Kan looked at Lariel. That son of a bitch didn't even flinch at the announcement. How arrogant must he be?!

He was deemed to be in the line between Bronze and Steel, the last one being the rank on which the current Central Guild Headmaster started his adventuring career. He had been labeled to be almost at that rank, the starting rank of the Guild Headmaster who was currently a Red Magic Diamond ranked adventurer. It was an honor to be so close to that man, and Lariel didn't even flinch

It was true that many could enter at Steel rank directly with a test, but those were nobles that were training since young with the instructors. Kan was mad. Mad at the fact that Lariel showed no reaction whatsoever to it.

But it was also an eye-opener. Lariel was so powerful that he was in the line between the ones starting and the highest rank someone entered to. Kan realized that Lariel had some kind of advantage. Unlike Ivan or him, Lariel was good at both magic and weapons. There would be more like him of course, but most focused on one thing, they usually did not go for both. The ones that did were at the top, most of the time. Either that or rock bottom. It was hard to train both things and you had to keep focus and willingness to keep training and improving.

What Kan was truly curious about right now was Lariel's status, so that he could compare it to his own. Kan glanced at it.

Status:

Name: Kan

Class: [Mage (Sorcerer)]

Level: 1

Health: 105/105 (Regen: 0.11/sec)

Stamina: 118/118 (Regen: 0.13/sec)

Mana: 411/411 (Regen: 0.42/sec)

Strength: 4

Vitality: 7

Endurance: 5

Dexterity: 6

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 15

Willpower: 18

Perception: 6

Free Stats: 5

Bonus Stats per level: +2 Int, Wil | +1 Dex, Per | +2 Free Stats | (8 Total Stats)

Skills: (142 Total Skill Levels)

Weapon Related:

Weapon Proficiency Level 13 | Basic Bow Mastery Level 11 | Basic Dagger Mastery Level 10 | Basic Sword Mastery Level 7 | Basic Spear Mastery Level 5 | Basic Axe Mastery Level 3 | Basic Mace Mastery Level 2

Basic Shield Mastery Level 6

Magic Related:

Mana Manipulation Level 34 | Basic Mana Deconstruction Level 19 | Mana Sense Level 12

Resistances:

Basic Earth Magic Resistance Level 2

Miscellaneous:

Physical Fitness Level 18

It wasn't that bad. He had read some books on the subject and found that he was slightly above average, for a mage class that is. The class that he chose also gave some decent benefits. The majority of magic-related individuals had their first-class be Mage, which granted a decent 7 stats per level. His class on the other hand was good because it gave him 8 stats, 2 of which were free stats, which just put him in heaven. Kan had gotten this good of a class, so he could only wonder what kind of class Lariel had chosen. What kind of class would fit such a powerful young individual?

After a couple of seconds of reflective silence, the Guild worker started talking about the party.

"So, I will now assign you to your respective parties. You must know that you don't need to stay at this party, but we took into account your current ability, to match you to the most well-suited party. Of course, you can all combine into a party of ten. The pay should be minor compared to only a five-person party, but you will do quests more easily and quicker, thus earning more money in the grand scheme of things. Be warned, after completing quests, the Guild will not ensure the distribution of money, which will be left only for the party to decide. Without further ado, the first party is Ivan, Fila, Carla, Kan, and Lavi. The second party will be Ezekiel, Jean, Helen, Nadir, and Lariel. You will receive your identification plate once you direct yourself to the desk at the front entrance of the building. Good luck."

After that, she left, and mayhem followed. Everyone started speaking, joining together in their groups, and discussing what they would do. Kan saw Ivan gathering them and started walking towards him. On his way there he glanced at Lariel and saw him sighing and walking towards the rest of his party. He wondered. What would Lariel do? But that was not important now, because he was reaching his party, and noticed them waiting for him. When he finally arrived, Ivan started speaking.

"So, since I am the best in this party, I think I should be the party leader, any objections?".

Kan had none, but he had noticed the way Ivan had said the "in this party" part. It was full of hatred and sarcasm. After the team silence, Ivan continued.

"So, to start things off, I think we should tell each other our class names and tags so that we can pla-"

He didn't have the chance to continue because the discussion in the other party became too loud. Helen was literally shouting at Lariel.

Well, that's unexpected. Kan thought. Usually, no one had the guts to do anything to Lariel, shouting included. She was shouting so loud that the orphanage caretaker and the guild worker that were talking to each other came to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Hilda, the caretaker, asked first. She did not look very happy. Which was understandable. Noise meant problems, and problems delayed money.

For her turn, Helen stop shouting at Lariel and turned to talk to the two adults.

"Lariel doesn't want to party with us," she whined. Her dark eyes, like the ones of a puppy.

So that's how it is... Kan grinned. He was too smug to stay with the 'lower ones'.

"Now, now, that surely isn't it rig-".

"It is." Lariel chimed in from the side.

Kan almost laughed at that. Almost. Still, a smile appeared on his face.

The Guild worker looked at him with surprise and then spoke.

"Look, I know that you are the most advanced here bu-"

"That's exactly the reason," Lariel interrupted once again. "What you said proves it. I am above them, although I do not want to sound cocky. They would just slow me down. I do not know if you know, but I can defeat them all while they are working together. And now with a class, I think that I would do even better. Are you saying that I should stay with them and resign myself to perform quests more slowly and earn less money for myself, and thus for the Guild?"

