Alpha Realm (OP.MC.|Harem|NSFW)

Name: Aizel Kadashi | Age: 19 | Level: 15

Title: Goblinoid Nemesis

SE: 0 | HP: 261

Race: Crimson Were-Dragon

「 Morning, of his 15th day on Geas. 」

The hunter's guild was a really nice building, a three-story-high monolithic thing that looked like a Mexican villa fucked an European castle in front of a Brutalist architect. It was right next to the town hall, the mayor's office, and other fancy-looking buildings and houses, all made out of stone and with some kind of white plaster covering most of the rocks. He only knew that because some buildings were still being covered with it.

There was a gate at the end of the road that led to where the large area that Aizel saw was being cleared. Vanessa said that it was going to be the noble district and even have a large keep for a future lord. That is, if the town prospered enough by itself.

Vanessa led Aizel inside… The guild hall. It was a fancy place that made Aizel appreciate his new boots. The floor was made of planks of wood that were pretty clean, considering the amount of mud outside. He was expecting a loud tavern-like place filled with savages and a large board with quests, but it looked more like a medieval bank for nobles.

A standing female receptionist saw them enter from behind a stone counter that acted as a room divider and table. There was a wooden shelf behind her that had some scrolls stored on it. The only way in or out of her room was through a door in the back right corner that was open towards another room, or by jumping across the stone divider.

Once they were inside, there was a tall man leaning on an opening towards the right. Behind him, there was some kind of shop, but it was covered by his large frame. What made Aizel jump was the weapon the man carried over his shoulder. It was the same kind of rifle he saw on the group that was making its way down the mountains.

'Here and there my Draconian ass…'

He was tempted to contact Deez Nerd just out of spite.

"Vanessa. Weren't you supposed to be on guard duty at the north gate?" The receptionist asked with a raised eyebrow.

She was quite the looker, not as divine as Vanessa, but still. Maybe in her early thirties, late twenties. Short, with fair skin and short blonde hair that ended in long waves. She had a whole angry librarian look on her. Fancy long shirt with Victorian-style ruffles at the end of its sleeves, almost chest-high tight leg-wear with gold buttons that ran alongside her right side. She wore thin golden glasses with a rectangular frame that did not cover the top part of the lenses. She was also wearing a golden ring on her left hand's ring finger.

'I mean, they literally have rifles… and other Earthlings came before me, so It's pretty clear that my predecessors influenced this place to shit and back.'

"Y-Yes, but this gentleman needed assistance. He needs to register as a Hunter," Vanessa said

'Gentleman?'

"Wait there." She motioned towards the back wall and went to the room in the back.

Aizel almost drooled as he saw her walk away. She was wearing high-heeled boots that made a clack with her every step; her hips swaying was hypnotizing to him. Only breaking his trance once she was out of sight, he turned to the side, and Vanessa was staring at him with a smug, knowing face and raised brows.

He did not say a thing or even show a reaction, and just went to the back. She followed after him and sat down on a long varnished split log by the entrance.

The only thing on his mind at the moment was the weapon the man was carrying. The man was reading while standing as he leaned on the wall; he probably thought that he was being stealthy, but Aizel's eyesight was made to look for prey from really, really far away.

As he zoomed into the man's eyes, he could see that his eyes were not following the letters of his book, but rather stuck on the top of it, and Aizel could almost feel him staring back from the edge of his vision.

"Hey, don't stare," Vanessa whispered.

"Sorry, I like the rifle." He lied as he broke his trance.

"The what?" She asked.

"The weapon he's carrying; I like rifles."

"Oh! The musket. What's a ray~fl?"

'Hmm, interesting. The word riffle is supposed to be already on Geas, like nerd, but as she said musket, it also felt like the same thing.'

"Same thing, different name, I guess," Aizel replied.

"Yeah, those are nice. But way too expensive. You would need to either be a gold rank to afford one, or be sponsored by the guild… and before you ask, no, they are trained from childhood."

'Trained on what? Point, squeeze, and don't miss? That's the longest fucking training for the simplest skill. Freaking marines are out and fucking things up in like three months tops! My nephew was hunting ducks at 12 after like an afternoon of burning the three firearms rules on his runt brain.'

Her smell was driving him insane; he had to fight with all of his willpower to not flirt with her. But he lost.

