The sun remained just shy of 11 o’clock in the skies as the girl stepped out of the auction house and into the city streets. Rin had already completed the preparations she had set out to make, and now... all that was left to do was find a dungeon to crash.

Unfolding her map, Rin glanced at the markings written by the bartender. There were ten in total, nine if she included the fact that she had already been to the gates of hell—which she conquered with relative ease. But as her eyes continued to scan the map, a frown quickly replaced the look on her face.

‘They’re too weak...’ she thought.

Even though it was just a couple days ago that the locations were given to her, Rin had already far surpassed the dungeons in strength. Her mana pool was exactly six-digits at a number of 100,000. While the values of her other stats were nothing to scoff at either.

Rin assumed that she was likely the strongest person within the city under level forty. And that was with her considering base stats alone. If she added her capabilities to play, she wondered if she could even match up against a level fifty with equal footing.

‘Oh well,’ she thought.

Rin sighed as speculation wouldn’t result in anything and would only end up being an afterthought. Although thinking of level fifties brought an idea to her mind as she glanced down at the map.

‘It seems that once again, I'm going to a bar.’

Placing the item back into her inventory, her gaze lifted to the streets of Rellea. It was time to gather some information.

A few minutes later, she found herself standing on the street in front of the Twin-Stone bar. Unlike the rest of the city, it wasn’t as busy, rather the foot-traffic was non-existent. Which really meant that in other words, Rin had arrived at the perfect time.

‘Score,’ she cheered.

Walking up to the bar’s entrance with the goal of finding the level fifty bartender, she quickly made her way into the building, glancing around once and finding the bar to be completely empty.

“Welcome,” a voice muttered from behind the counter.

[Mage – lvl 18]

Turning to the source, Rin saw that it was a bored-looking teenager. His body was leaned back and supported by a chair while his feet were kicked up onto the counter. Rin noted that whoever it was, probably didn’t care enough to even glance up at her as he continued to flip away at the pages of a book.

“Hey,” Rin sauntered up to the counter, placing her hands on the surface. “Where’s the cat?”

The boy raised a brow, cocking his chin upwards as he put down his book. “What?”

“The cat. Tall, with animal ears and a tail?” she repeated, although nothing changed in the boy’s demeanor. “I’m not at the wrong place, right?”

“Oh... you mean Alphonso?” he said.

The girl grinned. “Right on. So where is he?”

“He’s not here,” the boy replied, quickly glancing over his shoulder. “I can call him if you want. But it might take an hour.”

The action didn’t go unnoticed by the girl.

‘This little brat... an hour to just get someone?’

Frowning, Rin raised a hand, flicking a silver into the air. “Please, by all means, do take your time won’t you.”

Surprised by the notion, the boy scrambled for the coin and barely caught the metal. He looked up at the girl, nodding quickly before scurrying away. Meanwhile, Rin watched the boy’s fading figure as she took a seat at one of the less wobbly barstools and awaited his return.

Not even a minute later, the boy was back with the person she was looking for following close behind

[Bartender – lvl 50]

“Ah, the white-haired girl. We meet again,” the demi-human smiled, eyes recognizing her figure. “I see you’ve already met my apprentice. What do you think of him?”

A smile floated on the edges of his whiskers as he glanced back at the boy who could only stand on edge. Mirroring the bartender’s gaze, Rin glanced at the boy, eyes scanning across his body as a single word came to mind.

“Lazy.”

Upon hearing her answer, the boy’s eyes immediately widened as his body stiffened. Perhaps he was rethinking his actions by now.

“Hahaha... maybe so. But ever since Emma left to help out her mother, Jake’s been a great help to lessen the load on my shoulders. And I’m also not the greatest teacher,” the catman admitted. “So any advice at all would help.”

‘Names Jake eh,’ eyes locking with the boys’.

“I see. A place to start might be to maybe not lie to the customers,” she said as the boy’s expression sunk.

“I’m sorry...” he muttered sheepishly. “I just wanted to read more.”

Rin laughed, seeing the apologetic posture that boy held.

