As it turned out, completely shattering an aptitude crystal wasn't completely unheard of. It wasn't common by any means, but it had been done before. Usually it happened when an aptitude crystal was nearing the end of its durability and when it began to crack, the crystal would be taken out of circulation and properly disposed of. An aptitude crystal had really only ever been shattered before when it was improperly taken care of. Cracks gone either unnoticed or ignored would lead to the crystal being overloaded with energy before its detonation.
The problem was though, that the aptitude crystal Neves had been using had been practically brand new and was confirmed prior to the start of the day to have no cracks in it at all. Neves, along with a few of the other Guild Advisors present at time, also confirmed that they had never seen a crystal change colors so rapidly before. Normally the crystal would change colors almost immediately when the would be adventurer touched it and the results would be near instant. Many of the other adventurers, those who had been to other guilds and witnessed other tests take place, also confirmed this.
After the crystal had exploded, and after everyone was confirmed to be okay, both Matt and Akira were promptly escorted by Neves and a few others of the Guild Advisors up to the second floor and past the ornate doors. The stained glass on the doors had somehow survived the eruption but things in the hallways and rooms upstairs looked as if they had been hit by a hurricane. Guild employees that had been on the second floor when everything happened were now stumbling about, holding their heads and trying their best to clean up the mess of papers that now littered the halls and offices. Akira clung onto Matt's arm as they were escorted down the hall towards another pair of ornate doors, but Matt noticed she hadn't seemed nearly as distraught as everyone else. In fact, she was wearing a confident smile on her lips and she walked by his side like she was proud to be with the man who had just nearly blown up the entire guild hall.
As the entourage neared the doors, they began to slowly open on their own, revealing a rather sizable looking office decorated with colors of dark chestnut, gold, and blues. A large desk sat facing towards the doors as they opened and Matt saw a lone figure sitting behind it with their hands folded together in front of their face. Their ember colored eyes burned like the flames of a fire as they stared daggers into Matt's soul deep inside of his own green eyes. The figure looked… imposing to say the least. The best way Matt could describe who he was being stood up before was an Orc woman with short brown hair and massive muscles. She had scars all over her tired looking face and Matt could have been wrong but… he could have sworn she looked as though she'd just been woken up. Her hair looked to be naturally unruly but bits of it still stood on end where someone who had been up for a while would have at least tried to keep under control. Her dark blue vest that she was wearing was wrinkled and he noticed one of the buttons over her sizable bust had gone missing.
'Are all the women in this world so naturally… gifted?' Matt thought to himself as Akira hung on to his arm a little tighter.
"I'm going to assume that these two are the reason I was awoken from my slumber so early?" the orc woman asked incredulously.
"My apologies Guild Master Torie. I was conducting a routine aptitude test when my crystal… shattered ma'am." Neves said as she stepped forward from the group of Guild Advisors.
"Didn't we just replace your crystal at the beginning of last week?" the Orc woman asked, looking slightly more awake now but still clearly taking a bit to fully wake up.
"Yes ma'am, and there were no signs of wear during this morning's inspection and I had no prior tests to this one either." Neves responded
"So there's reason to believe one of these two are at… oh, it's you"
The Orc woman's gaze had turned to Akira before her eyes turned into narrow slits as she even sneered a little, exposing her slightly longer tusks.
"Why hello Torie. It sure has been a while" Akira smiled slyly and waved a little at the orc woman.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here? And why are you here hanging off the arm of a Nornsman?" Torie asked as she slowly looked to be getting more and more annoyed by the second.
"This is my husband." Akira answered as a matter of factly "Torie, meet my husband Matt. Matt, meet the Guild Master of Fallvien, Torie Shortcross."
"H-Husband?" the orc lady asked, now looking fully awake and surprised.
Neves who was standing nearby still could only nod her head as Akira continued to hang off Matthew's bicep.
