ecision made I looked to the Clerk, she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you. The Choice is truly yours.” I could barely hear her voice through the wind. It felt like I was in the middle of a great storm.
“Have I not awakened yet? I can see Aether just fine. How do I know how many bonds I can have?”
“You’re only Tier 1, it’s rare to have anything above 1 slot, even if you have two, I can’t let you bond to only one of these two, as an employee of FairyCo.”
“Grhh. You really aren’t helping. Mara, Ingrid. How do I look at my Status.”
“You have to think Andras. Focus real hard on your Aether, summon the Aether System.” Ingrid urged me, Mara shook her head. Maybe to her, even allowing that poor Guai suffer such pain showed that I didn’t care. Yet I thought otherwise. Why should I be normal? I ain’t from here am I?
In the eye of a tornado, with two chains pierced fresh into my heart which bled golden blood, I closed my eyes and let the wind push me around. I focused on me, on myself, on what I’ve lived, and what I want to live. Just like that, adding to the crazy amount of things that can happen in a day world record. The System opened up before me.
Aether System
Name: Andras
Tier 1
Bonded Guai: 0/4
Titles: Otherworlder
Perks:
Talents:
Attributes
Explosiveness: C-
Mass: E+
Dexterity: D+
Tenacity: C
Proprioception: A
Focus: B-
Intent: S
Impact: D
Bonded Guai
None
“Yeah. I’m the boss. Hey Felric!” I opened my eyes and sent two kisses at Ingrid and Mara, I also flashed a cocky smile, but that was only a consequence of the High I was suddenly surfing on. “I Win! You lose! GG! Good luck next time, sucker!” I stuck out my tongue and with a mental tug I grabbed that chain from him and pulled it out of his heart and shoved it right into mine. I dove into the Guai and found the part of her Idol that had Felric’s Aether. I jumped on it and tore it to bits, and then placed my own. I did much the same with the Idol’s of Mara and Ingrid and ended the ceremony in mere seconds. ‘It’s all about confidence after all.’
Before the feeling was gone. I checked my Status once more.
Aether System
Name: Andras
Tier 1
Bonded Guai: 3/4
Titles: Otherworlder
Perks:
Talents:
Attributes
Explosiveness: C (!)
Mass: D- (!)
Dexterity: C- (!)
Tenacity: C
Proprioception: A+ (!)
Focus: B-
Intent: S
Impact: C (!)
Bonded Guai
Ingrid: Body Type - Fighting, Smithing - Tier 4 - Bond: Intrigued
Mara: Nature & Mental Type - Wind, Foresight - Tier 6 - Bond: Suppressed Hope
Frey: Earth & Body Type - Steel, Blood - Tier 20 - Bond: Thankful and Fearful
Felric fell to the ground coughing blood. His Guai moved in a flurry, yet they could get nothing done as the weight of the world fell upon them. Tens of Guards flooded the chamber with weapons and Guai, two Guai out of them had crown of pink fire around their heads and they suppressed everything, shoving them to the ground and moving the limps as if operating puppets. Felric ate the butt of a spear to the head and another to the guts. He fell on his knees vomiting. “Damn you Andras. Why did you have to be so greedy? How could you have so many bonds at Tier 1? You make no sense. You’re just a weak human. I can crush you in seconds!” He raved like a madman.
“How could you be so thoughtless? What do you think would have happened had I done as you wished after you barged into the Ceremonial Chamber against the Clerk’s orders?”
I was honestly asking. It seemed a plan sure to fail. Even if I did not get Mara and Ingrid, would he? I would have a Guai, who would have all the reasons to trust me and be good to me, while he would have still broken the stores rules.
I said as much to the Clerk, who did a motion with her hands that meant I was half right. “Truly, Trainers are the backbone of the Confederation. They get away with much more than you’d think. If you had gone along with him, he could have bonded the other two in seconds. He paid for them after all, you’d have nothing against him.”
I sighed and shook my head as he was taken away. “Could you please tell me where I have to go to become a registered Trainer myself?”She did, and soon I was in a boat trip, paid for by Gory himself, who learned what had happened. There were canals running down the city, from underground reservoirs hidden inside what mountain was still left unused. The city around me turned from Pristine and proper, to what you would expect from a city. There was trash about, too many people to fit them all, and a buzz of anxiety, a rush of steps, a few shouts here and there. The gondola stopped in front of a building that was a mere three stories tall, very short compared to those around it, but for that very reason it stood out more. It had a massive board of wood above its arched entrance that wrote. Trainer’s Guild. How I could read it, I did not know.
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I entered the building and what it did not have in height it had in width. A main hall that was hundreds of meters wide, maybe even thousands of square meters in total. There were too many people here. I took it upon myself to walk through the crowed, and found myself at the booth of a Guild Clerk. My Guai were all with me, Frey having been healed because of her Blood Aspect, very beneficial might I stress. I took the chance to take a breath.
I sat down on a chair with no back. ‘Just a stool with a cushion, really.’
“Hello there. I’d like to register as a new Trainer.”
