"Welcome to the Marina Adventurer's Guild. We are an official establishment of the Saint Kingdom. Have you come to post a job, join the guild, or buy/sell something?" Lind was about to answer when the last option piqued his interest.
The Lotus Empire only really had the yearly Sapphire Auction House event to get good items, but this place was a direct hub of trade. Was there no such branch here?
"Would I not want to use the Sapphire Auction House?" Lind started there but the tanned young woman seemed to expect his question when she pointed at a sign just behind her.
[As signed below, the Marina Adventurer's Guild is an official trading hub for the Sapphire Auction House.]
The emblem blazing under the neat words in several languages was one Lind was more than familiar with. His Eyes confirmed it was authentic and it made sense. Both parties benefited as staff need not be subjected to the craziness of this harbor and the Saint Kingdom could get a constant source of profit.
"Ah, thank you for clearing that up. I am looking to book passage across the Fortune Way. What would be the best method?" His words seemed to throw the woman but her azure eyes did not look upset, yet her smile became a bit forced. Lind was glad he had lived with the Heavenly Maidens most of the last year as it gave him a wide range of how to read a woman's face.
"You will need to be assessed and register as either a temporary adventurer of our guild or post a job. Please note that passage jobs require a mid-grade World Stone fee every week." Lind nearly balked at the cost but then realized the limited space on the board likely often needed a refresh. If you could pay, then no issue, but if your resources ran dry, your post would be removed and a new one would take its place.
"I suppose I will have to register then. What will I need to do?" Lind could start to feel eyes boring into his back. It was not just the Sub-leader, but the person behind him. It suddenly felt like a bank teller at a lunch time rush.
"Please take this jade slip and proceed to the green door past the mission boards. You will be called after you put the slip into the slot in the waiting room." Lind accepted the white slip and bowed to the receptionist. He then made his way past the milling groups in front of each board.
A glance at the board made his head ache. A few were in his native tongue of the Darkmoor Kingdom, most were in the Saint Kingdom, but there were also quite a few he could not read at all!
The slips and scrolls would be easier to figure out if the descriptions were not so convoluted in being many languages!
The green door had no handle but there was an indentation for the slip in his hand. A quick press with his Qi infused and the door swung inward to blessed silence. LInd saw there were several men and women doing the same as he. An open seat was quickly taken by Lind as he examined the slip in his hand.
It was not a simple information storage device. It had an array he was unfamiliar with that made him cautious. He was pouring his Eyes and Touch over it when he was bumped from behind.
"Sorry, I got too excited!" A young man that was as tanned as most of the natives of the city apologized to Lind but he noticed that a formation had lit up on the wall as the youth quickly went to the same green door Lind used to enter.
LInd was not confused as he realized there was no other door to leave. What was going on?
Turning back to the slip, Lind felt like he was in a bind. If this slip read his cultivation that would not be an issue, but if it assessed everything about him, including his production skills, it would be a huge problem. He put nothing past an organization able to easily maintain mid-Gold Tier formations.
"Risk comes with everything." Lind mumbled as he infused his Qi into the slip. He nearly tumbled back as a floating screen appeared. Was this place hell bent on breaking how he saw the world?!
It was a standard form but Lind realized the purpose. The array in the slip would both cause the display and record what he entered. At least, that is what it seemed on the surface, but Lind felt a flow of Qi enter his meridians and flow over his body.
His Touch put a stop to it and forced it out.
"Nice try." Lind smiled as he entered the information for Taren Cord.
[Name: Taren Cord]
[Cultivation: Soul Realm - peak 7th Tier]
[Elements: All]
[Production profession - none]
[Origin: North]
[Affiliation: Rogue]
[Weapon Mastery: Hand to hand]
[Criminal Record(this will be verified): None]
[Arts Mastery: 5th tier]
It was basic but easily reviewed information. Taren Cord did not exist before 3 months ago, but Shoti swore the identity would pass an inspection. Lind wished he could hide his 6 elemental status, but any World Realm could sense his elements at a glance. The rest had been worked out by Qing.
Lind was actually very good at hand to hand combat as it was easier to learn than any weapon for him. Most weapons required elements to combine and make them stronger, but martial arts did not. Whatever elements one had would work just fine.
It was completely normal for a 6 elemental to follow such a path so it made far more sense as a cover. Lind released his Qi and the floating display vanished. If he needed anything else, it was clear a reincarnator from Earth had inspired this entire establishment. Cultivators would never need a floating display like a video game, ever.
