Waking in the morning, Silas spent many moments staring at the featureless ceiling, the old paint peeling off in small splotches. All the same, it was a joyous sight as he was back in his room, back in Riverside with his brother and friends. He still longed for his sister, as did Ethan, he knew, but he understood that it could be a while before he found Chloe with her being so far and all. At least she had been doing well the last time he had heard of her.

Forcing himself out of bed, Silas dressed in casual clothes and went downstairs for coffee. Riverside’s coffee stores had run out the week before, but that was the beauty of the System’s buildings section; as long as you had sufficient System coins, you could buy grand buildings and stubborn crops that could be set up/ harvested rapidly. One of Riverside’s strengths was the sheer number of available plots they had around the settlement, regularly allowing them to harvest great amounts of fresh produce, which they then traded with New Derby for guns, armour, and other manufactured goods.

He made a cup of joe for himself and another as he heard Mia coming down the stairs. She sauntered in, stretching her arms above her head and moaning in relief. Her auburn bed hair was a mess, and she wore striped pyjamas. She beamed when she saw him holding out a steaming mug. “Thanks!” Taking a sip, she winced and cast him a perturbed, inquiring look. “Really? No sugar?!”

He stared at her, and she at him until finally, he blinked away in defeat, shaking his head in dismay. Crossing the kitchen, he searched inside a cupboard and tossed a sugar holder to her, which she caught with her telekinesis. He watched in rising disbelief as she cast in spoonful after spoonful until it came to the point he didn’t know whether she was drinking sweetened coffee or black syrup. All the same, she let out a content sigh as she sipped at her brew, shooting a wink his way when she noticed his reaction.

Although he tried maintaining a straight face, her smug smile broke through his defences until he was cracking up with her. He felt at peace while they finished their drinks, enjoying each other’s company as they spoke of banal matters that seemed so engaging now. It wasn’t too long before Ethan joined the duo, and finally a bleary-eyed Olivia who had just woken.

After being healed yesterday, they had all returned to Silas’s house and retired almost at once after taking long baths, sleeping the whole day away, allowing their fatigue to dissolve and disperse to the wayward wind. Today, they intended to do a little more than that as they planned to go around Riverside: one so that the three newcomers could learn about the township, and two since Silas himself felt somewhat a tourist here with so many novelties he could now discover.

Before long, they all readied and set off, first making a general whistle-stop tour of Riverside, finding their bearings and sightseeing the most notable places. In particular, the market, which had once been in the centre of town but had since outgrown its old spot and been born anew in a nearby district of System-buildings. It was now large enough to take up an entire street and loud enough (even this early) to blast Silas’s ears out if he dared remain there for a few hours. There were also several guilds dotted around the township, some for combat classes, but the vast majority being for trade and crafting classes as fellow craftsmen partied together and unionised. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a Duellists guild, but at least there was a Mages guild for Mia.

After a quick lunch, the quartet headed for the Healers guild, which was right beside the Alchemists’ one, since Iris had invited Silas over yesterday. The Lifetree came and collected them at the reception, bowing when she saw the Duellist. The three with Silas gave him a strange look at this, more so when he tried to explain it just a thing she did, all the while Iris soundlessly giggled. She showed them into the laboratories and displayed the progress that had made on healing potions.

After claiming the quarry, Riverside had begun their mining operations at once. The Alchemists had worked hard at refining the ores into fine mana crystals, which were far more potent than manastone. It was with these crystals that they had found success in producing potions akin to those found in the tutorial, although they still had ways to go in improving them. While another Healer led the trio through the tour, Iris took Silas to the side and dropped something into his hand.

It was a seed which looked similar to a conker, glowing with a mahogany shine. While he studied it in confusion, she raised her notepad and showed him a pre-written note. Eat it.

He tried to gather answers from her, but she refused to respond. Peering at her excited expression, he decided if he couldn’t trust Iris on this, then there weren’t many people in the world he could trust, and living like that would just make his life a miserable existence. With that in mind, he gulped it down and a surge of energy blasted out from his core after a few seconds, spreading to his head, fingertips, and toes. The feeling wasn’t too dissimilar to when he had been fighting under the influence of Brigette’s song.

‘Well? What do you think?’ came a soft voice in his head.

Alert, he turned around in shock, searching for the speaker until his gaze eventually wriggled its way back to Iris, who was giggling fully now. He could even hear the tinkling laughter inside of his head, and it struck him speechless. Eyes widening, he grinned with her. “You’ve got a voice now!”

Yep. She took off her cap and bowed once more, beaming brightly as she came back up.

“Oh, shit,” he said, grabbing her by the shoulders and bobbing on his toes in excitement. Her energy was spreading to him. “When did this happen? I mean, how did this happen?”

Over the following minutes, she detailed how she had gone to the hub crystal a week before and upgraded her class to Lifetree. It had reduced her class level back to level 1, but she said it had been worth it - hell, even the voice alone had made it a worthy trade-off. Her first ability allowed her to form seeds which she could give to others, allowing her to communicate with them from a short distance and even remotely heal them. Although she was limited to five seeds right now, one for Silas, Rolf, Josh, Natalie, and Elise, the bar would increase with every level she gained. She had only reached level 5 yesterday, which gifted her the ability to raise brambles from the earth and drain lifeforce out of her targets. In all, it was a powerful class, and Silas was glad she had gained it.

