The place was a riot of people arriving early. There wasn’t enough room for five thousand cars, even with multi-level parking, and nobody was being admitted into the room early. There was a big tent off to the side with tables and chairs and some food and drinks being sold at inflated prices, opportunistic vendors staffing the area and making bank.

Things would start up at 8 AM, but everyone seemed to be afraid their spots would be taken, and there were rough lines all over the place as people lined up on their own initiative, then realized how long it was going to be.

There were Hunters on the road advising new people to come back about an hour before their allotted time, and just get dropped off. There were news trucks and reporters scrambling around, adding to the mess, and in a couple cases blocking traffic... until some Earth mages shoved their news vans into the nearest ditch, which stopped that nonsense.

Billy-Bob and his boys arrived for his shift with smiling expectations, relieving the night crew who looked a bit frazzled at the crowds.

There was a lot of Light magic everywhere, lighting up everywhere and everything. There were Archmages in ten-thousand-dollar suits, complete with entourages arrogantly claiming their spaces near the doors, along with dozens of Mages and hordes of Adepts. It was probably safe to say that there hadn’t been so many Light Mages gathered in one place for and about Light Magic in years, and the whole place was lit up brighter than day.

“Any real excitement, Ted?” Billy-Bob asked the short and swarthy Hunter he was relieving. Ted Smuckers was a very experienced Hunter known for his ability to train up other Hunters... and like all of them here, he’d started as a Light mage.

“Had like ten guys test out the Wards on the building, get themselves drained dry, and have to be carted away. It was like one an hour, almost like clockwork as more idiots arrived.” Ted shook his head knowingly, and inclined his head over to a small pavilion tent, with a dozen or so people in expensive attire seated inside. “They’ve basically been keeping disturbances to a minimum, especially with the press here.”

Billy-Bob nodded on seeing the tall and aquiline profile of the Chairman of the Austin Hunter Guild, an Archmage at the top of his game and rumored half-Sage, seated there along with some of the Guild’s elites and a few wealthy and powerful arrivals. Just about everything around was being provided by the Hunter’s Guild, who were also certain to be making bank out of all this.

Five thousand people at fifty bucks processing fee was a quarter-million a day, in addition to all the people signing up and paying for THAT privilege. The Guild was making a huge haul off all this!

“And you get to be first!” Ted groused good-naturedly.

Billy-Bob patted his shoulder. “I’ve got a long shift, but I’ll be here to watch you get yours,” he said reassuringly.

BREEEEEEEP...

Everyone turned at the noise, conversation died, phones came up to record, and the Hologram flickered into existence.

“Good morning,” the masked, phantasmal face projected over the building entry said in a neutral monotone. Everyone was a bit disappointed when it wasn’t an image of the Lady Fae, who was remarkably camera-shy. “The doors to the Lighthouse will open in ten minutes for the first batch of the day.

“The Lighthouse experience is automated. There is nobody to bribe, nobody to influence. Follow the instructions, enter and exit with speed, and be ready. There are a thousand people behind you who do not want their time wasted.

“If you waste time, the penalty for doing so is five thousand dollars a minute, as all lines of advance must proceed together, and the penalty must be paid before you can receive your spell. It is also ten dollars for every six minutes, rounded up, to those behind you. So, as of right now, if you waste one minute of time, you will be penalized fifty-five thousand dollars.

“Don’t waste time.”

Even the wealthy people twitched a bit upon hearing that. If they wanted to show off and make a spectacle, it was going to get very expensive, very quickly!

“If something happens, such as you fainting at the sight of blood, you will be removed from the queue and forfeit your payment and place. Don’t block those behind you, don’t faint. If you can’t take normal precautions against this, the results are on you.

“Have your Hunter ID ready at the door. If you do not have your Hunter ID ready, your final payment cannot be processed, and you will not be admitted.

“Once your ID is accepted and payment is confirmed, expend a Light Mana to open the door yourself.

“Proceed immediately to the station where you will draw a vial of blood for your Spell Impressment. If you delay in this, you will be charged for it.

“The standing queue for spells is twenty people per line. The line is processed at one person per minute. The sitting queue is another twenty people per line.

“There are no facilities inside as yet. You are mages, control yourselves.

“The Impressment involves the Servant there pouring your blood upon the Spell Stelae as you gaze upon it, and the Spell will automatically be Impressed into your mind. The entire process takes less than thirty seconds.

“Don’t try to Impress more than one spell in a day. Doing so will melt your eyeballs and fry your brain. You will be spending a considerable amount of money to commit suicide. We would be more than happy to process you through all the spells one after another, but given the results are lethal, it was decided you might actually want to live to accept them. Anyone who wants to volunteer as an example of an expensive way to commit suicide as an example to everyone else, please notify the standing guards. We will make sure to have multiple cameras available and broadcast your gruesome death live to warn off everyone else.”

