Alex looked at his phone to kill time, flipping through videos about the big event Taker was streaming the next day. Sam stood next to him, with Mark and Sara paired up behind them. He looked up from his phone to see the line still had close to 30 people in front of them.
Glancing at Sam, he couldn’t help but smile. In the days leading up to the meetup at the Voss Estate, they’d gone shopping for clothes. Alex had been slightly annoyed to find that a lot of the modern clothes felt fake and itchy compared to the thicker, handmade clothes of the Celestial Lotus Sect. He had gotten several pairs of clothes that fit his new, more muscular frame and also taken Sam to several shops to find clothes he liked.
He just won’t give up the baggy green sweatshirt.
Despite offering to buy him a new hoodie that fit better, Sam refused and just clung to the green one that Alex had given him.
When Alex compared their own clothes to those around them, he found that most people attending were in practical or tactical clothes. Some wore something closer to dress attire, but if the event had been a black tie-something-or-other, he would have just denied Olivia’s invitation. He looked around for her but hadn’t seen her anywhere, so he assumed she was off doing Peacekeeper duties.
Out of boredom, Alex checked his Status Window.
Status
Name: Alex Moore - Level 26
Class: Ritualist (Novice)
HP: 570/570
MP: 540/540
Traits: (1/3)
{Primordial Will}
Titles: < Control Freak >
Pathfinder
Unbound
One Against Many
Control Freak
Physical Stats:
Strength: 24
Agility: 41
Constitution: 57
Vitality: 26
Magical Stats:
Intellect: 42
Willpower: 343
Mana: 26 + 28
Wisdom: 74
Bond Skills:
[Mana Siphon] (Novice - Level 15)
Primary Stat Shared - Mana
Active Skills:
[Mana Thread] (Novice - Level 17)
[Mana Infusion] (Novice - Level 16)
[Feather Step] (Novice - Level 10)
[Ritual Insight] (Novice - Level 17)
[Mirage] (Journeyman - Level 8)
Passive Skills:
[Efficient Rites] (Tier I)
[Sleep Resistance] (Tier I)
Bound Items:
Unique E Rank Growth Item - Heavenly Eye of the Celestial Sage
He’d leveled a few more times during their final fight against the Shadow Serpent Sect. Though he hadn’t been paying attention to the notifications at the time, he did remember gold light swirling around him at least once during all the fighting.
Alex sighed as he closed the window, knowing that he’d soon reach the point of advancing or evolving his class. Eura had talked with him about the process. Even though the exact timeline was vague, class advancements were tied to a person’s experience gained with the class, not their level. Eura said someone could be ready for advancement between levels 28 and 30 if they immediately accepted a class at level 10.
The thought stressed Alex for some reason. He liked what he had going now and still wanted to do a lot of studying Ritual schematics with his current class ability. So, at first, he said that he would just keep his current class no matter what, but his mentor discouraged that approach.
‘Keep your mind open to the possibility that an even better class will present itself. Be ready to take it when the time comes.’
His thoughts were pulled back to the present as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
Man, two months without this thing makes me realize how annoying it is to be tied down to communication.
He doubled down on the sentiment when he saw who had texted him.
Mom: Alex, hello sweetie! I texted you last week for a family dinner, but you didn’t respond. Your friends came by and said they were worried about you, but I assured them that everything would be fine! I’m glad to see I was right and my texts are sending again!
Mom: We rescheduled to this weekend, please make sure to fit time on your schedule for your family! We will have dinner on Sunday at the normal time.
Fuck. I’m not going back to my normal job. Can I just skip family dinner too?
Alex chuckled a bit at the thought, but realized that the thought of going to the dinner didn’t stress him out as much as it used to. Compared to Naraka, his mother’s nagging about his future career plans seemed almost cute.
Another text came through.
Mom: Jake will be coming to town for dinner. He says that he has big news about his job that he wants to share. We want to be positive and support him, remember?
Alex: I’ll be there.
