New office

The police took the statements, then the association's officers confirmed the misreporting of death with their own eyes. The nurse who made the report immediately confessed to the officials about being forced to report the death. On top of it, she reported all the doctors, managers and others involved in the process, along with a voice recording. 

By the time they left, it was like a storm had passed through. 

Zion sat down listlessly besides Cerise, as he watched her. 

' What should I do now ? ' he wondered. 

When he started the broadcast and all this mess, it was with the aim of getting public attention. Now that he became the fisherman who reaped the benefits from the fights, he had no idea what to do next. 

It's only after he stared at her for thirty minutes that Zion realized. 

No doctor was coming to check upon Cerise; probably none will come in the near future either, he realized. 

He opened his cell, made a call again. This time, it was to request back the deposit for the house he had. 

" Mr. Zion , are you sure I can have all the furniture and silverware ? They look very expensive. " The house owner said. 

" Actually, except for my books and hunter items, you can have the rest. I will visit tomorrow to sort out the rest. However, can I have the deposit back now ? " Zion asked. 

" Alright. If you are in any trouble, you can come to me. You know that, right ? " the landlord asked. 

Zion knew. She's a small lender, with interest a little above banks, a little below loan sharks. 

The house is useless since sheng guards already know of its location, so it's better to pull out that money, and he did not want a single thing touched by Leste. Throwing away does not seem a waste. 

The next hospital ran all the tests, along with calling a hunter physician to look at Cerise. 

" She's in a spiritual coma, Mr. Zion. You need to prepare yourself for the long haul. " the doctor answered her. 

" You mean she might never wake up ? " Zion asked in shock. 

The doctor looked thoughtful. 

" Mr. Zion. Since you are also an awakener, you know the relationship between body, spirit, and mana ? " Zion nodded. 

" Spirit is what animates the body, mana is what connects spirit to the body. " Zion answered. 

" Indeed. It is impossible for a human to use mana to the last drop consciously. You faint before that. What Ms. Mayflower has done is to shield herself with continuous flow of mana. When that shield received incredible damage, all the mana was burned. Her spirit has taken the damage, as well as her body, knocking the spirit out of her body. " The doctor explained. 

" Knocking the spirit out of the body ? You mean I need a shaman to call her spirit back ? " Zion asked doubtfully. 

The doctor shook her head. 

" I can see you doubting my words. This is a rare occurrence, but not unique. You need an Aura master, Spirit diviner or a higher being like a fairy, not a shaman. " The doctor explained. 

" Thank you doctor. I see what you mean. " Zion answered. 

The doctor means that the mana should be traced and analyzed to find the spirit and bring it back. It's not like a shaman praying for the soul to come back, but a diviner or master tracing aura patterns, then weaving a path to the spirit to bring it back. Since a fairy should also be able to accomplish it, he will try first. 

Zion closed his eyes and started meditating. 

Slowly, the sounds faded away. Then, the sensations on his body faded away. Once they did, he opened his eyes in the astral world, which looked like a night sky, with earth, moon and sun all near.

' Oh ! ' he uttered in shock. 

Before, in the astral world, his appearance was that of a baby. Now, it is of a child. ' Ah ! This is the effect of thousand year forge. ' Zion realized. He continued checking himself. 

The ring on his body is still here, a golden band of light. A red thread was tied to the ring. 

Then, there is the flame in his body, which represents his mana core. A blue thread extended from it, going to the earth. 

Zion followed the red thread from the ring. It felt like it was far and right besides at the same time. 

All the same, Cerise's body showed up in front of him. 

Unlike himself, Cerise's body was a lifeless looking blue dragon. It felt like it would crumble with a single touch. 

There were three threads coming off the dragon. One was the red thread that bound to the ring. Another was a blue thread going to earth, yet another was a red thread going into nothingness. 

Out of curiosity, Zion followed the blue thread connected to earth, along with his own. 

A moment later, a shelf was in front of him. 

There's the take out box they packed so she could eat in the dungeon. There are supplies including water bottles, prepared meals and empty takeout boxes. These are all things they prepared together for taking into the dungeon yesterday. Then there was a box holding six stone spheres, which very much looked like the skill stones. 

Besides them was the space storage he crafted for himself, looking like a Prius parked next to an Aston martin. He ignored the comparison, and turned to the other thread. 

Zion tried to hold the other red thread. The keyword here is 'tried'. 

He was pushed away by a mysterious force. No matter how he tried, he could not touch the other thread at all. 

Is this why an aura master was needed ? 

He returned to reality holding the six spheres. Since the skill stones are just in the box, these must not be ordinary skill stones, but the duds. Even duds could sell for cash, but not much. More information he could find, the better he could price them. If they were of any use to Cerise, she would not have put them away like this at all. 

He held the first stone, and concentrated all his being in the sphere. 

He woke up in a library, with a gigantic ball lighting up the entire library. 

[ You have found Astral knowledge sphere 1083 ] 

[ Integrate in to Omniscience ] ( yes ) ( no ) 

Zion obviously chose yes. 

The next six also turned out to be the same. 

His head felt heavy after the absorption.

By the time he finished absorbing it, it's already six in the morning. Zion decided to rest for two hours before heading out. After the opinion from the doctor, the hospital advised him to discharge the patient and take care of her at home. Zion also agreed. 

The next days' paper is explosive. 

' SilverSword guilds kill Guildlings to occupy Hunter's property.  ' The headline read for the anti guild newspaper. 

' Deadly mana storm takes association by surprise ' another newspaper read, with a picture of the storm, and promised to show the full footage online for the storm. 

' DDA and GMS take the world by storm ' Yet another newspaper read. 

All three are important points, and the affiliations of the papers are extremely clear by the headlines. But all three covered the rest of the news in their other articles, and all three had explosive sales today. 

Looking at these newspapers, Zion suddenly realized he does have a job now. As the guild master, he is supposed to be in the office given by the association. 

Thus, he went to the office - only, it was empty. 

" Ah, Mr. Zion ! I am just trying to find you. " The guild management officer came to find Zion. 

" it is like this, Mr. Zion. We will not be able to give you an office. Instead, we will provide you with monetary compensation equaling the cost of maintaining an office for three years. At the same time, we will expedite the processing of land transfer for the open ground. Instead, you will be responsible for building your own office. How does that sound ? " the officer asked. 

They are paying early ? on top of that they are giving him land ? … wow.. He did not know opening guilds had so many advantages. 

" Alright. " Zion agreed. The officer had taken him through the procedures at express speed. 

It's only when he saw the land that Zion realized he had been played. 

When the second dungeon burned yesterday, the entire land was charred. That is why Zion had agreed to the transfer. However, what he did not know is that the containment zone which contained the dungeon is circular, while the land he was given is square. 

The containment zone is completely charred and like a crater. But the rest of the land is still filled with mountains of trash. One look at the legal jargon is enough to know that he is now responsible for removing the trash. That is why they are giving the land for free. By the time he had it all cleared, he would have to be a penny pincer again. 

Zion screamed into the air, looking at the land.