They talked for a while longer than Mash expected. When Fifty-One had said beginning, he meant the very basics. Most of what he had said was well known by all of them. Although he had finally begun talking about something new. Although, he had constantly bragged about his own class and skills.

“As I mentioned previously, both skills and classes can advance. Normally, advancing one quickly would mean slowing the other, though the truly gifted can get around that. I, myself, am one of those talented few. Mash, you have made similar progress if I heard correctly. “

Mash didn’t want to be involved in the man’s braggadocios claims and frowned. Plus, that didn’t even sound right. He didn’t think he was the strongest. He might be the best all-rounder but even that was uncertain. However, he wasn’t really the best at anything.

“I’m not the strongest. Jill can pretty easily beat the rest of us.”

Mash’s words were received with laughter, and it wasn’t a masked man. Jill, Luke, and Red all chuckled dryly in response. Jill even raised her hand to her forehead and started to rub it. None of them said anything, but Mash felt like he had just been made a fool.

“Ha ha! It seems like your friends would disagree. And rightly so. I know little of your skills, but I understand that you can fight near infinitely and you can take the abilities of your enemies. You should start eating other people, by the way. Ethics and morality aside, you are forgoing a major advantage of your abilities.”

Red cut him off. She didn’t pretend to be friendly and glared at the masked man. Her words were sharp and carried her irritation disturbingly well.

“Move on, we know about Mash already. Are you saying we will always be weaker than him?”

The masked man shook his head quickly. He had stopped antagonizing Red, as she had tried to attack him during the lecture already. She didn’t miss either and her attack had bothered the man. She removed the poison quickly, but she let it hurt him for longer than was friendly. Normally, she was the most controlled of the group, but even she was reaching the limits of her patience.

“Of course not, most wouldn’t even start to do this until 150 or even 200. Even then there are a few among the truly high-leveled that would say otherwise. They would swear that advancing one’s class and level are far more valuable than skills and would pursue levels without end. I believe you have spoken with the Throne Keeper; she is one such person. She had focused on her levels and class advancements, relying on her stats to compensate for a lack of understanding of skills. Both paths can provide impressive boons, and I believe that one should simply pursue both, even if it is more tasking. Forsaking one for the other is foolishness. You all can certainly choose either path. You shouldn’t try and compare us. As I said, Mash and I are rather exceptional exceptions. Well, I am even more impressive, but that is not very important is it.”

The man liked the sound of his own voice, and he rambled with his explanation. He had been doing that the whole time, and it was grating. Mash remembered Daniel and couldn’t help but compare this man to him. Daniel had been so friendly and hadn’t been condescending at all. Condescending was the perfect word to use to describe Fifty-One. He was an incredible resource for information and Mash forced his words out.

“What makes you so exceptional?”

Mash laced the last word with sarcasm, but he still gritted his teeth as he said it. It was hard to give the man even the smallest amount of credit. However, Mash resolved himself to ask the question. His curiosity overpowered his distaste. Mash thought that the man was smiling and felt a shiver run through his spine.

“Since you asked, I am obliged to answer. You see, I was one of the youngest recruits. I started advancing my skills from my very first advancement. How many years ago was that now? Well, it doesn’t really matter. My very first skill was a basic fireball skill. It was that skill that I had loved more than any other. Naturally, I had used little else. The skill represented my dreams, and I had gotten it on my first try. Even now I can remember the day.”

The man’s head turned upward slightly. He seemed to be enjoying his recollection, and that was when Jill decided to ruin his moment.

“And?”

Mash winced at the tone. They were all lacking sleep, and Jill let her irritation show. Fifty-One turned his gaze back slowly and sadly but began speaking again.

“Yes of course. My first-class advancement was Fireball Expert and my skill already upgraded to unique when I got it. I suspect you have all received at least one unique skill. In comparison, I have four. I believe you can understand the significance of that.”

That got Mash’s attention. Mash only had a single unique skill, and it was incredibly useful, even if it wasn’t meant for direct combat. Jill or Red’s unique ability was much more suited for combat, and both were extremely potent. He could only imagine what having four unique skills was like. It was hard to stay hostile. His childish curiosity burned within him, and he asked a question that most would not.

“What’s your class?”

Maybe he should’ve asked about his level, but this felt like a more appropriate question. He couldn’t maintain the same coldness as the others but didn’t really care. The masked man turned to look at him. He didn’t seem as bothered by the question, and Mash spoke easily.

