A warm blue glow slowly creeps across the panel, spreading from Juliana’s hand. After a few seconds, a complicated runic sequence can be seen covering every inch of the silver metal. Juliana lowers her hand and the runes pulse twice before the panel phases out of existence, revealing a well-lit white corridor.

Emily stares speechlessly at the space the door used to occupy. They walk through the now-open entrance, and she feels them pass through a strange incorporeal membrane. The mana density inside is much higher than outside. Emily guesses it’s at least double the density of the Mandrago family estate. She glances back over her shoulder and sees the door phase back into existence as they pass, the runes quickly fading to leave a plain silver panel again.

“I’m guessing you also have no clue how those work?”

“Yep! I’m only first circle and those doors are the work of at least a third circle mage. All I know is that they react to the mana signature of the person injecting mana into it. They will only open for those who’ve been registered,” Juliana answers cheerfully as they walk deeper into the building.

“What circle can you go up to?”

“It depends on your talent, and no one really knows the exact requirements to increase their circle. However, most people who awaken can reach the second circle with hard work and meditation, and those with good talent can reach the third. Only the very talented gain enlightenment and reach the fourth circle. As for the fifth circle, it’s only a myth, there has never been a known fifth circle mage in the history of Ulea!”

Emily thinks back to the pressure she felt from Nicolas Mandrago and assumes he must be a fourth circle mage.

Damn, I have to work out how to kill the highest-grade mage within three years. At least my system gives me help on how to reach the next circle.

The empty corridor soon reaches an open room with a large magic circle engraved across every surface visible.

“This is one of the transportation circles for moving around The Dome. You have to stand inside,” Juliana explains while leading Emily to stand in the centre of the room, “and inject a bit of mana into it while thinking of the name of the place you want to go to. The names of the circles will be written on the map we’ll get you in a bit, so for now just don’t let go of my hand and we’ll move together.”

Emily watches as the room lights up with mana and space fluctuates around them. She feels a slightly nauseating sensation of being stretched and compressed as her vision fades. Suddenly, her vision clears, and the sensation disappears like a mirage. Emily looks around and sees a room almost identical to the last. However, this one has a closed door instead of an open entryway.

“Urgh, unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that feeling,” Juliana complains while looking over to Emily. “Are you okay? It’s normally pretty bad the first time.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she answers, before quickly adding: “It was a bit weird though.”

It was far better than time travel.

Juliana nods and walks over to exit the room.

“Always try to leave the transportation rooms quickly. There are safety measures, but it's best not to risk being here when other people try to teleport in,” she explains while opening the door and stepping out into a wide hall with several robed people milling about.

“This is the information hub. It’s where you can sign up for courses and missions or claim any family-allocated resources and contribution rewards.”

Emily takes in the vast hall around her with slight awe. Behind her is a wall of doors, with several mages walking in and out with purpose. The ceilings are high with several glowing white mana crystals providing clean, mana-dense light to the room. The other walls have several panels filled with glowing words, along with several desks recessed into them. Each desk has a clerk standing behind it, talking to people standing in queues waiting their turn.

Juliana pulls Emily towards one of the desks with fewer people queueing while asking her a question.

“Do you know which courses you want to sign up for first? You can sign up for more later, but it would be best to register for a few now.”

“Ah yes, I have a list of those I’m required to take,” Emily says, releasing Juliana's hand and reaching into her robes.

Emily presents the list and Juliana reads it over with a slight frown.

“Ew, good luck with that, some of those courses are going to be really boring.”

“Really? Which ones?”

“Etiquette and geopolitics. I had a tutor for them when I was little and always tried to hide when they came over.”

“Why does that not surprise me,” Emily chuckles as they arrive at the front of the queue, tucking the list back into her robes.

“Hello, how can I help you?” the clerk, a man wearing silver robes without a crest, asks with a businesslike smile.

“She’s a new member and needs to register and sign up for some courses,” Juliana answers for her.

The clerk glances at Emily’s crest before pulling out several silver metal plates and magic crystals of varying sizes from under the desk.

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“Name and family affiliation please.”

“Emily Coldstone of house Mandrago.”

He holds a fist-sized green crystal with complicated runic engravings in his hand, injecting mana into it for a few seconds before nodding and placing it down. Then he slots another similar green crystal into an empty socket on the metal plate and hands a small clear crystal with no engravings on it to Emily.

“Please inject some mana into this crystal to save your mana signature.”

Emily pushes mana out of her circle into the crystal and watches it change from clear to warm blue. She hands the crystal back to the clerk, and he places it into another socket on the plate. The mana in the small crystal begins flowing out, along the engraved channels and runes, before joining the green crystal, causing it to glow for a few seconds before going dim. The smaller crystal returns to being clear and the clerk removes the crystals from the plate before placing the clear crystal and plate back under the desk. He then places the first green crystal he used into a slot on one of the remaining plates and holds out his hand.

“Your crest please.”

Emily nods and reaches into her robes, unclipping the silver crest inside and handing it over. The clerk raises an eyebrow with surprise and Juliana starts beside her.

“Wait, you have a silver crest?” Juliana asks in clear disbelief.

