《Internum Fortis》 Chapter 1 As the crowd grew in the waiting room of Steincorp¡¯s Lexington office, the ambiance grew louder and rowdier. People walked in with all kinds of equipment, from large hammers to spears, swords, and even the rare firearm. These people had all gathered for one reason- Hope. Hope for a chance at a better future, fame, money, and every other kind of fortune. Hope for power, growth, and acceptance. Hope¡­ for life itself. The lights dimmed as several monitors buzzed to life, showing a middle-aged looking asian man with round glasses and a crooked smile. Static could be heard as the speakers awoke, and finally the man began speaking. "Good Day! I am Yawen Cheng, Headmaster of North Shanghai Ranker Academy. You may also know me by my title, Silver Curtain, or my title as the 6th Strongest Ranker Worldwide. Today I shall explain the Paths as well as what you can expect going forward!" The man, Yawen, took a look out past the screen. ¡°I can see it now in many of you¡­ Potential! Potential to do many great things, be it Climbing the Ranks as Monster Hunters, or helping in other ways throughout your community.¡± The man motioned to a chart on the wall behind him. ¡°But before you can choose what you will do, you need to figure out what Path you want to strive down. After all, you cannot survive if you are completely cloaked in darkness.¡± Yawen pointed at a red square. ¡°The first path is of course the Path of Warriors. Gain levels by fighting monsters and earn stats to improve your abilities.¡± He then pointed to a blue circle. ¡°Second is the Path of Mystics. Improve your Magical arts at your own pace and build Circles of Magic based on what interests you most.¡± Yawen blew a strand of hair from his eyes nonchalauntly, tapping a Green Star. ¡°Last is the Path of Cultivators. Purify your Organs and Body and build your core to achieve feats beyond your wildest imagination!¡± Finally, the man stopped on the screen, letting out a breath. ¡°One final note, you all shall learn soon about [Skills]. Skills are a manifestation of either a Path''s ability or a random capability. Everyone is born with between 1 to 3 inherent skills, and these skills will help determine your future.¡± Yawen stopped, taking his cane and tapping the ground. His voice continued for a moment before hitting an awkwardly inserted word that stood out like 3 month old cheese. ¡°Thank you for sitting through my orientation. You will now begin to enter the room to your RIGHT in an orderly line, and receive your AI. You shall also see your first glance into your future, the Natural Skills you were born with!¡± Yawen stood to the side as another man walked into the room, blonde and rather mature looking, with large muscles and a broad smile. The asian man spoke one last time before bowing and exiting the room to his left. ¡°Before you go, a word from the newest Unique Ranker on the global leaderboard, the Winter King, Algot Hansson!¡± Algot stood up and gave a bow as he spoke. ¡°Effort. What does it mean to you?¡± By this point, nobody was still watching the tv''s around the room. Everyone had filed into a long line that was now moving onto the other room. Still, the speakers kept speaking. ¡°To me, effort is everything.¡± A young man with a spear let out a loud yawn, annoying the Ranker Candidates around him. He didn''t seem to notice or care. ¡°You have to try to succeed anywhere. Ranking is no different. I didn''t become a U Ranker purely on luck and charisma, as much as I have both.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The same young man mumbled to himself. ¡°Bull.¡± The TV continued. ¡°You want to know how to become like me? Well, I''ll tell you. If you find yourself stuck in a rut, climb out of it. If you are sitting at the base of a mountain, climb it. If you find yourself in the open sky, seek higher ground. You can never be too high to climb and improve yourself. You will never fail completely unless you stop trying.¡± The young man slammed his spear into the ground, his brown hair shaking violently. He yelled out into the room, startling nearly everyone nearby. ¡°What a load of bullshit!¡± ¡­ The brown haired man from before is named Lance King. He has always loathed that name, because of how much he used to be mocked for it. ¡°Hah, your parents really have high expectations!¡± ¡°To think I would be graced by the presence of the Lance King!¡± ¡°All Bow down to the King!¡± ¡°They might as well have named you Joe.¡± Still, he *was* Lance King, and nothing could change that. The issue he faced was that much unlike his kingly name would suggest, he was very normal. Average grades, Average fitness, and a rather unseemly personality that made making friends hard. No, Lance didn''t need friends. Why would he when he had games? So many games, so many books, comics, and everything else of the type. He was a master of many genres, and knew story beats quite well. He hoped to be a writer actually, until his parents told him to ¡°be more realistic¡±. That''s when he remembered Rankers. They were everywhere, to say the least. Everyone was a Ranker, but really, how did you determine the good from the bad? Lance knew. He had read hundreds of stories, all about Rankers, how they rose from the depths of despair to claw their way to victory. How just a normal everyday normie Could find a cheat-level skill and become a powerhouse to rival Benedict Bonaparte, Algot Hansson, or even Benjamin Fox, the Top U Ranker. Lance craved that attention. He needed to be like the heroes he read so much about. And so, he found himself here, at Steincorps¡¯ office, 4 hours from home. A voice suddenly called out, tossing the brown haired boy from his stupor. He was next in line. ¡°Would the next Ranker Candidate please step forward?¡± ¡°Y-Yes!¡± Lance said as he marched into the Machine ahead of him. He sat there nervously as the technician prodded the machine, checking again to make sure it was working properly. Lance''s nerves got the best of him and he spoke up. ¡°U-Uh, I heard they have to implant the AI behind your eyes, is that true? They don''t have to remove them for that r-right?¡± The technician laughed and tapped the machine. ¡°Don''t worry, they only remove your eyeballs for a moment, then they-¡± He was quickly cut off by the receptionist¡¯s dull voice. ¡°They used to put the chips behind their eyes, but never had to remove them. Now they inject nanomachines.¡± The technician groaned. ¡°You''re no fun, Cass.¡± Cass gave a glare. ¡°Stop scaring the newbies.¡± A moment later, Lance felt a prick in his arm as the machine activated. To his shock, blue screens filled his vision. [Welcome To Internum V, Created by Steincorp! You are officially on your way to join the Rankers!] Another box popped up. [Would you like to see your current skills before selecting your Path?] ¡°Yes!¡± Lance said aloud. The technician from before laughed. ¡°You don''t have to say it out loud, just think to the AI and it''ll respond.¡± Lance nodded and the AI showed a page. ¡®Finally! I get to see what I''m working with!¡¯ Lance smirked. ¡®I just know I''m gonna have Laser vision. Or-or maybe a time based skill? I could always use one of those return by death skills or whatever. Anyway, I¡­ What the hell?¡¯ The brown haired boy blinked his hazel eyes as if hoping for his vision to change. His grip on his spear tightened. ¡°What the heck¡­ Where are the good skills!?!¡± Cass looked over from the reception desk before turning to her computer and sighing. ¡°Tough luck, kid. Guess you''ll have to look for work in another field.¡± Lance cried out. ¡°No! I¡­ There must be a mistake!¡± On the screen, two skills were shown. The first was a D rank Passive, Energize. It allowed for you to regain a small bit of health from being close to but not directly hit by energy attacks. This skill wasn''t that bad, save for the fact energy attacks were highly uncommon, especially in dungeons. The other skill was the F Rank Spearmanship skill. Lance could already hear the other Rankers laughing now. ¡°You really ARE a Lance King! F for Fantastic, am i right?¡± Lance cried again. ¡°Please, test me again!¡± The technician spoke up, rubbing his eyes. ¡°We can''t. Besides, your natural skills don''t change. You can''t even remove them. You can always try to be a Ranker anyway, but¡­ I''d advise against it.¡± Lance walked out of the machine, dropping his spear and Shaking the surprised technician. ¡°Not another one¡­¡± Cass groaned and pressed a button on the desk. ¡°Security!¡± A second later, two large men walked in. Seeing Lance, They shook their heads and dragged him away, bringing his spear with them. ¡°Please!¡± Lance cried. ¡°Why god, why!?!¡± Nobody answered. ¡­ A large amount of time passed, and Lance found himself drunk in a bar, watching the TV as a game of Football was played. Nowadays, Rankers were everywhere, and especially common in sports. He watched as a large man made a pass to another, nearly reaching the goal line but tripping just short of it. Lance took a sip of his drink, feeling his pain. The bartender took his drink away as Lance grasped for it. The drink gone, Lance buried his head in his hands. He had chosen to follow the Cultivators path, even despite many warnings, and after being told by everyone, including his family, to stop pursuing ranking altogether. He didn''t care, he couldn''t give up. Heroes don''t give up! He tried to enter a dungeon, key word is tried. He entered with a few others, including a guy named Colin and an E Ranker named Jake Fidel. Although the others were supportive, it became very clear very fast that a Cultivator without starting resources was a goner in a dungeon. He could use his spear skill, sure, but he felt too embarrassed now. As such, he tried fist-fighting some goblins. Plural. Goblins with swords and spears. He had to be saved by Jake and got a permanent scar on his left eye. In the end, after the run, he became friends with Colin, but never saw the other party members again. Jake eventually moved up to D Rank and stopped talking to him as well. Colin suggested trying for an academy, and so Lance did. He applied for many of them, but they weren''t willing to take in some F-Rank Cultivator for how little money he had. Even the worst ranked school in the country, Big Chongo''s, turned him down. That was a nasty blow. Then, his mom kicked him out. He still had Colin to rely on, but Lance wondered how long until he would give up too. Sitting at the bar, Lance cried. He wasn''t the hero he wanted to be at all. He was a loser. But, deep inside, a fire still burned. A fire that wouldn''t let Lance give up just yet. Lance slammed his fist on the bar. This startled the bartender for a moment, but then he simply chuckled and moved on. Lance didn''t know if it was the alcohol or himself speaking, but he didnt care. ¡°The world''s been out to get me this whole time. I''ve been wishing for a handout, but it''s not coming. So, to hell with the world.¡± A fire burned in Lance''s eyes. ¡°I''m gonna tear myself down and build myself back brick by brick, and soon¡­¡± Lance pumped his fist. ¡°I''ll be a skyscraper.