Viston, the capital city of the Isura continent.

The capital consists of multiple cities, all sitting on large rock edges of the tallest mountain in the range. With the Seekers Lodge located at the top, the rock edges are divided into three levels. To commute to each level, wooden bridges were constructed. For horse carts and large deliveries, platform mechanisms were built on each level. A separate platform is built from ground to the top of the mountain, a quick trip for Seekers to use. The two walk towards the Lodge-exclusive platform and as expected, there are others who are waiting as well. Four to be exact, but only one of them seems to be a Seeker. The leader of the party; average height, built man with a large sword on his back, approaches the two, and greets them happily.

“Hello, you guys are Seekers yes? I’m Basil Whittaker. Nice to meet you.”

“Huh? Oh, yes we are. I’m Ulrick Garside, and she is Genovera Koval.”

Basil observes Ulrick even deeper. He can see how toned his body and muscles are even with his clothing on.

“I see… I’m not that strong, but I can tell how powerful you are considering your age.”

“Haha really? I mean, I’m still training, and I’m definitely weaker than Geno, but…”

Ulrick humbly blushes at Basil’s compliment as the two seem to hit it off. Geno sighs at Ulrick’s obvious expression; but behind the two she sees three ladies, all showing their annoyance at what just transpired. They seem to be Basil’s party members, but it made more sense to call them his devoted fans. The platform arrives at ground level and Geno takes the hint. She interrupts the boys’ friendly conversation and grabs Ulrick by the collar, dragging him along onto the platform.

“It’s nice to meet you Basil, but we must go now.”

“Hey, Geno! Stop pulling me. C’mon Basil, you’re going to the Lodge too yeah?”

As Basil was about to follow them, one of the girls pulled him by the sleeve and slyly held him back.

“Basil, We want to see the other levels. Please?”

“Well of course. I'm sorry Ulrick, we’ll take the scenic route. I hope we’ll meet again at the Lodge.”

Basil bows in farewell, and he and his group walk towards the wooden bridge. The three ladies turn their heads and give piercing glares at Ulrick. The platform begins its course to the top and the two walk to the available seats on the side. Being the oblivious person he is, Ulrick questioned Geno about her behavior and why the girls gave him such a look. She explained to him the situation during the ride.

“Yikes… Didn’t see that coming. Good eye, Geno.”

“You really need to check your surroundings more often. Hunting monsters is not the only battlefield Seekers face.”

Geno’s words speak some truth. It’s what Ulrick expected from a person who has been a Seeker for over a year. But this one felt different, her eyes portrayed a certain feeling. It’s almost as if she speaks from experience. Ulrick didn’t want to pry anymore than he should, and so he nodded. The views from the platform were amazing. Passing the second level, the entirety of the Isura continent was almost in sight. The region was full of grasslands and forests, with small to medium size villages spread among the area. They could also see the village they recently helped. Three minutes have passed, and the platform arrives at its destination. They step off the platform and follow the path towards the Lodge’s entrance. This Lodge is three tiers tall with two smaller towers on either side. It seems that one tower provides accommodation while the other is for smithing and shopping.

As they approach the front, the glass doors slide open, and the two walk into the lobby area. The area was very advanced, having multiple screens on all sides. One side shows available requests in the area; the other has lounging and communication desks, mailing out messages to anywhere around the world. Ulrick and Geno approach the receptionist's desk; the lady behind the desk slightly bows and welcomes the two.

“Welcome to North Isura Lodge. How may I assist you today?”

“Hello, we’re here to receive our reward from a hunting request.”

“Certainly, may I please have the job document.”

Geno hands over the document given to her by Henry. The receptionist accepts the document and types away on her screen. A card is forged under the screen, the lady takes it and walks behind her to open a numbered locker. Inside contains a small bag, she grabs it and hands it over to Ulrick and Geno.

“Hunt Request Code: 9345, Here is the reward - 150 vens.”

Geno takes the reward and adds it to their current income.

“With this, we should have enough to rest and stock up. It should also be enough to pay for my weapon repairs.”

She gets excited, the thought of finally getting her most precious weapon back where it belongs. She looks at Ulrick, and he too is excited for her. The receptionist then responds with further information.

“For accommodation, payment must be made for the first night. For extra nights, payment will be taken after the first night.”

“Please put us down for two rooms.”

The receptionist bows and types on her screen, and again two cards were created. She hands them over to Ulrick and Geno.

“Rooms 52 and 53. You will find your rooms on the right in the accommodation tower. Please enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you.”

As Geno conveys her gratitude, the receptionist glances at Ulrick and discloses important information on her screen.

