Returning from the dungeon entrance had been a small ordeal, but it felt like a drop of what weighed on Mash’s mind. So much had happened in the dungeon, and he had only been given the time to process it now. That too, mainly because his brother was handling most of the clean-up. Mash had been given the opportunity to head home, and he chose to meditate instead of sleep or talk with anyone. He didn’t use his skill, wanting to keep the emotions he felt and process them. Everyone seemed more than happy to have some time to themselves. More thoughts flooded his mind as he remembered what his brother had told him.

He had found the kids but had been facing far stronger monsters than Mash had. His brother said he had needed to upgrade his class but remained outside the entrance as he still needed to control his new power. That was the other reason Arthur chose to remain outside, as his power would have been too overwhelming to return home. Someone like Luna would struggle to deal with the cold aura that radiated from his brother. Even his friends had struggled with it, and they only faced it for a few minutes. Mash wanted to stay in his room for another couple of hours, but he needed to visit the guild.

There were two things that he was required to do now, and one of those updated his status at the guild. They were supposed to give him access to new information and missions and would also need to update his tournament position. Before, he was slated for the lower-ranked tournament, but now he would be moved to the bronze rank one. He wasn’t worried, confident that his dragon form far superseded his rank. He would probably spar with his brother later, trying to figure out where he stood. Not to mention, he was curious to see what his brother’s new power would be like.

Mash had been forcing himself to look at his skills and abilities. Thinking about things other than what racked his brain. However, he didn’t have the energy to deal with that yet and needed something to distract him. Deciding it was as good a time as any, Mash got out of bed. The guild would be open now, and so would the library. Each was a place he wanted to visit, so he quickly got himself dressed. He threw on his mending clothing and thought about changing the design since he no longer had the mana scars or scales but decided against it. He didn’t have that spark of creativity that he had before and decided to ignore it for now.

His new appearance did cause him to leave his mask in his storage. He didn’t need it anymore, as currently, only his eyes looked inhuman. His body would too if he walked around shirtless, but that wasn’t something he was planning on doing any time soon. Before, he had slowly grown more accepting of walking around with his scales, and now it seemed pointless to hide his eyes. Sure, some people might be scared, but he didn’t care about that anymore. The little bit of gratitude and awe he had received told him that he didn’t need to hide his appearance. To some extent, it felt disingenuous to pretend to be human still. People would see him as he was as he deserved. With his resolve set, he walked down the hall.

The sun was out still, and the light illuminated the hallway. It poured over his face as he passed window after window, but he was stopped by a call from behind.

“Wait, how are you feeling?”

Recognizing the voice, Mash could hear the concern that poured out of Luna’s voice. She had only received a small summary of what had happened and was growing increasingly worried as Arthur still hadn’t returned. Feeling bad for his sister, Mash tried to recount the events of the mission.

At first, Mash had planned on avoiding talking about what he had done, but that fell apart as he started talking. His sister’s concern and worry made him want to share more, and he told her of the people he had killed. Not the monsters, but the people who had died so that he could gain power. Talking through it had felt good, but also reminded him what he had done. He had needed the power to break the cells and gate, but ultimately, he had killed those people for a small bit of power.

That was the reality he was struggling to accept. That realization made him realize, how pervasive the class system had been before and show him how much it had weakened now. Priscilla told him that the invasiveness had significantly decreased, though she didn’t know why. It might be because of his body becoming more monstrous, or perhaps the earrings had gotten stronger. However, he didn’t feel like it was any of those. Rather, the system had weakened because he was already set on this course, and even without its intervention he would continue to pursue power.

His sister had said much as he told her the story, but she stayed and listened to the whole thing. Once he finished, all she did was give him a hug. Before letting go, she whispered two words to Mash.

“Good job.”

With those words echoing in his mind, he watched as Luna walked away. Mash just stood there for a while longer staring at his hands. A surprising amount of the tension and worry had vanished from her words, almost as if she had healed him. He knew that she didn’t and continued towards the door. Now, with a little more confidence behind each step.

The streets did a lot to improve his mood. Even with the changes, he was still recognizable, mostly due to the family emblem on the back of his shirt. Several faces had turned to meet him, though many turned away quickly. However, more and more met his gaze and did not shirk away. Mash was certain his gaze would be more frightening now, even though his eyes hadn’t changed his presence had. Even without transforming his friends had told him that he gave of the same feeling but at a much smaller degree. Mash quickly figured out why, though he could do nothing about his draconic domain.

