Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

The letter that Aldrich sent was to Yasbel of course. He did not want to go in there himself out of caution, he did not want to be remembered by the employees.

Perhaps he was too cautious but nonetheless he wanted to erase his presence. If he kept visiting regularly and going directly to Yasbel's office he was bound to draw attention to himself.

It is also a good thing that he bought the messenger. That way they can arrange meetings without worrying about unnecessary things.

"So, how did it go? You become a guild member?" Yasbel curiously asked, "I thought you died in a ditch somewhere or in a monster's belly."

"What, and leave you all alone?" Aldrich asked looking horrified, "no way, I wouldn't do that. You'll miss me too much."

Yasbel scowled, she probably hoped that he would die out there and her little secret buried with him. The secret that he actually did not know, as a matter of fact.

This still troubled Aldrich, he had to look into her name to find out what that secret really was. If he slipped up and she discovered that he was bluffing then there was no telling what she might do.

Back then when he found out her name, he was in a hurry an too busy, with the exam being only a few days away. This made it so that he simply didn't have the time to look into it.

'I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. Forget it I'll just ask Ayemon to do it for me, he always knows what to do.'

With that Aldrich felt relaxed once again. Ayemon was so reliable and there was nothing he couldn't do.

He felt the waiter come up before he saw him.

"Well, it's good news for us now that you're a guild member but I wouldn't advise on going on any quests before you actually become a Crestmaster. If can that is."

Yasbel quickly corrected her attitude and turned to practical matters. Seeing this made Aldrich nod, this kind of ability to move on was not something that just anyone can have.

Before he could talk, the waiter arrived.

"Good afternoon sir, miss, thank you for choosing us for lunch. What appetizer would you like to start with?"

Aldrich then realized that the menu was on the table all along but he didn't take a look at it yet. However, his intelligence was at seven, with a quick look he scanned through it and asked the waiter.

"What do you recommend? Is there anything special today?" Despite his calm exterior this was his first time in such a place and he was a little nervous.

"I would recommend the Bruschetta. Grilled country bread with Roma tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and basil. Or maybe the cheese garlic bread, there's also the shrimp scampi."

"Sounds good, but I think I will have the garlic lime roasted shrimp salad and the lady will have…"

Aldrich looked over at Yasbel to allow her to place her order only to realize that both she and the waiter were blankly staring at him still.

'What?…'

Only a moment later did he understand that the waiter thought this was a date and he was supposed to order for her. And yet Yasbel was going along with it to embarrass him.

'You know what, I will choose something random and hope it sucks.'

"The lady will have Mini Caprese salad bites." Aldrich said with a fake smile.

"At once sir."

The waiter left after taking their orders.

"I see you haven't been to a fine dinner before, as expected of a country bumpkin." Yasbel smirked and laughed softly covering her lips with her hand.

"I'm not a country bumpkin anymore." Aldrich sharply shot back. And then caught himself, he was actually provoked for a moment.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve? I think you will always be a country bumpkin." Yasbel tried to urge him on.

"I hope whatever I ordered for you sucks." Aldrich could counter with that.

"Actually you ordered something that I like. Hmph!"

"You better hope so, because the bill's on you." Aldrich leaned back on the chair and took a sip of the grape honey wine.

"Really? Are you that petty? You invited me here, are you a man or what?" Yasbel replied infuriated. And she kneeling exactly what to say to rile him up.

"Yeah, I'm a man. How about this I'll foot the bill but then we're going back to my place, how about that?" Aldrich countered, he was not about to be cawed that easily.

"Y-you insufferable, shameless…." Yasbel pointed at him and her finger twitched, a thousand words got stuck in her throat.

"Oho, what's this, you don't want to?" Aldrich taunted smugly, "here's an idea we'll split the bill and call it a day."

She had a point since he did invite her here, so he decided to take a step back since there was no point in arguing anymore.

"Fine…" Yasbel brushed the hair on her forehead back, "I renovated Dane's coffee house like you told me to, but I used up all of your share so don't complain."

"Yeah, I went there. It looks in great shape you did a good job." Aldrich coughed since it was time for serious matters.

"Actually I already am a Crestmaster, I ignited a rare symbol since a lot happened in the last quest. I barely got back alive." Aldrich shook his head feeling shivers when he recalled that close death encounter.

"Well, I also did some work looking for our next target, but your story sounds more interesting so you start first."

Yasbel looked impressed but trying her best to seem unfazed after knowing the he was a Crestmaster. Aldrich didn't want to harp on it.

The waiter came in with their orders and placed them respectfully on the table, he left after asking if there was anything else they needed.

In that short amount of time Aldrich used his Eyes of Insight on Yasbel once again. He saw something new next to her name.

Yasbel Ortarious (cursed.): curse of the Deep-root.