“Hey.”

  “Hey!”

  A cold, chubby finger jabbed me in the eye.

  “Do you mind?” I asked, jolting out of bed.

  Some random white-haired boy stood next to me, scowling and picking his teeth. “What took you so long?“

  I squinted. “And who are you supposed to be?”

  “Read the room, stupid.” He pointed at my countertop, which was now covered in dirt and shattered pottery.

  No.

  I lunged out of bed, reaching for the shattered pot.

  “I’m Sharon, dimwitted mortal,” the boy sighed. “Anyway, thanks for fixing the fairy heart.”

  “Oh,” I blinked. “You have the seed?”

  “Yeah,” he smirked, tapping the right side of his chest.

  “So when you said it was a fairy heart—”

  “I mean it’s literally a fairy’s heart,” Sharon said, cutting me off as he plopped onto a nearby stand. “If a fairy loses their heart, their body decomposes, but the fairy itself cannot actually die. We’re immortal. Except if our heart is broken. Then we kinda fade out of existence.”

  “And you’re…physical now?”

  I patted his chubby face.

  “Don’t you know anything about personal space?” Sharon grunted.

  “Just curious.”

  “Creepy mortal,” he muttered. “Anyway, I’m hungry.”

  “I don’t have any exp,” I admitted, standing up. “I might have something in the fridge.”

  “No.” Sharon huffed. “I need Exp, or my growth rate will stunt. I just grew back my entire body.”

  I finally registered that the boy was shirtless, wearing only black jeans.

  “Are those mine?”

  “Food. Now.” His stomach growled. “Please.”

  Thankfully, we had some purple and turquoise ham in the fridge.

  “This food looks radioactive,” Sharon stated. “Can’t you buy some Exp for me?”

  “Not anytime soon,” I chuckled. “I’m broke. Don’t know if I told you, but getting you out of that orb set me back about a billion qualms. I’ll be paying off that debt for the next thousand years.”

  Sharon startled. “They found out? And you’re still alive!?” His gaze flickered to the bands on my wrist and ankles. “I see.”

  “Actually, stealing you made a favorable impression,” I began, sitting in the chair beside him. “Any clue why?”

  He shrugged. “How should I know? Mortals are weird.”

  “What were they even doing with you, Sharon?” I asked. “Your powers are wasted reading mental energy.”

  “You know how humans are,” he groaned. “I’m just so fabulously powerful they couldn’t resist capturing me, only to discover our actual use is quite…limited…without a pact.”

  He scoffed. “I’m not giving you any powers, by the way.”

  “Keep them,” I smirked back. “I’m immortal.”

  “Sure you are.”

  “Speaking of which, what limits would those powers have?” I asked. “You wouldn’t have the power to send someone back in time, would you?”

  Sharon actually laughed. “Do you have any idea how much energy that’d take?”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say,” I said, standing. “Anyway, don’t do anything that’d get the guards in my room. I have some sort of meeting today, so I probably won’t be home for lunch.”

  Sharon shrugged. “If you can’t buy anything, I’ll find some real food on my own.”

  I frowned. “By finding food, you mean you’ll root around the cupboards for something that looks good, inevitably trashing the apartment?”

  “I’ll root around your neighbor’s cupboards too,” Sharon said.

  “Fine, I’ll get you something to eat.”

  I cracked eggs and chopped vegetables for Sharon, slipping my own food on a separate plate, which I held in my mouth while using the other hand to stuff my face and a foot to wash the dishes.

  Someone knocked on the door, so I balanced on a knee, using my remaining foot to turn the handle and pull the door open.

  “GAH!” Ardenidi shouted, flinching back, clenching a spear in each hand.

  I spat the plate into the air, catching it with my broom and rolling the ceramic along its side to the sink. “What are you doing here?”

  “Checking in with my student,” she stated.

  “Past student.”

