On the way back to the mansion, I had learnt some details about the recruits. The young man was called Nicholas. He was an 18-year-old who had recently entered domain. He had currently participated in 2 missions. His strength was at the level of an average unranked. Having spent points on his stats, his body was at the same level as my body when first entering domain. He stood at around 6 ft, with tanned skin and short black hair. Looking at him you could see the strength of his body from his muscles. Unlike the way enhancements improved your strength to supernatural levels, stats just added to your natural ability. so though his body was several times more muscular than mine, he was actually much weaker.

Though that was not to say he was anywhere near as strong, after all, I had G rank enhancements at that time.

The younger sister of Nicholas was called Sasha. She was a 12-year-old girl who entered domain at the same time as Nicholas. Obviously, she had completed two missions with her brother. Her physique had been strengthened with points, making her almost as strong as Nicholas. She was very short, only around 4 ft 10, with shoulder length black hair. Looking at her pearlescent blue eyes, they seemed to hold more maturity than most adults.

The hulking man, larger than even myself, was called tony. He was a veteran of domain who had been on 9 missions. After the long time enhancement of his stats, he was extremely strong. His stats averaged at 200. He had the physical strength equal to some of the weaker G ranks. According to him he could have long ago joined a guild and with their support made it to G rank. The reason he didn't was because it would restrict his freedom. So the abundance of his points were all placed into stats. He stood at 7 ft tall, with broad shoulders and rippling muscles. He was a hulk of a man.

After learning this much about the recruits, we had made it back to the mansion. Looking at the huge building, the recruits were shocked.

Tony: ain't this the type a building F rank guild have. How the hell did you afford this place?

Solomon: luck.

Saying so I walked through the gate towards the front door. Though it was true luck had played a part, It wasn't the only factor. I was still cautious of these recruits. Better safe than sorry. After a mission together, I would know whether I could entrust them with the sensitive information of our missions. If news of our capabilities spread, people with bad intentions would undoubtedly pop-up. So to avoid that I would be careful not to share certain information.

Opening the front door, I was greeted by an empty lobby. Leading the recruits through the building, we entered the dining hall. As I expected, my guildmates were waiting for us there. Seeing me enter with several other people, they understood who these guys were.

Solomon: these are my guildmates.

One by one, I introduced everyone.

This is Sasha Nicholas and tony. That's Gareth, Alice and Pluvia.

Standing up, Alice spoke to the recruits

Alice: nice to meet you, I hope we can get along.

Nicholas: nice to meet you too, thank you for this opportunity.

Nicholas bowed his head while thanking us.

Gareth: there's no need to thank us. If you pass our test we'll be the ones to gain.

Having explained it to them on the way here, they knew about the test mission. If they passed the test then we would gain another reliable comrade. This was better for us than it was for them. After all, we had angered the capitalist mages guild.

Solomon: so, did you guys sort out everything?

Alice: Pluvia and I moved everything in.

Gareth: I've got all the supplies, I also bought some basic equipment for the recruits.

As everything had been sorted, I decided to settle the recruits in first.

Solomon: you guys, follow me.

With the recruits in tow, I walked to the barracks. As they were recruits, I thought it best to keep them here. Even if there were free rooms, those would be reserved for people who passed the test.

Solomon: this is the barracks for recruits, each of you can pick any room you like.

Arriving at the underground barracks, I pointed out the rooms. Looking inside, they were surprised by the size of the rooms.

Tony: well this is odd, from what I heard, unranked are usually given broom closets to sleep in.

Solomon; I don’t know what other guild do, but as long as your trustworthy, your welcome in my guild.

Having been in Domain for a while I had gotten an understanding of the current system. The strong eat the weak. However, that was not how I was going to run my guild. Idiotic or not, I would hold to my principles. If you were willing to be our comrade, no matter how weak you were, you were welcome.

Tony: that's not a very good policy for domain.

Solomon: good policy or not, it's what we decided. Anyway, you can chill here for an hour while I sort some things out. Afterwards, one of us will come to get you.

Walking back up the stair, I left the recruits to their own devices. Returning to the dining room, my guildmates were still there.

Solomon: so, what do you guys think?

Alice: they seem nice enough, though tony seems a bit rude.

Speaking up, Alice gave her honest opinion.

Pluvia: one's as good as the next.

Pluvia didn't care about these sort of matters.

Gareth: Sasha and Nicholas seem okay. But that tony guy has something evil in his eyes.

Solomon: evil in his eyes?

Though I could understand that he might not like tony, I didn't understand the meaning of evil in the eyes.

Gareth: It's like a deep bloodlust. Though he didn't show any hostility to us, I would say he's no stranger to murder.

Solomon: oh, that's all? I already knew about that.

