The group tightened its formation around us as we all stood in silence. I wasn't sure what they were after exactly, but the excuse to examine our possessions for anything dangerous wasn't going to fly.

There was no way they were going to do that. Even if we didn't have anything dangerous, it was the principle of the matter.

Who died and gave them the right to demand anything of me? Especially now, when the rule of Law was thrown out the window.

"Why don't we all take a step back for a second," I said trying to defuse the situation and raised my hands in an unthreatening manner.

It was not my goal to get into an altercation with them but it was feeling inevitable the longer this situation went on.

All I wanted was to leave the city and regroup with my family. I had no interest in the feuds or the battle for control that was seemingly going on. What did I care who won control of the City? I would be leaving and going so far away that I would most likely never see these people again.

My attempt at de-escalating the situation didn't work as the leader took another step toward me rather than the step back I had requested.

"Christopher, just let them do it. They did the same thing throughout the tutorial." My mother said from beside me.

The bag of things was already inching down her shoulder to comply.

"Why?" I remarked, "They have no authority over us and can demand nothing."

At this point, the leader had stepped close enough to hear our conversation and barged into it.

"We need to make sure that no one has anything dangerous or has anything they shouldn't." He said smugly like that meant something.

This was quickly turning into something more and started becoming untenable to keep peaceful. It was clear that the dangerous excuse was a sham and they were here for something else. People could literally shoot fireballs and bolts of lightning from their hands, what did our possessions have to do with danger?

The only other reason I could think of that they wanted to inspect what he had was for nefarious purposes. Everyone had just returned and had various treasures and prizes awarded to them depending on their performance in the tutorial.

Various treasures and prizes that could be conveniently labeled dangerous, and thus confiscated. It was a scam to steal from people while claiming to be righteous.

"They did this to you during the tutorial?" I asked with poorly veiled contempt and skepticism.

"Yes, they checked what we brought out of the dungeon and took anything they deemed dangerous. It was never that much so people usually went along with it. In return, they would 'protect' us from monsters." Gabriel said from my back.

"Even if they take the best loot." He added in a low mutter.

This whole interaction was taking a turn I didn't like. It was quickly becoming a shakedown and my chances of getting out of here without a fight were quickly approaching zero.

What are they after? The most dangerous thing I own is my hammer and there isn't a chance in hell of them taking that. I thought to myself.

I had noticed their eyes drifting toward my weapon and if I had to guess, it was the likely target they were after.

Every member of the group had a way of blocking my [Identify(C)] and my frustration with the skill grew. What was the point if it never gave me what it was supposed to?

I hoped they would see the same blank information in return but I had no way to tell. I assumed my [Identify Block(C)] was working based on the fact they were coming closer.

I doubted they would take this stance if they were able to see my level.

One of the last purchases I had made before the tutorial ended was the blocker skill. While only at Common rarity, it provided something none of my other skills did.

Privacy.

While my level wasn't an exact correlation to the strength I possessed, quite far off actually, it was information I didn't want to give away freely. I didn't want anyone seeing my level and upgrading the skill was high up there on my things to do during my journey North. If I didn't block it, all it would do would lead to trouble. Higher, lower, it didn't matter what people saw but the fact they saw anything would be annoying to deal with.

Seeing as the group continued their facade, I assumed they based my level off my mom and brother's. The group did not like our noncompliance and shifted their weapons in anticipation of combat.

"I won't ask again, lay down your weapons and allow us to search you!" The leader was near screaming by this point, presuming being louder would corral us to comply.

I could see my mother in the corner of my eye begin to worry and it seemed she would have already allowed them if I hadn't been here.

"No, I don't think we will be doing that," I said evenly before adding in a hushed tone, "Hold on bud, this could get rocky here soon."

These people didn't feel very strong but I cautioned Gabriel to hang on nonetheless. I didn't plan on using excessive force but I wasn't sure how jarring my movement would be from how he was attached.

"The strongest is the leader, he has a metal affinity and is a warrior-type class," Gabriel whispered.

While helpful, it was ultimately unnecessary.

The group took my refusal as a threat and I could feel the mana begin to build up from skills being powered. They took me readjusting my hammer even worse.

I had been carrying it casually in my right hand, ready for travel gripped near the head to balance it, but I had shifted it to rest in both hands as they started gearing up for a fight.

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My mother got increasingly agitated as the tension built and tried one more time to convince me, "Chris, honey, it's not that big of a deal."

"While that may be true for you, it is not so for me." I said while striding toward the leader, I looked back at my mother and tried to reassure her, "Don't worry Mother, I'll be gentle."

The leader was the closest and the one who took action first., leading with his sword as he charged toward me at a full sprint. The metal of the sword came alight with various skills powering it but none of that mattered much to me.

Nothing about the weapon felt threatening, and by this point, my sense for that kind of thing was quite experienced.

While playing with them and gently subduing them sounded fun, and it wasn't like we were on a time crunch anymore, I couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.

We were in for a long trip and I did not want to be bogged down with petty squabbles. It was the main reason I wasn't going to go any farther with this group of hooligans.

It wasn't worth the trouble of tracking down the leader and extracting the materials they had stolen. It was easier to let it go and move on. They could fight each other for all I cared, it wasn't like I had a dog in the fight.

While that was true of what they had done in the past, the group in front of me was in for a rude awakening.

I wasn't going to kill them, slaughtering seven people in front of my mother, who I had just reunited with, wasn't how I wanted our reunion to go, but a light beating wouldn't be remiss.

