Grimoires & Masters - Chapter 26. (Patreon)

A pleased smile appeared on the old man’s face, and he gestured them to come forward after recalling his Aura that was pressing on them.


There were no other chairs to sit on the table he was sitting on, and Aoun and Elena came to stand before him.


“How did you figure out that we are Empyreans?” Elena curiously asked.


Her question made Valentine laugh, and brilliant light of excitement flash in his olden eyes.


“People who have an Aura as dense as Emperors when they are still Novices, how can someone like me, who has seen all the pain and glory, not recognize the likes of you?”


Elena nodded to him, but there were worries in her heart now.


“Don’t worry.” Valentine smiled at her understandingly. “Not everyone can recognize your truth as a glance. And even some Mighty Emperors of the World would not be able to recognize your identities as Empyreans.” He then turned to look at Aoun. “An Emblem for your Guild?”


“And the two Badges.”


Valentine nodded at him and then scrutinized him by looking in his eyes.


“You plan on overthrowing your brother, Zaryven?” He mischievously asked.


“No,” Aoun frowned at his words and shook his head.


“You should wear some magical contacts. Your brilliant eyes easily give away your identity even if you have that mask on.” Valentine then took out a little book from his Blood Ring and started writing on it with a  silver quill. “I can do that for you, your Emblem, Runic Badge, Guild Heart, and your contacts.” He looked at them and smiled. “It will cost you 20 Million Kyrls. 15 Million for the Emblem and Runic Badge, and 5 for Guild Heart. The lenses are free.”


“You have not even asked us what kind of Guild Badges we would like.” Elena frowned.


“A Guild of Empyreans deserves everything of the highest quality,” Valentine spoke like an experienced Businessman. “And I will give you an offer as well.”


Elena knew that they did not have that much money on them right now. The old man already played his card on the Empyrean’s Pride, not letting them settle on a lower sum.


“What’s your offer?” She curiously asked,


“I will give you 50% off if you promise me that you would let me design your Empire’s Emblem in the future.”


The words of the man delighted Elena, but they made Aoun uncomfortable. He did not have any plans of forming his Empire. He did not want to be bound by those responsibilities. And the words of Valentine reminded him of what his Grandfather had said to him on the night of his Awakening.


“I can not make any prom…”


“If we ever form our Empire one day, we will ask you to design our Empire's Emblem. I promise.” Elena interjected his words and gave the old man the promise he wanted.


The old man turned to look at Aoun to see if he approved of it.


Aoun sighed in his heart and nodded affirmatively to Valentine.


“Very well,” The old man was pleased. “Let’s start then. What’s the name of your Guild?”


“The Song of Arc’alaria,” Elena answered with a smile.


“Educated, and meaningful…” He was pleased to hear the name, and then he was lost in some thoughts.


“Thank you!” She giggled as she looked at Aoun and hugged his arm lovingly.


“Do you have any preferences?” Valentine asked after a few minutes.


“Light and Darkness, Fire and Ice. Sword…” Elena mumbled, and Valentine heard it.


“Anything else?” He asked for more.


Aoun and Elena tried hard to think, but could not decide on what exactly they wanted.


Valentine realized that the two of them did not have anything specific on their minds, and his excitement rose.


“May I see your Mounts or Soul Beasts?”


Showing him the Chaos Foxes was out of Question, and they did not want the foxes on their Emblem. It would not be a good idea to flaunt their trump cards on their clothes.


Aoun nodded to Elena, and both of them summoned Ray and Maya.


The two horses lovingly neighed and rubbed their faces against their Masters, they were tired after a long journey, but they were still happy at being summoned.


“This is Ray, and she is Maya…” Aoun introduced the horses to Valentine.


“Zorons…” The old man smiled brightly.


“Yes,” Aoun nodded.


“Arc’alaria, Light and Darkness, Fire and Ice, Sword, Zorons….” Valentine shot up on his feet and disappeared from the place after leaving them a few words. “I will be back in some time with your Emblem.”


The two of them stayed in shock before Elena burst out laughing.


“He is cool!”


“He’s just crazy about what he does…”


“And that is cool!” Elena nodded.


