Mary looked surprised at the size of the coffer the servants were carrying. "If you want to know, ask Mr. Divad. He was the one who did most of the talking. I only pitched the services of our members. He told the treasurer what he saw in the villages" she said when she noticed I was still there. They turned to me and gave me appraising looks. Most of them rolled their eyes. I could not tell whether it was because I was low leveled, non-human, or a player. "So, this Master has his uses" Willet said. Arnold gave me another look. "This is the one you gave the contract to? Isn't he supposed to be a weakling?" he said. I didn't know how strong he was, be he was the highest ranked person in the guild branch. "A friend and I hired Arcolio and Rikra yesterday. We found out the plot to attack Epic City" I explained to those that weren't there. He said "I see. A 'taur playing war hero, huh? I guess you can talk a big game at least". He and Claire busted out laughing. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Well, I'm glad my hard work paid off for you" I said snidely.
The air in the room suddenly changed. Arnold glared at me and said "If you have something to say to us, say it to our faces clearly. We don't have time for horseshit". I said "I did not meant to offend anyone. If you took offense at my words, maybe you feel guilty mocking someone who did good work". Arnold walked to me directly and with purpose. He poked me hard at where the fur melted into flesh where my torso was. "I just told you to say what you have to say. Try fucking with me again" he said dangerously. For someone younger than me to be so intimidating was hard to wrap my head around. I cleared my throat and said "I somewhere else to be now. Good day to you". The atmosphere was getting to me. Before I could get to the door, Claire blocked my path. "Who said you could leave?" she asked with a grin. I smirked and said "Mary did." Using her brief confusion, I was able to move past her and out the door. I thought that would be all, but Arnold chased after me. "We're not done here!" he yelled. I threw a javelin at him before galloping away.
I made it back to the western quadrant before I stopped. I did not like how they were treating me, but I knew better to stay in front of mercenaries that didn't like or trust me. If I was strong enough to actually fight one of them in a fair fight and earn respect, it would be different. I was only level 5. Arnold was the strongest one there. That meant I would have to be careful approaching the guild from now on. I decided to go to the northern quadrant. The cathedrals were all situated there. There were 6 main churches in Ether. They centered around the Sun, Moon, Stars, Sky, Wind and the Rivers. In Epic City there were other minor cults operating with devout NPCs worship as well. The two with the most influence in Epic City were the Church of the Seven Roses in the eastern quadrant and the Church of the Dragon's Flame in the southern quadrant. Only the churches of the Seven Roses, Dragon's Flame, Sun and Moon had paladin orders. The Church of the Sky had a simple monastic order. The churches of the Stars and Rivers were only priestly cults. I read a dev's blog about them.
