It’s been a good day. A mighty fine day indeed. Logan skipped lightly through the street, humming to himself, his hood down and brown hair fluttering in the wind. The day went far better than he had expected. That morning, when he woke up, it was with the promise that this day would be better than the previous one. He didn’t let himself down, that was for sure.

Joining a group that included a B-rank... He would have been content to join a team with one C-rank. As a D-rank with no battle experience, he was a defective product that would find it hard to join strong teams.

There was not only a B-rank in the team—they were also planning to join an S-rank team.

Logan laughed out loud and did a little dance, ignoring the passing glances of strangers. The joy in his heart had to be let out one way or another.

In truth, he doubted the practicality of the mission. An S-rank allowing D-ranks into his team? It was a joke. C-ranks, who were just one rank above D-ranks, discriminated against them. D-ranks were not worthy of consideration in their eyes. Talk less about the higher ranks and not at all about the S-rank.

It was, in all likelihood, a fantasy.

But Logan didn’t care much. Zachary and Eldon seemed like they knew what they were doing. They thought they had a pretty good chance to get in, and that was enough for him. It wasn't like he had anything on the line; if it didn’t work out, he wouldn’t lose out.

The most important thing was that he was now in the group. As long as Zachary didn't kick him out, he would still win, even if they couldn't join that Spokesman’s team. In addition, he didn’t think Zachary would do something like that.

The arena where he had his lucky encounter—meeting Zachary—was visible from far away. While not even half of the Spire’s size, it was breathtaking in its own right, about the size of a district. Eldon told him Zachary’s purpose for being there during his short briefing, and it was now his turn to take up that purpose.

The layout of the city was unremarkable. Generally, the closer one got to the center and the Spire, the more luxurious the establishments were. It was as simple as that. The arena, prodigious as it was, was naturally situated in the Center Zone, the most luxurious of all.

There were no rabble to be seen here. Everyone Logan could see was either an abnormal or someone influential. Not even ordinary abnormals would come this far without a good reason.

Logan entered one of the large establishments, lost in thought. Within the hour, he was to position himself appropriately within the Arena. Logan understood that the others had little hope that anything would come of his mission, but again, he was fine with it.

He would take up post, watch for a handsome hooded well-built guy who looked strong, and entertain himself with the tournament matches while he was at it.

That reminds me, Logan thought as he left the shop while tossing something. How long will the tournament go on?

Before the encounter with Zachary, he had been watching the matches—not with any unfounded hopes, of course, just for entertainment. Each took longer, especially after the first few rounds. The contestants were more cautious, taking fewer risks as the tournament neared the ending phase.

It should be starting right about now... I mustn’t miss it!

Logan tossed the item in his hand and caught it in a flourish. He turned a corner and nearly ran headfirst into someone.

Displaying his innate agility, he twisted unnaturally, successfully avoiding the collision.

“Whew! Sorry about th-th-th...”

Logan’s voice trailed off. His eyes were glued to the lady’s figure as she continued, not slowing in the slightest.

By the Spire! If only I were less agile, he thought regretfully, rubbing his chin.

But what was past was past. In addition, the woman’s gloomy aura assured him that nothing pleasant would come out of approaching her. Therefore, after shaking his head, he continued.

Nothing could kill his good mood. He had secured a nice team, which meant he would no longer be one of the first to die.

Probably.

Tia’s heart skipped a beat.

"The Bane of Men" was a title few women could ignore, and Tia was not one of them.

The feeling was unexplainable. Like most, she had never met him before, but his name incited a reaction in her that nothing else could. It could be because his fame was widespread and his deeds were common knowledge, or because of his insane strength.

Regardless of the reason, she moved to the front of the crowd. Upon pushing out of the crowd, silence fell among them as all eyes turned to her.

She looked to the two ladies guarding the entrance, unfazed. Both were exceptionally beautiful, certainly the cream of the crop. Their every movement tugged on her heartstrings, causing her heart rate to go up.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

But if one thought they were flower vases, they would be in for a rude and painful awakening. Tia’s passive scanning ability detected strong waves of power from both. Combined with the long years as Campers and personal pointers from an S-rank, they were surely as deadly as anyone at their level could be.

“I’d like to go in,” Tia said. “Is that okay?”

One of the women, adorned with a lot of jewelry, turned questioningly to the other, a black-haired woman with a faint smile. Each one wore Bone-embroidered Robes, Campers as they were.

“Of course.” The black-haired woman smiled at Tia. “Come with me. Keira,” she turned to the decorated girl, “don’t let anyone in until I get back. I don’t want a repeat of what just happened. Understood?” Tia assumed she was speaking of the boy who had been thrown out.

She checked and saw that the boy’s friend was carrying him on his back, wading into the crowd and out of sight.

Keira rolled her eyes. “Tell that to Lily. I have eyes.”

“Use them.” The black-haired woman gestured to Tia. “You, follow me.”

Tia followed the woman into the establishment, the crowd erupting in chatter behind her.

The woman led her past large rooms full of luxurious furniture, which she assumed were future properties of wealthy families, and into what seemed like a lobby. There was already someone there, waiting on the couch.