"Ahem, it's a pleasure to meet you Guild Master. Apologies for any trouble I may have caused. I assure you, it was not my intention to cause anyone any harm this morning." Matt said as he took a deep, apologetic bow as he couldn't really move forward to shake the Guild Master's hand with Akira holding him down.
"Oddly well spoken for a man of the Northern tribes." Torie said with a raised eyebrow.
"Mmm, I picked a good one didn't I?" Akira hummed and grinned
The orc woman seemed to be at a bit of a loss for words as she furrowed her brow at Akira's comment. Matt wasn't sure exactly how Akira knew the Orc Guild Master but he couldn't help but feel like they weren't on the best of terms with one another. Well, maybe the Guild Master wasn't. Akira seemed like she could have cared less as perusal.
"Never mind that for now. Why were we conducting an aptitude test for the Matriarch of Venindale anyways?" the orc woman asked Neves.
"A-Actually ma'am, we weren't conducting the test on her. We were doing it for him" Neves replied.
The orc woman's attention then shifted back to Matt as she looked him up and down for a moment. Matt could feel Akira's nails dig in slightly to his arms and he had a sneaking suspicion she was already starting to get pretty possessive over him.
"So you're telling me it was you that destroyed my guild hall?" Torie asked Matt with a narrow gaze.
"Like I said before ma'am, it wasn't my intention to harm anyone or to cause the crystal to explode. I was simply following your employees directions and placing my hand on the crystal for the test when the device cooked off." Matt replied
"What happened before the crystal… 'cooked off'?"
"Well ma'am there were a lot of flashing lights coming from the device and it felt like I was in the middle of a storm at sea. There was this… laughing sound I heard from within it too, just before the device began to crack moments before it exploded."
"Flashing lights?" Torie asked, looking at Neves.
"The crystal was malfunctioning ma'am. It wouldn't settle on any one aptitude just like it does when it… well you know ma'am. But before it erupted I did actually manage to see it settle for just a moment." Neves replied.
There was suddenly murmuring from the other Guild Advisors amongst themselves before the Guild Master hushed them all with a single hand gesture.
"Guild Advisor Neves, before you answer my next question let me remind you that you are under oath as an employee of not only the Fallvien Guild Hall but also of the Tytauran Adventuring Guild and the Council to tell me the direct and honest truth to the best of your ability when I ask for it. What color, was the test"
The room fell silent for a moment and Matt could have sworn he heard the sounds of fainted yelling coming from down in the guild hall as well as heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths as the footsteps grew louder and closer to the door.
"Ma'am, it was green"
"Guild Master Torie Shortcross!" cried a voice from the other side of the door just moments before it was thrown wide open.
Everyone in the room turned to see a large gathering of city guards, led by a short man standing in the doorway. The man looked to be Elven, with long pointed ears and golden hair. His pale skin almost seemed to reflect the sheen from his silver armor and he had a sharp little goatee and mustache that just screamed douchebag. He looked as if he'd just walked into a room where he'd found all the bad guys in one place with their pants down, a smug look on his face. His men stood behind him and at his sides with their myriad of different weapons drawn as if looking for a fight. Behind them, stood several adventurers Matt recognized from downstairs. They seemed like they were more or less there for backup against the guards though.
"I am hereby placing this adventurer as well as Ms. Akira of Venindale under arrest!" the short elven man proclaimed smugly.
"Not now Reginald," Torie replied with a tone of warning in her voice "I am in the middle conducting an investigation at the moment. You have no place barging into my guild hall and-"
"By order of his Lordship, Sir Manny Voonnold, I'm here to place not only these two under arrest and custody, but to also inform you of the guild's temporary suspension under the city guards own investigation" the short man interrupted.
"He can't do that!" Tories said as she stood up and slammed her fist down on her desk, causing it to buckle and splinter slightly.
