They took him to see Registrator Maknite.
The crowd around Maknite hadn't diminished the slightest. In fact, it had grown larger, spilling out onto the main street and blocking off the entire area. If anyone wanted to get through, they'd have to circle around the long way. At this rate, they'd be lucky to reach the Registrator before his daily time limit was reached.
"It's going to be a long wait," Severance observed.
Maun chuckled. "Not for us."
Severance wondered if Maun's eyeballs had quit working. There were at least a hundred people gathered around the stone building.
"Keep close," Agadhi commanded. He approached the edge of the crowd, his hands folded behind his back. He cleared his throat and politely said, "Excuse me."
A trio of warriors turned. They were all big, with heavy plate armor and fur adding even more bulk to their frame. Once they noticed Agadhi, they sprouted matching expressions of displeasure.
"What do you want?" one of them growled.
Agadhi met his gaze. "Let us pass."
The three warriors stared at Agadhi. From behind him, Severance couldn't really see what Agadhi did, but the next thing he knew, the warriors moved back, opening up a space between them.
"Thank you." Agadhi stepped forward. He walked like Maun, each stride a smooth, flowing movement reminiscent of a dancer.
Severance followed, both awed and confused. As he passed one of the warriors, he looked at one of them and received a cold stare. The warrior's lip curled into a sneer. Severance immediately turned his head, unease curdling in his gut.
Yikes. Agadhi sure knew how to make friends.
One by one, people allowed Agadhi to pass without much fuss, although when they were about halfway through, they reached a stubborn pair of female players waiting with a tall, armored man.
"Are you stupid?" One of the women scoffed. She was a rogue, judging by her dark, fitted outfit. "That's not how it works, mister."
"Yeah, wait your turn like everyone else," the second woman declared.
Severance could almost feel the crowd shift about them, interest and curiosity gathering in those closest. What are you going to do now, Agadhi?
"You will not move?" Agadhi questioned.
"Heck no." The first woman folded her arms in defiance.
"I see. Then please forgive me." Agadhi advanced upon them. Both women staggered back.
One bumped into the armored man, who instinctively grabbed on to her to support her. She sagged against him, red blossoming against the pale blue of her blouse. Gasps arose as the other woman collapsed in a heap. Blood seeped from her neck.
Severance's eyes grew wide. The man just outright murdered two people who were in his way! He hadn't even seen Agadhi attack.
Noise erupted, even as Agadhi calmly stepped over the one woman's body. The armored fellow grasped the other one, still unaware that he held onto a dead body.
"Did he just-?!"
"You can't do that!"
Some laughed. "That's hardcore, man."
"Dude!"
That last voice sounded suspiciously familiar, and Severance spun to look, searching the sea of faces for his friend. But a firm hand briefly pressed against his shoulder, and Maun's low voice murmured in his ear.
"Keep going."
Severance flinched. He had no choice but to follow. Violet stars started to gather around the bodies, drawing even more attention.
At least it helped clear their path, because no one wanted to get the same treatment. By the time they reached the stone building, Maknite was waiting for them with disapproval written all over his rugged face.
"Killing is not permitted in Ascendance," he growled. His two guards flanked him, their faces grim.
Oh boy. Severance tried to be invisible behind Agadhi. There was going to be trouble, he just knew it. Maybe Maknite would view him as an innocent bystander and not punch too hard.
Yeah, right. He was doomed.
"My apologies," Agadhi inclined his head, still acting like a gentleman. "But I must disagree. It cannot be considered killing as they will revive shortly. No harm is done."
"That may be, but there are rules here and they will be followed. If you have trouble with that, then you are welcome to leave." Maknite cut an intimidating figure, and he had no problem staring Agadhi down without so much as a flinch.
Just for that, he earned Severance's grudging respect.
"Indeed? I have received no notice of these rules," Agadhi returned mildly.
Maknite's expression darkened. "All the clans were given notice."
"Truly? You sent notice to every small, unaffiliated clan in Eliona?"
Severance could practically hear Maknite grinding his teeth. This was just great. Not only was Agadhi making friends with all the players and Elionans here, but now he was also generating all the warmest of fuzzies with the Registrator of Ascendance.
"Then I must apologize again," Agadhi continued when Maknite refused to answer. "I must have missed the arrival of your messenger. We get quite a few trespassers and so few visitors, so it can be difficult to differentiate between them. Could you perhaps provide a description and the time of arrival? I will try to recall whether such a person paid us a visit."
Behind Agadhi, Severance nearly choked on his own spit. He knew very well what the men in black did with their 'visitors'. Even if this messenger existed, they definitely wouldn't be existing anymore.
Maknite's eyes narrowed to mere slits. He looked like he wanted to rip out Agadhi's esophagus and beat him to death with it.
"You," he growled, "are walking on a very fine line, friend."
