"Can you two stop fighting? All of my other students are terrified of getting caught up in your quarrel," a man built like a bear spoke in his deep voice nonchalantly.

  "Sir Blake," Alan mumbled. Clearing his throat, he continued, "I have an important message to deliver to both of you. The White Tiger Guild has accepted a quest to save the village of Arcek from a horde of goblins."

  "Horde of goblins,” Ais muttered, her half-opened eyes dull with disinterest.

  Clearing his throat, Alan added, "A horde of ten thousand goblins to be precise, with more than half the horde consisting of hobgoblins and a handful of goblin kings and commanders."

  "Ten thousand goblins? Huh. That's a lot, I must say," Blake remarked.

  "And by what time would these goblins reach the village of Arcek? Did Alisa tell anything about it?" Ais questioned with a neutral look.

  "In roughly five hours, if I am not mistaken," Alan added in a nonchalant tone.

  "Five hours, eh," Blake said.

  To which Alan simply responded with a nod.

  "Why didn’t you tell me sooner!" Blake shouted, hitting Alan hard on the back. "Do you know how much preparation it takes, idiot?" he yelled.

  The shout caused all the other people standing in the crowd to look in Blake’s direction.

  "I actually don't…, sorry for that." Alan added in an apologetic tone.

  "Who all are participating in the fight, though?" Ais questioned while looking at Alan.

  "The Weeble siblings and I are going to participate in the fight. Alisa said that all the A-rank and B-rank adventurers available must participate," he added while looking in Blake’s direction. Turning his gaze towards Ais, he further added, "And you would be leading the fight."

  "I am supposed to lead?" Ais exclaimed with a shocked expression.

  Alan nodded at this. "That’s what Alisa told me, if I am not wrong," he said.

  Letting out a sigh, Blake added, "I’ll get the adventurers ready," as he stretched his neck by bending it behind. "In the meantime, Ais, get the formation you would like to use sorted out," he added.

  "Understood Sir Blake," Ais replied.

  With that, Blake moved towards the flock of adventurers who were still standing around on the ground.

  "Is there even any meaning to the thing we call living?" Alan mumbled in a gloomy tone as he looked at Blake moving away.

  "It’s technically your fault," Ais added as she cast a sideways glance at him. "Don’t get all gloomy on me now."

  "Whatever you say. What’s the formation you want to use in the battle?" Alan asked curiously.

  "That depends on whether the Weebles are cooperative and easy to work with or, you know, slightly quirky and hard to manage," Ais said as she began to walk towards the building’s entrance.

  Weeble siblings huh, Alan mentally repeated as he followed Ais. "I would say they are rather hard…, no, no, I prefer not to comment on it," Alan added, taking back his words.

  Ais looked at Alan briefly, with a look that made it clear she was thinking something. "They are difficult to work with?" she questioned.

  Alan didn’t look at Ais. "I can’t comment on it since I technically haven’t fought in their party, so I don't know anything about them," he added. I mean, just because Rose was slightly angry at me, I can’t say they are both hard to work with. That would be idiotic. Alan mentally remarked.

  Ais and Alan walked inside the White Tiger Guild building together. A small smile was now visible on Ais’ face, as if she were plotting something fun for herself. "You could know more about them," Ais added as she stood still, with a huge grin.

  I can know more about them…, Alan pondered a second before continuing, "No, I don’t want to get to know them. Just set me up with you or Sir Blakes. Hell even Miss Bella would be fine."

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Ais simply waved her fingers in a no. "She’s a healer, and setting you up with either me or Blake would make the formation unevenly strong," Ais added with a neutral expression. "And just so you know, Mr. Solo Knight, I am the leader," she added with a smirk.

  There was a small silence after this, where Ais and Alan simply kept looking at each other. The silence was broken.

  "You know what, Ais?"

  "What?"

  "I’ll be leaving," Alan said as he turned back to move out from the exit.

  "No, you don’t," Ais replied, simply catching his collar from behind. "Stop playing around! We don’t have time for it," she scolded, mildly frustrated.

  Alan removed Ais’ hand from his collar. "Understood. I’ll do what you say, I guess," he added begrudgingly.

