Chương 105: Limitless Path Chapter One Hundred Five

They arrived at the CRA Hall after just a handful of minutes, Beth signaling that they should enter together. They made their way down to the commissary, Beth unworried about disturbing Jaq at this time, or any time, really. They trooped in to find an empty shop, Beth going to lean against the counter while the others spread out to peruse the items on display. It didn't take long for Jaq to emerge from the back, walking out the door on the left. The door that, a few days ago, had led down a long hallway.

A long, otherwise doorless hallway. Beth narrowed her eyes to slits as she stared at the Senior Enforcer.

"If your new eyes already need correction, I don't sell glasses," Jaq commented coldly.

"I'm fine," Beth huffed, relaxing her facial muscles.

"And how can I help this fine assortment of rabble today?"

"Do you have any frost resistance items?" Beth asked, ignoring his barbs.

"Yes," he replied stoically.

"And…"

"And I doubt you could afford what I have," Jaq replied, holding up a hand to stop her protest.

"I have explained this before, but it does bear repeating. I have very little low-level or low-tier stock at the moment. I do have many of the things you ask about, but they are not small or cheap things that you would be interested in at your current level, both of strength and finance."

"Isn't that a little weird?" Sabs asked, leaning against both the counter and Beth at the same time.

"Hmm?" Jaq replied, his inflection ticking up through the held syllable.

"Isn't this a 'newly integrated world?'" Sabs questioned.

"Why wouldn't you have more things that low-leveled people could use?"

"That's not how we operate," Jaq replied, holding up his hand again to interrupt the response with a sigh.

"By that, I mean that the White Hall doesn't operate like that, and it's lucky I even have the amount of low-end stock that I do."

"What does that mean?" Sabs cut back in.

"The 'White Hall doesn't operate like that' part."

"The various branches of the CRA have different operating principles and strive for different things," Jaq began explaining before Beth interrupted.

"There are different branches?!"

"Blood Stars," Jaq muttered darkly, rubbing his temples with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand.

"Yes, there are different branches of the CRA. We are all part of the same organization, with the same rules and ideals, but the operating principles and procedures of the different branches are different."

"And what, exactly, are these different branches?" Soph asked, the rest of the group having come over to hear this explanation.

"This discussion is far too long and tedious to have now, but I will explain a few basics," Jaq said, seeing five sets of eyes fixed raptly upon him.

"The White Hall and Black Hall are often paired together as opposites. We strive for the path of the elite while the Black Hall prefers a more regimented, militaristic approach to their membership. A little of the traditional quality versus quantity.

"You have other halls such as the Sapphire and Ruby Halls, the first of which is concerned with matters of celestial navigation and exploration, while the latter focuses on magic and magecraft. The Jade Hall has a focus on crafting and non-combat, while the Iron Hall concerns themselves with work-for-hire and mercenary work. You will find many senior members of that last Hall the leaders of mercenary companies of great renown in their own right."

"Wouldn't I do better in the Ruby Hall?" Soph asked as soon as Jaq seemed finished with his explanation.

"There is nothing that restricts you, at lower ranks, from joining another Hall," Jaq replied a bit acerbically.

"There are restrictions on changing your 'Home Hall,' as it were, at higher ranks, but that will not apply to you for a long time.

"Despite what others from the various Halls will tell you when you speak with them, and I say this with as little bias as possible; the absolute best of the best enter the White Hall. People like Baelvyr in the Milky Way Galaxy can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and he is a senior member of our Hall.

I will not denigrate those of the other Halls, but if you were to compare the representatives of the other Halls to those of the White Hall here on Earth, you would find them more numerous but less individually capable.

"If that is not enough to convince you, young bookworm, then you should ask Rissa. She would be happy to expound on just how great the teaching of the Ruby Hall is and how it compares to her tender ministrations. I am sure that she will be able to elucidate all the petty details that I hardly care for."

