Sero licked his lips as Amaya began to drive them to the union. It was almost time for him to finally acquire his first S-rank skills, whatever they may be.

"Is there anything else you'd want to ask?" Amaya glanced at him as they stopped at a light.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah." Sero shook himself out of his thoughts. "What are some of your goals and dreams?"

"What?" Amaya was taken aback. "Oh, I guess one of the most important goals to me right now is to get rid of the Culling. Until they are gone and the safety of the people can be protected, I don't think I can focus on anything else."

"Gotcha." Sero nodded slowly. "So I gotta make sure I do my part."

"Yeah," The liaison looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "What's up with you? Ever since you agreed to this, you've been acting... not like yourself."

Sero opened his mouth and hesitated. Truthfully, he was excited to see and copy more skills along with the potential gold rewards if he performed well. But there was also a part of him that felt pressured, the same feeling that had plagued him throughout his time at university. Honestly, Sero was scared that he wouldn't be able to pull his weight and let everyone down again.

"I was just... curious," he lied. "The world changed in a short year, and I was just thinking about if people's dreams and goals changed too."

Amaya didn't reply, giving him another side-eye. Sero got the feeling that she didn't believe him.

"Is that why you asked me about mine?" Aphiel asked.

"Something like that, yeah."

After a few minutes, Amaya cleared her throat.

"What about your parents?"

Sero's face darkened.

"That's none of your-" he stopped himself after he remembered how Amaya had opened up to him, albeit slightly. "Sorry. My mom died before I graduated high school, and my dad... we're not on good terms after I told him I was dropping out of college."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss." Amaya quietly said.

"Thanks. I guess that's something we have in common." Sero tried to sound positive.

"Yeah, but... you don't talk to your dad at all?"

"Not since we had that fight when I told him I was dropping out." Sero made a face as he recalled the memory. "He couldn't understand why I was dropping out since he worked so hard to pay for me to attend. I told him I refused to waste his money because I couldn't follow through with any of my majors and wanted to work to pay off my debts to him and the university. He threatened to kick me out if I dropped because he didn't care about the cost if it meant I'd be able to graduate."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I didn't want him to spend the rest of his life working off a debt that I owed, so I dropped out, left home, and cut off all contact. I send him a portion of my paychecks every time I get them, as a way of slowly returning the money he wasted on me."

Amaya shifted in her seat, seemingly unsure of what to say.

"Anyways," Sero pulled out his phone. "I think his bank account changed since the apocalypse, so I'll have to find his new one later."

"I'll... I'll help you."

"Thanks."

Sero put his phone away and looked over at Amaya.

"By the way, you're looking great today."

Amaya immediately scowled, but he could tell that she seemed relieved to hear him say that.

----------------------------------------

The two of them were in a much better mood as they pulled up to the mercenary union.

As Sero hopped out of Amaya's car, he turned back to her.

"Thanks for the ride." He winked.

"Don't mention it," she wrinkled her nose. "Shoot me a text after you're done. I'll pick you up after my shift."

"Will do." He had barely shut the door before Amaya quickly pulled out and drove away. Sero smirked as he turned and headed into the building, feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

As he entered, Sero immediately scanned around the lobby to see if Gregor was there. Even though he had arrived a little before 12, Sero couldn't help but feel as if the Janitors leader had already got there.

Skirting around the crowd that obstructed the center of the lobby, Sero glanced over at the reception desk behind them to see any signs of Gregor.

"Fuck." Sero muttered when he finally gave up after determining that he wasn't there. He took a seat on one of the couches in the lounge area nearby.

"Are you that excited for his skills?"

"Duh. I wanna know what Gregor's class is, and copy those S-rank skills that apparently puts him in the top ten around the world."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Do you think that that would make you an S-rank?" Aphiel sounded a little confused.

"Sorta. I mean, I've come to terms that skills aren't everything, but I'm pretty sure that they can damn well boost my strength a lot." Sero licked his lips. "Still, I'm also interested in what kind of person he is. Like, how he managed to get to S-rank. I'm sure there's a story behind it."

He glanced at the time on his phone. It was now 12. Sero eagerly glanced around to see if Gregor would be walking in through the front door.

"Ah, you're right on time."

Sero jumped, almost falling out of his seat as he whirled around. Behind him stood Gregor and an unfamiliar man.

"God, you scared me." Sero stood up and composed himself. "I mean, yessir. I am ready for whatever you're gonna throw at me."

"So, this is the unique class you were talking about, Boss?" The pale-skinned man next to Gregor spoke up, giving Sero an unimpressed look.

Something about the man seemed familiar. He was about an inch shorter than Gregor, but still towered over Sero. He wore a similar black suit like Gregor's, but the collar of his white dress shirt was unbuttoned, and the cuffs of his slacks were rolled above his ankles. His hair was white and slicked back and his eyes were a striking red. Black tribal tattoos adorned his neck and disappeared down his shirt.

"Um, hi. I'm Sero." He hesitantly extended his hand towards the man.

"Enzo." The man replied evenly, keeping his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, he's gonna need a lot of work." Enzo glanced at Gregor.