"So…" He said in a low tone and turned to her, staring into her brown eyes, switching his gaze to her lips for a brief moment before going back to her eyes. Then he looked away and continued. "Want to trade hunt stories?"

She was breathing heavily and working real hard not to look interested, but the small motions of her face, the tightening of her skin, the change in her temperature as he fought a blush, the small droplets of sweat, her tightening and dilating pupils, and her nervous system flaring up. Betrayed her efforts.

"I-I, I"

"You, you, you?" He said as he smiled and looked into her eyes once again.

"Only two." She said.

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a slight smirk, implying with his expression a second meaning to her words.

"G-Goblins! I've only killed two goblins." She finally 'clarified,' before continuing, "The rest are just normal missions, not monster hunts. And that's only because I was on a caravan as a lent guard… we were ambushed at dusk, just about breaking camp. I was lucky enough to be on the top of a cart and jumped on him, using my mace to do it. I sprained my ankle from the fall. Most of the time I just go on bodyguard duty for the gatherers, or on hunt simple game during winter."

'Yeah, I chose the wrong topic; at least the horny went down.'

"I saw some cattle; why hunt game?"

"Cattle? That's south side! What!? You came from the north!"

"Yeah… I might have gone around to bypass the queue; too many people."

"That's a long fucking walk!"

"Language… It is." He nodded.

'I did not walk tough.'

The hot receptionist came back in time to save Aizel from having to explain himself, and called to them.

"Vanessa, bring your…"

"Aizel," Vanessa replied

"Bring your Aizel then; the High Priestess was already here; they are ready." Aizel chuckled.

Vanessa just gave a glare at the receptionist, then guided Aizel to the opening on the side opposed to the fake-reading guard.

They went up some wooden stairs and entered a large hallway. The first door on the right side was already open, and she guided him there.

The hot receptionist was holding a book and a modern-looking fountain pen and just stood by what he assumed was the priestess. She wore all in white, with tight pants and a jacket, made of thick and tough-looking silks and velvet, and a long veil that covered her face with translucent fabric, her head and back like a short cape or hood.

And a giant dwarf. It was not an oxymoron in this world; someone saw it in a movie and decided it was a good Idea to make an entire race based on that. At least he was not as massive as in that film. This man had the body shape and proportions associated with the Earth condition of a similar name, but here they had a normal height; they were just strong as fuck.

If he was remembering right from his time browsing the human races, this guy was at least three times as strong as a human of his same height, but his body told a different story. He was massive, like body builder on roids massive.

Dwarfs also had a higher-than-average intelligence and wisdom stat, and surprisingly, high dexterity. Their trade-off was on their speed attribute, almost as if the one creating the race got bored and just decided to place all the downsides one would spread out over more stats, in a single one.

But he was a literal mana-less 'build,' - 'HP build?' So he was not one to judge. For all he knew, this guy could punch the floor and fly like a green superhero.

He was as tall as Aizel; his beard was magnificent, though. It had a nice Viking weave and some accessory rings on side dreads. Even a little pink flower for flavor.

'Or smell, yeah. It's probably for smell. Not his, the fucking town's.'

"Please take a seat." The man said while moving his hand towards one of the two seats in front of his comically small desk.

'No, the desk is normal size; we are both just too big for it.'

Vanessa and Aizel sat down beside each other.

"We will begin. Are you staying, Huntress Vanessa?" The man asked, more to Aizel than Vanessa.

"She may stay. If that's okay with you?" Aizel said.

"Hmm… It's your information, Young man. Priestess," The man said.

— — —

Name: Lisa | Age: 27 | Level: 72

Title: High Priestess, Rank S

SE: 142 | HP: 115 | MP: 750

Race: Seraphim Angel

Just as Lisa was about to leave for the unfinished Temple on the side of the Hunter's Guild of Redvelia, she was called back by Kira, the hunter's guild's most senior clerk; apparently, Huntress Vanessa was slacking off on her duties by enticing a young man to become a hunter.

To her surprise, Huntress Vanessa was on to something.

A young man, maybe in his early twenties, entered Master Sigil's office following the young huntress; right away she could see with her racial trait, Aura Eyes, that this young man was the real deal. An aura so powerful that she almost wet herself. It was red and wild; he was probably never instructed on how to tame it, because it flared from time to time as if he was using a skill. She could not see the end of it, so speculating about his level was just that, speculation.

