Damian's reasoning had convinced the group. Looking back over toward Higgins, she had recollected herself. "Ok, everyone! I want to move out on the double!"

  As the group crossed the grass field, separating heaven and hell, Damian looked around once again to reassess the damage in the area. The Adventurers Guild was still burning down in a great fire, but he noticed the giant trunks supporting the roof were not catching fire. Whatever monster those came from must have been truly harrowing.

  The entire front of the Alchemist's Guild was gone. Chunks of wood could be seen scattered all across the field in front. The fire must have spread into an area containing explosive reagents. Damian was a little disturbed that he hadn't noticed the explosion amid the chaos. He could still hear the sounds of battle from all over; the occasional booms of large explosions were heard frequently enough.

  The Craftsmens Guild looked abandoned. Before the Spire, Damian could see a group of dwarves and humans in blacksmithing aprons; hopefully, most of them had made it out.

  Beyond the Great Spire, he could see the Mage Tower, still pristine. The massive structure was entirely made of grey-black stone. It stood taller than any other structure in the area, other than the Spire.

  In Damian's opinion, it was a poor decision to build it as a tower. One couldn't help but compare it to the Earthen Spire. The Mage Tower was completely dwarfed in all aspects compared to the goddess's own creation.

  From the top of the tower, spells shot out toward any flying wraith that rose too high above the city. The spells would flash by in different colors, signaling the various elements used in their casting.

  The people from the Mages Guild were a pompous bunch that looked down on adventurers, not that it would prevent the two groups from working together. The reasons for this are that mages, or what many liked to call themselves these days, wizards, used true rune-based magic.

  It was oh-so-very ironic that they weren't called the Wizards Guild, but the term 'wizard' had been coined much later, after the organization's founding. Their roots supposedly predate the Cataclysm.

  But what is rune magic, and how is it different from the skills adventurers use today? Runes are the characters of the language of the goddesses. They are the only other known way for people to cast magic.

  All those fancy, magical stoves and shower heads? Runes make it possible. Not only do you have to learn how to read and write runes, but you need to learn how to organize them into formations, or as some call them, arrays or magic circles.

  What wizards do is control their mana outside of their bodies and form these magic circles in the air. They can then twist it in any number of shapes to create various spells. They aren't limited by their base elemental control granted to us by the goddesses.

  They'll graft these runes into materials with high mana conductivity to cast faster. Simply by shoving mana into the system, you can produce the correct spell, something anyone can do.

  So do wizards look down on adventurers just because they can cast various spells in complex arrays? Mostly, but that isn't all there is to it; adventurers hold some of the blame for the contention.

  The source of the conflict lies in their skills/abilities or in the language used toward them. People like Alex and I often cast our skills alongside a motion or an attack. They are usually stronger, and we call them 'kinetic types'.

  People like Frey, Donna, and Fergus are often called 'remote types' and their skills mirror spells so closely that no one could tell the difference between them and a genuine wizard spell once cast.

  To simplify things, we often call 'remote type' abilities spells and 'kinetic type' abilities skills. They were all really the same, and the wording frequently got mixed up anyway. It was hard to tell the difference between a fireball summoned into thin air and one summoned with a sword swing.

  The wizards of the world often take offense to this simplification, viewing it as diminishing their hard work.

  'sigh'

  Looking over once again at the remaining guild hall, the Merchants Guild still looked pristine amidst the chaos.

  A lone wrath could be seen skulking around the exterior. It was clawing toward the building, but its raised hands kept bouncing off a barrier that became visible when it made contact.

  Not long after, the wraith was popped like a bubble by an arrow fired from the second story of the guild hall.

  Was the guard an exceptionally high level, or was the wraith exceptionally weak? Was there such a thing as a weak wraith?

  To Damian's surprise, the massive doors to the side of the Merchants Guild swung open. A line of three carriages left the building, headed for the Earthen Spire. They were surrounded by numerous personal guards who kept lockstep with the carriages.

  Damian never considered the possibility that the Merchants Guild would be sending relief supplies in a disaster for free.

  Those damn merchants are trying to make a profit in the middle of a disaster?! How much are they going to sell potions, arrows, and magic scrolls for? How desperate are we? Seeing another large explosion in the distance, Damian calmed his insolent thoughts.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ***

  Following Corporal Higgins, Damian noticed that no one had yet taken charge of the people. There were numerous groups, crowding around the Spire in a disorganized mess.

  The crafters and apothecaries were huddled close to the entrance of the monolith. Some adventurers were receiving treatment from healers and medical staff. Other adventurers were debating whether or not to enter the Spire.

  Damian noticed that Dalen wasn't anywhere to be seen. The elf assistant from earlier was around, organizing the guild's remaining staff. The damage to the adventurers wasn't as bad as he feared; the size of the crowd looked to be about the same as when they left the hall.

  All those high-level exotic materials probably shielded everyone within the hall.

  Looking into the entrance of the Spire, Damian could see armored figures within. Corporal Higgins headed straight toward them.