¡± Lance began his journey toward the stars from that day onward. Chapter 2 The first thing Lance did on his newfound journey was go home and rest. The next day, however, after waking up with a huge hangover, he took a ride up to Steincorp, which was conveniently only 30 minutes from Colin¡¯s place. Walking in, he immediately set off the alarm At the front reception desk. It was then that he remembered his stupid ¡®attack¡¯ on the Steincorp Technician many months back. After explaining to a security guard what happened, and proving he only had a task he needed to accomplish and no ulterior motives, they let him use the automated machines. [You wish to Reset your Internum V?] ¡®Yes¡¯ Lance thought, before the blue box with white text refreshed, turning green this time. [Welcome To Internum V, Created by Steincorp! You are officially on your way to join the Rankers!] [Would you like to-] ¡®Pass. I would like to select my Path now.¡¯ [Which Path shall you select?] Without hesitation, Lance spoke. Erm, rather, thought. ¡®I would like to join the Mystic Path¡¯ Lance felt a warm energy fill his body as the effects took place. For the first time in a while, he smiled, because he had actually done his research this time. The Brown haired man genuinely wondered what on earth he was thinking when he picked the Cultivation Path Before. Was he crazy? Did he lose a screw? You see, not all of the Paths are built the same. Sure, statistically, Cultivators do better than Mystics or Warriors, but they require resources, Boss Cores, and good meditation spots. All of these things required either money or an Academy''s support, of which he had neither. At first, Lance planned to become a Warrior; It made sense since it synced up with his spear skill, garbage as it was, and he had heard a lot of good things about the path from its long history. Problem was, monsters are dangerous, and the only way to truly grow as a Warrior is to fight things stronger than you. This made it especially hard to grow later on in the Ranks, as stronger monsters were often rarer. This left one path, the Mystic Path. It didn''t require you to fight to grow, only for you to absorb ambient mana from your surroundings, something that could in theory be done anywhere. Sure, it cost a lot of energy, time, and focus to build a mana circle, especially for a rare magic theme, but it was the best alternative. To give an example of the effort difference, you could look at the skill slot ratio. For every 25 Warrior levels, you gain a new skill slot. The same goes for every 10 organs purified or levels of core growth in cultivators. Mystics? They get one every 5 Circles formed. Lance, still, was ready to put in the extra effort to give this a shot. If he failed, he could always change to the Warrior Path later. What''s another wasted year? ¡­ The next thing Lance did was go to his local Skill Book Market. The Market was only open on Weekdays, but thankfully it was a Tuesday, giving ample time to shop for the next few days. He at first planned to seek out Mystic Skill Books to build up his firepower, but all of them had requirements of a specific type of circle needed. As Lance hadn''t even begun making his first circle, he avoided this for now. Instead, Lance focused on Neutral Skill books, ones for any Class. He wasn''t having much luck there either until he stumbled across a rather low priced one that surprised him. [If at first you don''t succeed- Rank B] The skill was very much affordable, but that made no sense as C rank and higher skills were worth a lot more. Seeing his confusion, the seller chuckled. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Ah, that Skill has been sold from person to person for over 15 years now. Read the description and you''ll probably understand why it''s so cheap.¡± Lance opened the Skill Book''s description, frowning. [If you fail at a task, for example an attack, your next attempt will Be 1% more likely to succeed. If you succeed, the applied effect will be equivalent to the amount of percentage added to succeed plus the original intended effect. Can stack up to 10 times.] ¡®Ah, so it''s a very small scale effect skill of some sort? I still don''t see why it''s so cheap?¡¯ Lance turned to the man selling the skill, who smirked. ¡°Let me tell you, before you get excited, a lot of people have tried using this skill, and it''s not worth the skill slot. Even if you can remove it later, it barely impacts attacks, spells, or whatever martial nonsense The cultivators use.¡± The man shrugged after seeing Lance was still slightly interested. ¡°I''ll sell It if you want it, but don''t come crying to me when you realize you made a mistake. I know you''re just gonna bring it back here like everyone else.¡± Lance pondered it a bit. The man was right, the skill didn''t seem very useful. However, something inside told Lance he should still buy it. In the end, he did, and the Skill book went directly into Lance''s skill slots. ¡­ Back home, Lance pondered his new skill some. ¡®Everyone with this skill before seemed to focus on the usage for attacks and such. But it''s considered B rank, meaning There should be at least some good use for it, right?¡¯ Lance read the description again. [If you fail a task, for example an attack, your next attempt will be 1% more likely to succeed.] This was simple. You could get up to a 10% success chance added to your regular skill. The other part however, was what puzzled Lance. [If you succeed, the applied effect will be equivalent to the amount of percentage added to succeed plus the original intended effect.] Lance pondered. ¡®Hold on¡­ So your saying if i failed 10 times, an attack would be 110% its normal potential? I guess that *could* be useful to go past your limits, but¡­ Maybe this *was* a mistake.¡¯ Lance sighed as he realized that maybe the seller was right. I mean, countless people before had failed to use the skill. Before removing the skill, Lance read the description one last time. *for example, an attack¡­* Lance shot up. ¡°What if the Description is misleading? It says attacks are an option, but not the only thing you can do. Tasks¡­ tasks apply to anything you do, technically?¡± Lance spoke out loud. ¡°What if¡­ I used this while for example, making a Magic Circle? Would that mean at maximum failure, I''d get a Magic Circle 10% stronger than the norm?¡± Lance smirked, pumping his fist and lighting a fire in his eyes. ¡°Only one way to find out!¡± ¡­ It was a regular Monday morning when Colin woke to the smell of smoke. Racing downstairs, he let out a sigh when the only thing he could see was his friend Lance awkwardly holding a fireball. ¡°First Circle?¡± Colin asked. Lance smirked. ¡°First Circle!¡± Colin smiled, before grabbing his coat. ¡°Wanna do a dungeon run buddy? We can finally do some justice for that eye of yours.¡± Lance didn''t say anything in reply, simply grabbing his spear and a hat from the coat rack. Colin raised an eyebrow. ¡°I get the spear, but why the hat?¡± Lance stamped His spear on the ground like a staff. ¡°I''m a wizard now, and every wizard needs a cool hat.¡± Colin chuckled. Good lord his friend was weird. ¡­ ¡°Fireball!¡± Lance cried out as the strange fish-headed men raced toward him with swords and spears. In his hand, a warmth grew as the fireball formed. As it presented itself, Lance willed the small fireball forward at a rather fast pace. It was difficult for the awkward out of water fishmen to move, so the fireball hit the first one right on the mark. Shrieking from the burn, the fishman threw his spear in retaliation, barely missing Lance''s ear. Lance smiled, despite everything. Sure, the F rank dungeon was still difficult At this level, but now he could actually fight back. Added to that, he knew that the skill he picked up had worked. Compared to a normal fireball with one circle of support, his was ever so slightly bigger and faster. Not really that noticeable to the naked eye, it still meant everything for him. ¡®At this rate, for every 10 circles I''ll get one free if I just auto fail the circle creation. And since there''s no real cost to failing early in the process, I''ll have no issues on that front either!¡¯ Lance laughed, feeling like a genius from one of his stories. Cheats were always the best. Still, the fishmen were gaining on him, so he conjured another fireball. Hitting the same fishman from before, it dropped to the floor rolling around in pain before finally dying. ¡°Nice! My first kill!¡± Lance felt proud. Then he felt anxiety as all 5 of the other fishman in the room turned to the shrieking dead fish, then to him. Suddenly, 3 fishman turned to 2 and then to 7. Lance pulled his spear from his back and began to awkwardly chuckle. ¡°Uh¡­ guys, the Fishmen just all started to stare at me, and now they are slowly approaching. What do I do¡­?¡± Nobody answered. ¡°Colin? Anthony? A-Anyone? I could use some help right now-¡± Still no response. The first of the 7 Fishman Lashed forward with a spear, ripping Lance¡¯s sleeve but thankfully not drawing blood. Lance countered by stabbing the Spear in his hands into its head. That was one down, 6 to go. two fishman now appeared, each wielding swords. They wobbled awkwardly at first, but suddenly one dashed forward with renewed grace. ¡°F-Fireball!¡± Lance cried as he stunted the Fishman''s charge with a flame to the face. Blinded but not hurt much, the fishman flailed around. Lance dashed at the second swordsman and quickly stabbed it in the chest as an arrow whizzed by. Turns out, the 3rd of the 6 remaining fishmen was an archer. ¡°What the fuck, what is this luck!?!¡± He quickly pulled his spear out of fishman 2 and stabbed it into the blinded fishman 3''s eye. Both went down, flopping on the floor. Now 4 remained, the archer and 3 mace wielders. one of the mace fish rushed forward, and Lance parried it with his spear before cutting its neck open. Macefish 1 went down quickly, but macefish 2 and 3 were more cautious, and worked with the archer. Actually, the Archer was clearly the leader here, by the looks of things. It was cautiously directing the fish from the back. Making a hand motion, it fired an arrow that finally struck Lance, right in the arm. Lance cried out in pain, dropping his spear for a moment. The two mace fish rushed forward, and Lance panicked. ¡°F-Fuck! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! FIREBALL!-¡± Fireball after fireball struck the two fish that were rushing Forward, and thankfully, it seemed to halt them as one burned completely to a crisp and the other burst into flames,rolling on the floor To put it out. picking up his spear, Lance stabbed the final mace fish to put it out of its misery. Looking ahead, the Archer was now panicked and began running. Lance tried to run after it, but quickly became winded. ¡®I need more training on the exercise front.¡¯ Luckily, as he arrived in the next room, he found Colin along with the dead archer. The group leader turned to Lance. ¡°Where the hell were you?¡± Lance rubbed his face. ¡°Apparently I pissed off Poseidon.¡± To this, everyone laughed, including Colin. Later, Lance learned the danger of Shrieker Variant Monsters. Turns out, they''ll turn every nearby enemy on you, and the only way to tell is a star pattern on their skin somewhere. Lance made it a mission to study dungeons more when he got back home so this wouldn''t happen ever again. And with that, everyone left. Chapter 3 A few weeks passed as Lance searched the wide wide web for resources on dungeons as a whole. Good news, there was a lot of info. Bad News, there was a lot of useless info. Every Ranker And their grandma had a post about dungeons and various ¡°useful¡± tips, stuff like ¡°Aim for the head or heart¡± and ¡°sharpen your weapons before use.