Aoun looked at her in the eyes and tried his best to muster up some seriousness, but the smile on her face melted his heart.


“You made a promise…” He sighed.


“And I added ‘if’ in it. It is not like we are obliged to do it. Only if things turn out that way, we will have to observe the promise.” She grabbed his collar and pulled him down to her before sipping his lips. “And it looks like he is brilliant at what he does. So, there should be no harm.”


There was nothing Aoun could say to her. Ray and Maya snuggled with each other, and seeing them like that, he did not have the heart to separate them. And so, he decided to explore the room.


Aoun and Elena spent the next two hours looking around the paintings on the walls. There were all sorts of paintings, signed by different artists, ranging from landscapes to portraits. And every piece of Art was exquisite!


“Who is the Monarch?”


Suddenly, the old man’s voice resounded in the room and he appeared right behind them, holding a ball of bright light.


“We both are!” Aoun answered him.


“Draw your dominant hands forward, and place them on each other.”


The siblings did as they were asked, Elena placed her hand on his, and Valentine crazily smashed the ball of light on their hands.


Both of them felt a warmth that resonated with their Souls on their hands, and as the light faded, they felt the backs of their hands burn. The pain was not excruciating, but it still made them hiss.


When both the light and the pain completely disappeared, a tattoo appeared on the back of their hands.


“Fuse your Aura and Mana with the Emblem.”


The marks lit up as they fused their Mana and Aura with the emblem, and it finally revealed itself to them.


There was a longsword with a dragon head, and from it sprouted two majestic Wings of a bird that seemed to cover everything under their shade. One wing was White, and the other was Black. Under the Balck Wing was a prancing white horse with wings and a conical horn, and on the other side was a similar black horse prancing and greeting her brother. Then under the black wing was a sky of Ice, and under the white wing was a sky of scarlet flame. The Sword’s tip touched a black stele. on which the Guild Rank was symbolized, a bronze 'F'. And on the blade of the Sword was the name of the Guild. blinking elegantly.


“How’s it?” Valentine asked proudly.


Aoun and Elena looked at him, then on the emblem on their hands, and then back at him.


“I know… I am the best!” Valentine laughed happily.


Seeing him more excited than them made both Aoun and Elena smile. The Emblem was more magical than they could have ever expected. Valentine had put everything they wanted on it, and he had done a job that couldn’t be more perfect.


“Thank you, Master Valentine.” Elena lightly bowed to him gratefully, and Aoun did the same.


Valentine nodded happily and then presented to them their Guild Heart. It was the physical Manifestation of their Emblem, and its vibrant colors and grace trembled their hearts.


“This is the Heart of your guild. It must never be destroyed…” Valentine seriously said to them. “If it breaks, you will lose all your Rank Points, Experience Points, Glory, and… part of your Empyrean Fate. And if that happens, it will break my heart.” He sincerely smiled at them.


“We will take care of it, Master Valentine.” Aoun accepted the Guild Heart and traced it gently with his fingers.


“The two of you must use all your remaining Aura and Mana on it.”


“All?” Aoun looked at him in shock.


“Yes,” He nodded.


“It won’t break…?” Elena worriedly asked.


“As long as it is your Aura and Mana, it won’t. It will only absorb them to its Spirit.” Valentine explained to them how it should be done.


Both of them spent the next hour draining their Aura and Mana at an astonishing rate, and the Guild Heart absorbed everything like a bottomless pit. When they were both completely drained and felt dizzy, the Guild Heart started to beat like a real heart. And then it shined brilliantly, producing a sizzling sound of Ice and crackling of flame, and with it came two majestic neighs of prancing horses.


Ray and Maya neighed in an answer, and the atmosphere was as magical as it could get. The two Beasts loved their Emblem, and the little monkey on Elena’s shoulder woke up as well, looking enchanted by the Guild Heart.


The phenomenon lasted for a few minutes, and when it finally subsided, the Runic Badge at the back of their hands, fused inside their bodies, and the Guild Heart stopped producing light and sounds, but it was still silently beating.


