I waited in line with the rest of my team as we waited for an attendant to see us at the adventurers guild. We had stopped at the inn first this time so we could drop off our packs and get cleaned off. After a few days out fighting, I stopped noticing the smell, but the looks we got in the city made it clear it was just me. I felt refreshed after the quick bath and the wait passed quickly. I followed Aaron to the counter and listened as he turned in our F-rank cores and received a pile of gold in return.

“We’ll be purchasing five E-rank monster cores, as well,” Aaron said as he started sorting the coins into separate piles.

“Ah, you’ll need to speak with the guild master, then,” the attendant looked surprised at the request. “Go have a seat somewhere in the hall while I send a message to him. I’ll send someone to find you once he’s ready to see you.”

“All right,” Aaron nodded and I followed him over to one of the empty tables.

“I didn’t expect that,” I said once I took a seat. I looked around curiously and saw everyone else look confused as well.

“Here,” Aaron handed each of us three gold and sixty silver coins. “Yeah, maybe he’ll tell us something we need to know about using the monster core.” I nodded thoughtfully at his comment, I had assumed it would be similar to when I had Awakened and the system would lead the process.

“Well, let’s eat. I doubt the guild master will be ready to see us any time soon,” Zack said with a shrug. We settled in and ordered food and watered-down ale while we waited for the attendant to get our attention.

“The guild master will see your team, now,” a man said from beside our table. I smiled and quickly followed the man as he led us towards a staircase in one corner of the large hall. “It’s the only door,” he said as he pointed up. Gary thanked him and led us up to the second floor and down a short hallway to a closed door. He knocked on the door and I waited uncomfortably for someone to answer.

“Come in,” a loud voice came from behind the door and I followed my team inside the large office. A large man sat behind a fancy wooden desk and he gestured to the chairs placed in front of him impatiently as we trailed into the room. I hurried over to take a seat as I studied the man. He had no hair on his head and he had a strong build with a tall frame. His face looked hard and impatient as he watched us sit in front of him quietly.

“All five of you have been Awakened for less than half a year,” he stated calmly as he looked at each of us. “Despite that, you’ve earned enough to advance to E-rank,” he nodded. “Well done. I suppose even in a pile of shit some will be competent enough to gain strength. I need the names of your classes before I give you the cores to advance.”

“What, why?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I told him about my Druid class and I noticed Gary looking worried.

“The E-ranks of the adventurers guild is the main group that holds the walls during the Hordes. If we don’t know your class we won’t know where to place you,” he said impatiently.

“Understood. I’m a Spearman, Zack is a Bulwark, Gabrielle is a Pyromancer, Aaron is an Archer, and Eli is a…” Gary cleared his throat, “Geomancer.”

“Good. You can grab the cores and your E-rank emblems from an attendant back on the first floor. Don’t absorb the cores in the guildhall,” he said as he jotted down the information on a scroll. I stood up and headed back downstairs to the counter after his dismissal.

“Thanks, Gary,” I said when he stopped beside me in line. “I was just going to tell him Druid and hope for the best, but I’m glad I didn’t have to risk it.”

“No problem,” he replied with a smile. “Your skills are similar to a Geomancer that I saw training last month at the guild, so I figured we would go with that if anyone asked.” I nodded, although I wasn’t convinced that anything would happen if they knew I could heal. I made it to the attendant a few minutes later and handed over five gold for the E-rank monster core. She handed me the silver E-rank emblem I had seen on a few adventurers before and I happily clipped it to my chest. I waited for the rest of my teammates to finish their purchases before we headed back to the inn.

“We’ll use them in our rooms, it probably just takes a long time to absorb all the Essence,” Gabrielle shrugged as she followed Gary through the door to the inn.

“All right, knock on my door if anyone needs me,” Gary said as we split up to head to our rooms. I rushed to my room and quickly shut the door behind me before I took a seat and focused on the monster core in my hands.

Absorb E-rank monster core?

I mentally selected yes and immediately I felt my attention being drawn to the small core in my hands. I closed my eyes and felt as the essence from the core started to get absorbed through my arms and streamed into the core of Essence inside my body. My core was already full of Essence and I squirmed uncomfortably as Essence continued pouring into my core and packing it more and more densely. Minutes passed by slowly as my core went from uncomfortable to painful to excruciating and I felt sweat pouring off my body. I lost track of time until I felt my core begin to shake as the walls were in danger of giving out from the tightly packed Essence. I grimaced and focused on reinforcing the walls around my core with my Essence and eventually sighed in relief once it finally settled. I sat for a few more minutes catching my breath as I made sure nothing else would happen.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I opened my eyes and blinked around in confusion as I saw the bright light streaming through the window. The light looked too bright for a moment and I shook my head a moment later as I smelled a terrible scent in the air. I groaned and rolled to the side when I saw the brown sludge I was covered in and the disgusting smell hit me all at once. I quickly stood and stripped off my clothes before I put on another pair and grabbed an extra set for after I cleaned myself. I left the inn and walked the short distance to the bathhouses. Once I relaxed into the pool I pulled up my Status with a content sigh.

