The Slayers Guild was a gigantic building, made from what looked like very, very large rib bones. Attached to these rib-bone-walls were the heads of many large, dangerous looking creatures. Many were Toothbearers.

A little grotesque, but he supposed it matched.

The entrance was raised up a series of bony steps. At the top there stood a very large individual. Whatever he was, he was of a size with the Titan Nicolai had met down in the prison, but he wasn't a Titan. He was humanoid in shape but had two small horns, bright yellow eyes, and was excessively muscled. He wore an outfit made from some kind of fur, and on his back hung a monstrous hammer looking to be made from a great bone.

'No entrance!' he boomed at the crowd. 'The trials are at the Duel Arena! Those who wish to join our Guild, the Slayers, must compete in today's Tournament! Any who come within the top 10 for any division will be granted a Tournament Token. You show me one of those, and I let you join the Guild. If you just want to make use of Guild services, go over there.' He gestured to a much smaller side door. 'You can see what we've got for sale and put in jobs you want completed by us.'

Many people were calling out questions to the big man, but he ignored them and stood placidly. After a pause he called out again, repeating the same words.

Nicolai recalled the map he'd memorised and moved off. If competing in this Tournament was what he needed to do, then it was what he'd do.

And if the Thrill was beginning a slow rise within him, and the Dark was hungering, and a smile was crawling over his face at the thought of imminent combat, well, he couldn't help it.

###

Nicolai strolled towards the Duel Arena, which rose and spread as he came closer. It was huge, the largest building he'd yet seen here. A great circular coliseum made of heavy arches of stone, plunked amongst the streets of the city. Attached to one side of this coliseum there was a big rectangular construction, some kind of great hall.

Through arches in the coliseum's wall he could see the seating area. Peering through those arches with drones, he was able to see a fight occurring in the centre of the arena, and a small scattering of crowd in the stands. Except, depending on which arch he viewed through, the fight would change, and the stands would flicker from empty to having a few people in them, as though there were a dozen different arenas all packed into the same space. When the drones rose above and viewed from above, however, they all showed the same thing—an empty arena.

Bell-towers sprouted from the Duel Arena's rooftops, two from the hall, three spaced around the coliseum. These towers seemed to be all over the city, though none of the Guilds had any on them. He also saw more patrols of undead, all wearing a specific blue-green livery. They stood out from amongst the crowd of humans that was gradually swelling the area. Nicolai noted that people were heading into the grand hall attached to the coliseum, and followed after.

Upon entering he found his way easily enough. A large infographic explained how it worked clearly. For starters, he was surprised to learn that this was a non-lethal Tournament. No one would die today. The infographic explained that all Players within the Tournament would receive "Heaven's protection," and that as soon as a lethal hit was detected they would be removed from battle.

They would also have all injuries healed, and damaged equipment would be restored. However, items and energies that were used like ammo, Permits, Oma, etc., would not be restored. It further specific that if people possessed Symbiotes or items that when consciously used caused some kind of damage to the user's own body, Soul, equipment, or other parts, that damage would also not be restored. This seemed to refer to things that carried that damage as a cost of their use, and the rules added that friendly-fire, accidental or otherwise, from the user's own attacks would be healed as any other damage would be.

The far end of the great hall was dominated by three huge doorways. The doorways to these rooms were labelled, One, Two, Three, which matched the divisions for the Tournaments, based on what he'd seen on the infographic. One only had to step through into their chosen room to register for the Tournament.

Cyborgs of the first Level would compete on the same level as Cultivators of the first Tier. There was a system in place to determine ones Tournament level, which wasn't entirely the same thing as being either Tier 1, or having all Level 1 augments.

He needed to place his hand on a strange looking orb on a podium, of which there were a few scattered through the great hall in the lobby. After reaching the end of the queue he'd joined, he did as the instructions bid and the orb shimmered as it scanned him. His Mark pulsed and a long, vertical bar appeared before him.

