Minos honestly wasn't in the mood for a chat after wasting an entire day on busywork, so the Guild Master's response was to his liking.
After saying goodbye to Jebron and a few others, he didn't head straight home, but rather went straight towards the library.
Normally this place was closed off after hours, but with permission from the Guild Master, Minos was allowed to be here 24/7.
With no one to go home to, and since he had to come back in the morning anyways, he decided to spend the night reading.
…
Early the next day, the sounds of footsteps filled the lobby, pulling Minos from his book and reminding him that morning had finally come.
Putting the book back onto the shelf, Minos headed towards the lobby, finding a large crowd already gathered.
At the front of the room, five large lists were hung up on the wall, revealing the names of all the people that had passed.
Minos didn't know anyone on the list, so after a quick browse, he stopped paying attention, instead just waiting for the Guild Master to arrive.
His wait didn't last long, and soon enough, the Guild Master arrived, the Left and Right president as well as a few other important people on his side.
"For those who have seen your name on the list, stay, the others are dismissed."
As an examiner, Minos naturally was already given a spot by the Guild Master long ago, so he waited with the others for the room to clear.
With a few loud sighs, the room quickly thinned, only a hundred or so people left by the end of it.
"Alright, let me explain a few simple rules before we head off."
"First, the teams will be split into five, each corresponding to each of the tests. So for those who passed the talisman test, you'd be on the talisman team."
"As for the team leader's, to keep things simple, the examiner will act as the leader for this journey, so find your leader and form a group."
Finishing, the Guild Master gave everyone a minute to quickly form their teams, Minos soon having twenty somewhat familiar faces gathered in front of him.
"I'll be the main leader today, so the sub leaders will all follow under my command. Am I understood?" The Guild Master asked as he looked around.
"Understood." The five team-leaders, including Minos, said in unison.
"Good, then follow me."
Like that, the large group left the Talisman Guild and entered the backyard, a large ship already waiting for them.
Walking onto the ship, each team leader made sure that all their members were aboard before signaling to the Guild Master, allowing him to activate the ship.
Minos had been on one of these ships before, but he had never been on one that was actually flying, so this was a completely new experience.
With a few loud whirls, the ship slowly ascended into the sky, seemingly using a power that defied logic.
Minos quickly activated his Omniscient Eyes as he looked around the ship, trying to understand the logic behind it.
Due to Minos's long years of studying, he quickly understood what actually the ship was, realizing it was a Talismanic Weapon.
As both a Talisman Master and a Weapon Refining Master, Minos had plenty of understanding of Talismanic Weapons despite having never crafted one.
But in simple terms, they were upgraded regular weapon's, one that had all sorts of talisman charms inscribed onto them in order to grant them extra powers.
In the case of this ship, it had a plethora of talisman's inscribed into, the most obvious one being the Anti-Gravity Talisman, which was the opposite of the Gravity Talisman Minos had used during his test.
This Anti-Gravity Talisman essentially reduced the weight of the ship to nearly nothing, allowing it to float with ease.
Paired with a few other talisman's, it could easily take flight, however in order to gain some real speed, talisman's weren't enough.
Heading to the back of the ship, Minos saw a large exhaust on the rear, the rumbling of the engine below the wooden boards reminding him that this beast was about to awaken.
As the ship finally reached a sufficient altitude, the engine began roaring loudly, a burst of flames exploding from the exhaust.
With the fire, the ship propelled forward at an incredible speed, flashing across the sky like a shooting-star through the night.
Fortunately, a special formation encompassed the entire ship, keeping the internal and external environments separate, otherwise most of the people here would have been tossed off with the sudden acceleration.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Jebron suddenly said as he stepped up behind Minos.
"It really is. Makes one wonder just how brilliant the technology beyond the stars are…" Minos said with a bit of longing as he looked up at the bright sky.
"You believe in aliens?" Jebron asked curiously.
"More than believe, I know they exist." Minos said confidently.
"I think most people know they exist subconsciously, but maybe they don't want to talk about it, after, who knows whether those aliens are kind or not?" Jebron replied.
"No matter how bad they are, they can't be any worse than us, can they?" Minos said with a slight smile, causing Jebron to laugh loudly.
"You're right, but hey, at least with human's you know what kind of people you're dealing with, but with aliens, it's all a mystery." Jebron replied.
"Who knows, maybe alien's aren't much different from us? Maybe they feel joy and sadness as well, maybe their emotions are even vaster and more encompassing than our own?" Minos said before continuing.
"We always imagine alien's as more evil than us, but why can't they be better, kinder, more loving?"
"Hey, maybe you're right, and honestly, I'd hope so. Much rather deal with an alien like that than any other." Jebron replied with a slight laugh.
"Let's not talk about this anymore, after all, aliens are far, but this realm is near. Speaking about the realm, have you heard anything?" Minos asked, changing the conversation.
"A few whispers from the Guild Master, but nothing much, after all no one's actually explored it yet."
"How about the location?"
"It's not far, based on our current speed, it'll only take about half a day to reach." Jebron explained.
Nodding, the two began talking about other subjects, mostly talismans, and occasionally women, of course in that case Jebron was the only one talking and Minos was just listening.
Like that, the hours flew by, and just as Jebron was describing another date he had gone on, Minos noticed something strange in the distance.
Standing up straight, Minos used his incredible vision to look far off into the distance, his pupils dilating, causing the far off scene to rapidly expand.
There he saw a strange pulsating disc, almost akin to a mirror, but rather than reflecting the surroundings, it reflected another world entirely.
The scene would constantly flicker between different environments, sometimes the forest, other times an arctic tundra, etc.
"Look, I think it's the realm." Minos said as he shoved Jebron, stopping him mid-sentence.
Turning around, Jebron looked out before noticing the thing Minos was pointing at, his eyes squinted as he marveled at the sight.
Soon enough, the ship descended near the strange disc, a couple other ships already waiting in the area.
"Everyone we've arrived. Gather your team and descend after me."
With the Guild Master's command, everyone slowly left the ship, gathering in front of the disc and noticing the other groups that were already waiting.
"Took you long enough Gidon." A towering man said with an uproarious laugh.
The man in question was about two-meters tall, the first person Minos had ever seen who was as tall as him.
However compared to Minos's physique which was perfectly balanced, with muscles neither too small nor too big, the man in question was twice as dense as him, his muscles as big as the average man's thigh.
Smiling, Gidon joined the towering man and a couple other figures as they all began chatting.
After a quick discussion, the Guild Master came back, the smile on his face quickly disappearing as he got serious.
"Based on a quick inspection by us, the realm will open within the next few hours, so everyone should use this time to get ready. As for the team leaders, gather here, I have a few words to discuss."
Walking forward, Minos and Jebron soon joined the Guild Master, waiting patiently for his command.
"Because I was the first to discover this realm, our team won't have to enter first, which should save us some casualties, but once we enter, it's every group for their own."