After a quick shower, a breakfast consisting of a few pieces of bread with nothing on them, and water, Luke raced down the stairs, the worst of his soreness washed away by healing. Anticipating physical activity in his near future, he'd donned some new workout clothes. Unable to stop himself, each item was enchanted, and since he was in a hurry:

  White T-shirt of Speed.

  Black Athletic Shorts of Speed.

  Black Sock of Speed.

  Gray Boxer Shorts of Speed.

  Worn Sneakers of Speed.

  "I am the speed!" Luke shouted, testing the items by running down the street. But, to his dismay, he found that the effects didn't stack. A little less excited, he stopped. Running to headquarters would have been the quickest route, but he didn't want to arrive covered in sweat, so he rented an e-bike and hopped on. As he went, he extended several threads of mana, pushing himself to extend them. It was a slow process, making them reach farther, but little by little, Luke was making progress. If he just kept it up, he'd reach and even surpass Relian.

  As the small electric motor pushed him toward the destination, Luke pondered the profession. Others wouldn't see the pattern formed when using the Enchant Item skill. Of this, he was pretty sure. It was just like watching spells being cast through Weavesense, the skill that had now been baked into Weaver's Perception. Seeing that pattern meant he might also manipulate it. During his previous enchantment session, he'd attempted something to that effect, but the pattern unraveled the moment he tried changing it. Still, though, he thought there was a possibility there. More study was needed.

  His old profession, Seeker, had worked in a different way in the interface. The profession had been there, as well as the skills and their descriptions, but that was it. The skills themselves were all passive and operated like a set of hunches and premonitions, almost. This new profession differed, and in just the ways he'd hoped. It was clear what the one skill did, and they even provided a list of different enchantments. One other huge difference was that this profession came with its own little experience bar. Every time Luke enchanted an item, it filled a little. Another hour of work or so would see him reach level 2. Very much interested in what leveling up might lead to, he'd decided to work on the profession later that night, once he was back home with Smudge. The little creature had stayed back home, munching on another monster core.

  Before he'd be back home and ready to experiment more with this new, almost hobby-feeling profession, though, Luke had a whole day of work to get through. Being more or less forced to join Integrated Solutions Group didn't sit well with him, but as of now, there was little in the way of good alternatives. So, he'd smile and dance for a while, then evaluate how to continue. Perhaps he might even find that it wasn't so bad, even if the name of the guild left a lot to be desired, and even the way it was structured made it feel like he'd joined the corporate world.

  Looking down at himself as he entered the large building, Luke shook his head. "Maybe I should've worn a suit."

  The others waited in the lobby. Priyah wore something that would've been appropriate for an office: a long, dark-gray, thick skirt and matching jacket, a white blouse beneath it. Her hair was set in a single thick braid, and her feet were forced into a pair of uncomfortable-looking pumps. The horror-movie-looking siblings wore jumpsuits, like the day before, except these were white. Tom stood at the back of the group in blue jeans, work boots, and a black T-shirt.

  Nash, who was first to notice Luke, hadn't changed clothes from the day before. Either that, or he owned more than one of that exact metal print T-shirt.

  Luke hurried his steps toward them. "Sorry, I'm late."

  "Only the frontman in a band gets to be late!" Nash said, raising his voice enough to draw glances from others hurrying back and forth in the lobby. "And I'm the frontman!"

  Laughing, he grabbed Luke's hand and squeezed. "And now The Band is back together!"

  "Have you played in a lot of bands?" Priyah asked Nash.

  Nash gave her a strange look and shook his head. "No, why would you think that?"

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  "No, I. I'm sorry," Priyah began, but Nash laughed again.

  "I'm just messing with you!"

  Tom rolled his eyes. "Are we ready to go, then?"

  "What are we doing?" Luke asked.

  Throwing up metal-horns with both hands, Nash used them to point to the elevators. "We're fighting another team, of course!"

  Priyah turned to him. "What?"

  "Yeah, what?" Luke asked.

  "You wanted to get out of training, so I went to that violin woman to see if there was any way they'd let us just have at it."

  "Viola?" Tom asked.

  "Turns out, they will! All we have to do is beat another party."

  "We will prove that we are ready," Sam said, her voice without intonation.