¡± In the end, there was a surprising lack of good resources for Rankers. The best sources were often the textbooks of various academies, but¡­ they were often highly expensive and required attendance at an academy to gain access. This line of search however wasn''t entirely useless, as one Textbook stuck out like a sore thumb- The Sly Fox''s Guide to Dungeons. This book was a very popular one among many of the elite academies, but it had a key difference from the other books these schools carried. This book was ancient, 32 years old, a relic from the early ages of Rankers, and a creation of Benjamin Fox before his debut as the first Unique Rank. The book had been updated so many times, it wasn''t even funny. The new copies were created by the academies as a common tool for first years to learn the basics. The key note here was however, the older versions of the book were NOT used by the academies, and were scattered across the general public. Even better, there was a copy of it in Lexington, the city Lance was currently residing. Lance smiled as he made his plan for the day. Go to town, meet up with his mom and sister, show off how much he''d grown, and then go get the Sly Fox Dungeon Guide. He contacted the seller to let her know he would be there. ¡­ Colin waved as he dropped off Lance in his car, going off to do Colin things. Lance would be walking most of the day across the city, but he didn''t mind. After his recent training sessions, Lance felt he could take on the world, even with only being a 3 Circle-Mystic. Stopping at some Italian restaurant he''d never heard of before, he got a table for both himself and his visiting family. About 20 minutes later, they arrived, Edith and Stella. Edith Sally King was Lance''s mother, a very strict woman who expected the very best out of everyone she met. She was disgusted by anything being wasted, especially talent. Stella King was Lance''s sister, and she was a savant, so to speak. She had an immense talent with just about anything she wanted to pick up, and was already being scouted by many colleges and academies across the nation. Unfortunately, this talent made her have a rather nasty outer personality. Stella spoke first. ¡°Hmph. You look weaker than I remember. Aren''t you supposed to be a Cultivator?¡± Lance frowned for a second before catching himself. Picking the Cultivation Path back then made him look more fit than even now, although it was more a cosmetic shift than anything. Lance assumed it was just one of the many quirks of the Paths. ¡°I''m a Mystic now.¡± Lance replied as the waiter brought over drinks. Lance knew for the most part what his family liked, but of course his sister still Complained that the soda was too bubbly under her breath. His mother spoke up next, clearly displeased. ¡°So you''re telling me after all that time you wasted on that stupid Path, you undid all of your progress, even after cutting off your own family?¡± Lance sighed. ¡°I didn''t cut you off. *You* kicked me out and shut off my phone.¡± Edith scoffed. ¡°You''re blaming me when you chose a failing career over your own family? Surely I raised A better son than this.¡± Lance huffed. ¡°I''m still here, aren''t I? I didn''t die like you expected, and if anything I''m doing better than ever. I''m a 3 Circle Mystic now, and I''ll be at 4 within a month.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Stella looked up finally. ¡°You''re only a 3 Circle? Restarting must be much rougher than I thought.¡± Lance deadpanned, crossed his arms and looked away in annoyance. ¡°Not everyone''s a ¡®genius¡¯ like you, Stella.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Stella crossed her arms and Edith began pointing. ¡°Hey! Don''t get sharp with us because your sister is more successful than you! You had many other things you could have done with your life! Safer things! At least Stella is already Level 30 in her Smithing Class, unlike you.¡± Lance slammed his hands on the table for a moment. ¡°Oh what? I could''ve been a Doctor? Or maybe you want me to be a Business Major like dad was! Or god forbid I became a Writer like I wanted!¡± ¡°Don''t you dare bring your father into this!¡± Edith began crying. The situation was getting very tense and awkward,and now other people were looking. A man approached, wearing a red tie and a white jacket over brown pants. He looked to Edith and Stella, then to Lance. ¡°Is this man bothering the both of you?¡± Lance felt his annoyance grow exponentially at the man''s interference. ¡°Mind your own business. This is a family argument.¡± The man glared at Lance. ¡°An argument is an argument. Clearly you aren''t a very good son if you are treating your own mother and I assume sister like this.¡± Lance growled. ¡°Get out. Not only did she start this, you have no right to jump into our conversation.¡± The man sighed. ¡°I didn''t want to pull rank, but I''m already an E Ranker. Do you really want to mess with me when you can just calm down and treat your family with respect? Just by looking at you, I can tell you''re as weak bodied as you are weak Minded.¡± Lance was about ready to fireball the man. ¡°Do you WANT to get burned? Because if you-¡± ¡°Stop it you boneheads!¡± Stella spoke up, clearly annoyed as well. Crossing her arms, she stood up, along with the still crying Edith. ¡°Lance, I know mom may have gone a little too far, but you should be more mature than this. And you-¡± Stella pointed to the E Ranker. ¡°-Have no right to play the white knight for our family when we don''t even know you!¡± The E Ranker looked dejected at the comment. Lance meanwhile tried to speak up, before being cut off again by Stella. ¡°No. Shut up, I don''t want to hear your excuses. Learn to be more mature and maybe we can try this again some other day. Congrats on 3 Circles, and go to hell.¡± Stella marched out of the building, dragging Edith with her. With horrible timing, the food finally arrived, and now Lance would have to pay for all of it, despite the fact it was going to mostly go to waste. Lance ate his food in silence, packed up the ¡®other plates with to-go boxes, and left the restaurant. ¡­ Lance was still rather pissed as he got to the Library, the meeting place agreed upon for the book. Walking in the door, he dryly looked for someone, anyone sitting around and waiting. Spotting a young lady with purple hair and a semi-gothic look, he grimaced. He Instantly got a feeling of deja vu, and it wasn''t a good one. Behind Lance,a man in a white jacket with an all too familiar red tie walked in. ¡®Please, not again.¡¯ Lance thought, closing his eyes. ¡°You!¡± The man shouted in annoyance. ¡°Why are you here!?!¡± Lance sighed. ¡°To get my eyes bleached, the hell do you think I''m here to do? It''s a library!¡± The E Ranker scoffed. ¡°Tsk, you''re such a rude person. Anyway, get out of my way. I''m here to purchase a book.¡± Lance frowned as the man approached the Gothic-looking girl Lance noticed before. The E ranker spoke and bowed. ¡°You must be Ceilia. I''m Lenny Robertson, but you can call me Len for short.¡± The girl smiled, though it felt off. ¡°I''m Ceilia, so you assumed correctly. I''m just waiting on one other person, then we can get started.¡± Len looked confused. ¡°I thought you were just gonna sell me the Sly Fox Dungeon Manual? Why do we need to wait on someone else?¡± Lance''s heart fell. ¡®Oh hell no.¡¯ Lance was about to leave when Ceilia noticed him, her smile widening. ¡°Ah! You must be the other buyer.¡± Lance cursed to himself, as Len looked on in shock. He was unsure if he even wanted to get the book now, as he had a sinking feeling it would cost more than just money. Lance walked closer and sighed. ¡°Yep, that''s me.¡± Ceilia grinned and put her hands together. ¡°Perfect! And I have good news for both of you! I''m selling the book¡­ for free!¡± Lance groaned while The oblivious E ranker grinned. ¡°Great, I''ll be happy to take it off your hands, lady Ceilia!¡± Ceilia smirked and wagged her finger. ¡°Uh-Uh! There''s a condition.¡± Len frowned. ¡°Condition? What do you want?¡± Ceilia pouted and tapped her fingers together. ¡°You see, I''ve been sooooo bored lately. I love watching Ranker Fights, but they are sooooo scripted and cliche, it hurts my maiden heart!¡± Ceilia feigned grabbing her heart dramatically, before continuing. ¡°I want to watch you two duke it out. The winner gets the book, deal?¡± Lance rubbed his forehead as he felt a headache coming on. Len looked at Lance as If to analyze him and then looked back to Ceilia, smirking. ¡°So you''re telling me I get to beat up this pathetic slime of a man and I get the book for free? Sure, I''ll bite.¡± Ceilia turned to Lance, putting on a cutesy face. ¡°What about you? Won''t you fight for my sake?¡± ¡®Go to hell woman!¡¯ Lance smiled politely. ¡°Sure.¡± Lance knew that logically, he would be at a disadvantage. Still, there was one thing that kept him willing to stay in. ¡®I get a chance to beat up that dumbass who ruined my family dinner!¡¯ ¡­ Soon Lance found himself at a local skate park, surrounded by many others who had came to watch the fight. The fight wouldn''t be for another 10 minutes, so people were still gravitating around Ceilia and Lenny as if to gawk at them. Ceilia had changed outfits, donning what now looked like royal attire, with a tiara and everything. She was wielding a scepter like a judges¡¯ gavel and wearing A long flowing crimson cape with white trimmings. Her eyes were hard to read through the crowd, but she could clearly see Lance, smirking as if to say ¡°Don''t lose too quickly.¡± Lenny on the other hand was invisible among the crowd, too many people surrounding him to see through. Still, Lance figured he was here, otherwise people wouldn''t be so wound up over there. Suddenly, from the crowd popped a familiar face. ¡°Colin? What are you doing here?¡± He grinned. ¡°I heard you got into some sort of Fight Club, so I wanted to come see it for myself.¡± Lance frowned. ¡°Fight club? Really? I didn¡¯t know this was your kind of thing?¡± Colin shook his head. ¡°It isn''t, but you got involved. Bro''s gotta look out for each other, right?¡± Lance smiled, genuinely. He patted Colin on the back. ¡°Thanks for the support man.¡± Colin turned around and smirked. ¡°No problemo. Just try not to get blood on the apartment carpets later, cleaning people cost more than you think.¡± Lance laughed. ¡°Shut up.¡± The crowds suddenly began murmuring as Ceilia struck the ground with her Scepter. To Lances¡¯ surprise, he even felt the ground shake a little. ¡° ¡®How strong is she?¡¯ Ceilia smiled widely as the crowd parted way. ¡°Welcome one and All to the Sly Fox Fight! Tonight I have a feeling we''re gonna see a good one.¡± Looking across the way, I could finally see Len, who was smirking wildly. He cracked his knuckles. ¡°This will be a piece of Cake.