I walked downstairs, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and despite the early hour, everyone had already gotten up before Thea and me.

As I entered the dining room, Elric greeted me with a smirk. “You look like you slept well.”

“You don’t,” I shot back.

Sia, sitting beside him, choked on her drink, while Lyra, on his other side, offered me a small smile. “Good morning.”

Miss Star came out of the kitchen, a cast-iron skillet in hand, eggs and fatty meat sizzling inside. “Are you heading out soon?” she asked.

“I think we should. Thea was saying the trip will take a few hours.” I glanced at Elric, Sia, and Lyra. “Though, maybe you guys can finish the purification step first.”

Elric raised an eyebrow. “Is this for the skill?”

There was a pause. “…Maybe,” I admitted. “Also… that voice projection thing you did.”

He chuckled. “Alright. I think with the morning, we can all finish. I’ll go first, then Sia and Lyra.”

Sia swallowed her food and added, “The whisper skill, Phantom Whisper, is pretty difficult to learn. I have to use it through my system now. The control required is really high.”

Before I could respond, Thea came downstairs.

Still groggy, she plopped down beside me and started eating in silence.

Miss Star, seeing we were all present, set down the pan and wiped her hands. “Oh, good, now that you’re all here…” Her tone became oddly serious. “I wanted to give you all a warning.”

“About the exploration?” I asked curiously.

She shook her head. “No. About you all getting… friendlier.”

Sia nearly choked on her food again. “Mom—” she coughed between words, “do not—”

“Just know that having children as a recruit is… complicated,” Miss Star finished, completely ignoring her daughter’s protests.

Lyra lit up like a flame, and Thea, now suddenly very awake,stammered, “W—we haven’t even—it’s not. It’s not there yet!”

Elric, of course, remained completely unfazed, flashing Miss Star his usual charming smile. Meanwhile, Sia had buried her face in her arms, probably trying to will herself out of existence.

“We’ll be careful,” Elric said simply.

Yet?

“Yet?” I echoed before I could stop myself.

Bad idea.

The moment the word left my mouth, a familiar crackle filled the air.

A jolt of electricity coursed through my body, making every muscle seize up.

For a moment, all I could do was sit there, twitching.

Elric leaned forward, watching me curiously. “Are you… crying?”

“No!” I blurted, but the watery eyes probably weren’t helping my case.

They all stared at me.

I swallowed. “N-no.”

I wasn’t crying.

Just… tearing up.

Maybe a stray drop here and there. But come on, the moment had been so touching.

After we finished breakfast, an idea struck me. “Let’s head to the training hall. The four girls should be there in the morning, right? You three can join them for a bit. I have some questions for the attendant.”

They all nodded, except for Sia, who was grumbling words I couldn’t make out. Judging by the way Lyra was rubbing her back in comfort, Lyra could.

Thea, despite arriving last, finished her meal second, just behind me. Meanwhile, the others took their time, eating at a more leisurely pace.

It was time to start moving.

Thea and I waited for the others to finish and waved goodbye to Miss Star as she wished us luck.

We walked across the street, and while Elric, Sia, and Lyra headed upstairs, I approached the large man behind the counter. He greeted me with a friendly smile.

“I wanted to see if there was any way to increase the number of people we could have in a room,” I started.

He let out a sigh and shook his head. “For your room, the max is six people. I don’t have the authority to change that.”

I nodded, expecting this, but I was still a little disappointed.

Thea spoke up next. “What about a smaller room? Just for two or four people?”

The attendant perked up. “On the bottom floor, we have two types of rooms. One for two people and another for three. However, the facilities aren’t as inclusive as the larger rooms. No library. No skill analysis.

Just a basic padded room with some exercise equipment.” He paused. “You could also rent the other large room upstairs, another six-person space.”

I looked at Thea. “I mean… I could get another large room. If new recruits use it every day for five points at three hours each, we’d need twelve new recruits daily to sustain both rooms.”

She frowned.

