Arianna and Aiden eventually reached the library. They greeted the librarian who sat inside and introduce themselves as new mages, to gain entrance.
The library’s space was absolutely grand and had several bookshelves stacked side to side and in rows.
There were appropriately positioned seats and tables for those who liked to read within the library.
For a library just for new mages, it certainly was impressive.
"There," Arianna said, pointing to a secluded corner.
They both took their seats, and their conversation began in earnest.
"Now that we are in agreement, I must say that the first part of our plan begins tomorrow night, during the guild selection. We will join the same guild. I got about six invites from the guilds, no doubt you got invites from all guilds," Arianna said.
Her Mass Magic had scored an A-rank after all. So receiving invites from six guilds was expected.
In fact, if the guild captains hadn’t started by giving some of their invitations to a few of the commoner prodigies, she might have gotten an invite from all eight.
"From the way you speak, I assume you already have the right guild in mind," Aiden surmised.
"You’re quick to catch on, and yes I do. Your selection should be Ravens Grave guild," she said.
"Why Ravens Grave? What makes them special compared to the other guilds?" Aiden asked.
Aiden didn’t even know the names of the other guilds, and until Arianna mentioned Ravens Grave, he didn’t know of it either.
But the question he asked was entirely intentional, that way he would get her to teach him what she knew about the guilds. And with that, his daily quest would be complete.
Then Arianna answered his question, "That right there is exactly the point, nothing makes them special. In fact, based on the guild rankings of the kingdom, they are the last and worst on the table."
Aiden listened with a puzzled expression as he waited for Arianna to reach her point.
She continued, "But this is what makes them the perfect guild for us. The first factor here is that there’s no competition. Most senior-ranked mages from other guilds have the same goal of reaching the top, wanting the guild captain title or even the title of Grand Magus, and so they make it very difficult for lower-ranked ones, especially the newest mages."
"So a situation of the strong preying on the weak," Aiden muttered.
"Yes exactly. The Fractured Stars, for example, is the highest-ranking guild of the kingdom. They have the highest number of senior-ranked mages who are absolutely powerful monsters. However, the competition between them is vile. You showed potential no one has ever seen in years, so trust me when I say this, they will make sure to bury you before you even make any progress."
Aiden was startled slightly by this revelation, as he didn’t think there was such intense competition within guilds.
"That is also another reason why Ravens Grave is our best option. There are no senior-ranked mages to compete with, and except for the guild captain who is an Arcane, their next best are a bunch of junior-ranked mages. From what I’ve gathered, they do not exactly possess the strongest magic either," she concluded.
"Explain the ranks to me," Aiden asked. He wanted to know just how much they had to climb.
"Right now, we are the new ones, and the lowest, so they call us Academy mages," Arianna began, then started calling out the ranks while counting on her fingers.
"The next rank after that is Initiate rank. At Initiate rank, we move from the Academy wing to our guild’s wing. The Magic Apprentice rank is next, then Junior rank after, Senior rank, Arcane rank, Arch Magister, and High Enchanter. I think I just mentioned them all."
"Hmm..." Aiden muttered, looking deep in thought.
Arianna continued, "Grand Magus Thamoryn is a High Enchanter. Most guild captains are Arch Magisters, except for the one leading The Ravens Grave. So you see, the guild’s weakness starts at the very top."
Aiden nodded in understanding of where she was headed.
"Know this however, having potential is one thing, and doing your part to grow is another. Even though joining Ravens Grave eliminates the possibility of competition from high-ranked mages, climbing the mage ranks itself is equally arduous. We’ll have to take the hardest missions, win the hardest fights, and clear out the hardest dungeons. That way we earn lots of merit stars," she added.
"Merit stars?" Aiden asked, that was definitely a new concept to him.
"Yes, merit stars. Although I’m not entirely knowledgeable on this part, what I do know is that it’s one of the requirements to climb the ranks. The senior-ranked mages from the top guilds have lots of stars as well, so it’s safe to assume that earning lots of merit stars directly affects the guild’s rankings," Arianna answered.
"Alright," Aiden said. However, he noticed he hadn’t gotten the notification yet that said his daily quest was complete, which meant something else was missing.
