“No, but it doesn’t matter. Once I attune with them, they will probably become tattoos. I’ll just jab them in and attune them, then heal it up afterwards.”

Jill just looked at him like he was a fool, but she didn’t say anything as he started. Only when he brought the first up to his ear did she stop him. Blocking his hands, she grabbed the earrings, speaking anxiously.

“Let me do it, even if it is temporary, I can at least make sure they line up.”

“Well then, do your worst.”

Joking, he tried to get her to relax She seemed strangely wound up about this, and he didn’t mind letting her handle it. He regretted it as soon as she leaned closer to help him. He had been around Jill and Red so much, that he had gotten used to them, but in moments like these, he realized that they were still very beautiful. Jill for one, had only grown more attractive after receiving her recent class. The changes having made her overall appearance more feminine, giving her an otherworldly allure. So, he sat, trying desperately to not let anything show on his face. From the corners of his eyes, he caught a smug grin on her face. She was messing with him, and he still couldn’t manage to hide his expression.

Instead, he swapped with Priscilla, telling her to maintain a calm expression. Mash ignored Priscilla’s irritation, deciding that he would rather deal with her than Jill right now. Once Jill finished, she tapped his shoulders.

“There done. Priscilla, you can let Mash out now.”

“Howdidyouknow?”

Priscilla asked the question for him, and he was surprised to hear the words. They were a broken mess, each word came out in a jumble, and the sentence had no pauses either. But the intention got across, Jill giving her a fast reply.

“The way you look at things changes too much. You narrow your eyes a lot, whereas Mash’s gaze generally seems stupider, more blank.”

“Now that wasn’t necessary.”

Mash responded, taking back control of his body. Decidedly ignoring the look Jill gave him, he started attuning to the items, only then noticing the cold metal that hung from his ears. They were maybe half a finger long, the flower hanging from a small chain that hooked into his earlobe. The searing pain of attuning to an item came, he could feel it, though it wasn’t where he expected. Rather than on his ear, it happened just beneath them, closer to his neck. It didn’t hurt as much as the necklace had, and he slumped in relief.

“Well, at least they match.”

Handing him a mirror, Jill looked over the tattoos telling him what she saw. He used the mirror to see for himself. Each of them did look the same, a white flower that was outlined with thick black lines. It almost seemed like they were glowing, though more faintly than even his eyes. They weren’t draining his energy like he expected them to, it seemed like it would only happen when he wanted. That was a relief, although he didn’t notice any benefits either, or figured that it would only activate once he gave it some energy. He was a little reluctant now, but it was too late to change it either way. Really, he should’ve been more concerned earlier, this was just pointless conjecture now.

Pushing his worries back, he channeled a trickle of the energy into the new tattoos. His vision blurred, and the world around him seem to shift. It felt almost like a teleportation, or maybe it was closer to the experience of advancing a class. Either way, he felt like he was both separate and connected to his body. Instinctively, he knew that he was looking at himself, at a depiction of his body and soul. Spreading out from where he was standing, he was surrounded by a plain of grass, and flowers.

It was clear the space was depiction of himself since there was an enormous wooden tree in the center of the plain. It was marred with black scales and lines, and in the distance, he could make out the markings of the great beings floating in the sky like moons. The snake’s symbol was a black formless void that shone like a dark sun, and the other seemed like an enormous planet. It was covered in life, forest and oceans marring its surface. The unnatural clouds that existed at the edges of his space, pulsated with an energy that reminded him of classes when they were offered to him. Even Priscilla was separate, like birds she flew around in the sky. Despite the awe-inspiring sight, he was focused on himself.

A feeling of freedom rushed him, of bonds being broken, of a mind that had been corrupted being freed. He gained something for a moment, a control over his mind and body that felt entirely too right. For a moment there was no other influence, not Priscilla, not the marks, and not the class. It was there, only for a fraction of a second, but it was there. The freedom that he never knew existed, that he could no longer be without.

Then it was gone, and he returned to his body, bound by all the chains and manipulations of the world around him. As his senses came back to him, he saw the others looking at him anxiously, even Jack watching nervously. Despite their attention, he was focused on something else and stared blankly beyond them, remembering that surreal feeling of freedom. He needed that, but had no idea how. Feeding the item more mana wasn’t doing it, the effect must have been due to his strange attunement process and wouldn’t be a repeat. None of them could know what he just experienced, not even Priscilla. His situation felt so wrong now, he was disgusted by the number of forces that were limiting him.

