Edan considered the Traders Guild to be a bit like an estranged older brother to the other guilds. Using the same metaphor, the Merchant Guild would be the youngest, favorite brother.

The Traders Guild, like the Hunters, Crafters, and Thieves Guild, had branches in realms much higher than Terra. The Merchant Guild had started on Terra and weren’t likely to make it off-world any time soon.

Backing from The World Union, as well as buying favor from the other sects, allowed the Merchant Guild to flourish. The Traders Guild, by contrast, tended to keep to themselves. Uninterested in growing their power base, the other sects left them alone.

They were the only Guild with their headquarters on the Eastern bank of the Kentushi, though their building did have a prime location near the very top of the sprawling city. It would be a long walk for Edan.

He tried to keep himself occupied by thinking over options for the upcoming dungeon dive, but after a few minutes, he realized all he was doing was frustrating himself. Instead, he focused on breathing, allowing the ambient Vitalis in the surroundings to seep into him. It wasn't as effective as meditating but it was good practice.

The further he got from the central area of Stratta the more spacious the surroundings became. Stores now had gardens out front as well as outback. There were small alleyways between buildings. The buildings themselves were built out, instead of up, with large squat floor plans. The roads weren’t as congested either and those people he did pass ignored him. Carriages also became more common and Edan was forced up onto the sidewalk.

Going off the map in his head, Edan turned towards the shore. He passed a warehouse, the gate manned by a pair of guards in heavy armor, the high walls surrounding the property left only the roof of the central building visible. A wooden board stuck to the wall next to the entrance said Mercantile Methods and Materials.

Edan moved on.

There was a moving company after that. The carriages and trucks lined neatly in the yard. A small office stood near the back of the property and Edan could make out the masts of several ships sticking up behind them. They likely had their own personal jetty.

The Traders Guild was easy to spot. It was the largest property along this stretch. The red brick wall ran on for a good while, bending out of sight around a corner. The walls were topped with white iron designed like vines, the leaves and thorns along the vines glinted sharply under the sun.

A sign hung from a post near the road, dusty and worn, it swayed gently in the breeze. The words Traders Guild were stenciled on the sign in faded gold. Edan turned off the road and walked up to the large double gate. It was made of the same white metal. It didn’t look locked and Edan wondered if he was just meant to enter.

He had been here twice before, and both times the gate had been open.

There was a smaller, human-sized, gate cut into the main large metal construct and Edan pushed at it gingerly. It swung open silently.

The yard was large and barren. The grass had died out in patches, as if items had been left on them too long, starving the greenery of sunlight. There was a long thin building running along the back made of the same red brick. In place of windows and doors, there were great big sections of wall missing and Edan could see crates and boxes stacked high on top of each other. Beyond the crates, Edan could see the swift-moving water of the Kentushi.

“Oi! Whaddaya doin?” Called out a rough voice, startling Edan.

A barrel-chested man was stomping towards Edan, his arms bare and covered in sweat. He wore a leather apron covered in grease and smears of dirt. Sunlight shone off his bald head. Dark eyes glared at Edan, waiting for an answer.

“Delivering a package,” Edan answered a lot more calmly than he was feeling. “What are you doing?”

The big man pulled up short before letting out a chuckle. The aggressive atmosphere changing.

“I thought I was chasing a wee lad home to his ma.” The man said, taking a closer look at Edan. “But ye ain't a wee lad. Jus wee, aye? A wee man.”

The large smile took any sting from the words and Edan had to smile back. The man had a gap between his two front teeth, turning his smile comical.

“Who ya deliverin to lad?” The man seemed to have already forgotten he had claimed Edan was no lad.

“Guild master Marcus, assuming he’s still head of the guild.”

The big man nodded, whipping his hands on his apron. All it did was smear the grease and dirt around.

“Aye, Marcus be running things. Aint see no reason he’d stop. If it’s the big man ya be wanting ya best head inside and wait a bit.”

