As I expected, things took an interesting turn when Leroy and I went to hand in the document that we received from Guildmaster Charity. It appeared that word of our exploits had spread, because the two of us drew a lot of attention the moment we entered the lobby of the Icefall Adventurers Guild. The other adventurers in the room eyed us with varying expressions on their faces. Some looked at us with interest, others with disbelief, while a few scoffed in our direction.

Interest in us faded almost right away, but I caught snippets of people talking about us amidst the lobby's usual hustle and bustle. Those drinking at the lobby's tavern, in particular, seemed prone to gossip. The more they drank, the more their tongues wagged, accompanied by the smell of cheap beer that permeated the entire lobby.

Leroy and I got into line so we could speak with one of the receptionists. By some twist of fate, we ended up in Marilyn's line again. It wasn't even on purpose, at least on my part. It took us several minutes to make our way through the line and reach Marilyn. The perky young woman with elfin features gave us a concerned look.

"I heard about what happened." She said. "Are you two alright?"

"We're still alive," I said, "Which is saying something, considering the circumstances."

Marilyn nodded, before she leaned in closer. Her eyes gleamed with interest.

"Is it true then?" She asked in a low voice. "Did you two kill a trio of hellhounds?"

I nodded.

"Yes, with help from the Water wizard we teamed up with."

Marilyn's eyes widened.

"Wow," she said, "That's amazing! How did you manage that?"

"Luck." I said. "Pure and simple. We should have died that day. Somehow, we survived."

Marilyn gave us a skeptical look. It was clear that she didn't believe us, but she didn't press the issue. Instead, she stood up straight again.

"Now then," she said, speaking in her customer service voice, "How may I help you two today?"

I gave her the document from Guildmaster Charity.

"Here." I said. "The guildmaster told us to give this to you."

Marilyn took the document and skimmed it. A moment later, her eyes widened.

"I see." she said in a stunned voice. "Give me a moment, I'll be right back with your payment."

Marilyn left, going through a wooden door located behind the receptionist desk. A few minutes later, she returned with a small sack made from thick cloth. When she plopped it on the counter, I heard the clinking of coins.

"Here you go," Marilyn said in a cheerful voice. "This is your payment for completing the job, as well as taking down three hellhounds."

I took the cloth sack and opened it to examine its contents. A second later, I closed it. There were almost a dozen gold coins inside, along with a handful of silver and copper coins.

Currency in the Solarian Empire came in three denominations: golden sols, silver lunes, and copper pennies. One thousand pennies equaled a single lune, while a hundred lunes equaled a single sol. At least, that was how it worked in the Solarian Empire. In the Lunarian Kingdom, lunes were more valuable than sols, since they venerated the moon over the sun.

The average commoner family earned a handful of lunes a month. Just by killing three hellhounds, and a pack of inferno beasts, Leroy and I earned enough money to feed a family of four for years.

Then again, it wasn't that surprising. Hellhounds were dangerous creatures, ones capable of destroying entire villages if left unchecked. Hunting them down paid a lot, but came with significant risks. Adventuring was a dangerous, but profitable, profession.

I took the cloth sack and gave it to Leroy for safekeeping. Carrying this much money around was bound to stir up trouble from greedy, short-sighted idiots. They were less likely to mess with him due to his bulk.

"Now then," Marilyn said, "If you'll give me your Adventurers Guild IDs, I'll make the necessary changes."

Leroy and I nodded, before we gave her our ID cards. She used the same machine from before, the one she used to print the IDs in the first place, to update them. When she finished, she handed them back to us.

Huzzah. Leroy and I were now officially Bronze-ranked adventurers.

"Congratulations on your promotion," Marilyn said in a sincere tone. "I'm happy for you two."

I opened my mouth to respond, but someone cut me off.

"This is bullshit!" A man said, loud enough for the entire lobby to hear.

Everyone nearby, including Leroy and myself, turned towards the man. He sat at one of the wooden tables in front of the tavern. He was tall and lanky, with thin blond hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Like almost everyone else in the lobby, he wore warm winter clothing.

Two other men sat beside him. One was fat, though I noticed he had thick muscles beneath that layer of fat. The other was skinny, with ratlike and furtive features. With my mana sense, I noticed they were Second Circle wizards, or perhaps Second Star martial artists. All three glared at Leroy and I.

"You got a problem?" I asked in a belligerent tone.

