My skill saves the day

"Knock, knock."

Liam raised his head from the bedside and responded evenly, "Coming."

He crossed the room in a few strides and unlatched the wooden door. What greeted him was a pale face framed by long black hair, her scarlet eyes faintly catching the morning light. There stood Ravyn Noctis, the middle-world boss, still visibly awkward in real life, yet no less striking than the avatar he once pulled countless gacha rolls for.

He nodded toward her. "Are you ready?"

She gave a small, reserved nod and stepped back to allow him through. As they began walking together, Ravyn fell into step beside him and spoke softly.

"Do you… know where the guild is?"

"I was about to ask you the same," Liam replied, amused. "But I assume you do?"

"I updated my local map earlier this morning when I entered Thornmere," she said. Her voice remained quiet, yet held a note of pride, like a student who had done her homework early for once.

He nodded again and after a brief silence asked, "Which rank are you?"

She hesitated, then answered truthfully. "I just joined two weeks ago. Still F-rank. I only need ten more contribution points to reach E. Two basic herb collection quests should do it."

Liam considered that thoughtfully. He, too, would need to begin at the bottom. He would have to build up his Adventurer Rank from scratch by completing requests.

F-rank quests rewarded five points each. E-rank, twenty.

To reach E-rank, I'll need a hundred points, he calculated silently. It will take time, but it's necessary.

He didn't care much for guild prestige or titles, but what he needed was simpler, a functional alternate identity. His real name and records were tied to Emberglow, and walking into any new city under that name would only invite questions he had no desire to answer. The Adventurer's Guild, however, provided a simple alias system and low scrutiny for lower-ranked members.

It'll serve as a shield. Something to keep people from asking the wrong questions.

By now, they had descended to the main floor of the inn.

There were still a few guests lingering in the common room, early risers preparing for the day's work. However, the moment Liam stepped into view, all motion seemed to halt. Several spoons hovered mid-air. Conversations died half-formed. The sound of wooden chairs stopped scraping.

Everyone froze.

Their gazes flicked toward him, uneasy, cautious, and then quickly darted away again. The effect was immediate and unnerving, though Liam had grown accustomed to such reactions.

He ignored them.

Without a word, he walked past the tense silence and exited the inn. Ravyn followed closely behind.

And though Liam paid the scene no attention, Ravyn did.

There was something... strangely pleasant in those gazes.

The fear, the quiet respect, even if born from misunderstanding, was unlike anything she had experienced before. To her, it felt almost like admiration, and though her rational mind tried to push it away, a small part of her wanted to feel that recognition again.

They stepped into the open streets of Thornmere.

This was only Liam's second time seeing the town in daylight, and like before, it was lively. Market stalls were already active, smoke curled from chimneys, and townsfolk moved briskly about their routines. Yet something felt off.

He slowed his pace and narrowed his eyes.

"Ravyn," he said quietly. "Did something happen here?"

She looked up at him, startled, and then followed his gaze.

Several rooftops showed signs of damage, jagged holes large enough to fit a man. Cracks ran across stone walls. One house had its front gate partially broken, and a deep indentation, shaped suspiciously like a human body, marred the paved street nearby.

"I don't remember this being here yesterday," Liam muttered. "Something's different."

Ravyn, caught off guard by his question, fidgeted nervously. She began tapping her index fingers together, a childlike motion she hadn't outgrown.

"Umm... I heard something this morning," she said carefully. "Apparently, several people were injured last night. Some fell from rooftops… others slipped and struck themselves with their own weapons. One man accidentally dropped oil near a chimney and caught fire trying to retrieve it."

She paused, brows furrowing as she tried to make sense of it.

"Most of the incidents sound… strange. Like they were part of traps. But they all went off at the wrong time, or… affected the wrong people."

Liam's expression remained neutral, but a cold bead of sweat ran down his back.

So something was going to happen... but it misfired.

He looked up toward the sky, then lowered his gaze solemnly.

'Thank you, my god-given luck.'

As if on cue, a faint glint in the road caught his attention. He reached down and plucked two gold coins from a crack in the stone path.

Ravyn blinked in disbelief. "Did… you just find those?"

She stared at the coins, her mind turning over once again, gears clicking into place.

"Maybe… someone set a trap. But it backfired. Maybe the ones who were injured were actually the ones planning something… and the intended target…"

She trailed off.

Liam studied her out of the corner of his eye. The way her thoughts slowly connected, the hesitant logic, the moment of realisation, it was, in its own way, endearing.

Without thinking, he reached out and gently patted her head.

"Well," he said with a faint smile, "aren't you a clever one."

The gesture lasted only a second before he realised what he was doing. His hand snapped back and he straightened, clearing his throat, slipping back into calm composure.

Ravyn, on the other hand, stood frozen.

A faint blush had bloomed on her pale cheeks, and for a brief moment, she looked as if someone had short-circuited her entire system.

Liam turned away, pretending not to notice.

The walk to the Adventurers' Guild was quiet, almost painfully so. Neither Liam nor Ravyn spoke for several minutes, and the silence between them felt heavier with each passing step. Liam, sensing the weight of the awkwardness, decided to break it.

He turned slightly toward her and asked with a casual tone, "Would you like to form a team with me? For quests, I mean."

Ravyn, still mentally recovering from the earlier head-pat incident, seemed momentarily stunned. Then, without hesitation, she nodded.

There was no official system of "parties" in the Thornmere guild registry. However, it was common for adventurers, especially lower-ranked ones, to temporarily work together in loose, informal teams. It made the completion of mundane tasks more efficient and gave them a better chance of surviving riskier assignments.

The guild didn't formally recognize such arrangements. There were no bonuses, no shared records, and no titles. But unofficial or not, the offer Liam extended, and Ravyn's quiet acceptance, was a gesture of trust.