"Lord Manny Voonold is unable to suspend the operation of any guild facility unless directly ordered by the Tytauran Adventurers Guild HQ or by the Council themselves in which the Guild will also receive notification of their suspension prior!" Neves proclaimed stepping forward angrily "Also, Mrs. Akira of Venindale has diplomatic immunity in this region especially to those of a lower standing than her own! Furthermore-"
"Shut up, runt" the elven man said as he struck Neves across the face with a backhand, sending the small goblin girl tumbling to the ground.
Matt felt his blood boil red hot in his veins. He moved to take a step forward towards the man who had just struck Neves down when Akira stopped him. She stood before him with her back turned to him and her ears betraying that she-was-pissed. That similar feeling from the day before suddenly hit him a little as he felt the slight weight on his shoulders, but this time it felt much lighter then it had been before. Whatever Akira was doing though, must have been too much for everyone else as he watched the guards almost immediately crumple to the ground, writhing around in pain even as they fell into the fetal position.
"How dare you? You come into a place where you have no right being. You threaten dear friends of mine and strike them down even as they inform you of your illegal actions. You even threatened to impersonate a Matriarch in which you know you have no rights to incarcerate. But most egregiously of all, you threatened my husband!"
Matt watched as time seemed to slow down to almost nothing around. The color from Akira's disguise began to wash away, revealing her true orange hair and her tails began to split apart. The air around them seemed to visibly vibrate from whatever she was doing and Matt noticed a few of the guards beginning to froth at the mouth as they laid there on the ground. Even the Guild Master, the advisors, and the other adventurers seemed affected by this as they all began to collapse to the ground in slow motion. Matt could somehow tell that they were just caught up in whatever attack Akira was doing on the guards. Some of the adventurers and advisors were already starting to froth at the mouth before they'd even hit the floor yet. The pressure was rapidly growing all around him now and he was sure that it wouldn't be too long before he felt the effects too. He had to stop her. The immense pressure growing around him grew more with every passing moment and it made Matt feel sluggish as he reached out towards Akira. The air still vibrated around him and his vision was growing slightly blurry. Darkness began to creep in around the edges of his vision and he knew that if he didn't stop her soon that she might kill them all. The darkness grew more and more until all he could see was what he was directly staring at. His body felt numb from head to toe and he felt like he was on the verge of collapsing himself, but still he reached out… and grabbed her sleeve.
"A-A-A…Akira"
He could barely hear his own voice but he was sure it was raspy. His mouth felt inexplicably dry but he felt like he was going to throw up at the same time. Just as suddenly as the feeling came, it suddenly left. Matt heard the muffled thuds of several bodies hitting the floor almost all at once and he felt like he had a concussion and was sitting on the edge of consciousness himself. The darkness in his vision hadn't yet begun to recede yet but at least the heavy feeling was gone. He equated the feeling to being in a helicopter crash and getting his bell rung. Every sound he heard, including Akira's incoherent panic as she was trying to hold him upright was muffled. The world around him refused to come into focus no matter how hard he tried and he was feeling a bit nauseated.
Matt had been in not one, but two helicopter crashes in his career as a SEAL. The first one had been real bad. The extraction bird he was on was hit by a lucky R.P.G that struck the tail section of the heilo and caused it to spin out of control. Matt remembered feeling the G's on his chest as the helicopter spun around in mid air like a top while it fell like a rock towards the earth and eventually collided with a mountain side. The pilot had managed to save them at the last minute from becoming a fireball but Matt had still been ejected from the crash just before it hit the ground. That crash had definitely ring his bell.
The second crash wasn't as bad as the first but it still sucked that it happened more than once. He'd been inside a CH-47 Chinook that, for some reason, suddenly just began to fall out of the sky. Luckily they hadn't been going very fast or even all that high for that matter and again it was thanks to the pilots quick thinking that saved their lives. Matt hadn't been thrown from the wreck that time but due to his size he had slammed his head on the upper part of the fuselage when they eventually hit the ground. Matt was certain he had some sort of a TBI, or Traumatic Brain Injury, from both events. If he didn't have a TBI from surviving two helicopter crashes, then it was definitely from the numerous times he'd been blown up instead.