“You should transform. It will be a good display of your power.”

Priscilla’s message made Mash truly notice what was happening. A crowd had been growing as he walked. Even though he walked along the side of the street, Mash noticed that many people had seemed curious. Most of the people were children to boot, though they mainly stayed behind doors and peeked through mall openings in the window.

“No… let's just get to the guild.”

Ignoring the many eyes on his back, Mash continued down the street like royalty might. Other than the royal family he was probably the most famous person at his rank. Either him or the hero from the Colosseum. Throw in Luke who was included as people knew that they were in the same party. Mash was curious as to how he became so famous though and wondered what had happened over the past couple of hours. Obviously, some news of Arthur’s and his exploits would’ve spread, but this was a bit fast. Mash had heard several people talking about them both, and how their parents must be blessed.

The excitement died down quickly though, and by the time he made it to the guild, there was only a trickle of people following him now. He quickly entered the familiar building, happy to see a familiar face in the room. Jack was sitting behind the main desk for some reason, and he quickly flicked his eyes up to meet Mash. Getting the message, Mash headed towards Jack.

Jack leaped over the desk, gesturing for Mash to follow him. Without hesitation Mash followed behind the man, having built up some trust over the past few days. It only took a few moments before they were back in the room where they had appraised the items. Even before Mash had taken a seat, Jack had pulled out a bronze badge.

“Congratulations on the rank up, though judging by your expression you got a storm of questions. Well good, but first listen to what I have to say then you can ask what you want.”

Jack sounded surprisingly serious and familiar with this conversation, so Mash nodded along. This was something that seemed expected, and he was certain Jack would have a lot to share.

“I’m all ears.”

Jack didn’t hold anything back, entering his usual teaching mode while giving Mash a ton of information. The conversation took over an hour but had done a lot for Mash’s questions. The biggest of which had even been addressed. Mash had assumed for a long time that he had uniquely stumbled upon the class corruption, though that seemed foolish as he heard Jack’s words. Apparently, the adventurer’s guild was founded by someone who made similar connections. To notice the effects early was extremely rare, and most only realized at level one hundred.

In the past, the guild would only inform people of it at that level but found that they could better adjust to the changes if they were informed a rank earlier. Originally the guild had told all guild members of the influence, but that had only led to violent reactions from unprepared youths. Most people at his level would know of something though the kingdom told their people later than the guild did. The reason for this had to do with the way a class affected someone’s mind. Apparently, only pure combat classes got the callousness needed to kill. All adventurers experienced it and felt the pull to pursue it. Most unknowingly accepted it as the desire for strength, but a few would find it unnatural.

Mash was even more surprised to hear that at level one hundred, the influence the system had would fundamentally change. This surprised Mash since it meant that it was still present then. From what Jack said the system, would make people do one of two things. Either they would desire the pursuit of power above all else or find themselves beholden to some other force. Knights, paladins, and even heroes fell into the latter category, living for the sake of some other ideal. However, people usually embraced the system as it lined up with their own mentality.

This confused Mash, and he asked jack how this was different from attaining freedom. It sounded like the system just let people follow what they wanted. However, Jack’s explanation was more thorough than that and told Mash of the differences. The system created the path for people to walk, leading them to an ideal or purpose that it had created for them. Adventurers were encouraged to kill people and monsters for power, and by the time they hit level one hundred already cared more for power than life. All the system did then blocked out dissenting thoughts. This did make Mash wonder how the guild got all this information but guessed that he wasn’t the only one to have something like Priscilla or the earrings.

If this was a few months ago, his words would’ve made Mash furious, but that was not the case now. He knew that this knowledge would do nothing other than cause needless chaos, as most people would likely believe that adventurers were nothing more than murderers. This would probably also make them question their own class and actions and would destabilize their entire foundation. While Jack had given Mash a lot of information, plenty was still hidden.

However, Jack was much more open about telling Mash what was hidden. The item from before was still taboo, and he wouldn’t tell him about how the guild came across this information. Furthermore, he had no answer as to Mash’s question on stats and the consequences of using them when younger. He also kept his lips shut regarding the relationship the guild held with other forces, and that grated at Mash especially considering what he just learned. What did other groups think of the bloodthirsty and power-hungry nature of the guild, and he also wouldn’t share anything about the motivations of any of the groups. He wouldn’t even tell Mash about what the guild was trying to accomplish, though he hinted at there being some structure to the system. This conversation did lead to one new topic though, and this information stunned Mash like no other.