Tower of Heaven

'Scarlet Fox has had plenty of time to gather information.'

Atlas knew that when he contacted her, she would give him the locations he desired. That was what made him so confident in entering the outside world at this time.

Well, even if it weren't for that, he still would have made this excursion.

Immense progress hadn't been made, as only three months had passed, but Atlas was still satisfied with the way he was using his time. In essence, these three months had been spent preparing for the true training that would come later. He didn't need to worry about the fact that he was moving slowly.

After saying a short goodbye to the pagoda spirit, Atlas left the pagoda. He was greeted by the scenery of Alfros, along with the deep and rumbling voice of the Hell Guardian.

[I believe you said you would return in two months. Is it not still early?]

Atlas nodded in response.

"It is, indeed. I haven't come to challenge you this time. I merely arrived here by coincidence. Today, my goal is something different."

Right, today, he'd only seen the Hell Guardian because this is where he'd entered the Xuanying Treasure Pagoda. By the time his words had landed, he was already gone.

'The outside world has been moving properly.'

The moment he left the pagoda, Atlas started to browse the Tower Forums to see if anything notable had happened.

'It would be more convenient if I did not have to contact people to find out more detailed information…'

A system where they could contact him while he was away and he could see their words later would be convenient. It seemed like a simple use of the Tower's functions, but something like that didn't exist.

Unless one personally exchanged a communication method with another person, the only way to find them in the Tower was through the forums, and every conversation there was public. It really wasn't a convenient thing.

Thinking that someone should invent such a method, Atlas first went to Minora to find Scarlet Fox. The best replacement for such a method was really her, as she would likely have the same information that others could provide him, if only in a little less detail.

When he reached Minora and contacted her, she sent him an address. It was the name of a building in a place called the Market District in a city called Revine. Atlas was able to reach it through the teleportation arrays existing in Minora, and when he followed her directions to the place in question…

"This is quite the rundown building."

He shook his head wryly as he entered the front door of what looked like a two-story shack made of dark grey wood. It had two windows on either side of the door and one that opened into the second floor. There was a porch as if it was once a house, but its foundation was long rotted away.

The strangest thing was that this kind of place existed in the midst of a massive market. Shops lined both sides of the bustling street that sold all kinds of goods made for cultivators.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Most notable were the blacksmiths and alchemist shops that were prevalent here. It was clearly a place where people went when they wanted to find high-quality goods.

So, seeing such a shack bordered on both sides by shops with bright signage and decor, was really quite a thing.

Atlas still entered it while speaking casually. His words were also answered, though not by the voice he was expecting.

"We are following the same philosophy as Heaven's Eye. If one can only see this place as a rundown building, then one is not worthy of our information."

The voice belonged to a man with shaggy black hair and glasses. He wore a cloak that covered his body and left only his head visible, and when Atlas looked at him, he slightly bowed.

"The Lady informed us of your visit. I will lead you to her shortly."

Atlas nodded at him.

"Well, I believe this shack stands out quite a bit too much for you to be saying such things, but I digress. Perhaps it is also better this way."

After all, even if their end goal was to mimic Heaven's Gate, they couldn't start with such strategies. They didn't have enough reputation in the Tower yet, so how were they supposed to convince people to choose them over Heaven's Eye?

'That man is speaking as he has been told. He knows nothing of the true plans for this guild.'

If he had to guess, Scarlet Fox chose this location and made it stand out so much because she wanted people to question it. She wanted people to rely on the stereotypes about information guilds and enter this place while searching for Heaven's Eye.

What they would find instead was a different information guild that would promise them the same information they could have gotten from Heaven's Eye at a lower price. This would draw both customers and reputation towards this information guild and build a platform for it.

Only on that platform could Scarlet Fox truly start to establish herself.

'On that note, she still has not told me what this guild is going to be called…'

Thinking such thoughts, Atlas followed the cloaked man. When one first entered the shack, one would find an area meant to look like a bar. There was a bar with multiple seats in front of it, along with many tables for other customers to use when the bar was full.

Of course, there was also a back room. That was where the man led Atlas, and when they reached it, they both found themselves standing in an expanded space.

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'Naturally.'

Atlas expected nothing less from Scarlet Fox. Once they'd arrived here, he was able to see where all of the money was being spent.

This was an area much more beautiful than any of the surrounding shops. There were two hallways on either side of a massive staircase that were lined with rooms, evidently where people would meet their brokers for information.

The man led Atlas up the stairs between the hallways, where they were greeted by another hallway that looked exactly the same.

"This is where valued customers are seated. The information found on the second floor is naturally of a higher grade than that which is on the first."

The man explained as he led Atlas to the room at the end of the hallway.

"There is much more to be done and much more that you have not yet seen, but this is your current destination. The Lady is waiting for you inside."

The man bowed and turned away. Atlas nodded at him as he left before opening the door and entering the room.

"All of this is a bit extravagant, isn't it?"

"It is, but I wanted to show you our progress. It looks good, doesn't it?"

"It does, but I hope this isn't it. If it is, then it will take a few centuries for you to reach Heaven's Eye."

Scarlet Fox smirked at his comment and rolled her eyes.

"This is only one of our locations, obviously. This is a larger one, too. It has five floors, but the latter three are only visible to those who have a specific membership card we provide."

As she said it, she pulled out the very same card and handed it to Atlas.

"With that, you'll always be seen as a highest value customer even if you're at a location with new members who don't know your identity."

"Such grand treatment."

"Well, half of everything we have was built with your funds, so this is normal."

"Hmm…"

Atlas made a sound of satisfaction. It was true that essentially whenever he got his hands on gold, he gave it to Scarlet Fox. He felt like a hypocrite, since the only reason he didn't need gold was because of the Tatsuya Clan's aid, but he decided to use what they gave him gratefully.

He would just have to pay them back in full later.

Nevertheless, Atlas and Scarlet Fox exchanged pleasantries for only a few minutes before they made their way into the main topic.

"You've only been away for a little bit, but a lot has happened. It looks like things will be blown out of proportion soon."

With such words prefacing the rest, Scarlet Fox handed Atlas a jade slip that contained everything he wanted to know.

She smiled as she watched him glance over it.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how you fit yourself into the picture."