The few moments after my final member arrived in an unusual manner leaving Reiner to scowl at our new arrival as she walked into the room with her nose in the air.

I stood from the couch to get a better look at this girl, who Reiner was clearly annoyed by, “… Do you know who has to pay for that door?" I remarked to which she seemed to cower at my words before she wrapped her arms around my waist unexpectedly.

“… It wasn’t my fault! Blame him for not opening the door or not waiting for Lilith," She whined pointing at Reiner, who gave an annoyed snort at the girl who only reached my chest in height.

Yet I was very confused. “…Huh? Then knock? Or wait outside?" I said in response to the girl, who only clung before I pushed her away despite her resistance she reluctantly let go, while I turned my attention to Reiner, whose sneer of disgust had grown.

"Tch, took you long enough, brat,” He scoffed to the girl who glared in return.

"Shut up! you stupid mutt! Lilith was busy, she wanted to see him first,” She sneered to which Reiner's face twitched in anger.

"Oi, how many times do I have to tell you I hate that name! I'm not a mutt! The idiots here gave me that stupid name!" He shouted which made her glare at him with a small snicker.

“Whatever… what did meeting him first get you anyways, outclassed? Not good enough to beat him?" She said with a taunting smirk to which caused Reiner to growl.

"Oi, you little brat, just because I lost the fight against him doesn't mean I'm weaker than him," He growled, while the girl laughed in his face.

It was clear these two could go on for hours if I let them. "… We’re all here now, I don't really care about your stupid fight so just drop it," I remarked to which they both fell silent.

Reiner simply stared at me with an annoyed look while the girl cowered at the look I gave. "… he started it, it's not Lillith’s fault!" She cried out only to be ignored by me.

“You’re our third party member? It seems you and Reiner know each other, but I don’t know you, introduce yourself," I said causing her to look disappointed, but she obliged.

"… Lilith,” she said lowly like she expected me to know who she was despite the faint familiarity of her aura.

"Well then, Lilith sit, so we can have Reiner here explain our next move," I said to her as I took my place on the couch again.

Lilith didn’t question my words and simply sat down on the couch as close as she could to me, while Reiner scoffed from his seat opposite of us.

“Heh, we got our required members, you can take your ranking exam. Then we’ll be able to hit the guilds contracts and make some money, with a bigger status comes bigger contracts even dungeon raids," Reiner remarked making it seem like it was already in the bag to which I simply replied with a flat expression.

"I can see you really jump to conclusions… To avoid suspicion, we’ll return to the guildhall tomorrow now that we meet the requirements and then we'll see where this all takes us." I stated rationally, considering it seemed I had to be the brain of these two.

Regardless, Reiner was simply satisfied with my response as he turned his back to us and laid his head against the couch with a huff.

Lilith, however, looked at me like I was some kind of hero she saw in a dream, despite me being no such thing.

I simply ignored her as I let out a breath before I rested my face against my hand. “I take it you and Lilith have been ranked. What are your current ranks?" I remarked to Reiner, who chuckled with amusement.

"Tch, S-rank and this brats A-rank… officially that is. I’m the only one of us that has actually done the ranking exam, the red manes forged her documents to keep things simple. as for you, well unlike me and Lilith, its hard to miss someone like you that’s why you’re doing the ranking exam,” Reiner scoffed like he had just repeated what someone had said to him before.

"S-Rank? Your probably around stage three or four in terms of magical energy. Still pretty impressive,” I mused mostly to myself to adjust to the very different systems I’ve come to know as of late, regardless that left Lilith although she certainly didn’t look like her abilities could compare to much.

“This brat was listed as A-rank only because the Red Manes forged those papers for her, honestly she’s not even close to a real A-rank… heh, maybe even lower." Reiner scoffed with a smirk on his face which only made Lilith glare at him.

"What are you trying to say!? Lilith will have you know that Lilith is very strong!" She argued only for Reiner to click his tongue in irritation, but I wasn’t going to let their little disagreement carry on.

"… Enough, I’m going to be clear. Seeing as you two can’t go a second without fighting, I’m setting some rules. The first one being, don’t speak non-sense when I’m asking questions that will benefit my understanding of things.” I remarked flatly to which I got their usual scoff from Reiner and a scared silence from Lilith.

I couldn't help but let out a breath of air before continuing with my thoughts. “… You both seem to understand, that’s good. The reason I was asking was simply to determine where my ideal rank should be based on, it’s rather low but I’ll adapt as needed.” I remarked causing Reiner to scoff once more.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Heh, ideal rank? You’re saying you can perfectly gauge how much skill you need to land in your ideal rank? That’s pretty funny,” Reiner sneered like he didn’t believe my words, but I simply returned to my thoughts as his words went in one ear and out the other.

“I also noticed mine and your guild plates were a different color, what does that mean?" I mused causing Reiner to let out another scoff as he pulled his from his coat pocket and showed it to me.

"The platinum badge is for S-ranks…” he began to say before Lilith jumped up with her gold hued plating.

"Lilith has one to!" She announced proudly.

"Oi, shut up brat, you got your rank for free, so you don't get to show off." Reiner sneered leaving me to once again to simply stare at their argument.

Although it seemed to end their antics with the same outcome, a bitter silence that filled the room of fear and intimidation.

"… Tch, the color of a badge determines the rank of benefactors using the E to S ranking system. since we’re not Clans they needed to do it this way," Reiner remarked all he cared to know about the subject, but it was enough for me to understand.

"I take it a gold plating would be considered A-rank then,” I said, to which he scoffed.