“Is he busy?”

“Aye. Meeting last I heard.” The big man rolled his shoulders. “Meetings be the plague of creation, lad.”

“Sure,” Edan said, getting ready to move past the man. “It was nice meeting you…and uhh, thanks for the advice.”

“Was no advice. Ya want advice lad? Surround yaself with metal and etchings. There be peace and creation in such places.”

Edan watched the man walk off towards the building in the back.

“Metal and etchings?” he muttered before his eyes went big. “Choas Realms! That was a scribe?”

Edan looked around, in case anyone had heard his hiss, but he remained alone. He slapped a hand against his forehead in exasperation.

“Of course, they have their own scribe. They probably have a whole team!”

Shaking his head at his own inexperience, Edan moved quickly to the main building. It was large and multistoried. Made of the same red brick as everything else, there were two wings jutting off from the central building. Perhaps it had been a private mansion before the Traders Guild came along. Perhaps the Traders Guild preferred their headquarters to look like an expensive home.

Ivy crawled up the walls, trimmed back around the glass windows and near the guttering along the dark slate roof. Occasionally there would be movement past one of the many windows, but no one called out to Edan as he approached the large front door.

These, made of dark, thick wood, were open at least and Edan breathed a sigh of relief. The foyer looked like a normal office space with chairs along one wall, and cubicles laid out neatly behind a reception desk. The walls were lined with small, private, offices of frosted glass and closed doors. Edan could just make out the small text on each door in white cursive text.

A woman sat behind the desk, her eyes tracking Edan as he entered. Her dark hair was streaked with white and tied in a bun so tight it pulled at her skin, making her eyebrows seem unnaturally high. A thin nose and mouth made Edan think of Mrs. Cinnaburn.

“How can I help you?”

It was the womans voice that put Edan at ease. Firm, feminine, and without a trace of emotion. She was all work and Edan doubted she was anything but professional. Unlike Mrs. Cinnaburn whose every word dripped with a barely hidden malice.

“I’ve got a parcel for Guild Master Marcus,” Edan said, almost patting his chest on reflex.

The woman continued to look at him, waiting to see if he would elaborate. When he didn’t she asked. “And what is it?”

“Private.”

“Very well. You may leave it with me and I’ll see he gets it.”

“Sorry, but I have to deliver it to him directly.”

There was another pause as she looked at him. When she spoke, it was still emotionless.

“Is he expecting you?”

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“No. Yes. Maybe?” Edan shifted his answer as he wondered if Marcus really was expecting him. “Harvey sent me. I’ve been here before, though usually just to drop off a letter or something.”

The woman nodded stiffly. Edan didn’t think it had anything to do with him. She looked like she did everything stiffly. She made a mark in the book before her before reaching over and laying her hand on a dark brown crystal. She was silent for a couple of seconds before nodding again.

“You may take a seat. Once the Guild Master is finished in his meeting, you may head in.”

With nothing better to do, Edan slid into a seat along the wall and crossed his legs. Leaning his head back his eyes drifted close as he waited patiently.

“Emge?”

The voice startled Edan and his eyes snapped open. Disorientated. He didn’t think he had fallen asleep, but he had definitely lost track of time. Edan looked at the wall of brown before him before tracing the robes up to the smiling face of the female Titan.

“It is good to see you Emge,” She said, her soft voice still at odds with her appearance. “I did not get to mention it to you earlier, but you fought well against the other Bwaka.”

“Thanks,” Edan muttered, getting to his feet and scratching the back of his head nervously. “I got lucky though.”

“But you learned?”

“Yeah. I-”

“Guild Master Marcus will see you now.” The receptionist called out, her eyes on Edan.

Edan glanced at her, then back to the towering woman, not sure which was more rude, making a Guild Master wait, or dismissing a high-ranked cultivator. He was saved from making a choice when the Titan indicated he should listen to the receptionist.

