Chapter 10: Aurelius, Lord Warden (Part One)

Even Nathan thought that idea was too absurd. Sure, he'd turned into a bloodborn, but he had no plans to change his diet to trees and grass. He shook the thought off quickly and didn't take it to heart.

Wren, still buzzing, dragged him around the Godstone and made a beeline for the offices of the Greyhaven Wardens' Office.

The place was thoroughly modern. All the office equipment was cutting-edge—even more high-tech in flavor than those leaked office photos from the top companies, your Googles, Oracles, Amazons, Microsofts, and Apples. Except that the enormous office only had a sparse three or five people in it, looking mighty deserted, and every staffer seemed super chill and lazy—more like the world's most advanced tech startup than the highest administrative organ the bloodborn had set up in Greyhaven.

Wren found one of the staff. Thanks to the online appointment, it only took about ten-odd seconds before a high-tech-looking transparent card edged in gold landed in Nathan's hands.

When Wren saw the sigil ring, she yelped in surprise: "I've been awakened for over ten years and only just clawed my way up to silver. You got gold the day you awakened? Do sub-tier bloodlines get perks like that?"

Nathan was a little surprised too. "This is gold? Didn't you say I'd definitely get a minor's card?"

The staffer who received them was pretty conscientious. He smiled slightly and explained: "A sub-tier bloodline is already remarkable, of course—the Yggdrasil Line especially counts as extremely precious among sub-tier bloodlines. But his getting a gold sigil ring isn't entirely down to the sub-tier bloodline; it's also because his bond-power rating already meets the gold-card bar. If the Godstone hadn't come up empty on a lineage inheritance when it tested him just now, he could have gotten platinum."

Wren sucked in a long, shocked breath, seemed to think of something, hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth, and nodded hard, accepting the explanation.

Nathan turned the gold sigil ring over and over for a while, muttering, "It's just a sigil ring either way. What does the tier even matter?"

Wren lightly bopped him on the head, a little envious. "A gold sigil ring comes with way more access. You'll find out how good those privileges are later. Besides being your ID, a gold ring is also a small smart device—the clear card body works as a screen, and you can do everything by touchscreen. The silver card, one rung down, doesn't have that function."

Nathan went "uh-huh, uh-huh"—honestly still not quite getting it, beyond the fact that this thing could double as a smart device. He played around with it curiously for a while and was asking the staffer how to work it when he suddenly saw a youth come hurrying out from the back. The youth spotted Nathan and Wren, paused for a blink, and gave the two of them a slight smile—it was the high-schooler-looking teen from the subway.

Nathan waved. "You here on business too?"

The handsome high-schooler-looking youth blinked, mildly taken aback, then said with a laugh, "I'm not here on business. I work here."

Nathan clicked his tongue in admiration. "You're only a couple years older than me and you've already got a job? Bloodborn benefits are the real deal. I want an assignment like yours—work in some laid-back place like this and never go to school again. Is your day basically just messing around online, playing some games, and clocking out? How's the monthly pay? Above Greyhaven's average wage or what?"

Nathan completely failed to notice that every single staffer in the Greyhaven Wardens' Office had undergone a drastic change of face, glaring at him with eyes practically shooting fire, mixed with a fair bit of terror—totally different from the regular-white-collar vibe from a minute ago, and not a trace of the laziness either.

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The handsome high-schooler-looking youth just laughed. "Sure, you can come work here if you want! I can set you up with a job. The Greyhaven Wardens' Office is always short-handed—everybody prefers the lazy life and doesn't like working at a government agency like this."

Nathan was thrilled and blurted, "You're barely older than me and you already work here, and you can just slot people in? Your family must have some serious connections..."

The staffer who'd processed Nathan's sigil ring finally couldn't take it anymore and burst out: "That is our Lord Warden! What do you mean, 'this age'? His Excellency the Lord Warden is sixteen thousand seven hundred years old! When he was born, humans were still apes!"

Nathan was floored. An outrageous claim like that, he wanted to disbelieve it—but seeing the other staffers all rise to their feet looking dead serious, he had no choice but to buy it. There was no mirror in front of him, but he knew his face had to look incredibly dumb right now; he was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a crack in the floor.

The handsome high-schooler-looking youth smiled slightly, heading off his subordinate—who looked about ready to go full shrieking rage-bloodborn—and said gently, "My name is Aurelius. I'm the Lord Warden of the Greyhaven Wardens' Office. Since you want a job, I'll arrange a nice easy one for you. There's an opening minding the entrance to an abandoned Between. Suits you well."

Nathan's jaw hung open, absolutely no idea what to say—and even Wren beside him had gone stiff and formal.

This fearless bloodborn girl even showed a faint trace of intimidation, her pretty face gone slightly pale. Nathan had no concept of the Greyhaven Wardens' Office or its Lord Warden, but Wren was another story—awakened over ten years now, she knew perfectly well what a bloodborn of power Lord Warden Aurelius was, and how lofty his standing in the Concord, even though she'd never once laid eyes on His Excellency.

The Greyhaven Wardens' Office governed the affairs of two boroughs and four counties. Among the Concord's direct Three Chanceries and Seventeen Guilds, it ranked right below the Chanceries—number one of the Seventeen Guilds—a formidable power. Its Lord Warden's authority was greater than any human high official's, not much short of the head of state of certain major powers, and in some respects even more dominant.

As Lord Warden of the Greyhaven Wardens' Office, Aurelius held lofty rank and immense power, and his personal strength was first-class fierce—top ten in the Concord, and top ten among all the mighty bloodborn on Earth. His origins were a mystery; almost nobody knew his background or identity. The Concord's official site carried only the vaguest info, no photo included, but legends about him were everywhere—he was a household name among bloodborn.

At one offhand remark from Aurelius, the Bureau staff leapt into action, ten times faster than before. In no time a file had been transmitted to Nathan's sigil ring, and a bronze key was handed over.

Skimming it, he learned that this Between had been abandoned for ages, long unsuitable for bloodborn to live in. The watchman post existed to keep ordinary humans from wandering in by accident—but since the entrance itself sat outside human-inhabited areas, nobody had stumbled in for decades. The job really was extraordinarily easy.