“Mr. Garside, I see you’ve successfully completed one of your marks. Would you like to be transmitted to your school?”

Although he wanted to get stronger, he wanted to see the capital city and everything it offers.

“I’ll go later, I’d like to stay here and explore a bit. Plus I want to see Geno back in action with her awesome weapon.”

“Very well, please come back to the receptionist's desk whenever you wish to return.”

Ulrick responds to the receptionist’s kindness with a bow. Geno, smiling at his previous comment, tells him where she’s heading off.

“Okay, I’m going to the smith and getting my weapon. Are you gonna be okay on your own?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Alright.”

Geno heads towards the left tower. Meanwhile, Ulrick waves at the receptionist goodbye and approach the stairs leading to the upper floors.

[2nd Floor: Application Area, 3rd Floor: Seeker Training Rooms]

Seeing that he had nothing else to do, Ulrick decides to explore the Lodge.

“That sounds like fun, meet new people and get some training in.”

Ulrick arrives on the second floor, the Application Area. This is where people sign up to become Seekers. Here, newcomers will need to attend an orientation meeting, which is followed by an evaluation screening.

Almost anyone can become a Seeker, the only regulation is that you need to be 16 or over to apply. However, the most important element to becoming a Seeker, is whether or not you have high potential.

Ulrick sees a large group of people in a meeting room and he sees an orientation about to commence. From looking at the crowd, there seems to be about 1,500 people trying to be Seekers. It brought a bit of nostalgia in Ulrick, back when he first applied at the Lodge close to his hometown.

He decided to stop by and see if there were any strong newcomers in the batch. At first glance, he couldn’t see anyone too special, but suddenly he felt a chill. His sights went straight to the stage and there was a large man standing at the center.

“Hello and welcome to the North Isura Lodge. I’m the Lodge Director and 2-Star Seeker, Tyson Margrave.”

This strong presence was coming from the old gent leading the orientation. He's tall, has a buzzcut, and is wearing a grey suit and tie.

It’s rare to have the Lodge Director lead an orientation, due to their busy schedule. The person who led Ulrick’s orientation was a lady who worked at the Lodge. He could tell this man is strong, and had a lot of battle experience, considering all the scars he wears on his face.

“To be frank, I only see some of you that have the potential to be Seekers.”

From that one line, he delivered the feeling of disappointment in the newcomers.

“Should you become a Seeker, you will grow stronger. And maybe someday, one of you will become a Warrior and stang alongside our Founding God, Desmuth.”

The man then takes out a device and necklace from his pocket and continues.

“Now these here are what you’ll receive, once you become a Seeker. A necklace that will scan a monster’s rank, and a device that collects their life force, known as a tracker. Your goal is to complete your marks, and get stronger to become a Warrior.”

A holographic screen appears behind Margrave and on it shows different colors and information that seemed overwhelming at first.

[MONSTER RANKS]

D = White

C = Green

B = Blue

A = Red

S = Gold

[SEEKER POTENTIALS]

Body = Strength, Endurance, Agility

Mind = Reason, Willpower, Perception

Spirit = Bear, Fish, Bird, Snake

“For Monster ranks, your necklace will shine one of the following colors. Meaning, the monster you encounter is the associated rank.”

The people in the crowd begin to mumble. The Director glared back at them, and they were brought to silence.

“Within each monster rank, there consists of five stages. The number of colored dots will indicate the stage level.”

The information was made easy to understand, thanks to Margrave’s explanation.

“At first, the stages might seem unnecessary. However, there have been cases where higher stage monsters will give multiple marks, or stage 5 monsters evolving to the next rank during a battle. So be careful, act smart, consider everything when you decide on your mark.”

As Margrave continued his talk, some began to tremble. The thought of fighting a monster close to evolution was frightening to them. A man in the front immediately raises his hand.

“Yes, Number 116.”

“Mr. Margrave, you said you were a 2-Star. Why isn’t there any information about ‘Stars’ on the screen?”

Margrave proceeds to answer the man’s query.

“In regards to Stars, it’s simply a rating system of your potential as a Seeker.”

He continues, having caught everybody’s attention.

“As you can see on the screen, there are three potentials a Seeker has: Body, your innate physical attribute. Mind, passive skills that will naturally unlock as you grow. Finally, the Spirit, your affinity for the powerful Spirit Animal Arts.”

Margrave further explains the Star rankings.

“The number of stars indicates how many potentials you are compatible with. For example, if your evaluation shows you to have Strength, but none in the rest, you are a 1-Star Seeker.”

This information brought some smiles in the crowd. If you can get at least one potential, you’ll be a Seeker, and still have that regal reputation among the commoners. But, Margrave follows on with dreadful revelations.

