To my disappointment, the training did not take place even after I had dried myself and my clothes. First, we had to clean up the traces I left on the platform in front of the Door to the Monkey's Lair. Tuan helped us with that. The sheriff trusted his aide completely, as Tuan owed a life debt to his superior. Then, we transferred all the loot I had gathered to the marshal.

It wouldn't be possible to hide for long the fact that one of the three dungeons on the island of Un has been Reset, so Ender and I devised a plan of what we would disclose and what we would omit. What we came up with was rather a flimsy tale, but the town elders believed it, and that's what mattered. However, we didn't even need them to fully believe us; it was sufficient that they wouldn't pester us with questions, and we achieved that. As for the local tunnellers, Ender declared that since the Lair was close to Overflowing, it was already a matter for the sheriff's department, and he had dealt with the problem. "As I will continue dealing with any threat to our lovely Unudo!" - this is a direct quote from him. Lao Fan did not object to this interpretation, or perhaps he simply did not want to quarrel with the sheriff.

All these formalities took up the rest of the day, and when Seguna replaced Dairin in the sky, instead of training, we went to the tavern, where we ordered not beer as usual but a stronger drink, somewhat reminiscent of Japanese sake.

Taking the first sip, I wondered. Was the risk of battling the Monkey King worth what I ultimately gained?

First, "Pure Palm of Five Empty Fingers" is an achievement recorded in adamantium ink. Each such achievement grants the right to ascend one step on the Divino Stairway! Throughout the entire previous Cycle, I did not earn a single inscription like this. There were mithril achievements, but no adamantium ones.

Second, by completing just one dungeon, I elevated my rank. A rank in a day, immeasurably fast, even considering that this is a rise from Copper to Iron. Such a pace of Elevation is on the level of the mythical heroes of ancient Ain.

Third, the density of energies in my Core has matched that of the Shards. Although it is true only at the current stage, and most likely, they will move ahead soon, but still, this is an epic bonus.

Fourth, my "Determination" has risen all the way to the twelfth rank and "Perseverance" to the tenth!

Fifth, the respect of the local population. All I have to do is show this Sign, and people will treat me reverently, and even kings will listen to me! Because this achievement is roughly equivalent to someone in the times of Sophocles bringing the head of the Lernaean Hydra to the gates of Athens. But to avoid envy and unnecessary rumors, it is still not worth flaunting the "Clean Palm" just everywhere.

Sixth, a unique bonus, inconspicuous at first glance, called "Pure Palms - Pure Body," which grants immunity to diseases, including magical ones, unless the magic is, of course, of the Divine circle. And indeed, it seems like an insignificant bonus, considering how advanced Healing alchemy is in Ain. But! For the demons of the Plague Legion, this ability of mine will be a very unpleasant surprise!

Weighing all these bonuses, I clearly realized that I did not risk in vain. Not at all in vain!

I had managed to drink almost a quarter of a liter before the girls and Flavius found me. The earthlings were, to put it mildly, displeased that I had disappeared somewhere last night and only showed up now. They would have written me off already if Tuan hadn't informed them at noon that I was alive and with the sheriff.

"What do you mean you're already of iron rank?!" Miranda jumped up on her stool when I started my story.

"Well..." I shrugged. "It just happened..."

"Happened?!" The girl got wound up even more. "You could at least not give us the same nonsense that you and the local sheriff fed to others!"

"Miranda is right," Flavius supported her. "If we start hiding things from each other at this stage, our journey in the new world will end very quickly."

"There's nothing to tell, really," I brushed them off, gulping down another serving of sake.

Taking a deep breath, as if calming down, Miranda slowly exhaled. Then, as if counting to ten in her head, she finally said:

"But still, tell us."

"Alright," I put the snack aside, pretending to give in to their pressure. "Last night, the sheriff and I got wasted. I mean, really wasted. For those who didn't catch on, we got seriously, seriously wasted. One word led to another, and I got carried away, telling him how awesome I am and that I'm the best fighter and future mithril rank tunneller." It seems that only Flavius understands my story, while the girls just blink in confusion, but I continue without faltering. "Our argument kept escalating, and after another jug, we somehow ended up in front of the entrance to the Monkey's Lair. For some reason, I was dragging a spear with me. Then I remember drinking some potions and the sheriff casting spells on me. Then - a blackout, and the next thing I know, I'm outside the Lair throwing up, covered in blood and guts." I spread my hands. "That's all."

"Hold on." Miranda waved her hands. "So, you went into the Monkey's Lair alone, a dungeon that locals don't go into in groups smaller than a dozen?"

