While the guild hall was essentially empty, I saw it as a blank canvas, full of potential for upgrades, expansions, and functionality I couldn't even imagine yet. With time, I hoped to turn this place into a hall bustling with activity and life as dozens or perhaps hundreds of guild members came and went. Maybe I didn't know the exact nature of the challenge ahead of me yet, but I did know gathering people to the cause would be crucial.

I just wondered if I would ever be able to openly tell them all who I was. Would this eventually become some kind of restoration of the Divine House of Seraphel? Or would it be the Dimensional Guild of Brynn Stygos?

I supposed time would tell. And if nothing else, I apparently had "slots" left for new guild members and a few escaped slave friends who could use a place to hide out. I knew better than to expect them to want to stay put and get fat in the guild forever, but it could at least be of some help to them.

Lyria held the door open as I squeezed past her with the tray of food and drink balanced in both hands. I had to admit I quite enjoyed her expression of wide-eyed, open-mouthed astonishment.

Even her preference to hide her amazement seemed to be forgotten as she obviously struggled to understand what she was looking at.

Hoot stood at the far end of the hall on the raised portion where my throne would eventually go.

Chair.

I meant the portion where my chair would eventually go.

"What is that?" Lyria whispered.

Hoot had his back to us as he stood on his tiptoes and used an ordinary feather duster to clean the wooden wings I had earned for ascending. Apparently, he'd taken it upon himself to put them up nice and high for display.

I certainly wasn't going to complain about that.

At the sound of Lyria's voice, Hoot's head flipped around 180 degrees while he kept his back to us and continued dusting.

She gasped in surprise and stepped back, bumping against the door as he turned his body to join his head and started waddling toward us, drifting trails of sparkling magic dust in his wake.

Lyria raised her Basilisk Shield and sword. I felt wind rushing in toward her, ruffling my hair and clothes in a cool rush.

"He's not going to hurt us," I said. "It's okay."

Lyria gave me an uncertain look, then slowly lowered her weapons as she watched his approach. The growing roar of wind died down. The way Hoot's purple, blue, and orange coloring shifted as he moved was mesmerizing.

"His name is, um… Hoot, what was your sacred name again?" I asked.

Hoot stopped in front of us, huge eyes locked on Lyria as she slowly inched into the room and let the door close behind her.

"Welcome to the Guild Hall. I am known as Heutacratan'ka Nuk'ra'tet of the Astral Keep. The Dimensional Guild Master prefers to call me 'Hoot' because of his child-like inability to remember and pronounce large words."

"Hi, Hoot," Lyria said.

Hoot gave a world-weary sigh. "I see you have brought a female. Very well. I know you meat sacks like to recreationally practice the act of procreation. When you're finished, please remember to collect all your belongings. Take care not to track any dirt or fluids into the Guild Hall, either. The stories I have heard from my colleagues would singe your hairs, I assure you. Anything you leave behind will be magically incinerated with extreme prejudice."

"Uh, Hoot," I said. "This is Lyria. My friend. I'm showing her the guild because I want to ask her to join. She's an ally."

"Wait," Lyria held up her hand as she looked around the room. "We just walked in your personal space. Why is there… this guy and all this space here? And why are you two calling it a guild? What the fuck is going on, Brynn?"

"So… one of my accomplishments gave me a legendary personal space upgrade." I gave a grand gesture, smiling a little. "Ta-da. I got to add this guild hall and Hoot as a kind of attachment to my personal space, which is over there," I said, pointing to the door at the far end of the hall.

"Of course," she whispered.

"You've heard of these?" I asked.

"No. Of course you would get involved in something weird and elaborate like this. And of course you'd collect a strange magical butler in the process. You collect pets like a dog collects fleas."

Hoot puffed up, eyebrows twitching upward. "Butler? Pets?" Hoot sputtered. "As I have said, I'm—"

"Heutacratan'ka Nuk'ra'tet of the Astral Keep," Lyria said, smiling halfway. "I remember."

