Tendrils of white crystal sparkled in five even slabs of stone, forming the walls and ceiling of a perfectly square room. The floor was composed of a similar material, though it was broken up into small bricks strewn with a variety of elegant symbols. They caught the shadows, these smoothly worn markings, and as a unified whole, they were meant to be read in lines like the script of a prayer.

Not that Sláine knew that, although eventually she would come to understand the ramifications of this ancient song. For now, she was mainly focused on the thing hovering in the center of the room.

Calling it a ‘cube’ would be an accurate, though not entirely fitting way to describe the presence it exuded. It was something unnatural, something that didn’t properly reflect the light, and Sláine only knew it was three-dimensional because she’d walked once around it and seen how it related to the surrounding space. Viewed straight on, it was so perfectly, pristinely black that it was reduced to a flat silhouette levitating about three feet above the floor, and it exuded a mental pressure against her psyche that tingled across the back of her neck. It was strange to view in person, this thing. She’d heard so much about it, and it was odd to connect to reality of what she saw to all the stories.

A single Protocol built into the network of a wider god.

“Are you ready?”

She looked at Yora, a woman shorter than her whose deep red hair was cut into fluffy little tufts and stained at the ends by yellow. She wore modest attire, dark leathers and a black turtleneck, and the plain silver rings wound around each of her fingers shone brightly against the deep ochre of her skin. Her gleaming yellow eyes reminded Sláine of a wolf in their shape and coloration, though her general expression of cheer didn’t convey that same nobility. Notably, the soft youth of her features poorly matched her position of relative esteem, but Sláine had never been one to put much stock in apparent age. She gestured to the Protocol, and Sláine returned her attention to it. It was an unnerving thing to be around, and the dark air around it carried an unsettling sense of stillness.

Sláine smiled and shrugged her shoulders in a casual way. “I guess I am! It’d be silly to back out now, right?”

“Well, if you’re having second thoughts… you can’t really undo Registration, y’know? It’ll always leave a mark on you, even if you return to your homeland.”

“I’m not really the kind of person who second guesses herself.”

Yora hummed in assent, and without any hesitation, she cleared the distance between herself and the Protocol. Her fingers splayed out, making contact with it and forming a surreal picture of natural skin framed by a darkness deeper than anything Sláine had ever known. She wondered if Yora had just become so used to it that this feeling didn’t affect her anymore, or if she’d just become better at suppressing that vague sense of unease. Sláine wasn’t a coward though, so she joined her momentarily, forcing her hand forward to rest just to the left of Yora’s.

“In the name of the Church and the Overseer of All Things, I - Yora Butellesci, Classification [ #223299564 ] - submit Sláine E. Catháin to be registered within the system and to be classified as an initiate within [ ARIA ].”

It was hard to describe exactly what happened to her then, because Sláine - until this moment - had no frame of reference for how any of this worked mechanically. This was a new world to her, a new way to be hooked into a vastly different system than the Tree and the Root and anything else she’d ever known. Partially, it was like a voice, partially it was like a vision overlaid onto her environment, and partially it was a feeling, a knowledge that she was being directly addressed by something that was… not just not human, but not even a mortal in any sense of the word.

It asked her, quite simply, [ Accept the invitation? ]

The only options presented to Sláine were [ Yes ] and [ No ]. She chose yes, speaking with her heart just as much as her head. She’d come this far after all, it wasn’t like she was going to shy away now.

As soon as she responded, light flooded her vision, and the feeling of something sparkling reverberated in her ears. It passed momentarily, leaving Sláine winded and leaning against the stone for support. It was cool against her palm, steady, keeping her focused on one part of a larger whole. This was hers now, she knew. It quickly became clear to her how Yora acted so naturally around her Protocol, and that was because it was impossible to reject something that was yours.

…She’d thought it silly before how fondly she heard people speaking about these things, personifying them and addressing them like they were people. Once, she’d overheard a gaggle of adventurers excitedly talking about what to name their Protocol when it properly hatched and joined the rest of the clergy that met in the framework, and she’d thought it so profoundly odd. But now? It was like a little switch had been turned in her brain that transformed the thing from creepy to cute.

Hesitantly, Sláine pulled her arm back. There was something… warm on her shoulder, and she shifted in search of its source.

Black ink crawled across her skin, settling there like a strange tattoo. It was difficult for her to see properly, given that her angle meant that the words were upside-down, but somehow, she knew that it stated a plain list of attributes.

[ ARIA ]

[ #233128507 ]

[ III ]

[ BERSERKER ]

[ LEVEL 1 ]

“Huh,” Sláine murmured, and then met Yora’s eager gaze. She still had one hand on the stone, and with the other she held a her light, a clear crystal cut into a prism that released a steady glow from each of its facets.

“How do you feel?”

“I… good, I guess?” It was a bit more complicated than that, but that was the core of it. Progress felt… good to her, even if she wasn’t quite sure where she was going.

Yora laughed, bright and musical. “Well, could be worse. I’ve had some people get really nauseous, especially if it’s their first time. I guess your system and ours are pretty compatible. Anyway, let me be the first to say this, Sláine - “

She danced forward a few steps, then turned, spreading her arms out with a smile. The light in her hand cast over her, and the yellowish glow seeping in from the closed door behind her framed her torso and the area above her head. It was a bit dramatic, but that was fine. Sláine had come to expect that from the other girl - no from the entirety of this ostentatious country, really. None of them knew the meaning of restraint.

“Welcome to the guild!”

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