The group of teens turned their heads towards Groob. Their faces were showing a mix of questioning and mocking looks.

A blond man who seemed to be the group’s leader held his head high as he admonished the adventurer:

“Do you have a problem with the truth?

I don’t know who let you in, but the training center is for high society. If you come here, you have to prove appropriate manners!”

Lilly and Iain slowly stopped eating. While Iain felt slightly embarrassed, Lilly simply rolled her eyes at their nosy neighbors.

While scrutinizing the group of teens, the pair of siblings definitely recognized some patterns in their behavior. Had held high, arms off the table, every bite savored for a long time. In short: they were way too pretentious.

Before one of the young trainees could add anything, their trainer’s eye turned red as he focused on Groob.

Finally fed up with this action, Groob abruptly stood up and directed his anger towards his adversary. Lilly and Iain didn’t understand why the adventurer suddenly reacted so harshly.

Luckily his next words cleared their doubts somewhat:

“Are you looking for a fight? You dare to scan us?!”

The opposite trainer replied with a smug smile on his face:

“So what if I scan you? Do you think I would fear your Earth Fire Mercenaries?! Although I don’t understand why you would send a master to train two good-for-nothings.”

Suddenly Lilly had enough as her fist hit the table.

“Who are you calling a good for nothing?!”

“Ohh, feisty!”, laughed the blond teen. His mocking look only grew as he listened to his trainers next words.

“Of course I’m calling you a good for nothing. You are what? 18? 19?

Yet you are still an apprentice. I don’t know why you spend money to train here. Even the vault can’t create miracles.

You should just stay an obedient worker.”

Lilly, Iain and Groob’s anger continued to grow. They didn’t understand why such insulting words were thrown at them.

Hollios Roj-Marrim, however, gleefully observed the trios faces. He didn’t expect that such a good chance to let off steam would present itself to him.

As a peripheral member of the mighty Roj-Marrim family, he wasn’t allowed to use his family’s training grounds. Therefore, the blond teen often gathered his friends and trained at the Hex Trailblazers Training Center.

If Groob would recognize him, the adventurer might understand their behavior. After all his Earth Fire Mercenaries had recently fumbled during a mission they received from the Roj-Marrim family. Some critical information got leaked and the family had to deal with heavy repercussions.

Now Hollios tried his best to aggravate Groob. It was strictly prohibited to fight in the training center. If they could get the mercenary to make a move here, he would get banned for a lifetime. This would certainly be a huge blow to the EFM’s reputation.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t included the siblings into his calculations.

Listening to the trainer’s unpleasant words, Iain’s blood began boiling. The young smith hadn’t had many confrontations on Earth. No serious fights would ever ensue in their small village.

Now that the young man found himself on the receiving end of this injustice, a small spark lit up in his body. Strangely, Lilly felt the same. Both sibling’s gazes changed slightly as their eyes narrowed.

A dangerous atmosphere suddenly permeated this space. No one present was a novice, so they soon got caught in the mood. Even the group of teens slowly quietened down, their bodies instinctively readying themselves for battle.

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Groob kept one eye on their adversaries while observing Iain and Lilly with the other. He didn’t understand the change those siblings went through. He was pleasantly surprised though, as a certain instinct for battle would surely help them survive in this universe.

Under growing tension Groob took half a step forward. He solemnly told Lilly and Iain:

“If I fight here, I will get into some trouble. You should stay out. It would probably be best to immediately contact your patron, so the center won’t punish you unfairly.”

Lilly nodded in understanding:

“Our patron? Nua told us about this… this Inquisitor Imrini? Can he also help you?”

Suddenly the tension evaporated as soon as this name fell. Hollios almost felt his ears had played a trick on him. Could those two apprentices really have the Inquisitor as patron? Even his family wasn’t eligible to receive this man’s patronage.

Although Hollios didn’t dare to believe Lilly’s words, he wasn’t an idiot. From her expression there was at least a 50% chance that the young redhead spoke the truth. This was already too much of a risk.

The young teen, who received the education of a big family, decisively turned around. Not giving anyone the chance to escalate the situation further, he waved his hand.

