The Tower of Ferrum, just like any other building designed for conduits, had a specially designed structure. These buildings are made to withstand the raw power of peak horizon tiers.
They might not be the tallest, but they are the sturdiest. To compensate for the lack of height, they cover a wide area, and the exact number of levels extends underground.
As soon as Meloni passed the gates of the main entrance into the tower, the noise of the outside world softened. For any other person, it would feel like the noise was completely cut off, but her senses were sharp.
The interior of Ferrum was strangely artistic. Smooth grey stone walls intersected with panels of brushed black metal stretched up towards high ceilings. The ambient lights cast a soft blue and white hue across the surfaces. It was giving everything a futuristic undertone.
Her core wasn't strong enough to map the number of conduits in the tower, but her ears were sensitive enough to hear the heartbeats of every person.
With Ray perched on her shoulders, deliberately sitting close to her neck because he loved her smell. Walking alongside the woman in pale whites, they arrived at the elevators that took them to the fifty-second floor. All this while, none of them conversed with each other.
Unknown to Ray, Meloni's mood was not one of the brightest at the moment.
Arriving at the administrative floor of Ferrum, they crossed paths with some conduits. Some were young, some were trained, and most of them didn't glance at her, but at the woman in front of her.
She seemed to be someone important.
Finally, they stopped behind a grey wooden door. Without her knocking on the door, a voice came from the other side, "Let her in!"
The woman nodded and opened the door for Meloni.
Meloni stepped inside. An office, sleek and elevated in both design and height. It had a light interior, in contrast to the dark marbles of Ferrum.
Virris Rhane, a peak horizon conduit, leaned on his white marbled desk, staring at the district below from the massive windows, holding a sheet of paper in his hands. He had long black hair that flowed down to his back.
Virris turned towards the door and looked at Meloni. He nodded for her to come in, and the door behind her closed with a silent click.
"Meloni Eades…Please-" He gestured at the chair across his desk.
"Morning!" Meloni greeted and walked silently, sitting in the chair in front of him.
"You have a pretty…unique pet," Virris remarked, looking at Ray.
"Ah- Yes, he just follows me only!" She replied. Well, she wasn't wrong either.
"That's impressive. Animals tend to follow those whom they place their trust in," Virris nodded, clearly impressed.
"Let's start from the beginning," Virris said as he sat on his leather chair.
"You're a naturally awakened conduit, which means you have a reflected deity that could come for you anytime. You're neither trained nor guided in terms of combat, that makes your situation dangerous, but it gives you a factor of growth too, because naturally awakened cores have a perfect sync with their vessels," Virris said, turning the monitor on his desk towards Meloni.
She didn't say anything; she already knew all of this, but hearing about it every time made her feel fear that she had never experienced before.
"Do you know what level you are?" He asked.
"Level? I'm not aware of that," Meloni replied.
'Right- I forgot about that!' Ray thought.
Virris pointed at the monitor as four levels appeared on the screen, "There are four recognised levels in the world of conduits. First, Veinborn. It's where you are. You're the weakest veinborn right now. You were a flicker last week when we met, it seems that you've caught on pretty good force breath,"
Virris didn't pry much, but still, his curiosity was clearly shown on his face.
"Then, we have horizon. Horizons are adults. Some young prodigies might enter the initial stages of horizon, but generally, it's a tier that is dedicated to trained, and adult conduits." He continued.
Meloni nodded, staring at the monitor, which displayed the threat in terms of percentage for each of the levels.
"Then, we have obsidians. From here on out, you enter the global rankings. Individuals that are obsidians come under the world's top hundred, they're extremely powerful, most of them lead organisations, families, clans or even cults of their own." He said, then paused and pointed at the last level with a hundred percent threat mark.
"Lastly, Eternals. You probably won't see one in your life, there are currently eleven eternals in the whole world. In simple terms, they are walking catastrophes, even obsidians don't want to get on their bad side. Eternal is a completely different level, on par with all three tiers." Virris explained.
