“Hey! Hey! Hey, wake up!” A faint voice tickled Eldon’s consciousness. Grunting, he forced himself through the fog in time to hear Zachary’s depressed muttering.

“It’s been hours... Why is he still asleep? Hm... I need water. Or fire. Yes, fire should work. I’ll go get something to burn...”

Eldon’s eyes sprung open as he grabbed onto Zachary’s sleeves. “No need. I’m up.”

“Shit, I thought I would finally be able to burn things,” Zachary said sulkily. “Those days in the woods, hiding from the main battles, struggling to light the woods on fire... Those were the best days. I still remember when I lit up the entire west side of the Great Robin Forest.” He sighed. “Good times.”

“Wait,” Eldon said and sat upright in his seat. His bones and joints ached from the abysmal posture with which he had slept for hours. “You caused the Great Robin Woods Fire?”

“Lower your voice, man,” Zachary said but still wore an expression of pride. “It wasn’t easy, what with the tenuous and fire-resistant nature of the trees, but with a few tricks, I managed to make it work. It’s a pity the Monster King appeared before it burned down completely.”

“I heard of that!” When grand events like these were mentioned, Eldon’s attention was captivated. Boredom over the years had made him treasure interesting information. “The Monster King appeared and put out the flames. Then he launched a personal attack on the Camp, but the S-rank of the Robin Camp appeared, and a great battle that shook the skies and earth began! The landscape was utterly ravaged from the aftershocks of the duo’s battle. After seven days and nights, the fight ended in a stalemate, and the Monster King returned to his lair!”

Zachary stared at Eldon with an astounded expression. Eldon realized he had been rambling and blushed. “I - I might have a founded interest in events that occur at the peak of the world.”

Zachary burst into raucous laughter. “That’s all fine and dandy, but your description of events is a little... exaggerated.”

Eldon nodded. Most of his information he got by eavesdropping on conversing soldiers at the Camp. Stories obtained that way were indeed liable to exaggeration.

“What really happened then? You were there.”

“Well, for starters, the battle did not last seven days and seven nights,” Zachary said, holding back another chuckle. “I don’t even think it lasted five hours.”

“I didn’t fully believe that part. Who could fight for days at a go?”

“Right. Next, it wasn’t the Monster King that put out the flames, but rather the S-rank. No one knew how he did it, but after the Monster King returned to his lair, he entered the depths of the flames and caused it all to disappear.”

Eldon listened with rapt attention. “How strong is an S-rank? Are they as strong as the legends say?”

Zachary thought about it for a moment. “Well, yes and no. They are vastly stronger than A-ranks, but remember that the ranking is based on danger rating, not actual power level. So, even among S-ranks, there could be a wide gap in power. Some can destroy this building in one hit, while others might need a hundred. Yet, no matter what, the weaker ones are still S-ranks and are at that ranking for a reason.”

Some are legendary in physical strength and power, while others are legendary in other ways, but they’re all legendary at the core. Eldon contemplated it for a while until he was jolted out of his reverie by his lamenting stomach.

Zachary chuckled. “Come with me. I couldn’t find much information we didn’t know previously, but I found the best restaurants in the city. There’s one close by which many of the Campers in this residential wing visit for their meals.”

Eldon frowned. “We are going to a restaurant?” At the Camps, there were dining halls where inmates could eat and socialize. Despite being technically prisoners, they were served exquisitely prepared sumptuous monster flesh in adequate quantities—a reasonable decision, given that they needed energy to fight efficiently.

“Yeah. There are thousands of Campers on the island. To avoid the hassle of preparing food for us, the authorities ordered the restaurants on the island to provide free food to all inmates. In other words,” he pointed at his new uniform, “everyone wearing the Bone-embroidered Robes.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“How high can the quality of food be? I doubt the New World Government is generous enough to give thousands free access to B-Rank and above cuisines.”

“Correct. We can only have up to C-Rank dishes for free. Unfortunately, all restaurants in the city might be out of stock by now.” Zachary laughed.

Eldon smiled thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. The adventurers and merchants wouldn’t miss this opportunity.”

After freshening up as quickly as possible, Eldon finally wandered the streets of Spire’s Base with a gaze-worthy appearance. His golden hair had finally been washed clean of grime and now framed his elegant features. His slender build was draped in form-fitting Bone-embroidered Robes that allowed the perfect range of movement while retaining its form-adhering attribute.