Two thumb-sized diamond-red scales were in each of his temples. Another two thumbnail size on the back of each wrist.

He had to be a Were person; a normal lizard folk would have more scales, or none at all. Then she noticed his eyes; she had been distracted by his aura, so it was hard for her to focus on anything else.

'Dragon eyes. There's no way he's the one I saw flying like a maniac last night, right?'

She almost came; the second time she almost lost control in less than a minute. It was shameless, 'unbecoming' of someone of her station and race.

But she, like all the woman who read fantasy, had read at least one, or in her case, more than one erotic novel depicting dragons stealing away damsels, taking them to their lairs, just to forcibly take away their chastity, ravaging them until their mind broken with nothing else, but foul vulgarity left as the only way to deal with their trauma, just to abandon them when they became too loose, dumping them away like a broken toy that crawled to the temple to begging them to use (Restore) on them.

'But there is no (Restore) that can mend the mind, no (Purify) that can wash away their corrupted desire. Most men think we like the stories because they depict heroes in shining armor, that rescue the damsels from the beasts, but no, what we love is what happens to the damsels, the desecration of their virtues, the slow descent into depravity, the coerc—'

"... Young man, Priestess," Master Sigil said.

Thankfully, her veil covered her face, so the young man would have a hard time seeing her flushed skin even with his dragon senses. With her training, she kept her body straight, showing no sign of her inner turmoil.

"Yes. Please, young man, do you consent to me using (System Inspection) on your soul?"

"Yeah, sure." The young man said as he looked into her eyes.

His round pupils were like twin eclipses, surrounded by Irises that changed color with every slight twitch of his eyes. One moment they were pink, then bright blue, then indigo, crimson. But when his eyes locked into her own. The eclipses were gone, and the shine of night sight replaced the darkness.

She extended her hand, and he delicately took it.

"I, High Priestess Lisa, of clear mind, by my own will, take a vow."

An iridescent shine surrounded her and the young man, revealing the fabric of mana for all to see without the need of skills or racial traits; then she continued

"To not reveal any information revealed to me through my Sun-given skill, (System Inspection), unless authorized by the revealed, or if it contains vile… titles. Nor what my racial trait Truth Sense uncovers after this inspection, unless illegal."

The shine condensed on the back of their palms. If she broke her vow, he would know it immediately. She almost wanted to, just to make him mad, to draw his wrath so he could have a motive and an excuse to (Bind) her to him, to become his, for him to vent his anger every night on her.

But that was a fantasy; she had a job to do.

"Sistema Reveladis!" She said out loud. A small list popped out in her mind, just like her own system.

Lisa glanced at his system. And her nipples became hard. Thankfully, her garment was thick, and there were no signs in her body language of her struggle.

'No MP? 261 HP!? Zero soul energy, Crimson Were-Dragon… I knew it! I fucking knew it!'

Her gut started acting funny, but before she could find something, some other thought to distract herself from this daydreaming, she read his title and the rest of his information.

'Goblinoid nemesis… at level 15? Those stats just at age 19. Superior Skills? What. The. Fuck?'

Except for his level, all of his statuses were those of a low lord, or a high knight. The hunter master saved her from her own thoughts once again.

"What's your name?" Master Sigil asked.

"Aizel Kadashi." The young man replied, and slowly turned to the Hunter Master.

Master Sigil glanced towards her, and she nodded. Kira started writing in her book, filling out the relevant information from the hunter prospect.

"Are you a noble?" Sigil continued.

"No," Aizel replied plainly.

"Where are you from?"

"Hmm…" Aizel paused and started thinking, and thinking. The Hunter master was not a man known for his patience.

"It's a simple question, boy… Where were you born?"

"In a hospital?" Aizel shrugged.

THUMP! The guild master struck his desk so hard that if it was not warded against it, it would have broken in half and sent exploding splinters everywhere.

"Don't get cheeky with me, brat!"

"Hahaha… chill out, dude, you're going to pop a vessel. I'm just trying to find the right answer." Aizel laughed at the Master, not being intimidated by his strength, and apparently, even finding it funny.

"There. Is no right answer to look for…" The Hunter Master growled his sentence.