I dragged out my next word, “Buuuut… my sponsor is already covering one. So, we’d only need two more recruits using it every day.”

From the corner of my eye, I could’ve sworn the attendant gave me a thumbs-up. Maybe he gets a commission?

Thea thought for a moment before sighing. "Fine. I think this will be sustainable. But eventually, we’ll have to figure out housing. Otherwise, recruits might not want to join us."

I turned back to the beaming mass of a man behind the counter. "I’ll take the other large room, then."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yes, sir!" He grinned, pulling out an orb. "As a bonus for your purchase, I’ll let you renew both rooms at the same time. Easier for you that way."

"Appreciate it."

I deposited nine hundred points into the orb, leaving me with just 1,320 displayed on my own.

As we headed upstairs, Thea glanced at me. "Where’d you get another thousand points?"

"I helped the commander. Warned him about Body Refinement."

She nodded, seemingly satisfied, and opened the door.

Inside, the four healers, the newest members of the guild, were sitting with our group. Elric stood in the middle, explaining something about cultivation. Everyone was listening intently.

I hated to interrupt.

Actually, no. No, I didn’t.

"Hey, I just got the room next to this one, so we can use them whenever we want."

The whole group turned toward me.

"Really?" Sia asked in disbelief. "That’s great, but how can you afford all that?"

I shrugged. "Well…" I turned to the four girls, shifting my focus. "I’m trusting you to help spread the word to new recruits. Once you experience how effective our methods are firsthand, can you help me?"

They didn’t look particularly interested.

I looked at Elric for backup.

"Please," he finished for me.

Immediately, their expressions turned serious. They nodded. Not to a guild leader, not even to a vice leader, but to a senior member.

"We won’t let you down."

…Did they practice that? It was way too in sync.

"Are you enjoying the room?" I asked them.

One of the girls, the youngest, spoke first. "It’s much better than the basic rooms. And we can train for much longer for less cost."

Another girl, standing near Sia, chimed in. "How much more is there to learn after the Spiritual Reservoirs?"

Thea spoke up before I could answer. "I can tell you only the next step… Truthfully, there are only two more for now. The final stage is a secret, and if you want to learn it, you’ll need a new contract…an exclusive one."

I didn’t argue with the new information.

"After you finish the first step, you form the Grand Channel…" Thea continued, explaining each stage in detail while I made my way over to Elric.

"So, Phantom Whisper?" I asked casually.

His voice echoed directly in my ear. Show off. He was already using the skill.

"It’s gonna be more difficult for you, I imagine," he said smugly. "The three of us have decent control, and once we succeed, the system lets us use it more easily. But you…"

"Yeah, yeah, just teach it to me. I’ll practice over time."

He laughed. "Let’s wait for Thea to finish first."

It took a while. By the time she wrapped up, the girls looked like their heads might’ve been spinning. Thea let out a stifled sigh.

"We’re heading out today," she reminded them. "If you need anything, ask Miss Star. We shouldn’t be gone for more than a few days at most."

They nodded, looking both tired and maybe slightly regretful.

We left them to their training and moved to the next room, identical to the one we had just been in.

"Alright," Elric said, turning to face me. "Let’s teach you Swift Stride first."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were waiting until you were on our level."

He scoffed. "I was obviously joking. Plus, it’ll help us all get back sooner."

Then he continued, "Dancing Leaf was a pretty terrible book, but I figured it out."

I clapped sarcastically. "Elric, the great combat genius…"

Everyone gave me a look.

I cleared my throat. "Continue, please."

Elric smirked, then launched into his explanation.

"Anyway, once I used it successfully, I figured out how it works with MP in our systems." He started moving around as he spoke, demonstrating without breaking stride. "Basically, it generates a current of energy that circulates around your feet. It doesn’t just increase power. It also reduces the pressure you put on the ground. It’s like… gliding."

"So, reducing friction?" I asked. "How do you not slip and wipe out?"