"Damn right I have a problem!" the blond man said. "My friends and I spent months working our way up to Bronze, but you expect me to believe that a couple of greenhorns managed it in less than a week? I call bullshit." He snorted. "You two aren't even in Second Circle. You're just a couple of First Circle whelps. I bet you didn't even kill those hellhounds. You must have taken credit for someone else's kill."

I glanced around the lobby. While no one said as much, it was clear from everyone's expressions that they thought the same. I didn't blame them. In their shoes, I would believe the same. However, just because I understood where they were coming from didn't mean I appreciated being called a liar; at least, not when I told the truth.

"Oh?" I said. "So you're calling the guildmaster incompetent?"

My remark caught the blond man off guard. His eyes widened.

"What? No, I didn't! I'm calling you a liar."

I snorted.

"And by doing so, you're calling Guildmaster Charity incompetent." I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really think she would promote my friend and I without making sure? By calling me a liar, you're saying that the guildmaster was foolish enough to fall for my lies."

Silence fell over the lobby as they digested my words.

"Brandon is right, Gyles." Marilyn said, breaking the silence. "We all know that Guildmaster Charity wouldn't act without making sure of the truth first."

"He's twisting my words around!" Gyles, the blond man, said, pointing a finger at me. "I mean, there's no way the two of them could kill a single hellhound, let alone three. It's impossible!"

I rolled my eyes.

"As I said to Marilyn, my friend and I got lucky, pure and simple."

Gyles' face twisted with anger.

"If that's the case, then you don't deserve to be Bronze-ranked! Promotions should be based on skill and merit, not luck."

The other adventurers in the lobby murmured in agreement. Damn it. My attempt to play humble backfired on me. Ugh.

As I considered how to rectify this situation, a single clap rang out. It cut through the murmuring, silencing everyone.

"In that case," a woman said, "Why don't we have Brandon prove himself?"

Everyone glanced in her direction, including Leroy and I. The moment I saw the woman, I froze in place. A shock ran through my body, and I found myself unable to breathe.

The woman who spoke was one of the most beautiful people, if not the most beautiful, I had ever seen in my entire life. She was about my height, maybe an inch or two shorter, with fair skin, long blond hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. I guessed she was a few years older than me, in her early twenties at the oldest. She wore tough, practical clothing and kept her hair up in a crown braid.

While she wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense, I found her striking. Her eyes, in particular. It took everything I had not to lose myself in them. Instead, I turned my attention to her toned physique. She had honed and sculpted her body to perfection, her thighs in particular.

All in all, in terms of appearance, this woman checked all of my boxes.

Two other women stood beside her. The first was short and cute, with an innocent air about her. She was either about my age, or a little younger. She had tanned skin, long brown hair, and brown eyes, with a sprinkle of freckles across her face. There was something familiar about her, and I wondered if she was related to Guildmaster Charity. Like her companion, she wore a practical outfit.

The other woman was tall and lean, with fair skin, short red hair, and green eyes. In contrast to her shorter companion, she had a more cynical and world-weary air about her. Like the blond woman, she was a few years older than me. She had a bow slung across her shoulder. An archer, which was a rarity for wizards. Perhaps she was a martial artist.

All three women were Second Circle wizards, or Second Star martial artists. For the blond woman and the red-headed one, the latter was more likely than the former. I couldn't tell with the short and cute woman.

"That's Anna." Marilyn whispered to me. "She's only been here for a month, but she's already made a name for herself. The short woman beside her is Lorelei Sinclair, or Lorrie for short. She's Guildmaster Charity's daughter. The archer is Corie, Lorrie's childhood friend. The three of them are a team."

I nodded, to let Marilyn know that I heard her. However, the blond woman, Anna, occupied most of my attention.

"Well?" Anna said, a malicious glint in her beautiful blue eyes. "What do you say, Brandon?"

She spoke my name with a sardonic lilt. Even so, that didn't faze me. I continued to stare at her, not saying a word. After a few seconds, she narrowed her eyes at me. Leroy nudged me with his elbow.

"Brandon." He muttered under his breath.

I shook my head.

"Sorry. I was too busy admiring your body."

Silence fell over the lobby as everyone stared at me in shock. A small part of myself, the part that remained sane and clear headed, facepalmed.

"Excuse me?" Anna said, an edge to her voice.

"You have an amazing physique. It's clear that you spent a lot of time and effort to reach this point. You should be proud of yourself."

