A knock at the door alerted Verlon to Robin’s presence. She stood, still in her night clothes, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she curiously looked about his office. He never let her in here unless he was present due to the potential danger of many of the items. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, just that accidents happen. He had enough scars to prove it too.
“Good morning, Robin.” Verlon set his pen down, careful not to smudge the fresh ink as he shuffled about a couple of the papers and cleaned up his mess of a desk.
“Good morning…” She shifted her weight from one foot to another in the doorway. “Umm… w-when are you leaving?”
Verlon pulled out his pocket watch from his trousers. It was a beat-up silver piece, but it still held time so he hadn’t bothered replacing it. The time sat still early in the morning. “In a couple hours… hmm… do you want to come with me to the Sekorium? I have to run a few things by.”
“I-I would like to,” Robin said, her head falling ever so slightly as her curly brown hair covered her face. He could still barely make out her downcast brown eyes through her chaotically curled hair.
Of course, he recognized the motion. It was her tell for when she was hiding her discomfort, something she had been doing for a long time. The fact that she even felt the need to hide her feelings annoyed him to no end, though there was nothing he could do about it aside from being encouraging. “But?”
Robin shrugged. “T-that place just freaks me out. Nothing important.”
Verlon sighed and stood up, setting his pen back in its holder. “Come on sis, your opinion is important to me. Look, you can stay here and I’ll hurry along in the Sekorium.”
She shook her head, her voice slightly steeled as she spoke. Or at least as steeled as her soft voice could get. “No. I-Ill go with you. You’re about to leave, and… it's just a bit uncomfortable, but I'll be fine.”
He hesitated. Usually, she wasn’t quite so adamant. Verlon was honestly a bit taken aback by her insistence to go with him. Though he has been busy working recently… Maybe he should spend more time with her. A couple days break from the constant loop of research and excursions wouldn’t hurt him, probably. “Alright… we’ll go by that candy shop you like on the way back too.”
Robin’s head shot up and her lips pulled into a broad smile that immediately lightened his mood. Truly, as long as she could be happy, Verlon would toss himself beyond the walls again and again. What was a bit of danger for a stable income in this day and age? “Really?”
“Yeah, we have some spare money…” He had enough to cover this month’s rent at twenty-seven coins, and then thirteen extra silver coins. Setting aside ten of those for savings, he had about three left. A little more than the cost of his errands, and he was about to start his excursion into the land beyond the walls once more, which promised decent pay. Of course, he used to have far more in savings, but he just recently spent most of it on a relic to help him accomplish his contract.
Verlon gathered a couple of papers from his desk. He then worked his way over to the tables. Ultimately, most of the stuff on the tables were just scraps he had found beyond the walls and dragged back. Most he was hoping a collector would find interesting, which was the only way he would sell the useless bits and bobs. There were a couple of hidden gems hiding amongst the mediocrity, for instance, what he grabbed.
In this case, ‘gem’ was literal. He picked up a small red gem that comfortably sat in the palm of his hand as it radiated warmth. The gem was known as a Brim-stone, quite common in the tier 3 contamination zones he roamed. If struck with a piece of steel, the gemstone would launch a cone of sparks far more than a piece of flint. They were quite handy, which is why he initially planned on keeping it as a spare.
The costs of living, however, dashed as many saving plans as they did livelihoods. He would have to sell it to the Sekorium for a couple of silver coins. It wasn’t like they were necessarily rare, but they were a pain in the ass to take. Due to their nature of radiating heat, beasts tended to use them in their nests. This made them easy to find, yet dangerous to actually acquire.
Verlon snatched his satchel from his gear, stuffing the papers, journal, and gemstone into it as he moved to the door. He flipped the four locks of the door and he followed Robin out. “I need to take a shower, and then we can go, okay?”
“Okay.” His sister glanced down at herself. More specifically, her pajamas. “I need to change anyway.”
Verlon went to their shared room - well-lit as the early morning sun peaked in through their window - and grabbed a set of clothes. The set, just like most of his clothes, consisted of simple dark-colored long-sleeved shirts and trousers. Most of his clothes focused on viability in Endenheim, the land beyond the Rhinegard, rather than aesthetics.
Their bathroom was a small space with barely enough room to squeeze in the necessities. After locking the door - and while waiting for the water to warm up - he looked at himself in the mirror. It was always weird seeing his own face, especially after he hadn’t actually looked at himself in a long time.