Now he was clutching on to the side of his head, trying to at least get the world around him to stop spinning so damn much. Akira was holding his face now, searching through his eyes, looking clearly panicked. She was saying something but to Matt it sounded like she was one of those unseen parents in cartoons who only spoke in muffled trumpet noises. As Matt's vision began to slowly return to him he could see that several of the others in the room were already beginning to recover as well. He was surprised to see that Neves of all people was the first to come too before she got up and went over to Tories to help her out. Most of the guards were still down for the count but a few of them as well as their commander were beginning to come to.
"I'm so sorry Matt. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you"
Matt was just able to make out Akira's voice now, even though it sounded like she was calling to him from far off in the distance. He let go of his head and placed his hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes and gave all that he could to a nod to try and tell her he'd be alright. She had been crying but nodded back at his gesture and began helping him rise to his feet.
"We should leave, before the guards come back fully too" Akira said, pulling on his arm towards the door.
"W-Wait!" Tories' voice cried out "Running at this point will only make matters worse for both of you."
Matt turned and saw that the Orc woman was also standing now with Neves at her side. Both looked to be in more of a rough shape then he'd originally thought. Tories was leaning against the wall and breathing heavy but her eyes were locked on Matt's and he could see she was clearly taking a moment to recover before she spoke again.
"Mr. Winters. It's no wonder to me now why the Vixen of Venindale chose you to be her mate. With power such as your own… it makes sense"
"What do you mean?" Matt asked
"Neves. Tell him" Tories commanded as she looked like she was about to vomit, probably from the extreme nausea Akira's attack seemed to carry.
"Mr. Winters. The aptitude crystal glowed green before it exploded. That means that you have the power of an Adamantine ranked adventurer within you. That's one of the highest grades of adventurers… most people don't know about. Your… wife… she's"
Neves was actually the one to lose her breakfast first as she turned and quickly emptied her stomach into a nearby flower pot in the room. Matt was eight layers of confused now and the headache that had begun to settle in wasn't helping so he looked to Akira by his side for help. She smiled gently at him and squeezed his bicep a little.
"I too, am an Adamantine rank." she said softly.
That oddly made more sense to Matt than anything. She seemed to be on a whole nother level of strength compared to everyone else around her and her most recent actions only further drove that point home to him. He was more confused as to why they thought he was an Adamantine rank too. He definitely wasn't as strong or as capable as Akira and he felt as though even the Guild Master could whip the floor with him if she wanted to. The crystal had to have been wrong.
"W-What in the nine hell's did you just say?"
The commander of the guards was up again, leaning on the doorframe but looked absolutely dumbstruck as he stared over at the duo with an odd look of awe and fear at the same time.
"So, you are aware of our rank status then?" Akira asked as she confronted the commander by facing him and shifting her weight off to one side with her hands on her hips.
"I- I've heard the rumors before, but I never gave them any merit. If you are both Adamantine rank then…"
"You can't touch either of us. No matter how hard your Lord tries, he'll never be good enough to face either of us. He's a fool to have sent you lot to try and strong
arm his will upon others. Especially to those of a higher ranking nobility than him, and for that he will answer for his transgressions."
Akira's aura, or at least that was Matt had decided to call the energy she omitted, began to rise again. Though this time it wasn't nearly as devastating and it seemed like she was taking more care to point it directly at the guards and their commander.
"Gather your people and go." Akira said, her voice sounding slightly omnipotent as Matt watched her Sapphire tails spread out and almost seem to glow. "And tell your Lord and any others that are of the same mindset for that matter that I, Akira of Venindale, am not some cheap whore to be married off for their political gain. I'm a proud warrior of the nine tailed kitsune and as of this day I am happily married to my beloved mate. If they have an issue with that, then tell them to come and face me themselves so that I may gut them like the useless swine that they are."
