"We need to go."
Yurian went to the next room and returned with a bag and a staff.
"We'll have to get you something to disguise your level."
He was gearing up when Finn spoke up.
"I'm busy. I can't come with you."
"What? I'm trying to help you here! You should listen—"
Yurian suddenly stopped speaking.
He took a long breath to calm himself.
"Sigh, sorry for freaking out. What do you have to do?"
"Forge an epic grade weapon."
"Then let's go. You need special materials to forge epic grade weapons."
Yurian explained.
"Normally, you need a lvl.50 adventurer at the minimum to help you to gather the materials from the wild. I'll do that for you if you come with me."
"We don't have materials in the shop?"
"No, there aren't. Master rarely forges epic grade or higher weapons. We don't stock the materials until he needs them."
Finn thought for a bit and agreed to leave with Yurian.
While the absence of his level seemed like a big deal, Finn's focus was on forging and epic-grade weapons.
Yurian spoke,
"We'll meet the Earth Dragon and ask her for an item to disguise your level. Since that might take time, let's get the materials first."
He raised his staff.
A magic circle appeared beneath them.
Finn felt a shift.
The feeling of teleportation was similar to how he felt while logging in and logging out. That said, the sensation was milder during teleportation.
They appeared in a vast desert.
…
Yurian, still inside the Smithy, looked at the place where Finn had disappeared from.
"The clone should be enough to help him with the materials."
"I'll complete the job here before going to him."
He picked the lvl.9 rare grade sword that was meant to be sold to Enryu.
A magic circle appeared beneath him.
The room was covered with a bright streak of light and Yurian disappeared.
…
Apex Guild, Ole City
Inside an office, a red haired woman was going through several documents, while her secretary tallied the guild's current progress.
"Vice Guilmaster, we've recruited a Rare grade Class traveler."
"What are the levels of our current members?"
"The average level is 2 with a few talented recruits reaching level 3. Only you and the guildmaster have reached level 5."
Enryu nodded.
Her progress was thanks to her Rare-grade class.
The new recruit, with her Rare-grade Class, would soon become a pillar of their guild.
The Apex guild had recruited over sixty members.
With the original seven members leading the new recruits, they were a formidable force inside Ole City.
"How is the situation with Sky Wing Guild?"
"They are scrambling around to find the Traveler 'Kino'. However, they will soon get over the confusion and start competing with us for the resources."
"We need to hurry if that is the case." Enryu added. "Make sure Kino remains with our guild. We can't have him switch sides and return to the Sky Wing Guild."
Kino was the traveler who purchased the Level 1 Epic grade sword and sold it to Sky Wing Guild for 50,000$.
Before he could leak the shop's location, Enryu sought him out and recruited him.
The secretary hesitated.
"Vice Guildmaster, do we really need Kino? You and he confirmed there was no Epic-grade weapon left in the shop. There is no need to hide the shop's location."
"I have my plans regarding that. Just do as you are told."
While they were discussing, there was a knock on the door.
A guild member entered with Enryu's permission and spoke,
"Vice Guildmaster, we have a visitor. He brought the weapon you've ordered."
"Tell him to come in."
Ernyu put aside the documents.
Although she had agreed to Finn's request, she was going to do everything in her power to recruit him.
He was the reason she was trying to hide the shop.
After what she saw there, there was no way she was letting him go.
The guild member did not leave to invite the guest.
"Why are you standing here? Go, call him."
"T-that. He told you to come down and get the sword yourself."
There was a short silence inside the office.
"Who does he think he is? We've paid him an additional bonus and this is how we are being treated?" the secretary spat with scorn.
Enryu frowned.
However, she decided to meet Finn.
She stood up and left the office.
They walked down the corridor and reached the meeting hall.
"Welcome Vice Guildmaster."
Another guild member stood at the doors. He bowed before he opened the door.
Enryu entered the meeting room alone.
As soon as she stepped inside, her eyes widened.
"Mr. Yurian?" She spoke. "You did not have to come here yourself. You could've just called us."
Enryu quickly erased her frown and took on a submissive attitude.
'The guild member should've told us it was this guy who came.'
She cursed the guild member who came to deliver the news about Mr. Yurian's arrival.
"There is no need to be so cautious. I'm just a retired adventurer now," Yurain smiled.
Enryu's back was drenched with sweat.
As a professional guild, they focused a major part of their resources on information gathering.
Out of all the big news, a large part of them were about Yurian's days of adventure.
He was a living legend.
She had been planning to meet Yurian in hopes of triggering a quest.
This moment could be her chance.
"The payment has been confirmed. Here is the sword."
Yurian gave her the Lvl. 9 Rare-grade sword forged by Finn.
While Enryu was checking the blade, he asked,
"I wonder if you have unlocked the Inspect skill?"
"I have. Everyone can use it, can't they?" She answered without thinking.
"Hahaha, of course. A leader like you must have a high level Inspect since you must be frequently using it to find promising recruits."
"It's just level 3."
"So, I was thinking…"
A deathly, murderous aura appeared around Yurian.
"Did you use Inspect on the blacksmith of our shop?"
"I—"
"Answer carefully. Your answer will decide the future of your little playground."
Yurian called her guild a playground, but she didn't react.
In fact, she couldn't even move.
The pressure radiating from Yurian had frozen the entire room.
"I did."
Enryu answered truthfully.
She wanted to lie.
But if she was caught the consequences would be dire.
"Oh? My lie detection skill did not activate."
Yurian's smile made her shudder.
Unlike Finn, Enryu understood the importance of missing levels.
