Duskbound-Chapter 44Book 2,

For Velik and Jensen, it was two weeks of boredom. Aria was being put to use as a scout. Torwin helped vet people with his extensive knowledge of the guild’s old guard. Even Sildra had a purpose, even if it was just to do laps around the city to confirm who’d been taken by monsters. Giller wasn’t directly helping, but when she’d arrived with Blendstin the night they’d rescued the guild master, there’d been a lengthy discussion which everyone had walked away from satisfied.

For all that everyone else was busy, Velik had nothing to do in the city. He couldn’t resume his activities at the guild hall since he wasn’t supposed to be in Cravel in the first place, not that he really wanted to sit through more lessons in the near future. He couldn’t attend tutoring sessions, though again, he wasn’t too disappointed about that.

But they didn’t want him leaving the mansion, and he wasn’t accustomed to being trapped in one place, especially not a place he was uncomfortable in to begin with. Jensen was fine. He spent his time relaxing in one of the building’s studies or libraries or something like that, sipping on fancy tea and eating expensive pastries.

It’s a big house, but it’s too small to live my life in. The food is good, but the beds are too soft and everything smells too strongly. It doesn’t mask any of the underlying scents they’re trying to cover either. It just makes it all worse.

He’d gotten restless and gone exploring on the third day, which led to the discovery of a sort of gym and training room in the basement. It wasn’t nearly enough to challenge him, having been designed for someone with maybe 20 or 30 physical to use, but it was better than nothing. Still, there were only so many times he could do laps before boredom took him again.

Tonight, however, something was going on. At first, Velik hadn’t paid much attention to the unusual amount of people in the mansion. Someone was always coming or going, and sometimes it was more of the former than the latter. This time the number kept growing, and once it tipped past thirty extra people, he dared to hope that they were finally going to do something.

He found Torwin quickly enough. The old hunter was with a few other golds that Velik didn’t recognize, but which [Apex Hunter] assured him would be a tough fight if it came to that. All of them stood around a table while a man that Velik was reasonably certain was a guild receptionist gave them directions.

“Two of you are here at Malt Street,” the receptionist said. “Two more on Brackard. I want three here at Celebaun. Remember that Phun is damn near platinum, and that’s just what we’ve got on record. He’s not going to make it easy to take him in.”

The receptionist finished rattling off instructions, then turned to Velik and said, “You’re not part of this briefing.”

“He’s fine,” Torwin said. “He can come with the team that goes after Phun. Morgus knows we’ll need the help.”

“Yeah,” one of the other golds said. “Did you see how much gray is in Torwin’s hair?”

“What hair?” another one joked.

“Hey! I’ve still got plenty on the sides and back,” Torwin protested.

“You mean on your back,” the first one said.

“If you don’t mind,” the receptionist said, his voice snapping like a whip to cut through the chatter, “we are on a tight deadline. These strikes must occur simultaneously if we’re going to succeed. So stow the crap and get serious.”

Who is this guy? He can’t be some counter boy the way they’re all listening to him.

“And as for you,” the man said, turning to face Velik again, “If Torwin takes responsibility for you, you can go along. Otherwise, stay out of this. We don’t need any wild cards screwing up the plan.”

“Thanks,” Velik said dryly. “I wasn’t aware that I needed your permission to go places, but I’m glad I have it.”

A flicker of [Apex Hunter] was all the warning he got before the receptionist was standing in front of him, a foot planted on Velik’s chest. The next thing he knew, he’d crashed into the wall behind him. The man appeared again, looking down at him the same way someone might observe a bug they were considering crushing under their heel.

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“Let’s get things straight, rookie. However irregular your induction into the gold ranks might have been, you are still a member of the guild, which means you’re under my command. If you don’t like that, feel free to turn in your pin and get the fuck out of my way.”

Velik blinked up at the guy for a moment, then leaped to his feet. The kick had been fast, but there hadn’t been enough force behind it to injure him. That was certainly deliberate. “And who are you, again?”

“Voldrar Emberson, ranking platinum and field tactical commander for the Cravel branch of the Monster Hunters Guild.”

