"Damn man, this place is awesome".
Julius was sitting across me in the large limousine, staring at the windows, in awe of what the city beyond the walls had to offer.
"You've never been here? How come you haven't participated in any of the Golden City's arenas? I am certain that those sadistic bastards would be elated to see you fight"
"Nah man, the fights that are hosted here are all rigged"
"One time I was offered one million in order to compete and lose to the hands of some punk"
-That must have gone well...
"So I showed up and beat him half dead before the security intervened, firing a warning shot right next to my head"
"I would like to see them try the same thing now"
Upon finishing his sentence, Julius took off his leather jacket and raised his sleeves revealing his muscular forearms.
All of a sudden, his skin hardened, and white scales began to form, covering both his arms all the way up to the elbow.
"You've made some progress with your new skill it appears"
"Yeah, this shit is the real deal. As long as I have it active, even a bullet will have a hard time penetrating my skin"
-Nice, Julius is getting stronger as well
Suddenly, the car began to slow down, and noticing how close we were to the walls, it was safe to assume we had reached one of the gates linking the Golden City to the outside.
Stationed in every gate was a squadron of elite soldiers armed with bionic body armor and pulse rifles.
From what little information I knew, one needed to have amazing performance while on the military in order to even be considered as a candidate to become an elite soldier.
The tasks of those that had managed to become one were ranging from protection of high-level politicians to Black Ops operations in military zones and rebel camps.
The equipment provided for these soldiers was on a completely different level when compared to the to the rest of the military.
Their armor created from a combination of nanobots and adamantium, advanced AI chips inserted into their brain to enhance their reaction time, and weapons that could easily pierce through a wall like it was nothing, the elite troops were definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Alas, their usefulness was severely limited in matters related to Rifts.
Needed to undergo many hazardous surgeries in order to use the bionic armor, their bodies were consisting of many foreign inorganic elements that would make the act of passing through a Rift impossible.
"By the way, did you bring the artifacts from my apartment?"
"Yes, they are in the trunk of the car, don't worry"
"Even the contact lens?"
"Ah, this I have in my pocket, here take it"
I did not wish to know what means Julius had used to enter my apartment, but all that mattered was that I had the [Eye of Truth] again in my possession.
As it was a one of kind item from Sven's world, I was reluctant to carry it with me while outside.
But now the circumstances had changed, as we would soon meet other challengers in the Phoenix Guild, and knowing their skills would be the only way to prepare beforehand for when they would ultimately backstab us.
Not all people had such simple ambitions as Julius'.
The 2-meter brute's only goal was to get stronger, while everyone else would seek to gain power as a means to accomplish their goals, thus making Julius the perfect teammate.
....
After a sizeable amount of time on the road, it became obvious that we were in the 8th District.
District 8 was mainly consisting of the headquarters of many businesses, with the names of renowned brands being visible on top of the high-rise buildings.
Thanks to that, the living conditions here were probably the best out of all the 12 districts, but the people with the financial stability to afford the expensive housing prices were few and far between.
"Gentlemen, we have arrived", the limousine driver lowered the window connecting the backseats to the driver's seat, and with a smile affirmed that the ride was over.
-Rick certainly knows how to make his people behave
Even going to such lengths as to offer us a ride to the Guild, Rick's intent to make us part of his Guild was definitely questionable.
-How much does Rick know about me and Julius?
Exiting the car, we were greeted by a high-rise building, which easily exceeded the 30 meters mark.
On the center of it, there was a large signboard with the name "Phoenix Guild" inscribed with golden letters on top of it.
~Klank
Upon hearing the sound of the trunk closing I turned around to see Julius carrying a large black bag on his enormous back.
Arriving in front of the main entrance, we encountered a group of guards in black suits.
Their faces and expressions were definitely not those of standard bodyguards.
With large scars on their faces and a disciplined posture, one could tell that those people had a rough and complicated past.
"Mister Sullivan has been expecting you", one of them said while pressing a button to open the door for us to pass.
As we advanced forward, more and more guards could be visible, with their attention obviously centered around Julius.
While the primary muscle groups used in fighting against another human being mainly consisted of the back, shoulders, and triceps, and thus, most of the guards mainly put emphasis on strengthening those areas, Julius on the other hand had a different approach to training.
His grandiose physique and godly proportions made one wonder whether Julius' opponents were not humans, but horrific beasts.
"Please follow us this way"
Two young women, showed us the way, as we descended to the building's underground facilities.
~Chink
After the doors to the elevator opened, we were greeted by a long and well-illuminated hallway, with the two assistants guiding us further into the facilities.
Passing by each room of the spacious hallway, I sensed the auras of numerous challengers inside them.
-Hm, it appears a lot of people have gathered up to enter the Guild
-I can't sense anyone with a particularly strong aura though...they must have only recently cleared their first Rift.
Seeing as how we were led deeper into the hallway, I surmised that these people were probably undertaking some test in order to enter the Guild, while I and Julius were given special treatment.
"We have arrived, the others are already training", one of two staff members said.
Before us, were two large doors made of reinforced steel, with the identification "Training Room 1" visible above them.
"What others?", Julius asked the woman.
"Your fellow Guildmembers of course"
As the doors opened, we were greeted by the gazes of numerous people, none of which I was familiar with.
