Emperor's Reckoning

Avi looked at both cloaked people in front of her with great interest. They had outdone her strongest party in a single well swoop to the chin against its leader. Now, here they were, being served with sparkling water directly from the true power that held the charge of Harp Guild.

"You cover your faces, I wonder why," Avi casually took an apple from the basket nearby.

"You can wonder all you want," Cecile smiled. "We are here because Doma told us to come here, I hope you have good information to share."

Avi gulped down, "Good information is hard to come by, however, I can assure you that the rumors about Zelena having a sister is really old."

"Interesting," Lyon smiled. "However, I want to know where she is, perhaps she knew about it."

Avi shook her head, "It seems like you never met her before, that woman is hard to talk to, nor approached at that matter."

"Well, what can I say, she is extremely quick with her feet," Lyon chuckled. "Though, I was a tad quicker than her."

"Hm?!" Doma raised his brows. "Young master, have you met Zelena before?"

"Sure did!" Kesya answered. "She is really quick, even I couldn't catch her, but my master here could, with his magic hands of course."

"Hehe," Lyon grinned as he crossed his arms proudly.

"More like perverted hands," Lumina sighed.

"I-I see," Doma gulped. ( This young master, he must be the strongest of them all, I never heard someone catching up with her feet before, it's simply impossible ).

Avi raised her brows as her interest piqued. She had never thought that the party would have such a bold claim. ( Perhaps they are really a powerhouse not fit for this city ).

"Zelena is a powerful figure in these lands, she has immaculate skills with a curved sword that could be summoned at will," said Avi. "You are looking for someone difficult to find here." she smiled.

"I see, you want something to trade," said Lyon.

"Sharp, I like sharp men," said Avi boldly.

"Heh, then I'—HM?! MMMM!" Lyon's mouth was immediately covered by Lumina who appeared like a shadow right behind him. He leered with squinted eyes before he hard Cecile chuckling by the side.

"Oh my, hehe," Avi smiled. "Your relationships are quite cute."

Lumina grunted as she looked at Avi. The smile of the fake receptionist was tingling her draconic instinct.

"You need to be careful with your words with him," said Cecile. "You give yourself on a silver platter, he will eat you whole and leave you brokenhearted."

"Oh my, that's sounded heavy, speaking of experience?" asked Avi.

"No, he can't leave me," Cecile boldly claimed.

"What a strong woman," muttered Avi before she said, "Back to Zelena, you won't find her in this city."

"Really?" Kesya raised her brows. "Aw man, that sucks."

"Don't act as if you don't know this," said Assid. "There is little to no chance that we would meet her. The last time, it was her looking for us, remember?"

"Looking for... you?" Avi raised one of her brows. ( Interesting, it looks like the search party is not a one-sided story. What does the great Zelena herself want with this suspicious party? I fear that I have either stumbled into a gold mine or a cursed tomb ).

"That's a matter that you shouldn't pry into," Cecile smiled.

( ?! ) Avi made a wry smile. The woman in front of her casually said a word and not a mantra, yet her goosebumps rose at the sight of her smile. There was nothing off with the tone but she felt utterly afraid of that casual smile that she gave. ( She is dangerous, not just as a cultivator, but as a person, I need to be wary of her. On the other hand, her man seemed rather a simple one, though, something felt a little bit off ).

"Is this your first time coming to Arkham?" asked Avi.

"Indeed so, I only heard of this place from mouths of my ruling, this is the first time I experienced the town, lo and behold, we already saw someone destroying a pavement near the notice board, what a welcome," said Cecile.

"I don't know if that is sarcastic or not," Avi smiled. "Either way, welcome to Arkham City, most people call this the city of beginning."

"The city of the beginning?" asked Lyon.

"Yes, this part of the region is where the beasts are the weakest," said Avi. "A True God realm should suffice to survive making it to the city through unless they ran into bad luck of course."

"We will get back to that latter, right now, I want to know how to get to Zelena, or should I say the Myriad Devil?" asked Lyon.

"Ah, Myriad Devil?" Avi raised both brows. "You set yourself a really high bar there, Myriad Devil is amongst the deepest part in this Dark World, many True God had fallen even before seeing it up close."

"Seems like a welcoming city," Lyon chuckled.

"You have quite a unique taste," said Avi. "However, if you are going to look for Zelena, that is the best place to start. Myriad Devil is not a kind place though."

"There is no place that is kind," said Cecile with a smile. "There is no such thing as an innocent city."

"Well said," Avi smiled. "But, the rumors, did you get them from Zelena herself?"

"We get them from her sister," said Cecile with a smile.

"WHAT?!" Doma exclaimed from the door. "You meant the rumors are true? She has a sister?"

"Equally powerful?" asked Avi.

"Equal? I have no idea, I never met her before, however, if they are siblings, then most likely," Cecile smiled. ( I just hope she is not as crazy ).

Avi tentatively listened to her words. ( They might know the situation surrounding Zelena more than any of us, however, that doesn't matter, it's not like the adventurers would believe them just because they said so ).

"There is one problem though," said Avi as she smiled. "You might be strong enough to go the Myriad Devil, however, it's a long way from here, you need to go and spend the night in the adjacent city before it."

"And?" Lyon raised his brows.

"You need an adventurer pass," said Avi.

"Miss Avi?" Doma raised one of his brows.

"I think you know where this conversation is going by now," Avi made a cheeky smile.

"You want us to join this Harp Guild of yours?" asked Lyon with a smile.

"As I said before, I like sharp men."

"Then I ha—!! Hmmm!!" his mouth was once again being covered by Lumina.

"Hehehe," Avi smiled before she turned her glance toward the woman sitting beside him, "What do you say? I can help arrange you with that thing, or would you rather take the forceful route?"

"The forceful route?" Cecile raised one of her brows. "Interesting, never thought that you would provide us with an additional option that not benefitted you."

"I'm a fair woman, just like you, I don't scheme and cheat, I just provide," said Avi with a smile. "You can take the easy route, which is to join our ranks, and raise your status as adventurers then gain your adventurer's pass through there, or lose all the benefit that would be in your grasp and go with it your way against the wilderness, and no connection to boot. Pretty rough deal no?"

"How long would it take for us to have that adventurer pass?"

"With your strength? You already surpassed our strongest party in this city, the Frost Party. It would take probably a month or more, or perhaps even quicker, what do you say?"

"I don't know, I have never heard of this new system before," said Lyon. "You do a lot of quests to advance your rank or something?"

"Basically yes, however, you would need our letter of approval to take the test so that you are globally acknowledged and receive your star."

"To take the test?" Lyon raised one of his brows.

"Yes, there are hundreds of guilds that existed around the Mortal World, however, there are five that which the strongest, the combination of these five produced what's known to be, the Guild Link. The Guild Link is where everything is either approved or disapproved regarding adventuring, it also oversees the growth of their adventurers, and has the ability to officially assigned a new star to advance one's adventurer."

"One's adventurer?" asked Lyon.

"Yes, you can't make an entire party goes up a rank, they need to be individually assessed. No leverage can be done there," said Avi with a smile. "You seem too keen on adventuring yourself, how about it, want to try?"

"That's a good explanation," said Cecile. "However, this Guild Link, does it only consist of five major guilds?"

"Yes, however, even the guild itself has its ranks, so if one guild has been lacking, their seat in the Guild Link will be swapped out with the ones aiming at their seat," Avi smiled.