It had been a while since I last set foot in the city. I had spent the last four years stationed at the forest outpost, surrounded by damp woods and wild beasts. Now, walking on the hard stone pavement felt strangely foreign.

  I feel like a country bumpkin, just like the very first time I arrived. I chuckled to myself as I strolled down the street.

  The city of Edanis was the commercial heart of the Loresia Kingdom. It was also home to the Ravenoir Guild, one of the largest hunter guilds on the Bellenor Continent, overseeing the southern territory.

  Aside from its massive academy facilities, Ravenoir boasted the largest and busiest inn in Edanis. Here, information was traded like currency. You could find anything from baseless scandalous rumors to top-secret intel. Naturally, it was the primary hangout spot for top-tier hunters..

  The Ravenoir Guild’s central tavern loomed in the heart of Edanis, a massive structure of stone and timber. I pushed open the heavy oak doors, and a wall of noise hit me. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat, stale booze, and aged wood. To the patrons, the deafening roar of laughter and clashing mugs was a symphony. The sprawling tables were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with boisterous squads celebrating their survival, mixed with brooding, scarred veterans who preferred to sit in the corners and glare at the room.

  "Rammy!" a deep, booming voice called out.

  I turned toward the source—a massive, muscular man with a thick beard that almost reached his belly. "What’s up, Roger?" I gave him a subtle wave.

  "Get over here, Rammy! We're drinking!" To prove his point, he slammed two barrel-sized mugs of ale onto the sticky wood in one motion.

  I cracked a smile. "It’s way too early to get blackout drunk, Roger. I have to report to the administration first."

  "What?" His bloodshot eyes squinted through the dim light. "Did you finally get yourself in trouble?"

  "If I let you drag me to the bar, I definitely will be."

  He let out a roaring laugh that rattled the empty mugs nearby. "Fair enough! But we are toasting later, old friend. It’s been years!"

  "Count on it," I promised, weaving through the crowd toward the heavily guarded administrative office at the rear of the inn.

  I pushed open the reinforced door. The oppressive silence inside was a stark contrast to the tavern. Tris was leaning casually against the far wall, but my eyes locked immediately onto the man standing behind the heavy mahogany desk: Guild Master Agon Ravenoir.

  "I apologize for the delay," I said, keeping my posture rigid.

  "Ramond." Agon stepped out from behind the desk, his towering, broad-shouldered frame casting a long shadow across the floor. "Is it true you executed a troll inside the training grounds?"

  I didn't blink. "It was necessary."

  "Define 'necessary,'" he rumbled. The sheer weight of his commanding voice made the air in the room feel suddenly heavy.

  My jaw locked tight. My hands balled into fists at my sides, the knuckles turning bone-white. I stared directly into the Guild Master's eyes. "Then tell me why you authorized a squad of greenhorns to hunt a vanguard-level threat."

  "Do you believe those children are incapable?"

  "Yes"

  "They are the absolute best graduates the academy has produced this year"

  "And they are still garbage in the dirt."

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Agon's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you truly believe you know better than the academy instructors?"

  "Inside a classroom? No. Out in the blood and the mud? Yes."

  Without blinking, Agon raised his right hand. The air in the room warped, and a violent, dark red aura ignited in his palm, humming with suffocating kinetic power. He held the swirling lethality directly between us. "Then show me something like this."

  I didn't flinch away from the heat of the aura. "I can’t use aura. I have no magic."

  "Then you are worthless."

  Every muscle, vein, and sinew in my body pulled taut like a bowstring. "And yet, you still cannot deny my point."

  Agon held my stare for a long, agonizing moment.

  "True." He snapped his fingers. The terrifying red aura vanished as if it had never existed, taking the oppressive pressure in the room with it. He turned his back to me and strolled to his desk. "You are right. They are not ready."

  He rested his hands on the polished wood and looked back at me. "So, what is your suggestion?"

