Ryan stood in front of his window and gritted his teeth. He stared at the throngs of people entering and exiting the building, his gaze trained on Vur’s back as the shirtless man’s group walked towards the region of the advancement exam. An amber light flashed on Ryan’s wrist, and he glanced down at his root bracelet before bringing it up to his mouth.

“Yes, I’ve found someone your guild would definitely love to have, but he’s not interested in joining your guild at all,” Ryan said. The amber bracelet flashed, and Ryan’s eyes shifted as if he were reading a page of text in the air in front of him.

“Yes, of course,” Ryan said. “His name is Vur Besteck. He’s powerful, and he’s heading to the advancement exam right now. If you position some people at the fifth floor’s entrance, you’ll be sure to catch a glimpse of him.”

The root bracelet flashed amber once more, and Ryan chuckled as he read the other party’s response. “Yes, absolutely. With such a large sum of geums, this information will be completely exclusive to your guild. Of course, there are a lot of people around, so it’s probably impossible to hide this from the other major guilds; you know how large the waves special candidates make can get when they rise up.”

The amber bracelet flashed again, and Ryan exhaled. “Thank you. I hope we can continue working together in the future,” he said and lowered his hand. A few seconds later, he tapped on his root bracelet and waited; then, he brought it back up to his mouth. “Hello, are you interested in purchasing some exclusive information about a promising candidate?”

***

Upon arriving at the fourth floor’s advancement exam location, Vur’s group was bombarded by people shouting and yelling.

“I’m a support who scored ninety-five points on the exam; I’m looking to join a group of people who’ve gotten an average of ninety or above!”

“Looking for a non-braindead tank! Sixty points or higher!”

“Selling potions, all kinds!”

Along with the shouting people, there were others who were sitting off to the sides. There was a large wooden tablet, wide enough for dozens of people to access at the same time, in the center of the square.

“We sign up for the exam over there,” Lindyss said and pointed at the tablet. She made her way over, ignoring the people coming up to her. One person tried to stand in her path, but a wave of her hand knocked him off his feet with the help of her shadows. She stopped in front of the wooden tablet and pressed on it with one finger. Her root bracelet flashed amber, and a few seconds later, the rest of the group’s bracelets let off an amber glow as well.

“That was quick,” Tafel said, her eyes scanning the air in front of her face. “Did we all get the same message?”

“We better have, seeing as we’re all in the same party,” Lindyss said and took a step back to stand among her companions. Not long after, an amber light enveloped the party; when it faded, they were gone from the noisy square.

Vur blinked as the light faded away from his vision, revealing an arena surrounded by circular walls similar to a coliseum. Lindyss, Tafel, Melody, and Kax stood beside him, their eyes taking in the surroundings as well.

“Just wondering,” Tafel said as she scanned her party members. “Who’s the tank?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Lindyss asked and placed her hand on Vur’s shoulder.

“Vur’s a support,” Tafel said.

Lindyss looked Vur in the eyes. He nodded at her, causing the cursed elf to furrow her brow. “Alright,” she said. “Whatever. We don’t need a tank. With enough damage, we’ll kill whatever comes at us before it can do any harm.”

A rattling sound echoed through the arena as one of the metal gates embedded in the walls rose. Lindyss squinted at the darkness and pointed a finger at the corridor. A tiger’s face came into view, stepping out from the shadows, and less than a second later, an earthen spike rose out of the ground and impaled the poor creature’s head. With a shattering sound, its body cracked as if it were a broken mirror before dissolving like grains of sand in the wind.

“Hey,” Tafel said. “Shouldn’t you give Kax and Melody a chance to display their skills?”

“There’ll be plenty of chances to do that in the future,” Lindyss said and turned towards the next gate in the arena walls. Rattling sounds came out of it, and before it could fully open, Lindyss had already shot a few lightning bolts down the corridor from the tips of her finger. “And as you’ve so wisely pointed out, we don’t have anyone to act as a tank.”

“Fine,” Tafel said and crossed her arms over her chest.

Melody cleared her throat and raised her hand. “I don’t mind.”

“Kax don’t care,” Kax said from Melody’s side, nodding his head.

“Great, it’s settled then,” Lindyss said and smiled at Tafel. “Why don’t you fill the remaining gates with your phoenix flames? That way, you’ll get to practice with your flames, and whenever something spawns, it’ll die instantly.”

“Why does it seem like you’re just too lazy to clear the stage yourself?” Tafel asked but did what the cursed elf suggested anyway. A blood-red imprint appeared on her forehead, and balls of fire formed around her body before flying towards the remaining gates. The light from the flames illuminated the dark corridors, revealing small caves that didn’t extend very far. When the gates rumbled, different creatures appeared out of thin air within the caves before instantly cracking like the tiger from earlier.

Melody scratched her head at the sight. The early levels of the tower were supposed to train her for tougher combat later on. If she skipped through the levels by riding the bus known as Feathered Serpent, wouldn’t she be completely useless when it came to fighting higher up in the tower? Hopefully, the elf was right about there being plenty of chances for her to gain experience.