Jennifer pulled her eyes away from the silver-haired man, looking back at the stage, trying to play off her glance as idle curiosity.

Irwys? Is that really- What is he doing here? I thought he was a Royal Knight? It’s strange enough for a person like that to be alone, but the adventuring hall of all places? In a Ranked Adventurer’s gathering?

Her eyes drifted back towards him, and she quickly spotted the iconic silver hair, even among a group of ranked adventurers. She inspected him from the corner of her eyes, trying not to draw too much attention towards herself.

Irwys stood a bit further away from her. Unlike the light armor and red cape she had seen him in last time, he wore a lean armor that seemed to form a close second layer over his body. An insignia of two swords crossed over a circular ring decorated the chest plate.

That's magically inert. Almost invisible to my skill, but I’d eat my heart out if it isn’t enchanted heavily.

“I’m going to assume no one has any problems with this. If you do, keep them to yourself. Any teams who want to opt out can leave right now. A simple Mind Blank spell will be applied to you before you do,” Zaress said, looking around as he met the adventurer’s eyes.

“Can we move the fuck on? No adventurer worth their salt are going to run away after you bait them with an Ancient fucking class relic,” a woman clad in scandelous armor that barely covered her body spat from nearby.

Jennifer saw a few amused smiles around her as a grimace covered Zaress’ face. “I’ll talk to you later about manners, Bloodmist,” he said before turning back towards the assembled crowd.

“Very well. All of you are in. The details of the delve will be shared with the registered team captains. Now, before we move on,” he paused and Jennifer took a step back in surprise as a system prompt jumped in front of her.

Tier 7: Greater Oath of Secrecy

Spell: Unknown

Issued by Zaress, Thunder Blight. Central head of the Adventuring Guild Hall.

To swear a greater oath of secrecy.

Do you agree to this?

T-tier 7...How do they even…Jennifer gulped once, her throat felt dry.

Yes, I agree. She thought and the prompt faded away. She looked around, finding various teams discussing amongst themselves, while a few other adventurers had started leaving the hall.

The room shifted as the impromptu stage came down, the guild leaders engaging in talks with some of the teams and she saw Bloodmist growling as torrents of electric strikes circled around her body. Jennifer turned back to where Irwys had been standing but found him gone.

Viel's voice interrupted her search, his hand on her shoulder. “Alright. That wasn't what I'd been expecting, but regardless, follow me out. There are warded rooms we can use to have our talk.”

She quietly followed behind him, glancing back to search for Irwys but he was nowhere in sight. She did spot Anghul following them a bit further back, however.

They walked through the hallways, reaching an expensive looking room with the sword and ring symbol she'd seen on the guild's front door. The door clicked open as Viel flashed a rectangular plate.

Jennifer froze as she spotted Irwys sitting inside, his sword lying on the table in front of him.

Viel paused as he turned to look back at her, “Right, I forgot. This is-”

“Irwys,” Jennifer blurted out, and she noticed Irwys’ eyes widen a bit at that.

Sudden panic hit her as she realised what she had said and in a hurry she added on, “I know him...it’s...my ability.” Both men paused, looking at each other. The awkwardness didn't last long, interrupted when Jennifer stumbled as Anghul shoved her to the side, making her way in to plop down on another chair.

“Stop gawking like buffoons and come on in already,” Anghul said, leaning back on her chair as she set her massive bow next to it. Jennifer entered the room as the door sealed behind her with a click. She took a seat, momentarily marveling at how comfortable it was to sit on.

This room as well. I can’t find the wards, they're too well hidden.

“Is Nathaniel back yet?” Viel asked as he sat, putting his sword on the table as he did, careful not to hit the tray of teacups and pots on the table.

“Does he look like he’s back?” Anghul retorted sharply, waiting a moment before she added. “He said he’ll be here in 15 minutes”

Viel nodded, turning towards Jennifer. “Before we start, let me ask. How much do you know?”

Jennifer paused at the question.

How much can I tell them? These guys seem to know about the marks, so they might believe me if I tell them that the month is repeating itself.

She looked at the present company, her eyes drifting towards Irwys, and she found his expression neutral. His eyes calmly analysing her.

No, far too dangerous. I think I know what I can say.

“The marks, I know that the marks give abilities and there are others like mine out there,” she turned towards Viel. “I felt one on you. I felt another one before I met you, similar but different,” she paused.

And he killed me.

Taking a moment she continued, “Not much else.”

“How do you know my name?” Irwys asked, a frown on his face.

“It’s...my ability. I get visions of the future...and I knew you from there,” she said, shifting uncomfortably on her seat under his piercing gaze.

“That explains the time thing then. A Seer. Interesting in either case,” Viel added. “There are a few things I should explain to you. Regardless of how a child like you got your hands on a mark, it is now yours. So, you will need to learn how to wield it.” He looked at her hand, and Jennifer intuited his desire, willing her mark to appear again.