“I shall await you here.” She said before moving to stand beside the seat. It looked comically small next to her.

“...sure.”

Did she think he had something he wanted to discuss with her? Or worse, did she have something she wanted to discuss with him? Either way, Edan was suddenly more concerned about the continued conversation with the Titan than he was about meeting Marcus.

The receptionist showed him to the back of the room. Most of the staff present in their cubicles were sorting through paperwork or staring intently at items before taking notes. There was a large section of one wall blocked off by heavily frosted white glass. Edan saw the words Guild Master written in cursive across the redwood door.

While she knocked on the door, Edan looked back across the room. It looked so much like an office space that he forgot he was standing in a Guild Hall for a moment.

“Enter.”

The voice was rough like gravel rolling downhill.

The receptionist opened the door and stepped aside, allowing Edan to enter.

Guild Master Marcus felt like a large man. It was the only way Edan could describe him. He wasn’t physically large. It was his presence that filled the room and pushed against Edan as he entered. A sense of immovability. An unshakable confidence.

The white long-sleeved shirt he wore was rolled up to the elbows, displaying muscular forearms, and the fabric stretched tight across broad shoulders, but he wasn’t bulky. Long, thick, red hair framed an angular face and pale yellow eyes watched Edan enter. The man's pupils were slitted, like a cat.

“You have something for me?” He asked in a voice that Edan felt more than heard.

Edan pulled the wrapped parcel from his jacket and handed it over.

Marcus turned it over, examining the twine and the knot, before lifting it to his nose and inhaling. His gaze turned back to Edan as he placed the parcel on his desk.

“Harvey must trust you a great deal. Give him my thanks.”

It was a clear dismissal and Edan was glad to take it. He had never been bothered by the pressure given off by high-level cultivators and Marcus was about as high level as they came on Terra, if Edan had to guess. No, there was something else about that man that made Edan uneasy. He felt like a fish being eyed by a hungry seagull, and he didn’t like it.

The receptionist showed him back to the entrance before once more resuming her place behind the desk. The Titan hadn’t moved an inch, though her lips turned up in a smile as Edan approached.

“Come, Emge, let us walk and talk.”

Edan turned towards the door and the Titan joined him. Out in the yard, Edan turned to look at the sun. He could pull his system up to check the time, but he enjoyed feeling the warmth on his face and it kept him more grounded. He knew a few students that relied on the system for everything and they spent half the day with their eyes blank, staring at something only they could see.

There was no way the Titan was getting through the smaller gate Edan had used. She proved him right when she ignored it completely and pulled the main gate back. Edan pretended not to see the metal bend under her grip.

“So, uh…were you looking to trade something in?” Edan asked.

It may have been nosy to ask, but Edan’s brain wasn’t doing much thinking. He was nervous. Talking to the Titan in class was one thing, but out in public she stood out even more, and the people on the streets were staring.

She towered head and shoulders above even the tallest person. Most of her body was hidden under the long flowing robes she wore, but if anything, it made her look even larger.

“No. and yes.,” The Titan answered. She walked slowly, her steps small. Almost shuffling, so Edan could keep up. She didn’t seem to mind. “I had business to discuss with the Guild Master.”

“Lorien, a…friend, I guess you could call her, mentioned the Traders Guild was responsible for bringing you here?”

“My contract ensures the guild may bring in another elder,” she admitted, her pale eyes watching the people around them as they walked. “Though the sect and academy do not hold chains as strong as they think.”

Edan, unconsciously, had been picking back alleys and streets that were less crowded as they made their way toward the center of Stratta. The upside was fewer stares, the downside was the less-than-ideal scenery.

The door to a pub was thrown open as they passed. It slammed against the wall with a bang! and rebounded, almost smacking a man in the face. Cussing up a storm the man stumbled out into the afternoon sun, squinting at the glare. He wore the thin clothes and waterproof boots and pants of a bargeman. His skin was tanned dark from days spent on the open water with nothing to protect him from the sun.