Aoun handed the heart to Elena, and she smiled brightly before storing it inside her Blood Ring. After that, she took out all her savings, added 4 million worth of Platinum Coins, and handed a little sank to Valentine.


“Thank you!” The old man didn’t bother counting the money. It went straight to his Blood Ring. And then he handed them two little cases. “These are Magical Lenses. They would hide the color of your eyes from people and Artifacts, but won’t be effective against Kings and Emperors as well as the Immortal Class Artifacts.”


“We are grateful, Master Valentine.”


“Everything is worth it then…” Valentine laughed. "Empyreans being grateful to you is the highest of honors.” He patted Aoun’s shoulder and then looked at the two of them. “If you allow this old man to give you advice, I will feel more honored.”


“Speak, Master Valentine.” Elena nodded respectfully.


“Make sure you recruit people that you can trust. Form a team that is like your family. Strength is important, but a familial feeling in the Guild is just as important. Only have as many people in the Guild as you can bear the responsibility of.” His words were sincere.


“We will always remember your words and observe them.” Aoun smiled at him. He understood that Valentine was warning him about chasing blindly after Power.


“I am glad.” The old man smiled and then thought for a while. “Do you have an Orb of Fate on you?”


“No,” Elena sighed, “We will get it in a few days.”


“You will need it,” He nodded and then took out an Orb of Fate from his Blood Ring. “Here, you can keep this.”


“Master Valentine… This is too much.” Aoun had a scare when he saw the Orb of Fate. It was not an artifact that could be easily gained.


They were Expensive, and Aoun felt like he would end up owing to this old man if he accepted it.


“It is a present.” The old man insisted.


“An expensive present…” Elena was uncomfortable as well.


The Orb of Fate, Valentine was giving them, was of the Highest Quality. It was easily worth over five Million Kyrls.


“Expensive for you,” He laughed. “It is nothing to me in terms of monetary value. I am rich.” The old man proudly smiled.


His playful words and the ambiance they exuded made both Aoun and Elena smile.


“Thank you!” Aoun politely accepted the Orb of Fate and stored it in his Blood Ring.


“Go now,” Valentine ushered them. “I have to get some rest.”


“Rest Well, Master Valentine.” Aoun and Elena bowed to him lightly before calling Ray and Maya inside their Grimoires and leaving the room.


They were both ridiculously tired, and every step they took made them feel even more tired. Being drained of all your Aura and Mana was not a pleasant feeling.


It took them some time to find Elna in the reception booth as she was dealing with some other Guild, but once she was done, she apologized to them and called them inside her office.


“The last procedure is to plant your Guild Emblem here…” She presented the Book of Guilds to them, and the Page had the information on their Guild.


Aoun sighed when he saw that he needed to spend the little Aura and Mana he had gathered in the last few minutes, but he braved his heart and planted the Emblem using the Guild Heart.


“That’s a Beautiful Emblem,” Elna smiled appreciatively. “And congratulations on the formation of your Guild!” She happily clapped and cast a spell that completed the registration process on the Book of Guilds. “You can now open an account under the name of your Guild in the Bank. And you can take as many as five Quests at a time. But since you are an F-ranked Guild, you can only take Quests with the difficulty of Grade F and E. To promote to the Rank-E, you must gain 1,000 Experience Points and 100 Rank points.” She informed them of a few things. “Best of Luck!”


They left the office and headed for the Stairs that led to the Lounge. Aoun had never before in his life disliked stairs as much as he did now. Elena was a little better off than him, but he felt like he had not eaten or drunk anything in centuries.


Somehow, both of them managed to reach the lounge and found everyone sitting on a large group of couches.


Seeing them so pale and haggard, everyone in the group started laughing.


“It’s just like how you were at the time…” White made Black remember the sickening feeling of the day he was drained of all his Aura and Mana to nourish their Guild Heart.


“It’s funnier now that there are two of them!” Red laughed heartily, but Blue elbowed him and suppressed her laugh.


Simca and Rumi got up and helped Aoun and Elena sit down.


“You don’t have Mana potions?” Rumi curiously asked.


“They wouldn’t work even if I had them. Don’t you know that you must only use Mana potions when you have, at least, 10 percent of your mana?” Aoun grudgingly answered.


