Eyebrow scar and friends settled into the booth, “well, we might as well introduce ourselves, seeing as we’re bumping into each other so often.”

Edgar shuffled in his seat, realizing as soon as they saw Mirai and Edgar’s level, they’d realize they were the adventurers who cleared the level one rift. He glanced at Mirai, but she seemed unconcerned.

She gestured at him, speaking for them both. “This is Ed. I’m Mira.”

Edgar caught his breath, looking at the adventurers, but… nothing happened. They were unfazed and nodded greetings to them both.

Edgar shook his head, throwing Mirai a quick, grateful smile. Of course, nicknames. Not their real names…

He let out a small exhale and tried to hammer this rule of etiquette into his memory.

Eyebrow scar gestured at himself. “I’m Kly, and this is James, Nate, Nat, and Priz.”

They each gave a greeting in their own style. James was the other man he had met in the bath, his muscular frame taking up the space of two people on the bench. He nodded, smiling. Nate was the lanky man with daggers. He huffed and raised an eyebrow. Nat was the mage. She inclined her hat. Priz was the last, the sword fighter, and her smile radiated warmth.

“Great to meet you, and thanks for the tip about this inn. We’ve been on the road for a while and it’s great to have such a nice place to stay.”

Edgar smiled, “no problem, happy to-”

Kly leaned in. “But you didn’t mention whose place it was! My god, it’s Raiden Ashford’s place.”

Beside him, he heard Mirai make a loud huffing sound and glance out the window. Priz elbowed Kly in the ribs.

“What? Raiden Ashford is one of the greatest adventurers in recent history. I can’t believe you all were so calm about it.”

Priz elbowed him again. “Well, you drooled over him enough for all of us last night. We’re lucky he didn’t kick us out with the fuss you were making!”

“See! He’s even magnanimous. Could there be a better adventurer? I think not.”

Priz rolled her eyes. “Sorry for him. The Sword assigned him as a temporary escort and coach, so there’d be no issues traveling this far out in the Network.”

From Mirai’s reaction, Edgar realized this must be a usual occurrence around her uncle. It was clear he was an esteemed figure among adventurers. Edgar smirked, remembering the way he doted on Mirai as they entered the Ancient Tomb rift. He might be some grand adventurer, but he was also just an uncle.

Judging by the look on Kly’s face, he was also walking over.

He arrived with a server, both of them carrying plates of food.

“Morning. Oh, are these friends of yours?” Raiden asked, glancing around the table as he deposited plates heavy with breakfast.

Kly glanced at Edgar with a pleading look in his eyes.

Edgar shrugged. “Just met, but they seem like good people.”

Mirai nodded her agreement.

Raiden glanced at the group. His eyes settling on Kly for a moment, before flipping back to Edgar.

“Well, get some food in you and then we’re off to begin the ritual. If there’s any final training to do before you can take the next level, we’ll take care of it. Meet me outside when you’re ready.”

As Raiden turned away, Kly bolted upright and folded over in a deep bow. “R-Raiden, sir! M-may we join you and take part in this training?!”

He glanced over his shoulder, a gleam in his eye. “Sure.”

In that moment, Kly ate faster than anyone Edgar had ever seen. Priz had to clap him on the back multiple times and began grumbling about his conduct. Once they cleared the final plate, they all stood and walked outside, where they found Raiden puffing on a pipe. When he drew on it, yellow runes glowed along its sides and the air crackled. When he exhaled, the cloud of smoke glowed with light, like the breath of an electric dragon.

The sight was rather ominous, and Edgar could see their new friends shuffling and glancing at each other.

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“Ready?” Raiden tucked the pipe into his shirt.

Edgar and Mirai nodded.

Kly stepped forward. “We are lucky to have this chance to train under you, sir. We’re ready.”

Raiden gazed at Kly, and then at the others following him. “Then, come along.”

They left the town, waving to the Archer on the wall and walking up the road. At a point, Raiden led them off the main road and down a discrete trail, which turned into a steep descent. Eventually, they reached a ledge, and the mist parted, revealing a plateau cut into the side of the mountain. On the far side, he could see a small trail leading to a scenic overlook.

Edgar gaped, noticing the clean lines and edges. “Wait, don’t tell me you made this place?”

