Hearing the man's response to his words, Valyr could not help but tilt his head in confusion. Although he understood what the man said, at the moment, he could not help but feel like the two were on different wavelengths. With that in mind, he cleared his throat as he decided to repeat himself. "I'm not sure if you've misunderstood me, sir, but let me repeat just in case. I want to be a part of the village guards."

"Oh yeah. I understood you loud and clear," the man said in response. "That's why I said I'm glad you asked."

"But that… that's not the usual response to that?" was the only thing that could come out of Valyr's mouth after noticing the man's nonchalance. "Also, what does that mean anyway?"

"It means you're now part of us," the man replied, standing up from his seat to come closer to Valyr. "To be honest, I was already wondering for sometime where I'd find another person that wants to become a village guard. I guess the skies have decided to grant my wish."

"Thanks?" Scratching his head in response, Valyr could not help but feel like this whole process was far too simple. From what he could recall through his memories, even small organizations like the village guards would have the player undergo through a test whenever they wanted to become a part of them. As he mulled over this, a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. 'Is it because I'm also an NPC?'

'If that's the case, then that's definitely a weight off my shoulders. However, it still feels too fishy for it to be this simple,' he thought soon after, looking at the man before him. "Is it really that easy to join the village guards? Shouldn't I have to go through a test or something?"

"You've already went through a test, actually," said the man in response, prompting Valyr to perk up his ears. However, the man's next words only made him want to cough up blood.

"A test to see whether you're willing to become part of the village guards or not. Since you've decided to volunteer for the position, then that means you've passed the test.""Does that answer your question?" the man asked, to which Valyr shook his head. "I didn't mean a test like that. What I meant was a test that checks one's combat capabilities."

"Well, if you put it that way, there's not really any need for that," the man said in response as he decided to sit back down. Noticing the curious expression on Valyr's face, the man went ahead and explained. "Here's the thing. The strongest people in this village have only reached the peak of their Rank 1 Class, only amounting to around five people or so. On the other hand, the majority of people in this village still haven't reached Rank 1 yet."

"Now, with that in mind, do you still think such a test like that is necessary?" the man asked Valyr, exuding a bit of the power he had towards him. At that moment, Valyr quickly realized that the man in front of him was included in the number of people who had reached the peak of Rank 1, feeling his body slightly shuddering from the pressure.

Knowing when to stop, Valyr shook his head in response as he took in a deep breath to calm himself down. "I understand."

"As long as you understand, then that's good," said the man as he stood up once more, placing his hand on Valyr's shoulder as he looked at him. "Welcome to the Astarto Village Guards. The name's Damian Waters, your guard leader. You could call me Damian, Sir Waters, anything is fine."

"How about you? What's your name?" Damian asked in response.

"Valyr, sir. Valyr Zeihardt," replied Valyr, which made Damian's eyes slightly widen for a brief moment before quickly returning to normal.

"Well, nice to have you become part of the guards, Valyr. I hope you'll help us maintain the village's peace and prosperity." Saying those words, a smile appeared on Damian's face, making Valyr think that the man in front of him wasn't actually that scary if one ignored him being at the peak of Rank 1.

Just as he thought that their conversation would end there, Damian went ahead and dragged Valyr by the arm as the two of them left the room. "Since you're now officially part of the village guards, then it shouldn't be a surprise that I should take you on a tour around the barracks, no?""I guess…?" Realizing that it would take a while for him to grasp the whole personality of the man before him, Valyr decided to just go with the flow for now, allowing Damian to do whatever he wanted.

With that, the two of them walked around the various portions of the barracks. Damian was at the front, explaining everything Valyr needed to know about the purpose of the certain portion they were in, as well as the history that came along with said portion. While on this impromptu tour, Damian stopped all of a sudden as he looked back at Valyr, slapping his forehead. "Damn, to think I almost forgot. Give me a second, let me add you to the organization's roster."

Soon after, a screen appeared in front of Damian's face as he tapped a few buttons and made a few gestures. A few seconds later, a notification sound resounded within Valyr's mind. In response to that, he commanded the system to bring up his notification screen, allowing him to read through the notifications he had received.

Ding!

[You have affiliated yourself with the 'Astarto Village Guards'.]

[Your current rank is [Guard]. Increase your merit to raise your position.]

[You have unlocked the contribution point shop. Do tasks for the organization to earn contribution points.]

Closing up the screen in front of him after reading through the notifications, Valyr looked at Damian, prompting the latter to explain as Damian understood what Valyr wanted to know. "We have two systems in place: the merit point system and the contribution point system. Although both of those points could be earned by doing tasks as a village guard, the two of them have different purposes."

"The merit point system dictates what positions you could take up. The lowest rank is [Guard], followed by [Veteran Guard], [Guard Captain], and lastly, [Guard Leader]." Taking in a deep breath, he continued, "As for the contribution point system, it's what allows you and the other guards to purchase certain items that couldn't be purchased out in the village."

"As long as you have enough contribution points, you could choose to get better weapons, better equipment, better skills, better items, better everything really." Damian shrugged his shoulders as he said this. "Well… since you're part of us, I should also let you know that we also have Special Skills available here, but we don't really have a great selection of them. Plus, that's only available if you're a [Guard Captain] at the very least and have a lot of contribution points to waste."

Hearing the term 'Special Skills' come out of Damian's mouth, Valyr could not help but blank out for a bit, only to snap back to reality sometime later as he decided that now wasn't the best time to think about it. Placing the thought at the back of his head for now, Valyr nodded in response to Damian's explanation as the two of them continued to walk once more.

"Well, with that out of the way…"

"Let's have you choose your weapon, shall we?"