¡± Chapter 4 Sitting upon a lawn chair, Ceilia looked Down on the peasants before her. She had always been a trouble maker, stirring up conflicts for her own sake since a young age. She didn''t feel any regrets for it, in fact, she reveled in the destruction. Looking at the Underdog of the current fight, Lance, she smirked. She knew this kid was in over his head and had basically no chance to win, and yet that made him all the more interesting. Why was he fighting? Pride? She could tell there was already an animosity between Lenny and Lance, perhaps a past rivalry? It Didn''t matter much, since the match was fairly one sided from the looks. An F Rank beating an E Rank? It was possible, sure, but highly unlikely without equipment. Ceilia prepared herself to watch a one sided ass kicking and smiled. Deep down though, she had an odd feeling. Was it anticipation? She didn''t care. Time to start. ¡°Combatants are set. Let us begin in 3. 2. 1¡­ Go!¡± ¡­ Lance looked over to Lenny, who looked back as the fight started. Instead of rushing for an attack, Len began to speak. ¡°I''m not so dishonorable that I won''t let you back out, even now. Surely you don''t want to embarrass yourself further right?¡± Len smirked, clearly enjoying himself. ¡°Kneel and beg, and I''ll let you forfeit right now. Aren''t I merciful?¡± Lance, in response, said nothing, and just scratched his nose. Len frowned. ¡°No? Well, I offered.¡± Len prepared to rush forward, but stopped in confusion as Lance began sniffling. ¡°Ah¡­ ah.. Ah¡­!¡± Lance sneezed. At the same time, a massive fireball seared across the court, right at Lenny. Startled, Lenny ducked as the fireball crashed into a ramp, fizzling. Lance smirked. ¡°What? Aren''t you supposed to be a gentleman?¡± Lance glared. ¡°Aren''t you supposed to say ¡®Bless you¡¯ or something?¡± Len Roared, rushing forward with a lunging punch. Lance, thankfully, had been training his physical strength and agility outside of Circle Creation. Due to this, even with the boosted strength Lenny had, Lance dodged pretty easily. As Len went for another punch, Lance cast fireball after fireball. These didn''t quite hit their mark, but they Did force Lenny to dodge a lot more, maneuvering around the attacks. Under his breath, Lance counted. ¡°5, 6.¡± Lenny, obviously, was a Cultivator, and one with enough resources to reach E Rank. This meant either he had a rich family or a good Natural Skill or two backing him. Lance assumed the former as Lenny hadn''t used any special skills Yet, but he could be sure. Another fireball wizzed over Lenny''s head. ¡°7.¡± Lenny, not even slightly tired, taunted. ¡°What are you, some sort of failed gunslinger? You''ve missed over 7 times, and you''re gonna run out of mana eventually.¡± Len smirked. ¡°Besides, I haven''t even gotten serious yet.¡± Len suddenly, to the surprise of everyone around, began sparkling with energy. Channeling that energy into his hands, Lenny smirked. ¡°My Natural Skill hasn''t failed me yet. It''s called Discharge, and at B Rank it''s able to move electrical current I generate through anywhere I want in my body.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Lenny''s fists began glowing. ¡°And, hypothetically, If I was to combine it with my Blue Flame Fist Cultivation art¡­¡± He lunged. ¡°-I''d be able to finally show you how futile your attempts really are!¡± The fight''s pace increased as Len raced Across the court, growing closer to hitting Lance with every attempt. He was clearly gaining speed, while Lance was only getting more tired as the fight went on. Lance cast 3 fireballs at Len, who dodged them with ease. Lance tried to feel, but Len was too quick. He pummeled his electrically charged fists into Lance over and over again, throwing him back a few feet where he crumpled to the ground. Slowly walking over to him, Len looked back at Ceilia, who was smiling with glee. Len smiled back at her, before grinning down at Lance. Len grabbed Lance''s chin, turning up his face. ¡°What''s the matter? Gonna go cry to mommy? Oh wait, you already made her leave crying, why would she ever help a worthless son like you?¡± Len let go of Lance and turned around. ¡°Face it kid, you''re helpless. Go ahead and beg and I won''t beat you any more.¡± Lance sat in silence. All Seemed lost. But for sole reason, Lance was now smiling. Lance whispered 3 statements in quick succession. ¡°That''s 10. Fireball. Roots.¡± Len, who was facing away, felt something Grab his legs. Looking down in shock, he was rooted in place and couldn''t move. It would only take a second to break free of such a weak spell, one of a singular Circle of Wood Magic. The issue was, He already had a massive 2 Circle Fireball heading straight for his back. Lenny tried to break free, but couldnt in time. In an instant, he was aflame, and the roots were too, making the fire even hotter. ¡°AGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!¡± For Lenny, power was everything. His natural skills supported this, so he never invested into any sort of defensive skills or even refined defensive cultivation yet. Sure, Lenny had E or even D Rank offensive power, and he had E Rank Agility to back it up. But his defense? It was simply mortal. Not even F Rank. Lance, to be fair, was much the same, except for a key difference. One of his natural Skills, D Rank Energy Negation, made things like electricity and other energy attacks less effective. And that was just enough to keep him in the fight. Lance stood up, watching the idiotic E Ranker roll around on the ground trying to put himself out. He succeeded, but his burns were severe, meaning he would need to be taken for medical treatment ASAP. Ceilia approached Lance as everyone cheered from the solid fight. Silently, she gave him the Sly Fox Dungeon Manual, and whispered. ¡°You''re very interesting, Lance the F Ranker. We''ll keep in touch, upu~¡± ¡®The hell we will! And how did she know my name!?!¡¯ Lance thought to himself. Then, the sirens grew in the distance. Colin, bursting from the crowd, grabbed Lance''s wrist and dragged him back to the car. ¡°Looks like you won. Nice job, just remember to try to avoid this kind of stuff next time. It''s technically illegal, you know?¡± Lance sighed with a tired voice. ¡°I Won''t be doing that again, it was exhausting. I didn''t expect I''d even win, but that guy pissed me off beyond reason.¡± Colin laughed. ¡°Well, at least you got that book you were looking for. And I know a good Dungeon to test it out on!¡± Lance smiled, and the duo drove off to their destination. ¡­ Watching from behind a large rock, Lance pulled out the Sly Fox Manual and began flipping through the pages. The book was a mixture of a biography and a dungeon guide of various monsters. Reaching page 12, Lance looked over at Colin. ¡°Does this look right?¡± Colin nodded. ¡°This is a ¡®Horned Wolf Dungeon¡¯. They''re F Rank beasts with a weak spot at their necks.¡± Lance skimmed The page he was reading and spoke aloud. ¡°Horned Wolves are dangerous in high numbers but weak in solitary formation. At D Rank or Higher, an Alpha will be present, meaning the Wolves will have more coordination until said Alpha is killed. Alphas have-¡± Colin shushed Lance as a Wolf approached with two horns. He jumped out from Behind the rock, slicing off the wolf''s head in a singular motion with his dagger. Lance frowned. ¡°You''re already an E Rank, aren''t you?¡± Colin put his arms up in protest. ¡°I¡­ Yeah, I am. I just got to level 25 yesterday¡­¡± Lance shook his head. ¡°What''s your new class?¡± Colin paused before continuing. ¡°Ah, I''m an Assassin now.¡± It made sense for his speed and usage of daggers. As such, Lance didn''t question it. Lance looked ahead, where there were more wolves. All of them had 2 horns directly attached to their foreheads, and they charged. Lance hit the one on the left while Colin hit the one on the right. Dagger and Spear met neck, and two heads rolled. Lance smirked at Colin. ¡°What?¡± Lance rubbed his brown hair and said what came to mind. ¡°You have a natural skill related to cleaning don''t you? No wonder you never get blood on yourself. It must be passive, huh?¡± Colin seemed to have an awkward expression. ¡°Yeah, you got me. Actually, it''s a C Rank Skill. It keeps me clean as a table in one of those anti-germ commercials.¡± Lance felt the response was odd. ¡°You ok bro? Is something bothering you?¡± Colin smiled. ¡°Nothing man, just not the best at answering a ton of questions in a row.¡± Lance nodded with an understanding expression. ¡°I get it, I''ll try to stop.¡± Colin waved a hand. ¡°It''s fine. It''s never bad to be curious.¡± Lance grinned. ¡°Unless you''re a cat. The. It''ll get you killed, apparently.¡± Colin laughed as the duo progressed further into the dungeon. ¡­ A few rooms later, Colin found himself in a chamber alone. Lance had Decided to take on another room and left him a room to himself. Marching forward, Colin noticed something odd, a 3 Horned Wolf with slightly different coloring. Surrounding it was around 8 other wolves, all with the normal 2 horns. In an instant, Colin glared at the wolf, which stared back cautiously. Colin jumped into the air and seemingly vanished. A second later, he reappeared. All of the wolves¡¯ heads rolled off of their necks and fell to the floor. Even the mighty 3-horned wolf''s head fell instantly. Colin sighed as he brushed away a notification. ¡®Level 307¡­ It¡¯s still not enough¡­¡¯ From the other cavern, Lance called out. ¡°You good bro?¡± Colin smiled sincerely. ¡°Yeah man, but don''t come in here. There''s a stench Trap, it''s hard to breathe.¡± Lance called back. ¡°Got it. I''ll see you at the boss room.¡± Silently, Colin grabbed each of the wolf heads and pushed them into a pocket Dimension. The A Rank Horde skill was quite useful for transporting odd objects discreetly. Done, Colin walked into the next room as if nothing had ever happened. ¡­ Soon, the duo Quickly finished off the boss room and made their way back to the car to head home. As they quietly drove, Lance pondered what to do next. ¡®I''m still F rank, at 3 Circles. I want to progress faster, but this city is basically a Mana dead zone. What should I do?¡¯ Lance spoke up. ¡°How do I get a better Mana environment so it''s easier to create circles?¡± Colin looked over, pondering this as he drove in the dark. ¡°Well, Mana is fueled by intrigue, learning, and desire. You could always just travel to a place where those 3 things are more prominent?¡± Lance thought on it. ¡°Maybe if I go somewhere to learn Something new I''ll have a breakthrough?¡± Colin nodded. ¡°That sounds mostly right. If you go somewhere to learn about something, like culture for example, it should help fuel your growth. You might even be able to push toward E Rank.¡± Lance smiled. ¡°Well, that''s a better direction than nothing. I just need to figure out where to go.¡± ¡°Why not Japan?¡± Lance looked at Colin like he was insane. ¡°Do I look like I have Japan money?¡± Colin smirked. ¡°Don''t worry, I gotchu bro.¡± Lance practically curled up in shock. ¡°Whaaaat!?!?!¡± Colin just continued smiling as Lance lost his mind, mentally preparing himself for a possible trip to Japan of all places. Soon the car stopped, and the duo walked inside. Lance, exhausted, went right to sleep. Colin, a moment later, sighed, his smile falling He muttered To himself. ¡°This time¡­I''ll save them.¡± Below the range others could hear, he spoke again. ¡°I have to. I''ll save everyone.¡± Chapter 5 The next day, Lance had to confirm the previous day wasn''t a dream and he truly had the opportunity to go to Japan. Sitting down, he asked why Colin was even willing to consider this monumental trip. ¡°I have some¡­ stuff¡­ I need to take care of in Asia and Japan would make a good place to start from.¡± Lance squinted. ¡°What the heck are you gonna do in Asia?