"Did you destroy them?"

Mina nodded, "unnatural and evil."

"Glory will have its first Black Fire Mage in a few days." Shae had told him that the queue time was five days, even she had been surprised by the time table.

"I'll be interested to see what sort of abilities he has." Mina slid an arm through his. "I've not been myself lately."

"Everything okay?"

Mina nodded, "when you disappeared, it felt like my heart had been torn out. I guess getting back to normal will take a while."

"Am I better looking now?"

The Aquarion stared up at him for a moment before shaking her head. "Nope, still very difficult to look at."

Nix laughed at her serious face before stopping abruptly. "The f*ck is that?"

A black, windowless tower stretched skyward several hundred meters into the air. It was round at the base, perhaps fifty meters in diameter, it stayed that way until the very top.

Mina pulled his arm and continued walking. "It's the Colonial Emba.s.sy Nix."

"Huh? That's not an Emba.s.sy. An emba.s.sy has courtyards and gardens, maybe some offices filled with diplomats." Nix frowned at the huge ugly building, it was an eyesore.

Mina shrugged. "No idea. The construction is not quite finished. According to Semmi, less than an hour left."

They entered the Guildhall together and Nix took a seat at the table. Shae's injuries were serious enough to take her out of commission for a few days, so she wouldn't be attending. "Morning everyone."

Ronnie claimed the seat on the other side of him. "How's Morti?"

Nix shrugged. "Fat and lazy, he'll be sleeping for the next three days."

Tess took a seat across the table. "He slapped the monkey-snot out of a Nemesis, I'd say he's earned a nap."

Jun Li and Semmi were the last two officers to arrive.

/Inferno: Jun Li: I'm a.s.suming everyone has seen the Emba.s.sy by now?

/Inferno: Sharl: You mean the black Wizard Tower of death?

/Inferno: Ronnie: There's a wizard in there?

/Inferno: Sharl: No Ronnie...

/Inferno: Jun Li: Regardless, we'll check it out after this meeting.

/Inferno: Semmi: The Inferno Guild received an invitation to the marriage ceremony of Princess Festa and King Tu-Khat.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Be my date Nix!

/Inferno: Nix: Sure.

/Inferno: Sharl: Hey!

/Inferno: Tess: The h.e.l.l? No asking stuff like that at the meeting.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Heh... Too slow.

/Inferno: Jun Li: He can't anyway, Festa has requested that he attend her for the duration.

/Inferno: Nix: Attend? Am I a bridesmaid now? No thanks.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Can't really say no Nix.

/Inferno: Nix: Sure I can. No, no, no. See? Easy.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Can you make me a nice dress Nix?

/Inferno: Nix: Yep.

/Inferno: Tess: Stay with the agenda, Ronnie.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Moving on. Their intent is to follow the original plan and unify Espana, Wisteria, and Phelinomia into one Central Kingdom. Festa's parents will become the governors of Phelinomia and Brahmi will be the governor of Espana. They will answer directly to the King and Queen of the Central Kingdom.

/Inferno: Nix: That's the name? The Central Kingdom?

/Inferno: Jun Li: Unsure. Anything else on the agenda besides the Emba.s.sy?

/Inferno: Nix: I'll be taking Mina back to Pinnacle to speak with Air Nemesis Rhylia.

/Inferno: Tess: Need any healing support?

/Inferno: Nix: Diplomatic mission, we will avoid any fighting.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Anything else?

/Inferno: Nix: If you want me to make you proper wedding attire, put an order in now. Be prepared to pay for mats, no free rides.

/Inferno: Semmi: Looks like the Emba.s.sy is finis.h.i.+ng!

Nix exited the Guildhall, the rest of the officers following behind. There were already dozens of vendors setting up shop around the emba.s.sy.

/Inferno: Nix: Okay... How is this possible?

/Inferno: Semmi: They came with the building.

The entire first floor was nearly all windows, after that, it was black marble all the way up. A huge set of double wood doors was the only entrance, Nix and his group filed in quickly.

The building's lobby had a single elevator with a rather large armored man guarding it. He smiled when he saw them. "Going up folks?"

Nix gave the man a blank look. "Sure..."

"Guild Cards please." The man held out his hand expectantly.

"We're from the Inferno Guild. We own Glory Island." Nix smiled pleasantly. "the fifth floor please."

/Inferno: Jun Li: Why the fifth?

/Inferno: Nix: Lucky number.

The man cleared his throat and pointed toward the office across the entryway. "No one is allowed access without first presenting an Adventurer Guild Card."

/Inferno: Nix: This a joke?

/Inferno: Jun Li: I think it's an instance. Let's play along.

Nix walked through the gla.s.s doors and stood in front of a large counter. Three men in office uniforms stared back at him. "Where can I get a Guild card?"

"Here sir!" The first man pointed to a line on the floor. "Stand there please!"

Nix grinned when the man took his picture. The man held it up and examined it for a moment before sliding it over to the man next to him.

"Next in line please."

The second man grabbed the picture and slid it into a pad. "Place your right hand on the pad please."

Nix placed his hand on the pad, it warmed up for a moment and then vibrated.

The third man reached over and pulled a small card from the pad. He lowered his spectacles and read it aloud. "Nix from the Inferno Guild. Is that you?"

Nix nodded. "Yep."

The man slid the card in front of him. "Please verify that the information is correct."

Nix [Race: Human/Salamander Hybrid]

Level 50 [Locked: Actual Level 96]

Strength 92

Endurance 95

Intelligence 57

Dexterity 57

Perception 57

Mana 18900/18900

Cold Resistance 120 [Ice Blessing]

Fire Resistance 120 [Burning Aura]

Emerald Flame Strands 100 [Flame Snare] [Fire Root]

Fire Seed [Emerald]

Josori's Stealth [Champion's Ability]

Weapon Skills:

Primary: Path of the Fire Lord [Salamander]

Secondary: Spellsword

Support Skills:

N/A

Primary Path Skills

Balefire

Meteor Storm

Combustion

Comet Strike

Secondary Path Skills

Flame Blade

Flight of the Gryphon

[Spirit Animal 4/4]

1: Soup [Royal Sea Turtle]

2: Ducky [Siren]

3: Fey [Fire Drake]

4: Mortimer [t.i.tan Cave Bear]

Skills:

Hunter 100

Leather Making 100

Tailor 100

[Current Floor Rating: 1st]

[Companion Price: 19 million Credits]

Nix shrugged. "Seems okay."

The man smiled happily. "There's a Kiosk in the lobby. If you wish to hire a companion, you may choose one there. You also have the option of becoming a companion for others to hire. If you choose this option you will be immediately transported to the lobby whenever someone hires you. Your hiring price may go up or down depending on your performance in the Emba.s.sy."

Nix walked into the lobby a few minutes later. The elevator attendant hadn't moved. "Can I choose any floor?"

The attendant shook his head. "There is a test on the next level. Your floor rating will depend on how you perform there. You can take this rating test as many times as you like."

"How many floors are there?" Nix glanced back into the offices, Semmi was just finis.h.i.+ng up.

"I'm not sure sir. I know there are at least a hundred. On the tenth floor is a weapons/armor shop, on the 20th floor there is a casino, on the 30th floor there is an inn. on the 40th floor there is a Pleasure Club. I have no data on anything pa.s.sed that.

Semmi overheard most of their conversation. "Every 10 levels there's a break and a special floor?"

The attendant nodded, while examining both of their cards. He handed them back and stepped to one side. "Going up?"

Semmi glanced at Nix, "you and me Nix?"

"Sure, we're going up." Nix grabbed Semmi's hand, a moment later the huge elevator door opened up and they stepped inside.