I had long since felt the repressed bloodlust leaking from tony. My acute senses made it plain to see.

Gareth: that’s all? If you felt it why did you bring him here?

Solomon: I don't care whether he has lust for battle. So long as he is willing to be a comrade, I'll give him the chance.

I didn't care whether he had a dark or evil side to him, I myself was no saint. The only thing I asked for was his loyalty, beyond that I didn't care.

Gareth: fine, we'll see his actions in the test mission. But, if he so much as seems like he'll betray us, I'll cut his head off.

Solomon: I'd expect no less.

If he betrayed us I would do a lot more than just cut his head off. However, I didn't think he would. My instincts told me he was a man I could take at his word.

Solomon: moving on then, let's discuss the agenda for the next few days.

Between now and the next mission we had 3 and a half days. During that time, we had to be careful not to expose ourselves to the capitalist mages guild. As long as we stayed in at night and stayed in main areas during the day, we should be fine.

Gareth: I have an idea.

Nodding to him, I indicated for Gareth to continue.

Gareth: I think as we only have to wait till the next mission, we should stay in the hotel until then. It's not like we have anything to do outside.

Though there were things we could do, there was nothing that was important or needed.

Solomon: that's true, I had been thinking the same thing.

Gareth: so I thought that during the day you three should train. During that time I can give the recruits some basic training, as well as familiarise myself with them.

Though it was a good idea, It was detrimental to Gareth. He would not be able to train during the next few days in this case.

Solomon: it's an idea, but are you okay with it? You'll be losing out on a lot of training time otherwise.

Gareth: I've thought about it. with my talent, I wouldn't make any significant progress anyway. It's better that the recruits we take into the mission have some form of official combat training.

Though these were people who had survived in Domain, it was unlikely they had any professional combat experience.

Solomon: if your fine with the disadvantage, then we'll go with it.

Gareth: okay, then the last thing was that from the afternoon until night, we would use the time array.

From what we saw before, the array could operate 8 hours a day. So if we all entered it at 4, we would all be out at midnight.

Solomon: that sounds like a plan, are you two okay with that.

I directed my gaze at Alice and Pluvia.

Alice: sure.

Pluvia: I'm fine with it.

Having agreed on the idea, we went off to do our parts. Alice and I went towards our bedroom. When moving she had explained to Gareth and Pluvia that we would be staying in the same room.

Alice: for my training, I just summon and unsummon necro and Hackman. I'll also be training that new skill, so I'll just sit here.

Being as it would cost at least 4 thousand points to buy herself a training method, Alice was still using this basic method. Even so, she now had 165% compared to what she started with.

Solomon: all right, I'm training 4 different skills, so I will be swapping around what I'm doing.

Settling onto the bed. I started my skill training with mountain gale. Following the instructions from before, I began my training. Through the repeated practise, I was quickly improving my understanding of these skills.

Lost in my training, the time past unbeknownst to me. I only stopped when Alice disturbed me.

Alice: Solomon, dinner's ready!

Solomon: coming!

Though it had slightly registered that Alice had left the room earlier, I only fully realised it now. Getting up, I made my way downstairs. Entering the dining room, everyone was already sat at the table. As there was only a few of us, everyone had sat at the end of the table. They had left the seat at the head of the table open for me. Sitting immediately next to me were Alice and Pluvia. Then further down was Gareth and tony. Followed lastly by Nicholas and Sasha.

Sitting down I addressed everyone.

Solomon: sorry for the wait everyone, let's dig in, shall we. Looking at the food on the table I saw that there were two distinctly different servings. It was at this point that I noticed the heated gaze of Alice on me.

Alice: why don't you give them a taste.

Under this pressure, I felt like I was in a minefield. Picking up one of the two different stake's I tasted it. As the juicy meats taste filled my mouth I was filled with a blissful feeling. But trying to act neutral, I picked up the other piece.

Biting into the other peace my mouth was once again filled with heaven. This piece was more succulent than the other, but it was not as good in the seasoning and sauce.

Alice: so, which do you think is better?

Not wanting to give the wrong answer, I gave a roundabout opinion.

Solomon: this one is more succulent, however, this one has a nicer sauce and seasoning. Overall I would give both a 9/10.

Alice: damn

Nicholas: and I thought I had it.

Hearing Nicholas speak, I realised he was also waiting for my answer. Completely clueless, I looked at Gareth for help.

Gareth: they both said that they would be the best cook. Eventually, it turned into a competition to see who was best. to keep it fair you were made into the adjudicator.

Solomon: ah, I understand. Well. Both of you are great cooks. if you both keep competing I don't mind judging.

trying to be subtle. I offered up a solution. though my real reason was that this way we could get twice the food.

Alice: sure

Nicholas: I'll go for it.

Solomon: it's settled then, let's feast.