Near the entrance of the training hall, a man in a crimson robe stood with his wand outstretched. His long, blonde hair cascaded behind him and steam almost seemed to rise from his pointed ears.

  “Didn’t I tell you not to hold duels here, Kara!!??” The man shouted, his fury palpable.

  At the sound of his voice, Kara straightened immediately, her breath caught in her throat. “Y-yes! But–”

  A vein pulsed at the man’s temple. “You dare argue!?”

  Before she could respond, a crushing pressure descended upon her. Kara’s lips froze, and even the dust in the air seemed to halt.

  She thought.

  Thankfully, Davion was there to finish her thought. “That only applied to duels between two gold-ranks and above…” He muttered, not quite meeting the man’s gaze.

  The man’s glare sharpened. “And? How is that relevant?”

  Davion scratched the back of his neck and pointed to Felicia, “Guildmaster…She’s only Silver-rank…” and then to Verity. “ and this one’s technically still Copper…”

  The Guildmaster’s brows furrowed deeper as his eyes flicked to the two adventurers still held down by his telekinesis. His gaze then drifted to the damage done on the reinforced walls of the training hall and he let out a dry, humorless chuckle.

  “You must really take me for a fo–”

  His wand twitched as he felt a jolt of resistance. His head snapped toward the two figures on the ground only to see them both struggling, but painstakingly moving despite his spell.

  Verity clenched his teeth, straining against the invisible force that bound him. His muscles trembled and pained grunts escaped his mouth.

  Beside him, Felicia calmly circulated her Aura as she attempted to rise to her feet.

  A spark of interest crossed the GuildMaster’s face. He raised them both in the air, narrowing his eyes. “Both of you, name, rank and affiliation.”

  Felicia tilted her head, then without so much as batting an eye, she asked, “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?”

  There was no fear in her, simply bubbling fascination with the incredible strength she was faced with.

  Both Davion and Kara’s eyes widened and their souls nearly left their bodies

  However, the GuildMaster simply huffed. “Eldobac. GuildMaster of the Plamodel branch and retired Adamantite-ranked adventurer. Red magic tower.”

  Verity, still uncomfortable about floating midair, let out a frustrated sigh. “Isn't this kind of rude? You could at least put us down. It’s not like we knew we weren’t supposed to fight here…”

  After training with an insane Master and facing criminals daily, intimidating Verity was a difficult task.

  Kara and Davion violently shook their heads behind Eldobac, and for a moment, only silence filled the room

  At last, with a grunt, Eldobac flicked his wrist and both of them landed on the floor.

  He folded his arms behind his back. “Any more complaints?”

  After rapidly fixing her hair, Felicia bowed slightly. “Felicia, Silver-rank, no affiliation.”

  Verity dusted himself off, sighed and bowed as well. “Verity, technically still Copper-rank and I don’t know what an ‘affiliation’ is, so I guess I don’t have one.”

  Eldobac took a moment to study the two of them, and after a few seconds, the faintest smirk tugged at his lip. “It seems the new generation of adventurers isn’t so bad after all…” He whispered.

  He then turned around, the heels of his hard shoes resonating as they hit the ground, and he addressed Kara. “I suppose this was an advancement exam, yes?”

  Kara straightened. “Yes, Sir!”

  With a nod, Eldobac slowly walked away. “Then go and wrap it up.” His voice darkened. “...Afterward, meet me in my office.”

  Eldobac left a grim atmosphere behind him as he exited the training hall. Though Davion tried to comfort her, nothing could uplift Kara’s mood.

  Almost pitifully, she ended up guiding both Verity and Felicia back to the front desk, where Verity was upgraded straight to Silver-rank and where he was able to register for Felicia’s quest.

  Lorna, who was still on shift, then explained the quest system to him, without bothering to ask what the tremors were all about.

  As she explained, quest members were generally registered as a ‘party’ during quests, a denomination that would show up on their adventurer IDs. Once the party was complete, all members received a notification.

  With him joining, the minimum requirements were met, so Verity immediately received a notice on his adventurer ID. It told him of the meetup location, time, as well as who else had accepted the quest.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “How convenient…How does that even work…?” Verity mumbled as he looked at the quest window before him. It wasn’t from the system, but whoever had designed these adventurer IDs had drawn inspiration from it, clearly.

  Also, ‘

  Felicia patted his shoulder as they exited the guild, answering his previous mumble. “I stopped trying to understand it a while ago.” She gestured to their surroundings. “At first glance, this world seems to be stuck in the middle ages, but upon closer look, there are various technologies that seem rival or even surpass ours.”

  She then stretched her arms, groaning as she tried to relieve the strain she had just put on her body. “In any case…” She looked at him. “You have a decent spear already, but looking the part is more than just your weapon.”

  With a raised eyebrow, Verity looked down at himself. He was still wearing the clothes Evangelina had given him on the first day. He frowned, failing to notice until now just how… plain his attire was.

  “Damn, I look like a farmer, don’t I…?” He muttered.

  Felica nodded without hesitation. “Yep, so buy something that makes you look like an adventurer.”

  Verity felt like an idiot for not having noticed this earlier, but the prospect of choosing his very own-adventurer look sparked excitement within him.

  He turned to Felicia, anticipation in his gaze. “Do you know any equipment vendors around here?”