"I understand, it's a lot for you, your environment has been completely different from these people. You might not care about power, you might see it as a tool to survive, but for conduits, it's everything. Their legacies, their wealth, their authority, their dignity, it all comes from these powers. In this world, if you have power, you can have everything," Virris added, looking at Meloni's conflicted expression.
Meloni nodded subtly.
"But…This is just one side of the world. The other side is Hollow. Some call that place the abyss or the endless void. It exists alongside reality, but in that place, live monsters that we call deities." He began.
Meloni nodded.
"Deities are of two kinds, Hounds and Mythics. Mythical deities, are just like obsidians, or in worst case scenario, they can turn out to be as strong as eternals," Virris continued, but Meloni's mind was a mess. She didn't know why, but hearing all this again felt scary as the first time.
"Then, we have hounds. Hounds are common, so we have a division of power levels in Hounds. Feral, the lowest. These guys might be weak, mindless, instinct-driven, but they are aggressive," Virris said as the computer screen switched again.
"Then we have Adaptive Hounds. Intermediate, strong for a veinborn, but a single Horizon can handle it too," He continued. "Lastly, we have Predator Hounds. The twins that you encountered were predator hounds. They require at least five Horizon tier conduits, or an Obsidian to handle them." He said.
'An obsidian to handle them?', Meloni thought. 'Ray squeezed the life out of those twins in his falcon form, is he an obsidian then?'
"The moment a predator hound is detected, the council of conduits issues a black level kill order, which results in Obsidians acting up," Virris concluded. "And that's about it, for your overview of this world,"
"And I'm just a vein born?" She murmured.
"Weakest…Veinborn," Virris corrected her.
Ray, on the other hand, was thinking about something else. 'I never knew Hounds were graded with fucking levels?'
"And…Mr. Hugo Barlow. Currently an obsidian within the top hundred global rankings, and the head of Ferrum has allowed you to grow without any restrictions, as a compensation of the past tragedy because of our team's negligence," Virris said as he slid a sheet of paper on the clipboard and placed it right in front of Meloni.
"Being sponsored is different from being contracted. Usually, sponsored individuals receive all the benefits without branding themselves with the name of the organisation backing them, but in return, they constantly have to prove their worth. But your terms are different; instead of proving your worth, you are sponsored until you reach the Horizon tier." He said, placing a pen alongside the clipboard.
Meloni picked up the clipboard and the pen and read the documents. She wasn't familiar with the language of contracts, but she still went through it, read each heading of the clauses, and signed at the end of every page.
But Ray had been trained and taught in a manner that not only was his prowess astounding, but his intellect matched them too. He could see through the clauses, the flaws, and the way they might try to manipulate her when she becomes strong.
'Territorial authority clause. This is a pain in the arse. It lets Ferrum claim any technique developed under their training facility as their property,' Ray thought. 'And there's no clause for external protection. If she defeats a heir of a family or a clan or an organisation, they'll back off if the opponent's party decides to try something off the grounds.'
"Here," Meloni handed the document back to Virris.
"Thank you for accepting this offer. From now on, you'll have access to Ferrum's resources, and you will have a backing that would help you in enrolling in the upcoming session of the world's Conduit Academy, Concordium." Virris said.
"Academy?" Meloni asked.
'Right! What's up with the academy?' Ray thought.
"All conduits that are either part of an organisation or individual entities are to attend that one-year program so that you have a basic training and experience. Additionally, you will learn more about conduits and the hollow there. But, it's a choice. We're not forcing you." Virris replied.
'Wait…Concordium? That place is owned by Shen Yuuto's direct lineage,' Ray thought. Shen Yuuto is one of the world's top ten. A samurai who is an Eternal-level conduit.
"I see…" Meloni murmured. What could she even say? That's again, a piece of new information.
"I know I'm being vague right now. But don't worry, I'll send you all the information about the academy, there's still a whole month left before next session starts, so you will have a lot of time to think about it," Virris comforted her.
"I understand," Meloni replied in a low tone.
'Tch… snow white bastard, called us here just for this?' Ray thought.