Not giving any of them a chance to use larger skills, I leaped into action to put a swift end to the fight so we could move on. My leap caved in the dirt slightly from the force but it was nothing like the craters I left during the tutorial. The ground felt more firm here and didn't give as much. Gabriel gasped at my sudden movement but was able to hold on.

My hammer, without any empowerment, knocked the sword from the leader's hands before continuing on, crashing through his guard and into his chest. He quickly vacated the area in front of me and was launched over ten feet back before flipping end over end, rolling on the ground.

I wasn't sure if the other six members expected the swordsman's attack to work but they were all caught off guard at the result, gaping at their leader being launched away.

The one Ranger and Mage of the group launched the skills they had powered up but a quick [Icy Bastion(R)] stopped those cold. It was insane overkill but I didn't have another way to block the attacks.

Weak attacks like that were the kinds of things I usually let wash over me. My armor and fortitude were enough to make them harmless, but I wasn't sure how sturdy my two family members were.

It was best to use a little overkill rather than be wrong and have someone get injured.

While the [Icy Bastion(R)] separated the group, I had to swing a few more times before the warriors were in the same state as their leader, grunting on the ground. I did my best to blunt my swings but I was moving a lot of weight fast which made it hard to be 'gentle'. Not using skills was the best they were going to get out of me. I think any of mine would pulverize even their leader, let alone the weaker ones.

Taking down the remaining warriors happened so quickly it made it hard to forget to be non-lethal. It wasn't like a spar when both participants knew it was training. They were trying to injure me and my instincts reciprocated in kind. Before I knew what I was doing, [Shatter(Un)] exploded the wall of Ice and I forced the shards into the last members of the group on the other side. The Ranger and Mage went down in a rain of icy shrapnel putting the entire group on the ground in seconds.

It was muscle memory by this point to use those skills in tandem and I forgot I wasn't fighting to kill. I lacked experience with non-lethal combat and none of my skills were designed for it. Months of slaughter and going for the kill drove my instincts to do just that and I moved so fast I didn't have time to stop myself.

Luckily, the two, while peppered in ice shards like a porcupine, would live. Both were still alive and crying out in pain on the ground with blood leaking from their wounds. A healer or a few potions would be able to fix them right up.

If they got treated quickly enough and didn't yank out the ice keeping them from bleeding to death, they would be fine.

Both weren't my problem and them having the chance to live was good enough. I wasn't the aggressor and there was a chance of death in every fight. It was not my fault they had chosen poorly.

With 7 people on the ground groaning from various injuries, I clapped my hands together from a job well done.

"Alright, let's get a move on. We still have a few hours to get back and the sun won't be up forever." I said while transitioning my hammer back to one hand for convenience and turned to face my gaping mother.

I would normally sheath it on my back but I couldn't very well do that now.

"How did you... ? What... ? How high level are you?" Gabriel seemed lost for words before settling on asking my level. "I knew you were strong from your aura but this was something else."

My aura?

His string of questions broke my mom out of her fog. She had an uncertain look about her and she seemed unnerved at the 'fight'. It hurt my pride to call it that but I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it. I wasn't sure what to do about her expression but we were now free to trek back home and we were burning daylight.

My mother followed as I started walking away from the scene and Gabriel kept asking questions from his position on my back.

When we got far enough away, and out of earshot from the group, I gave him the answers he was looking for.

I answered my level first since it was easiest, "I'm level 57."

The last wave of the tutorial along with all of the pylons I had fought gave me a nice bump in levels. It felt like the chain holding me back had been lifted and the levels had come easier than before.

I had expected to only gain a few in the last few days but managed to pick up 7 before it ended. Which was only behind Austin's 9 in our whole faction. No one gained more levels than me other than him.

Even though I killed more monsters than him, he managed to eke out a few more levels than me, and he hadn't shut up about it. The gap in our class rarity showed itself but not by such a margin as I anticipated.

If that wasn't an indicator of my debt being paid off, I didn't know what was.

Those seven levels in two days gave me more growth than any other stretch of the same amount of time.

The stats from it gave 112 Strength, 42 Agility, 28 Perception, 70 Fortitude, 70 Endurance, 56 Vitality, and 70 Free points to do with what I pleased.

And that was before my passive skills came into play. [Body of a Barbarian(Un)] and [Frozen Fortitude(Un)] gave additional stats on top of that. 35 extra Strength and 56 extra Fortitude respectively.

My legendary class was showing its might and I wasn't even a fifth of the way through E-rank yet.

Hearing what my level was gave Gabriel even more questions and our journey quickly became an interrogation.

"How did you get so high level? What class do you have? Is it Rare? Is it higher than rare? Is your profession that high as well? How many stat points do you have? What skills do you have?" His questions were endless.

"Woah, slow down there bud, why don't we wait until we get back for that kind of stuff," I said.

I would answer all of his questions at some point but now wasn't the best time for that. We would have the chance to catch up on everything when we got back.

With the wind ripped from his sails, he stubbornly agreed to wait but he made me promise to answer all the ones he had.

I tried to keep it light during our travel back but there were a few things we talked about. Little experiences or stories that were more conversational than a recap of our time apart.

It seemed I gave away more than I thought because right before we made it back, my mom got unnaturally quiet and slowed to walk behind me for a while.

Gabriel continued telling his story about one of his first fights with a monster while I noticed she had stopped completely leaving a gap of a few yards between us.

When I turned to look, she had a look about her that almost broke me. Half realization mixed with dread. A pleading to both know and not know at the same time.

She knew.

"He's not there, is he?" She said softly and it was only my heightened perception that let me catch it.