Damien looked at the man who he disarmed only for a second, he did not relish in this small victory; he still needed more training.

"Alright, that was good," the instructor began, she motioned for them to approach, "This is your last day of training, I hope you learned something from all this. And I'll say this just this once, good luck kiddos!"

The instructor definitely seemed to have warmed up to the rogues just a little, it was far more than what he assumed was possible when he first met her. The other rogues shared a small cheer, they held hands and jumped into the air like drunks.

One even grew bold enough to take his shot, "Instructor! My name is David, we never really introduced ourselves," he took a small bow at his introduction, it was true in these two weeks the instructor had not once introduced herself. Damien had been curious but thought it rude to pry so he kept to himself.

The instructor raised her eyebrow at this, "Nice to meet you, David, it was nice being your temporary teacher now get out of here, the day is almost over and you don't want to miss the chance to celebrate," she avoided giving her name, the disappointment in the man's face was obvious.

But he did not give up, "Right... Oh, we are going to the bar next to the Guild hall, want to have a few drinks with us? As a toast for our teacher!"

The smirk on the instructor's face herald her refusal, "I actually have plans already, sorry kiddo. Have fun." she was firm and would not give an inch of progress to him.

A bar? Sounds kinda fun.

Everyone had been enjoying free gear and a daily allowance from the Mercenary Guild, they used money to shop for more gear and to get drunk at parties they threw, but Damien had refused to accept the generosity.

It's not because he was suspicious of it, though he was, it was a different reason that made him refuse the help. It was pride.

It must have been a trait he had before he arrived here but he felt embarrassed when he needed help, so he only took what he felt was absolutely necessary. A place to sleep and training. He did odd jobs here and there to earn some cash he would use on food, but other than that, he had not been eating too well.

He did not want to be helped, it felt like a defeat every time he had to receive aid from others. He felt bad knowing that the Guild was willing to give him all this, but he was not sure he would end up joining them at all. The others did not seem to have this reservation, the thought that he was strange filled his head.

Am I weird? But even if I am I can only be me...

Even if he was strange he didn't think he needed to change, rather the idea of change disgusted him. He wasn't wrong to be the way he was, it simply was how he felt, he need not ponder the subject any further.

Dusting the dirt off the leather shoulder guards, he readied himself to go back to the inn the Guild was providing before a voice stopped him in his tracks, "Where do you think you're going?" a hand was placed on his shoulder, if you had to judge by the strength of the grip, you'd think it belonged to a giant.

A twist of the hand and he soon found himself facing the impassive instructor, "Did you think I would let you go this easily?"

Did I do something wrong? I don't think so...

"Let's go, I know a nice place, " and with that, she turned on her heel and began to walk towards the town. Damien considered going the other way but ultimately he had no reason to suspect she was going to be malicious, not to mention she could have easily killed him right now when they were alone in the forest. He had no friends in the past two weeks so no one would even bother to look for him.

"Hurry up you idiot, I'm doing you a favor here," deciding he might as well go, he rushed after her.

The walk towards their destination was spent in silence, he looked around the people and took it all in. The people with dog ears had initially surprised him, they were called Beastkin and they were humans with animal characteristics, most of the guys thought it was cute and Damien thought about the possibility of a Beastkin with insect features; chilling thoughts.

He had been wanting to learn more about this world, but the library access was restricted, he would not be allowed in to browse their selection, he had to send a letter asking for a specific book and then the library would either approve or deny the request. It was a counter-active system, he was not allowed to see the books so he didn't know any of the titles he was looking for and therefore could not request them. He contemplated sneaking in but ultimately gave up on the idea, far too risky.

"We're here, " the sudden stop caught Damien by surprise, they stood in front of a restaurant, the sign read: Feast Godmother.

A restaurant? What?

"What are we doing here?" his question came more in the form of a whisper than a question.

The instructor shook her head at his response, "We're here to reward you, it's only fair since you were my best student. And frankly, there are some things I want to ask you, don't worry my treat."

"A reward, I don't know... I don't think I did anything that merited a reward."

His instructor sighed, "Listen, I had fun teaching you, so let's have a conversation over dinner or I'll crack your ribs."

The flat tone she used to deliver her threat did not give Damien the context to know if she was joking or not, but since she was putting it in this way he couldn't refuse. Not to mention he was hungry, "I guess I don't mind."

"Great follow me," following his instructor into the restaurant was a revelation to him, unlike the hectic Guild hall filled with drunks, this restaurant had a tranquil atmosphere where everyone ate their meal and had their conversation. It seemed so normal but Damien liked the settled atmosphere more than the Guild.