"Yep," I confirmed, pouring myself another drink. "I was drunk."

"And you came back alive, Resetting the dungeon?!"

"Yep." I downed the drink and grimaced; this swill was something else. "I was very drunk!"

"How did you do that?" The future sorceress, with her arms folded, inquired.

"I don't remember…"

"What do you mean you don't remember?!" Miranda exploded.

"Stop!" Flavius intervened. "Girls, this kind of thing happens. I once went to a friend's house on a Friday to have a beer, and then in an instant, I was standing half-naked in the ocean, and it turned out a week had passed! How I got from the East Coast to a beach in Los Angeles, I still can't remember to this day!"

"Are you kidding me?" The sorceress raised her voice even more.

"No, Miranda." Ilona chimed in. "It happens to guys. Moreover, the locals consider the last night dedicated to the god Sino."

"Which god?" Miranda didn't understand.

"Sino – the local god of leisure and drunkenness, one of the Five whose souls are sealed in the Great Towers and, according to the local religion, holds back a new onslaught of Demons."

"And?!" The future sorceress became even more agitated.

"What do you mean 'And'?!" Ilona retorted sharply. "It's precisely Sino who is responsible here for feats accomplished under intoxication and the like!"

"What does that have to do with anything?!!" The other girl almost shouted.

"It has everything to do with it, Miranda! You need to understand: Ain is not Earth, the gods here were real! And their names and deeds are not to be taken lightly! Maybe Raven was led into the Lair because the night was dedicated to Sino!"

"Do you really believe all these local tales and superstitions?!" The sorceress snapped back.

To my surprise, the usually calm and composed Ilona became agitated in response, and an intense argument broke out between the girls. Glancing at them, Flavius turned to me and, covering the sake jug with his palm, said:

"Raven, you should slow down indeed, or you'll end up losing your head and not remembering how it happened."

Pushing the drink away, I looked up at him:

"You know, you're probably right."

Flavius and Ilona easily believed my story because, from the first day we met, they saw me getting drunk every night. Of course, they had created a corresponding image of me in their heads. And if Flavius initially thought that I was drinking to blend in with the locals, he changed his mind today, thinking that I probably enjoyed the process itself. Actually, I don't mind a good beer or wine, but it has to be good! And here, in this godforsaken Unudo, they can't brew beer, and the other alcohol is simply horrible. So, I easily pushed the sake jug away from me. Besides, I no longer need to ply Ender with drinks every night to get information from him.

Coming up with such a story was to me also because I knew Dice very well in the last Cycle. He was an earthling like us, and he drank anything that could burn. Always found places to get drunk, binge, or somehow unwind. He was one of those people who could even find a crate of cold beer in the middle of the Sahara. Few people ever saw him sober, and yet he was the first among us to reach the Mithril rank, outpacing Nate, Arien, and even Katashi. And, just like in my story, Dice usually couldn't remember how he accomplished his feats. As I understand it now, he was a Shard of a deity similar to the local Sino or Earth's Dionysus. And he was also a friend of the "past me."

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But in this Cycle, I'd better keep my distance from him. Because hiding something from Dice when you've been drinking together is almost impossible. And not getting drunk in his company is a more challenging task than defeating the Demon Prince! I was afraid to tell anyone about my "memory of the future" because I suspected that if this was revealed, the questers would erase me without hesitation.

Thinking about Dice, I got a bit distracted and didn't even notice how I automatically reached for the jug with sake. Catching Flavius's gaze, I pretended to be embarrassed and pulled my hand back.

Then Ender joined us at the table and apologized to me, saying that the potions he had "given" me before the trip to the Monkey Lair "apparently" shouldn't be mixed with alcohol, as this can lead to partial memory loss. Of course, this "apology" was planned by us in advance. And since the sheriff looked quite tipsy at that moment, my companions took his words at face value, which significantly reduced the intensity of their suspicion. Miranda and Ilona stopped arguing and told me what they had been up to that day. All three earthlings didn't just sit in the tavern; each tried to learn more about the world around them. But the big news for them was that they earned their first achievements.

Flavius started it all by buying cheap fishing gear, assembling a fishing rod, and going fishing in the very stream we walked along to get to the town. As soon as he caught his first trout, he earned the "Fisherman" first-circle achievement. He immediately returned to the girls and taught them how to use the fishing rod. They got the same achievement too.

After that, the girls went to Uncle Hoo's shop, where the owner was intrigued by the large, beautifully designed metal buttons on the sleeves of Ilona's blouse. After a bit of haggling, the healer cut off the buttons and sold them. As soon as the deal was made, she earned the "Merchant" first-circle achievement. To gain this entry, you only needed to sell something to someone; it didn't appear when buying. Immediately, Miranda and Flavius also sold various trifles to the shop.

