It was already noon, newbie adventurers would pass by a group, under the shade of a tree each reading a book. The adventurers were wondering why the three were reading books outside the gate, could it be that these guys are strong enough to beat any monsters that would approach them, everyone had their assumptions about the trio, however it didn’t really matter to them that much, so they would go on their way, and immediately forget that they saw a group outside the gates.

The first to close its book was Sakura, whereupon she was enveloped with a flash of yellow light that dissipated right after. She had learned the ‘Hand of God’, thanks to her high intelligence and skills, she was the first to finish, not that there was any competition, but being first made her feel good, she was smiling widely.

The next to close its book is Maron, he too was enveloped in a red light that dissipated quickly, afterwards he stood up and raised his hands to stretch, he was groaning like an old man, the long duration of sitting made his back all sore, however he was satisfied of the outcome, he had learned a new skill, as he looked to his side, he saw Sakura smiling like crazy while staring at him, he couldn’t help but smile back awkwardly, he didn’t understand the reason for her smile, so he didn’t give it any mind. Instead, he took out his [middle identification stone] and grasped it.

{Name: Maron}

{Mana: 300/300}

{Level: 20}

{Class: Magic Gunner}

{Race: High-human}

{Skill: Infinite Ammo, Gun creator (Desert Eagle, MP5, AA-12, M4A1, XM2010), sleep bullet (level 1), poison shot (level 1), Repulsion bullet (level 1), Exploding shot (level 1)}

{Strength: 35} {Intelligence: 40} {Wisdom: 38} {Dexterity: 30} {Agility: 50}

{Defense (P): 30} {Defense (M):30}

{Equipment: none}

The last to close its book was Wuglat, however it didn’t seem like he was last, he was beaming with a smile, and jumping around, he was ecstatic, he was happier than the two, afterwards he quickly took out his [middle identification stone] and grasped it.

{Name: Wuglat}

{Mana: 50/50}

{Level: 8}

{Class: Fighter}

{Race: Orc}

{Skill: Axe throw (level 8), boomerang (Level 2) (30 mana), Flame axe (Level 2) (10 mana), Poison slash (level 1) (10 mana)}

{Strength: 50} {Intelligence: 15} {Wisdom: 15} {Dexterity: 40} {Agility: 20}

{Equipment: Fire and Wind axe (+10 strength)}

The trio are now preparing to leave, when suddenly a beastkin halted them, it was Bruno of the ‘Cunningthorn’, he stood in front of Sakura and asked with a polite tone “Are you Sakura?”.

“Yes, why?” Sakura replied not aware of what’s happening, Sakura had never met him before, so she wondered why he suddenly talked to her.

“My name is Bruno, I'm from the guild ‘Cunningthorn’” Bruno introduced himself and bowed slightly, he was well-mannered while talking to Sakura, “I heard you joined the ‘Lowlaws’ guild, Miss Sakura, however with your level, I don’t think that guild would be of much help to you, in fact I came here to invite you to ‘Cunningthorn’”.

Sakura didn’t know how to respond, she was suddenly offered to join another guild, she was too polite, that she couldn’t straight away reject Bruno, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, even though she didn’t really want to join them, so she looked over to Maron as if begging for his help, whereupon Maron quickly understood what Sakura’s stare meant.

“I don’t think Sakura wants to join your guild” Maron quickly interjected and shoved his body between the two.

“Who might you be? To make decisions for her” Bruno scorned, his tone to Maron was different from Sakura.

“I’m her fri-” Maron almost said, when suddenly Sakura interrupted him and said “He’s my husband”, Maron and Wuglat was surprised at what Sakura said, Maron quickly supported what Sakura said.

“That’s right, I'm her husband” Maron boldly said, “Let’s go wife” he followed, afterwards held Sakura’s hand, and quickly left right after.

Bruno was shocked, the sudden turn of events made him unable to respond, he couldn’t believe that the two are married, however it was Sakura that said it first, so he didn’t know what to do, he was left there hanging with his mouth open.

After leaving, the three are now on the road, it was already lunchtime, so they decided to go back to the inn, and grab something to eat there, after a while they reached the Odd Chair, but before coming inside they were stopped by a girl, another adventurer from ‘Cunningthorn’, she was wearing a skin tight light- blue robe, that match her hair, there was a diamond cut in the middle of her robe that showed her abundant cleavage, and also a slit on her robes that showed her beautiful right thigh, she was sexy.

“Are you Sakura?” Aqua immediately asked after seeing the three of them, “Hi, my name is Aqua, I’m going to get straight to the point, I want you to leave Lowlaws and join our guild” she firmly said, it looks like Cunningthorn is really determined to invite Sakura to their guild.

“Yes, why?” Sakura couldn’t help but ask.