Aizel turned serious and glared at the man

"I was born. on A.D. 1992, On St.Cecil's maternity wing, on route Seven, of Walled Way, Of the old state of Texas, Under the banner of the USA, The land of the Free…"

Aizel growled that last sentence, and his aura visibly sharpened for a moment. The guild master did not have any mana senses and relied on her to gauge a prospect's words. She just nodded. Feeling as her thighs were getting warm. She needed to intervene and make this dick-measuring contest end. The Dragon would win.

"True. And his place of birth is barely relevant for the registration, unless he's a prosecuted criminal, or a runaway noble." Lisa said.

"Hm. Are you escaping from the law?" The guild master continued after a growl.

"No."

"Are you escaping from a noble, royal, or imperial house?"

"No."

"Are you escaping from the Temple of the Sun, or the Temple of the Moon?"

"No."

"Have you ever killed?"

"Yes."

"Excuse me!?" The guild master stood up as he screamed.

"You're excused."

"You Fucking! Nobody!" Sigil kept screaming and was about to jump at Aizel, who just had a smirk on his face.

"I-I-I think he means monsters, g-guild master, hunter master. Sir!" Vanessa said; she was shaking and sinking into her seat from enduring the guild master's outburst.

"Have you killed any humans, of any race? Not sub-human. Not monsters. Not fucking animals. HUMANS?"

"Oh! No, I haven't." Aizel replied calmly, "Should've been more specific, man." He shrugged.

The guild master took a seat again with a loud thump and sighed.

"Is he always like this?" Aizel asked Vanessa who just shook her head rapidly. Before glancing at the guild master with some fear in her eyes.

"Why do you want to become a hunter?"

"Haggling power, expedite customs, and weapon permits." Aizel shamelessly replied, as he counted with his fingers.

Vanessa just gave him a glare as her jaw hung open.

"What? What was I supposed to say? That is my dream job? I just need an ID."

"True," Lisa said, with a slight smile covered by her veil.

"What about the system, Lis? Is there anything abnormal?"

She hated when he used that moniker; she had not given him permission to use it. It was a pet name she only told a few of her lovers to use. She did not care how thick a Dwarf dick was; he had just proven - again, by throwing that tantrum. That he was nothing but a large kid. She would not be fucking this Dwarf, no matter how hard he tried to court her. There were new priests coming fresh from the high temple academy the next season anyway. So, she would take her pick from the recently graduated ones, the ones with the smallest dicks who are always shy and eager to please after graduating, maybe even a couple at the same time. They were probably even more mature than this excuse for a man.

'What happens in the temple stays in the temple… That sounds evil. Meh… As long as it's consensual.'

"No, just… your title, Aizel. You do know that your system title is changed after becoming a hunter, right?" Lisa said

"Oh! Sweet! Nope - didn't know, but fuck that title." Aizel replied.

"You got a title?" The guild master asked, almost mockingly.

"Yes."

"What is it?" The guild master continued.

"Hey!" Vanessa said.

"That's." Kira bit the end of her Arcane Quill but did not finish her sentence.

"You don't need to answer that question, Aizel. Guild master, do I need to remind you to keep within the boundaries of the relevant information? The title is not illegal, or I would have said so."

"Okay, okay… I was just curious since he is so young. Anyway. Do you have any questions? Or do we proceed with the registration?" The guild master waved dismissively

"Well, I kind of just followed Vanessa here. Do you work with a fixed income, or like, a quota to meet? I also do not want to be a guard, so…"

The guild master exhaled and gave Vanessa a glare. "A hunter hunts. That is the hunter's way. Simple."

"No, we are not guards. We, the guild, are just handlers; we handle hunters. We give you jobs based on your skill." He continued explaining, finally calming down.

"Right now it's the middle of summer, and all of our best hunters are out, so there is no alliance that Vanessa can join to go hunting because of her rank. So, we, as handlers, give her job options to earn a living in the meantime."

"How does one increase rank, or get to go, you know, hunting?"

"We will give you jobs and increase the rank as you complete them based on your performance. If Kira tells you, there's deer here, please go get one. And if you come back with no deer and a broken arm, you are not hunting deer again, for good a while - if ever. And the only rank you are getting is the lowest, stuck in guard duty—and even that—might go away with time, as proper ones are hired. Before you ask - no, Vanessa did not fuck up; we got an emergency report, and almost all hunters are out. This is the North, kid - the land above us its literally called, The Death Valley. It belongs to the Goblinoids, and they sometimes make it past the White Shield. We are often called to clean those up, and the hunters up there right now are cleaning up the stronger ones."