It wasn’t much longer until the trio finished their tour around the facility, and Iris suggested they go now to visit Josh. These days, he worked as a trainer for the Riverside Constabulary when he wasn’t out hunting or such. They found the constabulary’s quarters without difficulty and were promptly shown in when the officer at the gate recognised Silas and Iris. Crossing the dusty courtyard, they made out Josh chatting with several other supervisors, a hundred students brawling with blunted weapons in front of them.

“Josh,” Silas called out, and the blond turned in momentary surprise.

“Well, well, well, look who the cat’s dragged in here,” he replied, striding up to them. “Awfully nice of you to come visit ol’ me at the workplace.”

“Well, when Iris said you had actually found work, I had to make sure your co-workers weren’t giving you the stick,” Silas replied.

The other supervisors chuckled, and one of them piped up. “Really it’s the other way. Josh here’s a big workplace bully, he is.” That led to another round of laughter.

The Antimage Brawler simply shook his head, gracing them with an exasperated expression. “So, what do you think?” he asked Silas, waving his hand at his students. “Any one of them could overtake you tomorrow, you know. I’m willing to bet on it.”

Silas snorted. “Why don’t you bet on yourself then?”

Josh frowned, before then nodding with a thoughtful expression. “Actually yeah, come on, man. Let’s give everyone here a show.”

Raising a curious eyebrow to see if his friend was serious, Silas saw that he was and shrugged an okay, figuring a friendly brawl would just be a spot of fun, anyway. He picked up a wooden staff from the weapons pile, not risking a blunted spear in case he hurt Josh. On the other hand, Josh took the fight more seriously as he equipped himself in dark armour, similar to what Floyd had gifted Silas in New Derby, and picked up a sword with a blunted edge and a round shield.

Almost as if a pacifying, magnetic wave had spread through the courtyard, all the other duels drawled to a stop as the trainees crowded around the supervisors, wanting to see the number one of the township fight. Although Silas was a well-known figure to some, he was a mysterious one to many more who had only joined Riverside in the last two weeks.

Despite his prior confidence, however, Josh acknowledged he would lose from the outset as he drew in and whispered in the Duellist’s ear, “Give me an edge, man. I don’t wanna lose so badly in front of all my students.”

Silas thought about it and nodded, causing the Antimage Brawler to regard him with some shock. “I mean it was just a joke. You don’t have to, man.”

“Na, for real, how about I fight with my eyes closed?” Silas asked.

“For real, for real?” Josh responded, scrutinising his expression now. “I mean I would take it anyway, even if it was a pity condition, but I’m getting the feeling there’s more to this.”

Snorting, Silas shooed him away and shut his eyes tight. Although the shuffle of steps and murmur of voices around him were distracting, the starting call cut through all the noise so he knew when to begin. He activated Luminous Land at once and marvelled at how clear his surroundings became; he could sense everything in his immediate area.

There, he could see Josh sneaking up on him, low-enough to be crouching, shield cast in front and sword held high for an overhead strike. However, Silas wasn’t going to give him the chance as he suddenly dashed forward, ignoring all the cries around him as he swung in a wide arc.

Using his shield, Josh knocked it away and slashed vertically. However, Silas had already backed away, reading Josh’s movements before he even set on them as the Duellist predicted the attacks from the way his muscles coiled and sprung. For this reason, it wasn’t so much a fight as much a display as Silas could dodge and parry whatever he liked, although he was still impressed to see Josh learning from this midway through as the Antimage Brawler tried to be more unpredictable, feinting more often and breaking the flow of his attacks before they became formulaic.

In the end, however, Silas ended the fight just before his mana drained completely, knocking Josh onto his back. Opening his eyes at last, he reached out and helped his friend back up. “Good fight,” he said, breathing deeply with sweat trickling down his face. “You’ve improved a lot since the last time we fought together.”

“Not as much as you,” Josh replied, “You rare classers just have overpowered abilities, man.”

If Silas had been any less perceptive, he may not have noticed the trace of bitterness in his friend’s voice. Perhaps it was a granted given everyone else at Josh’s level now had rare classes. However, Silas simply clapped him on the shoulder and said, “You’ll get one soon, no doubt. And I mean, think about it, if you’re this strong with just an uncommon class, imagine what you’ll be with a rare one. In fact, it’s probably for the best you don’t get one, because I don’t want you threatening my number one spot.”

This was enough to raise Josh’s spirits, at least on the surface, as the blond grinned again. “Huh, I see you got yourself a silver tongue on your journey as well.” He paused. “So what now? You heading home or what? Wanna hang out at mine?”

Silas thought on it, then looked back to see the others waiting on him. “Sorry but not today. I’ve still got places to visit with these four. We’re checking out the forges next; Iris told me they’re trying at manastone weapons over there.”