“While being a 1-Star does mean some level of prestige; to truly be a Seeker and potentially a Warrior, one must have an affinity with one of the Spirit Animals.”

While Ulrick was lucky to have affinity in all three potentials, those who did not have any Spirit affinity during his evaluation session were immediately rejected.

“As you know, there are four schools that have been training generations of Warriors in the Spirit Animal Arts. It is said that these arts originated from our God, and were passed down to the current Grandmasters.”

Margrave proceeds with his speech.

“If you do not have Spirit affinity, you will be immediately rejected. That means you cannot be a Warrior of Desmuth, it's as simple as that.”

Although what he says is true, Ulrick is grateful to his Master. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be where he is now. He will always have respect for his Master, regardless of how people feel about her.

As he remained focused on Margrave’s speech, someone tapped on his shoulder.

“Ulrick, what’re you doing here?”

It was Geno, who seemed to be making her way to the training area.

“Huh? Oh, Geno. Sorry, I was just listening to the orientation.”

“Did you already forget some things? You can be such a child.”

“Of course not, I just wanted to see if there were any strong newcomers.”

Seeing she didn’t want to tease him any further, she tells Ulrick to follow her.

“Well, since you’re here. Let’s go to the training rooms. Now I got back my weapon, I’ll need to polish my skills.”

Sure enough, Ulrick agrees and follows her to the training rooms. They leave for the third floor as Margrave continues his orientation.

It’s already sunset, both Geno and Ulrick exit the Lodge. Geno, with an obvious grin, is happy that her weapon is back and she's still adept with it. Ulrick was impressed by the Lodge’s training area.

“I’ve never used the Lodge’s training rooms but it’s amazing technology. I didn’t know you could fight a simulation of a monster from your tracker.”

“It is a simulation, but it’s still good for gaining some experience. You could also use monster records kept by the Lodge, but that will cost you an excessive amount of vens.”

They head to the platform terminal that leads to the lower levels. Nothing better than having a big feast after a good workout. On top of that, Geno wanted to celebrate both Ulrick’s achievement and the return of her weapon.

“I can’t wait to try the food here. Hopefully, it’s not just meat fried over an open fire.”

“Oh ho, are you going to pay for my meal Geno?”

“Of course! That’s how thoughtful I am.”

Before reaching the terminal, they see a person running from the eastern woodlands. On closer inspection, it appeared to be one of the girls from Basil’s party. She looked to be injured and sweating profusely.

“Please help! Basil will die!”

“!!!”

As soon as they understood, Geno and Ulrick ran straight towards her. The girl was on her last legs and began to fall from exhaustion; thankfully Geno was quick enough to catch her. Ulrick then grabs a bottle of water from his bag and passes it to her. She takes it with no hesitation and drinks the entire content, speaking immediately after she finishes.

“Haah... haah…. please help us… cough, cough.”

Geno soothes the girl.

“Relax, take it slow. Tell us what happened.”

The girl catches her breath and then explains what occurred.

“Before we reached the Lodge, a group of men suddenly approached us and they wanted to buy me and my sisters.”

Already, Geno and Ulrick do not like the sound of this. The girl starts to cry as she carries on with her recount.

“We obviously rejected them, but Basil was disgusted and punched the leader. They ganged up on him and after that, they took us into the woods. They were…. they were going to....”

As though she knew where this was going, Geno quickly comforts her. She places her hand on the girl’s head, as the girl cries on Geno’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. What happened next?”

“...Before they did anything, Basil appeared and fought them off. He only had time to untie me, before he got attacked by the leader. He told me to run for the Lodge and get help.”

The girl couldn’t keep her emotions in check. Her tears kept pouring out as she went on.

“Now he’s alone, fighting that disgusting man. I know he’s strong but he won’t make it! He’s just a 1-Star! He’s up against a 2-Star Seeker with a Spirit affinity!”

“...I'm sorry to ask more than I should, but is he a Snake Spirit User?"

"...Yes."

After hearing the girl's weak answer, Geno slowly passes the girl to Ulrick and stands on her feet.

“Ulrick, take her to the Lodge’s infirmary and tell them what’s happened. I’ll go and get Basil and the girls.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

A change occurred within Geno. Ulrick, trusting her words, follows her command and carries the girl to the Lodge.

A rush of violent emotions flowed within Geno - anger, rage, fury… kill.

She prepares as though she’s hunting down a high-ranking beast. She shrouds herself in a silky and translucent white aura.

“Avedato Style, First Form: Aviation.”

The invoked aura gathers to her back and transforms into wings. She unfurls the conjured wings, and immediately launches into the sky, flying towards the woods at lightning speed.