"He's your Shouter, right?" Kyle asked Wyveria.
Wyveria nodded. "He's the best Shouter I have ever seen. Technically, since he is the strongest, he is our leader as well, but he leaves all the decisions up to me."
"More importantly," Wyveria added. "Bonk is pretty lonely since he can't properly communicate with others. He doesn't speak with words but with actions. It would help us a lot if you could give him some company."
Kyle wasn't the biggest fan of Wyveria's obvious dislike for him simply because he had a penis, but that didn't have anything to do with Bonk.
"Sure, I like Bonk," Kyle said.
Wyveria nodded before standing up from the table and going back to her group.
Then, Kyle just looked back at Bonk, who was moving from side to side in happiness.
There was another dwarf here!
That made Bonk happy!
One would think that Bonk would have a lot to talk about, but just as Wyveria had said, Bonk spoke with actions.
He didn't ask Kyle any questions, and he just seemed to be happy that Kyle was there.
After some time, the barmaid brought over two big plates of raw meat.
"Good food!" Bonk shouted, looking at Kyle.
Kyle looked at the plate of food in front of him, and it smelled absolutely amazing.
"For me?" Kyle asked, pointing at himself.
"Good food! Eat food!" Bonk shouted before biting into his chunk of meat.
"Thank you, Bonk," Kyle said with a smile.
Then, Kyle also took a bite of his plate of food.
As soon as he bit off a piece and swallowed it, he started to cough.
His Ether was going crazy!
"That's too much for you," Theodor commented. "This comes most likely from a Peak Ferocious Beast. You can't digest the Ether."
Bonk looked at Kyle in interest as he kept coughing and heaving.
It took over 20 seconds for Kyle to calm down.
Then, he looked at the meat in front of him.
'It tastes so fucking good, but I can't eat it. I'm not even sure if I gained anything out of that. I feel hungrier after taking a bite than before.'
Eventually, Kyle just bitterly smiled and pushed the plate to Bonk.
"Weak dwarf. Strong food," Kyle said, pointing at himself.
"Okay," Bonk answered, pulling the plate to himself.
He seemed a bit disappointed.
"Mom, weak meat, please!" Bonk shouted.
The barmaid chuckled a bit.
"Newbie, what can you handle?" she shouted to Kyle.
"Initial Ferocious Beast," Kyle shouted back.
The barmaid opened a cold storage room and walked out with a piece of meat later, which she then put on a plate and put in front of Kyle.
"Why do you even have this stuff?" Kyle asked as the barmaid put the plate in front of him.
"For Bonk," she said. "He hunts the beasts, and once a month, he brings some meat to his home."
"Ah, that makes sense," Kyle commented.
A moment later, he bit into his new chunk of meat.
This time, there was no issue.
"Good food!" Kyle shouted.
"Good food!" Bonk answered happily.
'He's simple, but I like him. He's a cool dude,' Kyle thought.
While Kyle and Bonk were having a good time, Dylan glanced at them.
He was disgusted that Kyle was schmoozing up to the strongest Shouter of the Guild.
Didn't he have any dignity?
Some minutes later, Noah walked back into the hall.
"Newbies," he shouted.
"Thanks," Kyle told Bonk. "I work."
"Come again," Bonk said happily.
"Yes," Kyle answered.
Bonk just grinned brightly.
"What about the promotion?" Wyveria asked from her table.
"The Chief is going to deal with it," he said.
Wyveria just snorted and didn't say anything else.
Noah watched the Newbies leaving their new groups.
"It's important to get along with your brothers and sisters," Noah told them. "While I can teach you the basics, sooner or later, you will have to rely on your guildmates. Making connections early will help you later."
Naturally, the Newbies knew that, which was why they had mingled with the others.
Horatio had talked with a random group, while Tracy talked with some of the women in Wyveria's group. Of course, Kyle had been with Bonk.
The only one who hadn't mingled was Dylan.
Noah told them to get along with their guildmates specifically for Dylan.
One could rise through the ranks alone, but it would be unnecessarily difficult.
Noah told the Newbies about the more specific rules and showed them their rooms.
The rooms in the Fighter's Guild were essentially empty. If the Newbies wanted some furniture, they should buy it themselves.
The rooms didn't even have beds, but there was a simple reason for it.
People in the Second Realm didn't need to sleep.
The stronger one became, the less sleep they needed.
Kyle was only sleeping two hours per day, and while he liked to sleep more, he didn't need to sleep more.
It was unusual for the Stark Brotherhood to accept Adepts, which was why they didn't really have any beds.
Also, even if they accepted Adepts, they could just sleep on the floor.
Noah also showed them the other parts of the Guild.
There was a shop they could use in exchange for contribution points, which were earned by finishing missions for the Guild.
There was also a huge hall where the members could spar and train.
Horatio made an interesting comment after hearing about the shop.
"I didn't see any missions on the board that paid with contribution points," he commented.
"Contribution points get awarded per mission completed," Noah answered. "The Ether reward you see has already been adjusted. As a member of the Guild, you are eligible to take 35% of the reward, and that's what you see on the mission. The remaining 65% go to the Guild."
"Based on the difficulty of a mission, you also get a contribution point reward. Every mission gives at least one contribution point."
"Speaking of, I believe it's time for you to go on your first official mission."
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