The bar was formed from three sections, each of equal length. The bottom was labelled 1, the middle labelled 2, and the top labelled 3. At the division between 1 and 2, as well as the division between 2 and 3, the bar bulged into a spherical shape, so ultimately it was in the form of a long rod with two bulges down its length.

He felt an energy emerge from the stone, which pressed at him, touching on his Nodes, and his flesh, and his augments. The stone hummed, considering, then the bar began to fill up with a red energy.

It moved quickly at first but slowed after only moments, as it approached the halfway mark of level 1 and stopped. Thus, according to this scan, he was at a bit under half the power of "Tournament level 1." He supposed it took into account his Nodes, of which he had relatively few, compared to the maximum available, and then his augments. He didn't have many augments, but his bionic eye was Tier 3, and his arm was Tier 2. He guessed that they were what pushed it most of the way.

He was sure that a normal Cultivator who only had his number of Nodes—only his heart area filled out, and then three Major Nodes in hand, stomach, and brain—wouldn't be so far along. He was only around 1/4th done with building it all, but the scanner put him further.

For Cultivators he imagined the grading would normally be very simple, as the division between Tiers was clear, but for those from Earth it wasn't so easy. Also, it clearly didn't take into account anything external, like his Angelic Blade. He wasn't sure if it took Symbiotes into account or not.

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One blustering cyborg was attempting to argue he ought to be in the Tier 1 Tournament to one of the bored-looking People overseeing the situation. The cyborg was formed of a mix of Level 1 and Level 2 augments—mostly Level 2.

'I don't choose where you go, it's all up to the Scanner,' snapped the Person. 'It says you're level 2 and that's final. If you want to compete, step into the room. If you don't, then go away.'

'But I was only just barely over the threshold! I want a retake!'

Nicolai frowned at these words. Barely over? He'd have anticipated the man would be further over, with all those Level 2 augments. Maybe as you got closer to the next Tier, it was tougher to gain ground.

Nicolai understood why the man wanted to get into a lower bracket. There were a total of 30 Tournament Passes available. In each bracket, the top 10 would be eligible to receive a pass. Therefore, for those who wanted to join a Guild, it didn't matter which bracket they competed in. Any would do.

There were other rewards available, however, and he'd learned that whoever received such a reward would be given a choice. One of the rewards was pulled from the tech of the Earth, and the other from Cultivation.

The reward for the first place winner of Tournament Three was 500,000 points-tags, and then a choice of either a Tier 3 Symbiote called the Soul Sunder Scavenger, or a Level 3 BZRKR implant. He had no idea what a Soul Sunder Scavenge was, though the Cultivators nearby were gasping and exclaiming about it, but a BZRKR was a very nice piece of tech that would temporarily allow the user's body and augments to exceed normal limits, briefly becoming even stronger and faster then normal. Unlike most other methods of doing this, the BZRKR implant allowed individuals to enter this state without any permanent strain to their body or augments. They would be fully recovered and able to go again after just twenty minutes. The stronger and more teched up someone was, the more useful it was.

The rewards for the lower brackets were also very decent. If Nicolai were to come first in Tournament One, the reward would be 100,000 ponts-tags, then either a Tier 1 Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote or a Neural Compiler drive—prized by any who wished to rapidly improve their skills and ability to utilise augments.

He'd probably take the Yin-Yang Rotation, if he did end up winning. Unlike most humans, he had enough experience as to have largely outstripped the benefits of a Neural Compiler, and he had reason to believe that Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiotes were an item currently in high demand, very valuable to trade. A Neural Compiler would also sell easily and for a high price, but he was more interested in trading for Cultivation items than those of Earth, since he had an Assembler and access to plenty of Earth tech in the Trade Link.

He entered through the pale green barrier to the Tournament One room, and his Mark pinged him.

Do you wish to register for Tournament One?

Yes. With that thought, the UI flickered to display something that he found oddly nostalgic. It was a virtual ticket, with his name and other details, what he was registered for, time of start and where to be.

He had an hour until it began and the ticket told him he didn't need to hang around. The "where to be" was just "Phantom City." Focusing on that led it to expand and clarify that yes, so long as he was within the Phantom City when the time came, he would be transported into the arena to take part in the Tournament. The ticket told him to make sure he was carrying anything and everything he needed.