He wouldn’t say he was necessarily handsome, but he wasn’t ugly by any means. He was well built, muscles earned through dozens of trips beyond the walls and years of back-breaking work. His face had lost some fat remnants from his childhood since he last looked in the mirror, revealing a chiseled chin and jawline. He had pockmarked scars along his cheek that diminished his looks slightly; they were from a beast that had chomped onto his face awhile back.
The same curly brown hair as his sister sat atop his head, inherited from their mother. Their eyes, however, were different. Whereas his sister had their mother’s honey-brown eyes, he had inherited their father’s golden-blue. The rest of his face resembled his father’s, yet his sharp cheekbones definitely came from his mother.
A scar, one among many tracing across his body, drew his attention next. That particular one had come from the same dog-like beast that had snacked on his cheek. While it was biting his face, its claws had scrambled for purchase by digging into his chest. Of course, his chestplate would’ve stopped the attack, but this happened before he bought armor back when he just became a Seeker. He probably would've died that day if another Seeker hadn't been passing by.
The mirror fogged up as the shower grew hot, taking him from his introspection.
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Verlon led the way as he and his sister walked down the busy streets of Preshen. The rain had stopped hours back, and now a great many people were moving about the streets under the guiding rays of the sun. A western breeze blew through the maze of buildings, carrying with it the wretched scent of smog from the factories on the edge of the city.
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The smog was one of the reasons he liked being beyond the stalwart wall of the empire so often. Out there, the air was clean, untouched by the woes of man. At least, in the tier one - also commonly know as red - zones. The miasma polluting Endenheim grew to be rather suffocating further out from the empire, though any good Seeker would have their ways of dealing with it.
They blended in with the crowd, one among the many citizens of the Empire of Dawn. Or at least his sister did in her dark blue dress. He definitely stood out. They lived in a nicer side of town, meaning he was far underdressed. Most men around these parts wore three-piece suits and carried fancy canes, so his simple “working class” long-sleeved shirt and trousers were in the minority.
That, and the yellow cross dangling from his neck. All seekers wore a colored cross, starting at red and going through orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Anyone above red rank was given a large dose of respect due to the sheer danger of voyaging into Endenheim. They were almost like folk heroes and were treated similarly to the troops in the empire’s legions. There were also white crosses, but they were living legends and there were no more than a couple dozen active.
He and his sister powered along through the streets of Preshen as the scent of smog faded. It was replaced by the fresh fall of rain and burnt ozone. Occasionally he would get a whiff of the overpowering scent of cigarettes smoked by the 'fashionable' rich folk. He had never been drawn to such a poisonous substance. He had tried it as a way of depressuring after excursions, but it only stressed him out more. And his sister disliked the scent so it was loose loose.
The Sekorium wasn’t too far from their home. The distance was right at the divider line of close enough to walk and far enough to call a carriage. If he had a bit higher of an income, he might consider the carriage more seriously so Robin wouldn't have to walk as much. Her stamina had been poor from childhood and she couldn't quite keep up with him. If things went well, he'd be able to produce a permanent solution to her stamina issues in his next expedition.
It took them quite a while to reach the prominent destination. It stood out for two reasons: its sheer size and style. Preshen’s Sekorium was easily as large as a couple of city blocks, showing its status as one of the most important buildings in the entire city. Its style was also vastly different from its surroundings. While most buildings in Preshen tended to have more brutalist architecture prioritizing efficiency over apparel, the building was entirely different. It had soaring white pillars, long artistic arches, and an intricately carved domed roof.
The carving on the roof, visible from almost anywhere in the city, depicted the battle of Rhinegard, the final fight against the monstrosities of Endenheim before the final section of the wall was built. In it, Emperor Ludwig III, the first and last emperor to rule the Empire of Dawn, was depicted along with an army defending the final gap in the Rhinegard against a wave of chitinous wolf-like beasts. Emperor Ludwig III himself was shown thrusting a longsword into a creature’s head in a way that made him appear truly heroic.
The Sekorium's building, HQ of the Seekers for the city and nearby region, never ceased to amaze. It housed everything a Seeker could need from political offices to practice ranges, from tranquil gardens to armories. It was the main spot where Seekers, such as himself, could get paid for the things they brought back from beyond the Rhinegard wall. There were other ways, but they were less legal and tended to be slower, so most stuck with the Sekorium.