¡± Colin grimaced a little. ¡°Well, my half sister is gonna be Graduating from the Hong Kong Ranker Academy this coming week, and my mom invited me.¡± Lance stared at the black haired man in front of him. ¡®Poor guy looks like he''s gonna throw up. He must not have a very good relationship with his family.¡¯ Lance smiled. ¡°Well, if you''re offering, I can always join ya. I''m sure there are some cool spots in Osaka we can check out once you get back from the ceremony.¡± This seemed to cheer up Colin a little. ¡°Y-Yeah, that''d be great. Just promise me you wont get too drunk before I come back!¡± Lance laughed. ¡°Hah, just for that i''m gonna drink at least 5 beers.¡± Colin laughed. ¡°Better save 6 for me.¡± ¡­ The drive and air trip didn''t take nearly as long as would have been expected. What especially was beyond expectation was the first class seats Lance and Colin were Using. It was a much fancier experience than he ever would have thought. And it only got weirder when they arrived At their hotel room, the deluxe suite of one of the top hotels in the Osaka area. Lance gave Colin the side eye as Colin looked away nervously, his brown eyes dotting from side to side. Lance spoke up. ¡°So. How long have you been a Millionaire?¡± ¡°I''m not one actually.¡± ¡°Bullshi-¡± ¡°I''m a Billionaire.¡± The two sat in silence for a moment before Lance lightly punched Colin in the arm. Then again. Then again. Lance then began violently shaking Colin while yelling, his brown hair going all over the place. ¡°WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, WHY DO YOU LIVE IN AN APARTMENT WHEN YOUR FILTHY STINKING RICH!?!?¡± Colin shrugged. ¡°It''s convenient.¡± ¡°Bullshit!¡± Colin crossed his arms and sighed. ¡°I''m serious, it keeps the money grubbers away since everyone assumes you''re poor.¡± Lance sighed and rubbed his forehead. ¡°What the hell man? Couldn''t you have said something sooner? I was about to have a heart attack when you got into a limo earlier.¡± ¡°It''s a different country, I don''t have to worry about being judged here. Well, besides by you.¡± Lance sighed and put his hands up. ¡°Ok. Ok, not judging. How the hell did you do it?¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Colin scratched his neck and mumbled. ¡°I won the lottery 3 times.¡± ¡°You WHAT-¡± Colin laughed awkwardly. ¡°W-What? Everyone gets lucky every once in a while¡­¡± ¡°3 times. 3. 3 TIMES!?!¡± Colin seemed to go silent as he stopped protesting. Lance just climbed into his bed in the next room over, turned off the light and rolled over, not even bothering to close the door. ¡°You are gonna owe me 3 Beers when you get back from Hong Kong.¡± In the other room, Colin chuckled. ¡°Fair.¡± ¡­ As the duo went their separate ways the next day, Lance noticed something odd. Colin was in a different outfit from his normal one. It looked very expensive, but given last night, that was no longer a thing to question. What Lance did wonder about was the odd number of pockets on the pants he was wearing, And the fact all of them seemed to be full of knife-shaped objects. As Lance knew, Knives were Colin''s choice weapon as a Ranker. ¡°You''re not going to secretly fight someone are you? Is your sister dating someone you don''t like or something?¡± Colin laughed. ¡°No, I just want to be prepared. Just in case. That''s all.¡± Lance looked back at his friend. He was going to ask what, what he was preparing for, but the expression on Colin''s face made him reconsider. The black haired man''s expression held pure determination in the form of a smile. Lance waved. ¡°See ya tomorrow?¡± Colin nodded. ¡°See ya.¡± Colin began walking before stopping. He tossed something to Lance before turning around, much faster than Lance had expected. In Lance''s hand was a debit card. He looked up. Colin spoke one last time. ¡°In case of emergencies only.¡± Lance smiled. ¡°Right.¡± As his friend walked away, Lance turned around. As he left though, something felt off. It was like the air itself shifted. Looking back, Colin was gone. The energy was gone too. ¡­ The next day, Lance woke up early, and he immediately got to work using the card, a devilish smirk on his face. He ordered a valet service to escort him places for the day on command, of course getting the most expensive option available. His first stop was a famous clothing store, where Lance bought several expensive outfits, fanciful quality stuff. He even bought a real Kimono, and though he didn''t plan to wear it on the trip, it was an awesome souvenir in his opinion. Carrying over 1000 dollars turned yen in clothing around in a bag, he next visited a large line of shops that carried anime style figurines, comics, and many other things. He of course splurged here too mischievously, planning to rack up as many charges as he could to prank his friend. Walking down the way, Lance next planned to find a good restaurant, but that unfortunately never came to be. In a flash, a figure blasted past Lance, tossing his bags into the air. The figure, A Man with a Fox mask, grabbed the bags from mid air and began running. Lance ran as fast as he could in pursuit, but he couldn''t even close to keep up. Coughing and wheezing from over straining himself, Lance stopped. It was apparent the Thief was at least a D Rank, maybe even C. He''d never get that stuff back. Still, Lance grinned, he could always find more. Before he could walk away, a large crack filled the air as the wind howled. Lance looked up to see a proud looking man with blonde hair and a Japanese flag wrapped around himself like a shawl. He tossed Lance his bags from mid air, calling out. ¡°These belonged to you, right?¡± Lance nodded. ¡°Thank-¡± The man put up a hand, smiling. ¡°No need to thank me, citizen. It is my duty to protect The people of these fine lands from problems like this guy-¡± The man motioned to his left hand, holding a skinny Japanese guy who looked to have been beaten senseless. The blonde looked to Lance, smiling. ¡°There''s nothing to fear, as long as Nippon Man is here!¡± Nippon Man flexed dramatically, showing off his muscles. The crowd mildly cheered, but seemed quite unenthusiastic for whatever reason. One man in the back loudly shouted ¡°NIPPLE MAN!¡± Clearly not hearing it right, Nippon Man smiled. ¡°Thank you citizens! As one of Japan''s A Ranks, I must always do my best to serve you!¡± The crowd clapped unenthusiastically in response. Clearly Nippon Man wasn''t very popular. Looking To the sky, the blonde A Ranker saluted. ¡°Well then, farewell! Justice Calls!¡± The man jumped, leaving a crack in the cement as he soared into the sky with speed Lance couldn''t keep track of. As Lance sat there with his bags and the unconscious criminal who had been left behind, the crowd dispersed. All Lance could do was think out loud. ¡°Are all A Rankers as extra as he is?¡± ¡­ Back in the hotel room, Lance began his preparation, auto-failing his circle creation exactly 10 times before pumping himself up. ¡°This time I''ll do it. 4th circle, then i push for 5th.¡± Lance began breathing slowly, focusing with all of his effort on the Rings within his soul. So far, he had made 2 Fire Circles and a Wood Circle. Currently, he couldn''t get any more skills as his slots were full, however if he was to truly push and reach 5 Circles, he would gain a new slot. Crafting a ring was a hard process, much harder the less you understood the concept you wished to use as a theme. You had to effectively draw a circle around your soul, without breaking concentration once. If the circle had creases, it would become much weaker and fail. As such, it had to be a perfectly drawn circle. Lance focused with all of his might on the concept of fire. Burning, everlasting fire that fed upon the wood in his 3rd circle. He drew the circle, feeding it the energy he had consumed from his day out. Half a circle was completed. The. 3/4ths. Finally, the 4th circle was done. Lance smiled, but he wasn''t done yet. No, he knew ambition was rewarded when you put in enough effort. Risk makes reward. Lance began crafting his next circle, but with yet another theme, one much harder than the last. ¡°After what I saw with that man today, I realized I need to work on my agility and defense. As such, since wood is frail and Fire is destructive, I need something different.¡± Lance considered his options. Stone or Metal were easy to use, but both would be too narrow focused. Lance had been thinking about his past choices, and he had been far too narrow minded before in his approach. Sure, Fire was good, and he would keep improving it since he had it already, but it was a very simple concept with very little utility. Lance wanted more, something stronger and more useful in many ways. To this, Lance found a new option- Space. An element often used for Agility and covering distance, it could be used for much more. More or Less Space could make someone faster or slower, yes, but it also could determine size and density of objects. Space was everywhere, and it likely could be the most powerful of concepts if wielded correctly. Lance prepared. He failed the Space Ring 10 times in a row, as he did with Fire before. Then, he began to draw the circle, envisioning space as he did so. ¡®The empty expanse. Distance. Volume.¡¯ The circle grew as it drew itself. It creased and fell apart. ¡®again¡¯ The circle expanded, growing too large and collapsing. ¡®again¡¯ The circle wrapped ?¡¯s the way before creasing. It didn''t falter, but Lance dismissed it. ¡®Once more.¡¯ Lance tried one last time to harness the concept of space. To his surprise, the attempt worked. The circle wrapped around his soul, and finally it connected and became whole. Lance cheered. He was officially an E Rank. In his vision, Lance saw a notification. [You have created a new Skill- Distance Manipulation (A Rank). Would you like to accept the new Skill?] Lance quickly said yes, as such an opportunity was rare. At times, building a circle could influence or create new spells for Mystics. The higher the rarity, the less likely it was to happen, and yet here was a new A Rank Skill, much superior to the purchased D Rank Fireball and E Rank Roots. Lance read the description. [Distance Manipulation Rank A- if nothing is blocking the way, move an object under 5 times your mass closer or further away to a desired extent.] Lance cheered. ¡°Jackpot!¡± This was a skill he could build so many strategies around. Lance was thrilled, and he knew Colin would be too once he found out. Celebrating, Lance grabbed a Wine bottle out of the cabinet and poured himself a glass. ¡°Cheers to a bright future!¡± Lance took a sip, sitting down and turning on the TV. Upon looking, he dropped the wine glass. It shattered all over the floor, glass and wine spilling everywhere. Shock overtook Lance as his heart fell. Chapter 6 ¡°You can''t be serious.¡± Lance was in shock, staring at the screen in front of him. For a moment He stared ahead. Then he laughed. ¡°Ok, Colin, buddy pal friend, your joke is going too far this time.