With no other words Vi takes the lead and the group presses onward. The city's buildings are all stone and pack closely together on all but the main streets used for transporting shipments and industrial material to and from the mines. There is barely any color in the sea of gray except for the vibrant green metal roof tiles made from hibrilium, the most abundant ore in the mine. A second color flashes into view as the group makes their way deeper into the city, it is finely polished brass pipes that intertwine into the city like veins. The lines hum with magical energy and lightly glow as they wrap around buildings and duck under the street only to reemerge on the other side and continue the confusing dance amongst the buildings.
The streets are more lively then Ke'an remembered when he came through only a few weeks ago in this world's time. While not many pedestrians aside from a smattering here and there, the amount of vehicles seem to have doubled. Last time he was here he didn't announce himself as a noble so he didn't have the escort. The main reason he used his noble is to expedite the process to get the proper paperwork for System. He knows for a fact it would have taken at least three days going through normal channels. The bureaucracy in this territory is notoriously slow and he still has hope to make it home before the Week of Giving is over.
"They are vex lines." Ma'helsi says after seeing System gaze inquisitive at the humming pipes. "On top of the city being one of the richest mines in the continent we also have one of the largest vex reserves. The refineries pump it directly into the city using these lines powering everything."
"Why is it glowing? The pipes I mean." System asks while turning to look at the man.
The man is caught off guard by the question and seems to be surprised she listened to him. He perks up at her genuine interest feeling happy to explain something he was obviously interested in himself. He glances over to Vi who didn't seem interested in the least before just as quickly turning his gaze back to System.
He points up to the translucent barrier around the city. "The same magic that surrounds the city also surrounds the lines to prevent people from being able to damage them or use their power without permission." Ma'helsi then pats his own canister of vex on his belt. "If the pipe were normal then a would-be thief mage could just draw a magic siphon on the line and steal magic whenever they wanted or damage the line causing all sorts of havoc. Right now the line is just as strong as the enhanced wall around the city. At night they will get brighter to act as street lights. If you look at the pipes at night you can actually see the magic circuits running along the lines."
"I can see the magic circuits now." System says. "They are intricate, whoever designed them obviously knew what they were doing."
"You can? I am sorry I didn't know you were also a mage Lady Lock." Ma'helsi says.
"Wouldn't be a good body guard for the young master if I couldn't fight. Pretty good magic theory and ward magic too." System says with a smirk.
"You have to possess a high magical perception to see them during the day. If that is the case I can tell you in more detail. You see…"
System nods inquisitively as Ma'helsi continues on his explanation. Vi rolls his eyes, the swords man obviously wishing he was somewhere else. After a few minutes of walking they finally made it to the registration building. System and Ma'helsi barely notice as their conversation on the pipes magical infrastructure and their magic circuits only grew more intense and theoretical. Ke'an understands most of it but some of the more technical theory evades him and he is not interested enough to ask for clarification and risk being pulled into the conversation. He doubts understanding plumbing infrastructure will be a requirement for leveling up anyway.
The building is massive and is one of the few that has ample space around it not being closely packed in with it's neighboring buildings. The entire building is enclosed with a fence that also brims with magical energies. A large courtyard complete with fountain and flowers in the middle of bloom are there to great them. As soon as they enter through the gate they feel a breath of warmth seeing that the entire space is kept at a comfortable temperature year round unlike the rest of the city. At the same time they feel a magical force pressing down on their magic which would make it difficult but not impossible to cast spells.
As soon as they enter an administration guard approaches from her guard post. The woman salutes as soon as she sees Vi. He tells her to carry on with her duties and she walks up to Ke'an and System, she is now obviously nervous. She even checks to see if Vi is still watching her as she approaches the pair.
"Welcome to the city I am Private First Class Beaha. Before you can enter the administration building you have to put these on." The woman says as she pulls out two brass bracelets. "They further restrict the use of magic inside government spaces. If you take them off or tamper with them while you are here you will be apprehended. If you lose or damage them there will be a fine of fifty kon."
The two put them on without issue though and continued inside following behind Vi. The inside is in pandemonium as officials run back and forth. The presence of the new magic introduced into the world by Network having a far bigger impact on the administration than the layman outside. Vi leads the group into the waiting area as he goes up to the counter not bothering with trying to figure out whatever is going on. Vi returns after a few minutes red in the face from anger as he sits down beside Ma'helsi.
"We will have to wait here." He says as he rubs his temple.
After a few minutes of silence and nothing further from the man Ma'helsi and System start talking about a variety of magical theory. This time it is about the effective double layered anti-magic used in the building. The subject far more interesting to Ke'an even sparks him to interject with his thoughts. A similar setup is used in Fleysil and he was trained to circumvent such common anti-magic like most members of the clan, though he did not add that part.
Minutes turn into an hour then two before Vi stands up again and walks back up to the counter. A short screaming match and curses exchanged between him and the officiant later and he returns this time with a smirk.
"Let's go." Vi says as he thumbs behind him.
Everyone gets up and follows behind Vi as he leads them to a door. An angry looking man on the other side takes the lead and the group walks for a few minutes in the large building. They take the stairs up a six floors and continue down maze-like corridors to a room that says Immigration Director. The man knocks and enters closing the door behind himself before anyone else can enter. After a few minutes the door opens and reaches out his hand.
"Your seal." The man says as his eyes look directly at Ke'an expectantly.
Ke'an hands him the Nilfi noble seal and hands it to the man and he vanishes back into the room. After a few more minutes the door opens again. The man hands Ke'an back the seal and allows only him and System to enter. Vi and Ma'helsi have to wait outside with the officiant. The Director of Immigrant Affairs is a large round man sitting at a desk full of papers. A mustache which can only be described as large and in charge curls up in handlebar. He takes the monocle from his eye, placing it in a breast pocket on his suit as the pair enters his office.