As Nishikienrai traveled through the more affluent districts of Marane, his vision was barraged with the strange types of luxuries that the wealthy had.

Is that statue made out of gold and emeralds? Who really needs that?

This place was much different from the cozy feeling where the beginner's guild was located and where he left Lumi.

That last part produced a little chuckle from the ninja, however it didn't last long as a faint sense of hatred knocked on the back of his head.

Turning around, he saw two mithril adventurers, their eyes briefly met before they averted their vindictive gazes.

So they still hate me?

Though this hatred in his eyes was unwarranted, it didn't bother him too much. Having a bad reputation was par for the course for a top-tier Aberage player like him after all. What's a tiny bit of resentment that comes from at most a few dozen people, compared to an ocean of malice that came from thousands of people during the years of playing Aberage?

Walking down further the opulent streets, he finally arrived at his destination: The Landholdings Department of Marane.

This government department was created due to Marane's vast influence on trade, and as a consequence, properties were frequently exchanged so much that the administration couldn't keep up.

Glancing at the building in front of him, he noticed that it didn't have many of the fancy features that other structures next to it had. But it looked practical, which Nishikienrai liked after seeing so many buildings with the same obnoxious decorations.

Before taking enough steps to reach the door, a guard equipped with steel stopped him.

"I a-apologize, but I must confirm your identity, adamantite adventurer." He spoke, a hint of nervousness leaking out of him.

"Alright," Nishikienrai complied, taking off his plate and giving it to the guard. This routine was generally what Roger described when going to the upper districts of Marane, so he wasn't too worried.

The armored man held tightly onto the metal like his life depended on it and carefully flipped it over.

"Nishikienrai?"

"Indeed." The half-golem confirmed, his voice unknowingly sending shivers down the man's spine.

"Thank you, Mr. Nishikienrai, and welcome to our department," the guard said, holding the adamantite tag out.

Taking his plate back, he stepped into the building where a male receptionist greeted him.

"Hello, do you have an appointme-'' he instantly stopped himself once he saw the glistening black metal hanging off his neck. "Nevermind, a person of such stature doesn't need a measly appointment."

"Do you have a free real estate agent?" Nishikienrai asked, looking around the empty lobby.

"Yes, just wait here!" He said excitedly, running off to another room.

After 2 minutes or so, he brought a sharply dressed woman, suit and tie and all. She had reading glasses and carried a small book in her arms.

Nishikienrai was slightly stupefied by the out of place attire, and the woman seemed to notice as she blurted, "Oh, this clothing is a suit and comes from the Theocracy, it's actually common there."

This seemed to snap Nishikienrai out of his thoughts, and he quickly responded, "Ah, so that's where they come from."

In reality, though, he was still thinking about the suit since it practically radiated that players were here, similar to that naginata that the merchant was carrying and the Yggdrasil mask that Lumi wore.

"It's not common knowledge for most people, especially adventurers, since they're not needed there," she said, giving out an open hand. "Anyways, my name is Cecile. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Nishikienrai."

The half-golem shook her hand. "Likewise."

"Now, Mr. Nishikienrai, considering you didn't schedule an appointment, I'm suggesting that this is an urgent matter?"

"Correct."

This was a bold-faced lie. He didn't even know he could make an appointment, much less that they were even needed.

"Luckily for you, there are multiple estates on sale. Can you provide the most important factors you have when deciding a property?"

"I would like a property that is two stories tall and has luxury decorations at a minimum.Also, I would preferably want it to be near the Adventurer's Guild, the beginner one."

Cecile looked through her book and crossed out many options. "Well that eliminates most properties near here. However, there are still around ten who have that description."

"Alright then, let's go."

Cecile would consider herself a good real estate agent. She had years of experience in Kami Miyako, after all, THE most desirable place to live for any human on the continent.

But not even the many years under her belt could prepare her for her client calling himself Nishikienrai.

"This is the last property on the list."

A man veiled by a black cloth thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure I like the style of this building."

A vein violently popped out of Cecile's head. This was literally just a variation of what he's been saying for the last nine properties!

If it weren't for her staunch professionalism, she would be whacking the adamantite adventurer on the head by now.

"Is there a style you would like," she asked, her book getting forcefully indented with her fingers. She already knew what he was going to say, but…

"No, I wouldn't like to intrude much since you're the expert."

I fucking knew it!!!

However, before Cecile could fully reach her breaking point, the hunter spoke again, "but I was thinking of opening a dojo if that helps you."

The fiery storm brewing in the agent's mind was quelled, as if an ocean of water was dumped on top of it.

