Mash got up from the table, he had found himself in a strange situation. The girl named Jill was following him as he wandered around the room. After entering the room, he had noticed the girl staring at him and wanted to know why. As he approached her, he was able to understand how much mana an average adventurer typically had. He had taken a chance and walked up to the girl since she had kept staring at him. She had also been one of the few people who were sitting by themselves. He had taken the seat across from her when he noticed how much mana she had. His mana sphere was good at gauging strength, and in terms of mana capacity she was one of the strongest in the room.

Her condition was certainly a bit strange, but he didn’t care much. Honestly, he wanted to spend as much time as possible within dungeons, so he didn’t care if she took most of the gold. She had agreed that maintaining and upgrading equipment would be the first priority. It seemed like she cared more about preventing him from wasting gold, than increasing her cut. It didn’t sound like a big deal, but maybe he was just being shortsighted. He had never really cared all that much about money and was much happier with just being able to explore and find new information.

The condition itself had surprised him more than anything else. When he saw her shining golden hair, and otherwise perfect posture he expected her to be some kind of noble. She was wearing a new set of leather armor too and couldn’t spot even the smallest bit of dirt. She was wearing a decent sized backpack, and he noticed that it seemed full. Finding out that she was instead desperate for money was like hearing a cruel joke. However, her condition had let Mash feel like he could make his own demand.

Mash had only thought of one condition since hearing about the exam. He wanted to go dungeon diving as soon as possible. Ideally, he would be there tomorrow. Clearing dungeons and killing powerful monsters are some of the only known methods to getting unique classes. He also hoped that the party would be able to equip itself with items from the dungeon. They were filled with magical items, to the point that even the monsters in there could be wielding them. He would’ve gone there already, but you had to be an adventurer to get access to the local dungeon.

There was only one dungeon nearby, and it was well known. It was a labyrinth type dungeon though and would often shift and change refilling itself with items and monsters. Nothing in there would be too impressive, but it would still give them a unique reward if they managed to clear it. He knew of at least three dungeons that he wanted to clear, and the labyrinth was the easiest of them. Despite that, it had a low clear rate since most adventurers would leave before getting to the end. There was a simple reason for that, if you wanted to clear the dungeon you would have to spend at least a night in there. That was a risky bet since the dungeon would shift and you would lose your way out. However, with his storage space, he thought that they could manage.

They had been walking around the room and were talking idly about potential members. Mash continued to use his skill to gauge the strength of those they passed, he ignored the groups of three and the ones that had already rejected Jill. He prioritized the tables with two or fewer people, because they would be more desperate to completing their group. They had tried a few tables already but had been rejected. Mash had made sure to compare Jill’s strength with whomever was at the table but had only been reminded of how much mana she had. It was comparable to his own, but that shouldn’t be possible. He idly wondered what class she had. He wanted to smack himself, how had he forgotten the obvious question. He was about to say something when he noticed two people with very strange mana.

One of them was a girl who was about as tall as his sister. The first thing that he noticed was her bright red hair, it was tied back into a neat ponytail. It was a shockingly vivid shade of red. She had a smattering of freckles across her face, and he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that she looked cute. She was wearing a basic set of leather armor like Jill, but she didn’t have anything covering her hands. She was powerful, though not as much as them. More importantly however, he noticed that her mana was like his, in that, it seemed to be spread throughout her body. That alone made him want to take a seat, but it was her teammate that really interested him.

He was a burly man, who Mash thought was a warrior, but upon getting closer, noticed that he had a large mana reservoir. On top of that, he was a beastman, He had a pair of grey pointed ears that matched the color of his hair, and vaguely yellow eyes, which reminded Mash of a wolf. His mana was the more interesting part, it was as if he had two different kinds of mana. He was eager to learn more. Mash had seen beastmen occasionally but had not spoken to them before. They tended to be pushed towards the outskirts of town, and they tended to avoid humans. It wasn’t because they hated humans, rather because of the opposite. They were not treated well in the city. He was excited for the opportunity to talk to the man, and took a seat at the table. Jill was surprised by the sudden motion but followed easily and took the seat next to him.

“Hello, I’m Jill and this is Mash.”

Jill spoke as she sat down, she had been leading the conversations since her condition was the more problematic of the two. Mash had a few questions that he wanted to ask though and interrupted her usual routine.

“What classes do you guys have? You too, Jill. Oh, and I’m a Wood-Forged Pseudo-Monk.”

Mash spoke eagerly, he wanted to know. His curiosity was piqued by their unique mana. He looked over the trio as they processed what he had just said. Then, Jill smacked herself in the forehead.

“I never got your class. How did I only just realize that? I’m an Enhanced Brawler.”

She sounded oddly tense as she spoke, but it was indeed a good class. They both somewhat fulfilled the same roles, but between the two of them were unlikely to fall for any traps. Not to mention that it was likely that they both had a self-healing skill. Mash looked at the other two expectantly. They nodded, and it was the red-haired girl who spoke first. Her voice was oddly melodic.

“I’m a Blood Paladin, and you can call me Red.”

It was an obvious nickname, but that was typical of adventurers. Many used nicknames, choosing to hide their real name and heritage. A Blood Paladin would be a huge get though, it would function as a tank while also having some healing capabilities. A class that could heal would be good for emergencies, since his healing was dependent on his meditation. He wanted to ask about her skills but knew that they would only talk about it after forming a party. He looked to the beastman, most excited for his response.

“My class is a Spirit Druid, and my name is Lukas, but you can just call me Luke.”

Luke spoke neatly, but his deep voice shocked Mash. Mash almost jumped at hearing his class but managed to keep his calm. He was excited though, Druid was a class that humans couldn’t get, which meant that this was probably one of the only opportunities he had to learn more about the class. He wanted them to join the team, even if their classes seemed to overlap a lot. They would each be capable individually, and they wouldn’t have to be worried about protecting any one member. He spoke excitedly.