"Oh," Hoot said. He ran his hands down his belly as if straightening his feathers. He looked surprised with Lyria, but impressed. "Your pronunciation is abominable, but you have recalled my full name and title. Very well."

"Maybe I can explain all this better while we eat?" I gave the huge tray in my hands a nod. Before all of this, holding the heavy tray full of food and drink probably would have had my arms burning by now. But I felt like I could hold the thing for hours without tiring.

Hoot's beak clicked with excitement. "I will confess I am eager to sample the offering you have brought me."

"We're all going to share," I said. "But you're welcome to join."

"As you wish," Hoot said, eyes never leaving the food.

I carried the tray to the raised section at the end of the hall and set the tray down. Lyria and I sat in front of it, using the ledge as a miniature table. Hoot plopped down above us with his relatively small, bear-like legs sticking out in front of him. He looked kind of cute, but I figured it was better not to voice my thoughts aloud.

I filled Lyria in on the basics and what I knew about the guild hall while we all took our first pieces of food from the platter. Hoot loudly smacked his tongue and nodded his approval with each new bite, hardly seeming to listen to my conversation with Lyria. He spoke mostly to himself, apparently cataloging flavor profiles and making notes for future reference.

"So if I joined this guild, my personal space would become part of this hall?" Lyria asked. "It would just appear behind one of those doors? And using my own personal space key would bring me here from now on instead of straight into my room?"

I nodded. "And you'd get the Guild Recall Stone. Don't forget that."

"Yeah," she said. "And what happens if I ever want to quit? Let's say you turn into a massive ass at some point, and I can't stand the sight of you? Am I stuck in your guild forever?"

"Guild members may sever their bond to the guild hall by requesting release from the Astral Custodian," Hoot said around a mouth full of meatballs and gravy. "These are quite delicious. What did you call them again? Meaty rounds?"

"Meatballs," I said.

"Alright," Lyria said. "I can't see why I shouldn't join, then."

"Nah," I said, leaning back. "After hearing your worries about me becoming an ass in the future, I've decided to become an ass in the present. Effective immediately. I rescind my invitation."

Lyria glared, then threw a small chunk of bread at me. "Hah. So funny."

The bread bounced off my shoulder and landed on the floor.

Hoot sighed, stood, and walked over to the crumb of bread. He picked it up between thumb and forefinger, then magically vaporized it. "You will remember to behave yourselves in the guild hall," Hoot said. "Above all else, you will remember to avoid making messes."

I shared a hidden smile with Lyria when Hoot's back was turned. We wore properly remorseful expressions once he was seated again and looking at us. He nodded his approval, then began eating again.

"So, how do I formally invite her?" I asked.

"You tell your esteemed Astral Custodian, and he makes it so," Hoot said.

"Alright. Hoot, I want Lyria to join the guild."

"Do you wish this?" Hoot asked Lyria.

"Sure," she said.

Hoot sighed. "You could try showing some respect appropriate to the gravity and grandeur of this moment. You are invited to join the first new Dimensional Guild in over one thousand years. You are, perhaps, being extended the first of many seats in an organization that could become so powerful and vast that its influence will reverberate through this realm and possibly even into the realms beyond. At this moment, we could all be witnessing the creation of a force so grand and mysterious that both kings and peasants will whisper rumors of its existence with fear and awe in their hearts. We—"

"Or we could all die horrible deaths in the near future and nobody will ever know this place existed," I suggested with a shrug. "What would happen to you if I die out there, Hoot?"

"Well… I would return to my realm. And my disappointment would be beyond measure. There are still culinary treats I wish to sample. And the state of this guild hall is an embarrassment. Have you gathered the hard woods yet?"

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Not yet. Working on it. Sort of," I muttered.

"Sorry for not sounding excited enough," Lyria said. "How's this? Sure, Hoot! Sign me up!" Her enthusiasm was laced with a hilarious amount of sarcasm.