"Am I? I merely offered to aid you in finding your lost messenger."
"There was no messenger!" Veins popped out on Maknite's reddened face. "You are speaking purely nonsense!"
"Ah. Then it is my mistake. Perhaps we should get on with business, then?"
The silence that followed was so tense that even the crowd quit murmuring. It was amazing.
Maknite was absolutely livid. He looked like a steaming volcano about to erupt. Agadhi's words had been perfectly reasonable, and there was no way he could refute them without making himself look foolish or incapable before the entire crowd.
With a supreme effort, he visibly calmed. "Very well. I'll let this go, but I don't want to see you within my town again. Is that clear?"
"Of course." Agadhi didn't sound bothered by that at all.
Why would he? Severance inwardly gave his head a shake. The men in black were professional stalkers, capable of going wherever they pleased without being seen. Maknite's order wouldn't change a single thing.
"Good. I assume you are here to register this Outsider?" Maknite's gaze found Severance, and his lip curled.
"Yes."
Maknite grunted. "Then state your Clan for the records, as well as the Outsider's name and class."
"We are the Veiled clan," Agadhi immediately said. "And this is Severance. His class is the cleric."
Maknite frowned. "Veiled? I haven't heard that one. We'll need a new scroll."
He turned to one of his guards, who produced what looked like a roll of very thin leather. Maknite took it and unrolled it, revealing a completely blank sheet. With a thin piece of charcoal, he wrote a series of strange symbols that Severance couldn't decipher.
"Cleric, you said?" Macknite paused, his gaze finding Severance once more. His attention lingered for maybe a beat too long, before he continued writing in the scroll. Finished, he rolled it up and handed it back to the guard.
"Is it done?" Agadhi asked.
"It's done. He'll be officially registered under your clan name. Should you choose to terminate, you may see any Registrator at any time. Severance." For the first time, Maknite addressed Severance directly. "If it doesn't work out with the Veiled, come see me. A cleric would be welcome among the Free Traders."
"That won't be necessary." A subtle edge entered Agadhi's voice.
Maknite bared his teeth. "You never know."
Agadhi didn't bother replying. He just walked off, moving alongside the stone house where the throng of people was the thinnest. Severance followed, though he was distracted by the System's chime.
Quest Completed: Join a Clan
Congratulations, Severance! You have joined the Veiled!
Speak to them for guidance.
Severance wasn't sure if he wanted their guidance. He didn't want to get beat up by irritated people wherever he went.
"Maun." Agadhi stopped suddenly and turned around. He didn't say anything else, but Maun immediately gave a firm nod.
"I got it."
"Thank you. I'll go ahead with Severance."
"Sure. I'll see you later." Maun waved, and headed back in the direction they'd come from.
"Where's he going?" Severance asked. He didn't like the idea of being alone with Agadhi. He didn't really want to admit it, but he'd much rather be stuck with Maun.
Agadhi glanced at him. "He's going to destroy the scroll."
"Destroy it? The one that Maknite just wrote in?"
"Yes."
"But why?" Severance thought that was the whole point of this quest: join a clan, file the paperwork, and make it official. Now the men in black wanted to erase that effort. It made no sense.
Agadhi regarded him with a completely unreadable expression. "As I've mentioned before, we protect what is ours. Allowing the Traders to have that scroll is a risk. It's better to leave no traces."
These guys are even more paranoid than I am! Severance ran a hand through his hair. "If it's such a risk, then why did we go there in the first place?"
"Because it's a rule that must be followed. Now, let's—ah. That's your friend, isn't it?" Just as Agadhi spoke, a familiar figure came charging down the street.
"Sev! Hey!"
Awesome Dude sprinted over at full speed, as if afraid his target would vanish before he could get there. He came to a stop, and looked Severance over, head to toe. "You okay, dude? I'm really sorry, I kinda forgot about those guys until this guy reminded me and then you were gone, so I thought maybe you got killed and I felt really really bad—oh, who's that?"
The rogue stopped mid-ramble as he noticed Agadhi for the first time. He stared openly at the man in black. For his part, Agadhi stood passively and let the player stare. He didn't seem to mind being the subject of such close scrutiny.
But Severance's anxiety rose with every passing second, because he remembered how Agadhi had just slaughtered two players because they were in his way. There was nothing stopping him from doing the same to Awesome Dude.
He hurriedly stepped forward. "Hey, where've you been? Did you run into trouble?"
"Oh no," Awesome Dude immediately forgot about Agadhi and turned to Severance. "See, that one big guy came back, and I was about to fight him, right? And then this other guy comes out of nowhere and one shots him." He slammed a fist into a palm, making a loud smacking sound. "Like that! It was really cool, Sev. You should have seen it!"