Mindlessly, he adjusted the silver bracelet—Alohad it was called, but most people just called it the Seeker—that adorned his left wrist. It was too tight for him, but he was used to it. One with more room could become a hindrance or get lost in battle, at which point its use would be compromised.

This one was a new one that came with the Robes. Eldon wasn’t sure why the Government gave them new Seekers when the old ones still worked perfectly. For folk more respectable than the Campers, the Seekers contained essential functions that made life easier. But for Campers, all it did was hold their personal information and assist with communication, along with other battle-related procedures like keeping track of slain beasts.

All in all, the presence of new Seekers made him wonder if new functions were available, but even after looking through his Seeker multiple times, he found nothing different about them. They were just shinier Camp-issued Seekers.

“Here we are,” Zachary said, stopping before one of the larger buildings in the city. The building was several stories high, had a large compound, and was made with high-quality materials. From the workmanship and sturdiness Eldon perceived, he figured it had been built by abnormals, as had any structure that wanted to last any length of time.

Zachary lightly flicked the signboard outside the open gates. “Dawnwood Inn. Normally, they provide temporary lodging for adventurers and traveling merchants, but these past few days, they have been using their connections to rapidly amass beast meat from several different cultures and engage the services of master chefs.” Zachary rubbed his palms together.

“Oh well, let’s go in,” Zachary said, stepping through the gates. Eldon moved to follow him, but he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

Adjacent to the Dawnwood Inn was a smaller building of higher age and wear. It only had a few stories and direly needed maintenance or renovation. Eldon had seen a thousand others like it during this short stroll, so he had not paid it any attention.

But now, a familiar figure emerged from the old building, wearing a purple scarf, looking much more depressed than she had been when Eldon saw her last. He watched her enter a carriage heading toward the city’s center.

He didn’t return... Eldon watched the carriage disappear into the winding streets. Then he looked up at the tower that pierced the skies.

“Hey, are you coming or not?” Zachary said.

Putting aside his worried thoughts, Eldon followed Zachary into the Dawnwood Inn with high expectations. After all, the highest quality food he had eaten in his sixteen years was a D-Rank meal. The vital energy of a C-Rank would be more potent, so even if it was few in quantity, there was still a chance he would increase his strength.

“Thank you for your patronage! We hope you enjoy your stay in the city! Please don’t forget to patronize us in the future!” The Dawnwood Inn’s attendant grinned, showing all his brown teeth, and bowed to the two men leaving the inn.

“Of course, of course,” One of them, the taller one, assured the waiter. “Where else would we go?”

The waiter was not convinced and leaned closer. “Say, I hear there are not enough girls amongst you Campers... How about this; when next you come, I’ll arrange a nice group of ladies for each of you. Eh?”

“We’re fine,” The shorter man said, leaving without hesitation. The taller one waved at the waiter and quickly caught up.

Together, they left the inn and began silently strolling through the city. The guards that brought them to the residential area said they would be summoned at nightfall. According to Zachary, it was for the banquet the deputy had mentioned. Zachary said the banquet was an attempt to better their relationship with the Campers, but Eldon had doubts.

It’s more than that. Why they were brought to the island; why Spire’s Base was established on the most dangerous beast territory known worldwide; why the A-Rank Captain had not returned from what should have been a simple task—the banquet was sure to shed light on many of the questions Eldon had.

There were still a few hours left before the banquet, so they spent it sightseeing and exploring the outside world. Most Campers were taken in from a young age and were ignorant of the complexities of the outside world. Eldon and Zachary gaped at a blacksmith at work, listened to stories from drunk adventurers, and browsed through assortments of weapons in numerous stores.

As they left one of the shops, wondering if they should call it a day and return to prepare for the banquet, a blazing meteor fell from the sky.

“Look out!” Zachary grabbed Eldon by the arm and leaped out of the way. The following shockwave was even more devastating, overturning a few structures that were not fixed to the ground.

Dust and debris clattered to the ground around Eldon and Zachary.

“What the fuck was that?” Zachary cursed, patting dust off himself.

Eldon narrowed his eyes and gazed through the cloud of dust. At the core of the explosion was a silhouette of a man in a sitting position. He held a faintly glowing giant axe in one hand and supported his chin with the other.

Upon seeing him, Eldon’s heart constricted, and his vision darkened. His mind became blurry. He couldn’t feel his body or sense the outside world. He only felt like he was falling into a deep sleep.