Apparently, Hoot didn't know how to detect it, so he smiled and nodded happily. "That is better, Young Lady. With the considerable power I hold in these feathers, I grant you access and membership."

The doorway on the other side of the hall flared bright white until it hurt to look at. I shielded my eyes, blinked, and when my vision cleared, the wall had pushed backward, forming a new hallway. There was a single doorway still glowing white, but it faded slowly back to normal.

Hoot pointed toward the hall. "You will find your room beyond that door. It will be locked and require your hand to open. As the guild grows, the Guild Hall will evolve to accommodate your needs. At higher tiers of status, you will be able to reward your higher ranking members with appropriately impressive entrances to their rooms."

"Nice," I said. "It's a shame about the locked door, though."

Hoot turned his head toward me, then tilted it. "You are upset because you did wish to recreationally procreate with Lyria?"

"No… I was hoping to use her bathtub when she wasn't around."

"You can always ask me nicely," Lyria said. "If you smell bad enough, I'll consider letting you, but only to save the rest of our noses."

"Fair enough. Now what is this loot you thought was too risky to show me in the common room? I'm tired of waiting."

She dusted off her hands, sat up a little straighter, and smiled as she tucked some hair behind her ear. "Okay. Ready?"

"Yes," I said impatiently.

Hoot leaned forward. "More loot? Very good. Very good."

Lyria pulled out a shining metal spear that was about two feet long with an elongated, arrow-head style point. "Watch this," she said, standing and holding it to her side. She gave it a small shake and the shaft magically extended downward. The expansion was so sudden and forceful that it clanked on the stone and knocked the spear out of her hand.

She recovered, smiling a little and shrugging. "Still getting used to it."

"Nice. So it can be a short spear or a long spear? And you could probably give somebody an unpleasant surprise if you switched it on them mid-fight."

I inspected the spear.

[Spear of Torment (Epic) (Wood)] Each successful strike will torment the target, filling their mind with the desire to harm the wielder. This effect can stack. The spear's length can be modified.

"Wow," I said. "So aside from the natural discomfort and annoyance of getting stabbed, this thing magically pisses your target off, too? It's like a taunt effect."

"Yeah," Lyria said. "If I'm trying to keep things from hurting you, I figure this will help. I can soak up the attention while you hopefully kill everything before it kills me."

I nodded my approval, though part of me wondered if the idea of us fighting together shoulder to shoulder was even realistic anymore. I had already advanced past Wood and didn't know how long it would take her to reach level 50, let alone figure out ascension. I could try to get my hands on an ascension token for her, of course, but how close would I be to Silver by the time I managed that?

I decided not to worry about it for the moment. I'd still do my best to help her keep up and we could worry about the details later. And she was most likely Soulbound, which might help her keep up with even my breakneck pace of progression.

"Okay," I said. "My turn."

Naturally, I started with the least exciting loot and worked my way up, showing off everything to Lyria from my refilling water flask to my herbalism guidebook for dungeons. Then I produced the single leather scale and held it up, waiting for her to inspect it. Within the Guild Hall or a personal space, she was able to read the tooltip just like I could do in the outside world with Voidgaze.

Lyria's eyebrows slowly rose as she read it. "Wait. You got another legendary? And it's a… set piece? I've never even heard of that."

"Yeah," I said, trying not to smile too much at the look on her face. "I got another one of those lucky upgrades."

She sighed, almost as if she was disgusted. "I'm assuming you're about to demonstrate this thing?" she said.

"Hell yeah." I stood, shook out my arms, and closed my eyes. My mana had completely refilled since my last time using it.

I pushed a heavy stream of mana into the scale and watched with satisfaction as magical leather and plate armor snapped into place all over my body, amplifying me and covering me in rushing blue energy.

I felt the same rush of strength and confidence as the armor filled with mana, like I could have jumped over a wall in a single bound or punched a hole in a wall.

Lyria's look of awed shock was enough to make me laugh and lose concentration.