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What the hell was I saying? I was speaking nonsense, but I couldn't stop. At least I wasn't the only one confused. Anna gave me a baffled look, caught off guard by my remarks. Her companions, on the other hand, remained composed.

"Anna," Lorrie, the short and cute one, said, "I think he's flirting with you."

Corie, the archer, glared at me.

"Do you want me to put an arrow in him?" She asked.

Anna shook her head, her cheeks tinted red, before a smile spread across her face.

"Thank you, Brandon." She said. "You're not so bad yourself, though your face is a bit bland for my tastes."

For a brief moment, I considered taking off my disguise ring and revealing my true appearance. However, I regained my sanity right away.

"However, I don't like liars who take credit for other people's work." Anna continued, her expression hardening.

I frowned. Her hostility surprised me. Odd. Had I offended her somehow? That couldn't be. This was our first time meeting.

"Fortunately for me," I said, "I'm not a liar."

"Oh?" Anna said. "Can you prove that?"

I nodded.

"Yes. Rather, my friend and I can prove that we have the skill to back up our words." I smiled at her. "That's what you were after, wasn't it?"

From her words earlier, it was obvious that Anna wanted to goad me into action. I didn't know why. Maybe she wanted to humiliate me by proving me a liar, maybe she wanted to verify the truth, or maybe she had some other motive. It mattered little to me.

Anna snorted.

"You're a sharp one." She said. "You're right." She gestured to the other adventurers in the lobby. "To prove yourself to everyone here, why don't you and I have a little bout? I've proven myself already, so if you can hold your own against me, that should be enough. What do you think?"

The other adventurers in the lobby murmured in agreement. This worked out in my favor as well. Once I proved myself, my reputation in the Icefall Adventurers Guild would go up. As my companion, Leroy benefited as well.

The only downside was that I would need to hold back in order to avoid standing out too much. While it wasn't unheard of for a First Circle wizard to defeat a Second Circle one, it was rare. I wanted to clear the air, not draw even more unwanted attention.

"I accept." I said. "When do you want to do this?"

"How about right now?" Anna gestured to me. "Unless you have someplace to be."

I shook my head.

"No." I grinned at her. "However, my time is precious. If we're going through with this, I want it to be worth my while. Why don't we make a bet?"

Anna paused and gave me a wary look.

"What sort of bet?" She asked.

"After I prove myself, you treat me to a meal."

Anna blinked at me in surprise.

"Are you asking me on a date?"

I shrugged and grinned at her.

"Well, why not? The opportunity presented itself."

Anna's teammate, Corie, fumed at this.

"How dare you?!" She turned to Anna. "Come on. Let me put an arrow in him. He's asking for it."

Lorrie, Anna's other teammate, covered her mouth and giggled.

"I think it's rather endearing."

Meanwhile, I felt Leroy burning a hole in my head with his gaze. The other adventurers in the lobby watched all this with entertained expressions on their faces.

"Sure." Anna said, wearing a smug smirk on her face.

"Anna!" Corie said.

Anna ignored her and focused on me.

"However, if you fail, I want the bounty you got from killing those hellhounds."

Leroy put a hand on my shoulder.

"Brandon," he said in a low voice, "This is a terrible idea."

I ignored him.

"Deal, but only my share. The rest of it belongs to my teammates."

Anna shrugged.

"Fine with me." She glanced around the lobby. "Let everyone here act as witnesses."

The other adventurers muttered agreements.

"Let's go to the training yard," Anna said, focusing on me once more, "There's a sparring arena there."

I gestured towards her.

"Lead the way.

"I'll go get Mama." Lorrie said. "She's going to want to see this."

Several minutes later, Anna and I stood facing one another in a bare bones sparring arena. The sky above was overcast and it felt chilly out. I breathed in through my nose. The air smelled clean and pure.

It turned out that the Icefall Adventurers Guild had an outdoor training yard behind the building, which pleased me. I planned on making great use of this place. The training yard had all sorts of equipment, making it perfect for my needs. It even impressed Leroy. When he first saw it, he made noises of approval.

The sparring arena was little more than a runic circle drawn in hard packed dirt. It was for a barrier spell. I assumed it was there to prevent stray attacks from hurting any bystanders.

A crowd of adventurers surrounded the sparring arena, pushing against each other for the best spot. Several of them speculated on who would win between Anna and I. There was even a betting pool. To no one's surprise, the odds favored Anna. She already built up a reputation for herself, while I was still something of an unknown figure. Not only that, but she was more powerful than me.

