Going back after the fight, master Holgen brought me to Sophie's clinic.

  There she healed me up real quick by applying ointment on the bruised parts of my skin. The cool gel soothed my aching muscles almost instantly.

  "Good. Now you can proceed on your own. For starters, you can go to Aleph and check the notice board and quest board there."

  "Got it master..."

  I lowered my head making Holgen look at me with a surprised face.

  "This is the first time you called me master since the start of our training. What's up with that?"

  Holgen crossed his arms and stared at me as I tried to fix my unkempt clothes, tugging at the torn sleeve.

  "Whether you like to tease me or annoy me, it's still thanks to master that I learned these things. So thank you for teaching me and I hope you continue onwards."

  Once again, I lowered my head in front of him, feeling a mix of gratitude and embarrassment.

  "Er.. hm... That's good that you know about it. Of course you're welcome to ask me for training. However, next time will be paid stuff, hehe."

  Holgen smirked as he spped his own thigh as if enjoying my reaction, which turned into a frown.

  "Sure. If you stop being annoying, I guess."

  In response to his teasing, I simply swatted my hand in front of him like shooing some fly away.

  His ughter echoed in the clinic as I left the pce, locking the door before going back to the surface.

  Once again, I stood in awe as the vast number of people simply overwhelmed me. The noise, the colors, the smells - everything hit my senses at once.

  In my former pce, it was considered a remote country and mostly people I met daily were those I already knew and saw growing up.

  Right now, this bustling market was such a vast nd of chaos and opportunity.

  "For starters, I need to find an inn. Then head to Aleph and look for quests. Preferably something I can finish today just to test the waters."

  As I nodded to myself while checking the contents of my bag and felt satisfied that everything was present, I headed forward, dodging a group of ughing children who ran past me.

  Currently, this was known as the lower area.

  Lower area consisted of multiple pces such as common area where various establishments y that were cost friendly, marketpce, and the slums.

  Aside from the entrance to the b, this was the only pce that was considered part of lower area.

  While the upper area was where Aleph tower and other pces known for more expensive yet better quality of service stood.

  Since I was just a starter, I hoped to find an inn here at lower area.

  Looking around as I walked my way onwards, tons of stalls greeted me.

  Different vendors yelling their products left and right, making this pce very lively. The scent of exotic spices mixed with the aroma of freshly baked bread made my empty stomach growl.

  While staring at a crepe shop, mouth watering at the sight of the golden-brown delicacies, I accidentally bumped my shoulder against someone.

  "Sorry about that."

  I immediately apologized to avoid misunderstanding.

  As I looked at the one I bumped into, I saw two guys staring at me.

  The one I bumped into was a tall guy with blonde hair wearing a yellow t-shirt and rough pants, long earrings with feathers, and a noticeable long bow behind him.

  While the one beside him had gray hair long enough to reach his shoulders, a grey tunic with protective vest, quite muscur compared to the former and a sword in a scabbard at his hips.

  "Hey there, pretty dy. You seem lost. Perhaps we can help you?"

  The blonde guy reached his hand out open as if waiting for a shake.

  "Sorry about that. I'm not lost but in fact, I'm merely looking at the stalls."

  I held his hand for a shake unconsciously.

  "Oh yeah? Well this pce offers cheap products good for a while. I'm Erwin by the way. My buddy here is Robin."

  I let go of his hand after the shake and looked at them, observing them carefully.

  (The blonde guy looks quite friendly. Maybe a bit too much while the other is the stoic quiet type.)

  "I'm Akane. And yeah, just some stuff to compensate is what I'm looking for like side equipments or maybe potions and throwable stuff."

  (Although I'm not actually looking for this stuff to buy, I'm really interested since I might be able to incorporate these things in my drones or sentry.)

  "That's neat, Akane. By the way, if you don't mind me asking, are you going solo? Me and my buddy here are a duo party and we're looking for any capable individuals to join us. Perhaps you're interested?"

  (An invitation right away? Although I remember master Holgen told me to look for a party since it's hard to go solo at start. Still, I can't just trust them.)

  Before I could reply, he spoke again.

  "I know we look really suspicious right now but we're actually looking for members. Maybe if you want, you can try joining us in a single quest right now just to test waters? For reference, the quest is just a simple clearing of dire wolves, a level 6 monster."

  He gave me a piece of paper with the details of the quest, the parchment slightly worn at the edges.

  During my stay here, I noticed that the nguage used here is simir to English which is great. Although I hoped it's Japanese. Luckily, I'm proficient in reading and writing in English thanks to my specialization and self-studies.

  "Looks good. Then if you two don't mind."

  (For now, let's try joining.)

  "Great! Let's have a great time, Akane!"