Of course, I could have hinted to them a long time ago on how to earn such "junk" achievements and complete the questers' task without any problems on the first day, but I thought they would figure it out on their own. And my calculation was correct. By this evening, after spending the day experimenting, my companions could each "boast" of eight achievements. In my opinion, the most useful among what they earned was Ilona's "Cook" achievement of the seventh circle. By showing its Sign, the girl could easily find work in half of the eateries in Pentapolis.

As soon as Ender left our table, I slapped my forehead and said:

"I remembered!"

The three earthlings immediately fell silent and fixed their gazes on me.

"So?!" Unable to withstand even ten seconds of silence, Flavius urged me. "Did you remember how you got through the dungeon?"

"No," I dismissed. "I remembered something more important, namely, why I went there in the first place!"

"Is that so?" Miranda inquired, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm curious to know what could justify such foolishness in your eyes!"

"We made a bet with the sheriff," I said, paying no attention to her caustic remark. "If I came out of the Lair alive, he would agree to train me in combat skills and techniques."

"Oh really..." Flavius leaned back on his stool in surprise. "Of course, Miranda is right, and the risk was excessive, but finding a teacher is really cool!"

"And also..." I continued. "If you prove yourselves, the sheriff might teach you something too."

"I told you Raven isn't selfish!" Ilona immediately spoke up and looked triumphantly at Miranda.

"We all must have gone through the first group test, considering we are here," Flavius said somberly. "So, we are all selfish."

The mention of that trial immediately dampened everyone's mood, and our conversation naturally died down for almost half an hour. Until Ilona set her mug aside and said, not addressing anyone in particular:

"We need to learn. We need to, no matter what it takes."

"Why so?" Miranda immediately inquired.

"Because I am terrified of what happened to me! Just recently, I was living a normal life, and in an instant, everything changed! Without my consent, I was forced to go through these trials!" The aspiring healer shrugged her shoulders as if she was cold. "But that's not even what scares me the most…"

"What does?" Miranda asked again.

"The fact that those were the initial trials!" Flavius answered for Ilona. "Initial! That means there will be more! And far more complex than what we were given now." He looked around at all of us. "Does anyone think differently?"

"No, you're right." Miranda nodded.

"At any moment, they might force us to fight against fellow earthlings like ourselves," Ilona spoke up. "And those who refuse will be 'erased'."

"Knock on wood," the blond guy grimaced.

"No, she's right," Miranda agreed, sipping wine from her mug. "It could happen. It's not certain that this will be the case, but we must be prepared for such a turn of events."

"And maybe they'll pit us against a similar group, but there are only four of us left. And we basically don't know how to do anything!" Ilona didn't stop.

"Enough!" The future sorceress snapped at her. "We get it - we need to learn!"

The topic of conversation didn't appeal to any of the earthlings, so in the end, silence hung over the table. We quietly finished our dinner and dispersed to our rooms.

In the morning, I woke up with the first rays of the sun. I got dressed and, going downstairs, asked the cook to tell my companions that once they woke up and have breakfast, they should head to the hill they are already familiar with.

At this time, Unudo was still quiet. The fishermen had left the town almost an hour before dawn, and the rest of the residents were just waking up. Nevertheless, when I approached the marshal, Ender was already sitting on its steps. He threw me my yari, then picked up two long bamboo poles and a large bag, after which he nodded at me and headed to the training ground. The sheriff was surprisingly silent today, and I decided to play along, not pestering him with questions or talking about the weather, which was unusually windy for the morning. I was even curious why he had changed his behavior so much.

In this way, without saying a word to each other, we climbed up, circled the familiar hill, and stopped on the slope that was not visible from the town. Ender leisurely placed the bag on the ground, then gestured for me to set my spear aside, and when I did, he threw me a bamboo pole. Just as I caught it, the sheriff immediately attacked me, trying to sweep my legs.

This strike could have been parried, but instead, I acted a bit theatrically, hopping in place and letting the stick pass under my legs. A new strike followed immediately, a thrust to the chest. Again, I didn't parry, I shifted my torso with a rotating motion, and Ender's lunge hit the air. A combination of two sharp blows to the shoulders made me break the distance, but it was a feint, while the main strike was again aimed at my left knee. Simply lifting my leg, like a heron, I let it pass by.

