- Geared, underleveled, and ready to fight.

You couldn't miss it even if you tried.

I just learned that if you ever need to go anywhere in this city, just look around for a large crowd of people because they usually are where you are supposed to be. I join up with the scattered crowd stopping just at the back only for a bright face to turn around to smile at me.

"There are a lot of new faces here."

I nod, "I think everyone has been waiting to sign up."

"Definitely," then gesturing, "There were loads more people at Inquisition's tower since six in the morning, we might just be a part of the highest amount of recruits to join the houses in the past two decades."

"That much?" widening my eyes, "It sure did look like a lot more people this time around," I glance around at the people around us.

Our little conversation gets interrupted by someone walking up to us, wearing full-plated armour he pulls off his helm to address us with a pale face and almost tired expression.

"I am Sergeant Yuriel, I am in charge of the screening process and ensure that neither of you misunderstands anything that is expected of you and that you have full knowledge of what to expect going forward. I am informed that all of you are to become an Adventuring soldier."

"Most importantly, this doesn't require you to have a uniform but to wear the insignia of this House somewhere on your person to declare your standing," then clearing his throat, "Being both a Soldier and an Adventurer means that you will be talked to as an Adventurer but you may expect being given the duties of a Soldier."

Figures, I mean it kind of comes with it.

"Declaring Intent. This phrase is very important because this is what you will be listed as in the Codex - be incredibly sure what your role is going to be in a Party and your preferred skill set. Be aware, that everyone has the ability to be a Mage as no one is born without magical circuits."

"A lot of the roles use mana as well, so don't list yourself as a mage if the strongest spell you can cast is a fireball. Stick to something you know how to do, have been dreaming about becoming."

"We-"

He interrupts himself staring to his side, two people approach him, "Pardon me, recruits."

He walks towards the two of them, their conversation doesn't last long but the sergeant almost looks stressed out. He quickly relaxes his face before coming back to face us - I hold my gaze on the two people that just joined and I have this… weirdly nostalgic feeling in my chest.

A tall bearded man with long brown hair, standing next to an even taller woman. Platinum… maybe lavender-colored hair? I can't tell from here. Both of them wear the same outfit, leathers with boots and a woven vest but the quality is vastly superior to what I have.

The vest has leather padding around their arms like bracers, on their elbows and shoulders. The leather pants are nothing special along and the same goes for their black boots. She is standing with her arms crossed over her middle, straight shoulders and an aura of confidence just from the way she is standing.

A fairly large bust and a very sturdy figure.

Sharp facial features, add to that intimidating feel. Bright yellow eyes gleam under the light of the dead sun - I know why it feels oddly nostalgic. I know her!

I instantly pull my gaze away from her.

Shit! I have been staring at her and not paying any attention to what the Sergeant has been saying at all.

"-the moment after you have declared your intent, we will be forming your new permanent parties. These will become your brothers and sisters and only rarely will you ever be changed out of it - so treat each other well because you will be stuck with each other for a while."

The girl that was just next to me then whispers, "Good luck."

I could only return a nod, still noticing that woman in my peripheral. Even though I have done an effort to not look at her - I can tell she hasn't stopped looking at me. A desperate attempt to not make eye contact scared that she might associate it with some devious behaviour.

A moment later a panel appears in front of me asking me to declare my intent.

I tap the little box, it drops down revealing a set of roles, they are all basic, however.

Warrior. Ranger. Rogue. Mage.

Ranger is probably as close as it gets to me. Then just below it pops up another box to declare your intent further I suppose? A secondary role to focus on your weapon of choice.

As a Ranger… my weapons of choice can be dual wielding, spears, and a bow. Very obvious choice there doesn't mean I can't use any of these as a backup weapon I suppose.

Just below it, one more pops up.

A specialization?

Strom Ranger, Dead eye, Elemental Wayfarer and one in a language that I can't understand. Why is that there? Because of my perks? I hover over it for a moment though as I finally decide to choose Storm Ranger my hovering over it locked in the other choice.

No,wait-

The panel disappears. I watch into the empty space in horror, my hands still hovering in the air with the thought that I just messed up not ever knowing what my specialisation would be.

"Your specialization will be unknown due to you not having the relevant experience to spec into it just yet - it can be changed later this is just for the sake of completing the codex's entry."

Thank the gods, I breathe out.

"Present your hands, a colour will flash in your palms assigning you a party. One part will have five out six members for now - there exists a chance that some of the recruits might be running late."

I glance down at my palm, "Red."

He then announces, "Please follow me inside, you will all have someone to guide you around - then you will be relieved from duty for the rest of the day to go about your business. Do well to frequently check if you have any notifications or messages."

"The rest will be explained either tomorrow or in a moment."

You can't see the colour in other people's palms. I think it adds to the mystery of wondering who we will be meeting up with. Following him into a large stone courtyard that I assume to be the main area of the barracks. Where you'd get together to train I suppose.