Everyone had the same Status Screen.
However, depending on the rarity of their Class, they could unlock hidden stats and there would be slight changes in the Status Screen.
Finn's class did not have a rank assigned to it, making it look like an unranked class, if not for the fact that he did not have a level and even a legendary class had levels, let alone unranked classes.
There was a high probability he had a hidden class or his class was above legendary grade.
Both possibilities were terrifying.
"How many people know about our blacksmith?" Yurain asked.
The underlying threat in those polite words was clear to her.
"N-no one except me knows."
"That's good. I hope you will keep it that way." Yurian stood up. "Or else I'll be forced to get involved."
He added.
"Since you agreed to my request, I'll give you an advice.
"Don't rely on your immortality too much. Counter measures against it have been long developed."
He walked towards the door.
As soon as he left, the pressure disappeared.
Enryu could finally move.
She bit her lips when she thought back to Yurian's words.
"Fray, come inside."
The secretary entered the meeting room.
"What is it, Vice Guildmaster?"
"Tell everyone in our guild to play as if they have only one life. Don't depend on the revival function."
The secretary's gaze sharpened.
The ability to come back to life after death was a major trump card for players. Not using it would hamper their progress greatly.
"Why?"
"Mr. Yurian advised. According to him, it isn't an omnipotent ability."
"Understood. I'll spread the news as soon as possible and make sure only our guild members know about it."
It was good that Fray had a good head on shoulders.
Enryu did not need to explain everything.
After she was left alone, she covered her face with her palms.
"I won't tell anyone else. But you didn't say I can't recruit him."
Yurian was dangerous.
However, Enryu would have never succeeded if she never took risks.
She decided to meet Finn in real life.
…
Special Zone Gobi Desert
Finn looked around.
The scorching heat waves caused the air to quiver.
He noticed a faint light covering his body.
"It's a spell that protects the target from heat." Yurian led the way. "Before we collect the materials, let's form a party."
A screen appeared before Finn.
[Yurian Von Sapphire would like to form a party?]
[Accept/Reject]
"Why do we need to form a party?"
"I'm trying to check if you can gain Exp and level up."
Finn nodded and accepted the party request.
[You have formed a party with Yurian Von Sapphire.]
He did not feel any different.
"I'll start," Yurian said.
He raised his staff and chanted.
Wisps of pink hue came out of the staff and spread out in all directions.
Soon the ground shook.
Clouds of dust rose in the horizon.
"What… is that?"
"Spirits. We need their cores to create epic-grade weapons."
Football sized fireballs materialized behind Yurian.
At the same time, the source of dust clouds revealed themselves.
Giant Centipede monsters.
The monsters were near them in an instant. Despite their gigantic size they were faster than horses.
Yurian looked calm.
"There are ten of them. It should be enough."
The fireballs shot forward like bullets. They pierced the monsters' heads.
Nothing happened.
The monsters continued their advance when suddenly they stopped.
Their heads expanded and exploded into gory mist.
[Lvl. 51 Spirit Worm defeated.]
[Lvl. 53 Spirit Worm defeated.]
[Lvl. 57 Spirit Worm....]
[Lvl. 52....]
[...]
Browned colors beads flew out of the corpses towards Yurian.
He caught them.
"It's done. Let's go to meet the Earth Dragon."
"Huh? That's all?"
Yurian explained when he saw Finn's confused expression.
"They were just low level monsters. It's not difficult to defeat them."
"But you said we had to defeat level 50 monsters at the minimum."
"Yes, level 50, that's why I called them low level monsters."
Finn nodded.
'I see. So level 50 monsters are low level mobs in Infinite Realm.'
"Did you get any experience points?"
Yurian asked to which Finn shook his head.
It was as he had expected.
After collecting the materials, Yurian chanted a teleportation spell.
Finn felt the shift.
Just as the scenery changed, he saw a blurry figure rush at them.
A cold chill spread through his back.
Yurian swiftly reacted by raising his staff.
The blurry figure clashed against Yurian, causing massive gales to spread through the surroundings with them at the center.
The gales increased in intensity.
Finn felt like he was standing at the striking point of the lightning bolt.
"Stop!"
Yurian shouted.
The figure clicked her tongue and retreated. The gales disappeared. Finn could finally breathe again.
Finn fell to his knees. He was tired.
He hadn't felt this exhausted in ages.
And….
He was afraid.
When the figure had attacked, he knew his life was in danger.
He felt powerless.
There was nothing he could've done if Yurian did not protect him.
"Purify," Yurian muttered a short chant.
The concern, fear and powerlessness pressing against Finn's mind disappeared.
He felt like he was finally free from the hold of a mental restraint.
"It was a side-effect of experiencing a high-level monster's bloodlust." Yurian patted his back. "You did good enough to not faint like most adventurers, so don't think about it too much."
Finn raised his head and finally looked at the figure that attacked them.
A woman, no older than twenty, with shoulder-length ash colored hair stood in front of them.
She had shark-like teeth and wore gray shorts and gray crop top.
Her silver blade, lacking both handle and guard, looked like a cheap and incomplete sword, yet it was so sharp that it seemed to cut air.
"I thought it was a rat sneaking in my garden."
She threw her blade behind her back.
A crack suddenly appeared in the air and swallowed the blade.
"Sigh," Yurian massaged his brows and helped Finn to stand. "She's the Earth Dragon we're supposed to meet. I'm sorry for her rude behavior."
"I have a name. Stop treating me like a monster."
"Then don't attack people the moment you see them."
"Anyway, who is this brat?"
The Earth Dragon stared at Finn.