Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elysia sent a glance back down the street, spotting several white-haired figures stepping out of the SUV but not much else as the crowded sidewalk obscured anything further.

That must’ve been some higher up Changed or Blessed. She wasn’t sure what they called them here. Elementally infused human was a mouthful, so it made sense for the other terms.

Whatever they called them, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was one of them any longer. She was something of a higher echelon.

Before her mind traveled down that particular rabbit hole, she walked down the guild district street. One thing that became apparent right away was the diversity. Unlike the previous street filled with mostly humans, there were a bunch of different races. All of them were humanoid of various sizes, but few could pass as a human.

To be fair, her glowing veins was a dead gave away she wasn’t human herself. Not that much of the veins were visible under her armor.

As she walked, her eyes landed on each building, finding the usual suspects, she remembered from the few times she read Sereia’s fantasy recommendations. There was even an Elementalists Guild which could come in handy.

Maybe they had some training services. She never got much training from Thoss. Some tips are ideas could come in handy even if she didn’t receive training. She’d rather experiment on her own anyway instead of receiving formal training as long as she knew what was possible.

Elysia paused in front of the building, which glowed with crystal lights of all sorts of colors. Her eyes locked onto several beings coming and going from the building, some of them being Changed. At least she thought they were, as many weren’t human. Though some were close, maybe an elf or dwarf, if those existed. They could also be highly attuned elementalists.

A whiff with her senses caused her to freeze. While they weren’t anywhere near as strong as Thrazk, several gave her threatening vibes, as if they could match her strength, or at least be a danger. Some of the stronger ones noticed her looking. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to mind based on the nod that gave her and Ione, which Elysia returned.

Still, a little freaked out, Elysia quickly moved on, walking past the Mages Guild and Adventuring Guild, barely glancing at either. She slowed as she entered what seemed to be the crafting focused guilds, the first one being the classic Crafting Guild, followed by more specialized guilds, one of which was the Shipwright Guild.

Both of them would probably work better for her than the Freelancers Guild, but she would try the suggested guild first. There must be a reason why the girl didn’t suggest either of those guilds, though she didn’t seem that with it.

Actually, now that she paid attention to the surrounding people, only the humans looked a little robotic. The other races seem to be just going about their business. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the reason, but knowing her luck, she would find out anyway, eventually.

Finally, she reached a rather boring looking stone building near the end of the street with Freelancers engraved in the stone above the door. Like the others, people entered and left, though a higher percentage appeared to be human compared to the other guilds.

Upon entering the building, she scanned the room, finding an expansive board filled with job requests.

To Ione’s dismay, Elysia wiggled through the crowd to get a better view, only to frown as she read through them. Most of them were specific, like constructing furniture of a particular wood grain pattern.

The problem was none of the requests had the level of work she needed done to Umbra. Even the most extensive job only wanted a room furnished.

She had a feeling she would need to put up dozens of requests and hope the right people saw them. About the only thing that gave her hope was the fast turnover. Almost as soon as a job appeared, someone swiped it. Only the most complicated jobs lasted longer.

It just wasn’t worth putting in so many requests, and having so many random people working on Umbra would cause many issues. She needed to find a group capable of doing most of the work. Based on the board, she wouldn’t find a group like that here, but it was worth at least asking.

After wiggling her way back out to the center of the room, she turned toward the counter. Fortunately, she found someone available right away. She approached the grayish scanned man of slight build eyes, pausing on horns curled back like a ram but she put it out of mind.

It wasn’t like she was the most normal person, either. If anything, she drew more attention, with Ione following behind her, sending a glare at anyone who got too close to either of them.

Elysia smiled at the man, whose eyes widened momentarily as he locked eyes with her but kept a professional expression. “What can I do for you, young elemental?”

Suddenly, several pairs of eyes shot toward her, but she did her best to ignore them, figuring there was no point in hiding her true nature. Not that she wanted to in the first place. It felt wrong hiding what she was. “I’m looking for people capable of repairing and upgrading my boat. It will be an extensive job, so I’d prefer a group under the same umbrella.”

Confusion flashed across the man’s face. “Why didn’t you try the Shipwright Guild?”

“The girl at the Information Center sent me here.”

Realization dawned. “Ah, that explained things. The humans seem to think the only option is our Guild, when in reality we aren’t. We focus on quick small-scale jobs to give independent specialists a chance to make some extra money. The more in-depth jobs we forward to the specialized guilds.”

Elysia nodded her head in understanding, then glanced at the mostly human crowd gathered around the board. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is with the humans?”

As if asked many times, he answered immediately. “It has something to do with settlement linked classes. I’m not sure the specifics myself but anyone who links themselves to a settlement gets that way. I wouldn’t do it myself, but I heard at the expense of limited autonomy those linked to settlements receive a large bonus to experience. I’m sure there are other advantages too. I’ve heard some take advantage of the bonus, then move on, though the longer one stays linked, the harder it is to leave.”