"Okay, so how do I even get a rank at first? Go gather some herbs?"

"What? You really are far from home. How did you get here?" The guild master asked.

"A clown teleported me."

"Lie." Lisa interrupted immediately.

"Let me rephrase…" Aizel said, probably seeing how the Guild master was about to start going goblin again.

"I was teleported, and given almost no warning, I had no say in the matter"

"Lie," Lisa said.

"With a short warning, my options were to be teleported or death?"

"True." Lisa finally gave her approval.

"Someone is or was trying to kill you?"

"No."

"True."

"Okay… Do you bear any ill intent toward the hunter's guild or its members?"

"No."

"Are you planning on committing a crime?"

"No."

"Are you associated with someone that has committed or is planning to commit a crime?"

"No."

"Are you associated with sub-humans?"

"The fuck's a sub-human?" Aizel asked

"Bandits and Outlaws, people who have been confirmed to have committed one or two of the unforgivable crimes of murder or rape of humans. Sometimes not even given the opportunity to atone through the lawful Slavery of (Bind)."

"No, I'm not associated with sub-humans."

"I'm low on mana, Guild Master." Lisa lied. Truth sense was a Racial Trait exclusive to some Angel-kin, and consumed the same mana as breathing: none. She was just tired of the man-child; besides, if she got wet, the dragon would smell it.

'I am really temped to let him smell me.'

"We are done anyway. Thanks, Lis."

She wanted to send a (Mana Bolt) at his head, but she was a priestess. She had an image to keep. So she just bowed towards no one in particular as a sign of general respect and left the room. She would now go to her room in the temple and find a good book to read, maybe about dragons.

— — —

Name: Vanessa | Age: 22 | Level: 20

Title: Bronze-rank Huntress (D-)

SE: 6 | HP: 115/115 | MP: 20

Race: Human

The creepy priestess left the room. She did not know how that woman could act so composed all the time. The fact that she could glance at anyone's stats at any time just made things worse. She had not reacted even as the Guild Master started going goblin.

Aizel was not wise to joke during his guild interview, but she thought that the Guild Master's response went a little… too far. He was probably trying to intimidate the new recruit into becoming submissive, to respect his future superiors in the guild, but all he achieved was to look like a fool. Aizel did not react and even looked like he wanted the Guild Master to throw the first punch.

'It was kind of hot in retrospect, but at the moment I was scared.'

"So, what are you planning on hunting?" The Guild Master asked Aizel.

"Aren't you supposed to assign that stuff to me?" Aizel asked, still being cheeky. Even if that was a valid question.

"Yes. But I don't know you. Kira does not know you; Vanessa is just slacking off at your expense… How can I begin to assign you jobs if all I know about you is that you apparently do not have a sense of danger?"

Vanessa did not know why she was being called out. In her opinion, bringing a new recruit in was her duty; it may have started as a way to get away from Marlo, but now it was her job to see this through.

"Yeah, you got me there, dude. My sense of danger is probably wired backwards… Maybe goblins?"

"Goblins, he says. Hahaha… They are classified as Tier 2, yes. Bronze ranks are supposed to be able to kill them, yes… But that only means that they can, not that they do. You have no Idea how many bronze hunters I've lost to gobos. They may be small, but they are ruthless - they are stronger than a Dwarf, and faster than a Were-Dog. They can rip you to shreds before you know what the fuck is happening. And we are the lucky ones—you and I—the things that they do to the females they capture are simply the stuff of nightmares."

"Could not have come up with a better description myself, yeah, I killed a few on my way here, and the first one almost fucked me up."

"Pffff. Hahaha! Tell you what kid, come to the back, If you can take one of my man, I will make you D rank right away, skipping two ranks and being just a few jobs away from nice silver tags, if you thought bronze tags give you good discounts, imagine silver. I would take you myself, but I'm slow as fuck. I'm what they call a tank."

"Sir. That's a little much, isn't it? He said so himself; his sense of danger is not the best." Vanessa pleaded with the Guild Master.

"What? You scared your new boyfriend is going to get his pretty face smashed in?"