“Oh… Missed my mind” Rumi laughed, and sat by his side.


“Here…” Silver gave them a glass of water each.


“Thanks!”


The two of them gulped down the water as if they had been thirsty for a century, and looking at them like that, everyone started laughing again.


Even the other Guilds that were seated away could not help but laugh.


“Show us your Emblem!” Brown excitedly called out.


Aoun grinned at his request and sat up with a straightened back. He drew his hand forward and summoned the Runic Badge with a slight touch of his mana.


He had little to no mana in his body right now, the Runic Badge was not brightly lit, but everyone exclaimed in shock at what they witnessed.


“That’s a living Rune!”


Brown stood up from his seat and shockingly looked at the little movements on the Runic Badge, the wisps of flame in the half sky, and the shivering icy-sky on the other half. Even the Pegasus on the Emblem seemed alive, and then there were its vibrant colors and the blinking name of the Guild on the Beautiful longsword, everything was perfection.


“They actually have such an accomplished Rune Master and an Enchanter here…” Vermillion marveled at the art.


“It was Master Valentine?” Black lightly smiled.


“Mhm…” Aoun nodded at him.


“You guys sure are Extravagant. The registration fee, Emblem, and the Badges of this perfection must have cost a lot.”


“They did…” Aoun sighed and answered.


“How much?” Rumi apprehensively asked.


“10 Million of the Registration fee, 15 Million for the Emblem Design and the Runic Badge, and 5 million for the Guild Heart,” Aoun answered to him.


“30 Million?!” Rumi hissed in a scare.


“Yeah…” Aoun chuckled. “We are poor now.”


“Master Valentine gave you a sophisticated Price for this Design…” Black sighed. “If you had gone to other Rune Masters of his rank, this design would have cost you more than 20 million, and if you count in the badges, and registration fee, it would have cost you nearly 50 million.”


Aoun was shocked to hear his words. And now, he started feeling indebted to the old man.


Valentine guessed that they did not have a lot of money on them, and he had helped them in so many ways.


“Is that how much you spent?” Elena asked in shock.


“Mhm…” Black sighed again. “That Greedy Old man took 40 Million, and the formation of Guild cost us 50 Million in total.” But then he smiled and shook his head. “Everything was worth it. Money comes and goes. And I can’t imagine myself settling for anything less than the perfect quality.”


Aoun and Elena decided to not reveal to the group that Master Valentine gave them a 50% Discount, two pairs of Lenses, as well as the highest quality Orb of Fate. It would have not been a good idea.


The members of the Twelve Shades would have gone in a shock, and Black would have ended up disliking the Old Man, who made his Emblem, even more.


“Did you find any suitable Quests?” Aoun asked as he changed the subject.


“We did,” White nodded. “They can be completed as we journey through the Kingdom of Dreams and head to the Northern Kingdom of White Winter.”


“How long do you guys plan on staying in the Kingdom of Dreams?” Red asked curiously.


“We don’t know.” Aoun shrugged. “The plan is to explore all the five main cities, and if possible, the rest of the seven cities as well. Now that we are a Guild, might just do some Quests while we are at it.”


“Good idea.” Silver nodded. “Your plan would keep you for nearly three months in the Kingdom of Dreams. And then, the Empire of Superia?”


“Mhm…” Aoun and Elena nodded.


The members of the Twelve Shades looked a little worried at the mention of the Empire of Superia.


“What is it?” Elena asked.


“We would suggest that you guys do not explore the Empire of Superia. Head directly to the Kingdom of Rosaria from there, traveling along the Border of the Wild North.” Gold sincerely advised.


“The Empire of Superia is… a disturbing place for Novices and Warriors. Even Knights can not easily explore it. It is riddled with Bounty Hunters, Rouge Guilds, and Masters who pave the road of blood to get stronger. Then there are those disgusting Slave Traders…”  Purple provided them with a little information.


“Alright, we will head to the Kingdom of Rosaria and not explore the Empire of Superia.” Aoun nodded at them.


His words relieved all of them, and then everyone started talking about their plans, allowing Elena and Aoun to recover some strength before leaving for dinner.