I felt cold and my body felt like they’re restrained after I fell asleep. I opened my eyes and I’m back in the dream place, and I saw my entire body still chained tightly, making me unable to move.

   Here… again…

   I tried to look around with my head and I managed to do it.

   I… can move my head..? why am I even here again..?

“Hahaha… Oh, I wond'r, wherefore didst thee cometh h're again?”

 

   I looked around trying to find where it is, then I saw it on my right, still covered in a dark-purple mist.

   You… what do you want now..?

“What doth I wanteth? Dian, I bethought we w're friends…”

 

   SILENCE! You must have another motive… bringing me here again…

“*sigh*… I’m only h're to talketh with you… I has't nay oth'r motives, Dian.”

 

   Talk..? why would I talk to you… what reason should I even trust you..? you didn’t even tell where Mika is…

“It’s because I truly don’t knoweth h'r exact location, Dian… but, the bond thee has't with the lady maketh me feeleth yond the lady is in Gaia… wh'rev'r the lady is…”

 

   Grr… who are you anyways… why do you keep appearing in my sleep..? what are you?

“I… am a Grand Deity… a God, f'rgotten by the accursed Gods and Goddesses of this w'rld and all of its inhabitants!”

 

   A 'Grand Deity'..?

“Mine own introduction may beest late, but mine own nameth is Kh’Thazal, the God of-“

 

...

 

 

   I blinked and I found myself staring at a wooden ceiling, waking up before the Deity finishes its sentence.

“!!!”

   What..? why did I woke up..? It hasn’t even told me anything useful!

   My face feels warm as the sunlight peered from the gaps on the wooden windows that I close.

   It’s already morning..? I think that was the shortest dream I’ve had facing that Deity… I still don’t understand… it is a God..? Kh’Thazal… I woke up before that God even tell me what kind of Deity it is… why is there even a ‘God’ appearing in my sleep..? all of this doesn’t make sense at all…

Knock Knock Knock

“Excuse me, master. Your breakfast is here.”

   That voice… is that the maid yesterday..?

   I tidy up my messy clothes and hair, then I open the window and head towards the door.  I opened the door and I saw 2 maids, one of them was the one that gave me the meal yesterday, now holding a tray of what seems to be my breakfasy. The other one is a human girl with age and height similar to the cat-eared one, carrying a warm bucket of water.

“Your breakfast, master.” The cat-eared maid said as she hands me the breakfast.

“T- This, too, master…” Said the other maid as she shyly gave me the warm bucket of water.

“Ahaha… thank you so much…”

   I feel really bad… my room is all the way at the end of the hallway, away from downstairs, and these girls are bringing it all the way here… especially the maid that carries that bucket of water, she must be rather tired…

“Yesterday’s meal tray, master.” The cat-eared maid said as she lightly bows her head to me.

“O- Oh, just a second…” I said, then I grabbed the empty wooden tray om the table and gave it to the cat-eared maid.

“Thank you very much, master. Have a good day.” Said the cat-eared maid as she bows her head at me.

“H- Have a good day, master!” Said the other maid clumsily as she bows to me soon after the cat-eared one.

“R- Raise your heads, you two! H- honestly… I should be the one thanking you. You went all the way to the end of the hallway… I feel a bit guilty…”

   They both raised their heads with a shocked expression on their faces.

“Thank you for your worries, master. But, we’re just a maid, we do this for the purposes of servicing you. It is our duty.” Said the cat-eared maid with a serious and expressionless face.

“Y- Yes, master! This is our duty, thank you so much for the kind words!” Said the human maid, looking rather happy with a mix of shyness on her face.

   They both bow their heads to me one last time, then they started to head downstairs. I put my breakfast on the table and I put the warm bucket of water in the middle of the room.

   Maids… huh..? I’m honestly not used to getting served by maids… I know their job is to serve people, but I feel bad getting that sort of treatment… a person like me shouldn’t even get serviced by them…

   I then take a look at my breakfast, and this time the breakfast is roasted meat with herbs on the top a side of bread, there are also celeries under the roasted meat. The roasted meat looked so juicy, I had to immediately feast on it.

DING

“!!!” I was so surprised by the sudden ding noise that I almost spat out what I chew.

 [Plant Eater] – Activate

   O- Oh… I forgot that I have this skill… just when I was chewing the meat alongside the herbs it activated… I really have to prepare if there is any kinds of plants and herbs in my food. This skill is a [Passive] skill, so I wouldn’t be able to control it. By the way, this reminds me, I forgot to [Absorb] my breakfast! 『Absorb』.

DING!

[Absorb] – Activate

DING!

[Absorb] – Failed

 

   There… alright, I probably need one more [Absorb] activation until I reach 100% mastery.

   I finished all of my breakfast and I then take a batch using the warm bucket of water. When I’m done bathing, I wore back all of my clothes, and carry my backpack and my sword by the side of the bed.

   Okay… today is the day that I take the test… I can do quests to raise my rank, but I want to hurry and tell Mika where I am, so I want to take the rank raising test at the Guild… I don’t know what the test will be like, but… I hope everything will go well!

   I soon took the bucket and the tray outside of the room, then lock it. I stopped when I look at room 20, now locked and there is no human presence inside of the room.

   Bella… she’s already departed…

   W- Why did that pop into my head?! W- we promised that we’ll… bah! S- Snap out of it! I have to go to the Guild, like right now!

   Feeling embarrassed because of that flashback, I hurried and went downstairs, the main hall is empty as usual, a few drunk people sleeping on a table, and a lot of maids are cleaning the floor and tables. I walked to aunt Loris’ counter and she greeted me with a smile.