  Mas nodded.

  "I'm guessing this other party is more experienced?"

  "Yup!" Nash said. "Apparently, they do quite a bit of fighting between different Integrated teams here in the guild."

  Luke wondered about that. More experience in combat was a good thing, and there weren't always dungeons available, but he couldn't help but feel that Alan had something else in mind. Did he see a future where Integrated fought against Integrated and guilds clashed against each other? That would not turn out well for anyone. For now, though, if that was what needed to happen for them to get out of wasting time with low-level training, then that was what Luke would give them.

  "Let's do that, then," Luke said.

  Nash gave him a wink. "They're already waiting for us."

  "Are you sure about this?" Priyah asked. "What if we lose?"

  "Then we train!" Nash said, sounding like he didn't much mind the outcome either way.

  Mateo: "Luke, my friend! Let us fight together again when the next dungeon rears its head!"

  Luke: "Hey Mateo. Like I told you before, I'm with the guild now, so it'll have to be at night."

  Mateo: "We will find glory with the sun setting behind our backs! Also, my wife says hello."

  Luke: "Send her my regards. Talk to you later."

  The Band, as Nash named them, made their way to the elevators and rode down, then farther down, then farther still.

  "How deep does this go?" Tom asked, looking up at the display. It stopped on floor minus seven.

  Once the doors opened, they spilled out into a narrow corridor with windows all along the left-hand side, looking out over a vast chamber where the floor was several floors below them, and the ceiling reached up far above. The big hall was filled with pillars, blocks of stone, slopes, and small buildings, all painted white. Even the floor was white, while the walls were painted a dark, dull gray, almost resembling a cave wall. Upon closer inspection, it was a cave wall.

  "How the hell did they build something like this in the middle of town?" Luke asked.

  "Geomancers," Nash said.

  "Huh?"

  "That's what Violin said." Nash gestured out across the vast space spreading out to their left as they walked toward a staircase leading down. "The guildmaster, Mr. Schmidt, paid a bunch of people to become geomancers, who move stone and stuff around. They built this for him."

  "Viola," Tom corrected, but Nash didn't seem to hear him.

  "We're supposed to go down over here."

  In the distance, Luke caught a movement. He stopped and leaned closer to the window, trying to get a better look. "I think they're fighting already."

  "Warming up," Nash said with a nod. "Good. They're taking us seriously."

  Fire flashed in the middle of the room, covering most of a building, and Priyah gasped and put her hands over her mouth.

  "What are the rules of this, anyway?" Tom asked.

  "Don't know."

  Tom turned to Nash. "You don't know?"

  "Nah, didn't ask," Nash said. "Figure they'll tell us once we're down there."

  As it turned out, Nash was correct. The group made it down the long spiral staircase. With all of them on it, the whole thing swayed a little, and they hurried their steps, hoping to get off before it collapsed. It held, and once they were down, an older man in military fatigues stepped forward to meet them, assuming a stern look on his weathered face as he crossed his arms behind his back.

  Nash waved at him. "Cool mustache."

  The man nodded to Nash in acknowledgement and waited for them to settle down, which didn't take long since no one in The Band, except for Nash, was big on speaking.

  "I am Trevor, and I run The Gauntlet." He turned and gestured to the large area before them. "It is used for combat training, among other things, and in the future we are hoping to put on tournaments for those who wish to test their mettle against other Integrated, individuals and teams both."

  He spoke with a slow but friendly cadence, enunciating each word as if every syllable was worthy of respect. Judging by his bearing, Luke figured he was ex-military or the like.

  "We're here to kick some ass today," Nash said.

  "I'm sure you are," Trevor said, gesturing to a white plastic table next to him and the bracelet-looking items on it. "These are used in determining the outcome of your test today."

  "How do they-" Nash began.

  "Don't ask me how they work," Trevor said, shaking his head. "Some tech-wizard in the guild built them last week. Ask him if you want specifics. All I know is you wear them, and once your health drops below thirty percent, this light here," he pointed to a part of the sleek bracelets, "goes from green to red. That means you're out. If you continue fighting after that, it will zap you."

  Nash nodded, as if liking what he was hearing. "Sweet. Let's get to the ass-kicking!"