Luician led the trio around the Crimson Cross HQ, showing them many things, from offices made to cover up the demons to armories and even the breakroom.
The group passed through a room filled with people, all dissecting dead demons, and another with hunters training. Solaris watched some incredible Extramicy's at work; he barely contained his curiosity to close his left eye.
They even walked past a businessman with a briefcase.
"We have multiple different types of people here, from hunters to doctors, to even cooks. Not all of them are Extramicy or micy users, so there is a rule to not use your abilities outside of the training rooms."
Luician said waging his finger.
Solaris looked around with awe and jealousy.
Selen looked disinterested, yet still continued to look.
Ember smoked.
The building was massive, and it seemed to never end. Yet after a while, they finally reached the end of the tour; they had barely scratched the surface of the building, yet they were running out of time, according to Ember.
They began to make their way back to the front desk.
As they walked, Solaris and Luician spoke.
"This place is really something."
"Isn't it, although from your reactions I'm not very excited to be transferred out."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm still a newbie, and I haven't been assigned to a CC. Was it not the same for you?"
"No, Ember found me atop a lieutenant and took me in for questioning, and I guess they didn't want me to leave, so I just stayed there."
"Hmm, that makes sense for someone like you."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"I just mean you're... different. Anyways, I hope I can get assigned a nice CC; maybe I'll be with you guys!"
Ember choked on his own smoke as Luician said that, while Selen's emotionless face subtly shifted down, Solaris smiled awkwardly.
Luician looked at the trio, his bright smile dimming slightly, then he coughed and said.
"Or maybe not."
"That was mean, but we... how do you say... got problems."
Ember said with a hint of an apologetic tone in his voice.
"Well yeah, all us hunters do."
Luician laughed, his smile bright once again.
Solaris's ears perked up slightly; he had not heard of anyone besides himself being aware of the 'problems' that they spoke of. He was about to speak when Luician spoke before he could.
"I mean, we have to have some problems if we're going out to hunt literal demons."
Oh, hmm... I'm starting to wonder if they are unaware of sacrifices, i mean its not out of the question. They also had no idea about the different materials and their abilities. I'd best not speak up until I'm sure; it could be a sore subject to them, and they might not want to discuss it.
The group approached the front desk; behind it, a small woman sat, typing away on the computer.
"We're here to relay an event to Jon."
"Oh yes, for... Ember and... Solaris, sorry you're not fully into the system yet. Just go down the hall and take a left into conference room C."
"Thank you."
The trio turned to Luician and bid their farewells before descending the hallway.
As they walked, Solaris got curious and asked.
"Hey Ember whos, Jon?"
"Oh, yeah, you don't know. Jon Smit is the strongest human, one of the first hunters known to us. He's also the founder of the Crimson Cross; his name carries lots of meaning. I've never seen him, though."
Ember spoke with some excitement in his voice, as if this Jon Smit was some hero.
"That's cool, I can't wait to meet him."
Finnally someone strong that isn't the destroyer of Earth or a demon.
Although John Smith- that's an odd name.
As Solaris pondered this, the trio opened the door to the conference room and walked in. Solaris looked around the room and was simply surprised at how mundane it looked.
The room was rectangular with a long table in the middle, with eight chairs lining it. Behind the head of the table, there was a whiteboard covering the entire wall; on the ceiling, a projector sat.
Solaris hadn't seen a piece of technology that old in some time.
Ember approached the table and took a seat on one of the sides, followed by Selen and then Solaris.
After a moment of waiting in silence, the door opened, and three people walked in: a man wearing a business suit carrying a breifcase, another in a lab coat with his hair in a bun and a pair of goggles atop his head, and finally a short girl in a silver dress with a black jacket hanging from one shoulder.
As they walked in, Solaris wondered when John Smith was to enter.
The man in a lab coat took a seat across from the trio while the small girl stood behind the head of the table, finnally the man in the business suit sat at the head.
It took a moment for anyone to pay attention to the random man, yet eventually someone did.
"You're gonna have to move, sir; that seat's reserved for Jon Smit."
The man in the lab coat said.
Yet the businessman didn't respond; instead, he simply opened his breifcase and started to root around in it.
"You heard the man move!"
Even Ember began to get frustrated with the strange man.
As Ember and the man in the lab coat began to stand up, the buiness man finnally found what he was looking for and affixed something upon his lapel; following that, he pulled out a party hat and placed it on his head.
A moment passed before anyone spoke; the silence was thick, then the man at the head of the table broke it.
"Sorry, gentlemen, where are my manners? Sorry for making you wait. Shall we begin?"
Solaris's eyes drifted from the man's strange headwear to his lapel; the other two men followed in turn. The two, upon seeing it, shot into their seats. While Solaris's eyes simply widened.
Affixed to his lapel was a name tag that read, 'JON SMIT'