That in mind, he left the room and headed back out into the Phantom City. There was something he was hoping to acquire in the time available.

Increasingly, the felt the dark stirring within him. He was trying not to think too much on what the Person at the Information Guild had said, her dire warnings were a little… upsetting. But he knew it was affecting him on some level. The promise of battle was also a factor. Since he'd left the Information Guild the dark had been beginning a slow, insidious creep. Looking for a way out, angling to gain more control, eager to encourage him to slake its desires.

He anticipated that once he started fighting, he might lose control to some degree. But if he had the Blade with him, then even if he let it out a little, he wasn't overly worried. It was much easier to remain in control with it on his back.

Ultimately, in light of what he'd learned from the Black Gift obsessed Information Guild worker, he felt it was best to keep the Blade on him at all times.

The problem was that he could not allowed others to sense the truth of it. Displaying it would attract a great deal of attention, at least from Cultivators. Those from Earth were unlikely to care, as most remained generally unaware and uncaring of matters of Cultivation.

The Refinement Guild Hall was simply a large square building made from bones that appeared to have been treated somehow, inscribed with strange writing. He entered through a doorway and found himself in an expansive area, with many large cubby-like areas lining the walls. These contained working areas, and he saw Cultivators and even some from Earth working and experimenting within it. Not all could be seen through; some had entrances which were concealed by a curtain of darkness. Private rooms.

He also noted a few different areas, one of which was a large counter with a few People behind it, and behind them ranks of shelves covered in goods. Written above were the words GUILD SHOP. Nicolai approached the counter but as he did, he noted a small sign hanging below the large words. It read:

For Guild Members Only!

NO RETURNS!

He settled in at the counter regardless, gazing at the goods on display, in shelves behind the counter. The Person working there glanced at him, frowned, then approach.

'How much would three square metres of Spirit dampening cloth cost?'

'For you, priceless. If you want to buy here you must be a Guild Member,' the Person answered snippily, pointing at the sign.

'Don't worry, I intend to become one immediately,' he replied earnestly. 'I have heard this is the best Guild. Being a Refiner has always been my dream. But it would be nice to know the price, just for my notes.'

The Person's attitude softened. 'Three metres square… one moment.' He paused, tapping at a glowing disc. '63,015 points-tags, or 12,240 Guild Tokens.'

'If I were a member, could I use points-tags in my Trade Link account?'

'Yes, they are available via your Mark.'

'Thank you.' Nicolai turned away, considering. He only had about 5,000 points in his account. He'd spent just about everything he had before leaving the castle. He'd gained 50,000 from counter-scamming the Cultivator, bringing him to 55,000 total, but it still wasn't enough.

Of course, it wouldn't matter either way. He wasn't a member, and had no intention of going through this Guild's joining process and committing himself to it just for the cloth.

He scanned the area but it was empty, just him and the Person behind the counter. He looked back to the Person. 'Do you have any members yet? I don't see anyone around. I'd like to ask about their experience here before I join.'

The Person shrugged. 'They're around. We have a few members using the private refinement rooms at the moment. I'm sure some will come out soon.'

Nicolai nodded. He'd come back soon and with luck someone would be around.

In the meantime, he needed to see about getting more points. Being strapped for cash was increasingly a problem.

Nicolai wound his way through the streets, moving with a brisk efficiency. When he'd set out he'd absorbed one of the Memory Discs in his storage, and was currently going through the information it had held.

He'd told the Person at the Information Guild he wanted to "fill in the gaps" of his knowledge regarding Symbiotes he might find. She'd given him quite a lot of Discs on the subject, going above and beyond his request.

One of these discs focused purely on value, something he hadn't learned much about until now. It simply gave the names of a vast number of Symbiotes, and beside those names put two rough values—one for Oma crystals, another for points-tags. Most of what he had to sell were Symbiotes and he anticipated this information coming in useful momentarily, when he arrived at his next destination; the Market.

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