A woman of course. While she was pretty, Tia felt there was still some gap between her and the two concubines she had seen. Her long hair was tied up into a ponytail. She was sitting upright, looking jittery.

“What’s your name?” The black-haired woman asked.

“Tia.”

“You can wait here, Tia. You can sit anywhere, so don’t worry about that.” She gestured around. “Do you have anywhere you have to be? Because you might have to wait for a long time.”

“No, I don’t,” Tia replied. What could be more important than this?

The black-haired woman smiled, and after a nod to the person waiting, she left the room with light steps.

Tia took a deep breath as soon as she was gone, letting it out slowly. Then she settled into one of the comfy couches scattered about the place.

This... This is nice. The couch's embrace was immensely comforting, untangling her tense nerves, and draining away the faint irritation lurking behind her consciousness. She closed her eyes, feeling it, enjoying it. She could wait till tomorrow like this with no problem.

There was a cough. Tia jolted upright. Her eyes shot open. That’s right. There was someone else in the lobby.

She felt her face heating up imagining how she must have looked sinking into the couch like that. However, when the other person coughed again, and more strongly at that, relief washed over her as she realized she was probably not the reason for it.

She looked over. Her fellow applicant was hunched over. Her posture was strained. Faint groaning sounds emerged from her every few moments.

What’s wrong with her? She looked sick like she would throw up all over the plush carpet any moment now. Tia’s initial evaluation marked her as an abnormal who was around her level, C-rank, but she double-checked by activating her Reading Skill.

She’s indeed a C-rank. The Reading Skill confirmed it. Not only that, it also revealed that she was physically sound, with no physical weakness or sickness. That was as expected because unless it was some side-effect of their abnormalities, it was unusual for abnormals to develop illness of any sort.

If it was not a physical ailment, it had to be mental. She didn’t look like she was faking it, and neither did she have a reason that Tia knew of to do so. The more Tia thought about it, the clearer it became to her that it had to be anxiety.

The girl was so anxious, it was causing her physical discomfort. Tia cocked her head at this in surprise. She could not fathom the reason for this. Her Reading Skill allowed her to understand people’s motives from simple observation but that didn’t mean it was invincible. It was sometimes inaccurate, and it couldn’t read minds.

If those faults were somehow mitigated, Tia would not be rated C-rank.

If Tia wanted to know, she would have to ask the girl.

However, the girl was now visibly shaking, breathing heavily, swallowing, and gasping; this was no time for conversation. Tia shrugged. It was not her business in the first place.

So she lay down on the couch and closed her eyes. However long it took before Jerrod Tickle met her, she would be here when the time came.

Almost there, Eldon thought, reaching out his hand to grab the rooftop's edge, his fingers curling around the solid concrete to pull himself up and over the top. With a grunt muffled by the wind, he hoisted his body up onto the roof before collapsing with his limbs splayed in all directions.

This was one of the taller residential buildings occupied by Campers. The wind up here was strong, and when he got to his feet again, it was immediately obvious to him that it was impossible to stand securely on the roof without being an abnormal of decent strength.

However, in the first place, it would have been impossible to make the climb without all sorts of equipment if one was not strong enough.

Eldon looked over the city from this height. The entire Guard House and some of the peripherals were within his view. From here, people on the ground looked like insects, and in the darkness of night, they would be impossible to spot without adequate lighting.

If it weren't for his abnormality, this would have been a foolish lookout spot, but thankfully, he could identify abnormals by the glow of their vital energies. Because of this, the height was perfect for him to monitor as wide an area as possible to maximize his odds of spotting Abyss Eye.

“There’s only two days left...” Eldon muttered to himself. “If we don’t find him today, we might not have enough time for other preparations. We would have to create a team ourselves to avoid that. That means... This is our final chance.”

Eldon watched the scenery, gazing as the sun went down into the horizon inch by inch, casting its golden glow over the landscape. Down on the ground, the shadows grew longer. The day's warmth dissipated, taking the zeal of the day with it.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” A gentle voice.

Startled, Eldon turned sharply. The figure of a small man with glasses sitting on the roof's edge a short distance away entered his view. For some reason, he hadn’t detected this person all this time.

“Galen?” Eldon recognized the man. It was one of Aiken’s friends. He barely spoke, but Eldon remembered him. He was the one who stopped Aiken from offending an S-rank during the banquet. He was also the one who had been with Aiken the previous night when they had met on the rooftop.

Galen nodded at him. Eldon hesitated, not knowing what to do. This spot was the optimal point from which to observe the Guard House. It was obvious that Galen was here on a similar quest to his.

There were now two choices before him. Either he moved to another building or he somehow coexisted with Galen here. Galen, while he looked small, was most certainly a B-rank. So there was no chance of chasing Galen away. Even staying would be difficult. Zachary wasn’t here to even the playing field. Galen, as a B-rank, was in total dominance in this situation.

Eldon reached for his hair. He looked reluctantly at the ground. Climbing so far up had not been easy. To do it all over again...

“I kind of understand now,” Galen spoke, gazing into the sunset. “Why Senior Abyss Eye would like staying up here. It’s an inexplicable feeling, difficult to explain.”

He glanced at Eldon. “When I heard it, I thought it weird, but now, if I survive the mission, I will seek out this feeling every chance I get.”