The auras those people were excluding were undoubtedly different from the rest of the examinees, with an air of confidence surrounding them and an attitude to match that.
Appearing to have interrupted their training session, their focus was now solely on us.
-Well, this is awkward...
"Hey"
The one to break the silence was a man of average height with dark red hair, a rough-looking face and scars covering his wrists and neck.
"This room is only for the strongest Guild members, get out of ...shit"
Due to my weak appearance and concealed presence, he must have certainly thought that we were some newly admitted Guild members who had gotten lost.
But upon seeing and sensing the overpowering presence that Julius radiated, he quickly stopped mid-sentence.
"Damn bro, look at the size of those biceps", the man next to him slowly approached, with a shock on his face after seeing Julius' physique.
The man of colored skin spoke with a heavy British accent, indicating his origin from the collapsed empire of Great Britain, and with the exception of a buzz cut, the remaining facial features on his face were as delicate as a model's.
"Stop it with the yammering, muscleheads like you are the ones to die first", the third member of the group spoke, revealing the sharp voice of a woman.
With brown short hair and a very athletic physique visible due to her wearing sports clothing, the woman's tanned body greatly resembled that of a professional fighter.
As such, she continued, with her words now addressed towards me.
"How about you? Are you his manager or something?"
"HAHAHAHAHA", Julius' laughter resounded through the spacious room upon listening to her comment.
Out of all the things that made Julius unique, the one that in my view really shaped his personality was the tremendous degree to which he raised his already heavy voice when laughing.
"Jay!? MY MANAGER!!?? HaHaHaHa!! Woman, that's a good one", he jokingly replied to the woman's remark.
"If anyone's gonna die, that would be you from underestimating Jay", he continued, with everyone else looking at him with curiosity.
"What!? Watch your tongue, brute", she replied, obviously annoyed by what she understood as an insult to her strength.
However, quite opposite to her understanding, this was the result of Julius having grown accustomed to how I retracted my aura and hid my strength.
As things were starting to get heated, I tried to stop the two from needlessly engaging in combat.
{Devil's Speech}"Relax, please disregard my colleague's comment."
{Devil's Speech}"As you can see, I am not really that much of a fighter, but my ability to scout and infiltrate an area will certainly be of use in clearing a Rift."
"Hm, that would make sense as to why the Guildmaster would recruit you, but I ain't going to let his comment go unpunished"
"Big guy, come at me!", she raised her fists and took a battle stance before taunting Julius.
"My pleasure..", Julius said with a grin on his face.
With one large stride, Julius closed the distance between the two and curled his right arm before unleashing a strong punch.
~Crash!!
Suddenly, a barrier of magi formed in front of Julius, with his attack landing on it, stopping the fight before it even started.
"I believe that's enough", a man's voice was heard, originating from the back of the room.
Everyone turned their attention towards the two remaining challengers of the group who had yet to speak.
The one who had just spoken was a tall slim man with black long hair tied around in a knot on the back of his head.
His reading glasses and smooth face gave him a rather sophisticated look, and judging by the aura he was excluding, it was safe to assume he was the one whose skill stopped the fight.
-Despite the fact that Julius did not use any magi or skill to reinforce his arm strength, how strong of a skill it must be to be able to stop him so easily?
Next to him, was a short woman, whose white jacket hoodie covered over half of her face, making it difficult to make out any distinct facial attributes apart from her long blond hair.
{Devil's Speech}"Julius, he is right, let's stop this for now. You will have plenty of opportunities to fight her in the future"
Grunting, he relaxed his fists and seized all thoughts of fighting.
Likewise, the woman yielded, before staring at the man wearing glasses with an irritated expression.
As he approached the group, he took the initiative to formally greet us.
"Hi, I am Joseph Nerwin, it is pleasure to meet another cool-headed individual amidst this group of hot-blooded warriors"
Ignoring Julius, he extended his hand to greet me first, with a smile that was making my sixth sense react, warning me of danger.
"Likewise, my name is Jay Riemman, and this is my teammate Julius Armstrong."
Upon locking hands with him, he gathered his magi in his palms and directed small bits of it in my body.
-So that's what he is trying to do.
By sending small waves of magi signals onto my body and analyzing how the reflected signal had been altered by my aura, he was trying to acquire information about the distribution of my stats and skills.
-That's an interesting technique he has thought of, he must have a rather high sense stat in order to pull off something like that.
-However, my control over magi is more than enough to counter it
After a brief moment, I responded to his advances by warding my skin with a small layer of magi, effectively blocking any of the magi waves from ever reaching back at him.
"Is there something wrong?", I said to him, seeing the perplexed expression on his face from his plan not working.
"Ah...nothing, I must have dozed off", after saying that, he let go of my hand and stepped aside as I made my way to greet the other Guild members.
From his face it was visible that he was in deep though, trying to make sense as to what went wrong.
Despite him not acquiring any information from me, I on the other hand had greatly benefited from this exchange as the [Eye of Truth] had analyzed the energy emitting from his body and had revealed to me the nature of his skills.
[Law(Rank A)]
Able to create a dome inside of which one can alter the laws of the universe.
The dome's radius and the nature of laws created are affected by the user's magi and sense stat.
[Mind Palace(Rank E)]
Greatly boosts the user's short and long-term memory capacity.
Allows for more effective recollection and processing of information.
....