Thanks to the "memory of the future," I knew how to handle weapons, but this skill was not ingrained in my reflexes and muscle memory. If Ender had struck at a speed normal for a warrior of the steel rank, I might have had enough time to think about what needed to be done, but I certainly wouldn't have had time to put those thoughts into action. But right now, the sheriff was acting relaxed, deliberately slow, and languid, as if he could barely reach the wooden rank.

Then Ender sped up to the copper level, and after dodging the first lunge, I immediately caught a poke of bamboo in the solar plexus. I saw the blow, knew what to do to avoid it, but my body didn't react in time. Because, seeing the lunge, I first thought and remembered how to deflect this strike, and only then did I start to act and, predictably, didn't make it in time. Without breaking the silence, the sheriff nodded to himself and returned to a slowed-down rhythm. This time his pokes were less sweeping and more sharp. Nevertheless, despite this sharpness, I managed to dodge or parry for a minute, but as soon as he accelerated just a little, I immediately missed a blow.

And again, the slowing down of the pace; this time, the sheriff attacks much more skillfully, weaving combinations, deceptions, feints. But with my "future experience," I see through these tricks, and it is even easier for me to avoid them than simple, straightforward, but sharp lunges. This stage lasts five times longer than the previous ones, but, as if getting into the rhythm, I dodge, parry, break the distance. This peculiar trance allows me to endure seven new blows already at the speed of copper. But then I realize that the sheriff has sped up; I lose my rhythm and immediately let through a regrettable not-so-strong blow straight to the forehead and fall on my backside.

The sheriff just snorts under his breath and gestures for me to get up. And again, the bamboo pole weaves a web around me. Over and over, first slowly, then an unexpected acceleration until I miss a strike. Again and again.

Even at twenty, when I was in my prime and nearly ready to be selected for the national team, I would have been exhausted after half an hour of exercises this intense. But an hour has already passed, and I've only just begun to break a sweat. "Enhanced Body" of the mithril level is a massive bonus!

My companions appeared on the slope at the same time as Tuan. Without stopping his assault on me, the sheriff turned to his aide:

"Tuan, make it so that they are tired."

To my surprise, none of the earthlings objected, challenged Ender's authority, or demanded anything. Even Miranda allowed herself only to purse her lips, but nothing more.

"Leave your gear here," ordered the ranger. "Follow me. Anyone who falls behind will go back to the tavern."

Having said this, Tuan turned around and began to run toward the sea. Miranda had already opened her mouth, wanting to speak out, but she saw Flavius and Ilona silently running after the sheriff's aide and, cursing, she darted off the spot to keep up.

I was watching them go and immediately received a very sensitive blow to the center of my chest, followed by a sweeping kick under my knees, causing my legs to fly above my head, and I rolled down the slope. When I jumped to my feet, I noticed the disappointment on Ender's face; he was clearly displeased that I got distracted. With a short bow, I showed that I regretted my mistake. The sheriff took it in stride and immediately launched an attacking combination…

Ender drilled me for almost another hour, making me not only parry blows or dodge but also run back and forth along the slope at the same time. Any other fighter on the iron rank without the support of strengthening magic or alchemical elixirs would have long since become exhausted in my place. As for me, even though I was sweating profusely, I kept running, jumping, and parrying blows.

The sheriff was the first to give up. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he stopped the exercise. Then he instructed me to assume the crane stance, which is standing on one leg with arms spread wide. He then filled three small cups with water, placing one on the top of my head and the other two on my palms. He instructed me not to spill a drop while he rested.

All of this strongly reminded me of the martial arts movies I had seen on Earth about Wushu masters. But in Ain, such exercises, as well as deep meditations, were the norm not only in the East but also to the West of the Great Ridge.

While I stood like that, Ender was peering at the coastline with a puzzled look. Apparently, he was waiting for Tuan, who should have brought the completely exhausted rookies back about twenty minutes ago, according to his calculations. But his aide still hadn't shown up.

When the first drop from the cup on the back of my left palm fell to the ground, Ender seemed to come alive and even smiled. He smiled, it seemed to me, with relief. And then, without giving me a second's rest, throwing the bamboo pole into my hands, he ordered me to attack.

Of course, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't touch the seasoned steel-rank fighter. No "experience of the future" helped me bridge the gap separating steel from iron. Moreover, the sheriff did not hesitate to use at least two auras, most likely for acceleration and enhanced perception.

Ender dodged my blows mockingly. At the last moment, it seemed that I was just about to get him. But no - a miss and a stinging counter-blow.

When, after another unsuccessful attack, I missed a counter and slid down the slope face first, I heard:

"Stop! I think I've figured it out. Put the pole aside and come to me."