"I think I'll do just that," Soph said, sticking her nose in the air and turning on her heel to march out. An action that was halted with a squawk from her as Beth snagged her youngest sister by the back of the armor.

"After we finish this discussion about supplies," Beth reprimanded, getting a "humph," and crossed arms from the little brat.

"So, no resistance granting gear of any kind?" Beth asked Jaq, finally bringing the discussion back to one of the handful of things she wanted to tick off her list. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"No. I could sell you something expensive, or I could sell you un-enchanted items made of mana silver, mana gold, or other materials that you could use to make your own items."

"How much?" Beth asked with narrowed eyes.

"The simplest items would be fifty silvers apiece. The better items would run in the golds, and yes, that is the un-enchanted versions."

"We could barely afford one each," Beth said, also indicating with that statement that her current pool of wealth was rather shallow.

"And then Soph would have to enchant each. If she messed one up, we would be kinda fucked."

"I wouldn't mess up something like that," Soph replied with a flip of her hair, earning her a flick to the side of the head from Beth.

"You're talking about gambling with all the money we have right now, which we also need for other things, like supplies. Until we can get more money or more items, I think the three of you will just have to suffer until you get higher Endurance."

"That sucks," Kim sighed, rubbing at her right temple with her right hand.

"Is there something else I can help you with, or is there some other reason for you to loiter in my fine establishment?" Jaq asked with a frown.

"Fine is pushing it," Beth muttered, getting a light elbow from Sabs in return.

"We need more light stones and ration bars, as well as some other miscellaneous supplies."

"I certainly have extras of those," Jaq replied with a nod. The other girls all wound up spending thirty silvers, part of it going to light stones, and part going to slightly armored belt pouches. The pouches weren't enchanted with any extra space the way Beth's was, but they did provide a handy way to carry a light stone, a canteen, and a few ration bars around without tying up anybody's hands.

Beth also spent twenty silvers buying another large pack of rations to replenish her rapidly depleting supply, shoving the whole pack in her backpack. With their purchases complete, the girls said goodbye to Jaq, earning a snort in response, before trooping out of the commissary. They all headed to Beth's room, her sisters taking advantage of the luxurious bathroom to wash off and get cleaned up. Beth's sister left for the night and the other three bedded down after a proper dinner.

The next day they were up early, stopping in the lounge to pick up Beth's sisters, John and Navere both present to see their protégés being taken for the day. Stopping at the front desk in the lobby as the others continued to the main door, Beth said to Tazeen, "Hey, can I get a second room key? One that just works on my same room." Tazeen's eyes flicked momentarily to Sabs, a movement so slight Beth had trouble noticing, as he said, "Certainly. Give me just one moment."

The tall elf then moved his hands about quite quickly in a long-practiced series of gestures before holding a small black rectangle identical to the one in Beth's pouch out to her. She thanked him and took it, turning to catch up with the rest of the group. When she drew even with them, she held the key out to Sabs.

"What's this?" asked the older girl, giving it a frown as she took it from Beth.

"Key to our room."" Our room. I like the sound of that," Sabs responded.

"Get a room," Kim huffed with a shake of her head.

"What do you think I just did?" Beth snipped back.

"Ugh," was Kim's response. The five made their way south, taking just slightly less time today due to the slightly increased stats of Sabs and Kim. Soph's stat changes didn't really matter, as she comfortably rode Blood, and her speed was far beyond reproach. It was only a little less than a half-hour before they were making their way down the ramp into the pit, and another ten minutes to move to where their first fight of the day before had been.

The rest of the day went very much like the previous, with all of the lower-leveled girls getting at least one level from fighting the kobolds. They were able to find enough foes to fight, but there wasn't any loot laying about, all the places Beth had picked clean still utterly lacking. They returned to the CRA Hall late and Beth's sisters just went around the building and back to their home while Sabs joined Beth and Blood in their room.

