Limitless Path

They arrived at the Hall incredibly quickly, still chuckling as they entered through the lobby. Both Tazeen and Lyrissa were behind the front counter, and there was a small group gathered around Lyrissa discussing something with her. She was apparently enjoying being the center of attention, seeing the way she gestured and leaned forward, thrusting her chest out somewhat suggestively. Beth just shook her head, giving Tazeen a nod as they passed, the two heading further back into the building.

Blood followed her as she led the way to the commissary first, finding half a dozen people browsing while Jaq watched them from under lowered brow. She moved up to the counter, becoming the focus of his glare as she leaned against it in front of him.

"What?" he demanded, somehow sounding ambivalent and grumpy at the same time.

"You have any redgold salt?" she asked rhetorically, having checked that it was listed as in stock at their Hall.

"Ah, you're one of those. I should have figured," he replied, pulling a small jar out from nowhere and ignoring her protests.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she huffed at him.

"That will be five golds," he said calmly, ignoring her question.

Beth heard somebody behind her let out a gasp when they heard the price, but she ignored them and smacked the coins on the counter. She grabbed the jar and placed the object in her belt pouch, though she never let go of it and placed it in her necklace instead. She gave Jaq a nod, to which she only received a deeper frown in response, before turning and leading Blood out. She noted the wide eyes of one of the young women in the shop as she left, likely the one who had exclaimed softly at her spending so much money on a condiment.

Beth didn't return to the room immediately, parting ways with Blood as the lupine woman rushed to claim the couch. Beth, on the other hand, went up to the cafeteria and got a huge mug of heated hunting spice. She started with a tablespoon of redgold salt, which she determined was certainly not enough, especially given the size of the mug she had ordered. Two more tablespoons brought the drink to that level of sweetness, spiciness, and slightly salty savory taste that she was looking for. She thought she might have made it a bit stronger than Liveria had made hers, but she preferred the taste this way.

She returned to the room with her steaming mug, not passing anyone on the way, but apparently nobody else was using the second basement floor. The floor was mostly housing, and apparently no one used the housing or the couple training rooms on this floor. She slipped into the room after a moment, making sure the door was secure behind her as she glanced over to see Blood sprawled out naked on the couch.

She joined her, both on the couch and with the lack of clothes, lifting her companion up and draping her across Beth's lap. She held the mug by the handle in her left hand and rested the flat base on one of Blood's plump butt cheeks, getting a grumble from the wolf. Beth quelled her by scratching the wolf on the back of her head, the woman burying her face further in the big pillow she had set on the arm of the couch.

They spent the whole day like that, Beth finding the caffeine-like effects of hunting spice basically didn't affect her. They showered and bathed in the evening before again falling asleep on the couch. The next day was there in an eyeblink, and Beth made sure that they didn't have anything laying around the suite. Everything was hoovered up into her or Blood's necklace, and they cleaned up before heading out, not just for the day this time.

Their first stop was the front desk, where they found Tazeen alone, not unusual for early in the morning. She stopped in front of the counter and greeted the elf, saying, "Good morning, Tazeen."

"Ms. Beth. Ms. Blood," he replied stoically. "How can I help you?"

"Turning our keys in," she said, making her room key appear and handing it to him. She elbowed Blood and the wolf grunted in response before handing her key over.

"You do have ten days left on your current suite," he replied, though he did take the keys and make them disappear.

"Well, Sabs doesn't need the room anymore," Beth replied with a slight frown. She took a deep breath and continued, "And Blood and I are about to head out for what will likely be quite a long time. We don't need the room right now and for quite a while."

"I will save the same room as long as we are not filled to capacity," Tazeen said.

"If you'd do that, I'd honestly appreciate it," Beth said with a smile, getting a small nod from the elf.

"Is there anything else you need?" he asked.

"Nah, we're gonna circle up with Baelvyr now and he'll get us going," Beth said with a quick shake of her head. "Thanks, Tazeen, and we'll see you in a while."

"Do be careful out there, both of you," he said to them with another small nod.

Beth led the way back down the hallway, moving to the lounge on the first floor that everyone used before sitting at Baelvyr's table. The huge ogre was eating an equally huge meal, and Beth and Blood waited for him to finish before talking. Beth noted that there was some weird program on the closest wallscreen about a young group of powerful scions journeying together, but it looked a little hackneyed to her after a glance, so she ignored it.

"Alright, what?" Baelvyr finally asked after he was done.

"Teleport," was all Beth said in reply, very briefly making the token appear in her left hand at an angle only he could see before she made it disappear. Despite her speed with doing it and having her hand at an odd angle, Baelvyr was very clearly able to see what she did.

"Alright. Yer both ready for a trip?" he asked as he heaved himself up.

"As ready as can be," Beth replied with a shrug, Blood agreeing with a nod.

"Yeah, dependin' on what yer doin', it's not like yer not gonna have access to the Teleportation Network, anyway," he said as he led the way out of the lounge. "Ya make enough money that ya can afford a long teleport here and back whenever ya want."

They trooped through the arena to the elevators, taking one of them down to the lowest basement level. He lumbered in front of them down the hall towards the teleporter room and, despite looking like he was moving slowly, he covered the distance in a handful of seconds. When he opened the door for them, he moved over to activate power to the room before moving to the platform they had used before.

"Put yer token here," he commanded Beth, pointing at a small flat area that was slightly indented on the teleporter control panel.

Beth complied, pulling the token that the Lord of Traversal had sent from her necklace and setting it on the indented area. She saw Baelvyr hit a few buttons on the screen that hovered above the control interface, something about destination and lock set, before hitting another button. The teleporter didn't start doing anything yet, but a readout on the display did change, and Baelvyr turned back to her.