Everyone fell silent. Kan had to give it to him, Lariel had a nicely prepared explanation, rational, logical, and most important, impossible to counter. He could have an oratory skill to be able to do that, but Kan doubted. The silence was only interrupted by Ivan that decided he wanted to be the center of the attention.

"Why don't you let him do that?" A pause. "If he wants to, what's stopping him from just leaving the party after he leaves the guild?" Another pause. "I have a proposition. Since Lariel wants to be partyless, or at least, doesn't want to stay with this party, why don't the rest of us form a nine-person party as you said before?" Yet another pause. "Yes, it would be less lucrative, but it would be easier to make money, and we could do more quests in a shorter amount of time. Not only that, but it would ensure that we are safer, making it possible to grow in safety and thus improve the party power. The more, the merrier, isn't that what people say?"

Goddam, Kan was surprised. Everyone above him had such fricking proficiency to make speeches. Like Lariel's speech, Ivan's was clear, concise, logical, and yet again, impossible to counter. He could also have an oratory skill though. Better to watch out for that hidden charisma stat.

"Why doesn't everyone that is on board with the idea raise their hand?"

Ivan and Lariel lifted their hand immediately. At first, Kan was surprised that Lariel had even lifted his hand, but then he realized that even though he was on board with the idea, he was not on board with the part of joining the party... Truly, they both had the capabilities to become influential people.

Kan cursed their hidden charisma stat and did the same. Why hesitate? If he found out that he didn't like it he could just leave. After glancing around a bit to see the reactions of their friends, the remaining all lifted their hands one by one. Even Helia, the caretaker lifted her hand. She must have realized that this separation was the best one in terms of money and security. More protection while ensuring a constant flow of money to the orphanage? The perfect combination.

The Guild worker saw that she was at a disadvantage and gave up.

"Okay. I see no problem with that," then she turned to Lariel. "But you better take care if you decide to work alone. While going solo it is easier to make mistakes and you could easily die. You are a promising young man, and I have the suspicion that the Central Guild Headmaster would be quite unhappy to find that a young man that was close to his young days' prowess was dead."

Lariel for his turn just nodded.

There were some more discussions/advice given by the part of the Guild worker and then she was off, the caretaker in tow, probably to talk about quests for the kids to make and some other kinds of deals. Lariel looked around and then left, presumably to get his Adventurer plate. Kan wanted to do the same, but Ivan called them all to gather, and so they did. He was the strongest after Lariel and a natural leader to boot. Why not follow his orders.

Once they were all in a circle, Ivan started talking about strategies and the like, leadership and money splitting, along with asking for each other's class, and general skill level, since the identification skill only came when you were level 5. Kan had no hesitation in revealing his class. He wanted to show that he was the best, but the Shield Of Pride class that Ivan had, or the Tenth Scout of Jalak that belonged to Ezekiel made him doubt it somehow. After hearing that the money would be divided equally among ten parts and that the tenth part would go to the most valuable party member, Kan dozed off.

---

After what seemed like an eternity, Ivan dismissed them all, and as such, Kan rushed out of the back door to go to the front of the Guild building and go get his adventurer card. But the person waiting for him there had other plans. When he was walking past that singular individual, he called Kan out.

"Hey. Can I talk to you?"

Kan decided at that moment to go for a full sarcastic/philosophical conversation.

"Aren't you already?" he said.

Lariel, the individual that had stopped Kan gazed at him.

"Yeah... I actually wanted to ask you for a favor."

What might it be oh mighty warrior? Or should I call him a mage? Or warrior-mage? Or mage-warrior? Whatever. Maybe spearmage? Nah, that sounds weird. I should just get the identification skill. What did he get stuck with? Mage, Warrior? Healer? Thief, maybe? Rogue? Scout? One can only wonder, the ones above do not reveal such things to the like of us, the peasants.

"Depends on the favor," he tactically responded. Kan did not want to give much away. Being owned a favor by the most powerful person he knew was good. Lariel for his part responded with a simple thing.

"Not that much of a favor. More like a trade. I would like to train my Mana Sense skill, and it gives more levels if you have a spell flying towards your face. Maybe we could practice together?"

Kan was... dumbstruck. The great Lariel wanted to train with him. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. He could finally figure out the great secret of Lariel. How he got that much more powerful than the rest of them. With that motivation, he accepted.

"Ok. I see no reason to deny. But besides this training trade, I want something else. I want you to tell me how you got so powerful in such a short time."

He thought Lariel would straight out deny it, but yet again...

"Ok for me," he said. "See you tomorrow."

And then he was off. Walking towards the direction of the orphanage. Kan soon lost sight of him when he turned a corner next to a smithy called 'Fiery Anvils' after passing through the many aesthetically pleasing shop fronts on either side of the roads. He was surprised that everything had gone so smoothly, but Lariel apparently had no qualms about spilling his secrets.

Wait. Tomorrow? What the hell is he going to do until then? Kan thought. And without him noticing, all hatred towards Lariel had vanished. He surprisingly wasn't that bad once you talked to him.

The only actual problem being that he rarely talked to anyone since all the kids from their room had been competitive from the start and almost did not talk with each other, Lariel being the worst of them all in that area.