Chapter 27: Reward
In the afternoon.
Marcus was summoned by the adventurer’s guildmaster. He stood in front of his desk with the guildmaster looking back at him with an inquisitive look as if this is their first ti doing it.
"How did you do it?" he simply asked.
"Did what?" Adrian asked.
"Annihilated the entire wyvern’s nest. The party that was sent there verified the site and it looked like a powerful multiple explosion magic had struck the entire ridge," the guildmaster continued, fingers resting on the edge of the desk. "Not a single intact structure left. The overhang collapsed. The nest gone. Multiple impact points across the surface. That is not sothing a normal spellcaster produces."
"Did what?" Marcus repeated with an even voice.
The guildmaster studied him for a second longer, then exhaled slowly.
"Don’t play with ," he said. "I’ve been doing this long enough to know the difference between exaggeration and fact. My n saw it. They described it in detail."
He tapped the parchnt on his desk.
"Six impact zones. Overlapping blast patterns. Heat strong enough to burn through stone and scale. Whatever you used—it wasn’t ordinary."
Marcus glanced briefly at the parchnt, then back at him.
"And the nest?" he asked.
"Gone," the guildmaster replied. "Completely."
"Then the job is done."
The guildmaster’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"That’s not what I asked."
Marcus held his gaze.
"I know."
Silence stretched between them for a mont.
The guildmaster leaned back in his chair, studying him again, this ti slower.
"You understand why I’m asking," he said. "If that kind of power exists within this city, I need to know what it is. Whether it’s controlled. Whether it’s... repeatable."
Marcus didn’t move.
"It is controlled," he said.
"That’s not enough."
"It is for the result you wanted."
The guildmaster’s fingers tapped lightly once against the desk.
"You’re refusing to explain."
Marcus gave a small nod.
"Yes."
Another pause.
The guildmaster didn’t look surprised. If anything, his expression settled into sothing more asured.
"Well, if you don’t want to then it is what it is. Your work has been verified, no wyverns survived you and so it is up to
to finish the contract."
Marcus grinned, it’s ti for the payout.
The guildmaster reached to the side and pulled a small iron-bound chest from beneath the desk. He set it down between them with a dull, solid sound. The lock clicked open with a turn of his key.
Inside, rows of coins filled the space. Gold stacked in tight columns, silver packed along the sides to complete the count.
"Total compensation," he said, "five million kinah."
Marcus’s eyes shifted slightly.
The guildmaster continued without pause.
"Base one million. Additional two hundred thousand per confird adult wyvern." He tapped the parchnt once. "Twenty-two confird kills at the nest."
Marcus looked at the numbers again.
Twenty-two.
That ant more had been there than what he saw in the city. The strike had caught nearly the entire population.
He reached down, picked up a gold coin, and turned it once between his fingers before dropping it back into the chest.
"That many," he said.
"They were nesting in layers," the guildmaster replied. "Outer ledges and deeper pockets inside the ridge. Your attack collapsed most of it. The verification team had to dig through debris to count what was left."
Marcus closed the lid.
"No survivors?"
"None," the guildmaster said. "No tracks leaving the area. No signs of flight after impact. Whatever you did, it ended everything in that ridge."
Marcus gave a small nod.
"Then the job is done."
"It is."
Marcus placed his hand on the chest and, with a thought, stored it into his inventory. The box vanished cleanly from the desk.
The guildmaster watched it disappear, eyes narrowing slightly in observation rather than surprise.
"Useful ability," he said. "Also, as for your rank, you’ll be promoted to a B-rank adventurer. Imagine from E-class to B-rank that quick and within a week."
"Which is why you must overhaul your ranking system," he said.
The guildmaster’s brows pulled together slightly.
Marcus continued before he could respond.
"You base progression on repetition," he said. "Low-risk tasks. Ti spent. Reliability over output. That works for most people. It filters out those who can’t keep up."
He tapped the desk once with his finger.
"But it also slows down those who can."
The guildmaster leaned back a little, watching him more closely now.
"Go on," he said.
Marcus kept his tone even.
"You already have the frawork," he said. "Ranks. Contracts. Evaluation. You just don’t use real performance as the primary tric."
"And what do you suggest?" the guildmaster asked.
Marcus shrugged slightly.
"Split it," he said. "Standard progression stays. But you add a fast-track evaluation for cases like mine."
The guildmaster’s eyes narrowed.
"Based on what?"
"Output," Marcus answered. "Verified results. Threat level eliminated. Scale of operation. Not how many herbs soone picked in a week."
The guildmaster didn’t interrupt.
Marcus went on.
"You assign weighted value to each completed task," he said. "A sli cluster is nothing. A wyvern nest? That’s not the sa category. It shouldn’t be treated like it is."
"That’s already reflected in pay," the guildmaster said.
"Pay isn’t authority," Marcus replied. "Rank is."
Silence settled for a second.
Marcus leaned slightly forward.
"You want people who can handle higher threats," he said. "Then you need a system that recognizes them early. Not after months of routine work."
The guildmaster tapped the desk once.
"And if soone overestimates themselves?" he asked. "If they take a task they can’t handle?"
Marcus t his gaze.
"They die."
The answer ca flat.
"No system removes that risk."
The guildmaster held his eyes, weighing the response.
Marcus straightened.
"You already trust your verification teams," he said. "You already confirm results. Use that. If soone clears sothing beyond their rank, you reassess imdiately. Not later."
"And if they fail?" the guildmaster asked.
"Then nothing changes," Marcus said. "They stay where they are. Or they’re removed from the board permanently."
The room went quiet again.
The guildmaster leaned back fully this ti, fingers steepled again, but the earlier tension was gone. He wasn’t interrogating anymore. He was thinking.
"Very well, I’ll take that into consideration. You are dismissed now, Marcus Manfred, thank you for your service."
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