They went through their evening tasks quickly before spending a lot of time lounging in the common room, something they could due thanks to needing far less sleep. Sleep they did eventually get a few hours of after watching the wall screen until after midnight. The two woke the next morning without any need for an alarm, going through their daily tasks before gearing up and heading out.

They made their way to the lounge, meeting up with Beth's sisters as they got ready to head back and check the ant and wolf dungeons. Beth stopped by the center table and let John and Navere know that they would be back later for training, the two acknowledging the comment with nods. Clearing the dungeons was done in record time, the group not struggling at all with the small, weak instances before turning towards their training.

The whole group returned to the CRA Hall, the rest heading back to the lounge alongside Lyrissa as Beth stopped at the front desk. Tazeen gave her a nod before very slightly cocking a single immaculate eyebrow.

"Is there something I can help you with today?" he asked.

"Two things for now," Beth replied with a nod.

"Go ahead."

"Number one: what's the level difference where you no longer get rewards from a dungeon?"

"Well, that can vary," he answered with a small frown.

"In general, at lower levels, you need to be within no more than twenty levels to receive a reward. There are other times where it can be even lower; fifteen levels is another commonly seen gap."

"Okay, because Blood and I are now more than twenty levels over the dungeons by our house and they didn't give us any rewards this morning when we were there during the clear."

"Understandable," Tazeen said ambivalently.

"And the second question?"

"Can you give me a little more concrete information on what I'll need to do to get a Silver Emblem?" she asked with a bit of a grin.

"You've shown to be reliable enough in your attendance at the Hall and efforts to train and patrol that I would be comfortable letting you know the full requirements," he replied.

"Firstly, you will not be considered for Silver until you hit level one hundred for the first time. You will understand more once you reach that point.

"Next, you will need to complete three Silver-level missions before you can be upgraded." Tazeen paused as Beth held up her hand.

"Yes?"

"What are 'Silver-level missions?'" she asked with a raised brow.

"Copper Emblems do not get assigned missions," he began to explain.

"As I have told you previously, a Copper-level rank is considered more an apprentice member that has a few basic accesses, and most simply get that Emblem to be allowed to participate in most of the Ladders.

"Once you obtain a Silver Emblem, while there are still not necessarily hard requirements for things you must do, you will be able to begin taking missions certified by the Association. These missions are categorized by both Emblem level and a difficulty rating, and you will eventually be required to complete so many missions per year or to perform so much service per year. That will not, however, be until you acquire a Gold Emblem at the least."

"Are missions restricted solely to your Emblem level?" Beth interjected.

"No, but you may only take missions of a single rank above you without special permission from a senior member or Hall Master."

"Thanks," Beth replied.

"But I think I interrupted your explanation."

"It is no bother," he said stoically.

"To continue, the final requirement is a test. While the requirements will become more numerous and more complex, the last requirement is a review and test by a panel of more senior Enforcers. They will make a review of the other requirements, making sure that they have all been completed, before administering a test. For Silver and Gold levels, these tests are standardized, but from Platinum level on, there are more complex and stringent requirements for the tests that cause them to vary.

"The test you will need to pass will involve a written test that consists of one hundred questions followed by a combat test. The questions are pulled from a larger pool of questions updated every so many years, and there are many study materials that you can find for such tests. The combat test will be to defeat a certain number of enemies in simulated combat or hold out for a specific amount of time against a single much superior enemy.

You can find some information in the library about the Silver and Gold combat tests; it is usually included with the study materials for the written test."

"Do you have any of the names of the books I should study?" Beth asked, quirking a brow.

"I will give you a list," he replied calmly, making a piece of paper and pen appear with a twist of his wrist. He proceeded to write nearly a dozen lines on the paper in Universal Standard before handing it to Beth.

"I have written a number of books on here for you to study. The last two items are links to places on the Outernet where you can find resources that will be helpful not just for our Emblem tests, but for your life in general as a Wayfarer."