"That’s the tricky part," he admitted. "Think of it like skipping a stone across water. If you hit the ground too hard, you sink, that’s what the technique prevents. But if you’re too light, you’d just keep skipping uncontrollably."

Thea, ever the teacher, frowned. "How would a stone become too light? Gotta work on your metaphors, Elric."

Elric grinned. "Did you understand it, though?"

"Well, that’s not—" She let out a long sigh. "Please continue."

Oof.

My team wasn’t doing so well.

Zero to two on calling him out.

I patted Thea’s shoulder in sympathy. We blunder together.

Elric ignored us. "So, the trick is knowing exactly when to touch down. You have to slow the circulation of energy to a crawl for an instant, then immediately resume it. And you have to do this for every step."

My eyes widened. "Every step? That kind of focus is ridiculous."

"Exactly," he said with a nod. "That’s why even I had to use the system when fighting you. Circulating energy just to diffuse in one part of the body is already hard enough. But splitting your focus, circulating energy for an attack and maintaining two separate energy flows in your feet, stopping and starting them constantly? That’s nearly impossible."

I sighed in defeat. I might be able to do it, but a lot of sleepless nights were in my future. “So, how about for Phantom Whisper?”

“That one’s much easier to explain.” Elric stretched lazily before continuing, “Think of the fireball coming out of your mouth, but instead, you're speaking and obviously not as much force. You have to maintain a clear, constant, unchanging flow of energy while also forming words.”

He gave me a pointed look. “Normally, that’s tough. Most people struggle to control energy while thinking about what to say, but…” He smirked. “You don’t think when you speak.”

…I hate him.

Thea, who was supposed to be on my side, burst into laughter.

“Thea!?” I spun toward her, betrayed.

“What? It’s true. Aren’t you happy?” She grinned. “This skill is gonna be easy for you.”

“Alright, alright.” I rolled my eyes. “Hey, you remember how you were acting earlier?”

Thea’s amusement vanished instantly. “Peter.” Her voice dropped in warning.

“Lyra, I need you to use whatever that spell was on her again,” I called out dramatically. “She was so adorable, giggling like a little kid, snuggling up next to m—”

The sharp crackle of electricity made me realize now was a great time to start practicing Swift Stride.

I took off running, trying to keep the technique stable.

Behind me, I called out, “What are you so mad about? It was adorable!”

Then, because I was obviously an expert at this technique, I immediately lost control.

My foot slipped.

The ground rushed up to meet me.

And Thea, who had been moving to zap me, tripped right over me.

We both crashed to the floor.

Elric and Sia, who had been sparring nearby, turned to look.

Elric smirked. “Save it for your room.”

A beat passed.

Then he added, “We do.”

Sia, who I had never seen truly angry before, froze.

The temperature in the room skyrocketed.

Above her palm, a massive fireball flared to life.

Thea and I both stared at it, stunned.

I leaned toward her. “I didn’t know she would attack her idol.”

“He’s not her idol anymore,” Thea panted. “He’s her boyfriend.”

She wiped some dust off her shirt and sighed.

“We’re allowed to hurt you.”

That didn’t sound quite right to me. But she was the Grandmaster, I guess.

Before things could escalate, Lyra opened her eyes and stood. “Elric, stop being so… public. Apologize to her.”

Elric rubbed the back of his head, some sweat forming on his brow. I mean, I couldn’t blame him. No matter what level of cultivation we were at, Sia was an advanced mage, and that was… well, fire. Dangerous. Surprise, surprise. Or maybe he was just hot.

Before Sia could react, he dashed up to her and whispered something.

She blushed, and just like that, the fireball vanished.

"Wait until your roo—ow!"

"Do you want her to attack you?" Thea chastised.

I sighed and stood. "Let’s keep practicing. Once Elric advances, we’ll try Body Refinement again."

We got back to training, running around the room together, chatting, slipping, and laughing. Eventually, Thea managed to obtain Phantom Whisper, and I was getting much better at Swift Stride.

A solid start.