  Upon entering, Damian once again met the grand central hub. The ceiling of the grand room rose high above his head. No pillar was in sight to support the massive structure. Spiraling out from the center of the room were numerous large teleportation circles.

  Stepping on any of them and channeling mana, your own status sheet would appear. From there, you could mentally select which 10th floor you would like to be teleported to. You couldn't cheat the system by bringing someone who hasn't reached that level along. They would be left behind if you chose a floor above their achievement.

  On the far wall, numerous hallways led further into the Spire. They looked as if they should have intersected one another, but none did. The place's dimensional strangeness was plain to see.

  Of the hundred different paths, you could notice signs next to some of them. Some signs indicated that volunteers would be watching over certain rooms, which was helpful for younger people getting started on leveling. Others noted paths to take with high traffic, a good option if you wanted to skip rooms quickly.

  Refocusing on the guards inside, Damian noted that there were barely 50. That would make the leader here either a Lieutenant or a Commander. If they had suffered catastrophic losses, you might expect him to be a Captain. That rank would typically command between 100 and 200 soldiers.

  An older balding man with a well-groomed mustache could be seen stomping his foot on the ground, accosting one of his subordinates.

  "What the Hell do you mean you couldn't get the Valkyrie's attention!!!"

  Shit, this is what I expected of the guards. Maybe following Higgins inside was a mistake. If we shuffle off to the side...

  "Corporal Higgins Tier 4 reporting, sir!" Higgins exclaimed while giving a salute.

  Oh goddesses, it wasn't just her good nature that was holding back her promotion. She isn't capable of understanding the correct timing for things!

  The older guard's anger hung in the air, wafting toward the clueless Higgins. The naive Corporal stood there, ignorant about the wave of shouting that was surely going to be crashing down on her.

  "Where is your reporting officer, Corporal!"

  "Dead, sir!"

  "And you let them die without giving up your own worthless life!!"

  "He died immediately in the explosion, sir! I had no chance to offer up my own life, sir!"

  "WHERE is the rest of your platoon!"

  "Dead at the barracks and healing center, sir!"

  "Wraiths are crawling out of the healing center, Sir!"

  "Did I ask you for that information, maggot!"

  "No, sir! Sorry, sir!"

  Ugh... It's as bad as I feared. What's with this useless banter?

  "You'd better make up for your mistake of not saving your last commanding officer! If you see a wraith so much as approach me, I expect you to lay down your life!"

  "Sir, yes, sir!"

  Oh goddesses, this was such a mistake. We're not going to learn anything new. It would be better to try with the adventurers... But we didn't get anything from that last time.

  Looking back at his team, Damian saw several of them wearing wry smiles. Fergus was actively looking away from his gaze. He probably knew it would end like this.

  'sigh'

  Damian made himself small and slipped out through the Spire entrance. "That was a bust. What does everyone think? Should we try to blend in with the guild? See where Dalen went off to?"

  "He went off to save civilians from wraiths." Fergus plainly stated.

  "That's an excellent guess, but don't you think that the guild might have more answers?"

  "It wasn't a guess; I overheard it. After the explosion, Dalen stated that everyone in the guild hall was a grown ass adult and that they could defend themselves. He was going off to save those who couldn't do the same."

  How the hell does he keep overhearing this stuff? First, the hospital now this? At least the hospital was more reasonable. We were walking side by side, but I couldn't hear a lick of what someone was saying. Guess he was always the one bringing up banter he overheard at the taverns.

  "I'm not magically 5th-tier and gained the power to overhear people." Fergus practically sang. Then Alex hugged him, basically strung up off his feet.

  'sigh'

  "So what next? Do we want to buy overpriced potions from that merchant headed this way? Talk to the crafters to see if they'll sell their stock? Maybe we go to the Mages Guild and beg them to let us in."

  Damian wouldn't even consider doing the same for the Merchants Guild.

  "Let's just rest. We're going to need it." Donna suggested, looking back toward the healing center.

  I suppose she's right. Damian slumped onto the ground, his back resting against the Spire.

  Watching the elf from the Adventurers Guild, Damian could see that she had started to take action. With a chart in hand, she was calling out certain adventurers amongst the crowd.

  Walking over toward the grass, she swiped her hand, and an illusory wall formed in front of everyone's eyes, covering the view of the healing center in the distance. It was about as tall as a two-story building.

  The adventurers she selected moved up, and the illusory wall became semi-transparent. At first, the adventurers used their skills slowly and carefully to gather and shape earth within the outlines she created. Eventually, it began to take shape in the physical world.

  "Damn, does she have experience with construction? Maybe a military background?"

  Damian looked over toward Fergus, but the man just scoffed at him. "I don't know everything!"

  I doubt that we're on that clipboard. Would the elf put us on the front lines since we aren't, or let us fight from the safety of the back? Her boss did say that he'd protect those who can't protect themselves.

  Damian looked down at his stump of an arm and wiggled it. It honestly hasn't been too much of a setback so far... If I had to take a hit with my shield in this situation, I'd probably end up dead with or without it.

  He leaned closer to Frey, and she leaned back. Damian began to let his mind wander away from the immediate disaster. They all needed to conserve their energy.