Call of the Abyss [Book 2 Complete]

"So, it's just you registering, Miss Julia?" Wilfred asked, standing behind a reception desk in the Guild hall and scrutinizing some paperwork.

"That's correct, though my companions will likely accompany me on missions. Will that be a problem?" Julia questioned, staring around the hall and taking it in.

Despite its strange exterior, the interior was laid out similarly to the one in Striton. A large entry hall with grandiose, gilded pillars holding the slanted ceiling up immediately grabbed attention, but after the awe faded, one would find a functional layout of carpeted paths leading to staffed reception desks. There was a large arch off to the side that likely led to the main hall—where the actual adventurers would gather.

This layout kept adventurer business moving while funneling non-adventurer business off to the desks on the side of the hall—efficient.

"It would be under normal circumstances, yeah," Wilfred said, glancing up from the stack. "Adventurers represent the Guild, and vice versa. We can't authorize jobs for folks we're not associated with. It'd be the equivalent of letting someone random off the street represent us to the clients."

He looked back down at the documents he was holding.

"You, however, are here under…special consideration."

"What does special consideration mean?" Julia asked nervously.

"It means the Founder seems to want you to join at Orichalcum rank—skip literally every other rank in the Guild. This is completely impossible, obviously.

"Even the Founder can't skip around rules so willy-nilly—he should know since he supposedly wrote many of them himself. However, as a compromise, I'm going to try and set you up as Adamantine."

Wilfred looked up at Julia again, staring seriously at her over the rim of small, circular glasses that looked rather cute and dainty on a giant like him.

"There are people that aren't going to like this. Adventurers work their entire lives to move through the ranks, and most never even break into Mithril. A teenager starting immediately at Adamantine is…going to ruffle some feathers.

"Are you okay with this, Julia? No matter what the Founder—your dad—wants, this is your life, so I'm not going to do anything against your own wishes."

Julia smiled.

"I can handle myself. Thank you very much for your consideration, Wilfred. I really appreciate it."

And she did—particularly with how their presence had been received up to this point. A warm reception was something she didn't realize she was sorely missing until presented with it.

Wilfred nodded and continued sifting through papers, flicking them one after another as though looking for something.

"We're going to try and head some of these issues off in the process regardless. Like I said, rules are rules—no one is above them. There are procedures we have to do to approve an Adamantine—tests that must be taken.

"With your approval, we will…well, we won't work too hard to keep them private. If your fellow adventurers see you demonstrate your prowess during these exams, they'll have less room to gripe."

Julia's smile widened. She didn't particularly care whether people watched her, but she liked that Wilfred didn't question for even a second that she had the prowess to back up such a high rank. True, he might have been swayed by Braden saying she was capable enough, but still. It was nice to be trusted.

"What kind of tests do I need to take?" she asked, right as a loud thud echoed across the hall.

Julia looked behind her to see a colossus of a woman walking through the arch. She had brown hair that hung to her shoulders, and her eyes seemed to burn in their sockets. The brown irises almost appeared red when they caught the light.

She had a huge ax strapped to her back, and she was lightly armored, strangely. She had a tunic and pants belted at the waist, the sleeves of the tunic seeming to have been torn off—whether intentionally or not, Julia couldn't tell.

Her face was serious, though not grim, and crisscrossed with scars. Her exposed arms rippled with muscle, crisscrossed with scars to match her face.

She was merely walking, but each footstep felt like it vibrated Julia's teeth—though it wasn't a physical sensation. Julia glanced around to see no one else's attention but Ithshar's having been drawn. They traded looks, and Ithshar nodded lightly to Julia—she felt it too. This woman was strong.

"Ah, perfect timing," Wilfred said with cheer, waving his arm to catch the woman's attention. She spotted him and came walking over, forcing Julia to clench her teeth lest they rattle out of her head. It was the sensation of her body subconsciously registering a potential threat, but it felt like it was manifesting physically—as though she had to fight to keep her teeth from falling out.