“Right now your mark’s presence is plainly out in the open for anyone to sense. It even gives out a strong magical presence that can be detected if you use a high tier spell. It’s a blaring alarm calling anyone who can sense it to come find you,” Viel said and Jennifer looked at her mark with surprise.

That explains how the sand-mage found me, or Viel.

She turned to look at him. “Why do you keep yours out in the open then? I can still feel your presence.”

He smiled at her words, his eyes flashing. “Because I’m the Mark of Valour. I do not hide from battle, I rush into it instead.” he said, and she heard Anghul snort at that, muttering something.

What a strange guy.

“It’s also a weapon, like what I did to you. I can retract my presence to a smaller range than normal. And when I want, I can increase its density, overwhelming people in a small area.” His smile fell off as he finished his sentence.

“I apologise about what I put you through. I clearly over did it,” he said, dipping his head a little causing Jennifer to shuffle awkwardly.

“I-it’s fine. I just panicked,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. They sat silently for a moment, Anghul tapping her feet impatiently.

“You said you met another mark before? Where was this and do you know anything about them?” Irwys asked.

“I-well…”

Half truths are the best lies there are.

“I met him in a dream,” Jennifer said, flushing for a second simply because of how ridiculous the statement sounded but the people in the room gave no hint of taking it as a joke. Calming a bit, she continued.

“In my vision, I saw monsters attacking people. The man attacked alongside them. He was some kind of [Sand Mage]. He saw me, and I felt his presence in my mind. He then started to chase me so I ran...he eventually caught up and-” Jennifer paused, her voice dying as her throat constricted. She swallowed, feeling her throat itch.

“And then he killed me.” Tense silence covered the room as they stared at her. Jennifer wanted to run away and hide in a corner from the attention directed her way.

“That’s what happens when you're weak as piss, a random maniac comes one day and murders you,” Anghul said calmly, picking up the cup of tea in front of her, drinking it all in one go.

“He was at least level 35...Maybe 45. I don’t know. He was strong. Strong enough to destroy a good part of the city alone,” Jenn retorted and found Anghul's dark eyes focused on her.

“And? Does that change something? He came, and he murdered you. If he was level 45 then he should’ve snapped you like a twig. Even if not, you died. The end,” she said, snorting.

“You can’t expect a child to stand against someone like that,” Viel said, before he turned back towards her.

“Can you tell us when this happened, or what that man looked like?”

“He had dark skin, and wore loose clothes, from further south. Like the northern Ostiri traders from the desert. Had his hair tied up, green eyes and a mark on his shoulder. I can’t tell you when it happened, or more than that he went on a rampage inside the city.”

“Thank you, that's good enough,” Viel replied, thinking for a moment before he added. “The marks originate from a trial. The Library of truth, we don’t know where it is, or what it is, but what we do know is that it contains Relic and Ancient class artifacts. A lot of them.” His mark lit up, glowing with a golden colour.

“The library is known to grant wishes to the worthy. It’s an old story, the Library of Truth. It’s real name has been lost to time. Those wishes are embodied in the marks, with each mark granting control over a particular domain. There are twelve marks.

"That you know of," Anghul interrupts, causing Viel to glare at her before continuing.

"Yes. There are at least twelve marks. Their abilities are not all known. The marks are keys, spread out through various relics, artifacts and trials, waiting for someone to collect them. To select the [Seeker].”

"Keys? More like tools. No one gives power away for free," Anghul snorted.

“Seeker?” Jennifer interrupted.

“It’s a class. An ancient one. We don’t know what the class entails. All we know is that it has an intrinsic tie to the marks. And that this selection has happened before, to choose the previous [Seeker],” Irwys said.

“Yes. What we have are those marks. Keys to an ancient place of magic, forgotten to time, and as you may already know from your vision. Some marks will not hesitate to kill others to obtain the keys.” Viel added.

Jennifer sat blankly for a moment, chewing on the information she'd been given. She turned to face Irwys, who was looking back at her.

“How are you involved in all of this?” she asked.

“I am-” a knock at the door interrupted him and a click sounded out as the gate slid open.

“Whoops, I kinda forgot I had the key, sorry for disturbing,” a young man - Nathaniel, Jennifer assumed - said, rubbing the back of his head as he entered the room. His chestnut brown hair mucked about in a disorderly fashion.

He is... already a ranked adventurer?

“Anyways, err, there is someone who's come to meet you, Viel,” he said, shooting an apologetic look to Anghul. Jennifer felt her body stiffen as Zaress walked into the room. His deep blue eyes scanned the room once, momentarily resting on her before moving to settle on Viel.

She felt his aura, it was restrained, not even aimed at her, yet it was a heavy thing. The hair on her neck rose, sending a tingling sensation down her arms and she felt the air turn static in his presence.

“Skywrath, Silveran,” he said, nodding at both of them, “We need to talk.”