I kindly reminded Vergo that he still owed me for the dragon’s blood, and he actually flinched. That exact sum went into crafting my personal identifier.

  The whole process was quick and painless. I just had to press my finger to the pendant, answer a couple of questions about myself, and my "trace" was sealed inside. The chain holding the pendant was made of tungsten. According to the catfish clerk who made these things, once you put it around your neck, you couldn’t take it off. As a joke, he said the only way to get rid of it was to chop my head off. Well, I wasn’t laughing.

  Next, we headed to the Echo Association.

  On the way, Vergo explained the deal with my "trace." From now on, my history would be recorded inside that magic pendant. At first, I sighed in relief that my encounters with Joji and the dragon hadn’t been spotlighted—but then it hit me. Over time, the pendant would accumulate so much that no city would let me in. Hell, the whole world might put a bounty on my head.

  Luckily, the historian reassured me, saying there were black-market artifacts that could edit records. I hadn’t even done anything bad yet, but I still felt relief, like some kind of criminal.

  From the outside, the Association building looked no different from the rest—slender columns, pale stone, carved pediments. Only the relief of heroes and the sign above the entrance gave it away.

  Inside, it was cool and surprisingly empty. Shadows stretched across the mosaic floor from the columns. The ceiling was high, held up by beams and decorated with paintings of weapons and heroes in chitons battling monsters.

  To our right—an armory. Further in—resting chambers with fabric-covered loungers. At the far end, a small palaestra.

  But the most amazing thing was the flying harp playing relaxing music on their own.

  Behind the registration desk stood a red-haired girl.

  "Greetings," she said with a friendly smile. "How can I help you?"

  "We’d like to register as Echoes. Well, he does," Vergo pointed at me.

  "The entry fee is one hundred and fifty blue Agni."

  "The hell—?!" My jaw dropped. "What kind of scam is this? Can you even turn a profit in this Association?"

  Vergo gave me a crash course in economics. Ten red Agni equaled one green. A hundred greens made one blue. A thousand blue equaled one gold. For reference, stuffing your gut at a tavern cost about seven greens.

  "Don’t panic," Vergo patted my shoulder. "About ten jobs would cover the cost. And the gear the Association gives you? You can’t buy it anywhere else."

  "What gear?"

  "A spatial gauntlet and a wayfinder tome, enchanted by the Titan of Reality," the redhead chimed in.

  I shot Vergo a look, silently demanding explanations, but he just said I’d figure it out in practice.

  "Shall we begin the interview?" the girl asked.

  "Ready," I drummed my fingers on the wooden counter.

  "Please present your identifier." Damn, her voice was cute.

  Leaning forward, I pulled the pendant from under my shirt, and she brushed it with a dry bristle. Pigment appeared on the hairs, which she then pressed onto parchment. Neat.

  "State your name."

  "Q. Just Q." I held back before crossing into cringe territory.

  I almost called myself cute.

  "Do you wish to use your real name or a pseudonym?"

  "Just the name."

  "Your age?"

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  A billion years.

  "Eighteen."

  I probably looked a bit younger, but I figured the Association only took adults. Then again, i was in medieval times. The bar for adulthood was probably different there.

  "Place of birth."

  "Grand Sizo."

  "My condolences."

  Of course she knew what happened to that city after the phoenix’s "help."

  "Your height?"

  How the hell should I know? But I was definitely not short.

  "One-eighty," I guessed.

  "Race?"

  "Human..." I sighed heavily.

  She already pulled all this from the pendant. Why ask again?

  "Do you Follow any Path?"

  "I follow the Path of Exile!" A smirk crept onto my face.

  "So... Pleasure?" She tilted her head slightly.

  "Ah! No-no... Bad joke, sorry. No Path. Not yet."

  "What weapon do you prefer?"

  I glanced at my belt.

  "A sword, I guess... Can I update this info later?"