There was a long line to get in, as there always was. The line consisted of worn and beat-down-looking people with bags bursting at the seams full of various goods from Endenheim. Dust covered a vast majority of them, almost as if to show off their dedication to mining in the tier-one zone. Without fail, all of the people in line wore red crosses marking them as rank one seekers.
Their rank dictated which sections of Endenheim they were legally allowed to enter. Red crosses could enter rank one contamintaion zones, orange rank two, and so on. Finally, white crosses had the authority to roam where ever they desired and were granted a certain amount of legal immunity as befitting their strength.
Verlon skipped past the line and walked up to another entrance. As a rank three Seeker, denoted by his yellow cross, he easily entered the building with barely a word to the guards. The reason red ranks took so long to get in was due to the sheer amount of them slowing down the Sekorium’s processing. If there were a hundred Seekers in a room, seventy-five of them would be red rank, fifteen would probably be orange rank, and ten would be yellow. The higher ranks wouldn’t even show up till at least five hundred people.
The entrance of the Sekorium's base led into a vast open room under the dome. Lines were set up in front of several windows, almost like a ticketing station at a train yard. Three-fourths of the lines were for red ranks, and the rest were open to any rank Seeker.
Gas lamps flickered inside, casting shadows across the decorations at the main hall of the building. Monstrous creatures were showcased all around the room like a museum. Their forms eternally held ferocious attack postures as they showcased the pure brutality of Edenheim’s denizens. Most of the creatures were beings he had yet to see in the field, but there were a few he recognized.
Robin grabbed Verlon’s arm, hugging it tightly as she walked along beside him. She shook slightly as she looked up at the stuffed creatures, twitching with every flicker of the gas lamps illuminating the spacious room.
He chuckled lightly to himself. “You know they can’t hurt you, right?” He asked as the duo walked towards a service window.
“Y-yeah, but these- these things are actually out there… What if…” She shook herself, anxiety evident as her eyebrows knit together.
“You’ll be fine. I promise. With the Rhinegard Wall and the Legion of Dawn, there is no chance a monster will get you.” Verlon patted her head with his other hand as they passed a particularly vicious beast. It was a beast known as a Blutbear. The species' fame had spread across the country for its aggressive kill count. It was like a bear, but covered in dark red chiton and had three heads. The taxidermist had stuffed it in a position where it stood on its hind legs and attacked with its long, dagger-like claws. Trails of red were artistically attached through the use of clear plastic so as to mimic the bear's ability to attack from a range using its own acidic blood.
“I heard that Troy was just wiped out by the Apollyon Virus though! What if something like that happened here?” Her shoulders trembled.
He stopped and knelt in front of her, looking into her eyes. “Look, I’ll protect you okay? Nothing can get to you with me in the way.”
“O-okay…” She dropped her head slightly as she nodded.
Verlon sighed as they approached the window. “And besides, who is filling your head up with nonsense about the Apollyon Virus?”
“The newspaper…”
“Hi!” A cheerful woman said from behind the protective glass window as they approached. “What can I help you with today?”
The young man rifled through his satchel and pulled out his paperwork. “Hello, I would like to process an excursion into the Graviton Highalnds.” He paused for a moment... there was something else... “Oh, and I want to sell a Brim-stone.” He pulled the red gem out of his bag and handed it over to the woman along with the papers.
“Of course, one second.” The woman grabbed the papers for a moment and looked over them. She then moved around behind the window before returning with a silver card and handing it through the small gap at the bottom of the window. “Here is your exit ticket valid for a week from today.”
Verlon grabbed the silver card and stashed it in his satchel. “And the gem?”
“Our going rate is two silver coins and seventy-eight pennies. Is that all right?” The woman asked as she opened a bin filled with a colorful array of metals.
He looked at the gem in thought for a moment. Just a couple weeks ago, Brim-stones could be sold for three silver coins a piece. He could try to sell it at a less-than-official venue, but he was in a hurry… And they were technically illegal, though the government didn't do anything about the rampant black markets across the Empire. Bigger fish to fry and all that. “Sure, that’s fine.”
She grabbed the gem and passed an array of round coins through the window. Two of the coins were about the size of the gem and were silver. The others were copper disks varying in size. The larger coins were worth twenty-five and the smaller worth just one cent. “Good luck on your seventy-fourth expedition, Seeker Verlon.”
Verlon stashed the coins in his satchel along with the rest of his pocket money. “Thank you.” He turned away. His sister must've really wanted to get out of here as she led the way towards the exit.