Waking up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I roll out of bed and change into my day clothes.
Day one of using the least amount of mana possible in my day-to-day life starts with one very important step.
Casting without the use of my arms.
I can feel my mana network through my entire body, and I know I can cast spells throughout any part of my body, as cycling mana through the whole thing is how I increase my capacity from the get-go, yet for some reason, I've never committed to really trying it.
Sure, I'll send a boost of wind out of my legs to launch myself once in a while, or when channeling mana I'll channel it from every part of my body, but aside from that, ninety percent of my spells are cast mainly using my arms.
Well, that stops today damn it!
After changing into my day clothes, I begin to cycle healing mana throughout every part of my body except my arms and shoulders. A harder task than you would originally think.
After spending the last handful of years just letting my mana take its course throughout my whole body, it actually takes a significant amount of focus to keep it from touching my shoulders, like filling a cup all the way to the brim with water but never allowing it to spill.
Mana training aside, I finish preparing for the day and step out of my room, making my way into the living room.
After a nice and simple breakfast of some type of animal egg and some bread.
"Let's head around the guild sector to see if any catch your eye today, it's always an option to work solely through the Union, but joining a guild can have numerous benefits," Teresa said before explaining further the benefits and drawbacks of joining a guild.
Basically, guilds were like specialized hubs for adventurers. There were guilds aimed towards newer adventurers, known colloquially as 'boosting' guilds, aka guilds who fill rosters and try to boost members up the ranks of the union to c-rank as fast as possible.
Other guilds such as Hunters Guilds specialize in quests tracking and taking down beasts, Fighters Guilds who focus mainly on training and taking down humanoid opponents and helping in various ways, Mages Guild, Assassins Guild, Merchants Guild, wait, back up.
"Assassination Guilds? Like, Guild's based around killing people?" I ask, stopping Teresa's explanation with my startling revelation.
"Well, yes and no. Assassin Guilds such as Black Blur and Rouge Rats are generally considered 'Grey Guilds', which are employed to take out big-time criminals, particularly powerful dungeon bosses, etc. However, it's an open secret that for any amount of money, you can hire such places to do 'side gigs', if you catch my drift. Politicians and Nobles are both too scared and too greedy to get rid of them since they know the moment legislation that could outlaw grey guilds come down, the people who support it get a nice bounty on their heads. So, the law looks the other way on guilds that aren't explicitly murder hubs, whilst the guilds do their best to not break any of that trust or step on the toes of too many big fish." Teresa explains as a deep shiver is sent up my spine. Mental note, don't pick a fight with rich people.
"Wait, does that mean the people who attacked us on the road were hired by one of these 'Grey' guilds?" I ask, thinking back to the skilled group who took the lives of the rest of the caravan.
"Most likely, but I doubt they operate in this town. No one here would be stupid enough to attack a royal caravan and lose. Those guys were most likely hired by my brother." She explained as if it was something as simple as the sky being blue.
"That's, a lot to unpack. Let's head around the guild section then, yeah? This conversation is making my stomach uneasy." I say, standing up and hurriedly changing the subject.
If I let it slip that I let one of the would-be assassins get away, I'll be in some serious trouble.
After a bit more small talk, Teresa and I depart for the guild section of Sanmara.
Walking through the guild section of town was, weird to say the least.
Whilst it was colloquially called the 'guild section' it's officially known as the business sector, where most brick and mortar shops found themselves.
However, due to the nature of who these shops attract, both artisan and other guilds found themselves being planted right in the business sector.
Walking around, there were a few guilds that caught my eye based on the names and exterior alone.
'Hunter's Mark', which I'm assuming is a monster-hunting guild, 'Moonbreak', which is just a raw name, and 'Mana's Embrace', which I believe amounts to a mages or scholars guild.
Following my gut, Teresa and I head toward the elaborate building for 'Hunters Mark'. It's a wooden building built with the idea of making it look as if it was built out of one large tree trunk.
Before we're even able to take a step inside, we're stopped by a bronze-skinned muscle-bound bouncer.
"Hold on for a minute pal, only proven hunters and huntresses can be blessed with entering our guild hall. We're not looking for some newbie raffle or a scraggly mage." He said in a gruff voice.
Damn, don't guilds make money off people joining and completing quests? What's the deal?
"Don't guilds make money off people joining and completing quests? What's the deal?" Teresa said, stealing the words right out of my brain.
"Ha! Sure, if you plan on running out of business in two years. Guilds are about reputation, sunshine, the moment a member makes a mess of a job, the rep of the whole guild goes down. We can't very well count on getting good jobs and contracts if you're known for letting greenhorns mess everything up, now can we? Now shoo, we have a strict d-rank and above requirement." He said, with a wave of his hand and an icy tone.
Instead of rebuking him with the four or five sarcastic comments, I have about his bald head and inflated ego, I simply pulled my union card out of my bag and showed him my rank.
Taking my card out of my hand, he read my rank and then flipped it over to see the veritable paragraph of qualifications and certifications that Severus had given me. If this works, I think I'll give Severus a nugget more of knowledge, this time about science.
"Impressive, impressive. However, lad, although I recognize your talent, you wouldn't be a good fit here." He said, shaking his head and handing me back my card.
"What? Why not? I'm plenty strong enough and have the qualifications to take down any monster you put me against!" I say, nearly yelling the last part.
This is outrageous! I just wanna take a look inside the damn guildhall, are all guilds like this?
"Listen, I'm not doubting your skills as a mage. However, scholars and hunters are like oil and water, one likes to think and one likes to act. You'd never find a third person to fill your party, and I doubt you've got many spells that would be useful in tracking prey." He said, shrugging before casting a glance over my shoulder.
"Well well well, if it isn't our little amazon. Have fun on the little side quest that old rat hired you for?" The bronze baldy said, with a hearty laugh.
Looking behind me, I nearly instinctively cast Eisdamon, as walking towards us, was none other than the archer who I let go.
"Enjoy it? You'd have to be a mad man to enjoy that cluster fuck, I didn't even get to kill anything, and one of the marks was an ice monster." She said, walking towards the guild, with a limp in her left leg.
"Ice monster? That's hardly a term you should be using for the person who spared you, Ivy of Silent Night." I say as the color drains from the faces of both the bouncer and the archer.
Maybe I shouldn't have said that, but it's a bit hard to stay calm right now.