Chapter 51: Summon?
Yenna walked out of the guild hall and straight into the busy streets of the capital, her mind running a million miles an hour.
She didn’t care about the crowds parting for her or the merchants trying to grab her attention as she passed their stalls. She just kept replaying the last five minutes in her head, trying to make sense of the absolute absurdity of what had just happened.
’Are you absolutely sure you can kill me?’
The words echoed in her head, followed immediately by the suffocating memory of his mana clashing against hers.
"It doesn’t make any sense," she muttered to herself, "he didn’t use an artifact or some cheat spell. That pressure was just raw mana... how can an unregistered rookie have a presence like that?"
She gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her frustration boiling over. The Guildmaster’s intervention had completely shut down any chance she had of forcing an answer out of him, and now he was getting a private audience with one of the most powerful man in the city.
"Yenna?"
She stopped walking, blinking as a familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
Mila was standing near a fruit stall a few feet away, holding a small basket full of apples. The young mage was a core member of Yenna’s party, usually spending her off-days running errands or shopping in the market district.
"Are you okay?" Mila asked, walking over with a concerned frown. "You’re just standing in the middle of the street mumbling to yourself. You look like you’re about to freeze the entire block."
Yenna took a slow breath, forcing her tense shoulders to drop. She hadn’t even realized she was unconsciously leaking her aura into the surrounding air. A few of the nearby merchants were actually shivering and pulling their coats tighter.
"I’m fine," she said, aggressively rubbing her temples. "I just ran into someone at the guild. Someone incredibly frustrating."
Mila tilted her head, her eyes lighting up with sudden curiosity.
"Frustrating?" she repeated, completely ignoring the cold air. "Wait, did that arrogant noble from the Silver Hawk party try to recruit you again? Because I told you we should have just frozen his boots to the floor last time."
"No," she replied, shaking her head. "It wasn’t a noble. At least... I don’t think he is."
Mila frowned, shifting the basket to her other arm. "Then who was it? Did someone pick a fight with you?"
"That’s exactly what I’m trying to figure out," she muttered, looking back down the street toward the distant roof of the guild hall.
"He’s just some unregistered rookie but he walked into the guild with a legendary core, a royal recommendation letter, and enough mana to make me second-guess drawing my sword."
Mila’s eyes widened in disbelief, clearly wanting to ask a dozen more questions about who this mysterious rookie was and what kind of core he brought in, but Yenna just held up a hand to stop her.
"Don’t," she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her, "I am really not in the mood to talk about it right now. I just want to go back to my room, lie down, and sleep for the next twelve hours."
Mila nodded sympathetically, falling into step beside her as they started walking away from the market district.
As they walked, Yenna couldn’t help but glance back at the guild hall one last time, wondering if that arrogant kid would even manage to pass the Ranker exam since it was completely different from what most rookies expected, relying on far more than just raw power or a fancy royal letter.
Meanwhile, inside the Guildmaster’s office, the atmosphere was dead silent.
Hajin sat on a plush leather sofa with Juna sitting quietly beside him, both of them just watching the Guildmaster sitting behind his massive desk.
The older man was carefully reading through the King’s recommendation letter, his eyes scanning the parchment without giving away a single shred of emotion.
After a few long minutes, he finally set the letter down on the desk, crossing his legs and casually leaning back in his chair.
"So," he started, looking across the desk at them, "you are the one who saved Princess Didi from a monster that even her personal knights could not defeat."
Hajin just nodded, not bothering to offer any unnecessary details or humble excuses.
The Guildmaster let out a small, amused huff, tapping his finger against the armrest. "If I had just read this letter without seeing what happened downstairs, I would have immediately assumed it was exaggerated garbage fed to the King by a corrupt noble. But after seeing you walk directly into my aura without breaking a sweat, I’m actually inclined to believe it’s true."
He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the desk as he looked at both of them.
"My name is Allen," he said, formally introducing himself for the first time, "I am the Guildmaster of the capital branch. And who might you two be?"
"Hajin," he replied simply, leaning back against the sofa.
Allen raised an eyebrow, waiting a few seconds to see if he would elaborate. "Just Hajin? No family name? With an aura like yours and a royal recommendation, I would assume you belong to a rather prominent household."
"I don’t have a family," he answered, his tone flat and dismissive.
Allen stared at him, clearly finding the answer highly suspicious. The idea of a completely unaffiliated, nameless rogue possessing that level of raw power was incredibly hard to believe. But after a moment, he just gave a small nod, choosing to leave the topic alone for now.
He shifted his gaze to the silver-haired girl sitting quietly beside Hajin. "And you?"
"Juna," she answered, her voice calm but guarded, "I am his partner."
Allen’s eyes drifted over her, taking in her silver hair, her sharp eyes, and the unmistakable beastkin ears resting atop her head.
He had seen plenty of beastkin throughout his life, but the strange, subtle pressure radiating from her felt entirely unique, it didn’t feel like normal mana.
He looked back at Hajin, his expression turning sharp and analytical.
"I’ve fought alongside high-level summoners before," Allen said slowly, his hands coming together on the desk. "And the way her mana seems to naturally orbit and react to your own pressure is incredibly familiar."
He narrowed his eyes, his gaze locking directly onto Hajin.
"Tell me, Hajin," he asked, the casual tone completely vanishing from his voice, "is this beastkin sitting next to you actually a summon?"