That must have been Dhin. Very aware of Agadhi nearby, he didn't dare reveal anything, so he just nodded. It was good enough that Awesome Dude didn't have to get killed a second time by Rubio.
"What happened after that?" he asked.
"Ehehe," Awesome Dude rubbed the back of his head. Sheepishly, he said, "We got talking and he wanted to show me a cool rock in the forest, and I kinda forgot about you. I'm really sorry, Sev."
Severance sighed. A rock? Really, Dude?
He couldn't even get upset over it, because Dhin had undoubtedly distracted Awesome Dude on purpose. The men in black obviously didn't want him getting in their way. "It's fine. It turned out okay in the end."
"I won't do it again," Awesome Dude firmly said. He grabbed Severance by the shoulders, staring him intently in the face. "I promise, Sev. Friends gotta be there for each other. Next time, I'm coming straight back to rescue you, okay? No one's gonna stop me."
Severance shrugged his shoulders, trying to dislodge Awesome Dude's hands. But the rogue tightened his grip, refusing to let go.
Severance grimaced. "I said it's fine. Really."
"Are you sure? You're not mad, are you?" Awesome Dude went from determined to worried in an instant.
"I'm not mad," Severance said, exasperated. "Please let go of me."
Finally, the rogue did so. Seeing that Severance wasn't about to start spitting fire, he brightened and began to bounce on his heels. "Hey, we should go finish that quest! I found the Champions and already talked to them. We just have to go back and they'll let us join!"
Oh,right. The quest. He knew how excited his friend had been to join a clan together, but that was impossible now. He hesitated, wondering what to say.
What if Awesome Dude wanted to break off their friendship because of this? Friends didn't betray each other. Real friends, anyway.
It was Agadhi who came to the rescue. "I'm afraid that won't be possible, young Outsider. Severance has already become a part of my clan."
"Huh?" Awesome Dude gawked at Agadhi, his eyes growing wide. Then he whirled on Severance. "Sev? Is that true? Did you really join a clan?"
Severance nodded, unable to look his friend in the eye. He didn't think he could bear to see the deep sense of hurt that no doubt lingered there. "Yeah."
"Whoa." Awesome Dude turned back to Agadhi, looking at him intently. He sidled closer, well into what most people would consider to be their personal space. "Yeah, you look kinda cool. Is this clan strong, Sev?"
Agadhi merely arched a single dark brow.
Baffled, Severance tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Awesome Dude wasn't mad? That didn't seem right. Then he noticed just how close the other player was to Afadhi.
Alarm thrummed through him and he wanted to grab his friend away before he got killed. "Dude..."
"Well," the rogue nodded slowly, "I guess you must be since Sev joined you. So mister, how about-"
"No." Agadhi interrupted firmly. "We have already accepted Severance. We will not accept another."
"Aw, really?" Awesome Dude slumped like a dejected puppy. "Are you sure? 'Cause I'm super awesome, you know."
"I'm sure." Agadhi's tone left zero room for argument.
The rogue player pouted. "Aw man. That sucks." He brightened in the next instant, however, and flashed a pair of thumbs up at Severance. "But good for you, Sev! I'm glad you found a clan. This guy seems okay, so he's probably a good guy. But if he turns out to be bad, just let me know. I'll help you out, okay?"
Severance wanted to smack his own forehead. Warily, he peered at Agadhi, gauging his reaction. If he was angry at Awesome Dude's clueless rambling, the man didn't show it. He just observed the rogue like he was looking at a vaguely interesting worm wriggling about on the ground.
"Your assistance is unnecessary," Agadhi told the rogue. "But I'm sure Severance appreciates the thought. Now, if you'll step aside, we must be on our way."
"Right, right. No problem. You gotta go give Sev the clan intro, I bet." Awesome Dude nodded and backed off. "Hey Sev, once you're free, you wanna do a dungeon run?"
"I—sure?" Severance's head was spinning. Keeping up with Awesome Dude was like a constant source of whiplash. Sometimes the player seemed absolutely clueless, and other times, he was oddly perceptive. He didn't know what to expect anymore.
Either way, he was just immensely relieved that Awesome Dude didn't seem upset about him getting conscripted into a different clan. It meant they wouldn't be able to be in the same clan together, but the rogue still seemed willing to play with him if he was asking about the dungeon.
"Great! I'll finish up my quest and find some people. I'll message you later!" With a cheery grin, Awesome Dude scampered off.
"You have," Agadhi said slowly, "an interesting friend."
Severance let out an involuntary laugh. That was one way to put it. "Yeah."
"I'll bring you to the House now," Agadhi said. He lightly touched Severance's shoulder.
A clan member is using teleport.
The notification was the only warning Severance got before his world fuzzed into gray. There was the sensation of being tugged somewhere, followed by a brief moment of weightlessness. Then his vision cleared and his feet stood on solid ground.