“A class for a class then?”

“Chimeric Vagabond.”

Mash didn’t even hesitate to respond. He knew that most would keep their class a secret and a heavily guarded one, but he would give it away for this. The grin on his face was wide and childish, but he just stared at the masked man.

“That was a little unexpected. I gave my word though. I cannot give you my full class name as it would give up a little too much information. However, I’m certain that what I give you will be more than equivalent to a level 100 class. My class is Firelord of the Fireball.”

He paused after saying it. Everyone was giving him an incredulous stare; unable to believe what had just been spoken. That might be the most ridiculous class name that Mash had ever heard. Jill looked suspicious, and Red somehow managed to glare more deeply.

“I know what it sounds like, but I-. Oops, almost said something I shouldn’t. Just know that what I spoke is the truth. That is the name of my class.”

None of them protested or spoke against it. They continued to stare at him, trying to figure out what he had been about to say. The conversation died, and even Fifty-One couldn’t salvage it. He tried adding a word or two to entice them, but they were too focused on the words that had been unsaid. The masked man turned and began walking further into the city.

“Much to my disappointment. This conversation appears to have ended. Nothing more to say here anyway. Let us delve deeper into the city, so that we may begin your next test.”

It wasn’t his words but his movement that brought them out of their thoughts. They couldn’t figure out what he had intended to say and focused on what he had just said. A question popped into his mind, although someone else asked it.

“Another test? What’s it going to be and what is the point? You have an idea of what we can do now.”

The masked man nodded, but he didn’t slow.

“We need to make sure that you have potential. The test will be about more than just pure combat, and I expect many of you to fail.”

That was all he said. His earlier exuberance seemed to have vanished as the discussion moved away from him. He liked to talk about himself; to brag about his skills and abilities. That didn’t extend to his organization or this so-called test that they needed to take.

“What if we don’t want to join? Also, what is your organization?”

The question probably should’ve been asked earlier, but he hadn’t bothered with something so obvious. He expected to Fifty-One to answer that without being asked, but it must have slipped his mind. This organization should choose better guides. He couldn’t imagine many people would be particularly tolerant of the man. Honestly, even they had been at the edges of their patience. Mash was tempted to smack the man but that probably wouldn’t work. Fifty-One was strong, stronger than any of them even if his abilities were limited. The man in question sighed audibly before answering.

“Yes, I should’ve mentioned this earlier. You are free to leave whenever you like. I assume you have several ways to return on your own. As for my organization. We are known as the Followers of the Compass. Now let me pose a question to you before continuing. Do you know that each world has an owner? One who can shape and change the very foundations of the entire world.”

Mash’s expression stayed neutral thanks to Priscilla’s quick thinking. She had helped him control the muscles in his face and restrain himself from giving anything away. Red’s expression was unchanging as always, though Luke and Jill both gave away the truth. Neither of them had any special ways to control their expression and relied on their self-control. They weren’t good enough to escape the man’s notice though.

“Well now, that is interesting. I would love to find out how you found out about such things, but I will leave that matter alone for the moment. I expect none of you would be willing to share such a secret with a stranger. Instead, let me speak about my organization. We support the current world owner. Many of our members have received his blessing as well.”

As Fifty-One said that he tapped the front of his mask indicating the symbol. Mash made the connection and realized why the mark had been included in the book. Whoever had written the book had known of his world’s owner. Or was this a different world?

“Wait is this the same as our world, and who is the world owner?”

Mash didn’t know if he would receive a straight answer or any answer for that matter. He still asked as the person in front of him had been open. The masked man still didn’t’ turn and kept walking forward. He didn’t speak, and Mash looked around as they passed the shorter buildings. Now they were walking into a different section of the city, Mash stared up and around at the buildings.

These buildings were grand constructions. Each was taller than the biggest castle he had seen, and they seemed to reach toward the sky. They had signs of life in them too. Not many, but he noticed that some of the windows had shutters or curtains that were closed. Many were still open, but this was these were the first signs of life that he had seen. The city itself was still quiet though, and the streets were very empty. As Fifty-One continued to walk, Mash realized where they were headed. He was taking them to the central building, the one that stood taller than the rest. Fifty-One started speaking again.

“Yes, it is, this is the original world. The one you live in is but one of the previous owner’s creations. The ruler of our world, the one whom we follow is known as the Pioneer of Echoes.”