I enjoy cooking, I really do. It's one of the good things about my life that nobody could take away from me. It was one of the first skills that I learned thanks to Agatha. Granted, I was forced to cook with her as she couldn't leave me alone when so took me in, I was seven years old at the time after all. Even so, I've become pretty good at it, and so made it my mission to ease the tension between Terrsa and me with some of my famous stew.

  When I had finished drumming up a couple pots of beef stew, Agatha came over to admire my handiwork.

  "Smells almost as good as mine," she said with a toothy grin.

  "Ha-Ha, would it kill you to give me a compliment once in a while?" I rolled my eyes as I undid my apron. She indicated, as she often did, that it would in fact kill her. "Whatever, want me to help out with the serving?" The old woman gave me an appraising look before pointing up at the ceiling with a grimy thumb.

  "Nice try, boy. You can't run from her forever. As much as a help you'd be working here, is that what you really want to do?" Her words rang true, and I sighed. She patted my back and went out to the bar to start taking orders while I prepared a bowl for Terrsa and me. After ensuring I gave her the best bits of beef and vegetables, I said goodbye to Agatha and made my way back upstairs to my room.

  "Terrsa? I've brought some food, could you open the door, please?" I asked politely. A few moments ter, I heard the floorboards creak, and the door swung open to reveal the angelic woman. It was startling to see her head almost reach the top of the doorframe as she looked down at me with a disdainful look before inhaling the scent of the food. With a ravenous glint in her eyes, she snatched one of the bowls and sat down at the only desk in my room before diving in to eat.

  "You know, when someone cooks a meal for you, it's common courtesy to say, 'Thank you'." I said as I entered, closed the door, and went to the bed to sit down. Terrsa said nothing, opting to noisily inhale the meal. I was going to scold her, but figured there was no point in starting another fight, so I ate my meal in silence.

  Once we finished, and the bowls were set aside for ter, she finally spoke up.

  "Could've used more salt." I could practically feel the veins in my head burst when she said that.

  "I'll take that under advisement," I said with a faux smile.

  "Good, looks like you know how to listen sometimes. Now then, I'd like to get ready for bed. I've had a long day and want to get an early start in the morning to go and get my license." Terrsa shooed me away from the bed and y down on it with her arms behind her head.

  "I really think we should go over a few more things before that, the sun has barely started to set." I implored her. She narrowed her eyes at me.

  "Be grateful I didn't crush your throat earlier, try not to push that luck." Great. I sort of stood awkwardly near my desk, debating what I should say or do until I realized I had forgotten something important.

  "Was I supposed to pick up your belongings? Gods, I'm sorry, Terrsa, Director Jak didn't tell me if I needed to get you anything like clothes or money. Shit." I picked up the guide Rosaline gave me and shuffled through it for guidance on the matter, but Terrsa only ughed.

  "You only just realized I had nothing except the clothes on my back? You're doing a great job. But rex, I didn't bring anything because I don't need anything but mana." Before I could ask what she meant, she snapped her fingers and with a fsh of vibrant blue mana, her clothing changed.

  Adorning her ashen grey body was now a pair of wool socks that were cut out at the heel and toes, shorts, and a crop top that hardly covered or supported her breasts. I gulped, trying but failing to avert my eyes from her well-toned legs and abdomen, as well as how her breasts cascaded down the sides of her body.

  "What's the matter? Never seen a woman before?" she ughed, and I shook such thoughts from my head. I took off my boots and outer tunic, revealing the long-sleeved cotton shirt I had on underneath, yet kept my pants. I ignored her and picked up a couple of logs to toss into the firepce and used some minor fire magic to light them up. While not everyone could cast fireballs or shoot lightning from their hands, everyone could learn basic survival skills such as this.

  "We'll head out tomorrow right after breakfast," I expined after turning towards the angel, but kept my eyes towards the floor. "Do you need anything else? I'm going to shower so ask now because I'll be gone at least an hour. Terrsa closed her eyes and turned on her side.

  Guess that answers that question.

  Frankly, I was relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with her for the rest of the night. It would give me the time I needed to pn what to do with her. I grabbed a change of clothes and made my way to the bathroom, and pulled the curtain to the entrance of it. Once I was away from any potential prying eyes, I undressed and set my clothes on the counter next to the sink. I then pulled open the curtain to my shower and infused some mana into the waterspout inside of it. Seconds ter, hot water started to flow and would only stop once my mana ceased pumping into the pipes.