Light appears in certain areas around the courtyard, I head straight towards the red one. With me I can spot five other people that I haven't met yet - guess that friendly girl I met just a moment ago isn't in my team, but everyone here seems incredibly serious.

"Six of us, that's good," the guy that was in front of us smiles at the rest of us, "While we have some time, how about we get to know each other and then decide who does what?"

"Fair enough," I nod.

"Good, I'll start," blond-haired with bright yellow eyes, you'd almost expect some sort of angelic deity possessed him. He has a clean-shaven face showing off his rigid jawline and a rather soft tone of voice, "You can call me Ray, short for Raymond. I am level thirty-nine, with a role as a warrior with a tank spec."

The next person steps forward, "Rourke. Level forty-two also as a warrior with a berserk spec wielding a heavy axe," he has dark skin, dreads for hair tied up into a bundle. Standing at the tallest in the group and with a very deep tone of voice, and brown eyes but he looks almost unnaturally calm and levelheaded for someone going into a berserk spec.

"Nice to meet all of you," a smaller, rather frail-looking girl with a round face and big eyes smiles at all of us, "Hilde, mage with cleric spec and I am level thirty-five," she is probably the shortest out of the group right next to the person standing next to her.

Hilde, has short frizzy cherry blonde hair, slight freckles on her face with large amber eyes.

Right after her, "Valery, rogue spec, dual wielding anything that I can find, level forty," she is just a bit taller than Hilde, wearing an emotionless expression and fairly pale skin - long sleek black hair long as her shoulders. Pale blue eyes that look almost elven with her small sharp features but without the ears.

Another person steps in before I could, "Wellyn," he flashes a quick smile, "Warlock spec. Level thirty-one."

He is the second lowest level here, apart from me. Hopefully, they don't freak out too much about it, hopefully.

Wellyn is about my height, with well-maintained hair with also a pretty clean shaved face. A round face with a naturally serious expression, short brown hair with a rather large nose, his dark brown eyes look straight at me.

"Volkan, just call me Volk," then clearing my throat, "Ranger, bow with a spear secondary and I am level twenty-three."

"Twenty-three?" Rourke asks again with an arched brow.

"So what?" Ray starts, "It means he can level up loads faster than any of us and will probably be able to catch up super quickly," then looking at me with a smile, "Besides you never see anyone going for a Ranger spec so I'd be happy to see one."

With a chuckle, "Whatever man, we are a team after all," then looking at me, "Just try to keep up and you will be all good with me."

Hilde then points to Ray, "Seeing as you are super friendly and speaking for others," she winks at me, "Not saying you can't speak for yourself, but we might as well appoint Raymond here as our new official leader and dad of the group, yeah?"

"Do what you have to," Valery lifts her shoulders.

Wellyn nods, "If he can lead that is."

Ray scoffs, "Please. I am pretty sure I know what I am doing," maintaining his current smile, "We can sort out everything later on but if we need me to take lead on everything and do strategy I can do that with ease… unless someone else wants to."

There is a short silence.

Rourke pats him on the shoulder, "Looks like you got the job, try not to get us killed."

My heart is beating uncontrollably, I was seriously expecting them to be appalled by the fact that I all I have been doing is working in a bar and have no levels to my name - at least I don't have to worry that much other than needing to pull my own weight.

Just a moment before we could continue the conversation, two people approach us.

Hilde and Valery glance over their shoulders then walk across the group to squeeze between Rourke and Wellyn. We form a half circle around the two of them, a brief silence as those yellow eyes lock with my own.

She then glances at the rest of the group, "My name is Lilliath - this street urchin beside me's name is Zedrick and one of the members of my party," he smiles shaking his head at her words, then narrowing his eyes at her

"We were lucky enough to get tossed into the dice roll and now we are in charge of you six for the day - first off, the quartermaster is right there," she points to a hallway that leads out of this square, "If you need anything like weapons or armour to start out, go straight to the dwarf with a beard longer than himself."

Ray asks, "Is it any good?"

"If you have nothing, it will be infinitely better," then crossing her arms, "I'd suggest getting some coordination among yourself and get a leader-"

Rourke interrupts her, "Already have one," then gesturing to Ray, "Raymond overhear has the loudest mouth."

She twists her lips to the side, looking Rourke up and down before continuing with her sentence, "A leader that knows what to expect outside of the walls, I won't lie but these monsters outside evolve just as much as all of us can level up."

Hilde then clears her throat, "Are we going to go out there now?"

She nods, "You will all be outfitted at the Quartermaster and then you will be going alongside my team," she nods, "Any problems?"

Valery points at me, "Volk here is about twenty levels under the requirement."

She looks at me, and then back at Valerie, "I wouldn't worry about anyone else other than yourself this early on - the best way to level up is stacking the odds against yourself."