“Welcome to the Trainer’s Guild, the most important organization for any trainer around the world. I am Elise, and let me give you a basic rundown of what you’ll be getting upon your first Registration.”
“Sure, please do.”
“For no Cost, you shall be given your Trainer’s Badge, A room for you and your party, for 7 nights. You will be provided with one meal at the mess hall for 7 days, as well as, if you don’t have anything better, equipment and armor needed to survive on your first Quest.”
“Your responsibility as a Trainer is to, first and foremost, care for your Guai and train them to be strong, to help yourself grow and eventually open up new frontiers for Humanity. But the Guild would strongly like to suggest that taking up Quests and helping the people as you peruse our facilities of training provided for a slight fee, is also a mandatory duty of a Trainer. That is pretty much it.”
“Great, that sounds awesome, right what I expected. So, can I get registered now?” I was eager to hit the sack.My dreams would be dashed once more as a heavy hitter of a question sent me reeling.
“Of course. If you’d hand me over your Proof of Citizenship, I’ll set you up right away.”
‘There it was, of course, how could I have hoped otherwise? The proverbial block that stopped everything and anything from going smoothly in the modern world, bureaucracy. It appears yet again to half my progress towards a soft bed, and a sweet pillow.
"Not that you will believe me, as you don't have Felric here to attest for me, that guy is not being detained by FairyCo for being dumb, so his word wouldn’t be worth anything. But I came from another realms, through a large, large Black-" {Slap!} A palm found a forehead and the sound passed through every person in the massive hall.
"Stop, don't speak anymore. You're an otherworlder?"
"Is that a Problem? Am I going to face the iron fist of some inquisition and be crucified for my sins?" It could be an option, amongst the many.
"No, but it is annoying. I went and picked up a mountain of paper work. Buckle up mister...?"
"Andras."
"Mister Andras. We have a long day ahead of us."
Long was an understatement, Torturous more like. It was six hours later when the process was finally finished. Elise now looked as if a train had run her over, I looked about ready to fall to the ground and shatter into a thousand pieces. My Guai were all toppled over one another sleeping. None dared disturb us, so much like a funeral was the mood in this booth. ‘It’s not much of a booth either, only two flimsy pieces of wood separate us from every other clerk.’ I whined, it was the tiredness catching up with my excitement for the future.
“Here, Mister Andras, the job is finished. She took below her desk all the paperwork we’d just spent hours going over, and handed me a seal. I held onto its protruding back and looked at its bronze face. That’s your name there on it. If you put just a hint of Aether into it, it should shine a dirty orange color and it should stamp your name into any document you wish, though most people use it only for Guild documents. It’s a neat little thing that can also hold some information, like whether you are alive or not, and it will change on its own in weight and density as you grow in tiers, and you take more quests. When you grow from F Rank to E, it shall change to silver as well. Look forward to it I guess.”
“Is that all?”
“Why, you want more?”
“No, I’m asking if you need me for anything else, if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Now, take this damned key, go to your room. I’m gonna go file a resignation and smoke some of that sweet cannabis.
I was thus released form my bondage. In mere moments I had opened the door to the room. It was on the third floor. Inside there was a large couch, a ranch, and a double bed, enough to fit us and save costs for the Guild as well. As tired as I was, when all four of us marched in, I knew it was time to talk. I turned to Frey first.
"So, you don't speak?" I asked, remembering that not every Guai Spoke. She nodded.
"I hope that you aren’t opposed to it, or unable to do so. The Next time you Tier up, I’d like it if you could choose the ability to speak for me. If that is how it works.” She nodded once more. “Thanks.”
“You’re weird. Most humans don’t want us speaking anyway. It makes their treatment of us, come easier.” Mara noted.
“I guess you’re rare, and I’m rare as well. Emerald Princess she called you?”
"You can call me however you please, you own me after all, but for your own shake I wouldn’t throw those words around much.”
“I think it fits you, you do look regal, and you’re cute when you try to warn me in such a Tsundere way.” I took my shoes off, and my shocks. I hopped into a little bathing area to wash my feet and the musk they had gathered after nearly two nights stuck in that leather box.
"Hey, Mara. Are you blushing?" Ingrid jumped real close to Mara and sniffed at her face and neck. A neck that was particularly thin and fragile. 'Oops, better cut that thought there.'
"Don't call my name, we aren't friends." Mara looked away from both me and Ingrid. The furred unit of a woman, an athlete at heart, giggled like a little child and turned to me, she lunged at my back and I almost fell to the wood floor. "I think your little heroics, maybe even that kiss you blew at us, worked their Magic on the ice cold queen. I didn’t know she was this easy~" Ingrid licked her lips as she twirled her tail about. "I don't think you're in a situation to call someone else easy, Ingrid.” I slapped her butt and walked away leaving her stunned and Mara smiling behind her hand.
Even when not looking at them I could feel some of their emotions, thoughts, or actions. It was part of the bond we now shared, almost telepathic.
“Well, nice to be with you all, Mara, Ingrid, Frey, once again. I hope we have a fruitful relationship. If I depend on you too much, don’t hate me for it. Give me time. I’ll grow into it.”