¡± ¡®He''s rich. He probably paid the hotel staff to prank me. He''s getting back at me for the money i spent Today¡¯ The screen showed Hong Kong, the very city Colin had said he was going to. The laughing slowed as the news coverage panned over several Rankers fighting some sort of massive dragon. The dragon was the size of many city blocks , and it was shooting flames everywhere, melting the city down. Lance spoke again, desperation in his voice. ¡°Seriously Colin, I get it, the Rubber Ducks in the bathroom were funny and all, but this is¡­ this is¡­¡± Lance quickly turned up the volume. ¡°Reports are coming in from all across Hong Kong, as multiple dungeons have simultaneously broken, including an SSS Rank that has seemingly turned Variant. The Named beast currently assaulting the city, Storm Dragon Flare, is currently being held off by 4th place SSS Ranker Shohei Yagumo as well as U Ranker Benjamin Fox, who was in the area for a meeting.¡± Another reporter spoke up. ¡°Surely if a U Ranker is involved, this disaster is as good as solved. I estimate perhaps 10% of the city will be burned by the ensuing fires, but that can all be rebuilt over the coming year given advances in China''s Construction Sector.¡± The first reporter spoke again. ¡°Let''s turn to financial analyst Jim Walker to see if he agrees with this opinion.¡± A bald man flashed on the screen. ¡°Yes, it would seem that with the arrival of-¡± Lance turned away from the TV and pulled out his phone. He dialed Colin¡¯s number. It rang. It went straight to voicemail. Again. It rang. It went straight to voicemail. Again. Same result. Lance slammed down his phone. ¡°Why isn''t he answering?¡± Lance was on the verge of a panic attack. Quickly, he grabbed his phone again, searching for Hong Kong Ranker Academy. That was the place Colin would have last been, along with his sister and mother. He read the first article under the new headlines. ¡°Guan Academy has been evacuated to the Hong Kong Bunkers. Currently, the evacuations have been completed.¡± Lance breathed a sigh of relief. They were fine. They had been evacuated safely. ¡°-and everything is exceedingly-¡± The TV tuned back into Lance''s hearing as he heard a shocked cry. The Japanese News Reporters Looked shocked, as did the bald analyst. ¡°S-Shohei Yagumo, the Sword King is unresponsive! I repeat, the Sword King is down!¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Silence continued for a moment, before the Dragon suddenly began glowing. ¡°I-It appears the Storm Dragon Flare is charging up an attack! Benjamin is-¡± The screen behind the reporters went red, then white, then black. ¡°S-Switch to the Choppers on the South China Sea! Quickly!¡± A person offscreen shouted. ¡°O-On it!¡± The screen showed a ball rising in the sky. A fireball, to be specific. It was blue, white, and red in color, and appeared to be rising on a pillar into the sky. The ball then began expanding. Soon, a strong wind hit the cameras, which began shaking as the helicopter holding them struggled to keep in the air. Then, the expanding fireball reached it. Again, the camera went white and black. One of the Reporters, the female one tried to start running, stopped by the male one. She began kicking and screaming. ¡°YOU SON OF A BITCH, MY NIECE WAS IN THAT CHOPPER, YOU SAID SHE WOULD BE SA-¡± The feed cut out, and the channel went black. Lance was too stunned to change it, having dropped his phone on the floor and fallen to his knees. His knees were now Drenched in red wine and his legs were cut by glass, but Lance didn''t care. ¡°C-Colin? S-Surely he was fine. The Bunkers¡­ They¡­¡± Hours passed. The news feed resumed, but Lance didn''t care, letting it zone out in his ears. ¡°Benjamin Fox has been reportedly found dead, alongside fellow Rankers Shohei Yagumo, Tien Guan, Lacey Rose, Arthur Morrigain, Chen-¡± Over 20,000 Rankers had died in the incident, all up in flames. 13 Total were S rank or higher, the biggest loss of Rankers in Human history. The Bunkers had been burned to a crisp, and now were a molten tomb for everyone who tried to hide. There was no hope. There was no salvation. There was only loss. The only reason the incident didn''t go any further was a lucky accident. Benedicte Boneparte, the 2nd Place U Ranker, had heard the news and felt the need to investigate himself. He cast a spell just in time to prevent the Fireball from expanding any further. On the screen, the Savior of the day looked to be breathing heavily, clearly not smiling or pleased with the events of the day. Slowly, he approached The microphone, grabbing it. Benedicte spoke with a gruff Tone, his accent heavy as he breathed haggardly. ¡°Today, we lost Hong Kong. Tomorrow, it may be your home that''s next. We can never predict dungeons, we have become complacent.¡± The man''s black hair was a mess, unfitting of someone with the power to destroy planetoids. His shirt was torn, and covered in soot. ¡°I have lost a good comrade today. Many comrades. We must be prepared for next time. That is why¡­¡± Benedicte paused before continuing. ¡°...We must Unite together, to face the threats that may still linger in the shadows.¡± Benedicte cast a spell, an illusion of a spinning globe. It was very detailed, but a pittance of power for someone of his calibre. ¡°Today, we need to prepare for tomorrow. I have begun Speaking with the leaders of your- our world''s governments to enact a plan. A plan to slowly but surely unify our World against the monsters so we can push back at full capacity.¡± There was suddenly a lot of noise as reporters began scrambling to take pictures and as questions. Bonaparte raised a hand and yelled. ¡°Silence.¡± The room went dead quiet on the tv. Benedicte shuffled his jacket to re-cover his burned arm. ¡°I know this is a tough request, and we shall follow legal processes for this. But take heed, we NEED this. Without your support, humanity will not survive.¡± Benedicte turned his back, his coat waving. ¡°That is all. Goodbye.¡± The news reports continued, buzzing with either info of the devastation or criticisms of Benedict''s speech. Lance was still zoned out when the door slammed open. Clothes burned to a crisp, a man shuffled in. For a second, Lance''s hopes rose, until he saw the look on his friend''s face. Colin''s eyes were empty, devoid of anything, any spark. Lance rushed over, hugging his friend, crying. ¡°I was so worried man! Do you have any idea how hard it was to watch everything on the news!?! I called you 30 times and you didn''t answer once!¡± Colin didn''t respond. Lance''s tears dried. He let out an awkward laugh. ¡°I uhm¡­ may have spent a little bit on the card. Hope you aren''t mad¡­¡± Colin was silent still. Lance tried to speak again, getting desperate. ¡°W-What happened? How did you manage to escape? I-¡± ¡°I failed.¡± Colin finally spoke. Lance sat silently for a moment. Finally, the brown haired man asked the question on his mind. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Colin''s eyes began tearing up, still blank and dead inside. ¡°I couldn''t save them. I failed. My mother. My sister. Everyone. I failed.¡± Lance sat in silence, before tying to speak. ¡°You couldn''t have-¡± ¡°I knew.¡± Lance sat in confusion. Colin continued. ¡°I knew this was going to happen. I''ve seen it all before. Experienced it all before.¡± Colin laughed in despair. ¡°I had every bit of power to try and stop it, but I failed. It''s my fault. I couldn''t save anyone but myself. How worthless is that?¡± Lance couldnt proccess what he was hearing, so he didn''t. He simply hugged his friend, hoping that somehow, this might help. Colin continued crying. ¡°I COULDN''T DO IT. I COULDN¡¯T. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME THAT WAS BROUGHT BACK? WHY NOT ALICE? WHY NOT MOM? WHY ME?!?¡± He sobbed. ¡°Why¡­ me¡­?¡± ¡­ Days passed, and the duo returned home. They didn''t spend time partying as planned, as nobody was in that mood, and they booked the first flight home they could. Once he got back, Lances¡¯ family was waiting outside, desperate to ensure he was ok. Colin simply smiled sadly in the distance as Stella rushed in for a hug and Edith cried tears of joy. ¡°W-We were so worried! Don''t do anything like that again big brother!¡± Lance, shocked, simply patted his crying sister on the head. ¡°I''m fine, really. It''s ok¡­¡± Stella cried even harder, as Edith joined the hug circle. Lance spoke again. ¡°Everything is going to be ok.¡± By the time Lance got free of his family''s clutches, Colin was gone. He left a note, thanking Lance for his friendship, and leaving behind a recommendation letter for an Academy in Pennsylvania. Nobody knew where he went, so Lance couldn''t track him down. It was like the man had never existed to begin with, and that made Lance feel regretful. Karmine Ranker Academy in Pittsburg was the #23 Ranked Academy in the U.S. it was a surprisingly high rank academy to get a recommendation for. Turns out, Colin was actually a B Ranker, despite his age, and B ranks or higher can recommend candidates to schools around their level. ¡®What a monster¡¯ Lance thought. A billionaire, a B ranker in secret. Even¡­ something else. The things Lance heard in the Hotel living room had finally been processed. To think his best friend was the one with a cheat skill all along. ¡°Regression is popular in novels, but they really don''t tell you how traumatic it would be to fail your task.¡± Lance pondered this. Regressors existed, people even beyond time itself. If that was possible, what else could be done? What else could happen by chance. The thought scared Lance more than he liked to admit. He originally wished he could be like Colin, like a protagonist, but¡­ Is it really that easy? In the real world, things are never simple. All Lance knew was he missed his friend, and he hoped that maybe someday he would return. It seemed unlikely, though. Iowa was far away, and it seemed like Colin didn''t want to see anyone right now, or for the near future. ¡­ It had been a few months since the incident at Hong Kong. Things had calmed down somewhat, the world revolving as it always did. Always continuing forward. Lance glanced down into his hands at the recommendation letter. It was his final gift. Lance strolled forward through the gates of the academy and quickly found himself at the reception desk. The Entrance Exam and Ceremonies were tomorrow, and things would get much more busy as the year progressed. He thought back to his family, their sad yet proud faces as they heard what he had accomplished, and that he was now an Academy student candidate. Tightening his fist, Lance walked forward, instantly running into a girl by accident, falling to the floor with a thud. Lance quickly got to his feet and reached down for the girl, shocked and apologetic. ¡°I-I''m so sorry! I didn''t mean to- eh?¡± Looking the girl over, Lance recognized her, and his stomach dropped. The girl on the ground smiled. ¡°I remember you, do you remember me?¡± She stood up. ¡°I''m Ceilia Vernon. I hope we can be good friends, Lance!¡± Lance frowned. ¡®Maybe this will be a rougher few years than I thought?¡¯ Chapter 7 It was a day later, the day of the entrance exam. Lance was unsure of what to expect really, and as such his anxiety was crawling up his back like a tarantula. The Academy had handed out Pamphlets for the new students, but all they really did was discuss what would happen *after* you passed. As such, they were useless in preparing for the coming day. Sitting alone on a bench in the academy gardens, Lance watched the students shuffle around and talk. His eye in particular caught two Large guys, probably twins, towering over a smaller boy with headphones and a book in his lap. The first of the twins laughed. ¡°Oi Lazar, you see this kid? He looks so small, do you think he''ll survive the exams?