How did [Apex Hunter] miss this guy? And why did I think he was a receptionist?!

Somehow, the man shifted back into a significantly meeker form. It wasn’t even that he was any different, just that his posture was more slouched, and his expression became softer. Whatever he’d done when he’d… disciplined… Velik, it was temporary. Or maybe this is the disguise and the real Emberson came out for a few seconds there.

[Apex Hunter], traitorous skill that it was, no longer regarded Emberson as a threat, even though Velik knew better. The man walked back around the table, normal as could be. “Now then, we have one hour to get into places. If there are no questions, you’re all dismissed. Torwin, take the newbie with you.”

Chuckling to themselves, the golds all split up into small groups. Torwin beckoned Velik over, then introduced him to the other two golds on his team. “This is Jerva and Gwin. And the guy who just met Emberson is Velik.”

“Fun first meeting, right? Did better than me. He threw me down a well when I met him,” Jerva said.

“Mound of cow manure. I went right through it and out the other side,” Gwin muttered. “I’d have loved to just get a love tap into a nice, clean wall.”

“And you all just tolerate this?” Velik had to ask.

“Emberson’s not so bad once you get to know him. You just have to understand that he really hates people being rude or disrespectful. Be nice around him, and you won’t have any issues.”

Velik thought back to the golds ribbing Torwin about his hair and his age and wondered why nobody else had ended up kicked into a wall. Seems a bit hypocritical. Whatever. It’s just another reason to finish this business up and get out of here.

“Who are we going after, and is there anything special I should know?” Velik asked, changing the subject.

“Phun. He’s… fun,” Jerva said with a smirk.

“Shut up. That was terrible. And Phun’s an egotistical jackass. Can’t blame that on the monsters. He’s always been that way. Thing is, he’s stronger than any of us. That’s why we have the big team,” Torwin said. “Come on, I’ll fill you in on what we know he can do and then we can speculate on what new tricks he might have picked up if he’s anything like Gorlath was.”

“Still can’t believe he died to the newbie,” Jerva said. “Got to hand it to you though, kid, at your age, I barely made it into bronze. I heard they made you take care of that swamp hydra.”

“That was him?” Gwin asked. She looked over at Velik with sympathy. “Tough break.”

“The carriage ride there and back was the worst part,” Velik said.

“Worse than trawling a swamp to fight with the monster that doesn’t know how to die? How could it possibly have been? Jerva asked.

“Aria was his evaluator,” Torwin explained.

Both golds stopped and said, simultaneously, “Ooooooh.”

“Boy, you must have really pissed some god off,” Jerva added.

“He passed,” Gwin said. “Couldn’t have been that bad.”

They passed through half a dozen rooms that Velik couldn’t begin to divine the purposes of while they talked, ending near a servant’s entrance that had a small foot path leading to a back gate. Once they were outside, Jerva said, “Don’t keep us in suspense, newbie. Tell us the story.”

“Save it for later,” Torwin interrupted. “Velik needs to know about Phun now. You can pump him for entertainment when we get back.”

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Velik didn’t much care for that idea, but he kept his mouth shut. If having to listen to a chatty hunter was the price he paid to get some fresh air, it was worth it. He’d just keep his answers short and to the point until the man got the message and left him alone.

“Alright. Phun. Good news is that he’s got a hunter class like you. Last we knew, it was a rare, though we’re not sure if that’s actually true or something he lied about and pretended to let slip a few years back. Either way, we don’t know what the actual class is, which means he’s got enough mental backing it up to resist an [Identify]. We do have some ideas about his skills, but it’s gossip from hunters who’ve worked with him before.”

“So don’t assume I know everything he can do and expect to be surprised a few times,” Velik said. “This isn’t my first fight, Torwin. Stop hedging and tell me what the guy’s working with.”

“Cocky and impatient,” Jerva said. “Oh, to be that young.”

“I’d put money on him over you, Jerva,” Torwin told the man.

“Please. No chance. Did you see the way he folded under Emberson?”

“You’re an idiot,” Gwin said as she smacked Jerva’s shoulder.

“Ignore them,” Torwin told Velik. “Alright, so Phun’s build…”