147. The Golden Guild

A precarious future awaited Brandar. Potential battles. New encounters. Friends. Foes. Tasty food…

But what about respite?

Frost wanted to tone it down a little now. Her mind was fresh off the emotional highs after her beatdown with the Bloody Herring. Truth be told; she would have liked if they didn’t kill him off immediately. But unfortunately, due to the nature of the Heart of Ours, they had no choice but to end him in spectacular fashion.

Of course, if the situation called for it, then she’d have to come off the backburner.

After a healthy night’s rest – Her first night rest since arriving in Brandar – She was summoned by Beholder Carpalis for a special ceremonial induction within one of the inhouse Guilds of the Golden Index.

The details were spared since she only received the message through Jury, who had woken up hours earlier to prepare for this induction. From what she knew, the induction was a vital process that enabled a person to become an Adventurer.

Normally, the Blessed were exempted from this for two reasons. The first was that the Blessed were already inherently Adventurers themselves and could have their progress tracked via the Guilds. The second and more obvious reason was due to the destruction of the Hyperlink Networks.

This made it difficult to track and verify who was who outside of the Guilds without the aid of the Golden Thumb or the Blessed. Since their disappearance the Nex Megalopolis had adapted and introduced a foolproof pen and paper system that allowed Adventurers to carry what was essentially their physical ID on them.

The worlds changing fast, huh.

“It’s a living world. Did you expect it to wait for you?”

Frost shook her head as she followed a highly reflective marble road with Snap acting as her fuzzy vehicle.

They entered a massive clearing that stretched for over 2 kilometers in every direction. It led towards a monumental structure that was built like a hybrid between an airport and a castle.

It reminded her of the Common Hub of the Nexus, save that this was far larger than it should have been, and she saw countless thousands patrol its grounds and loiter around the many wonderful fountains that dotted this otherwise absent plane.

The place oozed with equal portions of majesty and eeriness. The sheer scale was unnatural and was frankly impossible to create even with modern engineering. If H.P Lovecraft was an architect, then she imagined that this structure, the Golden Guild, would have been one of a thousand ‘monsters’ in his bizarre portfolio.

Seeing so many happy faces was a nice change of pace. People of all kinds of races, apparel and color roamed this vast place whether alone, in groups or as a family. Children played in the small fountains, and she could have sworn she just saw one get swept off their feet by the excited jets.

Couples could even be seen here whether holding hands or sharing an intimate moment without a care for the world. As simple as the marble field was the beauty of the highly reflective floor easily made up for it, although, when she peered off to the edge of Snap, she found a rather… peculiar problem.

Good thing no one’s wearing a skirt.

“Can you care to explain?”

The entire floor’s practically a mirror. Look at it this way. Say I want to tie my shoelaces. I’m either looking at my own backside or someone else’s. I can see people doing it on purpose as well.”

The thought disgusted her, but it did not detract from the peerless beauty of the place. At the right angle it was as though they were walking on clouds. Optical illusions tampered with her sense of depth as she felt as though she was staring down into an endless blue pit.

“Any idea who makes those structures?” Frost asked.

“Caldera Industries. They manage the infrastructure of Brandar, Dwarhelven and the Caldera Region. Possibly the facilities of the Ateliers, and they are the reason the Nexus floats.”

Frost’s eyes were drawn to the staggering reflection of the Nexus, her eyes climbing up until her head reared back to face the monolithic structure.

“Controlling gravity lets you do all kinds of things, huh. What’s structural integrity again?” She sighed with a sarcastic tone. “Man… I bet architects would love that kind of technology. You know, we have a saying. An architect’s dream is an engineer’s nightmare… And by the way Nav. I should have learned new Skills. What happened to them?”

“Would you mind waiting until we’re ready to depart?”

“Not at all. Maybe I’ll finally get something other than [Punch] for a basic attack.” She sighed again.

The fact that [Punch] was a skill in the first place baffled her to no end. It turned out that just because you were transported into another world of magic doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to use magic like the rest.

Not that she could complain, however. She was strong enough as she was. Frost felt like an overlevelled character wandering in a social hub, appearing weak given her apparel which was no more than trousers and an oversized coat, but was in fact the only endgame player present.

They eventually entered the building through one of its many gaping entrances, which were held by countless pillars like an ancient Parthenon. The marble faded to a reflective gold surface as she found herself submerged within a mesmerizing hall filled with the brim with more facilities than she could count.

One major section held booths manned by green-dressed Receptionists. She felt like she was simultaneously within a bank and a shopping mall as Snap scurried along, driving her towards a corner where Golden Index personnel were most concentrated.

No one else brought in pets or mounts into this place, but Frost was exempted, and these people were informed of her arrival, courtesy of Carpalis and her trusted aids. Some raised their hands, as if reflexively trying to call out to her to stop, but they were quickly reprimanded by Golden Middle Soldiers.

Frost was granted unrestricted access from what she could tell. No one batted an eye. Carpalis’ orders were absolute. However, that didn’t mean there weren’t any interactions to be had.

“Woah… It’s the legendary creature big boss man was talking about.” A Golden Middle woman uttered, mesmerized by the eight-legged ball of fluff.

“Isn’t that the Color Ma’am Carpalis entrusted the speech to?” Another whispered to their comrade.

“A Color. Black Dove, wasn’t it? So that’s the Black Incandescent Color.”

“… Those eyes are something else…”

Word had spread faster than she realized. The name of the Black Dove was already known within the City of Diamonds, mostly thanks to the thousands she had rescued referring to her as such. And besides, it was hard to miss her, even without her iconic feathered coat.

Her eyes were easily her second most defining characteristic, but she also had to wonder how else they knew it was her.

“She’s as short as they say.”

“Messy hair. Built like a healer.”

“Feels like she’s staring at me… and she’s not even looking at us.”

As per Frost, she was not the kind of person who liked to passively participate. And so, she ended up kindly waving at them with a gentle smile. Unbeknownst to her was that there was another characteristic that defined her.

“What… a scathing smile… those eyes… I’m drowning.”

“Woah. So pretty. Those eyes aren’t kidding around!”

They’re really honest about their feelings, huh.

“No point in hiding them when no one’s here to judge.”

Yeah. Good point.

There were two schools of thought, if it could even be called that. One side characterized her by her damming eyes, but not in a bad way. At least she hoped so. It was kind of like how Frost herself loved her own eyes… Just not to the point where she’d let the world know.

Or in other words, they had Cer Syndrome.

The other side was more mentally sound and was astounded by her golden eyes.

As it turned out, her eye color was mostly unheard of. The expired Angelic race was mostly associated with golden irises, although Frost was too human to be considered one. Demons very rarely had golden eyes. Carpalis was one of them, though it was only her pupils that were golden.

I’m still a human on the surface at least.

As humorous as it was to be thrown into the center of attention, it ultimately amounted to nothing. But knowing that more people were aware of her status as a Color would certainly make it easier when interacting with the Ateliers.

Because the name of the Amalgam still meant nothing to them.