"A dojo? Yeah, a dojo. I think there is a building for a dojo near here," she said, an intense feeling of apathy devouring her mind.

The agent soon started to walk, and Nishikienrai awkwardly followed her.

Truthfully, he didn't know why she was so mad. He tried to be as polite as possible, not overstepping his expertise and such, but this only seemed to irritate her.

"So, Nishikienrai~," she began, her dead tone tensing up the ninja, "why do you want to open a dojo~?"

"I want to help my fellow adventurers."

Another lie, albeit a small one. He did want to help them, but his main objective was to learn more about martial arts, because as much as he tried, he couldn't replicate any of them last night, not even the basic martial art that the iron plate demonstrated.

There were, of course, more things he wanted to learn, such as leveling up and class mechanics, but martial arts was the most foreign aspect of this new world.

" Oh~ that's so~ noble, but why specifically a dojo~"

Feeling uncomfortable, his reply came a little bit slower. "Um… I think it's the best place to teach."

" The~ only dojo I've ever heard of was from the former Adamantite adventurer, Vesture Kloff Di Laufen, who got inspiration from that southern desert city. But I guess~ you do make some sense as his dojo produced both the Six Great Disciples and possibly the warrior captain."

Southern desert city? Vesture Kloff Di Laufen? Six Great Disciples?

A quiet sigh escaped the half-golem's mouth. He knew none of those terms.

I really need to catch up with this history stuff.

Cecile didn't pay much attention to his silence, so she continued to walk until 5 minutes later, when they arrived at their destination.

The agent and the ninja stood in front of a strange dilapidated building whose multiple roofs were curvy and elongated, a vast difference from the other derelict properties next to it.

The wooden entrance seemed to be broken with its color fully drained, and the walls appeared to have several different animals living in it, from birds to rats. All kinds of rodents lived in or near this structure. And the second story wasn't much better, some would consider it worse as there was a gaping hole on the side of it.

This scene instantly broke Cecile's apathy and she immediately went to apologize to the adamantite adventurer for showing such a ruined property and wasting his time.

But when she turned to him, he unexpectedly whispered, "it's perfect."

"Huh?"

"Ah, yes, it could use some work, but it's a good start, don't you think?"

"Um…sure," she said, looking down on the pavement, fairly embarrassed at how she acted in front of a high-class client. "Well, if you want to purchas-"

She stopped herself when she saw Nishikienrai taking several steps towards the decaying structure.

"What are you doing?" She asked, fidgeting with her book. She wanted to close this deal as fast as possible for her sanity's sake, and him taking a look around runs the exact opposite way from her goal.

"I'm just going to take a quick look," he responded, already at the entrance.

Nishikienrai was surprised to see the traditional architecture of his country in this world, but he paid little mind to it after the first few seconds, as it was nothing out of the ordinary for him by this point.

"Do you know why this block is so…" The half-golem pushed aside the Japanese-style sliding door, but due to its deteriorated condition, it just fell over. "Abandoned?"

The agent was drowning in regret now, but the pride of her job gave her the will to answer. "I think there are rumors of spirits or something, like this legend even spreads to some parts of the Red Staff district. However, I don't really buy into it and I think you're too strong to be worried about such a frail myth."

If it weren't for his mask or his featureless face, the agent would clearly see Nishikienrai's face instinctively contort when she said spirits. But this reaction wasn't from fear, but disgust.

As a physical fighter, he hated enemies who had physical resistances such as spirits or slimes. And although he did have a skill to replace some of his physical damage with magic damage, this was incredibly inefficient and basically ruined his build.

A super powerful spirit is unlikely, but…

[Void Gaze]

"Hmm, I think it's just a myth too," he said, stepping on the tatami, the old straw mat barely holding him up. The room was fairly big, enough to feel spacious if there were twelve of him.

Carefully walking to the other end of the floor, he examined a Japanese-style painting in what appeared to be in the middle of a small altar.

It depicted a roaring sea where three small boats – filled with fishermen – struggled to survive. In the background was a snow-capped mountain which was vaguely familiar to him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Nishikienrai turned around and looked at the agent. "Who was the original owner of this house?"

She touched her chin, then responded, "I believe his name was Hifumi Izo, and he was once the guildmaster of the Blacksmithing guild almost a century ago. But it's a shame that he ran off with some half-dwarf lady, taking everything with him, including his research."

Hifumi Izo… that sounds familiar.

Nishikienrai tried his hardest to think, but a memory never surfaced.

Maybe it's only familiar because it's Japanese–

"Are you feeling well?" Cecile asked, breaking Nishikienrai's concentration.