  "...Why are you asking me? I'm just a guide."

  A deep, rumbling laugh echoed from his chest. "True. You are only a guide." He picked up a crisp piece of parchment from his desk, reading it aloud. "Magic Affinity: Zero. Aura Affinity: Zero. Physical Capability: Advanced Hunter. Hidden Talent: None."

  I swallowed the bitter pill of my own stats and stayed silent.

  "And..." Agon paused, his eyes scanning the bottom of the page before a sly smirk curled his lips. "That is precisely the perfect quality of a guide, is it not?"

  My patience was fraying. "...If I was summoned all the way to the city just to be insulted, I will return to my outpost, sir."

  He chuckled warmly, completely stripping away the intimidation from moments before. "Yes, you should report to your new post." He stepped forward, handing me the parchment. "Your new post is in the left-wing building."

  I frowned, looking down at the heavy wax seal on the paper.

  His smirk widened into a grin. "Yes. Starting today, your new role is Mentor."

  My head snapped up. "What? I’m way too young to be an academy mentor!"

  "Indeed you are," Agon said, turning back to his paperwork. "Now, you are dismissed."

  I let out a heavy, bewildered exhale. I shot a glance at Tris, who merely offered a smug, knowing wink from the shadows. Shaking my head, I turned on my heel and walked out of the office.

  I wove through the crowded tavern toward Roger, who was already well on his way to being blackout drunk, a sloshing mug of ale gripped in each massive hand.

  "Why the long face, Rammy?" he boomed, his laughter vibrating over the noise of the room.

  "Heh. Just a reassignment," I muttered, slumping into the heavy wooden chair beside him.

  "Oh, wow! The legendary hunting ground guide actually got reassigned?"

  I snatched one of the oversized barrel mugs right out of his grip and chugged the bitter ale in one long gulp. "Legendary, my ass."

  His laughter only grew louder, shaking his thick braided beard. "It's true! You're the only zero-accident guide in the guild's history, you know."

  I couldn't help but chuckle darkly. "Zero accidents? You clearly have no idea the kind of blood and mud I deal with in the field." I reached over, took his second mug, and drained it just as quickly.

  "Hah! That just proves you're capable of burying the problem before it becomes a real issue, my friend!" He clapped a meaty hand against my spine, nearly knocking the breath out of me. "So, where are they sticking you now? Perimeter overseer? City patrol?"

  "Worse," I grumbled, wiping the foam from my mouth. "A Mentor."

  "WHAT?! A MENTOR?!" Roger roared.

  His voice was like a thunderclap. The chaotic ruckus of the entire tavern instantly died. Dozens of hardened mercenaries and drunk adventurers stopped mid-sentence, turning their heads to stare at our table in dead silence.

  "What the fuck, Roger? Stop embarrassing me," I hissed, sinking lower in my chair.

  He ignored the stares, leaning his massive frame across the sticky table. The drunken haze in his eyes had completely vanished. "Are you absolutely fucking serious? Agon made you a Mentor?"

  "Yeah, I know. I got stuck with the washed-up old man post," I scoffed, crossing my arms.

  "By the Goddess..." Roger breathed out, genuinely stunned. "Do you honestly not know what the Mentor role is?"

  I squinted at him, a cold knot forming in my stomach. "What are you talking about?"

  "Oh, by my beard." He slapped his calloused hand hard against his forehead. "You've been rotting out in that damn forest for way too long."

  "What is it?" I demanded, the weight of the silent tavern suddenly feeling very oppressive. "Tell me."

  "You know about the Cave Crawlers, right?"

  "Yeah... the vanguard squads that clear out the dark caves. What about them? Am I supposed to run their basic training?"

  Roger shook his head slowly, looking at me as if I were a dead man walking. "Not just train them, Rammy. A Mentor doesn't stay in the classroom. A Mentor is the frontline field leader of a Cave Crawler unit."

  "What?!”