The gates led immediately into a courtyard with a blackstone path that cut through the center. Red spider lilies filled the space on both sides of the path, making it look like it floated between two rivers of blood.
Vondell took a moment to pick one up. Apparently, they were supposed to ward off evil spirits, but that was just more of Helen's superstitious bullshit. However they had their alchemical uses, so they weren't completely useless. He placed a few into his leather bag before carrying on.
"You have your tag?" the burly guard asked, once they were at the manor's main door; it was a massive thing, made of obsidian bark as well. It had several runes etched on its surface, and the amount of ichor that flowed inside it was enough to make it glow with faint power.
Vondell pulled out a small rectangular block, made of black metal, before presenting it to the door. The runes morphed with a hissing sound, before eventually disappearing altogether. The burly guard nodded at Vondell, before pushing the doors.
They opened into the main hallway, a long strip with red carpeting, marble white walls, and a black ceiling so high one could barely make out the symbols etched on it.
The two of them walked briskly, passing by some of the other scions who were having conversation here. Vondell instinctively gripped Surth's hilt; a lot of the people here were new faces, and it had been years since they had even a single new scion here in Antras.
"Ay, I already told you about how things can get messy. Some of the newer ones from Leeds don't give a flyingfuck who the top dog is. Best take your hands off your weapon unless you want to draw Blood in the Halls," the burly guard said from the front.
Blood in Halls was a fancy word for a barfight. However, a fight like that could end up with half the city reduced to rubble so perhaps the fancy title was justified.
Vondell moved his hand away and decided to focus on the walls. There were paintings lined along them, depicting fights between scions and some of the most powerful beasts that Antras had ever seen.
Most of them had a common character, a massive knight donned in white armor, wielding two swords. In contrast, Vondell wasn't in a single one of them. Though he was the one who decided it would be best if he wasn't.
There were two paths at the end of the hallway, the right led into the Scion Bisection, and the left led to the Council Bisection.
They took the left path.
A circular platform waited for them at the end of the path, they stepped on its crimson center, and a moment later, they were steadily carried up to the higher floors.
The burly guard touched a rune on the wall beside him once they were on the eighth floor, and the hovering platform stopped. There was only a single black door at the end of a dark hallway.
"Right this way," the burly man whispered, leading the way with overly cautious steps. Once they reached the door he hesitated, holding his balled fist just inches away from it.
Vondell scoffed. He still couldn't understand why so many people were afraid of this child.
He moved in front of the guard and knocked loudly, before stepping back. The burly guard stared at him as if he were crazy, and just as he was about to say something, the door opened.
"Are you crazy? Whose door do you think you—" a woman shouted, stopping once her eyes landed on Vondell. She stared at him with an odd expression for a second, before fixing herself.
"You're still here? Good, I've been meaning to talk to you," she said, before reluctantly gesturing for him to enter.
"Not you," she said, right as the burly guard was about to walk through.
"His sword Madam, he won—"
The woman scoffed. "You'd sooner separate a dragon from its treasure before you get him to give up his sword. You may leave, thank you for remaining vigilant," she said, before closing the door on him.
She walked towards her desk with an almost seductive gait. "Please take a seat," she said, gesturing towards a seat opposite her table.
Her office shared the same colors as the rest of the manor; black furniture, white walls, and red flooring. Her desk was a massive thing that towered over the chair that Vondell took. However even sitting, they still looked at each other at the same eye level.
"Congratulations on the 97th floor. Whispers have it that you slayed an ancient priestess without much help," she said, though her tone sounded unimpressed. She quickly arranged all the piles of documents on her desk so that she could see him more clearly.
As the leader of The Hall, Helen was always busy.
"When did the new scions enter the city?" Vondell asked, staring at the large portrait that hung up on the wall behind her. It was a painting of a slender and pale woman, dressed in black. She was quite beautiful, but the allure was lost due to all the spiders surrounding her.
Apparently, Helen had once been a priestess of Arachne, before 'leaving' to help found Antras. She had lost her powers as a result, though everything else about her seemed to have gotten that much more powerful.
"An airship dropped them off last night," she replied.
Vondell felt uneasy, suddenly it was like Mechos was staring right down at him. "When did we start making deals with Mechalos?" he asked, gripping his sword.
"Calm down. We, didn't make deals with Mechalos. The airship belongs to a friend of mine from Leed City," she replied. A smile crept up her face, she seemed amused at Vondell's terror.
"But never mind that. I have a special quest for you," she added, passing him a black metallic cylinder.
"An Onyx Directive," Vondell whispered, calming down a little. It had been a while since he'd been given a quest this dangerous. And that said a lot since he got the monicker; Lord Black, by returning from these more often than others.
Vondell frowned. "You've given me nothing but shit and excuses for my last pay. What makes you believe I'll take on this?" he asked.
Helen clicked her tongue. "I just sent it today, check your vault account," she replied. "And those weren't excuses, I needed the coin to facilitate the movement of scions into Antras," she added. "Your pay was enough to buy a small castle, and you're not running a guild. Sacrifices had to be made, and Antras is better for it."
Vondell considered her words for a moment. The movement of scions into Antras, the fact that she could now pay him everything he was owed. She'd struck a deal with someone important, but why now?
"You brought them here on promises of being the Primary," Vondell said finally. It only made sense. After all, three more floors and one of the ruin raiders would have power equal to a demigod.
Three more floors, and he would finally have the means to pull off his mission.