A confident woman's voice echoes from the door as a narrow white entrance hallway comes into view.
"Welcome back, Mr. Freeman. That was a quick trip, as expected."
A woman with tightly tied back blond hair, clad in a black and green association-branded combat suit, greets us at the end of the short hall.
She's holding a silver tablet, and I watch each of the new A-Class hunters reach into their item boxes to pull out their IDs. I do the same.
Mr. Freeman gives the woman a nod as he walks by her without saying a word, flanked by his two nurses. The three A-Class hunters, however, stop in front of the woman to scan their IDs.
She taps on her tablet after each of them scans, and they follow the Director out of the narrow hall.
The woman flashes me a bright smile as she scans my ID just like the others.
"Ray Anderson, uncontracted B-Class Hunter. It looks like this is your first time in the Apex Region. I hope you enjoy your stay at headquarters."
I put my ID back in my item box and nod as I walk past her.
"Thanks, I—"
My words are cut short as the entrance hall opens up into a massive room.
It isn't the sheer size of the room, the intense mana shielding, the half dozen 10-meter-wide chandeliers, or the massive exquisite art pieces on display all over the walls and ceiling. What stops me mid-sentence and halts my steps is the enormous 30-meter-long statue in the center of the hall.
A white dragon stands on its back legs, wings outstretched as if about to take flight.
Each of its scales is semi-reflective, giving thousands of small sparkling visuals of all the priceless art that fills the hall.
Its teeth are sharp, and its eyes look as if the beast is still alive, though there isn't a drop of energy left in this creature.
It's impossible to tell if it's a petrified monster turned into a trophy or a carefully crafted masterpiece.
I can't help but stare, deciding to believe it's the latter, whispering to myself.
"What a lifelike piece of art... it looks so real... incredible..."
The Director overhears me as we walk by the reflective statue's right leg across the long entrance of mana-shielded flooring and responds.
"Indeed, it is the prize of my collection here. It's quite the conversation starter for new guests. You say it is lifelike? Have you ever seen a dragon in the flesh?"
I think of a reply as we walk around its back, following the curling white tail to the back of the room where two winding staircases lead downward.
As I reply, a few hunters approach from the left side, but they're levels are that of low C-Class hunters, so I don't think much of it.
"No, no... I haven't seen a real dragon before, but it is everything I ever thought one would look like."
We continue walking toward the tip of the dragon's beautiful tail, met by open doors between the stairs. An elevator with hand-carved designs and more exquisite art on its walls comes into view behind the opened doors, along with a number panel from 1 to 20 labeled inside small white buttons.
As we all step into the spacious room, the Director replies.
"Well, that is a good thing. If you said yes, I would have to change my art piece to something different. I can't have new guests be unimpressed by my prized piece."
He laughs to himself while the doors close, and he presses the number 5.
Another group of C-Class hunters walks up the left stairway, and a group of B-Class hunters arrives from another entrance point just as we begin to descend downward. This place is bustling with workers and hunters. They may all be in Apex Region uniforms, but it doesn't seem like this base is a well-kept secret; it appears to be open to the public.
The elevator slides downward, taking us deeper into the base until I hear a ding and watch the doors open again.
The sound of bells ringing, loud music, incredible-smelling food, laughter, and bright colorful lights comes into view.
An endless hall of restaurants, shops, and table games fills my senses. I think back to the pre-trial room in the exams, and this looks just like it, only tens of times bigger.
My eyes widen as the Director speaks up.
"This is floor 5, the entertainment floor. It may look familiar to you, but rest assured, none of these games are rigged like the exams. I thought we might as well start off the tour with something to catch your attention. Floors 1 through 4 are mostly desk work and accounting jobs, keeping track of the citizens and hunters in our Region."
He chuckles to himself.
"Hunters are only allowed here during non-working hours, and only 20% of your salary is permitted to be wagered each month. We make sure everyone is responsible with their funds."
Mr. Freeman hits the number 10 button on the elevator, and we descend further until it opens again.
This floor looks much different, more in line with what I was expecting from this facility.
There are dozens of sectioned-off mana-shielded rooms with timers above each of their doors.
Some rooms are covered in opaque silver or white shielding material, while others are clear like glass, allowing me to see C and B-Class hunters sparring with weapons and elemental skills.
Everyone here wears the same green and black combat suits as the woman upstairs who greeted us.
The Director speaks up again as I stare forward.
"This is where many of our C and new B-Class hunters practice training. The sim suits worn are graded up to roughly level 1200 attacks. You wouldn't be able to go all out, especially with that buff of yours, but this is a very valuable resource for many Apex Region Hunters to go all out without any consequences."
I nod, remembering back to long ago when I first visited Vice City and tried a similar technology, but the suits were only graded up to B-Class attacks.
"Very interesting. I'd love to try them out another time."
The door closes again, and the Director brings us down to the 15th floor.
It is far more private and looks rather luxurious. All I see is a red carpet and black doors numbered 1-100 until they go out of sight, labeled with golden text.
The Director explains this floor too.