"y-yes, I was just thinking." He responded, now moving to the left of the room and examining a set of stairs. Like the building, it too was rundown, making it a risk to even step on it.

"Was he a good blacksmith?" Nishikienrai leisurely inquired, wanting to make some small talk.

"Yeah! I heard his craftsmanship was quite legendary. There are even rumors that the royal treasury has classified some of his works as national treasures. However, the most interesting thing about him was his journey…"

Her speech came to a stop. "I'm boring you, aren't I?"

"No, not at all. Please continue."

Emboldened by his words, she carried on with the story. "Like I was saying, the most interesting thing about him was how he got so skilled so quickly. It was similar to the tale of the leader of the 13 heroes, where they both started out weak, but as time passed, they grew to the top of their fields, a warrior and a blacksmith, respectively."

Could he be a player? But he seems way too weak to be one since most players would be in the ninety range. Same with the leader of the thirteen heroes. How can you be so low in level that people who haven't reached level 40 call you weak?

And also, are the Six Gods players? What about the Eight Greed Kings that Lumi mentioned? They seemed like Yggdrasil players with their magic and Yggdrasil-like equipment… But they all died centuries ago…

Nishikienrai sighed in defeat. He knew that getting a concrete answer would be practically impossible for him. Maybe if Punitto Moe was in his position, he would figure it out in like a day.

He looked at the agent and remembered what he was doing. "That is an impressive story. However, I'm ready to purchase this property now."

Cecile pulled out a piece of white paper. "Here's the deed to this property. It will cost 300 gold coins, fairly cheap for a property in Marane."

Cheap!? That's so much money!

"It'll cost more once you renovate it. However, I know someone from the Construction Guild, so it will save you some money. But it's not like you need it." She said the last part with a small laugh.

And Nishikienrai joined, although his wasn't as happy.

Ansfrid Tigim, the Guildmaster of Marane, at last relaxed in his office.

Almost all of his duties were done, and it was barely past afternoon. But as his mind sank into tranquility, a recent memory flashed in his mind.

Clementine…

Although it'd been a day since that fight and a priest had already healed him, he could still feel an odd pain that seemed to never go away.

I'm getting slow…

Old age was not common in the Black Scripture. That was made evident as, out of the twelve active seats, only one was close to his age, Draigh Sylvan, the strongest human and the tenth seat of the Black Scripture. Unsurprisingly, he was also his best friend.

Ansfrid reminisced on all the times they would spar, all the times he would promise that he would win, and all the times he would wake up with a splitting headache and a priest next to him.

Well… My prime days are gone, it's only downhill from here…

And nothing was a bigger wake-up call than the Clementine fight.

As her senior in both age and experience, he should've easily beaten her. Yet, he only won by pure luck and pure luck alone.

Maybe if he used his natural-born trump card, he would've had an easier time, but he let go of the idea as a fiery hate swelled within him.

Rather than it being a gift from the gods that most people treated it as, he knew it was just a well disguised curse that not only ravaged his own life, but the lives of others. Perhaps it was best that he left the Black Scripture early.

"Excuse me, but everything is set up. Most of the elite adventurers are here to hear what you have to say."

This muffled voice came from outside the closed doors. However, since he expected this interruption, he promptly got out of his seat and exited his office. The female receptionist smiled at him and followed him down the narrow hallway.

It didn't take too much time to reach the top of the stairs and look down at the dozens of mithril-ranked adventurers.

All eyes were on him, and he cleared his throat. "The adamantite team, Crystal Tear, is missing. The guild has no further statements. I thank you for your time."

Ansfrid gave a little bow to the adventurers and left, dragging the dumbfounded receptionist with him.

There was no noise, making the usually lively guild dead quiet. However, as the clock ticked to its second hour, a chaos of shouts erupted.

Ansfrid ignored the turmoil and looked the receptionist in the eyes. "Promote the team, Grey Ash, to adamantite rank. Do this silently but don't hide it too hard."

A lone ninja sat in one of the luxury rooms located within the landholdings department. The chair he was on was unrealistically soft, and the several fruits settled in an ornate bowl oozed a nice smell. It was a shame he couldn't eat them though.

I should figure out an excuse for my appetite.

Unlike most half-golems, he couldn't eat. This was because of his early frenzy of replacing all of his body parts with golem parts.

You see, when players first obtain the racial change item [Ligaments] they are tasked to obtain several materials for the transformation ritual. And after they collect them all, they can substitute one limb with a golem part, with the possibility of replacing more.

A good chunk of the player base just stopped there, as by now, it was simply a free stat boost. However, the majority, including him, wanted to see how far they could push it. And push it they did, as they found several hidden mechanics in upgrading their racial classes.