Then the realization clicked in his mind. "You’ve only told me of Fractured Stars and Ravens Grave. What are the names of the other guilds?"
"Did you never look at the invitations you got?" Arianna asked, rather surprised at his question.
Aiden scratched his head awkwardly, with a wry smile appearing on his face.
From his expression, you could tell he had never cared enough to look.
Arianna sighed and asked, "Do you have the invitation tags on you?"
Aiden shook his head, and she said, "No matter, I have mine."
She brought out six invite tags. Each tag had the name and symbol of the guild crested on them. Then she laid them out for him.
"Well, you already know the Fractured Stars and Ravens Grave. Their guild symbols are that of a broken star and a raven," she said, pointing at two cards.
"Then the Black Lions," she pointed toward the card, its symbol was the head of a lion.
She kept going continuously:
The Hollow Pact’s symbol looked like a logo of two hands shaking.
The Storm Sentinels had the symbol of a shield.
The Void Embers had a symbol that looked like flames.
"I didn’t get invites from Phantom Order and Crimson Dawn," Arianna said after explaining the other six tags.
"But I know their symbols. The Phantom Order has the symbol of a measuring scale, and the Crimson Dawn’s symbol looks like the sun."
As soon as she finished explaining the guilds and their symbols, the notification screen appeared before Aiden, which put a brief smile on his face. His mission was complete.
[Daily Mission: Learn about the Guilds → Complete]
[+2 Available Stats Points]
[You have gained +300xp]
[Bonus Reward for extra knowledge, +200xp granted]
She caught sight of the smile and asked, "Something amusing?" with a puzzled expression.
"Oh no, it’s just still a shock how you know all of these and have prepared a plan, as an Academy mage," Aiden said, deflecting the reason for his brief smile to another reason entirely.
"Like I said, I have the most knowledge about how all these work," she smiled.
Aiden looked at his bonus reward briefly.
"i guess she gave me more information than even the system expected me to have at this point, which is why i got the bonus." He thought to himself.
Arianna stood and said, "Well, that’s about that. Remember tomorrow night during selections, Ravens Grave."
Aiden nodded in agreement.
"And maybe if we’re lucky, the rest will come along too," she said before taking a few steps to leave.
"Oh? There’s more?" Aiden asked.
Arianna turned to the question with a smile on her face, and only replied with a wink, then continued her way out of the library.
"Interesting," Aiden muttered, rather intrigued by how ambitious this girl was.
He stood up and walked through the sections of the library. Soon he came across different books that contained information about monsters.
He took a seat and grabbed some. Most of the books were actually quite short, so he began reading one in earnest.
-----
Exactly five hours later, Aiden was still properly seated.
Generally, Aiden didn’t exactly enjoy reading books, but having to read about different monster types, their ranks, and what sort of dungeons one would see them in was proving to be exciting.
His assimilation speed was another thing altogether. He never had to read anything twice to confirm what was written. As he read through, it flowed naturally.
Eventually, he finished the last book, and the system prompted him with several notification screens that rolled out one after the other.
[Books read 10/10]
[Side Quest: Visit the Library and read 10 books containing Vital Information about Dungeon Monsters → Complete]
[You have been awarded +800xp]
[Each book bonus +100xp x 10]
[Bonus Reward: You have gained a new passive skill → Status Reset]
[Reward for Hastened Completion: You have gained a new passive skill → Malice Perception]
"Perfect," he muttered to himself with a smile on his face as he saw the rewards roll out.
The last screen, however, was somewhat unexpected. "Hastened completion... that’s new. So I got an extra skill for finishing it quicker than expected."
He then examined the new skills to see their descriptions:
[Passive Skill: Status Reset → Host’s body will automatically cleanse from negative effects. Additionally, it causes instant regeneration from damage and will always attempt to return host to peak condition]
[Passive Skill: Malice Perception → This skill lets the host detect hostility, hatred and other evil emotions within other people]
"If anyone’s going to keep triggering Malice Perception, it’s probably my roommate," he joked, shaking his head and getting up from his seat.
That was when he realized that the day had gone by pretty quickly too. He stood from his seat and returned to the dormitory.