He just rolled his eyes and locked his phone. Scanning his surroundings, Alex found that he didn’t like to be without his sword. Some people had weapons around them, but it appeared to be for show more than any kind of practical use.
Well, no one should be trying to kidnap or stab me here, so it can just stay in the spatial bag on my hip. It’s not like it’s much slower to draw it from there, anyway.
Alex tapped the pocket of his coat and busied himself by making sure that his leaking mana was pulled in tight. While he didn’t think it would have any effect in a setting like this, Alex wanted to continue practicing, and it was a good distraction from the social event.
“Why do you look mad?”
Alex looked over at Sam and forced a large smile on his face.
It’s the mask, and you know it.
Sam shrugged and sent through the connection the feelings of Alex’s tension that were slipping through the link.
Yeah, okay. I am a bit tense. This is a lot of people for me. I don’t normally do social stuff.
“But Olivia asked?”
Alex looked at the teen from the side of his eyes before nodding.
Have you noticed their levels?
Sam shook his head.
Alex knew he didn’t have an analyze ability like the Heavenly Eye. Still, with his ability to sense mana, he wondered if Sam could tell vague power ranges just from people’s mana. It didn’t appear that Sam’s sensing skill was strong enough to sense what Alex’s eye could see.
They’re really weak. Almost everyone is between levels three and five, with some of the Peacekeepers barely hitting ten to twelve.
With Alex’s Willpower stat being so high above those around him, his inspection ability with the Eye gave him much more information than he needed. Not for the first time, Alex wondered if there was a System Settings menu or something similar that he could use to adjust what information he was given.
He shifted his view from the people to the setting. While he’d seen the Voss Estate several times when visiting, he’d spent most of his time in the back training with other Awakened. This would be his first time going inside the enormous house. Even the outside looked bougie, with its white Christmas lights, blocky structure, and huge glass windows.
The party they were at was a much bigger event than any he’d been to so far. Both the indoor and outdoor spaces had small huddles of Awakened chatting and mingling. While there were lights inside, the patio and training areas were dimly lit by the decorative seasonal lights and with firepits to encourage gathering. Both areas had catered food and drinks were being served by waiters who made circuits the entire time they were standing in line.
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After a bit more waiting, they reached the front of the line and the man checked Alex’s Guild ID. When he asked for the other three, Alex told him that they were Awakened guests who were interested in joining the Guild. The man stressed that Alex was responsible for their actions and welcomed them to the party before calling for the next in line.
Sam told Alex that he was tired of being cold, so the group made the decision to find a comfortable spot inside the large house. They followed the general crowd through an opening room and a small hallway before entering into the central room of the bottom floor. The far wall was entirely made of glass and even in the evening darkness, it was easy to see how spectacular the view would be as it overlooked the Catskill Mountains.
Alex looked around and was surprised at the number of people present. The event was dimly lit by what looked like thin tube lights hanging from the ceiling, but there had to be close to 100 people or more who were packed into small groups.
Were there really this many Awakened?
Wanting to find a good position that wasn’t in the middle of the commotion, Alex found a cocktail table in the far corner of the room that allowed their group to see most of what was going on. There were various tables around the outer ring of the room, and in the center was a small lounge area with low-seated couches.
The general color scheme in the house was black and white, but for some reason the entire place looked like it should be in a TV show where they turn the lights way down low and have a DJ blaring in the background like a club.
He looked to his companions and couldn’t help but smile. He was glad that Mark and Sarah had come, even though it wasn’t his idea. Similar to how they’d stayed at his apartment with him the first few nights after he returned, when they found out that he was coming to a party for Awakened in the Guild, they refused to let him go alone.
Part of Alex knew that they wanted to stay close to him after thinking that he’d died. But he could sense that the other part of it was a protectiveness that he’d never noticed about his friends before.
Am I only seeing it now because I’m stronger and don’t need the protection? Did I always let them stand up for me like this?