She holds her stare with Valerie, "This little group is hardly a team and will only become a team once you can step into a hot zone, rift, or on an expedition without needing someone to back you up - so focus on yourself, alright?" she sounds almost condescending.

Valerie on the other hand only nods, "Just wanted you to know that you are forcing someone into a situation they wouldn't survive in," she rests her hands on her waist.

"He doesn't have another twenty years to catch up," she states then looks at me, "Tossing you into the deep end and hoping your arms are strong enough to keep you afloat, you okay with that?"

I nod quickly, "I can handle myself."

"Prove it," she says with a straight face, "Get going, get geared. Meet me at the western exit at the Neutral sect - we will be waiting for you at the gates."

The two of them walk away, Zedrick who hasn't said a word instantly breaks into conversation with her the moment she walks away - having seen her up close… she is gorgeous. Maybe a little bit of a bad attitude but she probably didn't want to sit with kids on her first day.

I am surprised that she looks almost exactly the same even though thirteen years have passed - I only remember her story, her face… but her name escapes me. Sah… something. Wait… didn't she just say her name a moment ago?

"Hey-"

I glance back at the group with everyone looking at me, "You daydreaming about her already?"

Valery answers for me as she looks at Rourke with a smirk, "She practically came to his defence - who wouldn't swoon over her."

I chuckle, "I just recall seeing her somewhere - you don't have to babysit me the entire way I will try my best to pull my weight."

Valery looks at me, "Didn't mean to offend you, I was just making it clear that you are going to have a hell of a harder time than the rest of us when we get out there - so just keep your wits about you."

I nod, "I'll try my best."

Ray then asks, "Does anybody need to gear up?"

I glance at everyone, their silence speaking for them, "I need to get something to protect myself - I do have a weapon already."

He nods, "The four of you meet us at the gate, I am going to tag along with him."

Rourke starts walking, "Just don't take forever, the last thing any of us wants to be stuck out there in the middle of the night."

The four of them all walk away, though none of them is exactly worried about it - probably taking her advice to heart that everyone should be out for themselves out there. I glance at my side to see Ray watching me with a bright smile.

"Just stick behind me, I won't let them reach you and you just make sure they all drop dead long before they can hurt me even a little bit."

I then ask with a chuckle, "That much faith in me?"

"We have to," he scoffs, "I don't believe that we need to be out for ourselves because if this team is going to exist forever we should rather work on working together from the start - though that woman is one of the top dogs around here."

"She is?"

He nods, "My brother is in one of the top parties, says that if I ever meet her that I should just avoid her - that she has a massive stick up her ass and that she treats everyone that isn't in her party like children."

I furrow my brow, "That bad of a reputation?"

"Uh huh, though on the other hand, they claim that she is one of the strongest berserkers in the entire Last City - you can probably see that she is selfish in nature just as she expects all of us to be out for each other."

I take a deep breath before sighing, "Wouldn't make sense to be caught up trying to drag me along either though."

"Don't tell me you believe her?"

"I don't," I quickly shake my head, "But it kind of makes sense. We work as a team but you can't pick up the slack for me either - otherwise, it will just never work out for me."

"Alright man," he pats me on the shoulder with a large grin, "Let's get you equipped with something that isn't just wool and leathers," he gestures to the sign reading 'Quartermaster"

We both step in to see an orange-haired dwarf writing something on a parchment, she was right, he is completely covered in hair it is almost confusing to think how he would be able to work with a beard that is touching the floor.

He speaks fast, with a hoarse voice and an accent I can barely understand, "Ho ho ho, Gracie darlin' the wee lads been getting smaller and smaller every year!" he lifts himself yelling to someone in one of the back rooms.

"Uhm… pardon?"

"No worry lad," he clears his throat, "Peruse me stock in the cupboard in the far corner. Keep all me stock for the newly arrived lads there. Take only what you need and nothing more!"

He returns his attention back to the book in front of him.

The two of us look at each other with furrowed brows, with a shrug we both walk to the specified cupboard and open it up. I gloss over everything grabbing a spear as a secondary weapon, that only sits at thirty-three damage and no requirements to use it.

The armour on the other hand is scale mail, I grab them and quickly transfer them into my bag. A wonder that these things don't have a weight capacity as you'd expect them to have but it works wonders having a hundred slots this early on.

"All ready?"

"I am."

He nods, "You can also equip it already to get a feel for it - you can use a spell that everyone can learn to essentially hide your gear with an illusion. It just doesn't work if you are wearing a closed helmet or mask."

"You mean [Transmog]?"

"That's the one."

Just saying it memorizes what I am currently wearing and then keeps it on after I slipped on the armour. It is nice to hide the fact that you are always ready with something that looks and feels far more comfortable, though at a low level it can easily be broken as it is mostly an illusion.