Suddenly remembering that her body wasn't even physical, Julia schooled herself. She exhaled in relief as the sensation went away, though the feeling of instinctive wariness remained.

"Miss Cassandra, welcome. I was hoping I would see you today," Wilfred said with a smile.

Cassandra nodded to him and then immediately locked eyes with Julia.

Julia felt like the temperature dropped considerably, unable to draw her eyes away from Cassandra's. For a brief moment, the air stilled, the murmur of background voices died down, and time felt like it stood still. All ceased—it was just Julia and Cassandra at this moment.

They stared at each other, Julia's mind awhirl with information she was noting subconsciously: strong stance, sheathed weapon still within reach, noise from the magic disruption device floods over and around her like a river diverts around a rock—she's unaffected by it, mana in her immediate surroundings already contains traces of her will—she's got a domain—

Time returned to normal, the hubbub of background noise returning. Julia blinked twice in quick succession—what was she doing? Why was she evaluating the threat this woman posed so seriously? And, even more importantly, why was she smiling?

Cassandra smiled as well before looking up to Wilfred.

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"New recruit that doesn't fit the mold? Needs tested? I can do it," she said.

"Yes, that's correct—I'm glad you catch on so quickly. She comes recommended by the Founder, no less—" he said.

Julia thought she caught Cassandra's eyes widen almost imperceptibly before returning to their neutral seriousness.

"He recommended her for Orichalcum, but the best I can do is Adamantine with some…public tests, if you catch my meaning," Wilfred finished with an arched brow.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Dam the river preemptively so it's ready for the rain," she said before looking at Julia, a slight smile returning. "Let's go, kid."

"Right now?" Julia asked, glancing between Cassandra and Wilfred.

"Unless you've got something else to do?" Cassandra asked with a raised brow.

"Cassandra is one of our few resident Adamantines, so she'll be more than capable of overseeing your first exam," Wilfred explained.

"Most call me Cass," she said, extending a hand.

"Julia," she said, shaking Cass's hand firmly.

"Let's get to it, then," Cass said, walking toward the arch to the main hall. "Your pals can follow till we get to the arena, then they can hang out in the stands."

"Arena?" Julia asked, following after Cass with her group behind her.

"Training arena. Used for training—as the name suggests—but also an exhibition hall. We're gonna make a big show of interrupting everyone's training to hold a spar—get people talking and watching. All you gotta do is put on a good show, get word of your competence spreading organically. It'll head off a great many troubles before they have a chance to form," Cass explained while they walked.

Julia thought for a second about how she could do that with the magic suppression field active. Sure, it didn't affect her, but she also didn't want that knowledge getting around too much—it seemed a bad idea for the city to become aware that its principal defense didn't work on her—an unknown foreigner.

"You don't need to worry about the Shroud," Cass called behind her.

"The what?" Julia called.

"That's what it's called—the Shroud. The field that covers this city like a blanket, preventing unauthorized magic usage. The arena is unaffected by it—wouldn't be much use in training if it were," she chuckled. "There are a few places around the city that aren't under the Shroud's effects. Regardless, you don't have to worry about letting everyone know it doesn't affect you."

Cass continued walking with a smile—of course she knew. Julia had surmised quickly that Cass also wasn't affected by it, so it stood to reason she had noticed the same. Julia would have to be careful—she clearly wasn't the only one that could see the Shroud and, by extension, those it didn't affect.

"Hey, Ash! Clear the arena! I got an exam to administer—Wilfred's orders!" Cass called as they entered the main hall. A receptionist in the distance went scurrying off through a door behind the desks, and attention in the hall abruptly shifted to them due to Cass's booming voice—intentional, no doubt.

Julia just continued walking, following Cass as she crossed the hall, and never looking back at the crowd she knew was amassing behind the group and following. They walked through a wide corridor with polished tiles and wood paneling along the walls. There were paintings that seemed to be recessed into the wall, which gave the hall a nice texture.

"You folks take the door there on either the right or left. Either will take you to the stands. Julia, you can follow me," Cass explained, shoving open the door and barreling out into the twilight.