¡± The second grinned while looking back to his brother. ¡°Nah Avgust, he prolly wont. Doubt he''s Even E Rank. Don''t they disqualify F Ranks?¡± Avgust spoke again, leaning over the smaller Boy with headphones, yanking them out. ¡°Ya listening? We''re talking to you~¡± The boy looked shocked, and quickly grabbed the headphones back. ¡°What''s your problem you stupid Sovs¡¯?¡± Lazar grinned. ¡°He speaks! And with such a ferocious tongue, how scary!¡± Avgust brushed back his black hair and pointed directly into the short guy''s face. ¡°Ye shouldn''t be going around calling us Sovs¡¯, ye might hurt me feelings! We''re Russians, see?¡± The boy with the headphones sighed, putting his book aside. ¡°Oh how scary, the mighty Russians have come to make Fun of some random Arabic guy they''ve never met. Charming, I''m sure all of the women love you.¡± Avgust smirked in annoyance. ¡°Arabia''s a long way from here, lad. Why don''t ye go back to your own pitiful country, and we call it a day, ya?¡± Lazar actually frowned. ¡°Brother, that might be-¡± The boy with the headphones stood up, his short black hair shaking and his eyes closed. He got into Avgusts¡¯ face with a wide smile. ¡°Why don''t you go back to yours?¡± He paused, then laughed with his arms out to his sides. ¡°Oh wait. You can''t.¡± Avgust immediately threw the first punch. His opponent immediately caught the punch, stopping the force completely. Avgust grunted in annoyance. ¡°Tsk, stupid cultivators, always showoffs. Aren''t you supposed to look strong?¡± Lazar grabbed his brother''s other arm as the Arabian cultivator let go. ¡°Brother Avgust, people are staring. Let us go, ya?¡± Indeed, People were staring at them, including an older man with long hair that appeared to be staring like a hawk. Avgust yanked his hand free and looked back at the cultivator with an annoyed smile. ¡°We shall be good friends soon enough, Cultivator.¡± The cultivator scoffed in annoyance, picking his book back up to read as he sat down. ¡°It''s Hasib. Hasib Najjar, you knucklehead. Now let me read in peace.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Lazar bowed to the cultivator as his brother looked on in annoyance. ¡°Good to meet you, Hasib Najjar. I am Lazar, Lazar Zhukov of New Saint Petersburg colony in your state of Montana.¡± Hasib groaned. ¡°Why are you introducing yourself when you were just helping your brother attempt to pick on me?¡± Avgust walked off, huffing and puffing while Lazar spoke again. ¡°My brother only respects the strong. I, too, respect strength, but also wisdom to use it. Please forgive him and do well in the exams, ya?¡± Hasib placed his head back into his book. ¡°Whatever. I''m still gonna consider you both an enemy regardless.¡± Lazar sighed, speaking to himself as he wandered off to find his brother in the crowd. ¡°Who needs enemies when you can have comrades in arms?¡± Lance zoned back into his own space as he stopped watching the crowd. Looking to his left, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he noticed some girl had sat down next to him without him even noticing. He sputtered to make a proper introduction. ¡°I-Uh, Hi! Where uh, did you¡­?¡± The girl sat in silence. She had Black hair with blue highlights, likely dyed at some point, and her eyes were silver. She was hunched over, watching some sort of silent video of a man, a Cultivator Alchemist making some sort of pill. As she watched the video, the girl simply quietly breathed, highly focused. Lance, finally coming down from being startled, simply sat next to her in silence as well. A moment later, the girl finally spoke up. ¡°Alchemy is so interesting, don''t you think?¡± Lance nodded, more so as to be polite than anything. The girl smiled. ¡°With Alchemy, you can make medicines that do just about everything you can imagine. All you need is to practice and have the right recipe, and the world is yours.¡± The silver eyed girl seemed to zone out for a moment, as if in another world entirely. Then, a second later, she popped back into reality. ¡°Ah! I should introduce myself. I¡¯m Iris Petrovik.¡± Lance looked the girl over before replying. ¡°Are you from one of the Russian relocation Colonies?¡± Iris shook her head. ¡°Ah! No, I''m Croatian actually. Well, half Croatian on my dad''s side, English on my mom''s.¡± Iris blinked before readjusting her dress and pulling her phone back out. She turned to Lance. ¡°Do you have any interest in pill Making or Alchemy? It''s really cool stuff!¡± Lance felt it was best to be honest. ¡°I uh, don''t know anything about Cultivation based Alchemy, sorry¡­ I''m a Mystic Pather.¡± Iris perked up. ¡°Ah! So do you know about Mystic crafting then, stuff like Spell Seals and Arrays?¡± Lance smiled awkwardly. ¡°I''m a combat major, sorry¡­¡± Iris frowned for a moment before picking herself Back up. ¡°Well, maybe I can teach you then? I know a lot about the various Path crafter methods! And I think everyone should learn at least the basics!¡± Lance felt conflicted. The girl was glowing at the prospect of teaching him Crafting of some sort, but chances are Lance wouldn''t even see them again once the exams happened. Still, he felt like if he turned the girl down now she might cry. ¡°Uh¡­ Sure, if we ever meet again and have time. It wouldn''t hurt to know how Arrays work at least.¡± Iris¡¯ silver eyes sparkled. Quietly, she grabbed Lance¡¯s hands, which kinda startled him for a moment. ¡°From this day forward, Your Crafting Master, Iris Petrovik, will teach you everything you need to know! As my pupil, you will go far!¡± ¡°Master? Pupil? What?¡± Lance felt disoriented, but Iris just kept laughing maniacally with a determined expression. To the side, a girl watching the whole Exchange sighed. ¡°I think that guy just accidently sold his soul to the devil?¡± She turned to the guy next to her. ¡°What do you think, Victor?¡± A sickly looking, lanky man sighed. ¡°He has no idea what he probably just signed up for.¡± Victor paused before laughing. ¡°When girls are involved, guys will do just about anything, huh?¡± ¡­ An hour passed, and the students were all collected into a massive auditorium, which seemingly also doubled as an Arena of some sort. Lance had been followed the entire way by Iris, who hadn''t stopped talking about crafting for the entire time since they met. Just when Lance had thought he was free of the girl for a short bit, as she had left to find a friend of hers, he looked to the seat at his left and found her quietly sitting there while staring forward. Lance in response just kinda chuckled and shook his head. He looked down at the Arena, where a makeshift stage had been set up. Atop the stage was many speakers, as well as two figures. One was the hawk expressioned older man Lance spotted earlier, and the other was an older woman who exuded the Witch aura with her entire being. The Witch had a tall, pointy hat, a black and green robe covering most of her outfit, and a white dress under it that contrasted the black and green. Her expression was soft yet inquisitive, as if scanning the crowd for points of interest. The Hawk-man spoke up,his long hair swaying. ¡°Attention Student Candidates! Before we begin to divide everyone up for the entrance exam, Lady Karmine has a few things to say.¡± The crowd began mumbling in confusion and shock. The Headmasters of the Academies were often very busy people, especially those of high rank. As Lance found out, Konstantina Karmine was ranked 287 worldwide. This may not seem very high, but given there were only around 2000 S Ranks Globally, It was a massive achievement already. Lady Karmine slowly approached the microphone. Smiling, she began speaking. ¡°Effort. What does it mean to you?¡± Karmine let the line sink in for a moment, and the crowd murmured in response. She then continued. ¡°You''ve all heard this line, I''m sure. Algot Hansson said it in his infamous speeches many times. Effort this, effort that. It''s all ¡®try your hardest and you''ll succeed¡¯ talk nowadays.¡± Karmine stopped smiling. ¡°It''s rich to hear such a line coming from a man who had all the luck in the world behind him, and pure talent to ride on. Not everyone is that lucky.¡± Lady Karmine pulled out a cane and tapped it on The podium. A spell suddenly cast, sending the room into complete darkness. Some of the student body quickly began panicking, while others remained quiet. ¡°Silence!¡± The familiar voice of Hawk-man shouted, and everyone quieted down. In the darkness, tiny lights began sparkling. The roof appeared to be one of the cosmos, stars and planets, meteors and comets streaking by. Konstantina continued. ¡°In the universe, there are trillions of bodies that float through space, but only a fraction of them are, will ever become, or were stars. You student candidates are much the same. Sure, some of you will reach moderate success, but most of you? You''ll either die young in a field not meant for you, or live long enough to realize you made a mistake.¡± The room lit up again. Karmine''s expression had turned sadder. ¡°I''m here to weed out the stars from the stardust and to ensure those who aren''t meant to be here see reason. I''m here so we don''t have to have another grand tragedy this generation.¡± On her chest, a small red and white flower badge shone in the light. Karmine tapped her cane on the floor, her hat tilting A little. ¡°My advice for all of you is to remember this- effort can accomplish a lot, but not everything. If you can''t, there''s no reason to toss your life away for no reason. Only pursue this path if you truly know you can. And if you still try and cannot," Karmine smiled. ¡°I will protect you from yourself.¡± Karmine, silent now, walked down from the stage, leaving the Hawk-eyed man to bark orders. As he explained the details of the upcoming exam, Iris frowned. ¡°Lady Karmine really is quite serious, huh? She always came across as more of a sweet old lady in the video''s i''ve seen before.¡± Lance replied, the smell of food filling the air. Down in the arena, it turned out the staff had provided lunch for the student candidates. ¡°After Hong Kong, a lot of people have changed. It was a very scary event for just about everyone, let alone the people actually involved.¡± Lance and Iris stood up with the rest of the others to get into the line for Pizza. Iris spoke again, quieter. ¡°From the way you said that¡­ did¡­ Did you lose someone in the incident?¡± Lance sighed with a frown. ¡°Kinda. I had a good friend deeply involved in it, and although he survived, it broke him. I doubt I''ll even get to see him again.¡± Iris poked Lance in the arm, making him look over at her. ¡°Don''t be sad, my pupil. I''m sure you''ll see him again.¡± Iris gave a big, comforting smile. ¡°...After all, goodbyes are never forever unless you let them be.¡± Lance chuckled, regret in his voice. ¡°I hope you''re right, Iris. I hope you''re right.