By far the most important were the ability to use special golem metals that focused on specific stats and the means to replace body parts that weren't only limbs.

And Nishikienrai abused those mechanics mercilessly, replacing almost all of his body with primarily attack-specialized parts and some agility-specializedparts.

This resulted in an avatar with an incredibly focused build that failed in all aspects that didn't relate to its designed purpose, overly-specialized is what players called it. However, Nishikienrai loved his build for that exact reason.

Knock Knock

"Come in," Nishikienrai said, looking at the door.

A small girl, not even 150 cm tall, walked into the room. She wore a loose tunic fastened by a leather belt and plain leather boots, whose only purpose seemed to make her taller.

"Sorry kid, but I think you got the wrong room," he spoke with his highest pitched voice, not trying to scare the little girl. However, it sounded more strange than anything, like an old man with a metal respirator speaking into a broken microphone.

Yeah… I need some more practic-

"What did you just call me!?" The girl shouted viciously, bleeding Nishikienrai's non-existent ears.

"Ah! You're an adamantite adventurer and you think you're above everyone else! Well guess what! You're not above me! Now apologize!"

"Um… are you Nizzoukara Barbedpike? The Guildmaster of the Construction Guild?"

"Yes! Now apologize!"

"I'm… sorry…? It's just that your height is pretty deceiving."

"I'm a half-dwarf! You got a problem with that!?" She instantly replied, trying to get up in his face to scare him, but failing as she was barely at eye level even though he was sitting, removing all the intimidation.

"No, not particularly."

She stared at him with narrow eyes before sitting on a chair across from him. "Fine, I accept it! Now what do you want?"

"Miss. Barbedpi-"

"Just call me Nizzo, no formalities, it's just a waste of time."

"Ok Nizzo, I want to renovate my property."

She rolled her eyes. "I already knew that, I'm asking how."

"Oh, um, I just want it to be restored to its original state."

"Since that building has some funky designs that I've rarely seen, it'll cost you more."

Nishikienrai leaned in closer. "How much?"

"At least five hundred gold coins."

500!?

"Why so much?" Nishikienrai asked, barely holding back his surprise.

"Again, the designs aren't what the guild teaches, so it will cost you more. The state of the building is also incredibly terrible, it's a miracle that it is still even standing. But you're an adamantite adventurer, I doubt that will hurt your pockets too much."

"Yeah… it won't hurt it too much," he agreed, attempting to retain his facade. "I guess I'll have to sell more of my stuff to the guild," Nishikienrai mumbled, his own words barely coherent to even him.

However, by some mysterious phenomenon, Nizzo somehow managed to decipher his garbled sentence. "You're selling items to the guild? I wouldn't do that, there are some pretty bad rumors that they under-pay."

"Really?" Nishikienrai asked with some skepticism. He didn't know a lot of things, but the Adventurer's Guild being corrupt seemed a bit of a stretch.

"Although the quality of life for adventurers in Marane is excellent, and some would argue it is the best place to be one, there are a few voices that complain they have been taken advantage of."

"Who were they?"

"Well… this came from people who claimed that they had incredibly valuable items that they 'found' and the guild 'stole' them, so the accusations are shaky at best. I doubt the guild would do this to any high-ranking adventurers, especially you, but to be on the safe side, I recommend that you just sell without the middleman."

Wait. Valuable items? Was the hide I gave Roger valuable? He did appear to be surprised about it… And the coins I got… Did I get scammed?

Nishikienrai laughed it off in his mind. There was no possible way that Roger would cheat him, he was too kind.

"Alright, I'll get the money." He said, standing up and out of his seat.

This should be the last one…

Isozaki stood up on his toes and slid a large red-covered book on a wooden rack. A decorative golden text popped out on the front of the hardcover.

[The Expansive Theory of Runecrafting Vol. 3]

The man gave a satisfying smile of accomplishment. He's spent the better part of the past year finally completing it, and now he has done it.

Giving one last glance at the three books filling the much empty bookshelf, he left the room and entered the lobby of his shop.

A collection of weapons, taped with small pieces of white paper, were left on his counter. These were the weapons of all the adventurers who had a number and wanted their equipment enchanted pronto.

Although he did shave some hours that could be used researching runecraft, he also gained a significant amount of upfront gold, which heavily outweighed the time lost.

Picking up a small dagger and reading the parchment that said that the owner wanted two lesser sharpness runes, he began his craft on the weapon.

However, he wasn't able to complete any as someone barged into his shop.

"Kristen, that was 30 minutes, is it really that hard to operate my equipment?" Isozaki scorned, not even attempting to look up at her as he was fully engrossed in his engraving.

