C-class Artist

"Congratulations Lin Ke, you are now officially a C-class Artist. Here is your Identity token, which will help verify you as a C-class artist." Master Sal hands Lin Ke a smooth golden badge with a few small words written on it. The badge has some weight to it, and says, "Lin Ke, C-class Artist, Issued By: Origin City Branch"

"Thank you so much for your kindness, Master Sal." Lin Ke gives Master Sal a bow of gratitude, he is genuinely thankful towards Master Sal for going the extra length for someone that Master Sal had never seen before.

Master Sal waves his hands. "No, no! It's no problem! That's right! I assume you have no place to stay in this city? Why don't you come to my household to stay for a while? I would also like to speak with you about some topics." Master Sal nonchalantly offers.

Lin Ke thinks about it for a moment. 'Hmm… Well, it's true that I don't have any place to stay… And plus, Master Sal seems like a pretty good guy… I suppose I could take him up on his offer.'

Lin Ke nods, "Sure that's fine with me. I thank you in advance, Master Sal. You've done so much for me already."

"Lin Ke is coming to stay with us?" Lia suddenly cuts into the conversation. Her voice holds a hint of excitement. "Yay! I'm so glad Lil- I'm so glad that Lin Ke can come stay with us!"

Lily however, doesn't seem too pleased at this arrangement. "My dear Host.. Please reconsider… It wouldn't be in your good interest to -AH-" Her speech gets cut of by Lia randomly spinning Lily in circles.

"It wouldn't-waaah- be in ~waaaa~ your good intere ~aaahhh~ to rely on some ~aaaaaah~" Lily cries out, her sentence practically unintelligible. Lily's face was ashened and she seemed like she would faint from the dizziness of being spun.

'Does this count as mild animal abuse?' Lin Ke thought to himself. 'Lia is quite an odd person huh. She loves cats, but doesn't know how to get them to like her.'

Master Sal cuts into his train of thought, "Well then, Lin Ke, I have some other things I need to take care of, so how about you come to our residence by yourself. Can you manage that? I'll give you the address and a map of the city. It shouldn't be that difficult." With that said, after handing the objects to LIn Ke, he began to leave.

Lia didn't want to go though. She was still gripping onto the cat tightly. Master Sal turns back when he realizes Lia isn't following him. "Lia? Let's go. Give Lin Ke his cat back. You'll see it later today. We still have to go to that place."

Hearing Master Sal's words, Lia lets go of Lily, who promptly leaps back onto Lin Ke's shoulder and breathes a sigh of relief. Finally, Lily would get some rest, only to have to prepare for the hell later.

After Master Sal and Lia leaves, the secretary once again comes up to Lin Ke. She is holding onto a few items. One is a small ring, and the other is a robe. She says "Mister Lin Ke, as you are now a C-class artist, you have many different benefits, one of them is a small spatial ring, with about 3 cubic feet of space. This is the cheapest one on the market, but don't underestimate it's price. It's worth at least 500 Low-grade Chaos Stones. This robe is made out of a Tier 3 beast's hide, and is also worth more than the common people can afford. It's strength offers you some protection from a Mind Tempering Sub-realm fighter or equivalent. Please accept these items."

Lin Ke blinks in surprise. He didn't think that there would be so many presents prepared for him aside from the system's. This only made his anticipation for the award that would be given by the system even higher. "Thank you so much." Lin Ke replies. "I appreciate all that you help me do today."

The secretary smiles a little, "It's no problem, I'm happy to help out a young talent such as you…"

With all that said, Lin Ke takes the ring and puts it on. However, he finds that he is unable to access the ring for some reason. He asked the secretary, "How do I use this ring?"

The secretary looks at him oddly, "It's extremely simple. You channel your True Energy into the ring and then the ring will automatically imprint with you."

Lin Ke is even more confused now. 'What is True Energy?' Now that he thinks about it, earlier, the secretary also mentioned a few terms that Lin Ke had never heard of before, such as a Mind Tempering Sub-realm?

Lin Ke tries to mask his stupidity by laughing, "Hehehe. I get it, thank you a lot!" And without anything else to say, he immediately turns and walks away with the robe in hand and the badge in his pocket.

On his way out, he runs into the guard that had led him into here. The guard immediately notices him and remembers who he is. "Ah! Hey there! Did you manage to pass the exam?"

Lin Ke smiles. "Yes, I did. Thank you for letting me in and leading me to the testing area."

The guard waves his hands, "No problems, no problems! I was glad I could help."

Lin Ke didn't really want to continue talking to the guard though, as he couldn't wait to see what his reward from Lily was, and also as he had to ask Lily a few questions. "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to leave. I have some business to attend to, so if you'll excuse me." Without waiting for an answer really, Lin Ke walks out the front door.

Once outside, Lin Ke begins to question Lia. "So? What's my reward? And what is a Mind Tempering Sub-realm? What is True Energy? Why can't I use this ring?"