"AAAAAAGH!" Heat screamed. In that moment all he wanted was to be able to have saved Lilim. If he could turn back time, he'd rather have switched places with her. As he screamed, everything faded away.

"Welcome to God's Ranking"

This calming voice woke Heat up. As he looked around he was surprised. The grey-furred wolf has disappeared. The forest has disappeared. Heat was inside a giant hall with ancient stone pillars all around him.

"LILIM!" Heat shouted. The hall was so big that his shout echoed back to him. There appeared to be no one here.

"You may rest here until you are ready. Once you ascend to the first floor, all paths of retreat will disappear."

Heat didn't know who was speaking but it seemed to be coming directly from inside his mind. "What are you talking about!?" Heat shouted into the air even though he had no one to direct his shout at, he still hoped that he would get a reply.

"All who desires power strongly enough will be selected to climb God's Ranking"

Not knowing what that meant, Heat cried as the memories of his sister lingered in his mind.

----------

Tears began to roll down Heat's cheek as the memories stopped. Although he still couldn't remember what happened afterward, the memories of Lilim were vividly heart wrenching.

The beast core that Heat was holding is no longer in his hands and in its place is some grey sand. This didn't matter to Heat though as he is no longer in the mood to continue learning about his energy core. He curled up in his bed and wept until he fell asleep.

Two days passed and Heat would not move, he couldn't even notice his own hunger. Heat would just stay in bed all day thinking of Lilim. He felt empty inside, like a part of him was missing.

Another two days passed. Heat knew that he had to get up even if he didn't want to. The D Rank mercenary test would commence in three days and he must prepare now if he wished to pass.

With grief filled eyes Heat sat up. Perhaps it was due to his grief, or perhaps it was due to his stomach lacking sustenance, but Heat felt like a hollow shell. Dragging his body down, Heat went to the reception of Pebble inn. There, he saw Ru Yin behind the counter with a bright smile interacting with another guest of the inn.

"Is there any way to get some food if I don't have any money?"

Ru Yin turned as Heat spoke to her and her eyes went wide when she looked at Heat.

Heat had red puffy eyes and sunken cheeks. His dry, hoarse voice and slightly trembling body made Heat look like he might fall over if the wind blew slightly too hard.

"Ye-Yes. All temporary members of the Mercenary Guild can enjoy free meals at the Rambling restaurant next door."

When Heat heard Ru Yin say that he could get free meals, Heat saw Ru Yin in a different light. She was absolutely glowing in his eyes. The many days of starvation have left Heat's body slightly trembling from the lack of food. Heat cursed the muscular man that he spoke to at the Mercenary Guild for not mentioning such an important piece of information.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Upon entering Rambling restaurant, Heat immediately sat down on a table and made his order; two plates of fried dumplings, three bowls of rice, one bowl of ginger chicken soup, three plates of boiled spinach, and two plates of barbecue pork. Disregarding the stares of the customers at the table beside him, Heat stuffed all the food into his mouth as soon as it arrived on his table.

In the middle of his feast, a mocking grunt was loudly verbalized. "I can't believe they just let any pig come in and eat with people, this restaurant is a pretty low class to allow animals to eat inside"

A pale scholarly young man was talking to his companion, a lady with an oval face and charmingly seductive eyes. The young man was dressed in a fine silky blue robe that produced an aristocratic elegance. Behind him stood a tall bald man that had a thick saber hanging on his waist.

As Heat looked at the young man the young man also looked straight at Heat with a condescending smirk. Ignoring the young man's taunt, Heat turned his focus back on to his table and continued shoveling food down his throat.

"Humph! Looking at a pig gobbling food ruins my mood. Jac Ob! Throw that swine out so that my appetite may return"

The bald man immediately moved to grab Heat by the arm to throw him out. Before the bald man could even touch Heat, Heat intercepted his grab by seizing the bald man's extended wrist. Heat wasn't in the mood to fight. All he wanted to do was eat and regain his strength. The thought of losing Lilim was the only thing he could think about and that gave Heat a very somber vibe.

Without letting go of the bald man's wrist, Heat just kept eating with his free hand. Cold sweat was beginning to form on the bald man's back. It felt like his arm is trapped under a mountain; he couldn't budge at all under Heat's grip.

Jac Ob has been working for the Nard family for over a decade. He's fought against ruthless bandits, Demonic Beasts, and against many other energized humans. Starting out as just a hired thug, he luckily caught the eye of Viscount Leo Nard and was hired as one of his mansion guards. Working his way up through the years, Jac Ob managed to save Viscount Leo Nard's only son and heir, young house master Ren Nard.

Being promoted to be young master Ren Nard's personal guard was the highest position Jac Ob has ever achieved. With it came many resources that allowed Jac Ob to break into level 3 Mortal Warrior. Jac Ob would be willing to throw his life down for the young master because, in his eyes, everything he has was given to him by the Nard family.

So when Heat grasped Jac Ob's wrist and wouldn't let go, it caused Jac Ob to feel an immense amount of shame. If the personal guard of young master Ren Nard is unable to even remove some random miscreant that has no table etiquette, he might as well commit suicide.

The atmosphere instantly changed when Jac Ob took out his saber with his free arm. Jac Ob's saber was an energy equipment! Once it was removed from its scabbard and injected with Jac Ob's energy, it suddenly discharged an almost tangible pressure.

For a nobleman like Ren Nard to order his guard to kill a peasant, there would be no repercussions. As long as a peasant somehow offended a noble, even for the most ridiculous of reasons, a noble is justified in killing the peasant.

The whole restaurant became silent, the saber's presence made the air feel so thick that some ordinary customers of the restaurant couldn't help but hold their breaths.

Seeing that Heat was unfazed, Jac Ob didn't hesitate. He swung his saber for Heat's arm that gripped his wrist. Jac Ob only wanted to remove one of Heat's arms since his young master did not specifically say to kill him. As the saber descended, Heat was oblivious to the surroundings. He never even bothered looking up from his food.

When Jac Ob's saber was about to cut Heat's arm off, he put on a smug smile "Stupid kid, that'll teach you to learn your place!" Jac Ob thought as he was waiting for Heat's blood to spray.

To Jac Ob's disbelief, when his saber did finally reach Heat's arm, it only cut the cloth of Heat's shirt sleeve. The entire momentum of his swing neutralized. Jac Ob's mind was in chaos, he didn't know what was going on.

A regular saber would have easily cut a normal person's arm off given Jac Ob's strength. This was an energized saber though, it's powerful enough to cut through stone! Yet when faced with Heat's arm, it couldn't penetrate his skin.

Refusing to believe his eyes, Jac Ob swung his saber again with the same intention to cut Heat's arm. To the other customers spectating it looked like Jac Ob was purposely putting on a show with Heat by only pretending to swing his saber but stopping right before it cuts into Heat's arm.

Quickly coming to a realization, Jac Ob's eyes widened in astonishment. It wasn't that he wasn't trying to cut Heat's arm, it was that he couldn't.