"Alright, you sorry sods! Clear—" she started. "Oh, you're all in the stands already. Great, thanks, Ash."

Julia emerged into the waning light filtering through an open roof into a circular ring of dirt. It was packed hard, but she could tell it was packed by boots rather than any tool. The floor was likely designed to be easily-tillable should there be any…messes that needed cleaning.

The stands were rows of stone benches carved straight into the tiered walls. The whole arena looked like it could seat around 200 people comfortably, with maybe more fitting if some were willing to stand. The seats were straight-cut stone and looked uncomfortable, but Julia assumed this wasn't a stage meant for prolonged shows.

Cass advanced to the opposite side and turned to face Julia, who remained close to the entrance.

"Right, Adamantine is about more than just combat prowess, but combat is still important!" she shouted, making sure to be audible to everyone in the stands. "Normally, combat strength is tested in Mithril, but since you're going straight to Adamantine, we'll have to take care of that exam. No one—not even someone recommended by the Founder himself—is exempt from the rules."

Gasps and murmurs went around the arena at the Founder's name-drop, but Julia hardly heard them. Her heart was beginning to race, her palms sweating. She found she had to fight the urge to smile as she anticipated a bout with Cass.

"What are the win conditions for this spar?" Julia called, attempting to rein herself in.

"When I, the administrator, call it," Cass said with a smile.

"And what if you're unable to call it?" Julia said, her smile breaking through, despite her best efforts.

"Ha! Let's not dwell on fantasies, yeah?" she said, her grin becoming dangerous.

She drew her ax from her back, holding it with both hands and lowering her stance. Julia manifested her sword in response, now completely unaware of the shocked gasps that came from an arena-full of people seeing her sword form itself in her hands.

A silence stretched across the arena, even the spectators' voices dying down.

Cass launched forward, her feet cratering the ground where she stood. She leveled an opening horizontal swing with her ax at Julia's mid-section, a downward stroke for Cass considering their height difference.

Julia stepped forward and leaned into Cass's strike, closing the distance between the two and aiming a stab at her torso.

Cass released the handle of her ax with her left hand and smacked Julia's blade away with the back of her closed fist. The sword veered to the side and missed Cass's body, and Julia bent at the waist, ducking nearly ninety degrees to avoid the ax that passed right over her head, following its initial momentum.

Julia pulled her sword back and aimed another stab at Cass's center, both her arms and ax now off to her side and unable to defend. She used the momentum of straightening to plunge the blade into Cass's guard, but a violent shockwave suddenly pummeled Julia, sending her skidding across the coarse dirt. She kept her balance, but she was now a few strides from Cass, who had recovered her stance.

The fuck was that?!

"Impressive—let's get a little more serious!" Cass shouted, a wide smile on her face.

She lifted a leg and stomped the ground. Rather than her foot passing straight through it like Julia expected, a wave of mana rushed through the ground toward her.

Julia summoned her shield and held it to her side just as a spire of rock bashed it, sending her sliding to the side. Julia was in a bit of a predicament, though not because she was threatened.

The goal of this spar was to showcase her prowess and shut down naysayers before they had a chance to say any nay. However, she also didn't want to broadcast all her abilities for everyone to see. These earth spires, and a great deal of magic, wouldn't be any trouble at all to stop with her domain, but was that too much information to give away?

Cass already knew she had one, to some extent. She must—she'd seen Julia actively countering the Shroud, but would any of the other adventurers know? Would they be able to figure it out even if she didn't do anything with it?

As she was thinking, more earth spires were shooting out of the ground. Julia blocked them all with her shield, which ended up bouncing her around the arena, always sending her skidding a couple strides.

Fuck it—Lumenfall is my real secret weapon, so maybe I can let loose just a bit.

The spires that launched at Julia suddenly shattered, their pieces breaking and crumbling into little clouds of dust whenever they got close to her body.

"Hah, finally," Cass said with relish, her smile widening.

"Yeah, let's get a little more serious," Julia said, blue lightning crackling around her body.