“Yeah, the family said they were allocating me more resources due to my talent and gave me that. Though I’m not allowed to display it since I’m not actually a family member.”

“Ah, I guess being self-awakened earns you a few perks.”

As they talk, the clerk places the crest into a slot on the metal plate and green mana flows along its engravings. When the mana reaches the crest, small engravings are carved onto the back of it, forming a pattern of runes along with the number ‘50’ appearing clearly in small letters at the centre.

“Your crest is used for tracking your contribution points, of which you will get fifty for free every month due to your family’s contribution,” the clerk explains while handing back the crest.

“You can gain contribution points through completing missions on those boards over there.” He gestures towards one of the word-filled panels on the wall with a large group of people gathered around it. “Or through selling items, or doing well in classes. Private trades can also be performed by injecting mana into your crest and thinking of the number of points you’d like to transfer while tapping someone else’s crest. You can use contribution points to buy any number of things. You can buy the current list for one contribution point or a token for the market for ten contribution points.”

“You should get the token, it’s totally worth it. Sometimes people put items up for cheap when they get back from missions so you’ll miss the good deals without it,” Juliana advises her from the side.

“Okay, I’ll buy a token then please.”

The clerk walks to a wall of drawers behind him and slides one open, pulling out a coin-shaped green crystal. He walks back over and takes out another silver plate from under the desk, this one with an embedded green crystal already present.

“Please transfer ten points into this,” he says while presenting the plate.

Emily does as instructed, injecting a small amount of mana into the crest and tapping it against the silver plate while thinking, ten.

The number on the back of her crest reduces to ‘40’ and the clerk nods with a smile while handing over the crystal coin.

“Just inject mana into that and close your eyes whenever you want to see the current contribution market, just remember it won’t update while you’re outside The Dome. Limited items will be clearly marked when they’re posted, and if you send a pulse of mana into the token while thinking ‘claim’, as long as you have enough contribution points, the item will be put to the side for you to collect at one of these desks at your convenience.”

“Thank you.” Emily nods to the clerk while placing the token into a pocket inside her robes and clipping the crest back into place.

“No problem, just doing my job,” the clerk responds with a natural smile. “I assume you would like to be assigned a room now?”

“Ah, yes please.”

The clerk picks up the first green crystal again and closes his eyes for a few seconds as it glows with mana.

“Rooms B34, B53 and B71 are all currently free, which one would you like?” he asks while placing the crystal down and picking up the other green crystal.

He used that crystal to check I was signed up to join, to engrave my crest and now to check available rooms, it’s got to be an information receiver of some kind linked to a larger magic inside this building. I assume the one he just picked up is a transmitter since he used it to register my mana signature. How interesting! I wonder why they can’t use one crystal for both jobs when the token does a form of both.

“Oh, take room B53! I’m in B51 so we’d be neighbours!” Juliana exclaims, sparking an internal debate for Emily.

Why does she want to stay close? Is she really just very friendly, or have the Mandrago family sent someone to keep tabs on me? Hmm, I don’t think they’d feel the need: they seemed very confident in their mental magic... Ah well, I’ll see where this goes for now. It’s not like I’ll show her anything I want to hide from the Mandragos.

“Sure, I’ll have room B53 then please.”

The clerk closes his eyes and injects mana into the transmitter for a few seconds, then opens them and nods at Emily.

“All done, room B53 will now only open for you. Now, which courses would you like to sign up for?”

Emily pulls out the list again and reads off most of the courses listed.

“Can I sign up for basic etiquette, geopolitics, maths, English, and magic theory please?”

She misses out basic magic combat, deciding it’s best to wait till she’s learnt the basic theory for that.

“Sure.” The clerk repeats the transmission process again, this time taking a little bit longer than before.

“All done, you can check the class timetable on the board over there.” He gestures over towards one of the panels with only a few people standing nearby. “Or you can once again buy an updating course list token for ten contribution points. You can also use this list to sign up for courses in the future in a similar way to the market token.”

“Sure, I’ll buy that token as well then please,” Emily answers, enjoying the weird feeling of not having to think about whether she can afford it.

The clerk places the payment slab back on the desk as he turns back to the wall of drawers. Emily pays ten more points, and the clerk returns a few moments later with another green token.

“There you go, is there anything else you would like?” he asks while handing over the token.

“Ah, a map of The Dome as well please,” Juliana asks, surprising Emily.

“Trying to get rid of me already, are you?” Emily says with a hint of disappointment.

“No!” Juliana blurts, “I’m happy to take you anywhere.”

Emily giggles at her outburst and says with a smile: “Good, I’ll hold you to that.”

The clerk ignores them and walks back over to the drawers, this time returning with a rolled-up parchment.

“That’s one contribution point then please,” he says, presenting the payment slab for the final time.

Emily taps it with her crest, then takes the map and tucks it into her pocket.

“Thanks for your help!”

“It was a pleasure, Miss Coldstone.” The clerk bows lightly with his hand on his heart.

Emily turns to leave, with Juliana once again grabbing her hand, an action she is quickly getting used to.

“Where to next?” she asks as Juliana leads her back towards the wall of doors they came from.

“Let’s go drop your stuff off in your room and I’ll give you a tour!”