‘Hmm…’ the man sounded, still looking at Lan as if he were an interesting oddity.

‘If you are looking to register a job, you need to head out to the desks. Otherwise, I think it’s best if you don’t stand next to me.’

When it looked like he wouldn’t say anything, Lan sighed and grabbed a job from the board, feeling in no mood to deal with a new kind of mocking.

Taking the poster to Mari, the charming spectacled woman took the poster dubiously before looking at it and beaming at him.

‘Oh, this is the perfect job for a beginner.’ She said, doing something behind the desk. A moment later, the keystone lit up. ‘Please touch your tag to the stone.’

Lan did so.

[New Adventurers Guild quest: Silk flower collection – Silk flowers are a key component in many potions because of the mana collected on the leaves. As a result, it is always in demand, and the guild is always looking for people to gather some. You are required to find twenty to count this job as completed.]

[Reward – 50 experience, 20 copper. 2 experience and 1 copper for every two flowers above the target]

The voice said as a new contract appeared in Lan’s tome, this one accompanied by an image of the plant. Twenty Experience… looking at his page, he needed five hundred Experience to reach the four thousand needed to level up again.

‘I can gain more experience and coin for bringing back more?’ Lan asked, getting a nod from Mari. ‘is there a limit to this?’

‘No, the point is to incentivise bringing as much back with you as possible. If you can find a thousand of them, we will gladly take them off your hands.’

‘Got it.’ Lan nodded. ‘Oh, I saw the standing contract for goblins.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that. At this time of year, there are more goblins around. So guilds like to give a reminder to hunt them. The guild will pay for any dangerous monster you kill as long as you bring proof back of the kill. It will also buy any rare materials like fur, claws and teeth. You will learn what is worth bringing back over time, but for the time being, if you think it may be worth something, just bring it to us, and we will let you know. As for the goblins, they usually appear near the roads deep in the forest, so you shouldn’t run into any of them. And for Silk flowers, the best place to look is on the outskirts of the forest near the western gate.’

With that and a farewell smile and wave from Mari, Lan left the guild hall and headed to Cawl’s shop.

Once again, Cali was daydreaming at the counter as Lan walked into the front of the store.

‘Oh, Hey Lan!’ she perked up. ‘Wow, so you’re really doing this, huh?’ she smirked at him.

‘Yeah...’ Lan said a little too insistently.

‘Well, great, just leave the armour on the counter. We have your new one ready. I’ll bring it up with my father.’ She called as she disappeared down the stairs. Lan did as she said and started to look around at all the weapons hanging on the racks.

Not only were they all expensive-looking, but Lan had a hard time picturing himself using them.

A sword costing fifty gold, an axe seventy gold. No, Lan could definitely not see himself with most of them. Also, he still wasn’t sure what weapon he wanted to dedicate the time to.

Lock used swords and Dreven an axe, but they had real training. The same went for Sora with his daggers. Valk with his hammer and Vasha with her bow. Olivia didn’t need a weapon even though she wore a dagger, and Lan didn’t even consider Cassandra and that giant Claymore of hers. All of them took training to use it properly.

With just the skill, he could get to the point where any weapon would feel like a part of him, but there was a difference between mastering a weapon and mastering a complimentary martial art.

‘You're back, Lad, and I see you brought my armour this time.’ Cawl said as he set a white bundle on the counter. ‘You sure did a number on this one.’

‘That would have been my rib cage if I didn’t have that armour.’ Lan said, getting a nod from the surly man. Clearly, that had been the right answer.

‘This one should do a better job, as long as you don’t get in over your head again,’ He said, undoing the bundle, unveiling a shaped silver breastplate that sat on top of a dark leather armour, with a pair of greaves but only one bracer.

Odder than that was the chest armour itself; from where he stood, Lan couldn’t see how the steel plate was held to the leather.

‘No matter what combat class you choose, this armour should keep you alive for some time. Although it does mean it’s heavier than light armour and weaker than heavy. But at your level, you wouldn’t be making the best of those anyway.’

‘Thanks. I have never seen armour like it,’ Lan hadn’t seen much armour at all, and thinking that he was looking at his armour felt a little unreal. ‘But why is there only one bracer?’ Lan asked, looking between the two as Cali grinned and Cawl sighed.

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‘No, there’s two…’ Cawl sighed again.

‘But, why have two boring bracers’ Cali looked at Cawl. ‘when you can have this…’

‘Let’s get the armour on to make sure you can use it first.’ Cawl but in before motioning to Lan.

With help from Cali, Lan managed to work himself into the armour. To his surprise, it was much easier to put on than he thought, and with time, he was sure he could put it on alone.

As Lan looked at himself in the mirror that Cawl brought out, he almost couldn’t recognise himself.

By chance, Lan had worn all black, thinking it would better hide any blood that got on it. But it had the effect of almost blending in perfectly with the leather of the armour, leaving only the metal to stand out even more.

Aside from his gaunt face, he could almost fool himself into thinking he was looking at a real adventurer. And that wasn’t all. The armour felt good. Like he had been born into it. Like it had been made for him, which he guessed it had been. It was heavy, but he didn’t feel like he was fighting to move in the armour. The balance was so that he didn’t have to move any differently, and that was despite the thick metal plates.

After a moment, Lan noticed Cawl and Cali nodding at him as he tested his range of movement. He didn’t know what he was doing and found himself getting a little embarrassed.

