Chapter 31: Giving the report

 Allan: Healer hopeful, kitchen helper. Feels bad about the mess, but won't say a thing. 

This is the first time, that I see the inside of the guild master's office. Everything is made of wood, with painting of battles hanging on the walls. I see a painting of a chubby man, facing off against a giant spider, boxed in between two barriers. Guild Master Warren sees me staring at it, and then smiles. 

"Do you like it? It is one of my favorites. Its name is: Alone against the boss mob," he says. I nod, and then straighten up. It is time for the report. Each one of us have to give their version already. It is my turn. 

"We went, we read while the turtle sunbathed, and nothing much happened," I lie through my teeth. I am glad that Augustine stashed his truth pendant in his bottomless bag, because if he hadn't done that, I would have been caught red-handed. 

"Is that so," the guild master says. I wait for him to pull out a truth pendant, but he does not. "Well, I didn't expect anything else from an F ranked quest, to be truthful. I mean, what sort of lowlifes would you have been, if you have failed reading on a couch, while a turtle sunbathes?" 

I resist the urge to bite my lower lip. The guild master looks at me for a while, and then pulls out a badge. 

"You are ranked F. Enjoy," he says, and then slides the badge to me. I take it with shaky hands. The confession of what we did, is on the tip of my tongue. Yet, I don't dare give away my party. "You want to be a healer?"

His question brings me out of my musings about the jail time, that looms over all of us, should the truth come out. I blink at that. 

"Well, boy? Do you want to be a healer?" He asks again. 

"Yes, sir!" I say, making sure my shoulders are straight. He chuckles at my demeanor. 

"That is good. You know, I have something that might help you," he opens a drawer, and takes a bottomless bag. "Leander is many things, but a good gambler is not one of them." 

"You played cards with the World Dungeon Core?" I ask, awestruck. 

"No. He lost his soul staff to Asmodeos, who lost it deliberately to Alklair for a striptease, who lost it by accident to me," the guild master lists all those big shot names as if they are all just regular Joe's. I really want to ask him how old he is, but stop myself. Never ask anyone about their age. Ever. 

"I... see," I say, even though I still don't understand. 

"Do you know how many healers there are in my guild?" Guild Master Warren asks. I shake my head. "1,000." 

"Wow, that...you can field a hospital with that many," I blurt out. He chuckles at that. 

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"A couple of hospitals," he corrects me. "Yet, I have never offered to give them Leander's staff. Do you know why I chose you?" 

I shake my head. Is this the point where he tells me he saw through my lies?

"You have enough mana, to put some dungeon cores to shame," he tells me. I nod at that. It must be the truth, if he says it is. He is an experienced mage, and must get a good feel about such things. "And this is no longer a normal soul staff. Leander tweaked with it, until it became a mage's staff, with the occasional healing spell." 

He holds the staff to me, and I take it carefully. The wood is old, but steeped with so much mana, that it is practically vibrating with life. The metal is so smooth, that I just can't help it. I run my thumb over the metal rings. 

"That is titanium," he tells me, as I marvel the silver metal. "The original metal was a simple iron. But Leander had Dorian replace it with titanium, so he could store more mana into the crystal." 

"I don't think I am worthy of such a gift," I say, as I set the staff on the desk. 

"You and Leander are similar, you know? The rest of your party does the adventuring because they are bored. But you have the adventuring spirit. A spark in your eyes. Something to prove, perhaps?" He says. I blink at him. 

"Augustine..." I begin, but stop myself. Augustine is an adventurer only because the rest of the harem is asking him to. Besides, he is pressured by his parents. Yet, Vincent...actually wants to become a Hero. In the employee of a nation, more than likely. Adventuring is just a stepping stone for him. 

Atha...well, he wants to take over the world. Dean wants sex. I... I just want to be a healer. Ever since my mother got sick, this was my most sincere wish. 

"I see you can't argue," the guild master says with a smile. "Good. I was prepared to argue with you for the reminder of the day. A time you would have used to get to know our training hall." 

"The training hall?" I ask. So far, we haven't been there, as far as I know. 

"Yes, the training hall. Seeing as all of you lied to me about the mission, and a bit of a mind spell let me take a look in your mind, and see that the turtle that you were supposed to ignore for a couple of hours exploded," I gulp at that. How come he figured it out from my mind? "I think that I get to say how you are all going to train, from now on." 

"Or, we are going to prison," I ask him. He nods with a shit eating grin. 

"You will be the next Try Hard Party, kiddo. Or, you will have to get lawyers, and explain to them that you can't even do an F ranked quest, without something blowing up. Now, go outside, and tell your party to get their asses in the training hall. Oh, and do tell the incubus, that if he blows up another dungeon, that is listed as peaceful, I will have to hand him over to the court before he can blink," I nod, not understanding when Dean blew up an entire dungeon. 

"Don't forget the staff," the guild master says. I take in a deep breath, and take a staff that has seen more than one major battle. The legacy of the best healer there is.