Obelia enters the house, and in the room, only Tess and I remain. Everyone else who is currently in the house is shooed away.

I enter the living room and, after gesturing to her, she sits on the couch. Both Tess and I sit opposite her.

Obelia looks around curiously, and somehow, she doesn't seem to fit in here. She's the guild master of one of the biggest 5, now 4, and maybe 5 again when I think about it.

“I could help you find a better place now that you will become one of the five big…”

“Nope,” I interrupt her, “I like it here.”

The house isn't too big, so most of the rooms are occupied, and it feels full most of the time. But in a good way. It feels alive and cozy, and when I need privacy, I can just lock my room.

“I apologize for that. I also apologize for recommending you as one of the 5 guilds to Miss Myrra. I thought it would be something you would want,” Obelia says, and as I observe her, I don't think she is lying.

“Well, I didn't back then. I also got really mad at you, you know. So that's something you should work on,” I tell her, and I notice that even Tess is somewhat surprised by my shamelessness.

Yet Obelia seems to have been expecting that and puts a box on the table.

Without much hesitation, I take it and open it. Inside, there are multiple high-quality mana stones, a few pieces of metal that seem to be extremely rare and mana-conductive, and a few other materials.

“I'm not angry anymore,” I tell her, and Obelia nods as if also expecting that.

She seems to understand me well. If you don't cross the line, a lot of things can be fixed with me by giving me good stuff or some other helpful services.

“There will be an auction in a few months, the biggest one in the past ten years, and I can help you get some items or assist you in getting in,” she offers.

“Sounds good,” I don't even have to think about it. The timing is also good. I should be able to finish working on the coordinates and probably shortly before or after the auction enter the second trial of Beyond.

“Storm Brigade would also like to establish a cooperative relationship with Angry Kittens,” she says the guild name in a much different way from Elydor, and that's what I like.

No matter how silly it is, I don't want other people to disrespect our guild name. Other people, other than me, obviously. Those three little twerps that picked it are still going to suffer a bit longer for that.

Damn, we could have had some amazing guild names like Biscuit and Friends or Nathaniel's Underlings. And they stole it from me!

Anyway, I gesture at Obelia to continue.

“There isn't much I would expect from you for now. We could cooperate once in a while. Trade. Meet once every few weeks or months. There would be no attacking between us or other similar actions. I'm asking also because there's an expedition I have in mind.”

Obelia pauses for a while, and then after giving me a long examining look, she continues, “It's something I would need Elydor for, but hesitated to have him join. He wasn't exactly the right person to work with. You, on the other hand, I prefer much more and you seem to have a similar skill set to Elydor, and that's what I need.”

This is also something that sounds interesting and could be fun to do.

“Okay, I have something else to do right now, but in a few weeks or months, we could talk about it more?” I look at her, “Is it time-limited?” When she shakes her head, I continue, “Good then, for now, you can give some information here to Tess or Hadwin, and we will check it out.”

They will check it out; I will be locked in my room experimenting.

“Will do so. Then there is another thing,” she turns and looks at Tess, “This young woman, you called her Tess, I would like to take her in as one of my apprentices.”

Oh? Isn't that interesting? Did she like Tess's lightning? Obelia's class name is Stormshaper, so maybe.

The silence stretches, and only then do I realize that she is waiting for my answer.

“What? Just ask Tess, it's not something up to me to decide.” For that answer, I get a curious look from Obelia and a small smile from Tess.

“I'm not saying no, but I would like to know first what it includes and why,” Tess says. She also seems to be curious.

“It's quite simple. I already have two disciples, and you would be the third. The main reason for that is mostly to help you in hopes you will become stronger, and that way I will create a strong relationship with someone like that,” Obelia is honest as heck. I don't know if that's how she is or if she judges this to be what will be appreciated more.

“Sure, there are some things I would ask from you. Maybe we can work together to improve both of our skills. Light sparring. Observing your skills. In exchange, I would share information with you, some that you have no chance of learning anywhere else. Information about classes, requirements for stronger classes, training methods.” She is calm and doesn't force anything.

“As for why, I saw you using lightning, and if I'm right, it could be lightning that is, or is close to being, one of the Primordial energies. I want to observe it, and I think it will help me a lot to do so.”

“These Primordial energies, I heard about them from Nat, but can you tell me how many there are and what they are?” Tess asks.

Back then, I was offered the Energy Conductor class, and there were Primordial energies mentioned: Thermal and Kinetic. To be honest, it still sounds strong as hell, and sometimes I think about what it would do to my class, but I still like my current one more.

“I'm not the right person to talk about it. There have been hundreds of people discussing them over hundreds of years. Theorizing and testing them. We just know for sure that they are called Primordial energies by the system. We don't know how many there are. Some say that they are energies that create and influence the universe, others say they are just a categorization for energies you can control within the system, others say each energy has a being that rules over that energy.”

I notice that Tess is paying as much attention as I am. That's good; it's nice to have someone else that will try to find out more about them.

