The white light of his promotion faded, and Adrian found himself in a world that was a universe away from the chaotic pits of the Bronze League. The Diamond League Lobby was not a waiting room; it was a sanctuary for gods.
The floor was made of a flawless, shifting liquid metal that solidified underfoot. The ceiling was gone, replaced by a direct, crystal-clear view of the real, star-filled cosmos outside the Nexus ring.
There were no booths, no queues. Instead, the space was organized into sleek, open-plan alcoves, each dedicated to a specific, high-level purpose: "Personal Armory," "Advanced Medical Synthesis," "Interstellar Transit."
The crowd was thin. There were perhaps fewer than a hundred beings in the entire massive hall. Each one radiated an aura of casual, planet-cracking power.