Tottering forward the man squinted down the road, looking lost. He turned around and that's when he spotted the Titan. Eyes going large he swayed dangerously as his mouth fell open. Edan ignored him. The Titan waved and smiled.

“Chaos realms, that'sa biiiig woman,” he slurred, staring, before looking back at the building he had walked out of. “Or I’m drunk! Heya missy!”

The man took a step forward, hand held out to stop the Titan. His feet forgot how they were meant to move and he tripped, falling flat on his face. A woman across the road gasped before hurrying on, her gaze focused forward.

“Is he well?” The Titan asked.

Edan was about to check when a loud snore ripped from the man.

“He’s fine. Probably came down on a barge from up the Kentushi and figured he’d get some drinking in before heading back.” Edan shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll wake up in time to get back.”

As they carried on Edan turned to the Titan.

“You know, I never got your name.”

“Mine is a name hard to say, but you may call me Tali. Some call me the Genesis Titan.”

“Tali,” Edan tried it out and found the name suited her. “I’m Edan Mawe, some call me the local human.”

“Edan Mawe, the local human, have you lived here all your life?” Tali asked.

“I was born in Solaris. That’s the Capital,” Edan added quickly, remembering she wasn’t from Terra. “But some stuff happened when I was a baby so I moved here.”

Edan finished lamely. He didn’t really have a good way of describing what happened with his parents without going into detail and he had no interest in talking to Tali about private matters.

“You live with your family?”

Edan nodded, trying to think of a way to turn the conversation away from him.

“Are you heading back to the Academy?” he asked.

“No.”

There was a moment of silence. Edan didn’t feel comfortable asking more questions and Tali seemed content to just walk.

“So, uhh…how are you liking Terra?”

The corners of the Titans mouth twitched as if amused by Edan’s impatience.

“It is interesting. I do not often get to travel to a world so infantile. This world is still ripe with opportunity and growth.” Tali looked up at the sky. Edan followed her gaze.

“Looking for the Star Castle?” Edan guessed. “It’s locked to the moonlight or something. You should be able to see it tonight but during the day it’s invisible. Mrs. Cinnaburn explained it once, but I wasn’t really listening. She gets carried away whenever she talks about the Four Star Heavenly Sect and it makes me nauseous.”

The Titan cocked her head to the side, her brows drawing down in a frown. She didn’t say anything though, just continued walking.

They were almost back to Lucky Snips when she spoke again.

“Have you found your path yet?”

Edan shook his head confused. “I thought you got your Path after you birthed your system?”

“And you have not birthed your system?” She asked. Tali stopped in the middle of the road forcing people to walk around them. So large, and so imposing was her presence, that most moved to avoid her from far enough away that the pair stood in a little bubble of privacy.

“What? Of course not! You think I’d have done as bad as I did in the rankings if I had birthed my system?” Edan shook his head, laughing. “Not to mention I’d have left school already.”

Tali leaned forward so she could look into his eyes. A pressure leaked from her. Edan remembered Master Sims' aura and how it had felt almost like weights on his limbs. Tali’s was different. More substantial. It pressed down on Edan’s shoulders and weighed heavy on his mind, judging his character and telling him to kneel before a power so outside of his realm of consciousness, that he couldn’t hope to persevere.

Edan didn’t kneel. He looked back at Tali with a level gaze.

“You have not birthed your system and yet you stand tall before me. Tell me little Emge, why is it you do not bend?” Tali smiled and stood straight.

Edan blinked at the question, at a loss for what to say. He didn’t kneel because he didn’t want to kneel. The street wasn’t exactly clean and if he got his pants dirty Reema would kick his ass. And that would make Sanik laugh.

It seemed like Tali didn’t expect an answer. She turned and gestured down the street.

“Come, show me your home. I wish to speak with your parents.”

“You want to what now?”