A shiver ran through her. No way would she link herself. She valued her autonomy. Though she could see why someone would take the risk. The world was a dangerous place, and many weren’t cut out to fight to defend themselves.

Elysia scanned over the various other races as the next thought came to her. “Why link yourself if they let you in either way?”

He gave her a friendly smile, not at all annoyed by her questions. “You must’ve just arrived.”

Upon receiving a nod, he continued. “I’m sure you noticed most of us non-humans gathered in the guild district or the harbor below. Without linking to the city, they don’t let us venture beyond the outskirts. Not that it matters to us as long as they let us maintain our guilds with limited oversight, which they do as long as we leave ourselves open to any human or Blessed business.”

His eyes gravitated toward her hair peeking out from under her helmet. “Actually, you might pass as a Blessed, but personally I wouldn’t risk it.”

Elysia nodded in agreement. There was no point in risking herself just to sneak deeper into some city, especially if the guilds provided what she needed.

“So am I right in assuming they call elementally infused Blessed here? Up north they called them Changed.”

Curiosity sparked the man leaned forward. “You visited the territory claimed by the man named President Burns? They wouldn’t let us establish guilds in their cities, though we heard the great Colossus Urus stayed there for a time.”

Uncomfortable with so many eavesdroppers, Elysia simply smiled, then changed the subject. “So where do you recommend I go to commission work on my boat?”

His friendly expression shifted to a more professional demeanor, disappointment flashing in his eyes. “Like I mentioned, your best bet would be the Shipwright Guild, though I heard they have quite the backlog. They might find an opening for you, though.”

Elysia nodded her head, then backed away from the counter. As soon as she turned around, she noticed a line of a dozen people waiting for their turn with the man, causing her to smile apologetically, then move out of the way. Fortunately, no one took offense to her questions, though it wasn’t like she held up the line that long.

Still, wanting to distance herself from the attention she drew, Elysia strode out of the building followed by Ione, who appeared to be less on edge. Maybe she learned to tolerate the elemental energies. She sent her senses out, curious if something changed to find the energies from so many races smothered the previously overwhelming Changed essence filled air. Good to know there was a refuge. Sereia seemed bothered by Changed energies as well, so the guild district should be safe for her.

At the thought of her twin, Elysia sent images letting her know where she was and that she was safe. An instant later, a flurry of images tinged with both worry and annoyance flooded in. The image is soon became clearer as her twin woke up with the last image telling her she would be there in a minute.

Before Sereia could swim her way, she told her to guard Umbra instead. If she was going to commission Umbra’s repairs and upgrades, she needed to ensure the boat arrived.

Impatience radiated through their bond, but Sereia gave her acceptance.

Instead of going to the Shipwright Guild, she jogged down the street. She had a feeling her twin would expedite the trip, and she wanted to be there just in case something happened.

Minutes later, she reached the levitation platforms. As she passed the still parked but empty SUV a shiver ran through her residual energies telling her whoever rode in the SUV had a fair bit of power, maybe more than she had. All the more reason to make sure Sereia arrived safely.

Like on their way up, Elysia hopped on Ione’s back as they took their spot on one platform, then waited for it to descend. As she waited, she peered down, spotting the group from the SUV or at least she assumed they were based on their white hair. They moved as a group surrounding a dress clad woman. Even from her distance, she noticed the glow of the brown dress. It was probably magical or a skill.

Any further observations stopped as the group of changed boarded a docked ship. The ship reminded her of the picture she saw of the concrete warships, but brown like dirt instead of the gray of concrete.

As the platform lowered, she prodded her bond, then froze when she found Umbra was less than a kilometer away and closing fast. At its current rate, Umbra would reach the gate before she would, unless they moved beyond natural speeds.

Was it worth drawing more attention to them? What if someone attacked Umbra?

Without prompting, Ione leaped off the platform, dropping the last handful of meters to the ground, then blurred toward the water. Elysia held on tight as she sensed an uptick of swirling energies, but before anything happened, they drove under the water, then shot off toward the gate. Fortunately, said gate was already open to allow a fishing boat through.

Several core pulses later, they reached Umbra, which was already halfway down the canyon leading to the harbor. Like a dolphin, they breached the surface then landed on Umbra’s front deck.

Elysia hopped off, then turned in the harbor’s direction. Annoyed Ione took the initiative, but also relieved that she reached Umbra in time, Elysia stared forward ignoring said feline. She really hoped their little escape didn’t complicate things.

For once, she wasn’t the one at fault for impulsive actions. If her family didn’t rush things, she would’ve had plenty of time to sneak out and meet up.

There was nothing she could do about it now. All she could do was try her best to mitigate the damage, which meant she would probably make it worse.