  Erwin smiled happily while Robin simply looked at me then nodded, his stoic face betraying no emotion.

  "Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your level? I'm level 8 and Robin is 9."

  Erwin asked me as we walked towards the crowd while I looked at the stalls.

  "I just got 6 earlier."

  I replied without looking at them, my eyes drawn to a vendor selling glittering potion bottles.

  It seemed the two started following me while I was observing the stall.

  "That's perfect then. Since you can't gain exp if the monsters you defeat are 6 levels lower than your level."

  "I see. Thanks for informing me."

  I replied although I already knew about it. It's best to act clueless to figure out others' true intentions.

  "No problem. You can learn this in the guild handbook anyway. And with that, it seems you're not registered at the guild then, right?"

  I raised my brows as he mentioned that.

  "I'm surprised you realized it."

  "It's actually quite obvious, Akane. Guild members' policy is to always ask for guild ID when someone asks you to join their party. You can see on their guild ID if they're good or not."

  He then took out his guild ID which was a 6x4 size card colored white.

  "White guild card means the owner doesn't have any criminal record. Gray means they're under surveilnce while red means they're criminals or at least, did something worth to be treated as such."

  (Damn... Good thing these two are actually good people. Otherwise, I might have been dragged already. Why didn't master Holgen tell me about this! I will definitely ask him ter.)

  "Thanks for that. I feel relieved that you two are not like that..."

  I sighed after seeing their guild cards were white colored, feeling the tension leave my shoulders.

  "I understand. I thought it's the case since you seem wary of us. Well, we know it's kind of suspicious the way we just asked you."

  "Haha..." My ugh came out awkward and strained.

  "Well then, why don't we register you first. Then let's do the quest."

  "G...got it. Thanks."

  So I followed them this time to register.

  The way towards Aleph was actually closer than I thought.

  Although...

  "It's quite high." I breathed out, gazing up at the seemingly endless staircase spiraling upward.

  "Indeed. The first time we climbed here was also very tiring. I was even considering to rest somewhere in case you got tired but it seems you're still full of stamina. I'm surprised and even more looking forward to having you in our party."

  He said while facing me as he climbed the stairs backwards, not missing a step.

  "Are you sure you won't trip?"

  I asked out of curiosity, my heart skipping a beat every time he took a step without looking.

  "No problem. One of my skills called Bird's Eye allows me to see from above around my body in a 6-foot radius meaning, I can see everything in one go so climbing these stairs is easy even facing backwards."

  (This guy... I thought telling skills to others wasn't good for privacy and safety, and he just tells me his skill.)

  "That's a cool skill."

  I simply praised his skill while nodding, trying to hide my surprise.

  "I know. This skill saved my ass multiple times after all."

  We continued walking and honestly, I wondered how high these stairs were now that I already did 100 steps more or less. My calves were starting to burn.

  After walking for a while, we finally reached the ptform.

  Upon climbing the st step, in front of me was a huge door.

  This door was made of wood and colored gray with huge signs of dice at each door. It towered above us, at least fifteen feet tall.

  A guard was waiting there wearing full armor and holding a long spear that gleamed in the sunlight.

  "Heya old man! We brought a tentative member and pnning to register her."

  The old man wearing full armor looked at him sternly and sighed.

  "Little dy. Did this guy fool you? I don't know what tricks this rascal told you but you should consider."

  "What's that old man! Don't ruin my image to her!!!"

  Erwin cried while trying to pyfully hit the old man making him ugh out loud, the sound booming across the ptform.

  "Sorry about that little dy. That said, you need to consider carefully who to join next time. It is recommended to register first before joining party as doing so, you will be protected by the guild if something happens and you will also be taught about rules and regutions. You're lucky this time that this weak d here is a spineless coward that won't try to fool a dy and only aims for the girl at the counter. And the quiet d here is someone I trained myself."

  (So it seems I was in fact careless.)

  I felt my heart beat loudly as I considered my choices.

  I almost got fooled at the very start and almost endangered myself. Thankfully they were good ones.

  "Indeed. I am thankful for them." My voice came out quieter than intended, embarrassment coloring my cheeks.

  "As long as you understand. Well then, welcome to the guild. Just head inside and speak to the counter to register."

  I lowered my head to the guard as a sign of respect before heading inside.

  Erwin and Robin followed from behind me.

  Inside I saw a rge crowd.

  Multiple adventurers wearing different sets of clothes and weapons inside. The ceiling soared high above, supported by massive wooden beams. Sunlight streamed through stained gss windows, casting colorful patterns on the stone floor.

  Bustling activity and rowdy people drinking at the tables could be seen just like those anime and novels I'd read.

  This pce really screamed the word "guild" I knew a lot from different entertainments.

  This simply cemented the idea that I was truly in a different world.