Nobody answered.
"What's a promotion?" Kyle whispered to Noah.
"Oh, you managed to join!" Luke shouted from the door. "Seems like I wasn't wrong to recommend you!"
"As for your question," Luke said. "A promotion is a mission from one of our outposts that failed. Either the team abandoned the mission, or the team went on the mission and never returned. You know what that means."
"It means it's very dangerous."
"Details?" Wyveria asked from her table.
"It's about bandits near Hillscape," Luke answered. "A team of two Initial Fighters and an Initial Sorcerer went onto the mission but didn't return."
Kyle's eyes widened when he heard that.
"I've seen them!" Kyle shouted.
Everyone looked at Kyle.
"Oh?" Luke asked as he walked over.
Wyveria furrowed her brows and also walked over to Kyle.
"What's this about?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, I've seen that team like two days ago," Kyle said. "In fact, they were the ones who told me to go to Starkhold to join the Guild."
Kyle told them about the incident and about what had happened.
Noah furrowed his brows. "So, there was a Beast Tamer with them, and they managed to kill the Beast Tamer's beast, which was a Forest Muncher, correct?"
Kyle nodded. "Yep. The Sorcerer said he placed a tracer or something on the last bandit, and they would be following them."
"That was like two or three days ago."
Wyveria furrowed her brows as she took hold of the promotion.
"Where did they go?" she asked.
"Halfway point between the Big Bazaar and Hillscape. They traveled into the forest to the west."
A moment later, Wyveria glanced at one of the missions on the board.
"That's the Twilight Forest," she said.
Kyle remembered that there was a mission regarding that location.
'Finding the Winterfire forces.'
'Was this entire bandit thing just to lure a group of Fighters to their death?'
Kyle had already learned from Theodor that people of the Winterfire Kingdom sometimes infiltrated the Skysand Kingdom to cause damage to their warriors and economy.
Wyveria looked at the mission for a while.
There were only three possibilities.
First, the enemy was the Winterfire Kingdom, and they already achieved their goal. In that case, they would have long since fled, and going into the Twilight Forest would just be a waste of time.
Second, the enemy was the Winterfire Kingdom, and they were actually planning on luring the Ace Team out. The Ace Team was not unknown and killing them would deal a devastating blow to one of the biggest cities in the Skysand Kingdom.
Third, there was an unknown enemy. Most likely some kind of very powerful beast that recently changed locations.
However, the third option was not very likely.
"We refuse," Wyveria said, handing the promotion to Noah. "Cancel the request or tell the Chief to get off his lazy ass."
Noah looked at the promotion with furrowed brows.
"I will talk to the Chief," he said before turning to the Newbies. "Give me a moment."
Then, Noah walked out of the cafeteria.
The next moment, Kyle felt a rough shove on his shoulder, and he looked at Luke.
"Good job," Luke said with a smile. "If you need any advice, come to me. You know where you can find me."
"Thanks," Kyle answered.
Then, Luke walked back to his post.
The Newbies waited for a bit.
Eventually, Horatio wordlessly left the group and joined a group sitting at a table.
Within seconds, he was talking with them animatedly.
Dylan just waited without moving, while Tracy sometimes glanced at Wyveria.
Kyle just scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward.
'No idea what I should do.'
Then, Kyle saw the dwarf from earlier and got an idea.
'Wonder if that will work,' he thought.
The next moment, Kyle walked over to the dwarf, who just looked at Kyle with innocent interest.
Kyle pointed at himself. "Kyle!" he said loudly. "Half-dwarf!"
"Half-dwarf?" the dwarf asked in surprise. "You true?"
Kyle nodded.
The dwarf fell into silence as he looked at Kyle.
His hope slowly turned to disappointment.
'He doesn't believe me,' Kyle thought.
Then, Kyle became a bit red in the face as he had an idea.
"Strong dwarf! Strong dwarf!" Kyle shouted as he jumped from leg to leg.
Everyone looked over and looked at Kyle in shock.
What was this guy doing?!
Was he mocking the dwarf?!
The eyes of the dwarf brightened, and he rose to his feet for the first time.
"Strong dwarf! Strong dwarf!" he shouted back, doing the same "dance" as Kyle.
The onlookers almost couldn't believe what was going on.
Literally, what the fuck was happening?!
Then, Kyle stopped dancing and pushed the dwarf with all of his power.
The dwarf moved back by a couple of centimeters under the shocked eyes of the other guildmates.
"Strong dwarf!" Kyle shouted.
A big smile appeared on the dwarf's face.
Then, he pushed Kyle.
BOOOOM!
Kyle's back hit the wall of the Guild, and the entire building shook.
Kyle coughed, and he tasted blood in his mouth.
This guy obviously didn't use his full power, but he still used quite a bit.
The dwarf kept dancing from leg to leg as Kyle coughed.
Then, Kyle showed a thumbs-up with difficulty. "Strong… dwarf," he said weakly.
By now, the dwarf was smiling with innocent glee.
He looked like a little kid who had received the best present in the world.
He charged over to Kyle, lifted him up, and carried him back to his table before sitting down himself.
"Mom!" the dwarf shouted at the clerk behind the bar. "Two meat, please!"
'Mom?' Kyle thought as he looked over.
"He means Ma'am," Wyveria said as she suddenly sat down beside the dwarf. "She's not his mother."
"Oh, good! I was surprised," Kyle said.
The dwarf looked with happiness and glee at Kyle but didn't say anything.
"You're a half-dwarf?" Wyveria asked evenly.
"Yep," Kyle answered.
"That's good," Wyveria said. "Bonk is pretty isolated most of the time. It's good that he finally has something from his home to talk to."
"Bonk?" Kyle asked.
Then, he looked at the dwarf. "Your name is Bonk?"
The dwarf pulled out his buckler and shoved it into the air.
"Bonk!" he shouted.
Kyle had to chuckle a bit.
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