"Fay, tell me about the E-rank. I know that I can choose to go to a new town. Am I right?" Alex asks Fay.

"Yes, you are right. A new city called the Gaia City is now open to you. Gaia City is in a different area than Beginner Town. You can't go between the two places without going through the [Transporter Capsule] in your personal space. The Gaia City is in the area specifically for E-ranked and D-ranked Defenders," Fay answers Alex's question with a detailed explanation.

"D-ranked?" Alex asks in surprise.

"Yes. The area around Gaia City is filled with E-ranked and D-ranked creatures. Of course, you have to travel far from the city to encounter D-ranked creatures," Fay explains.

"So, there are D-ranked Defenders and E-ranked Defenders in this Gaia City?" Alex asks another question while calming himself down.

"You are right. But usually, the D-ranked Defenders like to stay inside the villages around the area where the D-ranked creatures appear. The new area for E and D-ranked Defenders is many times bigger than the area for F-ranked Defenders. There are small safe zones that we called villages scattered around the realm. You can travel to these villages directly from this personal space once you have discovered the specific village. You can also travel from these villages to the personal space as they are also non-combat zones," Fay answers with another detailed explanation.

"Will I still be able to travel to the Beginner Town?" Alex asks another question that suddenly pops out to his mind.

"You are allowed to travel to lower-ranked areas, but you are not allowed to leave the non-combat zones. The barrier around these non-combat zones will prevent higher ranked Defenders from going out. This is to prevent higher ranked Defenders from abusing their power and also to protect lower ranked Defenders from the danger of being killed by the higher ranked Defenders?" Fay answers.

"Then why do you mix E-ranked Defenders with D-ranked Defenders in this Gaia City?"

"It's to introduce increased danger, but we want to limit the danger. As your rank rises, the frequency of you encountering stronger opponents and more dangerous situations will increase. You have to get used to being around dangerous situations. The Beginner Town was limited to F-ranked Defenders because the creatures F-ranked creatures were enough to provide dangerous situations for new Defenders. But, as you get stronger, the dangers you will face will increase. This is the best way for Defenders to develop their abilities. Constant danger will bring out the best potential out of living creatures. The survival instinct is the best catalyst to bring out people's fighting talent."

"Why does it sounds like the Realm of Defenders is created purposefully to train us?" Alex asks suspiciously.

"I can't answer that question as your rank is still not high enough," Fay gives a disappointing answer.

Alex stares at Fay suspiciously for a bit, but he quickly dismisses his suspicion. There's no use in thinking about this. He might come to a conclusion, but he has no way to clarify if his conclusion is true or not. The important thing is for him to get stronger to provide for his family and find information about his father.

"Okay, then. Is there anything else I need to know about the E-rank?" Alex asks Fay calmly.

"Actually there are a few other things. Do you want to hear about them now?" Fay replies with a question.

"Yes, tell me everything."

"Okay. First of all, in the new area for the E and D-ranked Defenders, there are the different classifications for creatures. Starting from this area, creatures can be divided into Normal, Elite, and Boss creatures. Normal creatures are the same as the F-ranked creatures you have faced. Normally, a Defender can kill a creature with the same rank and stars by themselves. Elite creatures need a party of 3 people of the same rank and stars working well together to kill them. While Boss creatures normally need a party of 10 people of the same rank and stars to kill them," Fay starts explaining.

"Party?" Alex interrupts Fay's explanation.

"Yes. Starting from E-rank, the [Magic Chip] allows Defenders to form parties. You just need to link your [Magic Chip] with other people that you want to form a party and use the [Party] function to register your party through the [Magic Chip]. One party can register a maximum of 10 Defenders. A creature you killed in a party will still count towards your kill count normally, even though if you are not the one landing the last blow," Fay answers Alex's question.

"Then, won't it be easy to kill 50 normal creatures in a party to rise to the next star rank?" Alex asks a question that suddenly pops into his head.

"You're right. That's why the requirement to raise your rank starting from E-rank is a bit different. The first requirement is still basically the same. To raise 1-star rank, you need to raise your stats by 25 points for each star rank. So, to rise to E-ranked 2-stars you will need 100 points on each stats. As for the kill count requirement, you need to kill 500 Normal creatures of the same star rank. If you don't want to waste time killing 500 normal creatures, you can choose to kill 100 Elite creatures or 10 Boss creatures."

"Huh..." Alex lets out a surprised gasp.

"Then, will I be able to substitute each class with each other? I mean, if I kill 1 Boss class creature, 50 Elite creatures, and 200 Normal creatures, will that count as 500 Normal creatures and raise my star rank?" Alex continues with another question.

"No. You need to complete one of them."

"Alright then," Alex replies while frowning.

"Next is an explanation about Dungeons. Do you want me to continue?" Fay asks Alex for his confirmation.

"Dungeons? Please continue," Alex replies to Fay as he's curious about this new thing called Dungeon.