  Before getting into the shower, I paused to look at my body in the mirror. Scars littered my chest and upper arms from knives, swords, and arrows, a few mana burns as well from the errant fireball.

  "She wants to be an adventurer...wonder why. Well, with how strong she is, she wouldn't end up looking like me, that's for sure." Despite the rocky start with her, I could give credit where credit was due. I hopped into the shower and let the water pour over me, it had been a stressful day. At the very least, I've got something to work on now. Let's just hope she doesn't kill someone while under my care. I grabbed my throat, recalling how close it was to being crushed. "I'm not going to get a drop of gold, am I?"

  ***

  "Wake up!" Terrsa's voice shocked me awake, and my body reacted by swiftly maneuvering towards the door, knife in hand from a hidden pocket in my pants. After my vision focused and I realized that I was not in any actual danger, I exhaled and put my knife away. I awkwardly composed myself and saw the bewildered Terrsa, dressed in the same mana outfit as yesterday, raising an eyebrow at me. "Wanna expin what the hell that was about?"

  "You saw my stats, haven't had the liberty of being...careless." I averted my eyes and grabbed my outer tunic, boots, the guidebook, and some gold.

  "Failed at being an adventurer, I take it? Haha, figures as much. No wonder you took up this job. Although I don't see you making it very far." I clenched a fist and reminded myself that this job was not going to be easy, no matter who I oversaw.

  Even if she was a walking disaster, ungrateful, and had already threatened to end my life, I had to do it. So, I put on my best professional smile and addressed her.

  "Let's grab some breakfast and head over to the Guild Hall. We can see about getting that license as I promised. It'll be a good first step towards assimiting you. After that, should you pass, we'll head straight into the dungeon so I can teach you the basics. How's that sound?"

  "Heh, now you're speaking my nguage. Lead the way, peasant."

  Deep breaths, Kael, deep breaths.

  "Sure." We left my room, and I was sure to infuse the doorknob with my mana to lock it. After we made it downstairs, the inn was abuzz with life. Adventurers were scarfing down food, others were loudly talking about their pns for the day, and some were evidently still drunk from the night before, slumped over in their seats.

  "Agatha!" I called out over the crowd as I sat down at the bar, making sure to pull a seat out for Terrsa before doing so, who didn't thank me. "Can we get whatever's ready? We're in a rush!"

  "Eggs and bread!" she shouted back as she headed into the kitchen.

  "Thanks!" I replied. Terrsa turned around in her chair to watch everyone rush about, and she smiled sadistically.

  "I always considered humans to be ant-like, but this all but confirms it." She joked to herself with a hearty ugh that made her chest bounce. "Look at them all, milling about, pnning to make their fortunes in the dungeon. Let me guess, they're going to kill slimes?"

  "If you're going to insult us, the considerate thing to do would be to do it in private or at least whisper it. We don't need you starting fights." I expined while trying to keep any irritation out of my voice. Terrsa leaned over, her lips lightly touching the side of my ear as she whispered into it, making my back tingle and tense up.

  "At least they have some talent, unlike you." She ughed as she pulled away, "Was that better?" I grimaced but said nothing as Agatha shoved two ptes of food in front of us. Without waiting a second longer, the hungry Angel shoveled some eggs into her mouth, her eyes going wide as she chewed it. "I think I like that old bat; she's fine in my book." She said between bites; I sighed to myself and got a few forkfuls before she pushed her pte away from herself. "Let's go." She said, suddenly standing.

  "I just started. Terrsa, listen. It is my responsibility to ensure you acclimate appropriately to living amongst humans and to adhere to common courtesy. If you know what that is, like you cim to, you'll respect the fact that I'm still eating." I turned back to my breakfast, but she forced me back around to look at her, her face directly in front of mine.

  "We're leaving!" she shouted, her voice echoing throughout the inn as everyone paused to see what was going on. "You better thank whatever god you worship that I didn't slit your throat as you slept, and if you want to keep it that way, do what I say." I noticed a nearby she-fox mage and a human knight readying their weapons, but I held up a hand and gave them a nod.

  "Fine. Let's go see the Director. I'm sure he'll take care of things for you." Anything other than that, and I didn't doubt for a second that she would make good on her threat. Pleased with my response, she stepped back and told me to lead the way. I thanked Agatha for the meal as all the other patrons watched in silence as we headed out the door into the cool morning air.

  Nothing was said between us as we made our way through the cobblestone streets, but I made sure to wave hello to Eirek the Dwarven bcksmith and Henna, the local Elf healer. I wasn't close with them, but it was thanks to them my weapons were sharp, and my body remained intact.