"Yeah, you got it, silver is mostly B to C rank and well, bronze I’m sure you can figure out the rest." Reiner sneered before returning his plate back into his coat pocket.

It was pretty straight forward, and in truth, I could easily land myself within gold rank, which would allow me to be considered average on the mainland, after all Theitus did mention that I shouldn’t let anyone know my true strength, it's the best way to avoid suspicion and the possibility of being considered a threat to Monarchs.

Despite my lingering thoughts I had gathered a bit more knowledge about the adventurer’s guild and I was sure the more time I spent here the more I’d come to know. Eventually, after having the door fixed, which was paid for by me, the innkeeper himself, wasn’t exactly sure if he should be scared or angry at the sight of us and the door being broke but he still looked unimpressed while he nervously took my money and that left the first night in Vectus to settle over us.

The streets of Sura beyond the window in the room were restless as lampposts had replaced daylight in a city that seemed to never sleep.

Reiner and Lilith had fallen asleep on the couches, although this girl, Lilith rested her head against my side like I was some kind of pillow but eventually I did leave them to sleep.

However, I went to the bedroom where two beds sat and I laid down on one of them, with my usual lingering thoughts and plans for the next day.

The ranking exam, as Reiner explained earlier today was a test where benefactors offered contracts and lower ranking clans would obtain their guild status, by going against one of the big four of the guild, which was basically four individuals the guild relied on, who were considered the strongest benefactors with the status of S-rank.

I knew I would be just fine going up against one of them and if anything, I would be aiming for the guilds gold status and I would obtain that by watching the other entries in the ranking exam from the sidelines and determine how I would achieve that outcome.

it wasn't long before my thoughts fell to sleep but even then, I felt my Esoteric Restrictions going through everything that I had learned today and any information that could help me in my goal.

After all, it's all I could do until I took the ranking exam itself.

The next day came before I knew it, and upon waking I was greeted by something heavy on my chest which felt wet and sticky. Regardless I wasn’t impressed at what or rather who thought it was acceptable to sleep on me.

My Amber glare peered down to Lilith in a deep sleep while a puddle of drool that had formed under her.

“…Seriously? What is up with this girl?” I remarked with an irritated groan before I shoved the half of her body that laid against me to the other side of the bed with a thud.

Lilith however, groaned still deep in her slumber. A short sigh left my mouth before I stood from the bed and stretched my muscles out before wiping off Lilith's drool from my chest then left the bedroom.

Only to see Reiner hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch and seemed to still be asleep. I simply walked to the window of the living area, where the rabble of Sura still went on.

I didn't know exactly how long I had been watching it before I could hear Reiner grumbling.

"Oi, you going to stare out that window all day? Or are you going to get this exam over with,” he sneered to which I only turned my head to face him.

"I was just thinking, and you both were still asleep, as I recall you said we didn’t have to be there till noon," I remarked before he clicked his tongue and stood.

"Tch, it’ll be to damn crowded if we arrive at the normal time. I can’t stand all of those pathetic people," Reiner retorted, which was a good point.

After all the less attention I got, the better. “… Fair enough," I said, to which he only scoffed before he stood from the couch.

"Heh. Good, where’s that brat? why isn’t she up yet,” He remarked to which I let out a small sigh.

“Who is that girl anyways, You two are acquainted, no? Tell me why she insists on being as close to me as possible?" I remarked with some annoyance at the strange girl, but Reiner only sneered at my question.

"I don’t give a damn honestly, I’ve only seen her a few times with the guy who helped me reach my position in the guild. He was the one who told me about your arrival, I didn’t listen to much he had to say but I think he said she would restore her Core near you, whatever that means, I just know she’s a pain in the ass," Reiner scoffed as if Lilith was something that had gotten on his nerves a hundred times before.

Regardless I had to assume they were part of the Red Manes, but I was left to wonder what exactly restoring her core meant… “…That pain in the ass… is my key into the guild,” I remarked before leaving to wake her up.

I knew what Reiner meant by restoring her core, but he had to have misheard the Red Mane who spoke to him because there was nothing wrong with her core, seeing as an aura or what I call a presence resembled the strength of one’s core. Lilith’s core fit the rank the red manes gave her perfectly despite Reiner’s comment about her last night.

Regardless I left it at that and made my way back to the bedroom to see Lilith was still sound asleep in a puddle of her own drool, she looked quite comfortable in my bed to say the least.

“We’re leaving soon, get up.” I remarked causing her to stir in her sleep for a moment before her eyes opened and she raised her head with a groan.

“Lilith is still tired…” she huffed rubbing her eyes to which I simply stared down at her blankly.

"Is that so? well you better wake up. We're going to be late," I said causing her to blink her eyes open with the usual gulp of fear before she began to move, although why I got this reaction from her was beyond me.

Still, she listened without the remarks she’d give Reiner, regardless of her sluggish movements she followed me back to the living area, where Reiner had a smug sneer on his face. “Heh. Next time don’t sleep in when we have things to do,” he remarked causing Lilith to give an annoyed glare.

"… Shut up," She retorted leaving me to let out a breath of air.

"He isn’t wrong, but it doesn’t matter because you’re up now. Let’s get going,” I said only to get the usual scoff from Reiner as he got up from the sofa.

"Yeah, yeah.” he sneered before the three of us left the room and onto the streets of Sura to the guildhall.

The walk mostly consisted of stares toward us from the people of the city and an unavoidable comment or two but that was expected. Regardless, our walk was more or less uneventful and we soon arrived at the guildhall.