That was just petty. Aizel may be young, but he looked manly, not pretty. The Guild Master was the third person to joke about that. It's the first time that this had happened to her—she mostly worked with males, since the huntresses tended to ally together in female-only parties called Sisterhoods—akin to male-only Brotherhoods—but there was just not enough huntresses yet in Redvelia. Even Kira, the little bitch with a stick up her ass, joked about it.

Was she acting differently with him? Was he acting in a way that might suggest that?

"Sure, whatever. I'm getting hungry and still need some stuff; it would be nice to have the silver tags," Aizel replied before she could reply to that comment.

"Silver? Did you not pay attention, boy? You are getting to high BRONZE, and only if, you don't lick the ground… too fast."

"Who do I call?" Kira asked the Guild Master as they were all getting up. The little bitch did not even try to stop the fight.

"Hmm. Tell Duncan, he should be sharpening up the bronzes in the yard"

'FUCK! Duncan is a silver-rank Were-Dog. He's… kind of hot. I would let him knot me - like Vex used to do. If he was not such a fucking psycho! He will tear Aizel apart!'

"S-Sir, Isn't Duncan a little too much for a new recruit?" Vanessa asked

"You heard him; he wants to hunt gobos." The guild master explained in a somber tone. "Duncan can take gobos one-on-one; if he can't at least run from him, he has no chance out there."

He was not wrong. As frustrated as she felt, she could not deny that a gobo was at least as fast as Duncan on his best day. So if Aizel was spouting gremlin-shit, he needed to get a reality check. Better now than never.

They walked out of the office and headed downstairs; the Guild Master went with Kira ahead of them.

"Are you okay?" Aizel asked her.

"H-Huh? Yes. I should be the one asking you that."

"Why?" He asked back.

"Well, you are about to fight a silver rank!"

"Oh yeah, about that… What's with the double ranking thing? I see that you use metal names but also letters? Or add High and Low?"

"That's the first thing you ask!?"

"I mean… where's a good place to eat? Like - are there other places aside from the market stalls?"

"I'm going to hit you…" She said, really close to slapping him in the head.

"Fine. Who's this Dung-can guy, and why did you go pale? He can't be worse than the guy running the guild?"

"He's… A Were-Dog, a fast one. He is also kind of crazy, no - he might actually be crazy. He's not evil, but he will be given the freedom to beat you up, so you don't just go outside and kill yourself"

"You do realize I came from outside, right?"

"Yes, and that is the only reason I'm not dragging your scaly ass out of here."

"How do you know it's scaly? You've been staring?" Aizel said with that hot little growl that he had. Right, next - to her EAR. So, she did not grace him with an answer. And looked away.

They arrived at the yard in the back of the guild. It was their training grounds; at the moment, it was mostly used by new recruits being taught the basics of combat by Duncan. The usual sound of clashing wood was nowhere to be found, replaced by murmurs and a small crowd of bronze ranks.

"So. Aizel, grab a weapon and get to the center." The guild master ordered.

"Keep this safe for me? Don't! Eat my dear."

Aizel gave her his weird-looking bag and did not waste any time. He did not even glance at the bronze hunters and just went for… a small sword.

"Duncan, meet Aizel - says he has killed goblins… Please 'assess' his potential as a hunter. Aizel, meet Duncan - try not to let him touch you, you can run from him—as that is indeed—a valid strategy in the wild. I really do not want to lose more bronze hunters to the green freaks than I have to."

Duncan and Aizel faced each other. Duncan had a large wooden mallet; he had pointy, almost wolf-like ears, a long furry tail that reached the floor and was wagging with excitement, and he had a crazy look in his eyes that spelled disaster. And Aizel just looked… bored.

"You really want to hunt goblins with a short sword?" Duncan asked skeptically.

"I really have no experience with anything else, and that looks kind of heavy" Aizel replied.

"Your choice of tool is your first mistake, little man."

"You do realize - I'm taller than you?" Aizel asked back with a raised brow.

"That's not what I meant," Duncan replied with a sadistic smile.

"Then why— Oh! You meant my dick! He-he. You still remember? It must have hurt!" Aizel teased, earning himself a growl.

"Enough banter! Begin!" The guild master roared.