  Felicia arched an eyebrow. “What for?” She leaned in closer, whispering into his ear. The proximity of her lips made Verity slightly uncomfortable, but he endured. “Just get it from the tutorial shop. I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.” She told him.

  Verity stiffened slightly, her warm breath brushing against his skin, but he forced himself to focus. “...The tutorial shop?”

  Felicia pulled back, staring at him. “...Please tell me you’ve used the shop before.”

  “...”

  “...How did you get the spear? What about potions, or literally anything else? Don’t tell me you used real money.”

  Verity scratched the back of his neck. “I got the spear as a reward for the first trial… and my Master provided everything else…”

  Felicia face-palmed. “Just… think of opening the tutorial shop, and make it visible to me.”

  Verity hesitated. “I can make it visible to you?”

  “This is why you should have socialized during the first trial.” Felicia said with a sigh.

  Verity groaned, the simple thought of talking sending chills down his spine, and did as he was instructed.

  The moment the shop window opened, Felicia leaned in to get a better view, pressing her body against Verity's. Her floral scent wrapped around him, and he did his best to ignore it, but he could not control his increasing heart rate.

  Felicia’s eyes widened as she looked at the window. “WHAT!!” She exclaimed. “320 POINTS??”

  With an iron grip and a greedy smile on her face, Felicia dragged Verity to the inn where she was staying, and they spent the next two hours picking out useful items.

  —

  Felicia smiled smugly as Verity went through his new possessions.

  The first was purchased out of convenience, because Felicia possessed another copy of the item. It hadn’t cost much, only thirty points.

   - The bracelet allows the wearer to send and receive messages with any willing wearer of a linked bracelet.

  The second was an entire armor set, complete with the underlying clothing. It was one rank of quality above the bracelet, and had cost a hefty two hundred points. It included a chest plate, shoulder guards, boots, and arm guards, all of an obsidian color with accents of gold. Its description was rather ominous, but with its effects and look, Verity simply could not pass up on it.

   - Increased resistance against blunt force, piercing force, and elemental damage.

   - The armor can be supplied with mana to slowly repair itself.

  Verity smirked as he looked at the description and the image that came with it. He simply could not wait to try it on.

  The third and last item, this one a suggestion from Felicia, was a necklace that, frankly, was a little too shiny for Verity.

   - While worn, the necklace channels the restorative powers of the World Tree, allowing the wearer to passively heal from minor injuries.

  Again, the style wasn’t exactly to his liking, but the effect was good and Felicia had insisted he purchase it. In any case, he would wear it beneath his clothing, so it hardly mattered.

  “Well? What are you waiting for? Try them on!” Felicia grinned, arms crossed in expectation.

  Verity hesitated. The armor set come with underclothing, meaning he would have to strip out of what he currently wore to put it on properly.

  He glanced around, suddenly aware of where he was. “...Here?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Alright, you prude.” Then turned to look out of her window with an exaggerated sigh. “Forget it, it’s getting late. We should get some rest for tomorrow’s quest.” She stretched lazily and pointed at the bed across the room. “You can have that one, I'll sleep next to the window.”

  Verity blinked as he stared at Felicia. “I-I’m sleeping… here?”

  Felicia raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Or did you want my bed?” She tapped her chin, considering the options. “Well… It is wide enough for both of us, so that could also work. But I’m not budging on the window spot!”

  Verity stiffened, his cheeks turning a pale shade of red.

  He was not sure how to approach the situation, as he’d only ever been in a woman’s room once before in his university days, and that had been a catastrophic experience.

  He furiously considered Felicia’s words.

  Meanwhile, Felicia leaned against the window frame, watching his visible distress as she stifled a laugh. She knew exactly what she was doing, and her teasing had not been done innocently.

  Brushing her hair aside, she turned away with a smirk. “Well~ I’m off to take a bath then. Make yourself at home.” She said with a hint of amusement in her tone.

  Verity only mumbled a form of agreement in response, still lost in his thoughts.

  Felicia mused as she made her way to the baths. She still had a few hygiene pills left, but to her, there was no substitute for the sheer bliss of a warm bath.

  —

  When she returned, Verity was no longer there. “Huh, so I guess he really did leave.” She sat on her bed, a towel wrapped around her. “...He’s not mad, right?”

  After a moment of consideration, she tapped her Whispering Band, trying to activate it. “You there?” She asked.

  Silence.

  “Hello?” She tried again. “Ah, does he not have it o–”

  [...Yes?]

  Felicia jumped, startled by the voice. “Fascinating…I hear you in my head.” She shook off the surprise. “Anyway, where are you?”

  [Training.]

  She glanced outside, her expression doubtful. “At this hour?” She sighed. “Look, I just thought it’d be stupid for us both to pay for a room. If you want, I’ll put a curtain between us and–”

  [No, I’m serious. I’m training. I only need an hour or two of sleep.]

  Felicia still did not believe it, but a yawn suddenly came over her. She was drained from the day. Dealing with the hard-headed merchants for that quest in the morning, and then sparring with Verity had sapped her of her strength.

  She sighed and lay down on her soft mattress. “I see… Well, just knock if you change your mind. I only plan to sleep five hours or so myself.”

  There was a short moment of silence before Verity finally answered.

  [...Sure.]