory."
Kenshin choked on his drink.
Seme just smirked.
Drathan extended his hand. "We're in."
Aelira shook it firmly. "Welcome to the Guild."
As the crowd dispersed and lower-ranked adventurers scrambled to claim new board quests, a few notable faces lingered in the plaza. One was the beastkin girl they'd seen in the inn—now officially known as Leyka, a Daggerwind Scout. Despite her small frame, she had ranked C alongside Squad Seven and already attracted interest from several veteran parties.
Nearby, the flamboyant bard who had serenaded the guild hall earlier—Gallo—was loudly boasting about becoming the first Sound weaver to register in Tierwyn. "That's right," he declared to a small circle. "Combat songs, healing harmonics, and I can drink three tankards without missing a note."
"Is that a class or a flex?" Kenshin muttered.
Drathan smirked. "Both."
At a quieter bench, two more adventurers were deep in discussion with a guild clerk: a heavy-set swordsman named Darnell who had taken the path of an Iron Sentinel and a mystic girl in pale robes who'd reportedly evolved into an Astral Scribe after unlocking a unique merge path mid-trial.
"They're building out a full party rotation," Seme noted. "It's not just solo ranking. The guild is already eyeing groups for external contracts."
Drathan crossed his arms. "Which means we're not just going to be doing fetch quests and goblin culls. The real stuff starts now."
Aelira, standing nearby, nodded at them without turning. "Politics in Tierwyn aren't run by coin alone. Reputation, performance, and alliances shape everything. You'll want to make friends—or rivals—carefully."
She turned to leave, but paused.
"Oh, and Drathan? There are whispers already about your void-class anomaly. Not everyone likes outliers. Keep your head low… or make your presence so loud they can't ignore you."
She vanished into the guild's upper chamber, leaving the trio in silence.
"Guess we're part of the game now," Kenshin said, stretching.
"No," Drathan said. "We're in the story."
Tierwyn's guild hierarchy was as layered as its stone keep. The Adventurers' Guild operated as a semi-autonomous arm of the kingdom, led locally by Branch Leader Aelira but overseen by the High Table in Valebridge—where the true movers and shakers of the adventuring world made their power plays.
Under Aelira, the guild was divided into three divisions:
Field Operations: Contract adventuring, exploration, and bounty dispatch. Seme quickly identified this as their most natural fit.Arcane Liaison: Dedicated to researching dungeons, relics, and class evolutions. Most Scribes, Weavers, and hybrid spellcasters spent time here.Internal Affairs: The political web—handling noble contracts, cross-guild diplomacy, and factional disputes.
Tierwyn also had its share of rival factions, both within and outside the guild. The most prominent:
The Iron Crest, a guild-allied private military company that viewed adventurers as expendable tools. They were infamous for poaching skilled C-rankers and prioritizing wealth over integrity. Ashrune, the rival team they'd beaten in the trial, turned out to be a junior unit of the Silver Talons, a veteran-led faction known for protecting its reputation at all costs. Twilight Sigil, an underground collective of shadow-ranked operatives. Rumors said they answered to no guild master, only the highest bidder.
"These aren't just factions," Aelira had once said in a briefing. "They're philosophies. Align with one, and you gain power. Cross one… and you better be damn good at surviving."
Seme, Kenshin, and Drathan had decisions to make. And fast.