Chapter 59: Slacking This One Time
About three hours later, system screens popped up in front of Aiden, who had been fast asleep.
[Intoxicating Substance has been detected]
[Effect of Intoxication has been removed]
Aiden opened his eyes slowly, and at first his vision was blurry, but then it became clearer.
The first thing he saw was the guild’s ceiling, and the only way he’d be seeing that first would be if he was currently lying on the floor on his back.
Then he noticed there was extra weight on him, and when he tilted his head to the side, he saw Laela lying on his chest.
His heart raced so fast and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he couldn’t find words to explain what the hell had happened.
Slowly he pulled his body away and gently laid her head down to rest.
He then stood up to see that everyone had been fast asleep, some snoring loudly. On the table they had initially sat at was Kayden, who had laid his head on the desk and was still asleep.
Arianna was also asleep on the opposite side of the table.
The captain was fast asleep on the floor as well, with her legs spread carelessly apart so one could see her underpants beneath her really short skirt.
Piers somehow lay fast asleep on her body, with his head planted right between her bosoms. The body difference between them was almost comedic; the captain was taller than he was with a broader frame, and he was really slim.
The rest were either on the floor or on tables. The effect of the ale had been so strong that they were all fast asleep, and this was only a few hours past noon.
"But the ale wasn’t even that strong... Ohhhhh," Aiden started laughing to himself as he got a recollection of what had happened.
Someone had said something about the ale not hitting as they expected. Aiden remembered it was a guy named Fred, one of the Junior-ranked mages of Ravens Grave.
Then he remembered the captain looking toward Elena and telling her to "do the thing."
He remembered Elena complaining about the mana cost to cast the spell, but then Katherine encouraged her further, after which she cast a King Level Spell: Promotion.
Elena got significantly exhausted after that due to the drain of mana she felt.
The Promotion spell, simply put, increased effects. It was a simple yet powerful spell.
If promotion was applied to a small scratch on the body that wouldn’t hurt more than a slight discomforting sensation, the pain would then increase tenfold, and the pain from the scratch would feel like one had been cut with a sword.
However, promotion was applied to the alcohol itself, which increased the level of intoxication the ale provided.
He also remembered the system copying the spell as soon as it was used.
Aiden could hold his alcohol normally, but with that effect increase, there was no way a human could have resisted that.
Then he remembered trying to stand and Laela offering to help him up, even though they were evidently both drunk.
Somehow he stumbled over and they both fell on each other, which sent the entire room into fits of laughter. Even the always-unhappy Kayden smiled for a brief second.
That was the story of how he had landed on the floor with Laela.
Aiden looked around once more at the members of the guild, smiled, and shook his head.
At that point, a system notification popped up in front of him:
[Daily Mission: Get to know your guild members → Complete]
[+2 points to Intelligence stats]
[You have gained +600xp]
"I guess that happened over booze," he said to himself with an amused expression.
He remembered that there had been lively chatter between everyone, and it had made him engage with the others randomly.
That’s how he knew Fred was a Junior-ranked mage, and that’s how he knew Sorkin and Langston as well. The memory of their names was coming back to him slowly.
"I hope I didn’t say something silly when I was drunk," Aiden asked the system.
[You did, but none of it was to your detriment] the system replied.
Aiden sighed, then sat on an empty seat. He turned toward Laela, who still slept so peacefully, and he stared for longer moments than normal. Certainly she was beautiful, but he didn’t think watching her sleep so calmly that way would make his heart flutter slightly.
He smiled, then turned away. His attention was then caught by the Notice Board that the captain had mentioned earlier.
This prompted him to go take a look. He stood up and walked toward the corner where the notice board was.
Looking at the notice board, he could see lots of Mission Requests. They weren’t entirely from the Academy’s table however.
Some were also from the captain and other members of the guild. Those were called Guild Requests.
There was one request from Bernard that said:
"I’ll need help learning the invisibility spell."
"Reward is 30 silver pieces or an extra plate of chicken with sauce"
"Signed - Bernard"
It didn’t take a genius to know that he wanted to learn the invisibility spell to be able to avoid the captain on the days she was mad at him.
Within the next two to three hours, the rest had started waking up one by one, and soon after, the entire guild was back to being awake.
Some hated the experience and some enjoyed it, but all in all, the rest of the day had passed regularly.
...
The next morning came, and members of the guild were already stepping out in their uniforms into the main guild room.
Arianna herself was already standing in front of the Notice Board, sampling through the mission details.
She had allowed herself and the others to slack yesterday, but today they had to get active with tasks.
Those merit stars weren’t going to accumulate themselves.