"Everything from floor 11 to 16 consists of private suites and private magic gear shops only available to contracted hunters. You will be given unlimited access to your own suite upon signing a contract. Of course, the A-Class suites on floor 16 are far more luxurious than the B and C-Class suites you see here. We can tour these later if you wish."
The door closes once again, and we're brought down to floor 17.
It appears to be some kind of market with booths and shops, but there are no customers at all. It just looks like workers are sorting and crafting all kinds of dungeon loot. There are E and D-grade items, but some of the stalls have C and B-grade loot and gear as well.
The Director's commentary echoes in my ear as I continue to scan the rows of workers.
"This is where all of the farmed resources from our thousands of dungeons within the Vice Region are sorted and crafted into usable materials. Many hunters sell them to the association-owned vendors around the capital city, and they're all brought here 24 hours a day to be processed. Far in the back, we have a few legendary grade craftsmen, if you'd like anything unique crafted with materials you've farmed; don't be afraid to ask. It is a service available to all B-Class and above hunters."
He murmurs under his breath as the door closes again. "If it wasn't for that damn Flame Emperor screwing up my trade deals, we would be making far more profit..."
The trip down to the next two floors takes longer than usual, as the next floor seems very tall.
I smile inwardly at his frustration as the door opens to the 18th floor, revealing what looks like another training facility. The ceilings are easily 50 meters high, making the long wait to get here make more sense.
This one is only split into two massive rooms. One of them is empty, while the other is in use by four golden-collared figures that I recognize.
Rodrigo stands at the back of the massive mana-shielded room with a silver clipboard in hand next to the long blond-haired woman healer. They talk to each other while attentively watching the two A-Class hunters with red divine cores spar at what looks like full power, but only using mana and not the aid of their borrowed soul energy or divine cores.
The three A-Class hunters take a step forward as the door opens, and the Director speaks.
"This is your stop. Continue your training, and thank you very much for waiting for our guest to arrive and bringing him to me."
They step out and make their way toward the other massive empty training room as Mr. Freeman continues.
"This is the A-Class training facility. Soon, I believe this will be more appealing to you. These two rooms were put in place by a team from the central branch of the Association quite a while back. They're graded to withstand up to level 5000 attacks, believe it or not."
An aura of satisfaction and pride ripples off him as the door closes once again, and we descend further.
It's just me, the Director, and his two nurses when the bell rings, and we hit the 19th floor.
This floor isn't as impressive as the last. It just has a few sectioned-off rooms, public lounges, saunas, restaurants, and bars. There is very slow and calming music playing, and no customers at all, but many attentive employees are on duty.
It must be a private lounge for the A-Class hunters to use once they're finished with hard training sessions.
To my surprise, both of the nurses walk forward once the door fully opens, and Mr. Freeman speaks to them.
"This will only take a few minutes. I prefer to show our guest the final floor alone."
They both walk forward, then turn around and give him a small bow as the door closes and the elevator descends one last time.
I speak up and question him.
"This is the final floor? What's so special about it?"
The Director stands in silence for a moment, and I feel the air pressure in this small elevator ripple with heat and small amounts of yellow divine threads while he restrains himself and replies.
"This is the heart of not only the Apex Region but the 8 Great Regions' branch as a whole. The resource I am about to show you is what has granted me the ability to grow my power and is what has kept this nation in line for decades..."
Silence fills the elevator as it descends further and further, almost triple the time it took to get down to the 18th floor. The Director continues.
"There is only one other Region that has a similar resource, the Vice Region, but it is not nearly as plentiful as what I'm about to show you."
The air pressure grows even thicker, and I begin to feel soul energy building up in the Director's chest.
Then, the door lets out a ding and slides open.
Behind it, an underground cave made of dark black stone with ceilings over 100 meters high comes into view.
I let a weak observation aura out, and immediately I feel the presence of what the Director speaks of.
A massive green spinning portal rests at the back of the cave. The mana density and pressure it releases are so intense, it makes the Labyrinth in Vice City and even the one back in the canyon of dungeons seem minuscule.
The air is so thick with mana, it feels like I'm back inside the Titan's Domain down here. It's both alluring and suffocating at the same time.
I start to take a step forward, but another pressure hits my senses from my side as Mr. Freeman pulls a familiar blue cube from his item storage and pushes it my way, floating through the air with a contract open on it, showing the A-Class Hunter recruitment option in bright blue text.
"If you would like to enter the Labyrinth and begin your training, we need to come to an agreement on our terms. What do you say? Will today be the day you become an A-Class hunter?"
His eyes glow golden, and more yellow threads begin to seep out of his core.
I see tendrils of soul energy begin to rise from his back just like the first time he tried to use his buff [The Sun God's Curse Mark] on me.
It seems he's set all of this up in order to get me alone down here and give me no choice. However, he doesn't know this is exactly what I wanted too.
I continue my step forward closer to the Labyrinth. In the same movement, I catch the blue contract cube with my left hand, and my heart rate starts to speed up with excitement.
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Author's Note:
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