Eli - Lvl 5 Druid

Experience - 0\10000

One Skill Point Available

Strength-11 (+2)

Dexterity-11 (+2)

Perception-10 (+2)

Vitality-10 (+2)

Spirit-13 (+2)

Willpower-12 (+2)

Barkskin - Level 8\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 60\12800

Thornbolt - Level 6\20 Upgradeable

Experience - 2240\6400

Rejuvenation - Level 5\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 640\3200

Entangle - Level 5\5 Upgradeable

My eyes widened in shock as I took in the changes to my statistics. I had just gained an incredible amount of strength, although I noticed I didn’t have another skill to unlock disappointingly. I soaked in the pools for another few minutes as I thought about how the increase in my stats would help me, move forwards. I would be able to cast Rejuvenation twice with my increased Essence pool from my Spirit. The improvement to my Strength and Dexterity would be crucial for when I was fighting with my spear. I left the bathhouse with a smile on my face while I concentrated on the new power I could feel in my body. Once I arrived back at the inn I glanced around the common room to see if any of my team was there, but no one was there. I decided to just head to sleep for the day as I realized that I was exhausted after a moment of standing there.

“Morning, everyone,” I said as I joined the rest of my team for breakfast.

“Eli, we were just discussing last night. None of us unlocked a new skill, I assume it's the same for you?” Gary asked interestedly.

“No new skill, but I’ve been wanting to upgrade Entangle for ages now, anyways. Did everyone gain two levels in every stat, too?”

“Yeah, even without any new skills the boost to our attributes is a big deal for our team. Now that everyone’s here I was going to suggest that we head straight through to the capital, today,” Gary said and everyone turned to face him. “There's a town built around the entrance to the Depths that we can stay at while we find out how to enter the dungeon.”

“All right, I don’t mind heading out today, but we’re taking a few days off before we enter the dungeon no matter what,” Gabrielle stated with a roll of her eyes. I shrugged and agreed since I was looking forward to seeing the capital and the new dungeon. I finished eating and headed to my room to grab my pack and do something I had been looking forward to for months.

Entangle - level 5\5 Upgradeable

I spent my skill point on upgrading the skill and I felt the familiar sensation of my class teaching me a skill. The Essence formation was similar to how it was before, but I could tell that the total cost would be greater than it used to be.

Snaring Roots - Level 1\10 Upgradeable

Experience - 0\200

I wanted to cast the spell in my room but I quickly stopped myself before I damaged something and had to pay for it. With that done I grabbed my pack and met the rest of my team downstairs. No one needed to do anything else in the city so we headed straight to the adventurers guild.

“Five silver, sir,” the attendant stated when I reached the front of the line. I handed over the coins without complaint as I still had well over a gold left. I closed my eyes as I walked through the portal this time and found myself in an adventurers guild different from the usual. I walked over to Gary slowly as I took in the massive building. The hall we were standing in had multiple exits to other rooms, but even this room was impressive and something about it made me feel comfortable.

“It’s like the mountains!” Gabrielle exclaimed as she joined us. “The essence is just as dense as it was there.”

“Interesting, maybe it was something we could have taken, then,” Aaron said with a thoughtful expression. We walked towards an empty table and I looked at the fancy building interestedly.

“I’ll go grab some information, I’ll join you in a bit,” Gary said before he walked off towards the attendants. We had just eaten so I leaned back and studied the other adventurers walking around as I waited. Most of the people in the guildhall were dressed like nobles and I realized that was probably going to be pretty common from now on. The guild master had insinuated that commoners rarely reach the E-rank and I knew that he was right.

“There’s a portal to the Depths at the mages guild for five silver, otherwise we can spend two days on the road,” Gary sat down and passed on the information he learned from the guild attendant. “We can sign up to enter the dungeon once we get there, but she said it would probably be weeks until we get a slot.”

“Weeks! How are we supposed to improve if we can only fight once every few weeks?” I asked as I shook my head in disbelief.

“Well, we don’t know enough about it, yet. Let’s take the portal to the Depths and see what we can do,” Zack suggested after we discussed the issue for a few minutes. I nodded and we quickly set out towards the mages guild. Every building in the city looked like it belonged in the nobles district of Brightswell or Gorok, and I realized that it was as soon as I thought that. I walked behind Gabrielle and Zack and listened to them chat about the fancy buildings and streets until we arrived at the mages guild. The guild looked similar to the one Gabrielle and I had gone to in Gorok, except for the single red portal sitting beside a wall. We made our way to an attendant and through the portal to the Depths after we handed over five silver and I looked around with awe as I appeared on a hill in the center of a small town.