  She frowned. “Whatever. I’m just here to ensure you don’t get some creep in your contract group. Speaking of creeps, who’s the freak behind you?“

  “Me?” Sharon bristled. “You should’ve seen the witchcraft he was doing a moment ago.”

  “Cleaning with one arm and eating with the other,” Ardenidi guessed. “Or were you using your feet too? I thought you broke your hand.”

  I wiggled my healed joints. “Good sleep works wonders. Plus, I think the beds are enchanted.”

  “You’re both freaks,” Ardenidi grunted. “But who’s the new guy? He looks like a shaggy vampire.” She smirked.

  I glanced over my shoulder.

  Sharon did have a rather pale complexion, only intensified by his white hair and neon eyes and sharkish teeth.

  Why did a fairy have sharkish teeth?

  “He’s a friend,” I stated.

  “Do you have friends?” Ardenidi scoffed. “Hey, what does he pay you?”

  “Breakfast,” Sharon stated.

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  “I knew you two’d get along!” I smiled, patting both of them on the shoulder. “Come’on Ardenidi, we’ve got to get to the meeting thing.”

  “We have time,” she said. “Are you seriously going to leave the kid alone?”

  “I’m older than you, mortal woman,” Sharon grumbled.

  Ardenidi leaned close to me, whispering. “Hey. Did he just call me mortal?”

  Sharon finished the eggs, flicking the lettuce on the floor, before shuffling to the choice for a nap.

  Ardenidi raised an eyebrow. “You’re fine with this?”

  “He’s my roommate,” I stated. “And a friend, though more by force of circumstance than willful design.”

  “You’ve got weird friends.”

  Ardenidi thought for a moment. “For the record, I’m a rival.”

  I closed the door and sprinted down the hall, forcing her to follow behind at a breakneck pace.

  We arrived at the meeting grounds—an open field of enchanted rock—alongside no less than forty other players and with a massive screen casting a shadow over everyone.

  Headmaster Xoiae and Master Tentazui stood on a raised platform, addressing the crowd with mana to carry their voice.

  After explaining what we’d be doing, they turned the screen on, displaying eight groups, one for each master to manage and assign contracts to.

  In addition, each group had a quota, increasing as their group became more powerful. If you failed contracts, you’d be forced to take more in order to meet that quota.

  By working contracts, the parties become stronger, and their debt gets paid off.

  Ardenidi frowned, staring at my group.

  Group one.

  “Hey. You know anybody?”

  “Only one. Sip,” I said. “He likes money a lot, and he’s smart enough, but he’s clearly not much of a fighter. As for the other three…”

  Toya, Catania, and Soise.

  “I’ve never even heard of them,” I sighed.

  Oh well.

  This was supposed to be a fresh start. Hopefully these three were nice. Ardenidi figured I’d be alright, shoving me toward my pod before the masters made her leave.

  Our group advisor, Master Jujud, clapped her hands, beaming with delight.

  “Alright! Please, please! Take a seat and introduce yourself!”

  “We’re not in kindergarten,” a large woman wearing plate armor said.

  Master Jujud shoved her down, no longer smiling.

  “Sit.”

  We sat.

  Master Jujud pointed at the woman in full plate armor, except for the helmet, which she held in her hand. “You go first.”

  The woman nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. She had silvery gray hair, despite looking to be in her twenties, like most all the other players. “I’m Catania. Are we…supposed to say something else?”

  The man in silk robes spoke first. “Just say your name, what you can do, and what you want to do.”

  A green eyed girl in plain clothes nodded beside him. “And tell us why you picked your name!”

  Catania frowned. “Why?”

  “It sounds interesting!” The other girl said. “You can tell a lot about a person from their name.”

  “Well…I dunno,” Catania grumbled. “It sounded pretty. I had to change it around a bunch because the game wouldn’t let me have the same name as somebody else.” She glanced at the man in silk. “I’m only good at hitting things and getting hit, I guess. So maybe I could be a tank or something?”

  Master Jujud clapped her hands. “Good! Good! And Toya, how about you?”