“Yes, and if I remember correctly, it took about… oh, maybe five minutes?” Raiden smiled at him. “As you level, your skills and abilities will change and grow. You become capable of many things. The trick is an open mind.”

Then Raiden stepped off the ledge and jumped effortlessly down onto the plateau, a solid twenty-foot drop. Edgar smiled, activating [Acrobatics] and [Leap] without a second thought and jumped down after him, using one wall to slow himself, landing in a roll, and then springing to his feet.

Raiden raised an eyebrow, smiling. “So, agility? After watching you fight the skeletons, I figured you’d be heading in this direction.”

Edgar returned the smile as his adrenaline faded. “Agility is one of my strengths, for sure.”

"What’s this about strengths? I take it you didn't ignore my advice, then?" Raiden asked with a deep smile.

“Of course not! I don’t know much yet, but I can learn. Agility is my main strength for now and combining that with Mirai’s precision generated a lot of good combos. The skeletons’ general weakness to blunt damage meant my tail was massively helpful too.”

Raiden laid a tender hand on Edgar’s shoulder, squeezing. “We’ll make an adventurer out of you yet. You have the brain for it and that’s the hardest part to teach.”

Edgar beamed, turning to watch Mirai and the others descend from the ledge. However, instead of jumping down, they had descended a staircase carved into the wall.

Mirai was looking at him with an eyebrow raised. “Showoff.”

Edgar shrugged, smiling.

Nate was twirling one of his daggers. “Agility skills with fast cooldowns?”

Edgar nodded.

“Hmmm… I wonder who’s faster…” Nate mumbled, smiling competitively.

Raiden cleared his throat. “Enough posturing. Let’s have your names, new folks. You have my protection here against any eavesdropping or spies, and I need the information in order to coach you.”

Kly couldn’t have been any more eager. “Klein Hammerhall, your excellence. You can call me that.”

Raiden nodded to the others.

“Jim Thunk, sir. Call me James.”

“Nathan Whisperhall. I go by Nate.”

“Natalie Shoemaker, sir. Nat for short.”

“Prisma Morse. Priz for me. It’s good to meet you.”

As they spoke, status screens appeared in front of them, highlighting their race and level. Edgar was surprised to see Priz was an [Elf] and James was something called a [Wilderman]. The others were [Human] and for levels, Klein was level nine while the others were level three.

Raiden nodded. “Good to meet you all.”

Then he glanced at Edgar and Mirai.

Uh oh, moment of truth.

Mirai groaned. “Do we have to?”

Edgar groaned, but relented. “It’s only right. If they do it, we should, too.”

“Mirai. Call me that unless we’re in public.”

“Edgar Voss, and Edgar or Ed is good with me.”

Edgar could see their eyes widening as their status screens appeared.

Priz was the first to speak. “Oh my, you are level one! Are you the ones?”

Klein palmed his face. “Oh my god, you told me you cleared a rift. You even said it was your first rift, didn’t you? I didn’t even put it together—”

Behind Klein, James winked at Edgar and Mirai. Clearly, James had put it all together on the spot, back in the bath. “It changes nothing. With the backing of Raiden Ashford, it all makes sense.”

The others seemed to deflate a bit at James’ remark, although Edgar could almost hear the wheels in their heads turning.

“Still frustrating that you took our rift, though.” Nathan crossed his arms.

Edgar’s eyebrow twitched. He didn’t really see how it was their rift, but he restrained himself from arguing the point.

Klein raised his hands peacefully, turning to the group. “Please, see this for what it is—an opportunity. We missed out on the rift, sure, but now we have a rare chance to train with Raiden Ashford himself! It’s not like the essence of a level one rift would help your leveling anyway.”

Raiden nodded. “So you’re the group sent by the Sword, then? He’s right that the rift’s rewards would mean little, punching down two levels like that.”

“Tsk… We knew that going in. The guild had promised us rewards.” Nathan mumbled.

Priz cuffed him on the back of his head. “And you think those rewards could possibly cover the value of this training session?”

Klein nodded emphatically. “No way.”

Edgar sighed, tension leaving his body as the group reached consensus. He couldn’t deny he found the idea of having a few more friends pretty attractive.

~~~~~~~~~~

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