What do you think is the best thing after working your ass off?
Some people say rest is best; others claim peace; and those of us who know food is the greatest.
But think about it—what's better than hearing the cha-ching of coins in your pouch?
Nothing beats that feeling.
Guess what?
Turns out 30 gold pieces is a lot of cash.
Seriously, that's more than 3000 silver! From now on, call me Papa Ey— I might as well buy a few pieces of meat.
Yeah, that's right, I'm no longer broke, hehehe.
It's just that it's a bummer little K turned down my drink invite.
Tch, I'm not a kid, you know. How dare she say that to me?
That's not even the worst part; she's still holding onto my shards, claiming she'll take them for evaluation.
Oh, and can you believe she said I can`t rest until I pick the last member for my team, who told them I needed one in the first place?
Just hope I run into a thick babe during one of those qualifications.
"Why do I feel like you're ranting about something?" Kaelin asks, breaking Eylin's monologue.
She stops walking, pushing her glasses to her nose ridge, "Let me guess, you're still upset about the kid thing?" she teases.
Clear swollen veins appear on Eylin`s head.
"Keep walking, oldy…" he shoots back.
She raises an eyebrow, the corner of her lips lifting slightly.
"Oldy, that's low even for you, kid," she adds.
"Tsk… yup, not doing this anymore…" Eylin says, changing directions, heading towards his room.
Kaelin watches him before taking out a silk cloth, wiping her glasses with it.
"Really, last I heard, there are lots of thick babes this time around, and guess what, if I feel like it, I might as well let you pick ."
The reaction is instant.
Eylin's figure freezes in place.
"Well…well..well…would you look at that, who`s the fairest of them all…" he says, arms wide open, addressing Kaelin.
"Yeah, right…so long as their abilities complement the team's dynamic," she says in finality before turning towards the portal in front of her.
Eylin`s eyes land on the portal locked onto the glyphs visible.
"Note to self, get a book on common spells…" he says before passing through the portal.
The portal opens up to a room full of surveillance artifacts.
Floating screens everywhere.
Recording orbs running on full throttle, producing that irritating hum.
The entire room atmosphere shifts upon their entry.
It goes completely silent.
Kaelin steps through the room with the country bumpkin behind her.
"Don't mind the kid, keep working…" she says to the staff.
"Move big boy," she says before dragging the gawking eylin into an enclosed room full of floating drawers and shelves, colour-coded.
"Welcome to the Grand Compendium…" she says to Eylin.
"Seriously, are those floating…damn…wait a minute, are those float spell circles written on them?" he asks after noticing the glowing spell sigils underneath the shelves and drawers.
"Busted.." Kaelin says, hiding her mouth behind her fair palm.
But the sharp glint behind her eyes goes unnoticed.
Eylin focuses on the spells for a while, then…
"Wait, are those runic spells? People can do that!!" he exclaims, clutching his chest, breath becoming erratic.
He turns towards Kaelin, eyes shining in plea.
"Please, just one fairy K, " he asks shamelessly.
"Fine, but first let's do what brought us here." Kaelin relents.
"Averi"
With her hands raised, a spell comes into fruition, opening the drawers and drawing out the file hidden within them.
The files circle Kaelin as if acknowledging her presence before opening to display what is within.
Upon opening, a virtual figure of the mages forms in front of each file with their required information.
"Wow… that's some next level shit..who made this? I've gotta meet them." Eylin exclaims.
Hearing his words, Kaelin almost trips as the figure of a certain white-haired artificer forms in her head.
"Absolutely not…" she shouts, shocking Eylin.
"Okay… geez, why get so emotional?" he pouts.
"That's good," Kaelin adds, but inside her thoughts are nothing but frantic.
"Can't let this idiot meet that fool, them combined spells disaster…" a sweat drop rolling on her forehead.
"It's good that the young miss failed to rope her in…" she pats her chest in relief.
Meanwhile, in one of the spires, white to be exact, two figures are seen sitting across a coffee table.
One of them is holding two parchments.
Hands shaking, taking short breaths.
"So what do you say? Are you willing to work with me?" Sharlene asks, grinning wide enough to split her face in two, her gaze locked onto the white-haired lady clutching the parchments.
Back to Kaelin, she pushes the thought out of her head, already ruling out the possibility of the two of them meeting.
"Ahem, so what factors would you consider when choosing?" she asks Eylin.
He brings his palm to his chin, rubbing his non-existent beard.
"First of all, file off all men…" he begins, his words earning an eye roll from Kaelin.
As if sentient, the files with info related to men close on command.
"Okay, done…what next?" She encourages him to continue.
"Ahem… second age, anyone below 20 and above 50 is off."
With the command, 15% of the remaining files close.
"So the third factor is the affiliation…uhm, those affiliated with destructive elements remain."
Another 20% closed.
"Wow… this sure is efficient…" he mutters, clearly ignoring Kaelin's twitching eyebrows and taut veins on her head.
"Ahem… finally, all airport runways are off, only thick energy needed." With that, Kaelin finally loses her cool.
BWOING
"Take it seriously, damn it…" she says, holding up her knuckles.
"Ouch.. okay…" Eylin says, clutching his pounding head.
"Wait, they understood that,..." he says, noticing that the files are down by 45%.
"Woooaaah so many runways…" he mutters.
A cold shiver.runs through his spine only to turn and notice the fist coming for his head.
BWOING
"Focus…" Kaelin mutters.
"Okay…okay…it hurts," he mutters, moving towards the closest file.