“Let’s go!”

The group’s faces showed some confusion, some understanding or reluctance. However, no one dared to question Hollios. Maybe rather than friends those teens could be called subordinates from the way they were behaving.

Lilly and Iain watched their opponents as they fled. They almost felt reluctant to let them go after their bodies were already burning for a fight.

Still somewhat confused about their own feelings, the siblings soon laughed it off when they noticed the aggressive trainer fleeing in record time. Despite his earlier bravado the trainer was only a mercenary himself, so his backing was the weakest.

A few seconds later the trio let out their held breaths as they sat down again. They noticed some annoyed faces as other customers showed their dissatisfaction. Everyone had hoped for a good show, but it ended just like that.

After Lilly angrily gazed at her surroundings, others avoided her eyes in embarrassment.

Suddenly Groob clapped his own leg with his palm as he broke out in laughter:

“Nua! This old woman really hid herself deeply. Who would have thought that she had Imrini as her patron?!”

Still fired up, Iain asked with a grin:

“Is this man very influential? Those rich bullies instantly tugged their tails between their legs when they heard his name.”

“Of course, kid. The inquisitor controls the part of the army responsible for the city’s inner security. With his patronage you can basically walk sideways in Iomor’s Grace.”

While Iain was in awe, Lilly picked up on the dark undertone in Groob’s last sentence. She lightly narrowed her clever eyes. Trying to avoid trouble, however, Lilly didn’t question Groob further.

Instead, the young redhead sought clarification on something else that burned on her mind.

“Groob? Can I ask you what you meant when you accused the trainer of scanning us?”

“Oh, sure. Most warriors use VSI Lenses to probe other’s vault connections. So be careful if you see this.”

Adding to his explanation, Groob pointed on his eye, which suddenly turned red.

“There are also lenses which stay invisible, but those are illegal and won’t be produced by the VSI… officially.”

Lilly and Iain ignored the mercenaries last remark, as they were shocked by this information. The young smith quickly asked:

“Someone can just see all our information?!”

Some laughter answered him:

“Ha! No, don’t worry. Only your general rank can be seen. For example, I’m close to level 50 so I belong to the master rank. You guys haven’t even reached level 10 yet, so you still count as apprentice. We are separated by the expert rank defined from level 11-30.”

Seeing the relief on the siblings’ eyes, Groob added:

“We will buy you some lenses later if Nua hasn’t already prepared them. However, you always must be vigilant.

The strength difference between two warriors of the same rank can be like heaven and earth. A warrior’s stats have more meaningfulness, but even those can’t be fully trusted in a fight.

Your goal should be to use your strengths to counter the enemy’s weaknesses!”

Iain and Lilly nodded in understanding. They deeply imprinted this valuable advice in their minds. After mulling over it for a bit, Lilly followed up with another question:

“Then is there a way to tell someone else’s stats?”

“Not directly, but there are different signs. However, it will be better if I show you those in action. For now, you can train to visualize your own stats.

You only have to meditate silently and strongly think about your vault connection. It won’t be that hard to learn. You can try it during rest time. But now we should continue to train your cold resistance.”

Lilly and Iain showed meaningful smiles to each other. Knowing that their parents somehow achieved something that rejected common sense filled them with pride. As they followed behind Groob, they silently thought ‘status’ in their minds.

[Vault connection:

Name: Iain

LVL: 8

Attributes:

STR: 57 VIT: 30 END:55 DEF:14 PER:29

AGI: 11 INT: 7 MCT:11 MNS:16 MND:16,05

Skills:

Basic:

Basic Smithing Lv. 8; (Ex)Hammer wielding Lv. 6; Basic Acting Lv. 1; Cold Resistance Lv. 1]

[Vault connection:

Name: Lilly

LVL: 5

Attributes:

STR: 9 VIT: 22 END:15 DEF:9 PER:27

AGI: 10 INT: 32 MCT:25 MNS:37 MND:20,05

Skills:

Basic:

(Ex)Healing Magic Lv. 5; Basic Acting Lv. 1; Cold Resistance Lv. 1]