Chapter 354: Insignia
"Your friend would be right. But that doesn't mean we just give out VIP passes to anyone who comes and asks for them! You have to earn them by passing our requirements, or hailing from a noble family of at least Count rank!"
Seeing Alex's unrelenting attitude, the guard on duty decided to play along.
Besides, since Alex knew that there were some requirements to acquire a VIP pass, he should at least oblige him.
Alex was right, and the Bulky man hadn't lied about there being requirements to obtain one.
But the bulky man was being quite vague when he mentioned needing the 'strength' to possess one.
Obviously, strength could only mean one thing, but it was better to actually say 'power' than strength.
Power referred not only to one's own physical/magical capabilities, but also referred to influence, political power etc.
Meanwhile strength only referred to physical/magical capabilities.
"If you want to obtain a VIP pass, you have to pass this one simple test. First, you have to prove that you have to either be C tier or higher, or a Variant class awakened."
The guard explained to Alex and Mira calmly and slowly.
'I doubt either of you satisfy those requirements though, being C tier is one thing, but only the elite in this city are able to claim Variant class strength…'
But inside, he had other thoughts about Alex and Mira.
However, he wasn't going to let his bias cloud his judgement.
He himself was from a working class family, so he knew that there could be a diamond in the rough every now and then.
"You said 'First' we have to satisfy one of them, so what else do we have to do?"
Alex questioned the guard even further, pressing for more information.
It was obvious that it wouldn't be that easy to obtain a VIP pass — if it was, they could get one right then and there.
"The last requirement you need is a recommendation from a notable force."
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And there it was.
Of course, in a place like this, being strong wasn't enough to get by, unless you were strong enough to outmatch all other opposition.
One also needed influence, it seemed.
This was a major problem for Alex and Mira though, as neither of them had any connections in the Primordial Expanse.
And even if they counted the meagre connections they made with people during their first two runs in this place, they were what? Millions of kilometres away at least?
What use would those connections be?
In their current situation, absolutely zero.
'Fuck, back to the end of the line it is then…'
Mira felt a little bit disheartened about their failure to secure a VIP pass and wasting a few hours of their time, but she just viewed it as a valuable learning experience.
At least they knew how to obtain a VIP pass later on then, if they ever needed it.
But as she turned around and started walking away, Alex lightly grabbed her hand and spoke.
"Wait."
She was confused, but decided to listen to him.
Mira knew Alex always had some sort of trick up his sleeve, so perhaps he had one this time?
Well, she was about to find out.
"Will this do as a recommendation?"
Alex suddenly opened his hand and an insignia appeared in it.
The guard was surprised, but only because Alex had just pulled the item out of thin air!
'A rich man! But he dresses so… modestly, is he trying to be lowkey or something?'
"Are you going to check it or not?"
Over 10 seconds had passed before Alex had taken out the insignia, and nothing had happened.
Because the guard had yet to even acknowledge Alex…
He just stood there in a world of his own, and he only snapped out of it when Alex spoke up.
"Ah, yeah!"
He awkwardly moved closer to Alex to inspect the insignia that he held in his hand.
But when he inspected it closely, and read the aura radiating from it, he was even more speechless.
'A count…'
The last thing he was expecting was for this duo who suddenly pulled up to the VIP gates, clueless about any sort of etiquette or customs of this place to be nobles…
In fact, Alex wasn't a count at all… officially.
The insignia he had suddenly pulled out of nowhere was actually all too familiar to him.
It was Count Desmond's!
Among the huge amount of Beast cores he had looted when Count Desmond was killed, this insignia was among them.
At first, Alex thought it was just a useless piece of metal, but he kept it in his storage anyway, as a sort of memento or something like that.
Who would have thought that it would come in handy one day!?
"You've satisfied the second requirement… But you still have the first one to satisfy."
Still a little surprised, the guard moved past his bewilderment at Alex's supposed status, and instead pointed out one major exponent that he had yet to verify.
It was all well and good that Alex had shown proper recommendation, but he still hadn't proven his strength — arguably the more important factor of the two.
"Oh, that's easy."
But contrary to what the guard thought, Alex looked just as relaxed as he always did.
He looked back to Mira and gave her a cheeky smile, and she returned it, knowing they were about to cause somewhat of a spectacle.
Fwoom!
Instantly, they both let their aura's loose at the same time, pressuring everyone within radius of them, including the city guards!
Alex toned down the effect of his aura a little bit, to make it not seem so ridiculous, and to also not bring too much attention to them, but Mira didn't adjust hers one bit.
Alex presented himself with C+ rank Mutant class strength, while Mira loosened her D+ rank Variant class aura with full force.
In the end, the effect was instant.
Everyone around them, including the guard who was dealing with them, looked shell shocked.
Seeing C tiers and D tiers was a common occurrence in Tenebrus city.
But seeing ones above Ordinary class was a rare sight.
The onlookers were actually infinitely more interested in Mira, as she was Variant class!