He smiled and looked between the two. Mark seemed enormous in his puffy winter coat, and something about how his flannel shirt barely fit his shoulders, made him look even bigger when he took the coat off. Sarah was in more professional clothes, though it was still just slacks and a dressy shirt without sleeves and a beige coat.
Mark loomed over Sarah’s small frame as he leaned over to whisper to her.
Alex swapped places with Sam to get closer to Mark so he could tell the two about some of his experiences with the Guild so far. Sam grumbled about being swapped to the outside of the group, but Alex continued to explain his few interactions so far. In reality, he’d only been with them for a few weeks, but most of his experiences had been very pleasant.
Mostly, people were helpful and didn’t care much for some of the overly formal rules, like using each other’s usernames instead of real names. The only unpleasantness he’d seen in the Guild had been Rylan’s attitude a few times that he’d been to the Voss Estate before and the grumpy woodsman guarding the Wolf Rift.
As if she were summoned by his thoughts, Elana Voss stepped into his vision, and he could tell that she was coming directly toward their group. She had several people in tow and Alex couldn’t help but show a hint of a smile as he saw that one of them was Olivia.
“Alex, is that right?” Elana asked as she approached the group.
He nodded and gave her an exaggerated smile so that the mask would move with his face rather than look blankly at her. They did some quick introductions and Alex introduced Mark and Sarah as other Awakened who might want to join up with the Guild. He breezed over Sam as he didn’t want to bring attention to the teenager.
“I heard you’ve made a lot of progress in the last two weeks. How does one get so strong so quickly?”
“You’ve heard?” Alex parroted back. He forced himself not to look at Olivia.
“Yes, I apologize for the rudeness, but I’ve been having one of my recruiters follow me around for most of the evening to analyze folks to have a gauge on their levels. I believe you two know each other?”
Andrew stepped out from the other side of Elana. He gave a smile and a wave, charming as ever.
Still an extrovert, I see.
“I’m curious, what comes back when you try to use [Analyze] on me now?”
Andrew scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Just your name and a title. First time I’ve seen that happen, to be honest. Control Freak sounds pretty funny, though.”
Olivia’s eyes widened slightly at the subtle hint that Alex must be higher level than most.
She didn’t pick that up from the entire story I gave her? I mean, I know I avoided levels and all, but I mentioned all the stuff I had to fight…
Elana nodded and spoke up, “So, that makes me curious just how strong you are and how you got so strong so quickly.”
Alex raised an eyebrow and smiled again before shrugging. “I feel like I’m pretty strong, but I’m absolutely certain that I’m not the strongest thing out there.” His thoughts couldn’t help but return to the final vision of Eura and Rakshasi fighting in their giant forms. “Also, wasn’t it you,” Alex said to Andrew, “who told me that scanning people was considered rude?”
Elana laughed and told Alex that it was and that it was her fault that he was doing so. Alex sidestepped the question about his level and now wanted to broach the topic of the Epic Rift information he had.
“Elana, I actually wanted to talk to you.” Alex took a pause to extend his [Mana Thread] and form a full-sized ritual that surrounded his small group and their table. He reached into his jacket and dropped the two catalysts onto the ground, getting a strange look from Elana. As the group’s attention was shifted down to the floor, he heard Olivia gasp as he pulsed his mana and activated the Sound-Dampening Ritual. “If I have information on an Epic Rarity Rift, do you think the Guild would be interested in buying?”
She perked up, and Alex could see her switch from social to business mode in an instant. “Epic Rarity, you’re sure?”
Alex sighed. “Oh yes, more than sure. It’s also D Rank, which will make it difficult to handle but should make it even more valuable.”
“No way,” Andrew said in disbelief. “You’re serious?”
Alex nodded and waited to see how Elana reacted. She asked him some follow-up questions about whether he knew the type of monsters inside and the general level ranges. Alex nodded, and then, as his final trump card to seal the deal, he pulled the D Rank Mana Stone from his pouch and handed it to her. He told her that since it was a D Rank, it also dropped higher-ranked stones. He asked her to see how much she might be able to get for that one and let him know its value before she sold it.
