The entire process of lodging complaints took no more than twenty minutes to finish. The officers took this matter a little more seriously because of Marcus’ presence. He was, after all, a Raider well-known across the State of Rosaria.

Marcus ‘the Magus’ had become a household name at this point. Having command over hundreds of different kinds of magic spells, he was a nightmare for monsters and other Raiders alike.

Ray peeked at his red-haired friend’s face and sighed before looking down. In the past, he was envious of him, to the point of hating. Though, he got over that eventually after realizing how childish his thought process was.

“What are you looking at?” Marcus asked, giving Ray a curious look. He had noticed his friend staring at his face ever since they left the office. At first, he dismissed it, but as time went by, he found it uncomfortable. “I know, I am handsome, but you already know I’ve got a girlfriend, right? I can’t cheat on her.” Marcus said hesitantly, wearing a troubled face.

Ray felt like vomiting blood after hearing his friend. He fixed him a glare before elbowing him on his sides. “Stop bullshitting.”

“Ouch..? huh!? It hurts?” Marcus was left bewildered as he rubbed the dull ache on his ribs. His eyes widened in surprise, and he couldn’t help but look at his friend, who was busy frowning. ‘Impossible! How can I feel something from that?’ Marcus wanted to deny it.

Each level up would bring about a revolutionary change into Raider’s bodies. Their stat difference was not just a few numbers. A level 1 raider is 5 stat points ahead of level 0 Raider, and a level 2 Raider is 50 stat points ahead of level 1. With each successive level up, they would gain ten times more stat points than their previous level. He was a level 3 Raider, which meant he was at least 550 stat points above Ray.

‘Although I have distributed most of the points to intelligence and wisdom, I haven’t neglected endurance and physique. How did he get past my endurance?’ Marcus really wanted to ask Ray about it, but he withheld it for the time being. Everyone has their secrets, and he didn’t want to intrude upon his.

“Ray, I’m being serious here,” Marcus spoke, attracting Ray’s attention. “With that sword and your experience, you might level up within the next six months. When that happens, I would like you to join my guild.. my party.”

“Are you serious?” Ray stopped to look over at his long-time friend. His face, however, betrayed the excitement in his heart. Joining a guild was a life-altering choice. Hasty decisions will only create trouble for the future.

“Yes. I am.” Marcus nodded his head positively.

“Heh~” Ray chuckled before shaking his head. He would have agreed in a heartbeat had it not for the discovery of this new ability he possessed. To join a guild means to give oneself wings. The raiders who were under guilds will enjoy a better environment to grow and their strength would increase at a rapid pace. The guild will also provide all the necessary utilities for a Raider to realize its potential.

Take this friend of his as an example. In just three years, he became a level 3 Spellcaster from level 1 Porter. To achieve such a result, hard work and talent alone weren’t enough. It was evident just how much effort his guild had put on him to achieve such a result. Those were the pros of joining a guild.

However, there were also cons. Moreover, it was the cons that made Ray hesitate to give Marcus an answer immediately.

“I will think about it.” Ray smiled as the grip on the hilt of [Wyvern’s Breath] tightened. He still hadn’t got around to the things that happened that day. There were too many things to think through.

…

Ray said his goodbyes to Marcus and left for his home. Coming out of the gate, he looked up and frowned. It was nighttime. The broken moon illuminated brightly in the sky, providing a faint silver light to the world beneath.

Years ago, a catastrophe struck the earth. No one knows what happened that day, but it was said that humanity barely survived judgment day. However, the victory didn’t come without repercussions. The geography of the whole world changed when parts of the moon broke apart and fell down. This event was later recorded as ‘The Great Cataclysm’ by historians.

‘I stayed more than twelve hours inside, huh?’ Ray let go of a sigh before calling a taxi to his booked hotel. For this job, he came to a different city. His hometown didn’t have a low-level dungeon. For the time being, he decided to stay in the city and challenge the dungeon again.

Back in his room, in the hotel, he sat on the bed looking at the piled-up loots he obtained. Only the [Spidersilk Yarn] and [Spider bones] left out of four things he got initially.

‘Sigh!’ Ray let go of a miserable sigh. The most valuable drop, the health potion, was already used on that girl. That small bottle would have fetched at least a million credits. He looked down at the remaining items as a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes. The only thing he could sell was the [Spidersilk Yarn]. The other item was for him to consume.

Ray logged in to the official forum for Raiders and typed a message.

[Selling Spidersilk Yarn x1]

[Initial Price: 100,000 Credits]

After typing this short message, he tagged in the picture of the item and uploaded it to the forum. The buying and selling of items on the forum were done by bidding. At the end of the day, the highest bidder will get the item.

Ding!

Ray looked at the message and found it was from a bidder. Someone priced his item at 120,000 Credits.

‘Oh! It started already!’ Ray couldn’t hold back the smile as his heart filled with expectations. He didn’t have any extravagant hopes. As long as this item crosses the 300k credits mark, it can be considered a profit. ‘300k Credits! I can pay back some debt with this money.’ A shadow of gloom covered his face when he recalled the astronomical debt left on his head to pay back.

He looked towards [Wyvern’s Breath] as determination flashed on his face. ‘I must become an official Raider. I will get strong no matter what.’ He vowed in his heart as the image of a small boy flashed in his head.

His pale face and thin physique weighed on Ray’s heart. Grinding his teeth, he stood up, holding the Spider Bone in his hand, and went to the bathroom. ‘Little brother, big brother will definitely save you!’

…

Inside the bathroom, Ray kneeled beside the bathtub and dipped his index finger to inspect the heat. The right way to use a Spider Bone was to boil it in water and take a bath in it. It will increase natural endurance, empower the immunity system and strengthen mana channels. There was also a slight chance of improving the health-regain rate.

Ray dropped the small purple-colored bone into the tub and watched in fascination as the water turned purple as well. Even the steam coming out of it was purple-colored. It would be his first time using a Spider Bone, hence he was nervous. Even then, he steeled his heart and carefully stepped into the tub.

‘Hmm! I feel noth- ugh!!’ At first, he felt nothing but warm water on his body. But, suddenly, a sharp pain assaulted his spine, almost making him scream. It felt like someone was inserting scalding hot rods into his back.

‘Shit! Had I known this would happen, I would have brought something to bite into!! At this rate, I might bite my own tongue off if I am not careful!’