¡± Chapter 8 Soon after eating, the exams started. As it turned out, the unlimited pizza must have been some sort of test too, as a saddening number of people simply ate too much and were thrown off their game. Soon, Hawk-man, who was actually named Mr.Henrys, started to announce the rules of the exam. Everyone would be broken into groups of 4, 3 fighters and a crafter. The Crafter would be expected to make as much gear or assisting items as they could in a 3 hour period, to then be distributed among the 3 fighters. The 3 fighters then had to figure out a strategy to fulfill the qualifications set upon the start of the test. The Crafter would be judged based on how well their items and gear hold up and work, meanwhile the fighters would each be judged based on both team coordination and independent skill. Unrelated to the primary exam, there was also a secondary exam for the lesser school, a written exam. This part of the school, however, excluded any Ranker-based classes. As Lance walked around, aimlessly searching For 2 Fighters for his team, Iris silently followed, planning what to create for the upcoming exam. Lance, among the crowd, spotted two people that did not appear to be in groups. The first was a conventionally pretty asian-appearing girl with a rather colorful cloak, a person Lance didn''t recognize. The second person was someone Lance DID know, the Arabian guy from earlier. Lance walked up to the two as they spoke. The girl talked first, making a sad expression as she bowed. ¡°I''m sorry, but two speed Based Rankers wouldn''t probably make for a balanced team. You should look for someone with either good Defense or a good Support if you want to ensure you''ll pass.¡± Hasib looked slightly annoyed. ¡°I''m telling you, i''m not *just* speed based. Also, in case you can''t already tell, most of the teams have already organized. We don''t have many choices here¡­¡± Suddenly, the girl looked up, spotting Lance and Iris. Hasib noticed her looking off at the distance and saw them as well. Hasib grunted. ¡°Hmm, looks like a Crafter and someone who doesn''t know how to make his Path clear.¡± Lance frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Hasib pointed to a cloth he had wrapped around his left arm, Yellow in color. He then pointed to the yet unnamed girl, who had a Red bandana around her neck. As Lance looked around, he spotted cloths, necklaces, scarves, bandanas, even hats in a few specific colors. Iris, too, wore an identifying colored necklace, Purple. ¡°Red for Warrior, Blue for Mystic, Yellow for Cultivation, and Purple for Crafting. You live in a cave or were you just ignorant?¡± Iris spoke up. ¡°He just didn''t know any better. As his master, I shall-¡± Lance tried to shhh the girl but the damage and confusion was already done. The asian girl looked much more confused and uncomfortable now, and Hasib was laughing uncontrollably. ¡°M-Master!?! Really? In this day and age???¡± Lance sighed. ¡°Crafting Master. She''s going to teach me crafting.¡± Iris spoke again, arms crossed. ¡°What other kinds of masters are there? Are you sure you aren''t the ones with issues here?¡± Hasib stopped laughing, wiping tears From his eyes. ¡°Ah, that was a good laugh. Now then,¡± Hasib pointed to Lance. ¡°What''s your Path? Or rather, what can you do in a fight¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Lance smirked. ¡°I''m a Mystic with good Distance Control and Range. My highest Ranked Skill is A Rank.¡± Out of the group, Iris looked silently pleased, the nameless girl looked surprised, and Hasib looked slightly annoyed. ¡°Really? Another person with a speed or range focus? We needed a tank!¡± The nameless girl spoke up next. ¡°Actually, in hindsight, this is good team synergy.¡± Hasib looked at the girl like she was insane. ¡°Woman, are you nuts? We have two speedsters and a ranger. We have no supports and no tanks, and we don''t even know what we are fighting.¡± The girl frowned. ¡°My name is Quyen Tien Le, not ¡®woman¡¯. And if you had anything behind your eyes, you''d have heard he said he has distance control in some form. That means he can probably move us out of danger even if we can''t ourselves. If anything, it''s better than having one tank to cover for two glass canons like us.¡± Hasib crossed his arms. ¡°I''m a defensive Agility Cultivator. I''ve been trying to explain this the whole time, but you kept ignoring me.¡± Quyen sighed. ¡°Oh.¡± Hasib spoke again. ¡°Feel like an idiot now, brain?¡± Quyen brushed her black hair from her eyes. ¡°You''re very annoying. I wish I wasn''t forced to team with someone like you.¡± ¡°Likewise, Lady.¡± as Lance watched the duo bicker, he and Iris both sighed. Lance muttered under his breath. ¡°Please let me get through this exam!¡± ¡­ Soon, the exam begun, and Iris was lead off to begin crafting for Team #58, as the 4 were called now. 3 hours passed, and Iris returned, carrying a satchel with 3 items inside. The 3 items were very diverse, clearly showing Iris wasn''t a joker when it came to crafting things. The first was a collapsible spear, clearly intended for Lance. Lance had already meantioned his Spear Skill, and although he stated specifically that it was his weakest skill, Iris seemed to think otherwise. The spear came with the enchantment of a Cultivation based Skill, Black Cat''s Claw. This skill was an odd one, boosting your firepower every time something bad happened to you, in proportion. Considering that usually crafters¡¯ imprint skills they themselves have more often than other skills, Lance wondered if the skill itself was one of Iris¡¯ The other two items were pills, each with a different effect. The first pill would increase agility but make you more hurt by damage received, called the Rabbit''s Foot Pill. The other one was called Hell''s Inferno, and this one was taken away by the instructor, stated as being ¡°too dangerous for E Rank usage.¡± To compensate for the lost item, the staff granted Lance¡¯s team a standard health potion, created by the warrior class. Lance was hopeful for Iris to pass, but he couldn''t focus on his new friend right now, as he had to pass for himself. ¡­ Lance, Hasib, and Quyen found themselves at the entrance of the dungeon, but they were caught off guard by something. Lance was the first to speak. ¡°D Rank? Isn''t that a bit¡­¡± The instructor, a lady named Mrs.Shelly, spoke up with a raspy voice. ¡°Do not fear, for you only have to beat one monster. I shall ensure you only have one opponent, and you must make it reach our standard of being beaten.¡± The gate of Light opened as the Instructor pushed the team of 3 inside. ¡°Onward!¡± Inside the dungeon was a muggy swamp, with chirping insects and nasty Smells galore. Quyen looked absolutely horrified. In response, Hasib spoked her. ¡°Afraid of mud, Mulan?¡± Quyen, annoyed but still scared spoke. ¡°No, you idiot! This is a Troll Swamp!¡± ¡°Correct.¡± The instructor said in her raspy voice as both Lance and Hasib went silent in fear. Trolls were an infamous monster type, one of the kinds you never want to face. Why? Because they despite being dumb as bricks and slow as snails had skin as hard as iron and regeneration. Quietly, the 3 marched through the swamp as water and mud splashed arlund them, the instructor remaining completely clean. Finally, Mrs.Shelly held up a hand and got everyone to stop. She pointed to a silhouette in the trees. ¡°This Troll will suffice. Bring it to regenerate once and you will pass. There is also a secret prize for students who go above and beyond.¡± Shelly stopped before speaking again. ¡°I will only step in if truly needed. Feel free to plan, but if the troll gets away, you will fail.¡± Shelly vanished. Finally, Lance spoke up. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re in a swamp. That means we aren''t in our optimal environment for this, since both of you focus on speed.¡± Quyen nodded with a sigh. ¡°My class is the Rogue class, level 62. Based on my stat spread, i''m meant for speed and offense, and i can''t risk taking hits. My Skills are a Backstab skill, a damage multiplier for sharp weapons, and a skill for firearms that''s unrelated to my Path.¡± Lance pondered this. ¡°Did you bring a gun for your skill?¡± Quyen smiled. ¡°Yeah actually, i have a six-shooter pistol with 6 bullets extra, it''s my backup weapon.¡± Hasib groaned. ¡°Guns? In a dungeon? I didn''t know they even had skills for firearms!¡± Lance looked to Hasib. ¡°The Paths may not have much as far as gun skills, but there are some neutral skills for them.¡± Lance grinned. ¡°I have a plan!¡± ¡­ As Konstantina Karmine watched the ongoing tests, she sighed. This year didn''t seem to have many solid talents, save for a few golden eggs mixed in with the rotten ones. Watching one group in particular, a boy ordered his teammate, a girl, to open fire on a Troll. Firing a gun roughly 6 times, the Troll seemed to stumble for a moment in surprise. Karmine chuckled. Bringing a gun to the exams was always amusing, as often such students didn''t realize that was already accounted for. These exams were thought out well in advance, and parlor tricks like guns never did much but piss off the focus of the exams. The troll stood back up, no vitals having been hit, and not even really bleeding Much. It looked back at its opponents with newfound anger. Karmine closed her eyes and sipped some tea, knowing that if these students escaped with no broken bones, they would still likely fail. ¡­ ¡°Shit!¡± Hasib shouted as he ran, dodging to the left. A massive arm slammed into the ground, making it rumble and sending mud cascading down the hill to its other side. Hasib punched the troll full force with some sort of energy attack, but it left little effect. In response, he simply kept running, or rather hobbling through the mud as fast as he could. The Troll, still refusing to regenerate, had tiny holes peppering Its already ugly torso and face. Due to its sheer size however, it simply continued charging. Lance, trying to quickly think, observed his environment. There was mud everywhere, water, and plants, making navigating and especially running difficult. To make the best of the team''s skills, they needed a hard terrain, perhaps a hill out of the mud. It seemed Lance''s teammate had already realized this however, as Quyen shouted out. ¡°There''s a tall hill between the trees, follow me!¡± Hasib, struggling to escape the angry Troll, followed Quyen¡¯s voice and scrambled up the hill. Lance, quick as he could, ran for the hill, winding up behind the troll, who hadn''t noticed him. Hasib was struggling to outspeed the Troll, and had all of its focus at the moment. Lance saw an opportunity to free his teammate from the agro and took it. Quyen shouted from the other side. ¡°Don''t attack Lance, Hasib is fine! Use your distance skill to join us!¡± Hasib cried out. ¡°I''m definitely not fine! You clearly are just heartless!¡± Lance, determined, spoke. ¡°I got your back Hasib!¡± Quyen shouted. ¡°Stop! You won''t be able to get away if it doesn''t work!¡± Quickly, Lance pulled out his spear, activating his shitty F Rank spear skill and lunged for the troll¡¯s back. From what Lance could recall from the dungeon manual, Trolls were mostly immune to energy attacks, making Lance''s Fireballs mostly useless and not worth trying. As such, he needed to rely on his spear for this fight, since obviously this thing had to have some sort of weakness. Lance struck at the back of the Troll, and it stopped, a crack forming on its back shell. A second later, it turned around, unphased and even more pissed. Lance spoke his mind, looking down. ¡°Well shit.¡± The Troll stomped down on Lance, who wasn''t quick enough to move away. He completely forgot his distance manipulation skill in the moment. ¡°Lance!¡± Quyen shouted In horror. Lance felt the world go dark as he passed out.