The ball of fire wasn’t red but a mix of blues and oranges. It was hot enough that Mash felt his skin burning even before the spell hit him. He managed to get one arm up to block the fireball. It exploded when it hit him, and Mash felt his arm burn badly. The explosion also filled the street and blocked Luke from seeing him. The arm he had managed to raise was charred and blackened by the flames, and Mash grimaced as the pain spread from his forearm. The arm was practically useless. Not just because of the pain, but the flames had damaged his nerves. Priscilla was already trying to fix the damage, but it would be far easier to just get within Luke’s line of sight.

That had been some of the fastest magic he had ever seen, and that included his own lightning. He had less than a second to react once it had entered his domain. Fire magic could move that quickly. It was a fairly common thing to encounter, and he knew that most fire-based classes were about timing and preparation. Mash didn’t want to take another hit like that and leaped out of the smoke toward Luke. Mash let his draconic scales start growing too. They would help him resist the flames

He broke through the smoke and saw just how much of the street had been covered by it. That might even have been the attack’s primary purpose. Mash managed to get out of the smoke though, and Luke was quick to start healing him. The relief was instantaneous, and the burnt flesh quickly reconstructed itself. Once he had seen the injury, Mash realized that it wasn’t as bad as it had felt. The flames had only really burned through his arm where the center of the impact had been. The rest of his arm only suffered from surface-level burns.

“I had heard you could heal, but I had been led to believe that you needed to kill someone to utilize it. Have you improved the skill already?”

The voice came from above, and Mash turned up to see the man flying in the air. Flames had coated his feet, and he appeared to just be standing in the air. Another kind of flight; it was kind of like Red’s method. The man was still talking casually. He seemed to want a conversation, and Mash was inclined to give him one. The man’s magic had stoked Mash’s curiosity. So, he spoke casually.

“I’ve done it a few times already. Why do you care?”

Mash was genuinely curious, though it felt awkward to ask such a casual question in the middle of a fight. At this point, he wasn’t sure how the fight would go and wanted to get the man talking.

“Wait, a few times? That shouldn’t be possible. Have you noticed your leveling slowing at all?”

He spoke while evading attacks from Jill and Red. Jill teleported on top of the man and threw her weapon at him. The speed only increased as it headed downward. A wall of flames sprouted into existence above Fifty-One but the weapon didn’t slow as it passed through fire. The man with the mask must not have expected that, and the weapon slammed into his arm while he was speaking. The weapon passed through without even halting, and Mash saw that it cut a deep gash into the side of his bicep. The way the weapon worked; the part of his arm that was hit simply stopped existing. The man spiraled away from the weapon, as Jill reappeared mid-air and caught the weapon again. She didn’t slow down and immediately through it again. How was she teleporting so accurately to the weapon? Then he realized. She must have put a mark on it. It was proving quite effective as she threw and teleported to the weapon. She was able to consistently throw the needle at Fifty-One.

The man had adapted quickly enough. He realized he couldn’t block Jill’s attacks and was focused on dodging instead. Although he did try and counterattack too. Although hitting Jill was hard, he couldn’t manage it while also avoiding Red who was controlling small blades of blood. Like the weapons that hovered over her back, she had spread some petals of blood which she moved to surround and trap the masked man. Even a single cut from those could prove deadly. The masked man burned many of the petals.

Mash saw the man glance at him and Luke. Both of whom were watching as Jill and Red left little space for them to get involved. Well, Mash couldn’t jump in without getting hit by one of them. Luke was able to utilize his buffing skills and golden lines glowed on all of their bodies. The masked man was doing not seem to be enjoying the fight as much anymore. His attacks never landed on Jill, and rarely hit Red. Both of whom were very capable of dodging. Red was able to heal quickly with her unique body constitution on top of Luke’s healing.

“No, answer my question first. Why do you care?”

Mash waited for a lull in the sounds before he spoke. He knew that he should probably help, but it would be hard to join. The man with the mask glanced at Mash, his mask moved to face him. Mash got the distinct feeling that he was being glared at, and he replied by holding his hands up to indicate that it was his turn.

“Once you get to a high enough level, you will have to choose between progressing your skills or your levels. Most people only start doing that once they get over 200. Although there are a few rare exceptions. I am happy to include myself among those.”