  "That’s better," Ais added. "I have a question for you, though," she added as she walked towards the stairs.

  "What’s that?" Alan asked as he followed her.

  "Are you not wearing the spine protector you normally do?" she questioned. "I mean, I know you don’t like armor and all, but I was almost certain you wore it previously."

  "Ahh, I actually didn’t wear it today since I didn’t intend to go to the deeper floors of the dungeon," he added nonchalantly.

  "Do you want mine? I have an extra."

  "I mean, you are the same height as me, though I doubt yours would fit me well," Alan replied, after a moment of considering the idea.

  "I was just teasing you, idiot," Ais called out as she opened the Vice Guildmaster’s room and stepped inside.

  "Just so you know, I am not easy to mess with," Alan replied with a cheeky smirk. "Well then, I’ll be going to check on Alisa," Alan added as he pointed at Alisa’s office.

  Ais narrowed her eyes, her tone sharp. "Whatever you do, just don’t get into trouble with her or start debating with her or stuff like, uhh… what you usually do, okay?"

  "I don’t do anythi—" Alan yelled, though his words were interrupted by the shutting of the door right in his face. "Idiot Ais," Alan mumbled as he walked back to Alisa’s room. With a knock on the door, he spoke loud enough for Alisa to hear, "I’m coming in."

  Walking inside the room, Alan noticed Alisa looking at him, though the scene in the room looked rather serious.

  Adrian Weeble was sitting on the chair while bouncing his leg at a rhythmic pace, while Rose Weeble was staring at the table without doing or saying anything. The weird thing was it seemed as if she hadn’t even realized Alan had walked in.

  Alan walked towards the white rectangular couch present at the side of the room, taking his seat quietly.

  "I will ask again. What do you think? Would you both be interested in joining the White Tiger Guild?" Alisa questioned with a calm voice as she pushed a contract in Rose and Adrian’s direction.

  Adrian took the contract in his hand, reading it as he supposedly checked the contract’s details quietly, his eyes scanning each detail as if it were some kind of royal decree.

  "Miss Weeble?" Alisa spoke, clicking her fingers in front of Rose to grab her attention.

  "Sorry," Rose immediately replied. "I was thinking about something," she added.

  "Ahh, don’t worry about it. Take your time. I wouldn’t want you to make your decision in haste," Alisa added with a small smile.

  Nodding at Alisa’s response, Rose turned to look at her brother. "Do you want to join?" she questioned Adrian in a serious tone.

  "We would certainly be paid nicely for joining the White Tiger Guild," Adrian replied, his gaze still fixed on the document in his hand. "Though joining it would decrease the time we could spend dungeon exploring or forest exploration while fighting monsters," he added, a slightly confused expression evident on his face.

  "That’s true," Alisa interrupted, raising her finger. "Though you would get to train and spar with some of the top A-ranking individuals—both sorcerers," she said while looking in Adrian’s direction, "and swordmasters," she added while looking in Rose’s direction.

  She is trying to recruit them, huh? Getting the Weeble siblings under her wing, Alan mentally spoke as he imagined a huge, laughing Alisa reigning over the city.

  Yeah, that would be bad. She would outclass the Iron Fang Guild by a big gap in a few years, considering the Weeble siblings' growth rate, Alan mused. It’s not like it concerns me, though, he added, letting out a sigh.

  Blake Armstein [ Status update from a day ago ]

  - Race: Human

  - Rank: A-Rank

  - Age: 43

  - Class: Swordmaster

  - Affinity: Earth

  Stats

  - Mana Points: 10460

  - Strength: 1180

  - Speed: 2,346

  - Dexterity: 1986

  - Health Points: 700

  Equipment

  - Weapon: Tier 5 Sword

  - Armor: None

  Abilities

  - None

  Magic Resistance

  - Level 2 Resistance – Reduces the effectiveness of magic-based attacks by 20%.

  Defensive Abilities

  - Self-Healing (Level 2) – Can heal minor wounds when activated.

  - Damage Reduction (Level 3) – Reduces 30% of all physical damage received.

  Special Abilities

  - None