But this focus was shattered when a distinctly different feminine voice spoke, "Kristen? I'm not her."

Glancing away from the tiny blade, he saw a blue-cloaked figure wearing an odd mask. With his experienced eye, he could tell that her face covering was a high-class magic item, vaguely similar to that Nishikienrai person's one.

A mage perhaps? Unlikely to be an adventurer as there are no visible plate on her, most high-ranking ones would flaunt it around. Maybe she's from the magician's guild… But I didn't think they would be this aggressive this quickly

"Sorry, but we're closed," he said with a friendly smile, his golden eyes darting to his naginata.

"Apologies, I only saw your shop sign and was interested that it said Seven Runes. So is this really the dwarven art of runecraft? " She asked, staring at the man.

"Yes, it is."

"Huh, I thought only dwarves could use it, hence giving its name." She responded more curiously than maliciously, a difference which Isozaki could perfectly tell.

"Well, I do have some dwarven heritage if that's what you're wondering." He said, relaxing his tense body. It didn't seem that a fight would break out, but there was definitely something unusual about this person. "Sorry, but I never got your name."

"Ah, my name is Lumi. I'm an… adventurer." She greeted, stepping closer to Isozaki, much to his discomfort. "What is your name?"

An adventurer but no tag? Could it be a lie?

"Just call me Isozaki."

"Isozaki? Quite a name you have."

" What is that supposed to mean?" He replied in his mind, unheard by anyone but him.

The woman called Lumi finally arrived at the counter where Isozaki was and said, "May I examine this dagger?"

"Sure… however, it is unfinished."

She nodded and extended her arms out, allowing her hands, concealed by a copious amount of cloth, to examine the blade.

"Those are sharp nails you have there."

"Ah, it's just aesthetics," she said, quickly retreating her arms back to her robes. "Thank you for letting me see it."

And with a small bow, she swiftly left the shop, her hands dug deep into her robes for fear of anyone noticing them.

What a strange woman…

Meanwhile, in a carriage in the Re-Estize Kingdom…

"Evil boss, where are we going?" asked a slender woman wearing a kunoichi outfit. In almost all cases, she would be attractive to most men, only losing points with her cold eyes and even colder personality.

"I s-said stop calling me that!" Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra, the leader of the adamantite adventurer team, Blue Roses, stammered out loud, her face red as an apple.

"Oi, keep doing that, Tina! I love seeing Evil Boss squirm!" A large woman laughed. This was Gagaran, the primary warrior of Blue Roses.

Despite all of her embarrassment, Lakyus really loved the atmosphere that her team gave off. At first, she was worried that the whole team would have arguments left and right since they all joined relatively at the same time, creating a situation where they didn't know anyone at all.

However, this was completely subverted as everyone got along perfectly well, mostly due to Rigrit's invaluable advice on leading.

"Stop it, musclehead, this is an important question."

Well… almost perfectly.

This muffled voice came from a mysterious masked individual veiled in red. This was Evileye, the arcane caster of Blue Roses."She dragged us into this carriage and said we're going on an adventure without telling us where, I want to know the where."

"I wouldn't say I dragged you, but if you really want to know, we're traveling to E-rantel."

The two ninjas instantly tensed up when they heard those words.

"Don't you think it's too close to the Empire?" Tia inquired, her voice tinged with the concern of a seasoned assassin.

In spite of the way she vocialized it, everyone knew her main worry wasn't the Empire itself.

"Ijaniya." Gagaran muttered, saying the thing on everyone's mind.

It's been a whole year since the twins joined the team, and during half that time, they've been watching their backs for the members of their former organization.

"Tia, Tina, again, you don't have to worry about that anymore, it's been settled by Rigrit ages ago."

However, this didn't ease the twins that much, and seeing this, Lakyus gave a small frown. It meant that they still didn't trust her completely.

"Oi, I heard there are vampiric attacks in E-rantel, is that why we're going?" Gagaran asked, switching the conversation up.

"Vampiric attacks, huh? I heard that the vampire only attacks women, and the guild there is having a rough time finding him. Having us deal with the threat will improve our currently low reputation. Amazing, your brain isn't completely made out of muscleGagaran!"

This sarcastic jab utterly failed to affect the female warrior. "So we're dealing with a vampire fetishist. I can't say I'm too happy with the match up."

"Yes, we're going to E-rantel primary to deal with the vampire, but also to collect on potions, they have the best pharmacist after all."

Approving nods came from everyone, and the carriage again descended into a calm silence.

Author's Note: I'm going to take a two week break due to burnout.