"Well, hopefully you'll be able to teach him well," Gregor chuckled, seemingly unfazed by Enzo's disapproving attitude towards Sero. "He's an integral part of the operation, after all."

"Wait," Sero shifted his eyes between the two men. "You're not the one teaching me?"

"Unfortunately not," Gregor smiled apologetically. "I have too much work to do before the tournament. But, Enzo here will do an adequate job of training you."

Sero flicked his gaze towards Enzo, hiding his disappointment.

"Oh? Are you thinking that I'm not worth your time?" Enzo scowled as he stepped up to Sero, seemingly noticing his displeasure.

"N-no, I was just... I just thought Gregor would be the one training me. I'm sure you'll be a good teacher, too!" Sero quickly tried to appease the man.

"Look at that. He's quick to change his tune." Enzo scoffed to Gregor.

Sero could feel himself liking Enzo less and less. Gregor smiled with amusement as he clapped a hand onto Enzo's shoulders.

"Don't be like that. Give him a chance, I'm sure he'll surprise you."

"Whatever you say, Boss."

Gregor turned to Sero. "I know you must feel a little confused, but trust me. Enzo here is an S-rank as well, and I have full faith in his strength. You will definitely gain something from his training."

The leader of the Janitors nodded to the both of them before he walked away. "Good luck, Sero."

After he left, Sero shifted awkwardly under Enzo's gaze.

"So–"

"You the Scholar, right?"

"Oh, y-yeah." Sero stammered. He really didn't want to interact with this man, and he got the feeling Enzo shared the sentiment.

"All right," Enzo sighed as he pulled his hands out of his pockets, showing off more tribal tattoos. "Let's see what that old man was talking about."

In a split second, Enzo's eyes glowed red with mana, and Sero felt himself being pulled somewhere.

When he registered what had just happened, Sero found himself in an arid desert, surrounded by nothing but sand. The weather was strangely warm and bearable, despite the blazing sun overhead. Enzo stood in front of him with a bored expression.

"Welcome to my Sponsor's personal space. Blah, blah, blah, this space is completely safe and whatever." Enzo half-heartedly explained. He slipped his hands into his pockets once more. "Well, show me what you've got."

"What?" Sero blinked in confusion. He was still trying to process the change of environment.

"Come at me with everything you got," Enzo let out an exasperated sigh. "I gotta see where you're at if I'm gonna train you."

Sero quickly shook himself and gathered his concentration. He cycled his energy and mana efficiency as well as casting Iron Skin. Green mana swirled around his hands as Sero conjured his sword.

"Don't hold back." Enzo yawned. "I'm serious."

A rising irritation grew within Sero as he crouched down. Enzo's attitude was getting on his nerves, reminding him of some past memories he didn't want to particularly remember.

"Champion..." Aphiel sounded worried.

"He said not to hold back." Sero thought back as he launched himself forward. He fired a couple of mana railguns, followed by his newly acquired Fire Blast.

To his utter shock, Enzo easily dodged the railguns, moving his body with minimal effort. He then dug his dress shoe into the sand and kicked upwards, sending a giant wave of sand that clashed and extinguished the Fire Blast.

Sero wasn't done yet. With his Perfect Analysis, he immediately dissolved into shadows, rematerializing behind Enzo as the sand cleared. Sero held out his hand and fired a mana nuke towards Enzo's back.

With inhuman speed and strength, Enzo spun around with a roundhouse kick, connecting with the nuke and sending it flying off to the side. As the nuke exploded in the distance, Sero couldn't believe that his Perfect Analysis told him that Enzo was not using any skills. It was even worse that it told him Enzo had no weaknesses.

Shaken, but still determined, Sero quickly threw mana knives and detonated them. In the back of his mind, he felt a slight sense of worry that he may have harmed him, but Sero pressed on, firing railguns in the cloud of green mana and sand.

Finally, Sero finished up with a mana nuke, careful to cut back on the power in the off-chance that Enzo couldn't handle the attack.

The nuke disappeared into the smokescreen and in a split second, screeched right back towards Sero.

"Oh, shit-" He barely managed to shift into shadows as the nuke whizzed through his dark mass harmlessly. Rematerializing, Sero prepared to fire more mana nukes into the dispersing smokescreen.

"My turn." Enzo suddenly appeared before Sero's eyes, his fist out from his pockets and cocked back. Before he could even react, Enzo sent a wicked right hook to Sero's jaw, sending him flying through the air. Sero registered the sheer strength behind Enzo's punch as he skidded across the ground painfully.

"Are you ok?"

For a while, Sero remained on the sand in disbelief. Enzo wasn't joking about holding back, and he realized he should've been more alert. He began to notice the overwhelming pain on his jaw, and he quickly casted Recovery on himself. He hadn’t realized that his entire body was burning with agony.

"Holy shit, Aphiel. People like him exist?"

"Two things," Sero heard Enzo’s voice approaching. "First, you are terrible at fighting, but at least you got the technical skills down."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Enzo’s dress shoes stop near his head, then Enzo himself crouching down.

"Second, I told you not to hold back."