A slot by the green door easily accepted the slip and he waited to be called.
****
"Interesting." The silver haired Sub-leader had snatched Lind's jade slip the moment he dropped it. A pale green wall held an image of the waiting rooms in a 3x3 grid. Much as the floating display came from Earth, the remote monitoring inside the guild would remind Lind of the same.
"Why the interest in a 6 elemental Soul Realm cultivator, Nadia?" An older woman stood behind Nadia as they reviewed the boy's information. She had gray hair and showed signs of old age but was firmly in the lower-Diamond Tier.
"Mirella, he was able to keep the scan out of his body. He moves like a scholar but is ready to fight, and more than anything there is his stability and progress." A glance at the slip and Mirella confirmed the incredible confirmation.
"Divine cores, very rare, and tempered to the 8th tier. He is only 19 as well. Interesting." The guild leader joined her subordinate in the interesting visitor. Talent was hard to hide and Lind had overlooked the fact he was a 6 elemental that was very stable. If he was ever publicly evaluated, it would be as good as a neon sign for his hunters to find.
"I want to train him for the secret realm." Mirella stared at Nadia. The request would not be too odd normally but the boy was a 6 elemental. Despite his relatively high tier for his dantian, it was still low for his age.
"He wants to cross the Fortune Way, Nadia. He will not wait that long." The secret realm was over a year away and Nadia had already relayed the boy's confrontation with the annoying brat, Moreth.
"You and I both know it would take at least that long for him to find someone to accept him." Nadia was not wrong. Despite his potential, he would need to prove his prowess for at least a year. Mirella still shook her head.
"No. You want to corner him and he won't like that, no sane person would. What do you have to offer him so that he can benefit from the delay?" Despite her words, Mirella did not think it was a bad idea, but cultivators are creatures of benefit. If there was only forcing someone due to circumstances, they were more likely to walk away than comply.
"I could offer myself?" Nadia smirked as Mirella smacked her with her sheathed sword. "There was the Ruin we administered. I could offer a chance for him to explore it for the year." Mirella looked at Nadia in shock. How badly did she want this boy?
"How would that benefit him?" The Ruin was a vast stretch of the sea bed but it created an air pocket. It was one of the more difficult to reach but it was still vastly untapped due to this so many tried their hand.
"The time dilation. A single month there will get us to the year!" Nadia's autumnal eyes glowed with unrestrained ambition. Mirella sighed at losing the argument. It was the other reason the Ruin was not fully explored. It had a time dilation effect where 1 month was equal to 1 year.
Normally this would be advantageous, but the reality was the instant one arrived they would be alone for days against the threats inside before help could arrive. It was known, however, that the more elements a dantian had, the better one fared in that particular Ruin. To the best of Mirella's knowledge, no 6 elemental had gone yet.
"Convince the boy and I will get the approval. You run me ragged, you know that?" Nadia's wide smile was hard to be angry at as they sent someone to summon the boy.
****
"Pleasure to formally meet you junior Cord." Lind felt on guard immediately. There was already the Sub-leader at peak of the Iron Tier and now an older woman who was far stronger than any other World Realm he had met, so that put her at peak Gold or Diamond Tier.
"Greetings seniors. May I ask why you are the ones assessing me?" Lind knew it was damned odd for 2 such powerful cultivators to be evaluating a new Soul Realm candidate. A 6 elemental was a little unpredictable but not to the extent they needed this kind of reception.
"I am called Nadia. I want to invite you to a secret realm that will open a year from now. I think you would do well." Lind liked blunt people but this woman put any he had met thus far to shame. Even so, he was curious. He had heard of secret realms, independent spaces much like an Inheritance or Ruin, but usually a small world instead.
"I would normally like such a thing, but I would rather take a job that is crossing the Fortune Way." Lind did not have a schedule exactly, but he wanted to get as far from Trynith and other interested powers as he could.
"Your reward would be that passage, but also, we have a way to speed up the wait." Nadia then layed out a map of the coast but this one had a marker a league out. The symbol was one he recognized from his years at the Lotus Academy. It was a Ruin.
"I am unsure how I can help, I am a 6 elemental after all." Lind was not turning it down out of a need to hide. He really did not know how he could help given his relatively low foundation and limited skills.
"This Ruin is a little different. A month inside is a year out here. If you survived, you would return with a week to spare." Lind was not terribly tempted by those words despite the fantastical time effect, but the next words nearly made him leap up. "It is a Ruin that decreases in difficulty the more elements one has in a dantian at the Soul Realm."