"Come in already," Gregory yelled as he canceled the ability his familiar was using. Auron was immediately very aware of the pressure surrounding them from whatever magic was being cast on the kingdom.

As the guild leader's partner, Theseus, stopped its white snow-like magic, the oppressive purple mana rushing in to take its place made Auron want to gag.

A Currier sped in after the invitation. The man was sweating profusely; he had a disheveled appearance as if he had rushed over. "Your daughter has had one of her fits. She is currently at the estate," The man spoke as if he was afraid of the guild leader.

"Thank you," Gregory said as he waved to let the man leave. Looking at Auron, he seemed upset not only by the news but also by the interruption. Auron had no doubt what he would do, though. The man put his family before everything.

"I have to go and make sure she is okay. We will continue this conversation later. Thatch tells me you are going to train in throwing knives. It's about time you figured out he could teach you. I will see you back at home later." Gregory spoke as he collected his things and rushed out of the office.

Auron was dazed by the events, and that he was considering opening up. He did appreciate the interruption because he felt Zander should weigh in on the decision. That is after he explained his cowardly decision to not come out and fight earlier. Zander had been acting weird ever since they came to the kingdom. Auron did not know whether it was because of the blood magic warping his mind or something else.

All his familiar wanted to do lately was check on Auron's growth and make the healing pellets every hour he spent during their time together hidden away at night.

Walking down the stairs and out to the training grounds, Auron found a seat and pulled up his stat screen to kill time waiting for Thatch and Leon.

Auron last name Lvl 10

Baboon King

Class: Rogue

Secondary Class: Artificer

Available stat points:100

Socket points used: 2

Available: 6

Stats

Spiritual stats:

Health:50 = 500hp

Regen:15(x2)

Mana:25 =250mp

Wisdom:35

Physical stats:

Speed:30

Precision:20

Strength:30

Durability:25

Auron stared at the points he had available and felt as if his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He was floored by the amount. A hundred points were available. How did he manage to get as many points as he had since he started leveling up from just one level? He must have said his thoughts aloud because a man was staring right at him.

Wrapped in black bandages and dark leather armor, the man seemed to hear Auron despite being on the other side of the training ground. The human crept over quickly, not making a sound. Auron wondered if he had some floating or movement skills when he realized he recognized the man. He was one of the ones who congratulated him weeks ago after his group sparring match. The creepy fellow who disappeared.

As the man approached, Auron dismissed his stat screen. He was not aware of any skills related to seeing other people's screens, but it was not worth the risk, and it took up too much of his vision. Crossing his arms defensively and leaning back to appear relaxed, he watched the man's approach while not directly looking at him. The leather-clad person adopted a similar stance to Auron's a foot or so away on the same wall.

"When you reach level ten, you receive the total experience you have earned so far." The man spoke with a low voice that made Auron's neck hair stand up. He knew right away this man was different from the first he had spoken with. Not even a sliver of skin was exposed, so it was hard to tell them apart, but the first man had an entirely different voice. Through a thin black piece of fabric stretched over his head, under a dark hood, he communicated.

Indifferent to Auron's tense state, the man continued speaking.

"The same happens at levels twenty.. thirty, and every ten-level period after... What are they even teaching you here?" Loathing dripped off his voice pointed toward the Guild, so Auron had a feeling he was not a member.

"They teach me enough. What is it you want." Auron attempted to sound unfazed, but his voice wavered at the last word. A sound somewhere between a chuckle and grunt left the mysterious man. "We want you to join us. You can still be a part of your little group here. If you want to be something of worth, think it over."

The man said quietly, his head was on a slow swivel watching their surroundings as he casually leaned on the wall.

"Who is we?" Auron said, intimidated but intrigued by the odd meeting.

"If you have an interest, buy a black cloak. Someone will contact you again in a week or so. As for who we are... Ask anyone about the Bandit alliance. There is some truth to the many rumors." After he finished speaking, the man seemed to melt into the shadows at his feet. In an instant, he was gone. Auron was utterly baffled by the meeting and seeing a man melt away.

He almost didn't hear his two friends approaching. That is if it was even possible to miss Thatch entering an area. The man practically shouted each word as he came.

Walking up, the two were in some sort of spirited debate. Closing the distance, Auron could make out what was being said.

"No, no, no… You can not sit and read for that long! You will hurt your brain or eyes. I do not believe it." Thatch spoke emphatically. "My father owns a bookshop... What do you think I do in my free time?" Leon protested back. Though their voices were full of passion, they both had small smiles as they spoke. "Well, if it does not hurt your eyes, then it will swell your brain! You will end up looking like a goblin, your body will collapse from the weight of it all." He mimed the motions of a goblin teetering as if about to fall over as he said this. At this, Leon burst with laughter.

"You are a complete fool," Leon said to him as they both noticed Auron now standing close to them. As if pulled out of their own little world, they greeted him.

Auron noticed Thatch had already replenished his missing knives slid into their sheaths on his bandoleer.

As the Sting warrior led the two recruits over to the training grounds' target practice portion, he decided to teach them a little about skills. "Now I am no white robe, so take what I say with a grain of salt," The man took on a mockingly knowledgeable tone.