The armor zapped back into a single scale after just a couple seconds, landing in my palm.

"Gods, Brynn… You looked terrifying with all that on. Like something out of a legend."

"Yeah?" I asked. "It feels amazing, too, but getting it to that level takes a ton of mana. I'm going to have to work on my capacity and recovery if I want to be able to push the raiment to that level in battle. For now, I may have to settle for a little less intensity in small bursts."

"Still," she said, popping a bite of bread into her mouth and shaking her head. "I thought my spear was great. I guess I'm not surprised you had to outdo me. But if it takes a ton of mana for you, it must be an astronomical amount. I wager I wouldn't even be able to fuel it for a heartbeat. Gods."

We went back and forth for a while longer, talking about our items and even theorizing about how Lyria could take advantage of her new ring and spear. I was already itching to finally try helping her train again. I also wanted to do more magical delving into her sponge-like core to see if I could maybe help her find a way to improve her abilities with mana.

But not yet.

Hoot eventually hovered around where we had eaten and vaporized any crumbs he could find into puffs of steam. Afterward, he picked up the tray of plates and carried it to the door, dusting off his hands. "You will take this when you leave?" Hoot asked.

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Speaking of which, I should get going. I've got a ridiculously long to-do list. Do you think you could hang in the common room for me, Lyria? If Thorn and the others aren't there when I leave, maybe you could stay back and watch for them like we talked about."

"And where is it you're planning to go?" Lyria asked.

"First? I'm going to the adventurer's guild. I think I have what Hoot would call a sacred duty to collect any rewards and points I may be due for my accomplishments in Beastden."

Lyria gave me a skeptical smile. "A sacred duty? Is that right?"

"Correct. And then I'm going to sell this big bag of gems I got and see if I can get my hands on a corestone. I've been thinking a lot about it, and I think a Shield stone may make the most sense."

"Really? But you asked for my Sword stone in Beastden. I assumed you had already equipped it by now and mastered your new abilities."

"I couldn't in time for my fight with Rake, so I've been brewing on the choice. I could use a Sword stone, a Shield stone, or even one of the crafting stones. But I think I can rule out a crafting-related stone while I still have combat options available, so I've been debating between the idea of Sword and Shield. But nothing is stopping me from getting my hands on a Shield stone, equipping it to see what abilities it offers, and then comparing it to what a Sword stone offers. Right?"

"Hm, yeah," Lyria said. "I guess that's true. Other than the price of buying the Shield stone."

"Big bag of valuable gems, remember?"

"Okay, yeah. Very little reason not to do it that way."

"Right. So I might as well equip the Sword stone now and see what abilities I'll get. While I'm waiting on the cooldown to swap stones, I'll go pick up a Shield stone and handle my business at the adventurer's guild. And who knows, maybe I'll run a few more errands while I'm out."

Lyria shrugged. "And my only task is to sit and relax in the common room while you're gone? I'm sold. Gods know I haven't had more than a few minutes of calm since I met you."

"Perfect. Here," I said, handing her a few silver coins. "Use this to get Thorn and the others some food if they're hungry when you see them. Okay?"

"Yeah, alright. But wait, where are you going?"

"To do all the things I just said."

"You aren't leaving before you tell me what abilities you get from that Sword corestone."

Hoot had wandered off to dust seemingly clean areas of the Hall, but the mention of abilities seemed to draw him over. "I shall observe," he said.

"Alright, alright." I pulled out the corestone and held it in my palm. I felt a tingle of anticipation and nerves. I had already seen just how massively the abilities of my classes had played into my survival so far. But I also knew my active and passive skill slots were a limited resource.

Like it or not, I wouldn't be able to equip everything I earned. I was also going to have to deal with the challenge of trying to decide which skills I could afford to devote training time to. But maybe some downtime in the city would allow me to focus on really grinding up my skill tiers, including skills that didn't currently earn a slot on my roster of slotted abilities. After all, it would be useful to have backup skills I had experience with ready in the event that a situation called for them.