Guildmaster Charity stood off to the side, just outside of the runic circle that made up the sparring arena's boundary. When she arrived and heard about what was going on, she offered to act as referee.

Anna's companions stood behind her. Corie glowered at me, while Lorie gave me a smile. I glanced back at Leroy, who stood behind me. When he noticed my gaze, he crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I still say this is a terrible idea, Brandon." He said.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why?" I asked. "You don't actually think I'm going to lose, do you?"

Leroy hesitated before answering.

"Something doesn't feel right about this." He nodded to Anna. "That woman has an ulterior motive. I don't know what it is, but it's clear that she's after something."

"I noticed that as well." I shrugged. "Still, it doesn't matter. Even if I lose, it's not a big deal. At worst, I'll lose a bit of money and take a hit to my reputation."

Leroy snorted and shook his head. I turned away from him and faced Anna once more. She looked relaxed and regarded me with a smirk on her face. I hoped she had the skill to back up her confidence. Otherwise, I would be disappointed.

"The goal for this bout is simple." Guildmaster Charity said, her voice pitched to carry. "Brandon doesn't need to win. He just needs to prove that he has what it takes to take down a hellhound. Otherwise, the usual rules apply. No killing each other, no permanent injuries, and so on." She glanced at Anna and I. "Understood?"

We both nodded.

"Good." She gestured to a nearby adventurer, who activated the runic circle. A semicircular barrier sprang into existence around the sparring arena. "Begin on my mark."

I took a stance with my sword in hand, though I kept it in its sheath. Anna took a stance as well. I looked her up and down, appreciating her form.

"Like what you see?" Anna asked.

I grinned at her.

"Yes."

Anna chuckled.

"Impress me, and I might show you more."

"Promises, promises." I said in a sing-song voice.

Guildmaster Charity cleared her throat.

"If you two are done flirting," she said, irritated, "You may begin."

Anna launched herself at me as soon as Guildmaster Charity finished speaking, attempting to end this bout right away. When she drew close enough, she lashed at me with a kick, aiming for my legs.

[Elusive Mist]

I avoided her attack, my movements as light and ethereal as mist. However, to my surprise, Anna's foot almost grazed me. That should have been impossible. While she was clearly a Second Star martial artist, making her much more powerful than me, my level of mastery more than evened the odds. At least, that should have been the case.

For a moment, surprise flashed across Anna's face, before she recovered and lashed out at me with another kick. This time she aimed for my abdomen. I blocked her foot with my sword, a dull clang rang out as the two collided, before I redirected the force of her attack to try and throw her off balance.

My attempt failed, and Anna pulled back, putting some distance between us. I decided against going after her. Though brief, I learned something important from our exchange: Anna had also achieved Supreme mastery, or was close enough that it didn't matter.

Well then. That changed everything. I reassessed my opinion of Anna. Before our exchange, I thought I could defeat her with ease. Hell, my biggest concern was how much I would need to hold back. However, given what I just learned, that was no longer the case. I couldn't afford to hold back, not if I wanted to win. In fact, even if I gave it my all, I might still lose. It didn't help that I couldn't use any Lightning techniques without revealing my true identity.

A part of me wondered how she reached Supreme at her age. Was she a genius among geniuses? Or was there something else going on? Eh, it didn't matter. Either way, it was going to be fun. My heart beat against my chest like a drum and my nerves thrummed with excitement.

Anna regarded me with a wary expression on her face. It was clear that she hadn't expected me to be on the same level as her. Instead of rushing forward to end the fight as soon as possible, she took a more cautious approach.

The two of us circled one another, testing each other's defenses with probing attacks. I couldn't find any openings, but neither could she. We remained at an impasse. Well then, time to change things up.

[Concealing Mist]

Unlike when I sparred with Leroy, back at Sturm Manor, I didn't hold back and flooded the entire sparring arena with mist. At the same time, I dashed towards Anna.

[Mist Sword]

I formed three illusory swords out of mist, before attacking Anna. I swung my real sword at her abdomen, while I aimed the illusory swords at other critical targets. However, my gambit failed. Anna evaded my real sword and ignored the illusory copies, letting them hit her. She then retaliated, lashing out at me with a technique of her own: a whip-like kick.