He glances at it briefly, almost bored.
Too old.
NEXT
Too dull.
NEXT
Spiky hair equals trouble.
NEXT
Water
NEXT
Too many scars.
His eyes filter from file to file, ruling out those not to his liking.
Kaelin follows his actions, sometimes nodding in agreement, other times shaking in exclamation.
This goes on till his gaze lands on a figure that captures his attention.
His eyes do the obvious, face first, then the whole figure, before moving to the stats.
But that's not what stops him in his tracks.
The file itself is the reason.
"Interesting…" he mutters, raising his hand towards it only for it to float into his hands.
The file in his hands appears to be different from the others.
Too thin to be here.
"Let's see what's special about you," he says, eyes turning to the info in it.
[NAME: REMY
ELEMENT AFFILIATION: FIRE
RANK: B
AGE:30
TEAM HISTORY: NONE
NOTABLE: SOLOED A RANK SHADOW STALKER.
ADDITIONAL INFO: RECENTLY JOINED.]
His gaze locks onto a single factor.
AGE: 30
His eyes move from the info to the virtual figure floating in front of him.
A tall figure, about 6", wavy long hair, thick as they come, and finally the scarred hands.
"These…" he traces the scars with his hands.
"Are not a result of battle..but why remain at B…hmmm interesting," he says, turning towards Kaelin.
"Sigh… had a feeling you'd choose her. Fine." With that, she waves her hands, closing off the files before returning them to their respective shelves.
"Let's go," she says, turning towards the door.
They appear behind one of the screens.
"Locate a recently joined mage by the name Remy," Kaelin commands one of the staff.
"Roger that, ma`am," he responds.
The screen flickers twice before locking onto a figure.
The staff points towards the figure. "There she is ma`am. "
Kaelin's eyes shift towards the figure and alas, there she is sitting in the eastern rampart.
Eylin's eyes lock onto her as well, raising an eyebrow.
The figure seems to be seated peacefully, eyes ahead, back straight, feet dangling.
Yup, that's right, feet dangling without a care like she isn't seated 50 feet above ground.
The other thing he notices is the zone that seems to have formed naturally around her.
Not a single figure seems to be in proximity for at least a 10-foot radius of where she is.
Near her, mages are seen conversing, others training, but none seem to breach that 10-foot radius.
The room goes silent, focusing on the screen.
Kaelin turns towards Eylin.
"Don't say anything stupid," before going through the portal.
Eylin follows through after her.
On the side, the cold breeze hits his face, shoving his flowing locks behind.
The eastern rampart exactly where they`d seen her.
Shifting his eyes towards the edge, Eylin sees her sitting there staring at nothing in particular.
He takes three steps forward, breaching her zone.
Remy notices immediately as her back straightens further before looking over her shoulder.
Her deep blue irises lock onto him immediately.
And right at the point of contact, Eylin feels the air around him getting hotter.
He moves his hands reflexively, going for his pocket, searching for his smoke, only to find none.
Kaelin follows behind him, silent eyes focused.
His figure arrives right next to her, eyes looking over the edge.
He stares for a few breaths before turning towards her.
"Whooo… there are two outcomes from a fall this high," he says, eyes locked onto her lips stretched into a charming smile.
"What are they?" she asks, intrigued to hear what response she`ll receive.
"It's obvious, really, death or becoming a vegetable for life," he answers, earning a giggle from her.
"Hehehehe… that's new. Where'd you learn that?" she asks, rolling a finger through her hair.
"Saw an idiot once… let's say the aftermath wasn't exactly pleasant," he responds.
"Heheheh… you really are funny. So what's your purpose here, young man?" she says, eyes turning to Kaelin's figure.
"My purpose, huh… let's say a team was forced onto me and I'm now looking for a heavy hitter," he says before turning toward her.
"So… how heavy do you hit, little ray?" he asks, challenge clear in his tone.
"As heavy as you'd like me to," she responds, eyes staring deep into his.
"Oh, I can do more than just heavy hitting… I can look good doing it too," she adds, shifting her left leg over her right.
"That's the whole reason I'm here, you know," he counters, moving closer and taking a lock of her hair in his palm.
She raises her eyebrows, her eyes shifting toward Kaelin.
"You sure your mommy won't mind," she says.
Eylin almost chokes, eyes shifting to Kaelin, who seems to have let out a slow, calm breath.
"Don't mind her," he adds, moving closer.
"So tell me…those scars have a story behind them, don't they?" he asks, eyes locked onto her.
She shifts her posture, shoulders tense.
"What… digging into a woman's secrets on the first meeting, huh..," she says, but with zero humor.
"What can I say, I've got sharp eyes," he says before opening the wraps around his arms.
Her eyes focus on his arms only to widen in shock.
Right there, running from his wrists to his elbow, is a series of interlocked scars deeper than hers.
Her hands move swiftly to his hands, shaking in clear shock.
Not only her, but Kaelin too.
She moves forward once arriving beside him, eyes examining his scars.
"You… you're a…" she begins, only to be cut off by Eylin.
"A glitch, I know…" he sighs before wrapping them again, hiding his misfortune.
He turns towards Remy, "I saw something familiar, so I decided to try my luck. What do you say?"
"Who are you actually?" she asks, trembling at the scars still fresh in her eyes.
"Oh… sorry about that…I forgot to introduce myself," he says before standing and bowing towards her.
"The name`s Eylin, pleasure to grant you with my esteemed self…oh and some know me as the 13th Aspect. "