"Doesn't it hurt?" Anna asked, still staring at his forearm and moving it around.

"Ehh, you have the Pain Resistance skill, right?" Tai asked her.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, but that would still hurt for me, and the description of the skill if I remember correctly, says that it only gives you the ability to ignore pain, but you will still feel it."

"Yeah, you're right, but my resistance is just so high that I can easily ignore cuts. They're also easier to ignore when I know that they'll heal in a matter of seconds," he said, rolling his sleeve down as he finished his glass of beer.

"That makes sense," she said, also finishing her drink.

"By the way, Anna, you got the notification of the dungeons, right?"

"Yeah, but I need to be Rank A to take any missions," she pointed out.

"Same, want to go do missions with me then? Not right now, since I'm tired, but tomorrow," he asked her. Tai figured that if he was going to do missions all day tomorrow, then he might be able to help Anna with some missions that were related to his own. It would also be a good way to make her stronger.

"I don't mind," she replied in an excited tone, smiling.

"You're Rank C, so how many more missions do you have to do?"

"I only have to do 14 missions to take the promotion test. I'm kind of nervous though, what if I don't pass it?"

"Don't worry, you'll pass it." Tai didn't worry as the promotion tests were fairly easy, and it was pretty rare for someone to fail the promotion test, at least for the lower ranks.

Tai stayed at the guild for a few more minutes, ordering another drink before going to where his mom worked to eat dinner.

===

"WHAT!? How did someone who came here after me, pass me in level?!" A tall man in a UEE Captain uniform asked.

"I don't know, sir, but I'm sure that you're still stronger. Skill is the true deciding factor of battle."

"I give you permission to order the soldiers. Do whatever you can to get him out of the city. I am the strongest human in this city, and it will stay that way, understand!" Berthold came into the Aether Universe early and he was on of the most promising recruits, even being granted the rank of Captain, and being one of the first ones to reach level 100, but his progress soon slowed down.

"Yes, sir!"

He was quickly overtaken by other people, some of them gaining unique skills that only one of each race could have. These people obviously made him jealous, they became stronger and stronger without stopping, but he was stuck in the level 100s, and now a person that came after him, was ahead of him? He couldn't let that be.

===

Tai patted his stomach as he finished eating the food. He thanked his mom, his sister across from him and still shocked by how much food he had consumed.

"That can't be healthy," she said under her breath.

"Wooh, that was good," he said, sighing. "Anna, where are you staying? I can walk you there if you want."

"Umm, this building not far from where mom works. You don't have to walk me, I can handle myself fine," she said, standing up, and fixing up her hair.

"I'll walk you. Gotta keep my sister safe, right?" Tai said with a smile.

Anna nodded and the two said their goodbyes to their mom as they left the restaurant and into the streets.

The walk to where Anna stayed was fine, but Tai had a weird feeling that something was going to happen. Like a primal instinct that told him to be alert, but Tai didn't listen to it. As far as he knew, nothing bad could happen if they were in the system because of the rule in place, but he couldn't be farther from the truth.

As the two walked, Anna and Tai were chatting talking about stuff, when Anna felt a sharp pain on her neck, like a needle stabbing her. "Ouch, what was that?"

Tai raised his eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Something stung me, like on the neck." Anna touched around the back of her neck and found a needle poking out. She carefully pulled it out and showed it to Tai. "What the hell is that?"

"Am I gon-" Before she could finish what she was about to say, she suddenly fell to the ground.

"Anna!?" Tai knelt down and placed his finger on her neck and released a sigh as he felt her pulse.

The good thing was that Anna wasn't dead, but who had done that? Tai let out a growl, annoyed that he didn't listen to his instincts.

Standing up, Tai formed his naginata, clad with his red ki, and looked around him. "Who the hell did that?!"

A man appeared from a dark alleyway. The man had his face covered, but Tai could see that his eyes were a shade of purple, and his skin was tan. "Put your weapon down, or the drones will capture you, and you'll never see your sister again."

"Tsk." That's right, he forgot about the rule of the cities, but then how did this man do that to Anna? "I thought violence wasn't allowed, how did you do that?"

Tai didn't see it since the man was covering his face, but the man smiled. "Get rid of your weapon first, and then I'll answer it."

Tai didn't want to listen to the man, but what could he do? If they could do that without triggering the robot drones that were everywhere, emphasis on everywhere, then what else could they do? Maybe they could kill his sister, he wouldn't let that happen, so he complied, and his naginata disappeared.

"Good, good. You see, the cities are a bit loose on what they define as violence, thus creating loopholes."