“You guys are so persistent on inviting Sakura, it’s strange, is there any reason for it?” Maron suddenly said, looks like he understood something, out of all the guilds in Cilon Empire, only the Cunningthorn is persistent on inviting Sakura.

“And who might you be?” Aqua asked softly, curious about the identity of Maron.

“I’m Maron, her husband” Maron confidently said, which made Sakura blush a bit, he was clearly taking advantage of the husband thing.

“Oh! I didn’t know she was already married” Aqua shockingly said, putting her palm over her mouth. “I can tell you, however we need to be somewhere private”

“Okay” the three simultaneously said, “We can go inside, we can use my room upstairs” Sakura said, suggesting her own room.

“Sure, but I can only tell it to you, Sakura” Aqua replied agreeing to her suggestion, but adding a condition.

“No, if you can’t let them hear it, then I don’t need to talk to you” Sakura firmly responded, she was determined to let Maron and Wuglat be in on this.

Aqua had no choice, seeing how resolute Sakura looks, in the end she could only accept, she badly needed Sakura, “Alright” she said, afterwards the four of them went inside the inn, and went upstairs to Sakura’s room, Sakura’s room looks exactly the same as Maron’s, the only difference is the smell of the room, Maron’s room smells like wood and sweat, while Sakura’s room is fragrant and clean.

The room was cramped with four people inside, but it didn’t stop the group to continue their talk, everyone has their own place, Wuglat was standing by the door, Maron sitting on a chair beside the bed facing the two girls, and the two girls sat on the bed, afterwards Aqua start talking.

“A day ago, Bruno got hold of information about a certain competition that will be held here in Cilon Empire” Aqua said.

“Okay, so? There will be a competition, what’s the big deal?” Maron interrupted.

“The big deal is the winner of the competition gets to study at Courian” Aqua replied and expected a shocked reaction from them, however the only person who got surprised was Wuglat, the other two didn’t even flinch, which was strange for Aqua, every adventurer that she knows would give anything just to study at Courian.

“Okay, I thought that you’re going to tell us was something that would endanger the whole kingdom, but you made this a big deal just for some competition” Maron responded with a frown, he really thought something big was going to happen, they even went somewhere private, but it was just for a competition, he felt annoyed.

“Wha-, just a competition?” Aqua replied shockingly, she was appalled at Maron’s reaction, adventurers would do anything just to study at Courian, but Maron didn’t even give a shit about Courian.“You! You! What are you?” Aqua raised her voice, she couldn’t understand why the two wouldn’t be willing to study at Courian.

“I’m sorry miss Aqua, but if that competition was the only thing you were going to tell us, I'm going to have to decline your invitation.” Sakura politely said, she too didn’t need to study at Courian, adventurers here would want to study there, but not her, she was fine with living normally.

“Okay, it looks like I took the wrong attitude on this” Aqua said now realizing that the people she’s talking with, don’t care about studying at Courian, “As a fellow adventurer, I would like to invite you Sakura to our team, not our guild, just our team that will join the competition, please” Aqua sincerely said.

“Okay, since you asked sincerely if you include Maron and Wuglat to the team, I'll certainly join” Sakura politely agreed, however she had a condition.

“I would’ve accepted your conditions if it weren’t for the requirements to join the tournament, one need to be at least Level 20 to join” Aqua said feeling bad for the two, she didn’t know that Maron was already Level 20.

“Well, Maron is Level 20, so he is qualified to join the tournament, however Wuglat...” Sakura said feeling bad for Wuglat, however she couldn’t do anything.

“It’s okay Sakura” Wuglat said, he didn’t want the two to feel bad for him “I will just cheer you on, besides even if I joined, I would surely be defeated” Wuglat knew that he was weak, but this didn’t break him, instead he promised his self that he would work harder to get on their level.

“Are you really Level 20?” Aqua said, she couldn’t believe that this man in front of her was really Level 20, “What is your class?” she asked intrigued about Maron.

“I’m a gunner” Maron replied, not hiding it anymore, he realized that there was really no point in hiding it anymore, if he joined this competition, he would for sure use his gun.

“Gunner? What’s that?” Aqua asked curiously.

“You could say that it’s a modified version of the archer class” Maron explained, he didn’t really know how to put it either, so he just said what he thinks it is.

Aqua still didn’t get it, but she didn’t pry into it any longer, because she already asked them for a favor, so asking more would make her feel like a busybody, and she didn’t want that, so she dropped it.

“So, when will this competition be held?” Maron asked.

“I don’t know either, we were already so lucky just for learning about it, so the date, I will just tell you if I find out.” Sakura responded.

The meeting in Sakura’s room came to an end, Aqua said her goodbyes to the three, and the group also said their goodbyes, afterwards the group went downstairs to grab some lunch, the three sat together and ordered food from Aunt Snak, and they enjoyed their lunch right after.