Zane slowly stood up and walked around the table, stopping by the manager, who was struggling just to remain kneeling. He peered down at the man for a few moments, as if deciding what he was going to do with him, before stepping beyond him and up to the five men who had started the incident. With another single finger-flick, he dealt a heavy blow to each of the five men, seriously injuring them, drawing some murmurs from the other patrons, as those five were the relatives of some big shots. The mutters didn't mean anything to him, as he flicked another finger and levitated the five men before hurling them out the door and into the stairwell outside with nothing but a thought.
"Now. For you," he said coldly, walking back in front of the manager. He crouched down by the man, who still couldn't do anything but fight the pressure, and pulled out an item. This time, Beth, and everyone else in the bar, was able to see it clearly, finding that Zane held a single, blue crystalline rose. This didn't draw reactions out of anyone else, but the way the manager's eyes shot wide and all color rapidly drained from his face showed that the item was rather significant.
"M-my, apologies, sir," the manager stammered, surprising everyone. Wasn't he the one being suppressed and attacked right now? Yet he was going out of his way to apologize to Zane for the disturbance that had just happened.
"Reyla and I are old friends," Zane said then quietly, though everyone in the bar could hear him clearly. "I think I might send her a brief message about this location after I'm done here today."
"S-sir, that won't be necessary," the manager stammered. "I'll make sure everything's taken care of with no issues on your side."
"I'll hold you to that, then," Zane said coldly, sending a wave of power out that cowed everyone in the room, but specifically crushed the manager down into the extremely hard floor. Afterwards, he let the manager up before returning to the table and sitting next to Beth, where he resumed drinking.
"I didn't realize you were that much of a bigshot," Beth said as the manager scrambled up and took off, likely to handle the fallout of Zane's actions as he had promised.
"Well, I've been around a while. You just make some connections and get a little strength if you live long enough," Zane demurred, waving it all away.
"Still, what was that thing you showed him?" Beth asked.
"A blue crystal rose," Zane answered. "Only ten of them have been given to various people Reyla, the Blue Queen, acknowledges and respects. I doubt anyone in here even has a white rose, which is still several tiers below blue crystal, but the manager certainly understood what it was."
"So, you are a bigshot," Beth said while pointing at him.
"You're very calm about it," Zane replied with a light chuckle.
"Eh, I'm already getting used to it," Beth answered.
"Well, that's interesting," Zane said before finishing his drink. "It was nice to meet you, but I must be about business. Let us exchange contact information."
After saying so, he shook both of their hands before rising and walking off, heading into the back areas of the bar. What he was going to do, Beth had no idea, nor did she really want to know. Still, he was clearly incredibly powerful and might be a rather good contact to have, all things considered. They finished their drinks and ordered more, nobody at the bar looking to be eager to chase away someone brought in by a man who could toss a peak Enlightened around like a child. They spent a little more time there that night, but didn't see Zane again, and decided to head back to the CRA Hall when they were stopped by the manager himself, who had made a reappearance.
"Ladies, my apologies," he said to them with a bow. He then handed each of them a white rose shaped from white mana platinum. "As an apology for our other guests, and my own, unseemly behavior tonight, please accept these roses. They mark you as elite members of the Blue Queen's establishments, and any bar, spa, pleasure house, or recreational hub run by her Ladyship will welcome you upon seeing this token."
"Well, we don't really deserve these, but I won't say no to free stuff," Beth chuckled in response, accepting the rose and putting it in her necklace.
"There aren't any membership fees?" Blood asked with a cocked eyebrow as she accepted her own rose.
"No, ma'am," the manager replied quickly. "White roses and on are only awarded to valued customers and come at no charge. They allow you access, give you a ten percent discount on everything, and cost nothing to maintain. They are not, however, linked to you in any way, so do not lose them. You would need to be awarded or buy another, and they are not typically given away so easily."
"Understood," Beth said with a nod. "Thanks for the rose, and for understanding about earlier."
"It's not a problem," he replied quickly. "If you're acquainted with Lord Farstrider, then we will treat you with utmost respect. If you'll excuse me."