“Do you guys want to form a team; we really only have one condition?”

Mash spoke and didn’t try to hide his enthusiasm in the least. Jill noticed her opportunity to jump in and told the group of her condition and the reason why. Mash was worried that they wouldn’t accept it. He would leave Jill to join their team, but kept his mouth shut as she spoke. He would feel bad, because he knew that Jill was probably stronger than the two of them. She definitely had more mana than them, but they had the more interesting classes. Although, it didn’t look like he would have to. They nodded as Jill started explaining some of the terms that Mash had appended in. Red looked the least bothered, and he wasn’t surprised, he had noticed a spatial bracelet on her wrist and guessed that she was fairly rich. Luke, on the other hand, seemed more apprehensive. He nodded though accepting the condition but asked another question.

“You’re willing to party with us?”

Luke sounded a little worried. Jill’s eyes grew wide, but Mash beat her to it, and spoke excitedly.

“Yes! Do you have any conditions for us? The only thing I want to do is visit the labyrinth as soon as we can.”

Luke just looked unsatisfied, and Red seemed ready to explain.

“He means, why are you willing to party with non—humans?”

Now it was Mash’s turn to look confused. Luke was obviously a beastman, but Red looked completely normal. He glanced at Jill, but she looked equally confused. Red thankfully explained.

“You didn’t notice that I was a half-elf.”

She sounded sad as she talked, as if those words would end the conversation. Jill spoke quickly, not letting them linger in awkward silence.

“Honestly, I don’t even think that Mash is human, so no I don’t care. I would be happy to be in a party with you both.”

Mash nodded along as he processed the information. Red was a half-elf, and that surprised Mash, but if anything, he was more excited now. Afterall, he still wanted to visit that elven town. Nobody in his family was prejudiced and Mash wanted to hear about her class. Also, she probably had a healing skill, so it was an easy acceptance. Then, Jill’s words caught up to him.

“Wait, you thought I wasn’t human!”

It was more statement than question, and Mash couldn’t help but sound offended. He looked at Jill and noticed that she was just looking at him with one eyebrow raised. That look was all that needed to be said, and Red and Luke started laughing. Mash wanted to move on and asked again for their conditions. Red shook her head slightly and spoke while stifling a laugh.

“I don’t have anything new but would also like to get to a dungeon as soon as possible.”

That got Mash’s attention. With two people wanting to enter the labyrinth, he could probably convince them to go as soon as the exam was over. He wanted to ask about that more, but Luke took the opportunity to add his own condition.

“I think it should be obvious, but I want us to help all people equally, and if we see a beastman who needs help, we do so.”

Mash guessed that Luke still didn’t trust them, and Mash was in the same boat. They had only just met after all. Both Mash and Jill nodded in confirmation. Mash was satisfied with his party. He was excited to hear about their skills and offered to explain his own first.

Mash’s explanation was simple, as his skills weren’t very complicated. They had asked a couple questions about his energy stat and how that worked, but they seemed to understand the rest of his skills easily enough. He had given them a demonstration of his creation skill hoping to impress them, and they were surprised by how sharp he could make them. Jill looked a little apprehensive when he used the skill, but she didn’t say anything, so he moved on. He couldn’t explain his fighting style and said that he would demonstrate it later. He was happy to share since he was far more excited in hearing what their skills were.

Red shared next, seemingly to have picked up some of Mash’s excitement. She had the widest range of skills, and he understood why her mana was more like his. She had a passive skill that strengthened her blood and body with a percentage of her maximum mana. She didn’t have any sensory skills but did have the expected healing skill. It was a blood-based healing and she said that she should be able to reattach limbs, but not regenerate them. She had a vampiric drain skill that would either heal her or make her attacks stronger, and a basic blood manipulation skill that let her make simple weapons. Her final skill was an alternate version of smite, called Blood Smite, which made it so that any wounds she made would bleed profusely. Her skills together made her into a capable fighter.

Jill went next as she was infected by their enthusiasm. Mash had been right; her class was good. She had gotten a short-range teleportation skill. It cost a lot of mana, but Mash couldn’t help but be jealous. A skill like that with his Persist skill would have made him undefeatable. Her other skills weren’t as fancy. She had a simple skill that improved her senses and another to strengthen her body. It also boosted her natural healing. Her remaining skills were passives but were impressive. One of her skills improved her reflexes drastically and gave her a small bit of foresight in dangerous situations. Her final skill was called Enhanced Mana and had improved the quality of her mana, effectively doubling her pool. Luke was next and Mash was tempted to start taking notes.

Luke’s class was the most unique and offered him a bunch of supportive skills. The first boosted a person’s regeneration, and he said that this skill usually evolved into one that could regrow limbs. His other two both boosted the physical capabilities of a person. He said that he would be able to improve a person’s abilities by almost fifty percent. That was a huge improvement and would stack with Mash’s and Jill’s own skills. His next skill was the truly special one. It was called Spirit Morph and would allow him to temporarily take on aspects of the spirits with which he contracted. His final skill being the requisite Spirit Contract skill. His class was clearly meant to buff himself but would work well with everyone else.

Mash realized it then, their party was not dynamic. They were all good in the same things, and he would probably have to handle most of the ranged combat. They were unlikely to die to simple things and would certainly be good against large creatures. However, Mash knew that they would struggle with ranged combatants. They would have to hope that their defenses would hold out so that they could close the distance. It wasn’t ideal if they had to fight other people, but they would excel at killing monsters and clearing dungeons. Now, he just wanted to hurry up and finish the exam so that he could go to the labyrinth.