It only took Chris a few minutes to get their forms finished, and when he was done, he slapped the brochure of Seeker ranks in front of Ember.

  “All right,” he said, “let’s get this over with.”

  He pointed to the top one. “This is Commoner rank. Pretty much anyone who doesn’t have a cup or has a very small cup fits in this rank. That would be you.” He pointed at Ember.

  He then pointed to the second line of text. “This is Fundamentalist. Fundamentalists are a step above Commoner, though the power difference varies greatly depending on the person. Then you have Transitionals, like me. Above that are the Adepts and Pinnacles. Pretty simple stuff, all things considered.

  “So that’s it?” Ember asked. “You just get stronger?” He motioned to the paper. “There’s nothing else to it?”

  Chris chuckled darkly. “Oh, there’s a lot to it. But I’m not going to get into the weeds. I’ll give you a basic breakdown. Essentially, when you hit Transitional or Fundamentalist, you have to go through what’s called a breakthrough. Breakthroughs make your cup deeper. There’s a difference between making your cup larger and making your cup deeper. Making your cup deeper allows you to hold more overall ichor. Making your cup bigger just lets you hold an incrementally larger amount of ichor. Breakthroughs are where the real magic happens.”

  He pointed to Fundamentalist and Transitional. “These two ranks are not that massive of a glow-up. You get a physical strength boost, speed boost—everything pretty much becomes stronger physically. And of course, your cup gets a little bit deeper, but it’s still just a drop in the bucket. However…” He pointed to the Adept text. “This is where real strength comes from.

  “Now, being a Transitional is still impressive. Obviously, I’m one, so it has to be.”

  Ember chuckled at his self-confidence.

  “However, an Adept is extremely powerful. Of course, a lot of it also depends on the items and weapons you wield, but usually an Adept, even without an epic-tier or above item, can flatten a city.”

  “Whoa,” Ember said. That escalated quickly.

  Chris nodded. “It’s a big jump in power, not even to get into Pinnacle. Transitionals are relatively rare on this side of the frontier. You usually just see Fundamentalists. Maybe a low-tier Transitional every now and then. The other side of the sea is where most of the higher-level Transitionals are. At least from what I’ve read.”

  “And you’re a…?” Ember asked.

  “I’m like a mid-level. Maybe slightly above that.”

  “Huh.”

  “It was also a massive pain to get to this point. I’m a slow developer.”

  “So, how long does it take to get to Transitional?” Ember glanced behind them at the wall of posters in the back of the hall, dozens of people gathered around.

  Chris rubbed his chin at that. “It kind of depends on the person. Some people can break through really quickly, and some others, it takes years or decades to break into Transitional. Not even including Adept, which is its own entirely different level. Usually, those who break into Adept require outside help to make that happen.”

  “Oh,” Ember said. It’s kind of similar to video games or anime power systems. “Is that all there is to it?”

  “Yes?” Chris shook his head. “There’s more, but there’s no point in telling you about it until you actually reach that point. So for now, this is all you really need to know.”

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  “Right…” Ember didn’t really like having information held back, but there was nothing he could do about it. Chris had his own ways, and while it was true he could just walk around and ask people, he got the feeling most wouldn’t be interested.

  Chris must have read his expression because he continued, “I know it’s annoying, but trust me, the less you know now, the better it will be when you reach that point. It’ll keep you from making misconceptions. Those can severely limit potential.” Chris’s face falls for half a second, but Ember catches it. He must have been a victim of those.

  “Of course, there is a small caveat to power,” Chris continued. “And that is that some people can see how much strength you have. Everyone who is Fundamentalist or above exerts a certain amount of pressure. While it’s easy to hide, some people just like to flaunt it. I typically don’t do that, though. Any questions?”

  Ember nodded, “What’s it like to break through?”

  Chris chewed on his lip as he thought, “It’s hard to put into words. You likely won’t notice when you become fundamentalist. It isn’t obvious until you use abilities. You’ll just notice you can do more with what you have. But going into transitional?” He chuckles.

  “It’s like when you get glue on your hands and slowly peel it off. Now just make that feeling go across your entire body. It’s probably how reptiles feel when shedding. I heard it gets even more intense the higher you go.” Ember tried to envision that, but couldn’t. It was such a specific feeling that he struggled to even remember what it felt like.

  Chris stood. “Okay, I think it’s time we get going. We should get our room set up before it gets dark.” He shouldered his pack, and Ember followed.

  The desk lady, who they had talked to before, stood in front of a large spiral staircase. She smiled. “Please follow me, gentlemen. I’ll take you to your rooms.”

  “Is this free?” Ember asked as they ascended the staircase.

  The woman gave him a small, tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course not. However, your companion here has already paid for a two-week stay, so you’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, that cost a small fortune,” Chris grumbled. “You’d think the guild would be a little more lenient on pilgrims.”

  She gave him a tense smile. “Well, we charge that much for our excellent service.”

  Chris scoffed.

  She then took them up to the third floor. The main hallway was covered in plush red carpet. The walls were made of extravagant-looking wood paneling, and lanterns in the shape of fish decorated the halls. She motioned to two doors on the right.

  “This will be your accommodation, gentlemen. Please let me know if you have any more questions.”

  With that, she left them to their devices.

  Ember walked into his room and noticed that it was significantly more luxurious than Basin Town. Of course, he hadn’t spent long in one of their rooms, but they weren’t very impressive, just a small bed and a little desk with a pail beside it. But here, there was an entire shower, and the bed was luxurious, looking like it was made out of some kind of animal down. The blanket was smooth and silky to the touch.

  The moment he plopped down in it, he sank into the bed. He didn’t want to get up. Ember let out a groan from the depths of his soul. Sleeping on the ground is great, but nothing beats a warm, soft bed. Tempted to tell Chris to go fuck himself and let me die in this bed.

  A large window to his left displayed the city. Now that he could see from above, the city was more impressive than he thought. Every single walkway had a glass line running through it, and underneath that glass line was a small river. They traveled all around the city—it was as breathtaking as the guild hall. Like small veins traveling about.

  Situated right in front of the bed on the other side was a small water trough—a tiny waterfall pouring into it and then washing away into a small hole. Ember dipped his finger into it. It was cool to the touch.

  “Where does all this water come from?” he thought to himself. “Is it magic?”

  He then shook his head. Chris hadn’t said anything about magic, so he didn’t know if it existed like it did in video games or other fantasy-based stuff. Sure, there were things that seemed magical in nature, but the Ichor system isn’t the same as typical magic. He decided not to dwell on it. Maybe he’d get answers someday, maybe he wouldn’t.

  Chris knocked on his door as he finished setting up, taking all of his meager possessions and setting them around the room—just two backpacks with spare clothes and his armor, which was now a little tattered but still wearable.

  “Come in,” Ember said.

  Chris opened the door, looking a little more refreshed than before. “All right, I see you’ve already got situated, that’s good. I am now broke. I have no money, so we’re going to have to do some jobs to get some.”

  Ember groaned. “What are the jobs?” he asked.

  “Well, why don’t we go find out? There’s a massive quest board down there. Let’s go see what we can find.”

  Ember nodded. Reluctantly, he put his armor on, strapped the sword to his side, and followed Chris back down to the guild hall.