It wasn’t too hard to gather adventurers to escort the Seekers. Most of them had been conscripted after all, and those who were powerful enough to be asked to escort the Seekers would be smart enough to realise the benefit they can obtain from it. Each adventurer team was made from five people, and since each Seeker would have two teams escorting them, they would have 10 adventurers protecting them, but also ready to eliminate them should they pose a threat to the Reinga Kingdom.

There was a low chance of needing to eliminate the Seekers however, the main problem for the adventures was the nature of the Seekers. Humans were naturally at the [D] rank, but as one of the civilized races they had access to classes to overcome this weakness. It would take five adventurers to kill a magical lifeform at the same rank as the adventurers. The adventurers weren’t too concerned about threats to their life therefore, this was a relatively safe job and afterwards they would get access to the dungeon whenever they liked, no, what concerned them was the boredom and company. A golem or automaton would have a simple intelligence, even at high ranks, they would be frightfully boring, and, as the leaders of their own expeditions, probably wouldn’t set time for relaxation in cities or camps.

As the 350 adventurers gathered in the courtyard of the palace, escorted by the Guardian Legion that protected the capital at all times, they stood face to face with the Master. The War Master, prince Ragnar was gathered to impress upon them the authority of the crown, and the Master of Wizardry, Grand Magus Archibald, was here to open a gate for them to the Bulwark, since the permanent gate was still under construction, and would be for months to come.

The first sign that the Seekers wouldn’t be what they expected was when Ambassador James, formerly Apprentice James, arrived to go with them and told them the names of the automaton that they would be escorting. Surely a mindless automaton would have no need for a name, right?

When the portal was opened the adventurers stepped through into a classical building. The Custodian had styled the entrance after the Parthenon but much larger, built upon the peak of a steep mountain. The bone white marble was interlaced with veins of gold, giving the structure an aura of purity and divinity. The portal opened in the pit where the rainwater would collect, but in this land, there were no clouds for rain to fall from. In front of them was the doorway leading out into the starless eternal night, lit by pale blue fires leading down the mountain into a gaping maw in the ground.

The adventurers turned around and saw a beautiful construction levitating above the ground. Its shape was shifting ethereally, as if a figure obscured by swirling mists, but it always maintained and its cuboid fractals, an alien beauty akin to synthetic bismuth crystals. These shifting cuboids would reveal themselves to by a tiny part of a pyramid, which was in turn merely a corner of another cuboid forming an impossible spiral. The constantly changing nature gave the impression of always being a part of an ineffable whole, and impression only further amplified by the beautiful rainbow of colours expressed by the pattern.

As the adventurers flooded into this building, underlit by a warm orange glow they all turned and looked at this wonderous art. Quickly, everyone was through the gate, just staring, mesmerised by this strange crystal. Standing in the shadows of the second floor were the Seekers, not exactly hidden but much less eye-catching in the same room as this shifting statue. The Seekers had already admired this structure and were patiently waiting for the adventurers to have their fill, well, apart from Bradly.

“*cough*” he fakes coughed. He was a machine and had no lungs, but the other Seekers didn’t call him out on it.

“Ahem” he continued, still not attracting their attentions.

“EXCUSE ME.” He said, turning up the volume on his voice, finally breaking the adventurers out of their stupor.

Immediately, most adventurers realised the incredible adventurers they could have been in. It would have been relatively simple to assassinate at least some of them before the others realised.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“Welcome to the Temple, we are the Seekers, please follow the instructions of Speaker James and go to your appointed Seeker.” Rictor spoke in a clear voice that reverberated throughout the entire Temple clearly.

At this, the Custodian spoke to James and gave him the outlined groups based on what he’d observed from the equipment of the adventurers and their rank.

The adventurers, confused and feeling more than a little out of their depths, gathered around the pillars they were pointed to, as the Seekers did the same and came to meet them.

“‘Ello mate!” cheerfully greeted Jeffree, walking over cheerfully. He’d had a mechanical peg-leg and had a tricorne hat as an extension of his head, and a cannon for a hand. His coat was black but shared the same golden trim and embroidery of all other Seekers. Along his body was neon blue highlights, the colour of the sky.

“pleased to meet ya, I’m Jeff, the astro-pirate!” The adventurers were stunned by this cheerful machine striding up to them. They’d been expecting a dull, semi-sentient machine, and had come over here to socialise with the other team, but this man was way out of their expectations.

“ya don’t need to stand on order lads, come on, let’s get ta know each other!” Jeffree continued, immediately trying to make friends with his escorts for the next five years.

Rictor Daly, the most ominous of the Seekers, with his shambling gait and writhing tendrils, was greeted differently from Jeffree. He was much closer to what the adventurers expected and had come with no intention to make friends, me needed guardians rather than companions who could die while he would simply return. His greeting was cold “Hello, I am the Lore Keeper, you are to protect me while I learn.”

In this way, the first meeting between the Seekers and their escorts was filled with uncertainty for both parties. One expected the other to be a social as a brick and was surprised by actual character and personality, and the other was not sure what to expect from a culture and society from another world.

The groups slowly filtered down the mountain as they spoke, being allowed into the dungeon quickly to get a taste for combat with one another, especially for the Seekers. The Custodian was aware that the human mind wouldn’t be able to take a life so easily, especially when they’re fresh from utopia. To allow for effective combat despite this, the Custodian made an AI subroutine that would take over during combat and would be guided by the human mind. This degree of separation would reduce guilt, and as the Seekers became acclimatised to killing this feature would reduce, after all, if they could do it themselves it would be a waste to get a subroutine to do it.

Getting a taste for death in a den of bloodthirsty monsters wasn’t too hard, and quickly all the Seekers had got their first kill and moved onto trying to co-ordinate better with their escorts.

After an hour of this they moved back to the Temple, intending to go back to reality. The Custodian raised 385 pedestals from the ground. Each pedestal was had a name carved into it, and upon it rested an amulet. Each amulet was like a smaller version of the beautiful, eternally shifting statue. There were two variables in the amulets depending on who it was intended for. The amulets for humans were visibly less than the others, the colours somehow duller, the patters less interesting, less meaningful. The other variable was the size, increasing or decreasing dependent on the rank of its bearer.

Every human looked at the amulets in wonder, awestruck over given this splendid jewellery.

The Custodians Mark [N/A]

The bearer is connected to the ineffable mind of the Custodian.

The bearers perception increases moderately.

The bearer can slow their perception of time greatly one per day.

Some individuals, however, also decided to examine to amulets destined for the Seekers, destined seemed the only word fitting.

The Custodians Eyes [N/A]

The bearer is connected to their strange guardian, the Custodian.

The bearers perception increases greatly.

The bearers perception of time is slowed by a small amount.

The bearer can slow their perception of time every 10 minutes.

The bearer can call upon the mind of the Custodian once per day

It was immediately clear that this amulet would solve many problems but would also cause many more.