“Found it,” Alnea said, pointing to the counters towards the left end of the hall with his eyes. The ones with one of the longest queues. Just as they had been the day before. The crowd of people around those counters was so conspicuous, that it was hard not to notice them. It was just that the previous times he had been to the Blood Hall, he had no clues as to what the strange symbols above those counters read. But at the moment…
“Should we go check it out? Or wait for Martha first?”
“What are you two hesitating about? Didn’t we talk about what we have to do last night?”
“…We also talked about trying to gather as much information as possible. And for some reasons, Martha seems to have quite a good impression of you two.”
“…But I don’t like that woman.”
“I don’t like her either. But we need to understand how—
“No need,” Yuri said, glancing over the place where they had seen Martha the day before. “We don’t know what she wants from us… It would be best if we do not owe her any more favours than we already do.”
“…Then what should we do now? Walk directly to the counters, and ask them what we want to know?”
“…That does not sound like too bad an idea,” Yuri said, flashing him her innocent smile, before walking towards the counters. She did not even give him the chance to refute. Crazy girl… But he liked her craziness. With a grin on his face, he picked up his pace, and soon caught up with her and Cecilia. And after a brief discussion, they walked up to the counter of the Warrior Hall.
The counter was roughly thrice the size of the counter where they had registered their identities, with four Wanderers—three men and one woman— manning the counter. And all four of them were standing behind a black box resting on the counter, with the woman directing the people standing in queue to one of the three men according to their requests.
It was not just the counter of the Warrior Hall though. The counters of the Arcanist and Scholar Hall were also working in a similar way. Only the counter for the Black Desert Trial was a little different, with only two women manning the counter. However, neither Alnea, nor the girls had any intention of challenging the Black Desert Trial just yet. So, for the moment, they decided to stick to their decision, and line up in the queue of the Warrior Hall.
A needlessly long queue, Alnea noted. After all, the Wanderers may have become less wary of each other in the Blood Hall, but they still maintained distance of around a metre or so in the queue. No wonder the main lobby of the Blood Hall was so large. Thankfully, the Wanderers behind the counter were quite efficient in their work, taking only few moments to deal with each Wanderer. They were going through the Wanderers so swiftly that he did not even have the time to look at other counters in the Blood Hall before he found himself in front of the counter.
“Welcome to the main reception of the Warrior Hall,” the red robed woman behind the counter said with a smile. “Which trial are you here to challenge?”
“…I am new to city. I do not know much about the three Halls, and their trials. Can you tell me a little about them?”
“No wonder I did not recognise your face,” the woman said, nodding at him with her constant smile. “Have your seniors not told you about the city?”
“They tried to tell me, but I refused their help,” Alnea lied without batting an eye. “Trying to explore the city on my own is more fun.”
“It looks like you are quite confident of yourself. How old are you little brother?”
…Why was everyone calling him little? Was he so small? He had already caught up to Cecilia and Yuri in height!
“…Eighteen years.”
“…You like to joke too, little brother,” the woman said with a laugh. “I guess it was my fault for asking something that I should not. I hope you will not be angry with me. As compensation, I will tell you about the Blood Hall and its different trials. How about it?”
“…Then I will thank you in advance, Wanderer…”
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“Tia,” the woman said. “You can call me Wanderer Tia.”
“…Wanderer Tia.”
“Good,” the woman nodded, before glancing at Yuri and Cecilia. “Are the two girls behind you your companions?”
“…Yes.”
“Then are they also trying to explore the city on their own?”
“…You can say that.”
Wanderer Tia’s smile blossomed even more at his words. Looking back at Yuri and Cecilia, she motioned with her hands, asking them to come forward. Knowing that their plan had been seen through, Cecilia and Yuri gave up listening from a distance, and walked up to the counter with awkward smiles on their faces.
“We are sorry, Wanderer Tia.”
“It does not matter,” Tia said, still smiling at the girls. “Overhearing conversations is nothing. I used to be even more daring at your age. Besides, you did no harm, and were just trying to glean some information. That is a very rare quality in Wanderers these days. I am very optimistic about you three.”
“…Thank you for your praise, Wanderer Tia.”
“Now, let’s see. What do you know about the three Halls?”
“…That all three Halls have Trials.”
“As long as we can pass the trials, we will get some benefits. Including some trial points and Blood Coins.”
“Blood Coins aside, the trial points we will earn should correspond to our performance in the trials. And they should also decide our rank in the trials.”
“…Also, if we wish to enter the inner city, then we must earn a certain number of trial points.”
“Not bad,” Tia said, nodding at them. “It is indeed as you said. If you wish to enter the inner city, then you must earn some considerable amount of trial points in the three Halls. Even your ranks in the halls will affect whether you can enter the inner city or not. But that is only a small part of the trials. Before I tell you about the trials though, let me ask you, are you aiming to enter the inner city, or are you here to just gain some experience?”
“Is there any difference?”
“Why would I ask such a question if there were no differences?” Tia said, shaking her head, while dropping her smile for a solemn look. “If you just want to experience the Lost City, then I would recommend you to not do your best in the trials. Otherwise, if you perform well, then you will enter the eyes of all the clans in the Fifth Sector. And if perform extremely well, then you might even become famous in the entire Lightning Region.”
“Is that not a good thing?”
“…I should not bring down your enthusiasm, but as your senior, both on the path of Wanderers, and in the Lost City, I must remind you that the world is not as beautiful as you think it is. And neither are the Orthodoxies as cordial as they appear to be. After more than a million years of living together, there are bound to be some grudges amongst the Orthodoxies… The clans of our Fifth Sector are no exception.
“Forget the clans of our Fifth Sector. There are times when even the Supreme and Origin clans clash with each other. Even the Wanderers of the Union are the same. Since the beginning of the world, war is the only constant. And in wars, nibbing potential threats in their buds is a common occurrence. Normal geniuses are one thing. But judging from your ages, you three do not seem to be ordinary geniuses. Or else, your clans would not have allowed you to roam the Lost City on your own.
“With your potential, you will have quite a high chance of becoming Mystic Wanderers. And no Orthodoxy has enough Grand Wanderers to deploy them on all fronts. In such situation, it almost certain that you will become the main stay of your clans in the future, often deciding the course of wars. If your rival clans learn of your existence, then your future will not be very peaceful. Rather than risking assassinations, it would be better if you just explore the city, and leave after you have broadened your horizons.”
“…If there are so many disadvantages, why do people still want to enter the inner city?”
“Because ambitious people never care about their lives,” Tia said with a helpless smile. “After going through the trials, you will learn about a few of the benefits that the Lost City can bring to you. And those are just the benefits you can gain in the outer city. The inner city will have even greater benefits. Benefits enough for people to risk their lives.”
“…What are those benefits?”
“Did you not wish to explore the city on your own?” Tia said with a playful smirk on her face. “I do not wish to spoil your fun just yet. How about you go through the trials first, and experience for yourself whether those benefits are worth risking your lives or not? And whether you wish to enter the inner city or not…”
“…What if we want to enter the core city?”
“You even know of the core city?” Tia said, looking at Alnea with surprise. “It looks like your clan has quite high expectations of you.”
“Which is why we must enter the core city.”
“…Then you should go ahead and do your best in the trials. Try to earn as many points as you can. Not only for the benefits of the trials, but also for entering the inner city. At the very least, you should complete all the trials, and reach the top hundred ranks of all three Halls.”
“…That is why we want to learn more about the trials.”
“What exactly are the trials of the three Halls?”
“How do we earn more points in the trials?”
“And how do we improve our ranks in the Halls?”