The dim blood red light, rising from the streets, from the buildings, from the city itself, made it seem as if the city was bleeding, slowly drifting towards its death. An illusion, created by the constant battles and deaths in the city. The city itself was eternal. Even if Wanderers stopped coming to the city, it would just become ‘Lost’ once again, but it would never die. Was that why everyone had named it as the Lost City?
Lost in his thoughts, Alnea kept staring back into the blood red light, trying to figure out its mysteries, until Yuri leaned into his ears, and said, “Everyone is here, Alnea.”
Tearing his eyes away from the million-year mysteries beckoning to him, Alnea turned back towards the Star Seekers, and gave them a nod, before leading them into the Blood Hall. Technically, it was still night, so Martha had not come to the take over her shift yet, leaving another woman to take charge of her counter. Wanderer Tia was still in the Blood Hall though… How was she always there when he came to the Blood Hall? Did she not need to take rest?
Waving his hand to greet the red robed woman, Alnea led the Star Seekers directly to the counter of Black Desert Trial. It was a medium sized counter, manned by two women, both with a black box, and a queue in front of them. Of the two queues, one was noticeably longer, while the Wanderers in the other queue had more haggard face, and looked visibly tired. Even without asking Ralph and the rest, Alnea could tell which queue he needed to be in.
Pausing for a moment, just enough for his thoughts to run on their own, and come to a decision, Alnea took the Star Seekers to stand behind the longer queue. Thankfully, the woman behind the counter was clearing the queue at a relatively quick pace, making them wait for only a sixth of an hour or so.
“Your Blood Card, please,” the woman said to Alnea, with a smile on her face. Her smile was nothing compared to Vestia or Yuri’s smile though. And he had no intention of inviting more trouble to himself. So, he just quietly handed over his Blood Card, waiting for the woman to finish the procedures.
“It looks like this is your first time taking the Trial,” the woman said, glancing at the large string of zeroes on his Blood Card, before placing it on her black box. “…You still have around eleven months till your deadline. Are you sure that you want to take the Black Desert Trial now?”
“I am sure.”
“It is your choice,” the woman said, shrugging her shoulders, not in the least bothered by what might happen to him in the desert. “Will you be taking the trial as a team, or on your own?”
“Is there a difference?”
“…If you take it as a team, then depending on the strength of your team, you will have an extra team quota to meet.”
“…I will take it as a team.”
“Will your entire team be participating in the trial, or will it be just a few of you?”
“All of us will be participating in the trial.”
“…You should know it already, but just for the sake of formality, I am going to ask you anyway. Do you know how the points are calculated for the Black Desert Trial?”
“I… We do.”
“Very well then,” the woman nodded, tinkering with the black box in front of her. “Since it is your first time taking the trial, let me remind you of a few things. Your annual individual quota is ten thousand points, while your annual team quota is hundred thousand points. If you fail to meet these quotas, you will be asked to leave the Lost City.
“In addition, you will also need to fulfil additional quotas every time you participate in the Trial. Although you will not be asked to leave the city if you fail these additional quotas, you will still have to pay a certain amount of fine. This time, your individual trial quota is fifty points, while your team quota is two thousand five hundred points.”
The woman paused, and retrieved his Blood Card from the black box, before handing it back to him.
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“Your details have been registered. Next, you just need to show your Blood Card at the city gates to leave the city.”
“Thank you, Wanderer…”
“…I will tell you my name if you manage to survive this time,” the woman said, and paused for a moment, before adding, “May your Trial be successful, and bring you closer to your goals.”
“…Thank you,” Alnea said once again, bowing sightly to show his gratitude, before walking away from the counter. He did not go far though. Giving enough space for other Wanderers to go about their business, he kept waiting for the rest of the Star Seekers to complete their registration, which did not take long either. The woman truly was efficient with her job, wasting no time in idle chat, like Wanderer Tia or Martha. But that was to be expected.
