Melvin led Nolan and the others to an atrium just behind the first tower that was facing the gates.
Entering, Cedric and Liana's eyes couldn't help but wonder across the vast, echoing hall. Again, nothing new to Nolan.
"Welcome to the Atrium of Founders," Melvin said to them.
Lined side by side were statues of the first Guardians, their stone faces stern and resolute. The air was cool and smelled of polished stone.
A handful of people were scattered across in groups or alone, all wearing the same navy blue uniform of the Cerulean Guardians.
"You can look around while I take him for his test," Melvin turned to Cedric and Liana who seemed lost.
"Oh okay." Liana nodded, mirroring Cedric's reaction.
"Follow me," Melvin muttered, referring to Nolan.
They both walked off, leaving Cedric and Liana to wonder round the vast space. Eventually, they stood in front of a door.
Melvin knocked once and opened it. "Did I disturb your alone time again?" he said, walking into a room that was dark despite the sun still up high in the sky.
Nolan was a little happy as he followed Melvin into the dark room. Why else? There was something he could gain from this.
Two things actually.
"What do you want?" A raspy old voice came from within. "You took me all the way to that village and I did what you asked, so what now?"
Melvin closed the door as Nolan entered and moved in the darkness, walking to the edge where the black curtains covered the window and he opened them.
The rays of the afternoon sun finally came in and illuminated the room.
An old lady sat behind a wooden desk with an exhausted look on her face, arms crossed. She wore the same guild uniform, but the cuffs of her jacket were golden, same as Melvin's.
In the guild, little things like the color of cuffs and coats differentiated ranks and positions.
For Master-ranks though, their uniforms were entirely black with golden buttons, epaulets, shoulder tassels and cuffs, accompanied by a trench coat.
Elite-ranks had gold designs, Ace-ranks had silver, Guardian-ranks had bronze, while the last two had no special colors on their uniforms, just black, without a trench coat.
For each head of a particular section of the guild, they had Silver-Grey coats. Though there were three exceptions.
A Deep Red Coat for the Battle Commander.
A White Coat for the Special Advisor/Strategist.
And lastly, a Sun-gold for the Guild Master.
"You ought to be an active member of the guild, yet you just stay here and do nothing," Melvin said to the lady.
Nolan's eyes went to the Silver-Grey coat resting behind her chair. This was Lady Eva. She was the head of recruitments, yet she dropped it all in Melvin's hands even though his unit was the raid team.
"You do the job better than me. Besides, you've got an eye for talents," she replied flatly, her eyes landing on Nolan. "So, I ask again. What do you want?"
"Check him." Melvin leaned on one of the shelves in the room.
Without waiting for anyone's permission, Nolan pulled the chair in front of Lady Eva and sat down.
"I thought I finished this at the village?" Lady Eva eyed Melvin.
"Don't blame me. Cyndy brought them, and he's the only one with an ability, so that's why I'm here," Melvin raised a hand.
Lady Eva's eyes lingered on Melvin for a while before returning to Nolan. "Place your hands in mine," she said, extending both hands across the table.
Nolan hesitated for a while, not because he was contemplating, but because he was finding a way to change his current ability back from the ice to the fire, which he eventually managed to pull off.
[Switched Ability!]
[Ice Affinity > Fire Affinity]
He placed his hands in hers and after a few seconds she said, "An elemental ability?"
Nolan nodded in approval.
She gave a single nod and released one of his hands. "Do something with it."
Nolan raised the hand and fire appeared on his palm. It wasn't that big, but it was remarkably stable, even if it was an F-Tier ability.
Lady Eva closed her eyes and after a few seconds she opened them and turned to Melvin. "Novice at most, with ability alone. But there's still some room for growth. Keep him."
Melvin gave a curt nod.
Though while they spoke, Nolan smiled. One of the two things he could gain by coming here was… her ability.
The reason he left the guards and their telekinesis was because of her. Her telekinetic ability was far greater than theirs.
"Copy"
[Divine Control (S-Tier) copied!]
[Add to library? Y/N]
"Y"
He had successfully gotten the first one.
The system screen appeared in front of him again.
[Innate Ability: Ability Grading - Lets you tell the level of an ability by touching the user when they are using it.]
[Copy? Y/N]
'Ah, right.'
He had seen her use an innate ability, so it was now something he could copy. But it was useless to him, so he dismissed that one.
Skills, Talents and Innate abilities can only be copied when witnessed. Unlike normal abilities that can be copied by touch even without witnessing them, though witnessing alone still works.
"All right, we can go now," Melvin said, pushing off the shelf.
Nolan nodded and withdrew his hands as he stood up. In just one glance, he spotted the second thing he came here for on the shelf.
Turning, he used his new telekinetic ability to make a book fall from the shelf Melvin leaned on.
"Boy, what were you even thinking leaning on this?" Lady Eva complained.
"My bad," Melvin waved without turning.
As she bent to pick up the book, Nolan retrieved a small red dice from the opposite shelf with his new telekinesis and followed Melvin out of the room.
[Artifact obtained!]
[Dice of Luck]