  Upon entering the Guild Hall, groups of adventurers were huddled around the quest postings bulletin board, a massive wooden wall with hundreds of quests tacked on to it. Sure, some could ask the Guild receptionists for help in getting quests that might suit them, but more seasoned ones tended to know which ones they liked and eventually stick with them.

  For me, it was killing goblins and skeletons.

  As I looked around for someone to talk to, I noticed a familiar bck head of hair and pointed ears.

  "Rosaline!" I waved over to her, and she smiled brightly.

  "Mr. Mond, I'm very pleased to see you again, and you as well, Ms. Terrsa." Such a polite woman. Terrsa scoffed as I returned the Elf's sentiment. "What can I help you with?"

  "I was hoping Director Jak was in? Terrsa has made it clear what she wants her profession to be: adventuring." Rosaline nodded.

  "He is here, I'll go ask if he can provide a licensing exam. Pardon me." We watched as the svelte Elf walked away and into the Director's office.

  "Gods, all you do is flirt when you see her," Terrsa mumbled as she leaned over the counter to poke at the papers behind the desk of Rosaline's desk. I swatted her hand away, and she giggled, not in a cute wa,y mind you.

  "Just because people are cordial with each other, doesn't mean they like one another."

  "Sure. Anyway, what are the licensing tests like?"

  "They can range from-" Terrsa cut me off by grabbing my mouth and forced me to turn towards her. I grabbed her wrist futilely to get her off.

  "Look at me when you speak to me, it's rude. And I thought you were supposed to be teaching me about manners." She chuckled as she let me go. I stared hard at her and narrowed my eyes. "Feeling aggressive, are we?"

  "Ahem." A deep voice said from behind the counter. "If you want to take the licensing test, I'd suggest correcting that attitude of yours, Ms. Terrsa. And Kael, how are you!" The burly Jak excimed as he came around the counter and shook my hand. "Hope you're not going to quit on me after a single day, d."

  "Of course not, I intend to get paid after all." I joked. But in all seriousness, I did need that money and I'll be damned if a Fallen Angel or even a god take that away from me. The Director spped my back hard enough to make a small boom and ughed. Shit, I mentally checked my status and saw that I lost five hit points for that as my back screamed in pain.

  Dude's a monster.

  "Now then, Ms. Terrsa. A test will not be necessary as your strength has already been marked as that of a B-Rank when we processed you. Your license will be granted immediately at...F-Rank. Kael here will take you to the first floor and show you the ropes." He smiled widely, his beady eyes sparkling with delight. Wonder what it's like to have such power so as to not to be afraid of reprisal like him.

  "What!?" Terrsa shouted, to which Jak used his magic to make her quiet.

  "Volume, Ms. Terrsa. You seem to forget that you are not meant to stand out, so act like a Dark Elf, not an Angel. So, F-Rank it is. Excuse me while I get your license." The Director promptly left, leaving me, an awkward smiling Elf, and a fake Dark Elf filing around trying to speak. And to my surprise, through sheer force of will,she broke the magic the Director cast on her voice.

  "Old bastard, I'd like to see how strong his without that magic." She finally spat out. I exchanged a look with Rosaline, who snickered. "Oi, speak up if you've got something to say you Elf bitch." Rosaline turned her gaze to the floor and apologized, the small woman shaking in fear.

  "Is that how all your people are? Threatening everyone for every little thing? Apologize to her, now." I said sternly as I looked up at her defiantly. Instead of saying sorry like a normal person would, Terrsa swung at my head with enough force to generate a moderately powerful wind despite being indoors. I smirked at her shocked face as her fist harmlessly passed through my now flickering body.

  "The fuck?" Her eyes scanned my body as she swatted my ethereal form with confused hands.

  "Ghostly Barrage. You're right, Terrsa, I'm horribly weak for my age, so I've had to make use of what I did have." I smirked as I deactivated my ability, but took a second to take some deep breaths. It was pretty mana-intensive given my Level, but I had to show her I had a spine. And even if this was only half of what I could do with it, it was enough to make Terrsa pause her insults.

  "You are allll set!" Director Jak decred as he came back out from his office with a ptinum badge inscribed with 'F' on it. He handed it to Terrsa and instructed her to always keep it on her person, as it was necessary to access certain quests and to verify one's rank. "Now, each badge is unique, one can infuse mana into it to be able to peek at your Level, stats, and other bits of information about you. It's particurly helpful in identifying dead adventurers." He shot us another one of his unnerving smiles, and Terrsa slipped the badge into a small pouch she manifested before it vanished.

