I woke up sore with a migraine. I had fallen asleep in my armor which caused me to sleep in an uncomfortable position. I was very, very sore. Remembering what transpired last night, I groggily got up and saw that all the men were still knocked out. Why did I accept that drinking contest again?

Small thoughts of regret flew around in my head as I found Jane. She hadn't drunk at all last night with the reason that it would be amusing to see my drunken self. She looked at me and gave me an amused smile. I felt the pain go away as sat back down next to Jane. She made food in advance and passed me some. Remembering something, I asked Jane a question.

"Hey, Jane, why don't you use your longsword?"

"Because I have a higher Bow mastery. Besides, you can fight up close for me." Jane responded as if it was obvious.

"You still have it on you, right?"

"Of course, if anything sneaks past you, I can take care of it. I'm still pretty good with a sword." She looked proud of this fact. I nodded and continued eating. After I had my fill, I stayed sitting to rest. Jane and the other women went around waking up the men.

Once all the men were up, we waited about an hour for everyone to rest and recuperate. Everyone climbed into the carriages. Jane sat down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder while clinging to my arm. Shrugging off the envious looks, I closed my eyes and stayed on the border between consciousness and sleep. The carriages set off to cover the rest of the distance to Everwind's borders.

It was late afternoon when we had arrived at the border. The first thing I noticed was the wall was 10 meters high and showed slight signs of wear. Everyone got out and showed their identification cards to the guards.

Of course, Jane and I didn't have those cards. When they asked for the cards, I gave the excuse that we lost them finishing a request for the Adventurer's Guild. The guards had a few suspicions, but let it slide since it was believable. We did look like adventurers.

New Skill! Persuasion The ability to convince someone to believe something. Higher Mastery increases chances of a persuasion working. Mastery: Beginner 1 Effect: 2%

Unexpected, but useful. I closed the notification and got back into the carriage.

"What's your destination, Ethan?"

"The capital. Aren't you heading there too? The Adventurer Guild's biggest branch is always situated in capital cities. They provide lots of work considering the population of the cities they're built in. Since you don't have normal identification, you can get status cards from the Guild and use those instead." Ethan responded in a matter of factly tone.

"Yeah, Jane and I could use those cards." Ethan gave a quick nod before going back to resting. Everwind Kingdom's capital city was called Lerton and was a hundred kilometers from the section of the border we were located at.

With the slower traveling speed of the caravan, it was bound to take a longer time than if Jane and I traveled by ourselves. Jane leaned on me and fell asleep. I gently gazed at her peaceful face and slowly closed my eyes to let sleep overtake me.

I awoke in the dead of night and looked around. Jane and I were still in the carriage. Jane was still asleep. Everyone else was in the center of the circle of wagons. It seems that nobody wanted to bother us so they left us alone. I looked down and saw Jane's hand in mine. She must have done it in her sleep.

Anyway, I waited for her to wake up since she usually woke up around the time I did. About 10 minutes passed by before she moved. Jane looked around and saw my face gazing at her own. I placed a kiss on her lips before we left the carriage.

Everyone was already sleeping around their campfires, so we decided to keep watch in case anything happened. When the sun came up over the horizon, everyone that was asleep had started rousing. Once everyone was awake, we immediately set off for the capital.

It had been a long, uneventful trip. It took about one and a half months in total. When we finally arrived, it was early morning. I had practically leaped out of the carriage. Turning towards the city, I took in the grandeur of it all. It was a city that was divided into sections by height. Higher up meant higher status. A city styled around the European Middle Ages.

There was something akin to a festival going on currently. As usual, the guards asked for identification. I gave the same excuse and they sized me up before allowing me to enter with Jane. Separating from the caravan, I decided to head over to the Adventurer's Guild to get status cards for me and Jane.

Jane clung to my arm while we were walking. Ethan had told us that the city's guild was in the Western district. Basically, it was on the other side of the city. It would be a long walk since the city itself was about 2 and a half kilometers in diameter.

The walk to the Guild took about an hour and I had to endure many envious gazes in that time. Once we arrived, I was amazed. It was a three-story tall building, with ornate marble and metal construction. The interior looked just as grand. The floor was marble and didn't seem to get dirty at all. Booths were lined up on one side with guild staff talking to adventurers. There was even a food court and bar.

A staircase that went upwards and downwards was present at the end of the room. I led Jane over to a booth where we waited in a relatively short line. When it was our turn, I explained that we needed status cards. The receptionist lady promptly handed two cards to drop our blood on. It held my status and my rank was D. Jane's rank also happened to be D.

I asked the receptionist how the ranks worked. The ranks went in order and were E, D, C, B, A, AA, AAA, S, SS, SSS. E rank represented newbie adventurers who didn't reach a milestone yet. Subsequent level milestones increased your rank. I asked Jane if I could view her status and she obliged, showing her card to me.

Name: Jane Crimson Class: Magic Archer Race: Foxkin, Female Level: 31 Titles: Sniper, Magically Talented Class Effects: +20 to Intelligence, Wisdom, Agility, and Dexterity; Able to cast Mage-type spells normally restricted to others; Able enchant arrows with magic for special attack effects Attack: 473 Defense: 67 Health: 480/480 Mana: 760/760 Health Regen: 0.24/sec Mana Regen: 0.38/sec Strength: 67 Agility: 118(+20) Dexterity: 93(+20) Vitality: 48 Intelligence: 73(+20) Wisdom: 56(+20) Luck: 10 Leadership: 10 Skills: Bow Mastery, Longsword Mastery, Light Armor Mastery, Spell Mastery, Chant Mastery, Ice Magic Mastery, Blizzard, Ice Spear, Rain of Spears Title Effects:

Sniper: Dexterity increases by 1.2x when using a bow; Long distance shots have a higher chance of hitting; Ranged damage fall off decreased; Increased chance to hit an enemy's vitals

Magically Talented: Magic related masteries increase faster; Magic effects are increased by 1.2x

Jane's stats were higher than the average foxkin her level, or so she says. She also had an interesting hybrid class. I asked her why she never used any of her magic and she responded.

"Why use it when you don't need to?" I pondered over the question but decided to accept the answer since our battles after the basilisk fight had been pretty one-sided. I realized we forgot to find something important, and that thing was lodgings. I told Jane that I wanted to find an inn to stay in and she looked like she just remembered the subject. I asked the lady in the booth and she recommended one.

"Head over to The Boisterous Inn. It's close to the guild and many adventurers stay there. They've got good rates, food, and alcohol." I nodded.

"Thanks." I took Jane's hand and we quickly left for the inn.