Second World

"So, what will she be doing in our guild?" Jack asked.

"Blacksmithing job, of course," Haestus replied.

"She will listen to our request? We can ask her to craft or work on equipment?" Jack was amazed. Was this some kind of secret reward? Wouldn't it be a boon for them to acquire an Advanced Expert blacksmith? The best blacksmiths in the guild were still Basic Expert, same as him.

Haestus nodded, "as long as the request is sensible. Of course, you still have to provide her with materials and tools. She will not be bringing anything with her. But since she was part of our faction, you can make purchases on materials or ores via her. We can make a delivery to your Guild Headquarters once the order reaches a reasonable amount."

So, this apprenticeship was also a business transaction, but this still benefitted his guild. They got a skilled professional and a convenient source to purchase materials. There was no reason to reject.

"Sure, I will take her," Jack said.

"Another thing. Although I said it was a favor to us, it is still an apprenticeship. She is working for you, so it is fair for your guild to pay her wages, agree?"

"Oh, how much?"

"5 gold coins for a week," Haestus answered.

Jack was astonished. Her wage was much higher than five-star workers which he hired for Ellie's Restaurant. But considering she was a specialist, such a high price was to be expected.

"That is already a discount," Haestus said when he detected Jack's surprise. "If other factions wish to hire our blacksmiths, they have to pay a higher price and also need to establish a better connection with us. Not to mention, Kirsi was one of our brightest trainees. Her improvement is speedy. She is close to becoming a Basic Master, she just needs more experience."

"No problem, we will pay her wage," Jack said after hearing Haestus' explanation. He would pay her using his personal coins if needed.

After reaching an agreement, they said farewell to each other before departing.

Jack decided to take Kirsi to Heavenly Citadel first. The Guild Return scroll only teleported the user, so he couldn't use that.

On the way, he continued to chat with the two natives as they vanquished the monsters along their way. The two, however, were not exactly the chatty type. During the feast last night, it was Haestus who had chatted more. Grenmir, although grumpy, was also more chatty. These two, on the other hand, only gave a short response to his chat.

"You know, we two make quite a team," Jack said to Samuel.

Samuel gave him an eye saying, 'where are you going with this?'

"Say, do you mind being my companion?" Jack asked. Peniel had explained more in length about the companion system after the Guild Headquarters fight. Jack had seen Princess Purple's companion and was rather impressed. Imagine having his own native protector.

However, Peniel informed him that it was not easy to make a native willingly sign a contract to become an outworlder's companion. From the native's point of view, there were gains and drawbacks from being an outworlder's companion. The gain was a boost in their leveling speed. All the things that could help an outworlder increase in level were now also applicable to the native, which meant the native could level up at the same pace as the outworlders.

The drawbacks, however, were the risk and loss of freedom. The outworlder that the native signed a contract with, would be able to call on him or her anytime they wished. The native was duty-bound to protect and carry out the outworlder's order upon being called. What if they were called to be a sacrifice when the outworlder was trying to flee from a fearsome monster? No native would want that. So, unless they were sure the outworlder won't treat them as a sacrificial pawn, then only a native considered signing a contract. They were literally placing their lives in the outworlder's hands.

Apart from that, in the case of the outworlder died. Not the death within a safe zone, but death in the wilderness where the outworlder lost everything. The native under contract who survived would still lose all the progress they had achieved since they started signing the contract. Rendering all their fast progress null and their time wasted. So, not only a native had to make sure the outworlder was a trustworthy person, but they also need to ensure the outworlder was not a weak person who died easily.

After their fight together against the Ice Demon Spawn, Jack believed he had built enough bond with Samuel to ask for the companion contract. He also believed that he had proven to Samuel he was someone with high survivability. Imagine having a level 55 Special Elite native under his beck and call. Princess Purple's one was nothing compared to Samuel.

As he was eager to hear Samuel's reply, the native gave his answer with a flat face, "no."

"Why? I thought we make a good team!"

"What good team? Being with you just means getting dragged from one dangerous fight to another."

"He is not wrong, you know," Peniel commented.

"You stay out of this," Jack reprimanded. Then to Samuel, he said, "Come on. By being my companion, you will improve very fast. We can become much stronger together and stand at the top of this world."

"No."

'Ugh, this guy is truly obstinate,' Jack complained in his mind.

Samuel gave Jack a serious stare when he saw Jack's dejected expression. He said, "Look, I do like you, Mister Storm Wind. I didn't at first when we met, as I'm sure you were aware, but I've grown to think you are not bad. However, I still think it is unsafe hanging around you. Aside from that, have you forgotten the pledge I made to Prince Alonzo? My life is his. So I will stay by his side to protect him. After the last incident, it is even more apparent that he needs a personal protector, and I will be that person."

Jack saw the determination in Samuel's face. He sighed and said, "I respect that. All right, you protect him and I will do my best to make him king. We will each work our parts."

"Good lad!" Samuel slapped Jack on the back.

They continued to travel on their mounts. They soon reached Heavenly Citadel.

"This is your Guild Headquarters? Not bad," Kirsi said after seeing the building. There were also several trained soldiers patrolling the territory and helping guild members level up.

Jack took the two natives inside the headquarters. Both Jeanny and John were not around. They had left to raid the monster settlement. They were still on their way there. The place was rather far, after all. Jack had sent a message informing them that he brought a native blacksmith to work for them and also about the legacy item.

The two were surprised to hear his news.

"Now, who said that I don't contribute enough?" Jack sent a mocking message to John.

"All right, I guess we will let you keep your position. For now," he received John's reply.

'This guy really doesn't know how to compliment people,' Jack complained in his mind.

Jeanny instructed him to put the Legacy item inside the warehouse's special section for leaders. They had set up such a section. This section could only be viewed by the three of them, so only they could take items from this section.

Jack did so and put the Ice Throne Legacy inside the warehouse's leader section.

Jack then brought his two guests to the Guild Hall. He set the permission so the two of them could enter. Inside was Pointy Tip. John had taught Tip how to operate the platform inside the guild hall while he was away. He took care of all the administration when all three leaders were away. John had informed Jack to take Kirsi to Tip.

After meeting Tip, Jack introduced Kirsi to him and let him make all the necessary arrangements. Their Blacksmith Workshop was still level 1, now with Kirsi joining, Jack told Tip to put upgrading the Blacksmith Workshop as a priority.

Tip said that John had instructed him to upgrade the resource collection structures, but he said okay, they had sufficient resources for upgrading the Blacksmith Workshop. They just needed to allocate some workers and slow down the construction of others. Tip also informed Jack they should be able to start construction on stable soon. Once this structure was up, they would be able to train cavalry units from the Barrack, allowing more tactical application during a battle.

Jack saw that the guild almost reached maximum members. Everlasting Heavenly Legends now had 923 members. Their fame of beating the coalition back had truly made many players eager to join. Not to mention the multiple benefits the headquarters granted. Once the news of an Advanced Expert Blacksmith joining their guild, more would request to join.

Currently, when the coalition had reduced their activity in Thereath, most members were doing their best to do guild quests. The more reputation they received, the earlier they could reach guild level 3. At that time, more structures would be available, such as the Legacy Cave.

Before leaving, Jack made another 100 gold coins donation, which drew a gasp from Pointy Tip.

Finished with the arrangement, Jack left with Samuel.. They both used the Teleportation Chamber to teleport directly to Thereath.