The instructor looked at a waiter that was ready to walk them to their table, "I want a room, just gimme the most expensive one with privacy. Oh and bring me two of everything."

The waiter and Damien's eyes widened at her words, "Excuse me miss, you want one of everything?"

The instructor furrowed her eyebrows at the waiter's question, "What are you deaf? That's not what I asked for," the waiter seemed relief for a brief moment before she spoke again, "I said two of everything. Now guide us to our room."

After a second of letting her words settle, the waiter snapped out of his stupor, "Ah yes! Right this way."

The two of them were quickly led to a room on the back, the inside was furnished with a dining table and plenty of expensive decor. Damien felt a little out of place, still, he took a seat as directed.

"Isn't this too much? This looks like it might cost a lot, " he was thankful that she wanted to reward him with a meal, but his pride would not let her spend too much on something he thought trivial.

"Maybe for the residents of this Level, but not for me, this is a drop in the ocean so relax and eat."

That information put him at ease, his mind had let it slip that this person was almost a Primer, someone who stands at the pinnacle of strength. He slowly began to eat as the plates were brought in one after the other, and she did too.

For a while, they ate in silence, but conversation was brought to the table by the instructor not much later, "Alright I'll come clean, the reason I brought you here was that I want to talk to you about your future. That and I could easily see you have not been eating well," she eyed him as she spoke, "You might not realize this, but you are a prodigy! I've never seen someone adapt to the System so quickly, not even those Princes and Princesses."

Princes and Princesses? She had previously mentioned something about royals too...

"My point is that if you keep growing at this rate then many people will take an interest in you, I don't want you to end up dead in a ditch if you give lip to the wrong person," she drank from her water before she continued, "Stay away from the Kingdom and the Church, those two are the most dangerous factions on the upper Levels. I'll explain a bit so you don't think I'm playing with you."

Her face grew serious and Damien straightened out to listen to her, "The Kingdom is composed of thousands of members, they each are given a rank and act in the direction of the Grand Duke. They seek to bring every Level under the control of their future King, in order to find that person the Dukes will give out the rank of Prince or Princess to those with great potential in hopes of getting close to the future ruler, don't get tangled with them. And this goes double for the Church, they are shady as hell, trust me, they believe that the System is the voice of God and will kill you if you say otherwise, it doesn't help that they have several Nex Primers at their command."

The visible confusion on Damien's face cued her explanation, "Once you reach the Frontier, you become a Primer and are placed in the Leaderboard where your score can increase. If it increases high enough, you are placed on the top 100 Climbers and are given the new Title of Nex Primer, these guys are the Gods amongst Gods."

Damien was understanding more of what she was trying to convey to him, "And the Church has a lot of these guys?"

"More or less, so don't mess with them either. No need to mention they have strong Paladins all over their Churches, and it's hard for them to take no for an answer."

Pondering on her words for a bit longer, he asked, "So what do you suggest I do then? And why do you care anyway?"

She smiled at his suspicions, "It's good to be suspicious of me, truthfully don't trust people too much, you are liable to end up dead somewhere. But to answer your question, I see potential in you, if you can keep this up you'll be on the Frontier in no time," her smile grew wider, "And when you do, I'll be waiting up there."

With that, she got up from the table and placed a stack of coins on her side, "Oh and my name is Eira."

Being surprised at finally hearing her name, he opened his mouth to give his own name, but was stopped by Eira, "Don't bother giving me your name, it doesn't matter. I'm not trying to be rude, but the System will christen you with a new name after you pass the test on Level 34, kinda crappy considering the last special reward was immortality."

She continued her way out of the room but once again stopped at the door frame, "Ahh, I really shouldn't be doing this... Whatever, catch!"

From her hands a coin-like pendant was thrown to him, it had a thick dark band and the actual pendant was the same material her chest-plate was, a rainbow hue and everything. Engraved on the expensive looking metal was a Phoenix in flames.

"I'm not really allowed to give people in lower Levels items for free, don't let someone see it or I'll get in trouble," and while Damien was mesmerized by the item she stalked off.

Having stuffed the pendant in his pocket, Damien headed outside. He had to rest, tomorrow they would be allowed to take the test, he needed to be in the best physical condition.

He went down the streets and into the dark alleys, they served as a shortcut since Eira had taken him to the good side of town, a bit far away from where the inn the Guild was providing was. The faint sound of metal clanking on a sheath froze him on the spot.

The area around him grew silent, the small light that reflected from the blade in the dark was all he needed before he dodged with a backflip to get some distance from his attacker and draw his sword.

Out of pure instinct, he dodged to the side again, another blade had struck where he had landed. From the shadows five figures came out, his fellow rogues stood menacingly, blades drawn in the moonlight.