“There are five energies we know about, and there are most likely more, just rarer and not available for someone as low-level as us. We know about the lightning you probably possess, then there are thermal and kinetic,” she looks at me. Such an annoyingly perceptive and smart woman, “then there is gravitational and void energy.”

“What's the difference between Primordial thermal energy and normal fire created by a skill?” I decide to interrupt Tess, who is about to ask something. But I'm just that curious.

“That's hard to say with certainty. They are mostly more pure, and using them requires a deeper understanding of the energy than the skill offered by the system.”

“So maybe the Primordial energy is original, and the skill created by the system is a copy?” Tess asks.

“That's a good way to put it, yes. But we don't know for sure,” Obelia answers.

Silence ensues, and Tess offers to make tea for Obelia, to which she agrees. We spend some time waiting in silence while Tess makes the tea in the kitchen.

I continue to observe Obelia. She looks young, maybe around thirty. Her hair is pale brown, and her eyes are of a silver color with visible circuits that I bet have mana flowing through them. Her eyes are somewhat similar to Ruby's. Most likely a trait of some sort.

Should I just ask her? Would it be considered very rude? I know if someone asked me that, I would tell him to fuck off and probably add a bit more.

“Was Elydor strong?” I ask instead, to her surprise.

“Elydor was strong, but probably the weakest of the five guild masters when it comes to combat. His specialty was creating items and inscribing. In that, he was probably the best in the city, and that skill made him one of the richest people in the city.”

That can mean only one thing.

I should have looted his mansion.

Damn it.

It also means that I can probably become similarly rich.

“Who is Myrra?” I ask another question.

“If she didn't tell you, I will take it as it was her intention and will not tell you as well. I hope you understand.”

“I see.” Hmm, so someone high up there.

“Who is Lorven?”

“He is the guild master of Voidwalkers. He has a terrifying stealth skill, so be careful if you ever meet him. Thanks to that skill, he became strong at a really young age, and his guild is a smaller one but an elite force. There are rumors he often works with lynthari.”

Hmm, so it's like Myrra said. Damn, isn't my [Perception] quite amazing to see through it on the second try? I should look into that skill a bit more!

When Tess sits back on the couch after placing the tea in front of Obelia, I ask again, “How does lynthari leadership work?”

Obelia takes a sip of the tea and then looks at me for a while. For the first time, she seems genuinely curious.

“That's something everyone somewhat powerful in the city knows,” she says carefully.

I just give her a blank stare, not falling into the trap and trying to come up with reasons why I don't.

“There is a matriarch that has led the lynthari for hundreds or thousands of years already. She is the strongest being in the city by far. But she is quite hands-off and only acts if needed. Otherwise, there are some basic rules lynthari follow and rarely break. If they do, there is a special group of them that deals with it.”

“What are their rules?” I ask.

“We humans don't know all of them. But there is most likely one for not killing humans without a strong reason, not forcing humans to do things, or not touching them if it seems like it's against their wishes. There are more but nothing special. Older lynthari rarely deal with humans, so it's mostly younger ones that we interact with.”

“What happens if you hurt or kill lynthari?” Tess asks Obelia.

“You die. There is an elite force of lynthari that deals with it. They investigate, they gather proof, and then they logically and methodically deal with you instead of being driven by anger. Lynthari can be really cruel if pushed there,” from the way she says it, something tells me it's a notion that terrifies her.

We talk a bit more, and then I leave the room so she can converse more with Tess. Damn, lightning energy surely sounds cool. But I'm not jealous at all. I have two of them!

Surely having two Primordial energies is better than one, whatever the energies actually are. They are strong, and that's enough for now.

I open the community.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - anyone with Primordial energy?

Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - huh, what is that?

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food!

Biscuit?!

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - What, it sounds cool. I want one!

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Amateurs.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Oh come on! Did you just want to show off?

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Nope.

I totally wanted to. It always makes one feel better to flex on some people. I should totally try to get lightning.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Oh, btw, fuck ants. Dude, I might hate them more than Cinderbear. The sound their legs make as they walk is creepy as fuck.

Hadwin (Hell, group 4) - Did you guys run away?

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - You bet, Hadwin! I probably won't be able to say more because of censorship, but fuck 'em!

I let the poor people without Primordial energy talk, close the window, and quickly locate Biscuit.

The doggo somehow unlocked my door and is currently on my bed, burrowed in my blankets. He is staring into the air as if reading the Community, but as always, there's the question of how. How does he type or read what others say?

I enter my room and stop in front of him.

But most importantly, “Biscuit? Do you have Primordial energy?”

(Food!) he shouts at me.

Oh boy.

“Which one is it? Thermal? Kinetic? Lightning? Void? Gravitational?” I continue to ask him, but he doesn't react to any of them. Either he's hiding which one he has, or... or he has a different one.

I get on the bed and lean my head closer to him, my nose almost touching his, “You have to tell me, Biscuit. I need to know!” My curiosity will kill me if he doesn't!

(Food!) he just shouts happily and boops my nose with his, then he burrows himself under my blankets with only his head poking out.