Chasing Nightmares [Job | Arc]

Unity—what an oddity! It was no surprise that such establishments existed beyond the surface of Fiore, but this exceeded even his wildest expectations! It reminded him a lot of Pergrande, where bastions were scattered about here and there and Pergranden flags practically littered the lot. But this—Unity—was much like a small society of sorcerers! They had their own emblems scattered about, facilities for what seemed to be any purpose, and an enormous, ominous bastion where militant-looking sorcerers and grunts frequented. It was an image taken straight from a history book, the very image of organized oppression in its beginning.

But Arcanas was not interested in these people's problems, since they were all, no doubt, trivial and unimportant at best. But each and every creature and character that passed by exhumed mana, or at least how His Lady described it. He cared very little for their cause, since they most surely had some cause, but itched for written traces of sorcery. He was ecstatic for His Lady to nurture his education and followed closely behind her as they walked. He was still wearing his charred armor but was beginning to wonder if there was a way to conceal that. He didn't necessarily miss his human appearance since it was quite gorgeous, really, but found it almost necessary to blend in with society among sorcerers. Arcanas decided to make that his first goal.

When His Lady—and he called her this since he couldn't recall her ever formally introducing herself—pointed to this ominous bastion, Arcanas followed her gaze. It was a mighty fortress, that it was, but not nearly large enough to impress him. Still, he smiled gingerly and nodded down over the smaller woman, "It is a stunning fortress, Milady. Whenever you find it fit, I shall follow."

Arcanas was anticipating this tour and was pleased to hear Mythica's willingness to show him around. There was a gross amount of mana pulsating from the bastion and the lost knight was so inquisitive of this fact that he would've been determined to enter the fortress even if he weren't be escorted by His Lady.

The pair slithered their way through the crowds congregating in the courtyard without so much as a glance from these sorcerers and it was overall a very comfortable transition. But as they approached the imposing gates to the bastion, the mood abruptly became far more oppressive and systematic than before. Dozens of people came through the gates—some entered, others exited, but they all did so in a militant manner and with uniforms without so much as a speck of dust on them. They all clearly belonged to something or someone and many of them were accompanied or escorted by robots or sorcerers dressed up more heavily than the others. It was a very militant-looking conglomerate, and Arcanas would've preferred to go somewhere with fewer people and closed spaces, but it didn't look like he had much of a choice as he followed His Lady closer to the line of people. He couldn't help but wonder if he had slaughtered these people like pigs, would they bleed or would they leak? As he was now, he couldn't have answered the question without bleeding alongside them, and he couldn't die until he had witnessed sorcery himself. An unfortunate sacrifice for a greater, more interesting cause.

He and His Lady approached a line different from the one he was looking at before. It was one of many but was shorter than most and was surrounded by several pillars or platforms—he wasn't entirely sure what they were—perched by the robotic infantry, as he assumed they were, that he saw so many times before and at Peace Village during the destruction. Arcanas only acknowledged His Lady through a quick and concrete nod when she mentioned caution among these men, women, and robots when in reality he cared very little for the safety of himself or anyone here. What mattered most was what exactly was inside the bastion and how it could help his "magical development" as he is starting to call it.

It wasn't long before they reached the front of the line and His Lady participated in some entry ritual with these robots; the usual "identification ma'am?" and "password please?" sort of jargon. It was all very tedious but Arcanas made sure to pay attention. The identification was what they called a "guild mark," in which His Lady had on some place on her shoulder, maybe. Arcanas made sure to remember this.

But more than the mark itself and the tedious identification process, it was the mention of this congregation being a guild that kept him interested. Arcanas had a basic understanding of what guilds were and what purpose they served, and there was a great many purposes depending on who you sought, and while every guild was distinctly different and unique, they all most surely contained sorcerers. There were legal guilds and independent guilds and dark guilds and what have you, but this guild, if it was one and he was certain to suspect it was, seemed especially riveting. Something about Imperial Law and following it, and though he has never encountered a guild himself, he was certain that government established within their own organization was not advised or encouraged by the wicked and unredeemable Magic Council. Of course, this guild seemed to run a small society of their own, in hiding. Or so he surmised and garnered based on His Lady's exchange with the robot behind the tall door.

Suddenly, a thunderous and rough voice invaded from behind the pair and it was a man accompanied by some other robotic things. The man was obviously perturbed Arcanas's very presence here and was quick to surmise that he was not a guild member. It made two things very clear: the guild was closely knit, a place small enough where everyone knew everyone, and that this was in fact a guild. My, it was certainly a knowledgable day! But not knowledgable enough for him to thirst and lust any less for this bastion. Arcanas wanted to know more about this guild mark and what exactly it meant and did. He continued to listen between both the man and His Lady and ignored most of their jargon except for some other things; Imperator, Special Weapons Program, Engineering Corps. This was clearly a military guild and as such, there was a hierarchy. He wondered who exactly the Imperator was and why they were so paranoid and keen on security.

His Lady took him from the perturbed man once they had finished their exchange, and Arcanas smiled through his helmet. His Lady then went on about his first lesson, or so she called it, but it wasn't anything new to him. But he nodded anyway. "Duly noted, milady." he acknowledged while staring down her neck, "And, if I may, what is the purpose of this bastion? What has threatened this place?"