There were some strained laughs and disappointed curses from those watching, who might have had ideas of trying to jump lines or something and get all of this done in one day. Billy-Bob also noted a lot of irritated tension draining out of the first lines of people, probably pissed that they couldn’t get this all done in one day... and now realizing that not dying was probably worth it.

The arrogant blond young man at the head of the Laser line didn’t look to be even twenty. The winning bid for that position had been over two million dollars. Billy-Bob was pretty sure he’d flown in on a personal jet last night, as the nearest airports had suddenly had an absolute blizzard of incoming flights. The town was full of important people and their entourages, as well as plenty of lucky Adepts and Novices who’d driven way too fast overnight to get here in time for their turns.

“People will be called to the door in lots of ten. Have your Hunter ID’s out and ready. Delays will be expensive.”

There was a bleep, and the Hologram faded away, but was instantly replaced by a very smooth, extremely articulate, and impressively-carrying woman’s voice.

“For today, the door will open early, so that five representatives of the Austin Hunter’s Guild can go through the process, with the entirety being shown to everyone watching. Hunters, please take your IDs out and get to the doors.”

There were some long faces from the wealthy who thought they’d be the absolute first to go through, but Billy-Bob didn’t care about that, stepping to the Laser door himself with a wink at Ted Smuckers, who just laughed.

There was a snap, and five masked, transparent phantasmal forms materialized next to the door as stands rose out of the ground next to them. “Please step to the door and insert your ID into the reader,” they all said in exactly the same monotone at the same time. “Place your bare hand onto the scanner and face me.”

Billy-Bob quickly slapped down his ID, and the scanner played over it visibly. The readout above it displayed his name, and then brought up the list of ID numbers and positions. A light flashed under his palm, and the eyes of the illusionary thing in front of him glowed and scanned down his face.

“Hunter ID confirmed. Expend a point of Light Mana and pass through the door. If you cannot expend the Light Mana, your position and fee are forfeit.”

The steel door in front of him glowed. He reached out, spent a point of Light Mana, and it seemed to waver a moment, becoming less than material. He strode forward, passing through it, and was inside.

The area inside was fairly spacious, consisting of five rows of roped-off areas for the standing queue, and five sets of seats facing one another for the sitting queue. Before the waiting area were five stations, each with the same Phantasmal Servant there, waiting for them.

Billy-Bob strode out of the entrance and over to the station, as did the other members of his team.

“Grasp the handle of the blood siphon with your bare hand,” the Servant intoned, and Billy-Bob immediately did so. A crimson light lit up on the top of the handle, and he felt a pulling sensation on his palm, along with the rush of a gentle yet invasive Magic. A clear glass vial rose from the podium, filling up with a familiar scarlet liquid.

There was a hiss, and he felt his hand release from the magic as the vial was filled.

“Take your vial and your ID and have a seat. You will be called into the standing queue shortly,” the Servant continued placidly.

Billy-Bob hurried to the seat nearest the standing line, his moves matched by the other four Hunters eagerly awaiting their turns. The NOW STANDING Holo over each queue was still silent and dark.

Exactly one minute later, the holo lit up. NOW STANDING – 0 blinked on and off. The Phantasmal Servants there intoned together, “Now admitting Number Zero to the standing Queue. Please present your ID.”

Billy-Bob bounced to his feet, hopped over, and presented his ID dutifully. The Servant swept a bar of light across it, nodded, and said, “Please proceed into the queue. Have your ID ready for the Servant at the end.”

Billy-Bob kept his ID out as he walked down the queue line, stopping before the door to the Spell within, barely keeping the excitement off his face as he waited dutifully.

The holo above the door blinked once, and it opened as it cycled to IMPRESSING – 0.

“Client Zero, please proceed,” the Servant waved him in. “Have your ID ready to place on the reader. Please hand your blood to the Servant there.”

Billy-Bob and the other Hunters fairly hopped into the room, proceeding quickly to the gleaming golden Scroll laid out flat on the podium there. The Servant was pointing to the scanner with one hand and holding out the other.

“Step in the footprints. Fix your eyes on the Scroll. Do not look away,” the Servant said as he accepted the vial of blood, and moved his hand precisely over one of the glowing Stars on the scroll. There as a beep as the ID was confirmed one more time. “Impressing Client Zero.”

With extremely precise, mechanical movements, the seal on his vial was broken and the Servant inverted it. A thin line of red, doubtless under some faint magical control, filled the first Star, precisely followed a groove across to the next one, and filled that one as well.

Light flared on the first Star, and Billy-Bob felt a force come into his mind, his Light Stars swirling and connecting in an unfamiliar Pattern, following the path of the blood that resonated with his own Light Mana, until finally completing themselves with what felt like multiple popping sensations in his head.

The Servant stuck the vial, crystal clear without a hint of residue, into a receptacle. The Scroll itself gleamed, not a trace of blood left upon it.