"Hey, Jules. What's up with y-"
Tim's face froze in fear after being struck by Jules' enraged glare. One look at her red ears and flaring nose, and anyone could tell she was pissed to hell and back. The reason for that, Tim had an idea, but refused to be the one to say it out loud.
"Where is he?"
Jules growled, eyes hungrily searching through the empty classroom for answers.
"W-Who might you be referring to?"
Tim still wanted to play it safe, regardless of how pointless it was. Jules walked up and grabbed him by the collar, ready to chew him out, but Chris' voice rang out as Tim's saving grace.
"He's probably back in the dorms like all the other students."
"Which dorm room is he in?"
She finally let go of Tim, allowing him to breathe.
"How am I supposed to know?"
Chris asked, closing the book he was reading and packing into his bag. Jules clicked her tongue then sat down.
"Fair enough."
She let out a puff of steam and leaned back, closing her eyes. The fight from earlier was still fresh in her mind and she couldn't shake off the feeling of humiliation. She lost to an infernal of all things? That was less than disappointing.
Just then, the doors to the classroom slid open.
The trio reflexively looked at the door to see who it was. Just then, Jules eyes lit up.
"Lumiere! Where the hell have you been?"
*******
"Achoo!"
Alexi quickly covered his itchy nose after letting out a loud sneeze. This wasn't enough to avoid the disgusted gazes of passers-by as he walked through the Denever Plaza.
'Am I getting a cold?'
Alexi planned to visit a pharmacy for some cold medicine later, before shaking his head. Infernals possessed a higher resistance to diseases than the average human. There was no way he'd caught a cold. He put it off as just a random happenstance.
He looked at his watch. The time was 4:17. The school gates closed at 7:30. Since he was a border, that was his deadline for being out of school premises.
Alexi grumbled at the thought of having the school gates for superpowered teens closing at 7:30 pm. It made him feel silly for having come up with it, but he didn't beat himself up too much about it. It was just a one-off detail used for a gag that served almost no relevance to the rest of the story.
Still, it amazed him just how much detail the world had even though he didn't give a lot of time to it.
Everywhere he passed, he got looks of fear, disgust and anger.
"Man, infernals have it hard, huh?"
He knew how bad it was, but experiencing it himself was next level. Not even the flowery scents, or the bright, futuristic screens of the city could distract him from the glares he received.
He quickly hurried off the main road and into an alleyway. There, he was met with the more modern aesthetics of an overfilled dumpster and a drunk man sitting next to it. The alleyway was a massive contrast to the main road, in terms of both sight and smell.
He then crouched next to the old man, meeting his deadpan gaze.
"Light seeks the shadows, and shadows embrace the light."
Alexi said, gulping. He tried his hardest to avoid giving anything away as the old man's eyes scanned his face. After a moment of silence, the old man pulled out a pouch, which he then handed over to Alexi. He then slammed his hand against the wall, turning it into a dark hole.
"In unity, they find balance. Welcome, Arbiter."
'It worked? It actually worked?'
Alexi, rather than feeling relieved, was suddenly filled with anxiety. Sure, there was a scene where the main character infiltrated an auction with this phrase, but he scrapped it as it felt unrealistic and unbelievable. The Arbiters were meant to be a group that were unknown and never before seen. Their presence was never to be felt and they would never interact with anyone, not even themselves. In the final edition, the main characters were given an invitation to the Umbral Sphere by an auctioneer instead.
Alexi took a few steps forward, before he was paused by the old man.
"Please ensure you take the pill before entering and hide your true identity. There are 5 Golden Drachmas in that pouch, no more will be given for free. I trust you understand the rules of trade within the Umbral Sphere?"
Alexi nodded, then reached into the pouch, pulling out a tiny blue pill. He swallowed it, then nodded. He walked into the black hole, which then closed up behind him, forming a normal unassuming wall.
On the other side, Alexi appeared in another filthy, smelly alleyway. At his side, there was an old man, similar in appearance to the one he met on the other side, but his clothing was bit odd. The style was a bit old fashioned, but still carried the same wears and tears.
"Name and purpose?"
"I am…" Alexi paused for a moment, thinking up a name. He was originally going to use his author name, but felt this was finally his chance to be as cringe as he wanted. "Iron Man. I'm looking for somewhere I can trade some info."
"Iron Man. Welcome to the Umbral Sphere. There are a number of information hubs on the streets, but the best is the Flowers of Love guild if you want to make money off your information."
Alexi nodded to the man, then accepted the mask from the man, which he then put on his face. It was that of a horned devil, making Alexi feel it was both ironic and redundant.
He then walked out of the alleyway and felt what some might call a massive cultural shock. The sounds of carriages pulling along cobbled streets and nothing but night sky as far as the eye could see. There were no children playing about and the people were fitted in clothes of all styles, but all belonging to a much older period in time, and with their faces covered in various masks. They hurried along, with almost no stragglers playing on the roads.
Of course, that was to be expected. The Umbral Sphere was kept a place of business and not one of petty pleasure, and it wasn't out of the people respecting its rules. The ones lording over the domain had the right to instantly crush it, meaning, should there be a slip up, everyone, regardless of their involvement in the situation, would die instantly.
Alexi did not intend to be the cause of this destruction, so hurried himself off the street, but paused for a moment when a screen popped up before him.
========
SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN UPDATED
UMBRAL SPHERE ADDED TO SYSTEM FUNCTIONS
Would you like a run down on the Umbral Sphere Function?
========
'Eh?'
He blinked and was about to interact with the system, but the sound of fluttering wings rang in his ears. He looked around and his eyes eventually met the gaze of a raven. The raven was eyeing him intently, making no sounds, as if scanning him.
They were the monitors of this place. They served as the eyes and ears for those who ran the Umbral Sphere.
Alexi looked past the system screen and kept walking forward, until he ducked into an alleyway to hide. He took the opportunity to look at the system.
=======
The Umbral Sphere function allows you to interact with the Umbral Sphere remotely with an avatar of your choice.
With this Avatar you can buy what it is you require and nothing more.
=======
'Nothing more? What's that supposed to mean?'
The system didn't respond to his question, so Alexi decided to put it off for later. He quickly got up and sprinted towards his destination – a very decrepit looking building that had a lifeless signboard, barely handing above its doors. The sign said "The flowers of love bloom from the nectar of busy bees".
He grabbed his chin and nodded proudly. The quote he'd made for the guild still sounded excellent to him, although a majority of his reader base had concluded that it was corny-sounding. If he remembered right, the most liked comment from that chapter replaced his quote with "The flowers of love, in darkness bloom the sweetest". His body visibly cringed at the thought of using that.
"Whatever. They all lack taste anyways."
He brushed aside the memory and proceeded through the creaky doors.
Sitting behind the counter, was a robed figure. He had no discernible features underneath his hood, other than his bushy beard.
Alexi walked over to him and pulled out a golden coin with a dragon head embellished on it. He slammed it down on the counter then stared at the man, before eventually saying…
"I want to meet with Alexi Simmons."