  I was still not sure how I would fight. My body couldn’t grow physically stronger, so maybe magic was the way. Then I wouldn’t even need a sword.

  "Of course," she replied without looking up. "Final question—in the event of your death, how should the Association handle your remains?"

  I wasn’t ready for that one, so I paused. On the surface, any answer would do. Burial or cremation—didn’t matter, since I couldn’t really die. But if I dug deeper... What if, in the future, my regeneration slows down and they actually think I'm dead? If they bury me deep, could I dig myself out?

  "Burn me and scatter the ashes to the wind. Preferably outside the city."

  "Excellent," she said, making the final note. "In that case, welcome to the Echo Association." She extended her hand, and I shook it.

  Finally, she recited the Association’s codex and warned that violating it would get me expelled—and hunted.

  Vergo paid for the gauntlet and the tome, and just like that, I became an Echo.

  Outside, I sat on the steps and slipped the black gauntlet onto my left hand. An ashen stone was embedded in its back.

  "So what does this thing do? And did you forget to grab the book?" I glanced up at Vergo.

  "Turn the lunar stone counterclockwise."

  I did, and a thick book shot out from the gem. It hovered over the gauntlet, flipping open on its own.

  "Whoa," I muttered, impressed.

  "That book does a ton of things at once. It is your Echo ID, your map, and your quest log. If an Association branch is within a hundred kilometers, all their available jobs would show up. But after completing one, you still have to haul back to report." Vergo flipped through the pages thoughtfully.

  "Looks like Lapreuse is really dry. Only one job—catching a runaway cat. No wonder the place was empty."

  "Maybe a monster showed up nearby, and a team went hunting. Oh, take that cat quest. Every completed job boosted your rank. There are, what, five ranks total?" He skimmed the book. "Yep. You start at fifth. The more you did, the higher you climbed. Better jobs, juicer rewards, and more book functions. Check the last page."

  The final page listed fifty names.

  "Consider this the world’s strongest."

  Vergo tapped one, and the book flipped to a blank sheet that filled itself in real time, showing an Echo’s profile—complete with a drawn portrait.

  Straight-up like a Facebook page. Wonder if they had a local OnlyFans there? I’d totally sub to some thicc furry. Oops, got a bit sidetracked there.

  The guy we pulled up was named Skadi. Man had a damn fine, thick beard—gotta give him that. But the real kicker was in his bio. Said there he was a Hero of Victoria, a Titan of Heroism. And even with that title, he was only ranked seventeenth? Pfft. Hero of Heroism"—ha-ha-ha, how stupid did that sound?

  "Hiring these guys costs at least ten gold stones. But clients know the job would get done."

  "They would haul ass from across the world?"

  "Yeah."

  After flipping through the book a bit more, I accepted the cat quest. Cool how it worked like a smartphone! Got all the details—the pet’s description, the owner’s info, even extra notes. Oh, and it said if I abandoned the quest, I lost rank points and a few green stones. Same penalty if I took too long. Vergo added that fines, time limits, and other details varied by difficulty.

  I twisted the stone back, sucking the book into the gauntlet.

  "Turn it clockwise to enter Storage Mode. Right now, your pocket is tiny—fit a couple small items at best. Craftsmen Following the Path of Creation could upgrade the stone. But lately, their services cost a fortune." Vergo explained it all patiently.

  The redhead mentioned their tech only worked thanks to the Titan of Reality. Guess the identifiers operated the same way. Vergo said Followers of Reality’s Path could do insane things—teleportation, perception tricks, gravity control. Serious power, but few could follow that Path because the Titan was picky. Probably the most mysterious of the Ten. If they were so reclusive, why help mortals with their magic?

  "You knew a lot about the Association. Wanted to join back in the day?" I eyed Vergo.

  "Not me. A friend. Long story."

  His face said drop it, so I did.

  And that’s how I became an Echo. Now, I just had to learn how to fight.

  Wait, no. First, find that cat. Fighting could wait.