Glancing at his Blood Card, Alnea looked at his rank in the Arcanist and Scholar Halls. It was around ten thousand. That should also be the number of Wanderers registered in the Sixth Blood Hall. Even if only a tenth of them came to the counter of the Black Desert Trial every day, that would still bring the footfall of the counter to around a thousand Wanderers. Dealing with so many people in just a day… Of course, the woman had to be efficient in her job.
“Is there anything that you still have left to do in the city?” Alnea said to the Star Seekers, pocketing his Blood Card back into the folds of his robe.
“…I think I saw—
“Except for Karl.”
“…This is discrimination—
“No? Good. Let us head to the city gates then.”
“I…”
“If there is anyone who would like to say anything, do it so while we are walking.”
“…I am beginning to feel as if this is not a very good idea…”
“Give it up Karl. You have already registered for the trial. Whether you want it or not, you have to come with us now.”
“…If I die, there is no need to send my body back to my clan. Just bury me in the desert…”
“No one is going to die, Karl. We are going out just to get used to the desert, and work on our teamwork. We will come soon after completing our quotas.”
“…I hope so.”
Alnea shook his head, as he made his way down the stairs of the Blood Hall. The eerie blood red light of the city, giving it an illusion of slow, and painful death, was not helping with Karl’s courage. Still, as he had said, there was nothing Karl could do, except follow them through the dark, dim red streets, as the cold winds of the winter brushed through the cuffs of their sleeves.
Alnea himself was not bothered much by the cold winds. Then again, not everyone’s robe was luxurious as his. Thankfully, they were all used to the cold, so except for rubbing their hands from time to time to keep them warm, they did not show much of a reaction to the cold. Against the Wanderers huddling on the streets though, especially those who camped near the city gates, none of them could hold back their disdain.
These Wanderers, with tattered robes, and twisted minds, were all the same as he had seen them when he had entered through the city gates. Cold, and hungry for new prey. Even the city gates, half as tall as the walls of the city itself, with countless figures and symbols carved in its surface, matching perfectly with its arch, telling the stories of a time long past, was the same as he remembered. Beautiful, with a hint of sacredness.
Dim as the red light of the city was, it could not hide the beauty of the gates. They were almost like a work of art. Almost. If not for the black pillar, similar to the ones next to the gates of the Trial Space in the Blood Hall, near a corner of the gates, the gates truly might have looked perfect. The city surely did have a strange sense of aesthetics.
Ignoring the hungry eyes being directed at them, Alnea led the Star Seekers to the black pillar, before placing his Blood Card onto the pillar. Almost immediately, lines began to appear on the wall, carving the shape of a door in the gates. No, the door had always been there. It was just that its edges were so seamlessly bleeding into the larger gate, that if he had not activated the gate’s mechanism, he would not even have found the door…
Although it was not the first time he had such clever mechanism, Alnea still could not help but marvel at the craftsmanship of the city. Everything about it was so immaculately detailed… No wonder everyone thought that the city housed a legacy from the Age of Gods. What else could explain such attention to detail? What else could explain the city’s seemingly eternal existence?
…Why was he thinking about such things though? Suppressing the irrelevant thoughts to the bottom of his Heart, Alnea looked at the door once again. He had thought that the door would be like the other doors in the city, and open on its own. But after revealing its existence, the door just stood there in silence, awaiting his next actions.
“…Just give it a little push,” Vestia whispered from behind him. “That is how these doors work.”
Nodding at Vestia to thank her help, Alnea put away his Blood Card, and tried to push the door open, only to be rendered speechless by its ridiculous weight. A little push she said… What could a little push do against a mountain? Even when he put all his weight behind his push, he managed to open only a small slit between the door and the gate… And the door seemed to take over the task from him, widening the slit. Not by much, but enough for him to slip through.
“…See you on the other side,” Alnea said to his teammates, as he waved at them with a grin, before stepping out of the city, and into the darkness of the desert.