I dodged it, but an exploding sound rang out as Anna's kick reached its apex, even though her foot hit nothing but air. A chill ran down my spine. If that attack had connected, it would have broken my bones. Anna's strength, combined with her mastery of martial arts, made her the most dangerous opponent I had faced since waking up in Lumina. Even the hellhounds had nothing on her. If I took a single blow from her, the bout would end.

This thought exhilarated me.

The two of us exchanged more and more blows, the fight growing in intensity the longer it went on. It took all of my focus and concentration to evade Anna's attacks, even with [Concealing Mist], leaving me with little room to counter-attack. Even when I did, she either blocked my sword or dodged it.

At this rate, I would lose. The difference between First Star and Second Star was too great to overcome, especially since Anna and I were at the same level of mastery. So, I decided to take a gamble.

The next time she used that whip-like kick technique, I dodged it again. However, this time, I moved into her reach before using another technique from the Mist Sword style.

[Piercing Rain]

I imbued my sword with Water, before thrusting at Anna several times in quick succession. My attack resembled falling rain, thus the name. Each thrust connected, hitting her body.

Ha! I drew first blood! Even if I lost this bout, at least I accomplished that much. If I pulled off another attack like this, then I might even win. However, what happened next burned my sense of accomplishment to ashes.

Heat exploded out of Anna, burning away the mist in the immediate area around her, and a layer of red light coated her body. My eyes widened and I dashed back. Good thing too. Her foot crashed down where my left shoulder used to be. If I had stayed in place, she would have shattered it.

I clicked my tongue in displeasure. Aura. Of course she could use Aura. Why did I assume she couldn't? She already demonstrated that she had reached the same level of mastery as me.

Aura was a technique that, in theory, any martial artist could master. However, the majority never did. It required a high level of skill and excellent mana control. Most martial artists fell short in one or the other, if not both.

In summary, Aura was the ability to manifest one's mana in physical form, to coat one's body and weapon. This increased a martial artist's battle prowess by a significant degree. They could use it to protect their body, similar to the barrier spell that Cally casted on Leroy and I, and bolster the power of their attacks. While I could imbue my sword with my elemental affinities, increasing my offense a bit, it paled in comparison.

A martial artist's Aura also reflected their traits: elemental affinities, fighting style, and so on. Mine resembled a storm dragon. Anna's looked rough and half-finished. Either she hadn't mastered Aura yet, or she was pretending to. Given her level of mastery, I suspected the latter.

However, as powerful as Aura was, using it required an incredible amount of mana. If I tried to use it in my current state, I would fall unconscious after a single second. A martial artist needed to at least be at Second Star in order to use Aura. And only for a short while, even then. By using Aura, Anna intended to end this fight right away.

With a roar, Anna rushed towards me, resembling some kind of goddess of fire. She burned the air around her with her mere presence, dispelling my [Concealing Mist]. I could reinforce it with my mana, but that would be a wasted effort. At this point, my only hope for victory was to outlast Anna. I needed to last long enough for her to run out of mana.

Anna attacked me with a series of kicks. I avoided all of them, but each one was a close call. She emanated enough heat to scorch my skin, even if her actual attacks missed. Sweat coated my body.

[Threefold Slash]

I tried attacking Anna, but she shrugged it off. Her Aura blocked my blows with ease. She lashed out with another whip-like kick, her leg moving so fast that I couldn't dodge it. I blocked it with my sword. It held, but the force of Anna's attack sent me flying. I collided with the barrier that surrounded the sparring arena. Guildmaster Charity's voice rang out, but I couldn't hear what she said.

A little dazed, I forced myself to my feet and prepared for the next attack. However, it never came. Anna stood several feet away from me, panting. She swayed on her feet, her body trembling. Her Aura grew dim, before dissipating into nothingness as the mana sublimated back into the environment.

"That's enough!" Guildmaster Charity barked out. "Both of you, stand down!"

Anna and I looked over at her.

"This bout is over." She said. "Brandon has more than proven himself."

Oh. Right. I had been so absorbed by the fight, that I had forgotten why Anna and I were fighting in the first place. Ha! I won! Rather, I hadn't lost, which was more than enough for me.

Wait a moment.

I glanced around. The crowd stared at us in shock. No one said a word. Fuck! At this point, I should give up on trying to avoid attention. I was terrible at it. If anything, my attempts just garnered even more attention.

After a while, I looked back at Anna. She stared at me with an intense look in her eyes. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"So, about that meal you owe me."

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