“I don’t blame you,” she said. “Being interrupted by a prissy little girl walking into your bar in the middle of the day. Must have pissed you off eh?”

Not knowing how to react, the boy slowly nodded before his lips broke out into a smile.

‘There we go.’

She hadn’t meant to be a bully in the first place, but it didn’t matter in the end as the problem was easily fixed.

“However, there's a reason for me coming in the middle of the day,” she said, turning back towards the bartender. “I need information.”

The man sighed.

“I thought as much, considering your new level—congrats by the way. Nine levels in two days is no easy feat. But...”

“But?” Rin repeated.

The man paused, turning his attention back on to the motionless boy. “Jake, would you please head to the kitchen and prepare some snacks.”

“Yes sir,” the boy nodded.

Jake headed to the kitchen as Alphonso struggled to get his next set of words out.

“But first... let’s talk about what really happened in that private room the last time you were here.”

Everything was said in a single breath as the man refused to meet her gaze.

“Private room?” Rin tilted her head.

Nothing rose to the top of her mind other than the time she had taken the money off of Kyle’s person. But what confused her was that the bartender mentioned the event, which meant that it had some sort of significance. Although, Rin just couldn’t tell what needed to be said about what happened.

“...Don’t tell me you forgot about everything already,” Alphonso groaned before trying to recompose himself, struggling to keep a straight face. “After you two... *cough. Finished up, why did you just leave him like that. I mean on the floor. With his... out.”

‘Ah... right, I did leave him like that.’

After she had knocked the man out and took the pouch of coins, she had left him lying on the ground without giving him the due favor of at least covering up his lower half up.

Heh... A sheepish laugh escaped her mouth, but she was soon saved by the boy’s return. Looking to the side, Rin saw that Jake carried two small trays. One held a plate of chocolate, while the other had two glasses.

“Thank you,” Alphonso said to the boy as the latter nodded.

Jake then slinked away into the depths of the bar as he resumed reading his book. While Alphonso took the two glasses into hand and turned to the back counter, filling one of the cups with a liquid.

“Anything you’d specifically like?” Alphonso asked across his shoulder.

“By any chance, do you have any apple cider?”

“To be frank, Emma didn’t quite give me her mother’s recipe. But I can try making it for you if you’d like.”

Hearing this, Rin perked up as her eyes flashed with anticipation. Even if it was only a couple days since they had all suddenly disappeared, the craving she held for the apple drink far surpassed 'I’m dying for it.’

“Please, it would be appreciated,” Rin nodded quickly.

A few minutes later, a glass filled with a liquid that resembled the apple cider she so badly wanted was placed in front of her face.

Rin leaned in, taking a sip of the drink as the flavors ran through her mouth. It definitely tasted like the cider she truly loved, but the alcohol included didn’t agree with her throat as she released a cough.

Her conclusion.

‘Not bad.’

“Well? How was it?” the bartender asked as he popped a chocolate into his mouth.

“It’s decent. But it would be perfect if you could remove the alcohol,” she replied.

However, the catman’s once swaying tail now paused.

"I’m sorry. If I make it without the alcohol, it wouldn’t taste the same,” he said with a tinge of regret. “But anyways, let’s move onto the main topic.”

Taking the girl’s glass, Alphonso placed it into the sink before seating on a stool on his side of the counter.

“Information,” he stated, looking into her eyes. “What do you need it on? Dungeons again? Places to visit? A certain person?”

“Dungeons. I need information on stronger dungeons because the ones you gave me last time are too weak,” she replied.

“Hmm... I see,” he muttered, taking a moment to think. “I suppose that visiting the Nexus would serve you better than my basic knowledge.”

“The Nexus?” Rin inquired as the demi-human nodded.

“You’ve been to the guild ha—of course you have, silly me. But you’ve had people ask for you to join their parties, right?” Alphonso asked.

Rin nodded.

“Then you already know it all. The nexus is basically a hub for other people to hire mercenaries, or adventurers. But take note that it is a separate thing from the guild,” he explained.

“Other people?” Rin frowned.

