After he finished the first two volumes of A Beginners Guide to Nobility, he went back in the house.

“So, what did you think?” Selana asked him as he entered.

“I learned a lot about nobility and history, why?”

“Not that. Last night.”

“There’s no way I’m going to be a thief. I’m gonna be a knight.”

“It’s a bit late for that. You’ve already helped me by distracting those guards.”

“That doesn’t count. I was just helping you. Knights help people.”

“Do they help criminals?”

“Well, no.”

“Then it seems that we both lose. How about a rematch?”

“No way, not again.”

“Then you forfeit?”

“Of course not!”

“Good. Can you leave the city yet.”

“No, but-”

“Alright, here’s a list of books to read. Once you can leave, I have a friend you’ll need to meet. It’s settled!”

“It is not-”

“What’s that stick in your hand?”

“It’s not a stick, it’s a boomerang.”

“What’s that mean?”

“When I throw it, it curves around and comes back.”

“It turns around?”

“Yeah I got in the habit of throwing it while I read a while back.”

“In that case, you should make a couple spares. Oh, and ask if you can throw them in the library. It’s not like anyone will mind, and if it helps you read.”

Over his last week, he was able to finish the entire series of A Beginners Guide to Nobility, and most of the other books she recommended.

At the same time, he practiced with his boomerang.

By the end, he could pilot it through the maze of shelves and books with ease.

Selana allowed him to leave, although he hadn’t read all the books.

“I’m going to recommend two tutors to you. One for your thief training and one for your knight training.”

“What will they teach me?”

“One will teach you blacksmithing, and the other one will be a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Yeah, I got the idea from your carving skill.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was originally going to send you to someone else, but I had a new idea. Anyway, tell them that Trespass sent you for Flicker and Iron.”

“Trespass? Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. When you’re done with them, maybe I’ll introduce you to Flow after all. He was the one I was originally going to send you to meet.

“Where do they live?”

“East. Let me show you on the map.”

“Well then, I’ll be off. And I will become a knight!”

“You should probably make a party.”

“You think so?”

“Oh yeah. I always hear you freedmen talking about it. ‘It’s dangerous to go alone!’”

“Really? I suppose they’re right.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He went to the gate of the city.

He saw a bunch of the other players who weren’t strong yet, or had just passed the month inside the gate like him.

He ignored them all.

He needed to head pretty far east, and he needed to do it quick so that he could become a knight.

So he ignored all of the people fighting rabbits, and tried to find some fighting foxes, ore even wolves.

He needed to find a group. He didn’t have time to assemble a group on his own.

They couldn’t be that powerful, or they wouldn’t let him in.

Oh, and he would have to lie about his level. Nobody would let in a level one.

It took him a while to find a suitable group.

They were fighting wolves, but they seemed to be having some trouble.

He ran over to them.

“Hey, I was looking for a party-”

They looked at him.

“-and I thought you might be interested?” He trailed off.

“We have a level 10 priest, a level 9 mage, a level 11 monk and a level 10 swordmaster. What level are you?”

“Knight, but I’m only level 7.” He lied.

They began to talk amongst themselves.

“A knight could help.” The monk said.

“I think we should try to find an archer instead.” The mage.

“Why isn’t he wearing armor?” The swordmaster.

He had learned one other thing from Selana.

“Which direction are you guys headed?”

“We don’t have any destination yet. Just grinding.” The monk seemed to be the ringleader of their little band.

“So then you wouldn’t mind going east?”

“Not specifically, no.”

“Perfect, I need to go east. I’ve got a quest in that direction.”

“Well that’s-”

“I know, it’s rude of me to commandeer our party for my quest, but it helps us all.”

“How?”

“Ah, you see there’s a lot of class quests involving Eirthkel, that’s where we’re going. I mean ones you can get there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s sort of a gathering of masters. Contains about twice as many high level NPCs as normal.”

“Sounds pretty nice.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure the best route to get there. Here, look at this map.”

“Normally we’d to go this way, following the river, but at our level, we might want to detour up here.”

“Lead the way.”

And the five of them began following the route, without ever having decided to let him in.

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