I wouldn't be able to change them mid-fight, but if I knew what I was getting into, I could consider shifting some around.

I took a deep breath, then touched the Sword stone with mana, sending it within myself to occupy my empty corestone slot. Unlike last time I tried, it slotted in easily. A notification appeared.

[Attunement successful] "Sword" Class Corestone equipped.

[Skill(s) Unlocked]

Read now?

I pulled up the list and read aloud to Hoot and Lyria.

[Rare] Active Skill: Touch of Sapphire [Tier 1] Touch the target to begin converting their blood, ichor, or other life sustaining fluid into mana. The mana will remain within the target until claimed by a second touch from the caster. Blood, ichor, or life sustaining fluid lost in this manner may cause great harm or even death to the target. Mana collected in this manner will be usable by the caster.

[Rare] Active Skill: Sapphire Contagion [Tier 1] Command Touch of Sapphire to release, spreading to nearby targets and afflicting them with Touch of Sapphire. Note: Sapphire Contagion will cure the original target of Touch of Sapphire.

[Common] Passive Skill: Azure Rush [Tier 1] Mana regeneration increased for every negative status effect currently applied to living targets.

[Common] Passive Skill: Azure Wall [Tier 1] Resistance to attempts to damage or alter your mana pool are increased.

"Well damn," I said once I finished reading. I was leaning toward using a Shield class next because of my admitted bias toward not dying. But I had to admit those abilities were definitely something to chew on, especially considering how well they synergized with my new class set item and fusion abilities.

"Ugh," Lyria said. "See that little half smile thing he's doing?" Lyria said to Hoot as she pointed at me. "He does that before he's about to go cross-eyed and think really hard about something. He does it all the time."

I cleared my throat. "She's exaggerating."

"All. The. Time," Lyria said.

"I see," Hoot noted. "There does appear to be a slight vacancy to his expression. Shall we observe?"

Ignoring them, I thought about the options presented by the new abilities. From the sound of it, the class was a kind of mana-themed, damage-over-time melee caster hybrid. Without actual "damage" numbers to compare, it was hard to say how worthwhile the new abilities would be to work into my kit. Elemental Spike did often bring me within melee range, so the melee limitation of Touch of Sapphire wasn't a huge drawback. I could imagine quickly touching a target before laying into it with elementally infused dagger strikes.

The ability to sort of detonate my touch and spread it to nearby targets was also interesting. One, it would synergize well with the Azure Rush passive, boosting my mana regeneration. It would also work well with my Elemental Chain fusion ability, allowing me to spread things like Dragon's Tail fire or Viperlilly poison to large groups, massively boosting my mana regen.

On top of that, each target suffering from Touch of Sapphire would essentially become a mana battery I could collect and recharge my mana from while also damaging them, and all I'd need to do was lay a finger on them.

I had a vision of myself weaving in and out of a chaotic battlefield, spreading elemental status effects and turning blood into mana. I could flare up my new legendary class set armor to protect myself when I got in close and use my mana battery victims to give me more juice to fuel the armor.

Damn. Other than the pretty underwhelming final passive that boosted my protection from mana manipulation, all three abilities seemed great and very tempting.

It was going to be tough to stick with my initial desire to pick Shield for my third class. But I supposed there was no use thinking too hard about it until I actually saw what Shield abilities I would be offered.

"Alright," I said. "If you weirdos are done staring at me, I'm going to go take care of business."

"Have fun," Lyria said. "I'll be waiting in the common room for you."

"And I will be here. Please remember to warn future guests to wipe their feet before they enter the Guild Hall. It seems you did not remind this one."

"Yeah, sure," I said. I wondered if the grommets would like to see this place later. I also wondered if they would agree to wipe their feet…

I grabbed the empty platter and headed for the door, already mentally organizing my growing list of errands. Time to see what rewards the Adventurer's Guild had in store for me.

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