Jill and Red had both paused as they were interested in what he was saying. All four of them stared at the man who revealed such information so freely. Did he really know what he was saying, or was he just spouting nonsense? Mash didn’t know, but he didn’t really care all that much either. Whether he was being told the truth or not, it sounded like Fifty-One believed it to be.

“I guess that makes me an exception as well, and are we going to keep fighting?”

Mash had the feeling that the others weren’t as hostile as before. Attacking the man hadn’t been the fairest thing to do, but it served to prove his intentions. Even after getting hit by Jill, he didn’t suddenly become more hostile. Nor had he been fighting seriously. He was testing their abilities and wasn’t actually trying for any really dangerous attacks. Mash thought that an enemy would have fought harder if they wanted him dead.

“As I mentioned previously, I am simply here to greet you. A tour guide of sorts. However, I am here to serve and will engage you as long as you would like.”

The man returned to his usual voice, but it had broken during the fight. So, this was an intentional decision then. He purposely acted annoying. He probably wanted to provoke a fight. He still wanted to fight, didn’t he? The mask was pointed at Mash, but he was descending slowly.

"Let's just stop. What do you want?”

Red spoke up, annoyed as the small petals of blood returned to her. She walked back over to the rest of the group. She never took her eyes off of Fifty-One. Jill just appeared beside Luke though her weapon was still in her hand. Even if the fight had ended, no one had actually relaxed yet. Mash was just as confused by the situation. He still wasn’t sure if they should fight or not. A single sneak attack might end the fight, though he wasn’t really out for blood anymore. Honestly. They hadn’t planned on killing him at all. They just planned to capture the man, but he proved a bit too strong to make that easy. It wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. The masked man turned his head to Red before responding. He spread his arms out gesturing to the city.

“I am here to tell you of this wonderful place and explain things to you all.”

“So, you kidnapped us?”

Jill’s response came out fast. Mash didn’t really agree with it though, and Fifty-One seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Mash looked at the city and was surprised to see that the streets were without damage. He would’ve expected that fireball earlier to have done something. At the very least, he would’ve expected it to scorch the streets. Nothing had taken any damage. Mash was going to ask about it, but the man started replying to Jill.

“Kidnap? I, or rather we, did nothing of the sort. We simply gave you the tools needed to make it here. It was you who had passed the test and taken the journey.”

Mash was about to interject and ask about what the man had said earlier, but Luke was a second faster.

“Why did you give us the test? I think that’s what we really want to know.”

Even the good-natured Luke sounded a little annoyed with the man. The words were a little biting as he cut through the attempted humor. Mash held his tongue and waited for the man’s response. There was plenty he wanted to ask about, but he guessed that this was the most important thing. So, he decided to be patient for the moment.

“Of course, I should’ve let you know earlier. Your group has grown quickly, and that has not gone unnoticed by the more significant organizations. I belong to such a group.”

“Wait this is recruitment?”

Jill cut him off his explanation as she realized what was going on. A voice couldn’t get much colder than her right now. If she hadn’t really been trying to kill him before, Mash thought that she would now. Mash was equally irate and made himself known.

“Are you telling me this was all some kind of stupid recruitment plan? Could you not have done this in the morning?”

Mash’s curiosity had been drowned out by his own annoyance. His emotions were being encouraged by the others sharing them. Everything about this situation was insane.

“Well, we didn’t expect you to finish so fast, and we placed the puzzle when we were given the opportunity. Your house is a rather hard place to enter so freely. Luckily that stuff with the spies had drawn everyone out.”

The man still tried to be jovial. He continued as he did before, and completely ignored the cold response he was getting. Red was about to snap back but got cut off by the man. He held a hand up to forestall her.

“This will get us nowhere. Do you really not have anything else you want to ask me about? Perhaps you are interested in the way we brought you here? Or possibly what I had shared during the fight about skills and levels? I am standing here in order to act as the pleasant guide.”

Red still looked like she wanted to explode at the man, though her words were spoken calmly. She adjusted quickly and turned the question to something more important. As she started speaking, Mash grew far more attentive.

“Ok fine, what do you know about classes?”

The man’s aura seemed to glow as he received the question.

“A boring question, but one I am happy to be asked. I know the knowledge you have is rather limited, so I will start at the beginning. As you advance in your class, it becomes more specialized for you. That is common knowledge, but have you ever contemplated what exactly that meant.”