Alphonso blinked once. “Of course, didn’t you—”

His voice paused as his eyes slightly narrowed.

“Don’t tell me you want to go alone...?”

It was then that the girl’s lips faintly curved upwards. She leaned forward and rested her chin on a hand.

“So? How else am I going to make money if I have to share?”

Her primary goal other than gaining strength, was to gather as much income as she could in this period of inflation. And for that to happen, she had to raid the dungeons all on her own, hence the careful preparations she made earlier.

The bartender released a sigh. “I guess it isn’t out of the question for someone who gained nine levels in just two days.”

He then brought out a pen from his pocket, spinning it a couple of times.

“Here, give me your map. I’ll write in the location of the nexus,” he said, glancing at the girl’s face only to see a raised brow. “Don’t worry, you can go alone. But you’ll find much more information at the Nexus than what I can provide.”

“Sure,” Rin shrugged and handed over the map as she didn’t see any reason why the man would lie.

“Alright... all done now,” he said, passing the map back to its owner. “It’s right in the middle of the city. You’ll recognize it when you get there as it’s quite an impressive building.”

Rin glanced down at the map in her hands and saw that there was now a neat little sketch along with a label of a building directly in the middle of the parchment.

“Is there anything else you need?” he asked.

“No,” Rin shook her head before she paused. “Wait... maybe another glass of the cider.”

“You sure? The alcohol didn’t seem to agree with you,” Alphonso questioned.

“Eh, it’ll be fine,” she said as the man chuckled.

Alphonso then quickly whipped up another one of the drinks and slid it across the counter. Catching it, Rin stored it within her inventory.

“How much do you need for the two drinks?” Rin asked.

The girl summoned a silver, flicking it into the air as the demi-human quickly raised his hands.

“There’s no need for that, it’s on the house,” Alphonso smiled.

“Really? That’s great then,” Rin said as the coin vanished into her inventory.

“You’re more than welcome."

The girl then hopped off the stool and gathered herself.

“Well, I better be going soon. Wish I could keep you company for longer but...”

“I understand,” Alphonso said with a chuckle. “Although I never did catch your name...”

“Rin, it’s just Rin.”

“Well then Rin, good luck. The next time we meet, I should have perfected your cider,” he said and waved slightly.

“Mm,” she nodded. “Thanks for everyone, Alphonso.”

She headed for the door.

‘The nexus eh.’

And off she went.

 

****

 

Rin and only herself were back on the busy streets where the sun was still shining bright in the sky, it seemed to be just a little past midday.

Her steps were light as a smile appeared on her face. Rin had been itching for a fight, and now she was so close to her goal. Even if it was just yesterday that she had conquered the magma castle dungeon along with facing the water construct. It just wasn’t enough.

Rin needed something to test herself against, especially after the increase in stats due to her title leveling up. But most important, she needed to see the true extent of her capabilities. A creation based elemental magic was something that she had never known, in fact, it was entirely the opposite of her destruction-based night class. Meaning that she didn’t know the limitations of her new class, which could be fatal in the event where she had nothing to rely on. Thus the importance of her challenging a dungeon all on her own.

Rin continued on her way through the streets of Rellea with relative peace until her steps suddenly paused. She glanced down at her map, tracing her finger over the parchment as she verified the location of the nexus.

‘Should be it.’

Looking upwards, she was met with the sight of a massive spherical shaped building that stood by itself, surrounded on all sides by a neatly trimmed garden. A single brick path, lined with lamps on both sides cut through the green and led to the building. Groups of people entered and exited as Rin noticed their attire. They wore mostly adventuring gear. Swords and other weapons were strapped to hips, while leather and plates covered their bodies.

‘Definitely it.’

Rin walked up to the front gates, the doors automatically swinging open for her as another group stepped out.

Despite how quiet and peaceful it was outside, when Rin walked through the doors a plethora of noises struck her ears. However, there was only one that stood out from the rest. The only sound she could make out clearly was a high-pitched noise that caused her to throw out all her plans.

“Hey, that’s the one I was just talking about!” A voice exclaimed. “She’s the bitch who stole my shit!”