The moment Sage swung open the massive doors, sunlight flooded into the Guild Hall like a golden tide, spilling across the polished marble and climbing the stone pillars in warm streaks of brilliance.
Along with the light, the morning air rushed in, carrying a murmur of voices, dozens, no, hundreds layered together into a single buzzing presence that instantly told him something was amiss.
Before he could fully grasp that instinctive unease, a familiar, sharp voice rang out from the front of the crowd.
"Petty uncle Sage...what have you done to the Guild?!"
Sage froze for a heartbeat, his mind going blank. Of all the scenarios he had anticipated, system notifications, startled adventurers, perhaps a few commissioners gawking at changes, this was not one of them.
He stared ahead, eyes unfocused as Mina's voice echoed faintly against the stone and metal surrounding him.
