"What's chaos?" Gray asked. He could somewhat recall the system mentioning it when he first got chosen as a champion, but he couldn't remember much else.
His attendant's necklace flashed red at this, and the remaining receptionists stared at her as if she had just killed someone.
"Right..." Gray whispered to himself, he'd almost forgotten about the restrictions.
Still, from what he'd heard, higher chaos implied a higher champion grade; meaning it was likely a measure of strength, perhaps even a type of energy.
A robotic whirr broke his train of thought, as a section of the ground to his left lit up in a circular blue glow. An instant later, it blinked gold, and a platform rose from the ground.
The receptionist he'd spoken to earlier appeared from behind the desk —she was way shorter than she'd seemed up there.
"Please stand on the platform," she sighed, gesturing towards the structure that had just appeared. Its golden hue dimmed revealing an obsidian platform that rose to about a chair's height off the ground.
Gray made his way to the platform; he had contemplated shoving her a little, but he didn't want to resort to such childish tactics. She was annoying, but there were bigger things to be worrying about.
Once he was on the platform, she held out her palm, and it burst into blue flames, which quickly simmered to a gentle glow. She closed her eyes and the blue glow phased gold.
"Close your eyes and think of the individual you wish to target," she said.
It was a little disappointing to hear. He had wanted to watch her in the hope he could learn something. However after some hesitation, he reluctantly closed his eyes.
He thought of Joshua, of the time they drove off the cliff.
The receptionist scoffed, as a warmth enveloped him. It was the same magical warmth he felt when he touched the golden flames, except this time it wasn't coming from his core but rather his skin.
"Your target has been located. Once you pay the fee, I will provide the mark," she said, right as a notification appeared.
『[Safe point Facility Steward] has requested 10 coins.』
Gray accepted, and a moment later, something burned into his forehead. His eyes shot open, flustered by the sudden pain, however before he could say anything it was already over.
"The mark lasts 3 hours. It will guide you to your target, just don't think about anything else while you're searching," the receptionist said, her back already turned to him as she made her way to her desk.
"Wait, can't you add it to my map or something? How will I know exactly where he is?" Gray asked, realizing that no new dots had been added to his map.
"I just told you, the mark will guide you," she snapped back, before disappearing behind the massive black desk.
"Fucking space-wizard receptionists," Gray muttered under his breath, before leaving. How the hell was a mark he couldn't even feel anymore supposed to guide him? But hey, what did he know? He'd only just recently discovered magic was a real thing.
Once they were back at the beginning of the lobby, his attendant tapped her necklace, and the elevator appeared.
"Is there any way for me to contact you while I'm down there? There'll be a lot of humans and I'd rather not be seen walking around with an... alien," he said, realizing how —racist? speciest?— it sounded as he said it.
"You'd scare them, I mean," he added.
"Without an accessory, or personal means of telepathy, I am afraid it may not be possible, dominus," she replied.
"Hmm, then how is this going to work," he whispered to himself, looking off to the side in thought.
"If dominus pleases, I can request for a 0 coin transfer, and should you accept I will call the dimensional te— " her words ended in a short choking whimper as her necklace flashed red. She gripped her throat, trying to claw the necklace off. It was worse than usual.
However, as Gray moved to help her, she raised her palm. "—I mean, elevator. I'll call an elevator down for you," she finished.
~Was she about to call it a dimensional teleporter? That's an overly fancy name for an elevator,~ he thought. ~And why did the restriction activate? What could be so important about that name?~ he pondered. After all, the restriction hadn't activated when she mentioned chaos or the name of the moon they were on.
~Dimensional teleporter, huh? I'll keep that in mind,~ he thought, before nodding at her. He wasn't sure whether that was a genuine slip-up, or her trying to give him more clues. However, he wanted her to know he was grateful.
"That's smart. If you can send the request every hour, then I'm sure it'll work without a problem," he replied, eyeing the red line around her necklace. It was blistered and raw.
It took her a moment to collect herself before she could speak again.
"Forgiveness, dominus. We can proceed when you're ready," she said after; her expression so straight it was clear she was hiding the pain.
"Okay... let's do it."
###
A gust of fresh air blew through the elevator doors as they opened to the first floor. It was almost as if it were outside. And as Gray stepped out, he realized that it actually was.
The elevator had opened right in the middle of a park. It was a massive thing, at least the size of two football stadiums. At the far end were rows of apartment blocks, and even further than that, a mountain that rose up to the clouds.
Hundreds of people were lounging about; some on benches, some on grass, others on trees. Children were playing, and people were laughing. It was almost as if it were a normal day back on Earth.
Among the civilians were men dressed in military uniform, stationed at regular intervals along the pathway. One of them was looking straight at him, a look of disbelief across his face.
"Where did he come from?" Gray heard someone ask behind him.
Soon, more and more people were staring at him, and a few of the soldiers started approaching, their guns drawn.
"I guess normal boys don't just fall from the sky, do they?" he whispered to himself, raising his hands in the air.