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n

nA large number of warriors and martial artists were streaming out of one of the largest and most impressive buildings in the city. It seemed to be one of the few 'standalone' buildings, with no connections from any of the layers around it, as if they were just circling the upper floors of the building.

nThe only entrance was down on the bottom layer. This showed just how long this place had been here, nearly since the very beginning of Arcadum's existence. It was even within the confines of the first wall that had been built, before the city had been expanded outward with that huge ring around the whole city.

nBut even though this was the oldest part of the city, crammed with buildings everywhere, the bottom layer here was incredibly different compared to the outer parts of the city. There, everything was dirty. A constant smell of mold floated through the air. But here, it was clean, or rather, as clean as it could be in a highly-populated city like this.

nThe moment that they saw this place, both Lynol and Octer were thinking how great it would be if the bottom layer further out from here was anything like this. Maybe then, Zhaine's shop wouldn't be in the situation that it was currently in, and the Dwarf wouldn't need to struggle that much to keep his own shop to himself.

n

"Let's head in.

" Lynol suggested, not wanting to think about this much more. Octer quickly nodded his head as well, and the two headed through the two large doors that seemed to constantly be open due to the steady stream of people walking in and out of there.

nWhen they walked inside, what they had expected was something more akin to the Adventurer's Guild, rather than what this seemed to be. It was more like a training center rather than where you went to take care of official business like this. There were different rings set up all around the room, where people were publicly fighting against each other, whether it was just as a sport or to settle disputes. Some were using weapons like spears or swords, but many were just fighting with their fists.

nWith a quiet laugh, Octer pointed out,

"Foster would love it here, wouldn't he?

"

nLynol shrugged slightly,

"Probably. It does seem like it, at least.

" Lynol pointed out, as he continued trying to look around the room. It was quite crowded here, and many warriors and martial artists tended to be pretty tall, so Lynol could barely see any of the walls in the room. But luckily, Octer was amongst the tallest here, and quickly managed to find their destination.

nThe two of them pushed through the crowd, and soon reached the reception-desk on the other side of the room. Luckily, it wasn't all too crowded there right now. Lynol let out a sigh, and walked up to the man sitting at the reception,

"Good morning. We're looking to sign up with the Martial Alliance.

" He said immediately, and the man slowly turned his head.

n

"Huh? Signing up? Ehh, sure, that'd be the third floor, then. Just take the stairs over there.

" The man said, more focused on one of the fights going on in the rings here on the bottom floor rather than helping these two people talking to him. Somewhat annoyed, but too bothered to do anything about it, Lynol simply turned around and walked toward the stairs, with Octer right behind him,

"Damn... that guy was sorta rude, right?

"

n

"He has to deal with fighters all day, every day, so it makes sense that he would start acting like one. Rather, I think we are lucky he didn't flip us off at the end there.

" Lynol replied bluntly,

"Most fighters aren't as relaxed as you and I.

"

n

"...I'm relaxed?

"

n

"Now you are. When we met you, you were a huge asshole.

" With a slight smirk, Lynol looked at the man standing next to him awkwardly,

"But well, you are just a big softie, at the end of the day.

"

nOcter scratched his cheek awkwardly,

"Erm... thanks? I guess?

"

n

"Don't worry, it's a good thing. I much prefer that than having two Fosters trying to one-up each other with grim stories about their pasts.

" Lynol said, and Octer seemed to shudder at the thought,

"Yeah... we should really talk to him about that again... he seemed way too happy about getting that bone-breaker martial skill...

"

n

"...Yeah...

" Quietly, Lynol turned around the corner, not wanting to admit that he was actually sort of jealous that Foster got that skill and he didn't. With a martial skill like that, he would have no problem easily cutting through his enemies. His sword slowing down or getting stuck on bones was one of the most bothersome things to him.

nBut before the conversation continued, the two of them already reached the third floor, which looked a lot more like the adventurer's guild already. Swiftly, the two of them walked up to the desks on the other side of the room, talking to one of the employees, who immediately looked at them,

"Hello there, how can I help you today?

" She asked, immediately more welcoming than the guy at the help desk down there.

n

"We're here to sign up at the Martial Alliance.

" Octer explained briefly, and the woman quickly nodded her head. But Lynol noticed something weird. And that was that her eyes slightly widened, and she flinched, as if she was excited about this. And more than that... A lot of the people here, especially the employees, were just staring at the two of them from afar.

nNo... not the two of them. They were staring at Lynol. That was weird to him. Sure, he did stick out with his red skin, hair and horns, but that was mostly the case in regular cities. In a place like Arcadum, where the racial diversity was absolutely incredible, he shouldn't stick out too much. By the gods, down on the first floor, Lynol saw a nine foot tall guy with four arms and three eyes. Compared to that, a different skin color shouldn't be too weird, right?

n

"Is that so?

" The employee asked,

"Are you already part of another international organization? Such as the Adventurer's or Merchant Guilds?

"

n

"Yes, we're adventurers.

" Lynol quickly replied, and the employee clapped her hands together,

"Perfect. If that is the case, if you give me your guild cards we can skip a few steps. We still need some of your information, however.

"

nBoth Lynol and Octer quickly pulled out their guild cards and handed them over to the employee, and she quickly noted down a few things on two sheets of paper, and then gave a few sheets of paper to them again,

"Can you two read and write? If not, we have someone that can help you fill the information out.

"

n

"We're fine, but thanks.

" Octer quickly replied, taking his stack of papers before moving over toward one of the tables to fill everything out. But before the two of them left, the employee curiously asked,

"Before you go... Can either of you two use Aura?

"

n

"Not yet.

" Lynol replied immediately,

"But we're hoping we will get there soon.

" He said, and Lynol and Octer stood at the nearest table, looking at each other awkwardly.

n

"Why'd she have to remind us we can't use Aura yet?

" Octer asked with a wry smile, and Lynol slowly looked up from his papers,

"Probably for the entry-examination that comes after this. They want to know what they can expect. At the end of the day, you should still expect people working at the Martial Alliance to have an interest in, well... martial arts.

"

n

"Right... I forgot about that. But speaking of... did you do any Aura training yet?

"

n

"No, I'm not fully there yet.

" Lynol replied, before stopping briefly,

"Well, that was a bit of a lie, sorry. As a child I did Aura training toward a specific type of Aura, but it's not compatible with the sword, so it's quite useless now.

"

n

"Damn... But really, I'd love to have a cool aura. Hey, if I can actually use mana as well, I might get something pretty amazing. But in the end, I'll probably just get a shield aura, as you'd expect...

" Octer said in a bragging tone, and Lynol just slightly smiled,

"Just imagine awakening your mana on top of that. That'd be pretty fun, right?

"

n

"...That makes me even more jealous of Foster now. By the way, how do you think he's doing?

"

n

"He should be fine. Kyla is there, so she will stop him from doing anything dumb. Like reveal that he can use necromancy.

"

n---

nFoster looked at the man in front of him, holding his hand forward.. Cloaked in a sinister black energy, he showed off his magic to this member of the Mage Tower,

"So yeah, I can actually use necromancy.

"

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