Now, he knew the truth though. What every person was missing out on, the freedom that should be his. How had he ever been fine with his present state, with slowing his pace? That couldn’t remain the same, he needed that freedom again, and there was only one way for him to achieve it. He needed to get stronger faster, not slow down and train. There were two dungeons that he could access, each was fairly large and would be a fast way to gain levels. Rather than worry about clearing the dungeon, or harvesting items, he could just kill monsters. One dungeon was within the city itself, and he might be able to sneak in. There should be some other things available too, this was the capital after all. He remembered seeing a colosseum, which meant that he could probably fight monsters there as well. There was the tournament next week too, that wouldn’t gain him any levels. Losing early might be the best strategy for that, but it would depend on the rewards.

“Hello, Mash? What happened?”

Waving her hands in front of his face, Red broke him from his trance. He took a small breath, needing to find the right words to say.

“Nothing, the item just did more than I expected it to. I’ll tell you about it later, I want to start training.”

“That’s a good attitude to have, lets just hope it stays that way.”

Jack spoke loudly, as if to remind everyone that he was still here. Leading them back to the training grounds, everyone shared what items they picked up. Jill’s new ring compounded the effect of her previous one and should give her more time to react to lethal attacks. Although she didn’t know what the unique connection would do. Luke found an item that would let him grow his mana, much like the one Mash had seen earlier. The major difference was this would do so by draining ambient mana, rather than the mana of the user. It sounded like a strictly better alternative. Red grabbed a crystal that glowed vaguely. It shone with a blood red light, that made Mash feel a little sick as he looked at it. She said that it would boost her abilities but didn’t specify exactly how.

Once they got to the ground, Jack had them start running some drills. It was a basic teamwork exercise, and he lectured them whenever it was necessary. Jack was a good teacher, and Mash was surprised to find the training surprisingly pleasant. There was no needless fighting, instead it felt more like grueling physical labor than a dangerous fight. Time flew by quickly, as he had fun learning of new methods to fight. Jack’s advice was abstract, and he left it to the group to figure out how to act on it. Only correcting them on mistakes after they made an effort. Despite the enjoyment and benefit of the training, he was distracted, remembering the momentary feeling of freedom.

They sparred just before the end, but not with Jack like he expected. Instead, they fought one another in groups of two, and were told to figure out what the best combinations were. Mash had teamed up with Red at first, thinking that their creations skills would make them better able to fight together. However, they ended up getting in each other’s way, and their attacks left them vulnerable to Jill’s teleportation since they were trying to avoid one another. Jill and Mash worked the best together, her rings having indeed given her a greater benefit than they let on. She now had a little bit of foresight for all attacks that would hit her.

Normally, someone would only receive a skill like that after level 100 or 150. The items would sell for a lot, but she no longer had the need to worry about that as much, with her family debts being clear. The items let her avoid any of Mash’s large attacks that got to close to her, and with Priscilla’s high-level control of his wooden creations, he could make gaps for Jill to attack in. Mash worked will with Luke as well, but only after his persist skill activated. The compounding buffs having artificially raised his level significantly. Red and Luke worked well together too, her magic being well suited to take advantage of his buffs, and the healer combination let them shake off any damage that Mash and Jill could manage. The sparring was enjoyable, finally being able to test out their abilities against one another.

As training came to an end, and they were cooling down with some drinks, Mash decided that it was a good time to ask Jack about leveling. The others listened to the discussion too, interested to know how adventurers gained levels within the city. Apparently, there were a few missions that would have them fight surrounding monsters, and there were always the dungeons too. Mash wanted to go to the dungeon, but he would need to convince the others or find a way to sneak by the guild, which sounded impossible. There was one other method that interested Mash, though Jack ran over it quickly. He didn’t seem very fond of the Colosseum, but he explained when Mash prompted him for more information.

The colosseum was available to adventurers, and they could find fights in it. However, Jack warned them that it wasn’t easy, and many adventurers died in those fights They would have to fight alone, and could run into any monster within their rank, if they won too often, they would be forced to fight a monster above their rank. Which for Mash, would be a monster that was meant for someone closer to his brother’s level. Still, it interested him since it was an option that he could do immediately.

His brother wanted him to remain in the capital, but Mash didn’t want that anymore. Although he didn’t want to betray his brother’s trust either, so he would find another method. If he surpassed his brother’s level, then that would prove that he could take care of himself. Arthur and Luna were worried about his safety, so he just needed to show them that he could keep himself safe. The colosseum, tournament, and nearby dungeons would have to be enough. There were levels in this city, he just needed to claim them.