The manager returned inside before Beth could protest being associated with Lord Farstrider, who she realized was Zane after checking her contacts and finding that listed as his last name. Shrugging at the oddity of it all, she led the way back to the CRA Hall, where they hit the sack for the night. They were still at loose ends for a while, at least until Rell contacted them for anything or Mortaine just suddenly appeared to whisk them away, and Beth intended to take advantage of that time.
For one thing, she intended to continue her participation in the arena, and for another, she still had to work on her Blacksmithing. She didn't know exactly how long everything would take, but based on what Tera had said, they likely had at least a couple months before anyone asked any questions. She set herself a reminder for a month from the current time to make sure she didn't lose track of time too badly, reminding herself to check in with both Rell and even Mortaine.
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The next day, Beth headed to the arena first, signing up for a fight first thing in the morning. She was called up rather quickly and found her first fight of the day to be rather unsatisfying. That was the thing about the Awoken bracket; everyone from people just starting out to those on the edge of their fifth rebirth and being moved into the Empowered bracket could participate. That meant someone relatively strong like Beth could encounter a real novice that couldn't even withstand a couple swings, or she could meet a wringer that even overmatched her.
And speaking of wringers; her first five fights of the day, she had that honor, tearing through opponents with relative ease. Nobody even came close to Andrea's level, let alone someone that could push her to her limits and beyond. Apparently, a five-win streak was too much, though Beth knew the system was supposed to be totally random, and she was matched against that singular person.
Her opponent appeared normal enough, just a slightly tall young man that didn't give off any particularly impressive vibes. His level wasn't particularly impressive, either, as he was only level one-twenty, though Beth didn't know the rebirth he was on. He didn't give a very powerful impression in any case, as he wore fairly plain leather and steel armor and carried an unadorned steel blade. Even when the fight started, she wasn't overly impressed with him, as she didn't go all-out from the start and handled his attacks and movements rather well. That continued for only half a minute, at which point the young man moved forward with a burst of power unlike anything Beth had faced in the arena before.
She tried desperately to defend herself, but shockingly, even her Platinum skill wasn't enough to overcome their difference in strength. It was really the first time she had experienced something like it, and it seemed that no matter what she did, he had an answer, one with more power and speed than she could handle. She was only able to drag the fight out for a minute thanks to her ridiculous skills and the fact she had both her weaponskills in Expert. If not for that, he would have killed her as soon as he decided to get serious, and she held on desperately until the very end.
Eventually, he took her out, the ref signaling the end of the match as Beth flopped on the floor, gasping for air for a moment before sitting up. The ref's glare encouraged her to vacate the floor, but she just glared back at him, already over the referees giving people gruff after a simulated, but very real feeling, death experience. Once she was recovered, she was back on her feet and exited the dueling floor, finding the young man she had just fought standing along the perimeter with a familiar face next to him. She might have otherwise walked away, but she instead moved over to speak to them, the woman standing next to her just victorious opponent waving at her as she approached.
"Beth," said Andrea as she stopped next to the two of them. "That was a hell of a fight. You've gotten way stronger in just a handful of days."
"Good fight," the young man said, though Beth thought his taciturnity was more from shyness than indifference.
"You can do better than that, Adam," Andrea said, elbowing the man after he didn't continue.
"Sorry, you did really well. Surprised me. Didn't think anyone else at this Hall was so strong," he tried again, still getting a glower from Andrea, but no more elbows to the ribs.
"It was a really good fight. You weren't that great at first, but that's pretty normal. When you got serious, though, I just couldn't keep up. How’d you do it?" Beth couldn't resist trying to sate her curiosity.
"This stupid fucking lug figured out his Mana Physique," Andrea explained when Adam opened and closed his mouth twice without successfully forming a response.
"But...we're in the Awoken bracket," Beth replied with a frown.