"As you both have probably figured out by now, skills are different from abilities, and magic. Skills can be learned through effort alone. You do not need to meet any mana requirements or be tinkering with your internal sources at all. Skills manifest through hard work or ingenuity. Leon, you will learn that sometimes your class comes with a skill-set. Auron, I have seen your sloppy slashes, so you must have amateur dagger skills already. With use, they will upgrade to a higher proficiency just like Abilities do." He finished speaking and set them both up across from a straw-stuffed dummy of leather armor several paces away. "Now, Leon. Why is it that I can use both of my short swords together, but Auron can only use one dagger at a time?"

As Leon was about to speak, Thatch quickly brought out two of his throwing knives and tossed them precisely into both dummy's heads. Not allowing Leon to respond, he started talking again. "That's right. Proficiency is what you were going to say, correct?" He spoke with a light tone teasing Leon. The two both seemed to know all of this already, so this part of the lesson was for Auron's benefit. "Now, I want you two to throw a knife at these targets until you get a skill." As he spoke, his arms flashed yellow, and two knives thunked into both targets' necks. Handing a knife to them both, the slightly older man stepped back.

Auron felt the weight of the knife in his hand. It felt wrong to throw the object rather than slash or stab with it, but he gave it a try. Winding his arm back, he threw it as hard as he could. The force of the movement almost made him fall onto his face. Looking up, he saw that he did not come anywhere near the target, and his knife was stuck into a nearby wall.

Leon did not fare any better. His knife landed near the feet of the stuffed armor he was throwing toward.

A small stout man waddled out of the building. "Ya damn guild members best stop using my wall as target practice. You have not taken care of the damage in weeks like we agreed. You want me wasting all my mana on this all day? I have my own duties to tend to," The man yelled as he stroked his beard and slammed a hand to the wall. The cuts and scrapes from various throwing items melted together, and the structure was sound again. Auron's knife was spit out and landed on the ground.

Thatch motioned for the two to pick up all of the knives as he rushed over to the man. "Roan, your beard is looking as healthy as ever!" Auron could hear as he watched the small man's features soften at Thatch's words. He must have said some other complements because a booming laugh ran out of the man as the two talked. Auron and Leon grabbed their knives and the ones Thatch had expertly thrown and lined up waiting for instruction. "Let's go, boys keep throwing," He said as he joked with the man on the training ground's edge. Even the man waved for them to continue. They both seemed to enjoy the next hour of Auron and Leon missing the targets as they joked with each other and chatted about this or that. Before they separated, Thatch slipped him a few cubes of silvery metal. The man smiled wide and waved at the two before going back into his house.

Walking over, Thatch gave them a few pointers about moving their bodies and stepping into the throw. Auron noticed when he moved properly, his aim improved, but what really helped him was the advice to breathe out while releasing the knife. At the end of each toss, he made sure his arm would stop and be pointing at his target after releasing.

Leon managed to gain the skill first. One of his throws hit his dummy's arm, likely due to his repeated use of throwing small explosives while in battle aiding his acquisition of the skill.

On the other hand, Auron struggled for another hour before his system rang out with the news.

Congratulations. Through many failures, you have learned Projectile impalement.

Clicking on the skill, Auron could see more information.

Projectile impalement (Amateur): This skill grants an increase in the accuracy of your throws. +50% to the chances of making a successful throw. Knives and Shuriken now feel comfortable when leaving your hands. Small chance of causing a bleed on your targets.

Auron felt as if the skill came easy. "What other skills can I gain this way?" He asked Thatch.

"There are hundreds of skills. The Nobles pay them little to no mind because they start out very weak and take little time to acquire them, but you have seen what I can do. My skill is at the master level two ranks above yours, and I'll tell you it has saved my life many times over." He spoke in his usual cheery tune, but he seemed excited about something. "I was worried it would take you all night to learn, and we would not have time to do what you agreed to." As he spoke, Auron noticed the afternoon had slipped away, and the sun was on its way to hide behind the mountains.

"What was it we had said again?" He said, throwing a worried look toward Leon.

"Drinks!" Thatch sang as Auron realized he may have agreed to that.

"Fine, one drink, Thatch. Just one." Auron crossed his arms and waited for the man to agree.

"Let's go! Leon, you are coming too." Thatch left no room for disagreement as he led the two toward the nearest tavern.

"Didn't Gregory and Laura say this was not allowed while we were recruits?" Leon spoke, fearful of the guild leader's wrath.

"Do not worry about those two old fogeys. They love me. Anyways we will be back before they know." Thatch was so excited he practically skipped while leading them down the streets. Nobles in their monochrome colors gave the three looks of disdain, but Thatch ignored them as he jingled down the road.

A loud thumping could be heard as they approached the squat building. Auron had passed this area a few times over the last couple of weeks. Men and women drunkenly singing pierced through the walls. Auron and Leon both swallowed hard and looked at each other.

"Tha—Thatch, I do not have the money to pay for drinks," Leon said, and Auron nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

"Boys, you will not need a coin here tonight. You just had your first battle, and this tavern is packed with guild members. Auron looked up at the sign as They walked toward the wooden doors.

"Fire Ale watering hole." Read on a wooden sign.