He thought about also offering up his Hidden Quest Rift reward, to see how much money the Guild would offer him for a Rare material. The morning after he’d gotten the Mana Pearl, he realized that it was a Rare Material item, while even something like the Spatial pouches was only Uncommon. But he decided it wouldn’t be good to show everything in his hand right away.
Maybe I could talk her into creating some sort of actual in-person auction. I’m sure if people started bidding on it like that, the price could climb really high.
Elana looked shell-shocked for a moment while holding the slightly larger purple crystal, but then she looked up and smiled at Alex. Their conversation ended soon after she told him that she would have a Moderator reach out to him through the AG app, and she left grinning like a miner who’d struck gold.
Andrew went with her, but Olivia stayed behind. She waved at Sam and gave him a knuckle bump before greeting Sarah and Mark. Turning to Alex, she hissed, “He couldn’t scan you?? You didn’t tell me you were that high leveled. And when did you put that ritual down?”
“I didn’t tell you my level at all.” Alex pointed out with a sly grin.
“Ugh,” Olivia looked at the ceiling.
“Wait, what does that mean?” Mark chimed in. The two had stayed quiet for most of the conversation, other than a friendly greeting at the start.
Olivia looked to Alex, who just shrugged. “It means he’s higher level than me, at least. Which really doesn’t make sense. Even with the crazy story you told me.”
Alex shrugged. “Sam’s higher level than me.”
All three heads turned to the teenager, who looked at Alex with a mock glare before stepping back and slightly behind a chuckling Alex.
Alex couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Olivia looked, even without apparently putting in much effort. She didn’t have on her normal bomber jacket but wore practical, well-fitted clothes with just a bit of mascara. Her hair was up in a ponytail, much like it was when they were training.
Well, that makes sense; she’s here as a Peacekeeper, not an attendee.
“You look very pretty tonight,” Alex said. He felt lame after saying it, but realized it was already out there and just waited to see what her reaction might be. He normally wasn’t one to say something so bold, but after their conversation earlier in the week, he thought Olivia preferred things to be said plainly.
Some color rose in her cheeks, and Alex knew he’d said the right thing. There was some more back and forth before she politely excused herself and said that she needed to continue to make rounds around the building.
As soon as she left, Mark spoke up.
“OoooOooh!” Mark said while wiggling his eyebrows.
“You look very pretty tonight? Who the hell are you?” Sarah asked in disbelief.
Alex laughed, and the good-natured ribbing continued for a few minutes. At one point, Alex glanced down at Sam, who had a big grin on his face, seemingly enjoying how the other two poked at Alex.
Another half hour passed as they talked about Rifts and some of the information Alex had thanks to being a member of the Guild. The conversation about picking a class was interrupted by a loud clanging on the other side of the room.
Alex let out a sigh as he realized that it was Rylan Voss, finally making an appearance at the party. The large man was currently making a scene after one of the waiters had bumped into him.
That’s unlucky, man. If you spilled that on just about anyone else, there wouldn’t have been an issue.
Out of curiosity, Alex took advantage of all the eyes being on the scene and lifted his mask enough to move the wooden puck that covered his eye. He used the Heavenly Eye on the spoiled rich man.
Rylan Voss - Level 21
Class: Bruiser
Primary Stat: Strength
Secondary Stat: Willpower
Most Used Ability: Intimidating Presence
Alex raised his eyebrow when he saw the man’s level and class.
I wonder if he’s got access to his own high-rarity Rift. Either that, or he’s throwing himself into combat almost nonstop.
Rylan was yelling at the waiter, and many of the eyes in the room began to turn toward the scene. The waiter shrunk, trying to look small, and apologized profusely. But as the man submitted and more eyes turned toward the situation, Rylan was emboldened rather than ashamed of his outburst.
At Alex’s side, Sam shrunk back a little further, likely reminded of how the merchant in Tianluo had treated him.