‘Anyway, this is great, so what is this about the other bracer.’ He asked, clearing his throat.

‘If you like that armour, then you are gonna love this.’ Cali rushed behind the counter. Returning a moment later with what looked like a metal arm.

On closer inspection, Lan could see it was armour that started at the shoulder and down to the fingertips. Although it looked more like the giant walking armour, Cali had been inside the first time they had met. It was made of the same mat-white metal, and it was more angular than the rest of the armour and looked thicker than the rest. There was also a large plate over the forearm and a smaller pointed plate over the hand, which looked sharpened.

‘This is my newest invention. I call it the shield arm.’ Cali said with an almost dangerous smile.

‘Waste of metal if you ask me.’ Cawl snorted, getting a frown from his daughter.

‘This is a perfect balance of offence and defence. Of course, it serves as any other armour would but with the power of rune gear. Well, you’ll see once you put it on. ‘ she said, pushing the armour into Lan's hand and letting go. As the whole weight of the armour hit Lan, he had to brace himself not to drop it.

‘I don’t think this is going to work.’ Lan said as he looked for somewhere to place the armour.

‘Ah, what?’ Cali asked before glaring at the smiling Cawl. ‘But it only requires twenty strength. Come on, Lan, you don’t even have that?’ she sighed.

‘I don’t even have ten strength!’ Lan protested. ‘ He could have twenty strength, but that would be most of his attribute points at his level.

‘Speaking of which.’ Cawl cut in as Cali looked dejectedly at her invention. ‘So what combat class did you choose to go for. I can start getting some weapons ready if you let me know.’

‘Oh… about that, I still don’t know yet.’ Lan said, not able to look the smith in the eyes.

‘What!’ Cawl slapped the counter. ‘Well, you better choose quick. You are planning on going out today, right?’

‘Yeah, I am, and I did plan on asking some of the adventurers I know, but…’

‘You all got drunk instead.’ Cawl sighed, not waiting for Lan’s answer.

‘And it’s not like I can ask anyone else in the guild.’ Lan tried weakly, not feeling like he needed to go into detail.

‘Well, I can’t help you there.’ Cawl leaned on his hand.

‘Hmm, perhaps I can.’ Lan jumped and almost flew into a rack of swords as a new voice came from right behind him. When he was sure his heart hadn’t exploded, Lan searched for the owner of the voice and found the same small old man from the guild, still wearing his odd clothes and stroking his beard with the same pensive look.

Lan frowned as he looked at Cawl questioningly, getting a shrug back. If Cawl didn’t know the man, then had he followed Lan? Although he was still new to this, Lan had really thought he was doing a good job of not allowing himself to be followed.

‘Is there something we can do for you, Old-timer?’ Cawl asked.

‘Old-timer? I look younger than you with that stupid beard on your face. But never mind that. You said you are looking for a combat class that will fit you, my boy. I think I can help.’ The odd man said

‘What really!’ Lan said before pushing down his excitement, he didn’t know the man, and the man shouldn’t know him. But he had been at the guild even if he didn’t look like an adventurer.

‘What’s with that look? Don’t you believe me? How rude…’ the old man huffed, reaching under his shirt, and Lan thought he was going to retrieve a tag. Instead, he just scratched his chest. ‘I’ll have you know that a lot of people would kill for my guidance… plenty do, actually, now that I am thinking about it. Plus, I know everything about you, a Level One who isn’t afraid to charge a monster more than ten levels above him. Who has won the friendship of “that” lot, and you have a hidden ability.’ That caught Lan's attention. Cawl and Cali looked at each other as the room seemed to warp around the old man.

‘How?’ Lan said, and the old man chuckled and tapped the corner of his eye with a finger.

‘Your eyes, my boy. Your eyes. No normal human has eyes like that. And I don’t just mean the Hunter’s Mark, no something more. But the fact that you don’t know this means it has been in your blood for hundreds if not thousands of years. The fact that it is still so strong after this long says a lot about its origin. But then there is your hair… deceptive but no less abnormal. So two hidden abilities then.’

‘Three.’ Lan found himself saying without thinking. Although he didn’t know what it was, Lan knew that one of the abilities came from his mother, and the other two were from his father. And although he seemed to know what one was, Lan's father had told him that it would be better if he found out what it was himself, and there hadn’t been a chance to talk about it after that.

Somehow he understood that this man knew more than he was sharing.

‘Oh?’ the old man laughed. ‘Well, I may not know what your abilities are, but I think the right class may be able to help you find them.’

‘And what is the right class?’ Lan asked, feeling an odd anticipation.

‘Hmm, I don’t know yet.’ The old man shrugged.

‘Ah!’ Cawl cried. ‘What’s wrong with you. Why get his hopes up if you don’t know squat.’

‘I said yet, you fool! There are still things I need to learn first. Or do you want him to be stuck with the wrong class? Why don’t you go bang a hammer or whatever is it you do.’ The old man shooed, getting a roll of the eyes from Cawl. ‘My name is Art, and if you want my help, lad, then you will need to wear this ring on your next job… at least.’

‘At least?’ Lan asked dubiously as he looked at the unadorned black band.

‘It depends on you.’ Art said

‘And what does the ring do.’ Lan went on.

‘Oh… It’s easier to just put it on than to explain.’ Art hummed and hawed, pushing the black ring towards Lan, who looked back to Cawl and Cali before picking up the ring and sliding it onto his right ring finger.

[CURSE INFLICTED: Dark shackle.]