“Good morning, Dian.”

“Good morning, aunt Loris…” I said as I hand over my room key to aunt Loris.

“Come on, turn that frown upside down! I know Isabella is gone for a while, but don’t be sad, okay?” Aunt Loris said with a warm smile on her face.

   Do I really look sad..? I didn’t even realize…

“So, what will you do now, son?”

“I’ll… take a rank raising test, aunty.”

“Seriously? Are you sure, son? You just became an adventurer, you know…” Aunt Loris said worryingly.

“It’s fine, aunt Loris, really! I’m confident that I can do it.” I said with as I put a smile on my face.

   If I’m not… I probably will never meet Mika again…

“… Alrighty, then. I hope everything went well!”

“T- Thank you, aunty… now, excuse me.”

   I then exit the Inn and I was greeted by the busy and lively streets and warm, shiny sunlight as soon as I exit the Inn. I took a deep breath and then I started walking towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

   I wonder… this world is obviously different from earth judging by its world map, background, and functions like in an RPG-Fantasy game, vastly different races, real magic, and even monsters that could evolve and a chance to become a variant, but is that all..? I still feel like there is a lot more that I don’t know about this world and its functions…

   As I ponder, I unnoticing arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild, now with fewer adventurers coming in and out of the place. I then entered the Guild and I immediately look around the premises.

   Okay… it seems like that pervy rabbit receptionist is not present this morning(which is a relief)… I don’t seem to see Liam anywhere, inside or outside of the Guild, even if the place is not as crowded like yesterday… wait, isn’t that..?

  I saw the receptionist that made my ID card, now back at her desk, the receptionist now wore glasses, which made me doesn’t recognize her at first glance. Because of my familiarity with the receptionist, I chose her desk instead.

   The receptionist looks a little surprised when she saw me.

“Long time no see, adventurer Dian!” Said the receptionist eagerly with a warm smile on her face.

“L- Long time no see, too, umm…”

   I… don’t actually know her name…

“Cessa, just call me Cessa!” She said with a friendly look on her face.

“A- ah… Cessa… long time no see, haha…”

“Apologies for my absence yesterday, I caught a cold and fortunately, Kira, a receptionist in this guild kindly replaced my morning shift.”

“Ah… it’s fine, really!”

   No wonder why this reception desk was manned by Kira… maybe Kira is supposed to be on the afternoon shift, but because Cessa got sick, she filled in for her… well, at least Cessa is the one on this desk, she’s pleasant to work with…

“So, what can I do for you today?”

“Umm… I want to take a rank raise test..?”

   Cessa’s face was shocked when I said that.

“A- Are you certain..? Dian, you just became an adventurer… do you really have what it takes..?”

   Do I have what it takes..? is this test hard?! Liam said that the F rank raise test is easy… should I continue..?

“…”

   No, I have to do this… I believe in what Liam said… I don’t care if I have to try it again and again. This method is the fastest way to make my name known, for Mika, I’ll take this test!

“So..?” Cessa asked worryingly.

“I’ll do it, I’ll take that test!”

“…” Cessa stayed silent for a while, surprised by my determination.

“Okay, then… I can’t convince you otherwise with your confidence like that.”

   Yes… I can do it… I can make it.

“Then, follow me, we’ll go to the training grounds.”

“Okay!”

   Cessa then guides me through a tunneled hallway behind the receptionist desks, after a few moments, we arrived at a pretty wide and roomy space inside the Guild that looks like a training grounds with all the wooden weapon racks and plenty of people training, training by themselves, with each other, using a wooden training doll, etc.

“This is it! The training grounds are where you can take a rank-up test and train yourself to become stronger.”

“Whoa…”

   I never knew there's this kind of place in this Adventurer’s Guild… seems like I can train myself in here… I’ve been curious about [Technique] and [Swordsmanship] that I received from that time I fought those Goblins…

   Cessa then leads me to a guy that is sitting on a wooden stool, drinking water. The old guy looks really big, almost the size of a grizzly bear. He is muscly and I could see slashes and cut scars all over his visible skin.

“Excuse me, instructor! There is someone that wants to take a rank-up quest.”

   As soon as she said that, the instructor looked at me, looking rather menacing like he is seeing through my soul as he still drinks his water.

   H- He’s scary… s- so… he’s the one that is going to test me..?

   The instructor then stood up after he finished with his drink and then walked towards me.

   S- So tall…

“Certainly, what rank are you?” Asked the instructor with his strict and heavy voice as he checks my entirety.

“F- F rank, instructor!”

“F rank, huh… no need to be tense, boy. You need to relax your muscles.” Said the instructor as he walked back and rummage through his leather bag near the stool he sat on earlier.

“*giggle*… don’t be scared, instructor Drindont may look scary, but he is actually a kind person! He is also an ex-veteran adventurer!” Cessa said with a smile on her face.

   R- Really..? he does look scary with his sharp eyes and his big size, b- but if Cessa says so…

“Alright, may I borrow you Adventurer’s ID card?” Drindont said as he came back with a pencil and paper on his hands.

“S- Sure!”

   I quickly reached into my backpack and rummage through, taking out my adventurer’s ID card and then gave it to instructor Drindont. Upon checking my ID card, the instructor was taken aback when he checks my card.

“No Class..?” Drindont said with a confused look on his face.

“Y- yes…”

   Instructor Drindont even surprised with my no [Class]… is [Nothing] as my [Class] is not normal among adventurers..?

“That’s okay. Now come, we will commence your test on that area over there.” Drindont said as he points to a secluded and lone training area.

“O- okay…”

   I suddenly feel uncertain about this… will I be able to do this..?