Duncan did not waste any time, rushing towards Aizel with his mallet low. Aizel did not move and just stared at him. Just as Duncan was about to strike at his ribs, Aizel sidestepped and tripped Duncan. He went into the floor and slid down from his own speed.

"Damn! You are a fast boy!"

"Rgwa!" Duncan roared as he extended his mullet and gave a wide swing. It came short and missed Aizel, who had not moved, by only a nail's width of space.

Duncan used the momentum to stand up and tried to tackle Aizel as he rose. Aizel just took a small step back with a little hop, and perfectly evaded Duncan's tackle. Duncan tried to push him with the mallet's handle, but Aizel kept moving back, barely keeping him at striking distance.

The Were-Dog roared and took a step into Aizel's guard, swinging his mallet at his head. Aizel ducked, and the mallet flew above him, only ruffling his hair. Aizel moved to the side, just as Duncan tried to push him away. This time he succeeded, but Aizel rolled with the momentum and ended up slightly behind Duncan, well within striking distance. But he did not even try to swing his sword.

Duncan placed his feet together and did one of his signature sidekicks. Aizel caught it, and then lifted, forcing the Were-Dog to begin hopping on one foot to stay standing.

"Hey, Guild boss man. Do I pass? Or do I need to hit the pup?" Aizel asked

"Fight's not over!" Duncan yelled. With a clicking sound, he manifested his fangs and, in an impressive show of flexibility, tried to bite Aizel's flank, who was looking away.

Aizel raised Duncan's foot over himself, as if they were dancing instead of fighting; he turned him around with his own leg. As Duncan's back was turned to Aizel, he got down and pushed forward against his legs, sending Duncan over him by standing as he passed under him.

To Duncan's credit, he used his hands to brace his fall and backflipped by kicking the air, landing on all fours.

It was Aizel's back that was now turned towards Duncan. He took the chance and lunged, doing a wide swing at Aizel's legs. Aizel pushed with one of his legs, doing another of those short hops to the side. Duncan's mallet hit only air.

They were facing each other again. Duncan growled angrily at Aizel, who just stood there massaging his neck.

"I think I've proven you can't hit me. If you come at me again, I'm going to kick you."

Duncan ignored the warning and rushed Aizel again, his mullet raised high above his head. He came close and swung downwards. Aizel hopped to the side, striking Duncan with his knee in the stomach while he dodged the attack. Just as Duncan began stepping back, Aizel's feet barely touched the ground before rising again, striking Duncan with his shin in the same place the knee had landed just a moment ago.

"~Ugh!" Duncan doubled over and dropped his mallet. He wheezed for air.

"I'm pretty sure a goblin would have killed you like, five times already?…"

"Hmm." The guild master growled, "I've seen enough. Kira, give Aizel his ID, provided he has enough money to pay the inscription and two rank-ups."

"Is that really necessary, sir? He won't be getting his tags modified; I can just write the rank he's getting from the beginning." Kira said.

It was refreshing for Vanessa to see Kira standing up for someone instead of trying to screw them over. Although she was probably trying to screw Aizel in a 'different' way, the married bitch. Was she getting jealous?

'I just met him today… I did want to fuck him earlier, but it was more from the rush of seeing a new hottie in town—that carries Dragon blood. But from that to becoming jealous? We have not even spent an entire day together… We will probably spend more time together now that he is my same rank, maybe even above mine, so I will have more time to know him better… Then I can decide if I like-like him… but does he like me? What am I, fifteen!?'

"You are seriously telling me, that they charge you each time you rank up?" Aizel, who was now standing in front of her, asked her as he retrieved his weird bag filled with riches.

"Well, yeah, they need to modify the tags. That is, someone's job, you know?" Vanessa explained to him.

"Can I just… wait a few ranks before paying for the modification?" Aizel asked her, in a display of both cleverness—since that had not occurred to her before—and stinginess.

"You are pretty stingy for someone who can kill goblins like they are chickens, given how you treated Duncan… Speaking of, is he - going to be ok?" Vanessa asked, looking back at Duncan, who was lying on his back.

"Yeah, It's just his pride that is really hurt… I think he might have even liked it a little; he even moaned in the end. Did you hear?"

"He moaned in pain, you sadistic bronze!"

'Now me! My Turn!' Is what she wanted to scream instead.

"Bronze?"

"Yes, you are now bronze rank. Congratulations."