It felt like I had been falling for a whole 30 minutes now. How could stairs actually go so deep? Even though it was pretty dark, my eyes having accustomed to the dim environment, I could see that I was descending pretty fast. Additionally, I felt no wind, which indicated the absence of friction, thus leading to constant acceleration... and I was now starting to fear how I would be able to land without being turned into a pizza. Furthermore, Lothair hadn't uttered a single word ever since we jumped, making me wonder if he was still below me or had disappeared with his spacial abilities...
'No, he wouldn't do that to me... right?'
However, my concerns immediately faded away when light gradually blossomed from below and I saw the black-clad man a few hundred meters down. But just as I was starting to relax, he vanished in thin air with a haze of blue particles replacing him.
'What in the world just happened..?'
And soon enough, it was my turn to disappear. My vision was filled with white. A blinding light that made my eyes burn, but it all subsided after a few seconds as I found myself inside an elevator alongside Lothair who greeted me with a warm smile.
"Care to explain..?"
"Now is not the time. Look, we are in public, so try not to make a fuss about nothing." He retorted offering his characteristic warm smile.
But what's with that condescending tone he just gave me? Hah! I guess being the leader of an organization where everyone was so frustrating, he would obviously be just as unnerving! Haaa... in what kind of mess did I put myself in, seriously...
Still, the place we were now in was indeed quite crowded. Though it resembled the reception room of a luxurious hotel, the clients here all seemed rough, as if they had experienced many battles and hardships, which reminded me of the guy's from the Federation.
"Come on Eliza, let us sign you in." And with just that, he walked forward to a reception desk.
'But where did that come from? Sign me in where?'
Fortunately, he had noticed my confusion and promptly added after stopping in his tracks.
"From now on, you will be taking a new identity as Eliza Doe, a normal citizen of the Neldaria empire but became an awakened barely two months ago and will now be working as a mysthios for money."
"And what exactly is a mysthios?"
"To put it in a few words, it is someone who travels and fights to seek mysteries. Oh, well, a lot of time has passed and things might have changed, so a mysthios would now more be like someone who does any kind of requests for wealth and glory. ...Though there are a few exceptions to the 'any kind', and the requests are generally related to fighting too, since condensed energy is what holds the most value in the market. Anyway, that is enough for now, let us get you registered."
"'right, no problem." 'Then basically, it's a mercenary.'
Fortunately, there was no waiting queue, so after a couple of steps, we were standing right in front of the receptionist. She was a woman who seemed in her early thirties with white fair skin and trimmed blonde hair. She was dressed in a black formal attire, which appeared to be a uniform, adorning intricate green and white motives, with a shield-shaped silver badge perfectly adjusted on her chest. On it was carved a symbol that mixed a bow, a sword, a sceptre and a hammer. If I had to guess, then that should be the emblem of this agency, if I could call it that.
"Welcome to Kephalonia. What would be the purpose of your visit?"
The receptionist greeted us formally with a nigh expressionless face, in which I sensed a bit of anxiousness. That probably came from the mysterious man standing by my side who by his otherworldly and eerie presence could affect the wellbeing of others. Really, what an annoying fella. Annoying even when simply standing.
"We would like to register as mysthios, would that be possible to do now?"
Hm. Although he was a bit annoying, I could still expect him to handle this kind of things for me. 'Good job!' I thought, giving him an internal thumbs up.
However, my eyes shot wide open as I noticed something fairly important in his words...
'What do you mean "we"?'
I stared daggers at him, but I couldn't just directly ask 'why would you register too?' That would look unnatural in our current situation. So I softened my eyes and asked in the most innocent and cute way possible...
"Mister, are you sure you want to register with me? Don't you have another work?"
...and he answered while patting my head.
"Do not fret, I would always have time for you Eliza."
"..."
'Gaaah! He got me on my own game, that fucker! Shit! I hate him!'
I glared, eyes brimming with unrestrained anger and shame, barely able to contain my ire. 'How could he treat me like a child, in public, without a single care in the world!'
Even though there was a little voice inside my head that said that I brought it upon myself, I couldn't help but feel humiliated from such treatment.
Side-eyeing the receptionist, I noticed her tilting her head as she observed our cringey interaction.
I clicked my tongue, giving up on this losing fight.
Lothair... you have won this battle, but not the war!
Seeing that I had nothing more to say, his attention returned to the receptionist who had already handed him over a couple of papers and a pen.
It looked like a contract of some sort, in which we agreed that they would not be held responsible for any casualties that happened during our work if all the dangers of the mission were stipulated in the mission's information. Well, there were also a lot of other things written in that contract, but hey, who ever entirely read the terms and conditions of a game anyway huh? It was a pain.
Subsequently, the woman asked for proof of identification, the man gave her two cards. Then there was a curt exchange, and we were done. It ended quite fast. I thought there would be some kind of examination to determine our mercenary rank or something, but no. We just started off as [Stone], the lowest rank. By the way, those ranks serve to determine a mysthios' capability (not exactly strength actually), and are Stone, Copper, Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Elite, Champion, and Transcendent level. Though I could probably count the number of Transcendent level people on one hand since even Elite were only a few already, just no more than a couple dozen.
Thus, both me and Lothair took our leave, but not before deciding on a first mission to take on, though Lothair was the one who ultimately got the last word. Thereafter, the receptionist sent us off with a slight bow, and a phrase with a meaning I couldn't yet fully comprehend.
"May luck stay by your side, in your quest for the mystic."
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[A/N]
And just like that, we have started the second Arc. There will be a lot of growth on Eliza's side, and many new important characters, each one more interesting than the other.
I hope you enjoyed reading my story so far, since it will only get better…