They got the message. The remaining guards that were conscious quickly stumbled to their feet and gathered up their comrades that were still under the effects of Akira's initial attack. Then, they ran. They ran down the hall as fast as they could with their comrades in toe and disappeared from sight as they left the guild hall as fast as they could. It took their commander an extra moment to realize that his men had abandoned him, he had been shaking in fear from Akira's display before he ran off to join the others in their hasty retreat.
Akira kept up her form with her nine tails out and glowing until they had all left before the light began to slowly fade away and she swooned a little. Matt quickly moved and caught her in his arms as she fell back into them. She looked up at him and he noticed that now she looked exhausted as well, but she still managed a small smile.
"The cat's finally out of the bag" she said weakly.
"Are you sure you wanted to do that? Won't this cause more problems for you?" Matt asked.
"They can… kiss my ass" she chuckled softly
Matt chuckled and leaned down towards her before he left a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I hate to break up the moment," Tories said as she made her way over to her desk and almost collapsed into her chair "But this does cause a few issues we need to tie up sooner rather than later. Neves, once you and the others have collected yourselves, head down stairs and make sure no one else was affected by Lady Akira's actions. Having an aptitude crystal explode amongst them is one thing, having their brains half melted is another. Do whatever you can to help those that need it. And for god's sake, someone repair my damn door!"
Tories' commands were immediately met with haste as Neves and the other Guild Advisors who had been present in the room quickly began to jump to the task. The adventurers out in the hall who had recovered at some point from Akira's attack, were beginning to head downstairs as well. They had done their best to make a hole for the retreating guard but some of them had been trampled on while they were still on the ground unconscious. Matt noticed that they seemed more willing to ignore what they had seen or heard and instead were complaining about how badly they needed an ale now after such an endeavor. He had a certain amount of respect for them for doing that and made a mental note to at least get them a drink at some point.
Matt watched as one of the advisors, a short gruff looking man who was probably dwarf, pulled out a wand from a small leather sheath fashioned on his side and began muttering some sort of incantation while waving the wooden stick around. Waves of what looked like green glowing dust particles flowed from the tip of the wand and into the door as it suddenly began to repair itself. Cracked and shattered panes of stained glass were repaired and splinters and holes were filled in as the doors slammed shut, leaving just Akira and Matt in the room with the Guild Master.
"Why is it that things always seem to go to the hells in a handbasket whenever you're around?" Tories asked aloud as she reached into her desk and pulled out a large bottle before she uncorked it and took a long swig of its contents.
"For once I actually apologize for the way things went. And you were actually right dear, things are going to get very interesting and fast now that my true identity is out." Akira sighed as she picked up one of the chairs that had been knocked over at some point in all the excitement and sat in it.
"I always had a feeling you were more than some wolf kin, but a kitsune was not one of the beings I thought you'd ever be. Though I suppose that was a lack of foresight on my behalf." Tories replied as she continued to take swig after swig from the bottle.
"Don't beat yourself up. There's only a few out there who already know my true identity" Akira shrugged.
"And now there's about to be a lot more. Those Steel ranked adventurers and my advisors are smart enough to keep their mouths shut but you did practically command the guard to tell the whole world of your secret."
"Yes, things are bound to get rather interesting around here. Sorry dear" Akira sighed and looked apologetically to Matt.
"Things were bound to get interesting no matter what I suppose" Matt shrugged
"And what's further more, is your…mate is also an Adamantine rank? Makes sense now why he blew up an aptitude crystal. They just aren't rated for that kind of power." Tories chuckled and shrugged before offering the others a sip from her bottle.
Akira happily helped herself first, reaching over the ornate desk to grab the bottle from the Guild Master before she sat back in her seat.
"Yeah about that. First, I thought the ranks only went up to Mithral" Matt said, looking around at the other two for some clarification.
"Technically they do. As far as the general public is aware, Mithral is the highest rank any adventurer can reach. It's considered to be the highest rank meant only for the most powerful. I myself, like many of the other Guild Masters through Tytaura, are Gold rank and we are often thought to be amongst the strongest of our kind.
