6. Party

"Hey boy! You! Yes, you! Stop pointing at yourself, I'm calling you!" A red-headed girl, similar in age to mine, called me out.

She had red hair that brought out her blue eyes, a near-perfect figure that went well with her pale skin, and a height almost the same as mine.

Her red hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing black cargo jeans with combat boots along with a solid black tee shirt. Giving her a tough girl look.

"Yes, what do you need?" Walking up to her I asked.

"Do you want to join our party?" The red-haired girl replied.

"Party?" I frowned.

"Yes, you are a warlock, right? Even though warlocks are self-sufficient fighters they aren't a one-man army." The girl replied while crossing her arms.

She was right. Even I know that working with a party will be a more efficient way to get to Level 5 than going for solo leveling.

Thinking that I touched my chin and glanced at the hovering words over the red-haired girl.

The word [Summer] was hovering over the word [Mage].

'So she's a mage, with her getup I thought she would be a close-range fighter.' I commented in my mind. 'Summer must be her Arcane name.'

"Mhmm, I think you are right." I nodded my head in agreement. "So where's the rest of your party?"

"Congrats! You are the only other member!" The girl replied with a proud grin.

"…"

I only gave her an 'Are you serious?' look before turning around to leave the hall alone.

But before I could even take a step, I felt someone grabbing my hand from behind.

"Please! Wait! I promise I'm strong!" The girl blurted out. 

"Even though my class doesn't allow me to fight at close range, I've been training in martial arts since I was 8! And my mother is a mage too so I know how mages fight!" 

"Sigh…" A short sigh escaped my lips as I rolled my eyes sideways. 

'I wasn't even prepared for this, should I just teleport back to the real world?' I thought. 

As if waiting for that cue, a familiar mechanical sound rang in my ears and the same translucent blue screen appeared in front of me.

___

{The user is advised to reach Level 1 before exiting Arcane Arts Arena}

{Reward for accepting System's suggestion: 2x Exp points}

___

'This again?' I frowned. 'What is this system, it's not normal is it?' I remarked in my mind.

I had never heard of the system giving out rewards like that from anyone. 

It was very clear that the system I had was something entirely different from the universal system.

"Fine, let's create a party." I turned around and faced the red-haired girl. 

"Though we will be needing a berserker," I suggested. 

I had never fought before. Sure I learned quite a bit of martial arts when I was little, but I had never fought an actual battle.

Compared to the kids who train day and night in dojos before entering Arcane Arts Arena, I was a total rookie.

"A berserker? I was thinking of a healer but sure," the red-headed girl shrugged slightly.

"Well, nice to meet ya," she stretched her hand for me to shake before adding, "I'm Ana Augustus of the Augustus clan, but call me Summer."

'Augustus clan?' I slightly frowned. 'Am I supposed to know them?'

Of course, I did not show those thoughts on my face and shook her hand.

"Hello, I'm Noah Woods."

Yes, I lied.

I had reasons. 

First, I belong to the infamous Stark family even though I don't have their backing, I still am a part of them. I don't wanna be taken hostage for money.

Second, my father is ArchDuke Arthur Stark. I don't know how many enemies he has. I can't even defend myself from flies let alone players.

So I had two options.

Either refuse to announce my real name after hearing hers and end up sounding like a jerk, or lie.

I, being an introvert, chose the second option.

"Woods huh? Never heard of them," Summer slightly tilted her head.

"We aren't a clan, I'm from a small family" I replied instantly. I had expected that question.

"Really, but you are wearing the Ethel Academy's uniform. Don't they only accept big families there?" The red-haired girl questioned with a curious face.

'Ah fuck. I didn't expect that!' 

Only after she called it out did I remember that I was wearing a prestigious high school uniform.

Black pants and a blue lining white shirt with real golden thread embroidery. Even a blind man can recognize this uniform.

"Aha yes, I was a special case," I replied. "My family has sources."

"I see," Summer replied with a nod. "Well, should we start looking for a Berserker?"

I looked around and found people exiting the hall. I also saw a few people standing by the gate, asking people to join their party.

"I think we should exit the Hall first," I responded. "We can look for a Berserker at the Dungeon entrance."

At the end of his speech, the old man asked us to visit dungeons and start gaining experience.

Since you can't die in the Mortal plane, it's the best place to gain fighting experience.

"Hmm, yeah we should exit first-" before Summer could finish her sentence, a voice came from behind us calling us out.

"Umm, excuse me," hearing that, the both of us turned around to look behind. 

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear, are you guys looking for a berserker?" A green-haired girl inquired with sparkling eyes.

She was wearing skin-tight blue jeans and a white short top that exposed a little glimpse of her waist.

She had shoulder-length green hair and emerald green eyes with tan skin and a tiny figure. 

Although she looked cute, you would not in your wildest dreams expect a berserker to look like that.

If not for the long sword that she was carrying on her shoulder that was twice the size of her, I would've dismissed any possibilities of her being a berserker.

Also, the words [Berserker] were hovering over her head.

"Yes," Summer replied instantly. "You're a berserker? Great! Will you join us?"

'Straight to the point huh?' I commented in my mind.

"Yes, if you would have me!" The green-haired girl almost hopped in joy before adding, "Call me Skye!"

"Great, you can call me Summer."

"Call me Disgrace." 

"Disgrace, Summer, thank you for having me!" Sky thanked us with a slight bow. "So are we heading to the dungeon right now?"

"Yea, why? Is there a problem?" I asked.

"No, not a problem, just you seem a bit unprepared to take on a dungeon."

Before I could even speak, Summer bumped in and answered with an assumption.

"He must have a storage ring on him that has his armor and weapon stored," she glanced at me for confirmation. "Right?"

"Ah… no," I answered while averting my gaze. "I was unprepared when I logged in." 

"What?! You don't have a weapon on you?!" Summer yelled. "Were you high when you logged in?!"

A nerve on my forehead twitched as I heard her saying that.

I couldn't help but think, 

'Do I look like a drug addict?'

"No, I wasn't high. I logged in accidentally," I replied in a slow irritated tone before I frowned in worry. "What should I do though?"

"Haha! It's not a big deal. Many newbies don't challenge the dungeon on their first day," seeing me all worked up, Skye intervened.

"Hmm, that's true. Although I wanted to clear my first dungeon today, I think it can wait," Summer replied.

"You don't have to wait for me guys. If you want you can look for another warlock, I can understand," waving my hand, I suggested.

"Nah. Too much work in finding someone new," said Summer while touching her chin. "Besides, my father will gift me my wand today, so I can wait."

"Yes, same," Skye added. "In a hurry, I forgot to bring my daggers too hehe. So I can wait too."

That was a tough situation. 

Although the system did ask me to get to level 1 before exiting, I had no choice but to exit cuz I didn't have any weapons on me.

"Ahh, I see," I nodded my head slightly. "So shall we challenge the dungeon tomorrow?" 

"Yes, we'll do that. Let's meet here 12 hours by now tomorrow." 

Summer suggested to which we both nodded in approval.

"Nice then, see you both in 12 hours. Log out!"

As soon as Summer said the words 'Log out', her body was enveloped in bright light before dissipating into light particles.

"See you soon Disgrace," facing me, Sky greeted before continuing to exit herself, "Log out!"

Just like Summer, Skye's body was enveloped in the same bright flash of light before she vanished into snow-like light particles.

Stupefied, I stood there for a few seconds before shouting, 

"Log out!"