  Spatial magic, huh.

  "Fantastic, can I enter the dungeon now?"

  "Tsk tsk, what an impatient woman you are. But yes, Kael, take her to the first floor to hunt ten goblins, consider it her first official quest! Pick up whatever items they drop and bring them here. Off you go now." With that, the Director returned to his office, shutting the door behind him.

  "It was nice seeing you again, Kael, i-if you need help with the guidebook and setting up a pn for Terrsa, I'm avaible." Rosaline offered, and I didn't see it, but I was positive Terrsa rolled her eyes for the tenth time since I've known her.

  "Thank you, I'll be sure to take you up on that offer. Farewell for now." With that, we set out towards the West entrance to the World Dungeon.

  ***

  Each gate was not the most remarkable thing in the world, despite what they did. Pinly put, it was nothing more than a tall wooden door in the center of a massive domed building. The real excitement was what happened around it. Hundreds of adventurers filled the space, looking for members to join their parties. Shopkeepers would come during the day as a way to sell st-minute potions, weapons and armor to those going into the dungeon.

  Where the gates come from, even the oldest historians and archival texts don't know for sure. The leading theory is that the gods put them onto the pnet for either a form of entertainment or to py a role in some cosmic pn for mortal beings. Either way, it didn't matter to most adventurers; there was a good coin in it and a quick way to earn a living.

  If you didn't die before then.

  Every floor has a unique theme, monsters specific to it, loot, and floor bosses that respawn every hour. In the case of the first floor, it was home to goblins, or the 'Green Weenies' as they are simple to kill. Just dodge one of their swings and hit them with all you've got. They serve as great training for new adventurers and can help one learn how to counter, timing, and all that.

  "Bh, bh, bh. You've been droning on and on for like the past ten minutes. I don't need a background story to know how to kill goblins." Terrsa interrupted. "I've hunted much stronger creatures in my home floor, picking them off will be a breeze." She fshed an arrogant smile and pointed towards the gate. "Ten, right? Let's go." I nodded and approached the door. Might as well get this over with.

  "To choose what floor you'd like to go to-"

  "Pce a hand on the handle and speak the floor number, with your badge in hand, I've got it. I have traversed farther into the dungeon longer than you have, human. We Angels don't pce restrictions on where we can travel; if you're strong enough, you simply make your own way. I wonder what the gods must think of you altering these gates to behave like this."

  "It's to keep novices safe, and we've been doing it for hundreds of years, so if the gods had a problem with it, I'm sure they would've said something by now," I expined. In usual Terrsa fashion, she rolled her eyes yet again.

  "How tiresome it must be to not be strong from birth." Wonderful, as elitist as they come.

  "Just...Just do it." I muttered. Excitedly, Terrsa pced her hand on the handle, and thankfully, she chose the first floor instead of a random one and pulled it open. Immediately, the two of us were sucked in and quickly materialized into the cavernous first floor.

  Having been on this floor hundreds of times before, it felt pretty good to be back. Despite being a cave-like floor, the 'ceiling' was a red sky, and while the floor and walls were nothing but rocks. It resembled a cave, albeit far more spacious. Plenty of room for novice adventurers to test out their skills and fight without worrying about being in an enclosed space.

  That would come ter on the second floor.

  "First things first, take in your surroundings and make note of anything important that you see. And double-check your equipment before leaving the gate, just in case you miss something important. We might be on one of the lower floors, but when you're not prepared, you can end up dead faster than you think. Please tell me you understand, Terrsa." She took a few steps forward, and I could hear her giggling.

  "I see some, about twenty yards away!" She excimed excitedly to herself, gods, her bloodlust was palpable to the point her mana started to seep out of her body, making the air around us heavy. She bent over, and I could see and hear the cave's floor crack beneath her. "Pick up the scraps that that bald Director wants, I'm gonna have some fun!" With the speed befitting her rank, she exploded forward towards a couple of goblins minding their own business, appearing before them as though she had teleported.

  "Warghh?" One of them uttered dumbly as Terrsa materialized a solid bck dagger, quickly slitting its throat before spinning around and shoving the bde deep into the other's skull. All the while, she ughed maniacally as their blood oozed out onto the floor.