However there's always been rumors of ranks higher than both Gold and Mithral, and only those of those ranks or higher know those rumors to be true. There actually three ranks higher than the already mythic Mithral classes. First there's Adamantine, the rank of both you and your… wife which is really another matter we need to discuss here in a bit, are.
There are a handful of Adamantine rank beings in the world and the appearance of another is likely to send waves through the inner circles of those who know of their existence. After Adamantine there are also the Siccatite and Orchalcum ranks but only the legendary heroes of old ever held those ranking positions and thus they are no longer held by any living being." Tories explained.
"Holy…fuck. Okay seems like there's a lot to unpack there. First I guess is… how accurate are the aptitude tests? Like is there someway it could have been wrong and I'm not actually as high a rank as you all say I am?" Matt asked.
"Aptitude crystals are highly accurate dear. Though I've been told they are slightly less accurate once someone reaches our height in rank and have apparently been known to low ball the rank sometimes. So there's actually a possibility you might be stronger than me honey" Akira answered with a big smile on her face as she offered him the bottle.
Matt stood stunned for a moment, before he snatched the bottle from her hands and took a few heavy chugs of whatever liquid was inside. To his slight dismay it was only a light wine and wouldn't do much to actually calm his nerves. He frowned as he looked at the bottle in his hand, his mind racing with all the information he'd been given when he realized the pain he had felt before was suddenly gone now.
"It's a healing wine made from the clerics of Selune. It should help take the edge off at least a little." Tories replied seeing Matt's expression and reached for the bottle again.
Matt handed it back to the Guild Master who took another large swig from it on her own before she left the bottle and what remained inside of it on the desk for anyone else to have. Both women looked to miraculously be better now as they sat and even Matt had to admit he was feeling a lot better in more ways than one.
"Alright. Well… fuck. So what does this mean for me?" Matt asked
"It means we can expect some guests in the near future to come give us a visit. The other Adamantine rank adventurers and some higher nobility will want to meet you now. We should make haste back to my home in Venindale as soon as possible to make sure we can properly greet them together" Akira smiled
"I guess that is enough to lead us back to my other topic of concern. Your marriage. Technically the two of you are not legally married yet in the eyes of the Council" Tories sighed and leaned in on her elbows on her desk.
"We can simply remedy that problem now, can we not?" asked Akira.
"You really want my name to be the one on the certificate?" Tories asked.
"I have no objections if you don't, dear? After all, you'll also have your name on his file for his Adamantine ranking." Akira smiled.
"Don't remind me" Tories sighed and took another swig from the bottle on the desk.
"I thought the guild could only bestow up to Gold rank though" Matt stated a bit confused again.
"Technically speaking you are correct as that is the highest rank any normal adventurer can achieve through the labors of their own hard work. You see, unfortunately it is impossible for someone to become Adamantine rank unless they were already naturally born with that power. The same even goes for being Mithral rank in some cases but others have worked up to the rank on their own in the past. But that's considered such an anomaly that we in the higher rankings of the guild often tell others that the highest rank they can possibly hope to achieve is Gold. However those of us in the know of the higher, more mythical ranks such as your own are able to issue you your ranking on the spot. There's a lot of paperwork involved on my end and someone higher in the guild will eventually need to confirm the case with a higher level aptitude crystal but… I can give you your Adamantine rank." Tories explained.
Matt stood stunned for a moment at the layers to all this. He doubted he would have ever even known any of this even if he'd just been simply married to Akira in the first place. This all seemed like high level intel that only some occult secret organization knew of. Matt sighed a little as he came to the quick conclusion that it couldn't be helped. Though he didn't feel necessarily all that strong himself, he supposed he had no choice in the matter.
Akira must have seen the wheels turning in his head as she had reached up and took his massive rough leathery hand in her much smaller and more delicate one. Her skin felt as smooth as silk and for some reason that warmed Matt's heart more when he looked down into her eyes and saw her warm smile.
"Alright. Then let's do this"