"Alright, got it queued up," he said. "Most places will work somethin' like this; they ask for where ya want to go, key it in, and see how much a teleport will cost. That's if it ain't a pre-set teleport, which is how a decent number are out there. That case they just charge ya a few coins then let ya get on the platform and go. Here, I'm gonna charge ya now after everything's set then ya climb up there and the two of ya go poof."

"Not poof, I hope," Beth muttered. "Any discount for a favorite student?"

"Hahaha," he laughed uproariously. "These things are the most expensive parts of adventurin' life. Yer better off tryin' to argue a discount from a miser on his mana gold. Ain't nobody gonna negotiate with ya on teleporter prices. Anyway, it's four platinums total for the two of ya."

"Jesus," Beth hissed through her teeth, fishing out the coins and handing them to Baelvyr.

"I told ya it ain't cheap," he laughed again, waiting for them to get on the platform. "Alright, I'm gonna send ya in a moment, but last thing. I know ya like to fight and explore, and ya can do that all ya want, but when ya get an opportunity like this, ya ought to try to make some connections. Don't just ignore everybody ya meet to fight instead."

"Oh, and ya should start doin' ranked fights in the arena already," he dropped on them right as he pressed the button. Beth tried to at least respond with something, but she only got the 'hold' from "Hold on!" out before they were on a different platform.

"On what, madam?" a rich voice asked, Beth turning slightly to find a very tall man standing off to the side of the teleporter they had landed on. Of course, that only held her attention for a moment, as the room that teleporter was located in was phenomenal. There was no roof, not as such, and in its place was a sheet of something clear, but something that had to be much stronger than normal glass, as Beth was staring up at a star up close. She wasn't sure what the distances involved were, but there was a great blue and white ball of nuclear fire glowing above her head that took up most of the window.

"Marvelous, isn't it?" the man commented, Beth coming back to herself with a small jerk as she realized she had ignored his first query.

"Sorry, sir," she said. "I was trying to say something else to my mentor when he activated the teleporter and sent us here mid-sentence."

"I see, a rather amusing turn," the man commented.

"A lot more annoying than amusing," Beth grumbled. "But, anyway, we're here now. You don't happen to be, uh, the Lord of Traversal, do you?"

"Oh, Blood Stars, no," the man responded with a jovial laugh. "I apologize for the late introduction, but I am an employee of the esteemed Lord, and my name is Juraan Brandt."

"I'm Beth Bell, and this is Blood Bell," Beth replied, indicating herself and Blood.

"And is Beth a shortening? Apologies, but I have found it a common occurrence in human names," he asked.

"Ah, yes, sorry, my name is Elizabeth, but I never go by that. I like going by Beth a lot better," she said.

"Understood, ma'am. Now, I must ask, are you here on official business, have you an invitation, is this a social visit, or are you here to make a personal request?" he asked.

"Oh, right, sorry. The view really distracted me," she said, pulling out the letter. "How does it look like that, without blinding us? Are the windows treated with something?"

"The ceiling of this room is made of a special type of clear diamond with many runes layered into it, which include modulation of the view as not to hurt eyes or other sensory organs due to overload," he explained, before taking the paper from her. "Allow me to view this invitation."

He spent just a moment reading through it before scanning it in some way, Beth detecting the subtle pulse of mana. He then turned to her and asked, "Do you have the access token as well?"

She handed him the token, but he merely glanced at it before nodding at her. "Indeed, that token matches. If you would follow me, I can lead you to a lounge where you may partake in refreshments while waiting. I am terribly sorry, but the Lord of Traversal is quite busy and often cannot meet with guests immediately."

"Oh, that's fine; I honestly didn't really expect different," Beth replied, following the man after he made a sweeping gesture with his arms while giving a half-bow.

He led them out into a hallway that was made of very expensive materials, but had an understated elegance. There were no further windows or openings in this hallway, nor the next one, but the room he led them into at the end of the five minute walk had an entire wall that was missing, showing a view of space with hundreds of stars glittering against the inky blackness.

"I will inform the Lord you are here and return shortly. Please enjoy any of the food and drink present," Juraan said before giving a short bow and turning smartly on his heel to leave.

Blood was already investigating the room, sniffing about at the furniture before moving on to an area with food and a well-stocked bar. The food was arranged in large dishes on a table and kept perfectly warm by some kind of enchantment. The bar was in the form of a long, wooden cabinet with runes likely meant for preservation engraved into it, as well as a small table with space to prepare drinks and instruments used in said preparation in the base of that same table. Everything was, of course, made of extremely expensive materials, with Beth unsure of what kind of crystal the glasses were made of, but she did know one thing, and that was that they were pricey.

Despite their apparent host's encouragement, Beth declined to take anything for now, though the same couldn’t be said of Blood. The lupine woman had taken a plate with some kind of fluffy pastry on as well as a light red colored drink. The two sat together on a couch that faced out into the star-speckled void, watching the distant lights twinkle as Blood quickly made the food disappear before sipping her drink.

They waited for a little while, Beth not bothered by the time when they had such an incredible view to admire. The part that she was really curious about was if they were on some kind of space station or if it was a starship. Perhaps it was neither of those but something else entirely, considering that with magic and technology together just about anything would be possible.

Whether it was thanks to the view, or her recent relaxed attitude, it took Beth a moment to notice that it wasn't just the two of them in the lounge anymore, and she was quite sure nobody had walked in. A tall, dark-skinned man had simply appeared in one of the chairs, and even though she hadn't noticed him at first, she was quite sure both that he hadn't been there more than a few moments, and that he had just appeared there without any kind of movement through the room. She turned to look at him directly and he gave her a large smile, full of warmth and life and gentle amusement, nodding in acknowledgement as Blood had also noticed him.