  "Holy shit, should we be concerned about her?" A voice spoke up behind me. There was a young-looking knight with an Oni kunoichi next to him, looking on in fright as Terrsa shouted at another group of goblins.

  "No, she's just...really excited about killing goblins. She's just a few golds short of affording a new sword, so...yep." I was lying through my teeth, and they knew it. But, clearly not wanting to get involved, they headed off in the direction opposite to Terrsa. I groaned internally.

  So much for trying to y low.

  And so, I watched on as this Fallen Angel delighted in the sughter of level 1 goblins. In pure sadistic fashion, she would allow them to swing their clubs and swords at her, only to dodge or swat their attacks away. All before slicing off an arm or puncturing their bodies with dozens of jabs with her dagger.

  After watching her, it became apparent to me that she hardly used outward magic when fighting. Instead, she opted to fortify her body with mana to enhance her speed, strength, and durability. A cssic, standard technique. Yet, hers was on another level, and after ten minutes of continuous use, I was stunned at the amount of mana she had to keep it going that long. Even high-ranked humans could only use that technique for a couple of minutes at most unless buffed by mages. Fallen Angels were something else.

  How they haven't conquered humanity yet, I'll never know.

  Finally, she had grown bored and raced back over to me. And by the end of her killing spree, I estimated she killed around 30 of those poor green bastards.

  "Now that was fun! I've been wanting to get a good workout for weeks!" Terrsa flicked the blood from her knife before allowing it to vanish from her hand with spatial magic.

  "Well, I'm gd you had fun. Now comes the second part, which you should have done before coming back here. Pick up all the loot that they dropped when they died." Monsters and even sapient species from the world dungeon, upon death, dematerialize back into the dungeon. This was one of the main arguments from those who were in favor of straight-up killing sapient monsters like the Elves or Dwarves; they lost the argument, though. Hence, the existence of the Bureau.

  "Yeah...I believe I told you to pick those things up for me." Terrsa said while pointing back at the assortment of items that littered the ground. "Better hurry before some other losers like yourself get them first, haha!"

  "Listen, Terrsa, you should put more effort into-" A shiver shot up my spine, and my body instinctively activated Ghostly Barrage just as Terrsa attempted to stab me with her knife.

  "You are fast. Now be a good little human and get my shit. Otherwise, I won't stop stabbing even after you run out of mana for that skill of yours." She smirked, her eyes wide with excitement, begging me to do something stupid.

  And do something stupid, I did.

  "No," I said with as much willpower as I could muster, even deactivated my skill for emphasis. She blinked a few times; her face morphed into a look of confusion before settling on anger as her eyes narrowed. She took a step forward and pced the tip of the knife against my throat after looking around to see if any adventurer was getting wise to what she was doing. "Enough with the threats, I have a job to do. I will overlook yet another attempt on my life if you promise to comply from now on."

  "Ohhh, getting bold, are we? Well, tell you what, you excuse for a man, if you can kill at least three goblins in one minute, I'll listen to you for...one day. Deal?"

  "Must you make things so complicated?" I countered, "You won't be able to assimite properly if you act like this, Terrsa."

  "Tell me, are all humans as cowardly as you? And no, the director doesn't count. He's more of a... golem if anything, aha."

  Fuck it.

  "Three?" I asked as I pushed her knife away from me.

  "Three."

  "Deal," I said as I ran towards the nearest group of goblins. One of them noticed me first and raised its sword to ssh at me. I activated Ghostly Barrage before dodging its ssh and countered with a hook to its face. An after image of myself appeared behind it and followed up with a spin kick to the head, sending the goblin flying. A final copy then smmed it into the ground with a hammer fist, dealing the killing blow. The two remaining goblins swung their clubs at me, I deflected one while an afterimage did the same to the other. We then each countered with a palm to the nose, disorienting each goblin. Two afterimages then appeared behind each and plunged a dagger into the base of the necks, killing them both instantly.

  Once their bodies vanished, I picked up the few trinkets that they dropped and activated Dash to quickly return to Terrsa and dropped the items at her feet.

  "Three," I said, completely out of breath.

  "I'll be damned, you did it. But look at you, already exhausted and almost out of mana." She shook her head and stifled a ugh.

  "Hey... deals...a deal." I managed to say between breaths. She studied me for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

  "Heh, fine." She replied as she walked away to collect the dropped items, leaving me alone as I chugged a mana potion. If anything, making a fool of myself in her eyes got her to listen, so I wasn't going to compin. Besides, if she keeps to her promise, I'll hopefully get her to make some progress before the day is over.