I approached the tavern keeper. She was a gorgeous woman with quite the physique. Tanned skin, wavy black hair, and light brown eye… just one eye since she was wearing an eyepatch. I was hoping that she was wearing that just to look more rough around the edges, though.

“Hello, I am here for the quest to obtain the rogue class.”

The tavern keeper looked at me from head to toe with a serious expression. I could already imagine her saying that I didn’t look like I could become one and that becoming an archer or a warrior would be easier for someone like me. I was the straight-faced type, after all.

“... How far are you willing to achieve your goals?”

“How far? It is hard to say… unless I am forced to do something that would make me hate myself, I think that I can go pretty far.”

“Rogues live in the shadows and do things under the cover of the darkness. Others see us as the type who would do anything to achieve our goals and for money. If you reach the true potential of someone who works in the darkness, you should keep it in mind that a lot of people won’t like you anywhere close to them because of that.”

That certainly was edgy, but I was expecting that much, given the skills that a rogue starts with. I wasn’t entirely sure that I would be fine if people found me suspicious, but as long as the people that I truly cared about were fine, I couldn’t care about the others.

“It seems that you have some spirit… let’s test that spirit, then. Head to the forest in the north, and then steal a honeycomb from one of the groups of bears there. You can gain a bonus if you complete the quest for being found or without killing any monster until then.”

You received a quest: Rogue Class Quest - Go to the forest in the north and return with a honeycomb

Rewards: Class Promotion, a set of rogue gear, join the Rogue’s guild.

Time Limit: 1440 minutes

I had a full day to complete the quest… it didn’t seem that hard, aside from the part of not having to fight even once. Considering that Backstab is one of the initial skills of the class, I imagined that doing that much without being found would be fine.

‘I will have to use stealth, huh? I guess the knowledge of the other skills will come as a reward, then.’

In any case, I nodded and then left the tavern. I forgot to ask Lain what would happen if I failed the quest… would it be closed forever for me? That was a bit worrisome. Regardless, to complete the quest for being found and gain the extra rewards, it would be better to head to the forest at night, but then the monsters would be more violent. If I were to be found, then I would have to find stronger monsters there while they are more violent.

‘I suppose the monsters won’t be simply bears as we know from Earth… so, what should I do about this?’

‘You can leave it to me.’

True, he had good senses, but it was too much of a risk… he was also the type who gets overly excited, so it is better to focus on other solutions. For now, I decided to head to where the alchemist lived in order to sell all the dire rat parts that I had accumulated.

I was expecting to find an old man who looked very suspicious, and also looked like a lich or something, but much to my surprise, the alchemist was a blond woman with thick glasses and messy hair. She was messing with a cauldron when I arrived at her shop.

‘She is a bit messy, but she has G-cups, so I guess I can smash.’

‘Shut the fuck up…’

I didn’t need this guy putting ideas in my mind. I hadn’t noticed that since she was wearing a thick dark robe, but he was right. Damn it, now it would be hard not to look. Better to finish things here quickly.

“Hello, I want to sell some monster parts. Hello?”

The alchemist kept messing with the cauldron while she was mumbling to herself something that I couldn’t hear. That was never a good sign.

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“Hello! I want to sell monster parts here!”

“Oh? My apologies. I was a bit immersed in my work. Oh? You already reached level ten? How interesting. If you are this hardworking, you should pick the trader class and then come here at level 25 to become an alchemist. Instead of having to use weapons, you can fight monsters using potions instead.”

I couldn’t believe that she told me that piece of information for free… maybe I could make some money sharing that kind of information… or maybe I could just share it around to make it easier for everyone who didn’t have the skills for fighting.

“I will think about it. How much can you pay for 1231 dire rat tails, and 1455 dire rat fangs?”

“You sure have a lot of it stocked… considering the current rates, I can pay one origin coin for two dire rat tails and six origin coins for ten dire rat fangs. So, all of it will cost 1488 origin coins.”

It took me a few more seconds to do the math and her calculation was indeed correct… She was also good at math, despite looking like a mad scientist. Speaking of which…

“By the way, there is a certain miasma coming from your cauldron.”

“Oh? It is almost time, then.”

The alchemist made the cauldron levitate and then she also made a bunch of glass bottles appear out of nowhere and then she made the cauldron drop the contents of the cauldron inside the bottles… the smell was so strong that I felt like almost passing out. Was that something that needed to be drunk? Talk about a slow and painful death…

“... What is that for?”

“It is a potion that ignores defenses. It is perfect for those who want to face the four armed bears, the giant armadillos, stone treants or the goblins.”

Were all those creatures in the forest? Or were they in the other directions? Come to think of it, it would be crazy to think that a single forest would surround us in all directions… considering what Lain said, this place should have all kinds of biomes and the other settlements should be beyond them.

“By the way, how did you lift the cauldron? With magic?”

“Of course it was magic. Once it reaches a certain level, you can do this too, but I can’t say much more than this, or Lain will get mad. He always does. Once you learn a skill or two that uses mana, you will be able to study and apply in all kinds of scenarios.”

It was a pity that I couldn’t learn more for free, but I had learned plenty already.”

In any case, I got my money and also brought three of those potions, since they could last for an hour. It would be better if I get used to that kind of potion in case of emergencies. In any case, they cost one hundred origin coins, quite expensive. Still, given that the challenges after the dire rats will be creatures that have tougher defenses, it was necessary to use them for a while.

“Thank you for coming to my shop. Check regularly for more potions when more materials start to spread around.”

“All right.”

I turned around and began to run back to the inn and soon the other guy realized what I was doing.

‘Where are you going? You can’t rest until night comes. The day just started!’

‘We can’t level up, even if we could, it would be a waste since the experience should go to the new class. It is better if we focus on doing something that will increase our chances of success and also improving our cards for the future.’

‘What do you have in mind, then?’

‘Mana training… we have the skill, so it should be possible to use it. We just need to learn how.’

The other guy didn’t like the idea that much. He would rather use his body than do something as cryptic as this. He was that short sighted.

‘Can you sense anything different when you used my body before?’

‘It felt easier and more powerful, but it shouldn’t be because of mana, but because of the parameters.’

As for me, I could tell that the moron was there more clearly, so maybe he represented the mana in my body, but I didn’t have access to any status screen before, so that shouldn’t be the only difference…

I sat down on my bed, the mattress dipping slightly under my weight as I settled into a comfortable position. My hands rested on my knees, and I closed my eyes, letting the quiet of the room wrap around me like a blanket. Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind, pushing away the noise of the day.

Focusing inward, I searched for the unfamiliar sensation I had begun to notice earlier. At first, it was weak, like trying to catch a wisp of smoke. But as I concentrated, it grew more defined, a faint pulse of warmth deep within me. Slowly, I became aware of its nature, like a tiny flame flickering in the dark.

It was weak, almost fragile, but unmistakably alive. I could feel it ebbing and flowing in rhythm with my thoughts, reacting to my focus. The more I directed my attention toward it, the more vivid it became, as though my will was feeding it. It didn’t blaze or roar, but it burned steadily, a constant presence that couldn’t be ignored.

‘So, is that mana?’

‘It should be… we need to learn how to control it and improve the feeling. I am not going to pick a magic class, but anything that can help me now and in the future will be amazing to me.’

I could tell that the new classes became available because of this skill to control mana. This would be the key source of energy from now on and those who learn to control it freely, will have the advantage. It made me wonder if not picking the mage class wouldn’t be better… it even had a defensive skill, after all. Still, I decided to trust my instincts.