"Look, I know, trust me," Andrea replied with a sigh, holding up a hand. "But look, Mana Physiques are needed to pass beyond the tenth rebirth, but that's not the only time you can build one. Hell, you could build one right now, if you knew what you were doing, though I don't recommend it. You really do need a lot of knowledge to build one, which is why all those people who just rebirth at one hundred, and then one-ten, and then one-twenty and so on never make it to Enlightened. They don't understand mana, they don't understand skills, they don’t understand their own bodies and how they operate, and so they can't make a Mana Physique. Look, some do eventually do it, after decades or centuries of correcting their shaky foundations and learning how things really work, but its why you shouldn't just sprint up the ranks until you're on the verge of the tenth rebirth."
"Then what about him?" Beth asked, jerking a thumb at Adam.
"He's an idiot savant," Andrea replied calmly.
"Hey!" Adam exclaimed, giving Andrea a frown and a stern glare.
"OK, maybe he's not that bad, but he's no shining genius," Andrea said, returning Adam's glare. "It just so happens he’s one of those one-in-ten-billion types that is super, super good at one thing, and that one thing of his is Mana Physiques. He built his just after finishing his second rebirth and has never had any trouble using or modifying it."
"It's really not that hard," Adam tried to defend himself, which only got him a stronger glare, Andrea now having her hands on her hips. "You just look at how the mana moves and attenuates in your body, then you link it all together, making your physical body and mana live together as one."
"And that's the reason he's an idiot savant," Andrea quipped.
"Right, I mean, I get what he's saying, but I couldn't fucking understand that," Beth nodded, totally agreeing with Andrea.
"I can't explain it, you just have to do it," Adam tried to defend himself, just getting both girls glaring at him with hands-on-hips.
"So, anyway, what are you up to?" Andrea asked. "I heard a vicious rumor about you meeting one of the Young Scions…"
"Yeah, well, that rumor might be true," Beth said hesitantly, crossing her arms as she looked away. "I've not really done that much, just been training and doing a little exploring."
"Wait, wait, go back. You did meet the Young Scions?" Andrea asked eagerly, eyes aglow.
"Yeah, I mean, they're not all that great," Beth replied with a shrug. "Too many reporters, too. Super annoying to deal with that all the time."
"'They're not all that great?!' What the hell does that mean? They're wonderful!" Andrea retorted, hands returning to her hips as she stared Beth down.
"Look, uh, I don’t want to shatter what are clearly your hopes and dreams, but they're just regular people. That and they aren't super strong; I beat three of them just by myself," Beth replied while making a calming gesture.
"You did what?!" Andrea bellowed, attracting some attention from other members on the floor and people in the stands to spectate. She made some embarrassed gestures in apology before lowering her voice, saying, "What do you mean you beat three of them?"
"Well…" Beth said before recounting the tale of her first encounter with the Young Scions. Even Adam seemed quite interested, leaning in a bit and goggling as she described the fight with the three boys and how she won handily. She also explained just a bit about what she had done with Val, though she kept most of that private, as that was really her and Val's, or maybe in the future, Val and Blood's business.
"I can't believe all that," Andrea said after Beth finished explaining. "You have the craziest stuff happen to you."
"You're telling me," Beth replied, thinking about a certain cloaked man and her new membership that she got just from bumping into him.
"So, what are you up to now?" Andrea asked, glancing between Beth and Adam.
"Uh, we explored some ancient ruins yesterday, but I'm just fighting now. I don't really have anything else to do at the moment," Beth said with a shrug.
"Ancient ruins? Where?" Andrea asked, intrigued.
"I mean, to the northeast somewhere. I couldn’t exactly say, our airship just did an autopilot thing and took us there," Beth explained with another shrug.
"Your airship?! You have your own airship already?" Andrea asked incredulously.
"Uh, yeah," Beth answered hesitantly.
"Let's go!" Andrea exclaimed, pulling on them and dragging both Beth and Adam out of the arena.
"Go? Go where?" Beth asked.
"You've got a fucking airship. Of course we're gonna go explore!" Andrea exclaimed frustratedly, like it was the most obvious thing.
"Oh. Okay," Beth said ambivalently, frustrating the other girl with her nonchalance.