They reached the Integration Bureau and Adventures Association in 25 minutes by walking as the village is not that huge and the houses were built close to each other for better security.
Unlike the village houses that were built using clay, the Integration Bureau and Adventures Association were built using black stones that are stronger and sturdier as this building is also used as a shelter in times of emergencies with a huge basement that can hold and sustain a 10,000 people for a month under it. It is also a 3 floor building making it the tallest building in the village.
The smooth polished stone wall is painted in white and green with a blue flag embroidered with the golden logo of the Adventures Association, a sword embedded with a shield and a bow at the top hoisted near the entrance is a sight that mesmerizes Gideon every time he looks at it.
The sight made him happy as this will be the 1st time for him to enter this building. It is a pity that they have restrictions that only the people who are going to have their souls integrated or the registered adventures can enter the building.
He entered the stone archway with sparks shining in his eyes while looking around at the garden that was grown around the building where many adventurers were standing in groups of 3 to 5 discussing among themselves and some standing alone, probably waiting for their teammates.
There were security guards standing at regular intervals and some doing a random patrol to make sure the adventurers do not have a fight inside the premises and also to make sure no one is displaying their weapons out in the open which is a major offense. No one is to bring their weapons inside the association premises unless they are part of the security detail.
The garden was neatly kept with the grass mowed and the trees and plants grown were trimmed to perfect shape to give a better atmosphere and cool breeze for the adventurers who are moving in and out of the association building.
Entering the stone building, Gideon was mesmerized again to see pure white walls and floor with no spot of dirt anywhere. It was like he had entered into heaven except instead of the myth of being filled with gold, it was pure white and had many adventurers roaming around and a lot of laughter and discussions can be heard.
There are so many adventurers inside the building as the main purpose of this building is to be Adventures Association and being Integration Bureau is just a side job as not many come in to integrate with monsters daily, but adventurers come in daily to get new tasks or to confirm the completion of the tasks they got prior.
Henry and Sienna gave him a few minutes to take in the beauty of the association, but later had to drag him to a counter that was marked 'Soul Integration' to start the procedure to integrate his soul with his breeze crow.
"Hi! Welcome to the Integration Bureau reception. How can I help you?" the beautiful female receptionist at the counter asked with a professional smile on her face to which Sienna replied "Our son, Gideon turned 15 today and wants to integrate with his breeze crow."
"Oh!! Happy Birthday Mr. Gideon! Please wait a minute while I check the documents." the receptionist said and looked at a small folder containing parchments for 2 minutes before smiling while taking a parchment from the folder which had Gideon's information on it which was filled when he bought the breeze crow and named it Jaice 6 months ago.
"Please follow me." she said and started walking towards the stairs that were in a corner of the building. She said "As you can see, the ground floor is crowded as it is for adventurers who are at Tier-1 and 2, while the 1st floor is for the adventurers who are at Tier-3 and above."
"The 2nd floor is for security purposes and is not open to the public while the 3rd floor is where we conduct the integration procedure to integrate your soul with your monster partner. We call it integration and our monsters as partners as it is not a bond for eternity and can be broken by anyone at any time. So be fair with your monster, so it will not break the integration." She explained about the building and the integration part while climbing the stairs.
She also said "Integration is a mutual benefit for both the monster partner and humans. While we get the power of the monster, the control of the element they have, they gain our intelligence and think like how humans think, giving them an edge in battle when they fight after the integration."
Reaching the 3rd floor, they saw a huge stone at the center of the floor surrounded by a few wooden tables. The receptionist guided Gideon to stand in front of a table that was close to the stone. The stone is a spirit stone that will increase the success rate of the soul integration procedure by 70%.
The receptionist took a small knife that had a few symbols printed on it and gave it to Gideon to cut on his palm and drop a few drops of blood on a small glass tray that was placed at the center of the table, which he did with a slight flinch of pain.
A male nurse who was in the room, came to him immediately after he filled the glass tray with his blood and wrapped his injured palm with a bandage and gave him a small tablet to swallow with a bottle of water which he did immediately.
The receptionist then looked at the breeze crow that was perched on Gideon's shoulder looking around tilting its head now and then. She took a needle, patted the crow's head lightly and pinched it hard, getting 3 drops of blood in one go. Surprisingly, the crow did not show any reaction as if it knew what was happening in the room and decided to go with it.
The receptionist took the blood and mixed it with Gideon's blood in the glass tray and went out of the room, locked the door and pressed a button which started a machine with a hum and slight vibration.
The spirit stone showed a slight change in color and the blood in the glass tray started to swirl and float in the air. After a few seconds, it split into 2 equal halves and was splattered on Gideon and Jaice which got absorbed into them immediately.
Gideon felt a little different after that as he could perceive the air that is around him in a way he has not before. He realized that it is the power he has got from the soul integration with Jaice and she is used to perceiving the surroundings like this which makes him a little uncomfortable, but knew he will get used to it soon.
After a minute, the color returned to normal on the spirit stone and the vibration and hum of the machine stopped. The receptionist opened the door and allowed Henry and Sienna to enter to check on Gideon and comfort him knowing he will be a little disoriented due to the immediate tier-up he just got.
After a few minutes, when Gideon was able to walk, they came out of the integration room where the receptionist gave Gideon a badge which had the adventures association logo with his name printed on it, indicating that he has become an adventurer.
They left the adventures association immediately as the newly soul integrated people are to take rest for at least a day so their body can get used to the new power and strength that is coursing through their body.
The receptionist also gave him a small box containing a silver mercury like liquid which he has to inject using a syringe that is attached to the box after taking rest. This liquid will be the spirit refiner that he will have to create to refine the spirit that is in his body as the humans cannot use the spirit that is in gaseous state and needs to be refined and compressed to liquid state.
After reaching home, he went directly to his room and flopped on the bed and started to sleep immediately as he was still a little uncomfortable and disoriented after the integration. Jaice went to its usual spot and stared out the window looking at the people and their monster partners who were roaming around minding their own businesses.
He slept for almost 38 hours only waking up twice in the middle to have food to quench his hunger.
After the sleep, he felt strong and rejuvenated by the power he has gained through the integration procedure and realized he could also perceive the strength of the people who are close to him, which didn't come as a shock as he already know that the integrated people can perceive each other's strength if they are standing close enough.