  The man in silk robes clasped his hands. “My name is Toya. I chose this name because the consonants felt familiar. Once I remember my actual name, I’ll change it. My power is the manipulation of fine threading using tuned mana control.”

  He created a thread, like a web, tying it like a bandana around his head, so his long black hair wouldn’t fall into his face. “Master Jujud taught me to use it. Before that, I had a simpleton’s attack style. Catania, I would recommend learning a unique fighting technique or two.”

  Catania scoffed. “Keep waving your strings around. I’m good at punching and that’s that.”

  “Not everyone is as good with mana as you are, Toya,” the other girl said, puffing up and placing a hand on Catania’s shoulder. “Besides, all parties need at least one brute force specialist.”

  Catania smiled. “Thank you.”

  Master Jujud nodded. “Without someone willing to take hits, the other members of the party cannot use their unique abilities in the first place. In addition, a brutalist, or a brute force tank is far better at handling ambushes than fragile mages or healers. Speaking of which…”

  The other girl beamed. “I’m Soise. I picked the name in honor of my best friend! I’m a healer, so I help other people stay alive.”

  The mood noticeably darkened.

  Toya gave her a subtle nod. “What happened?”

  “It was a Core, I think.” Soise shrugged. “She went out and never came back, so I’m making sure that won’t happen again.”

  She pointed to me. “So…who are you?”

  “I’m Grind,” I said. “I chose the name since…I will be grinding, to get stronger. I have the ability to harvest powers from strong enemies, and I have a magical field where I channel explosives into blasts.”

  “Are you strong?” Toya asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. ”

  “That’s what I thought.” Toya clasped his hands. “I know the two girls beside me, and I know they received the highest possible score for the exam, along with myself. Judging from the way you’re handling ambient mana, I can assume you’re half-decent too. So, if this is a team of the best of the best…” He pointed at Sip. “What’s that idiot doing here?”

  “I’m hurt!” Sip said, clutching his chest. “Grind, can you believe this? Doesn’t he know I passed the test with flying colors?”

  Toya glowered. “You bribed fifteen other players into carrying you to the Core, then bringing its crystal to you. That absolutely does not count”

  Sip beamed, rustling his layers of robes. “It was merely an extension of my abilities.”

  He turned at the healer, Soise. “My name is Sip because that was the first thing I did. I spawned next to a lake and drank some water. I am…an accountant.”

  Catania glowered alongside Toya. “That’s not a role in a party.”

  “Sure it is!” Sip protested. “You’ve already got a tank, a healer, and two specialists! That’s more than enough to beat any dungeon! But once you go through a dungeon, how do you make the most out of the money you gain?”

  He leaned forward. “You know all that money the game gives in its chests? The money that’s become useless due to the union’s digital system? Or the loot too damaged to be of use? Or the mana signatures within the dungeon which prevent it from reaching its proper value?”

  Sip rubbed his hands together, cackling all the while. “That, my dear, requires—no—demands an accountant's special abilities.”

  Catania looked more confused than upset. “uhm…I guess that’s fine. We split the money, right?”

  He nodded. “Fifty-fifty.”

  “Well that doesn’t sound too bad.” She admitted.

  Toya cleared his throat. “He means fifty for him, and fifty for the rest of us.”

  “No!” Sip snapped. “I mean fifty for me and also fifty for investments. I’ll be taking all of it into my control for the sake of the team. Obviously.”

  “Master, please do something,” Toya pleaded. “He can’t seriously be allowed in our group”

  Master Jujud shrugged. “Parties need all sorts of people. But don’t worry. If we suspect that he’s trying to scam his own teammates, we’ll get rid of him.”

  Sip paused. “Get rid—”

  “Oh we’ll probably kill or exile you,” Master Jujud said. “A party is a sacred thing, and we can’t have any traitors. So you’ll be on your best behavior, won’t you?”

  He sat up a little straighter. “Yes ma’am.”

  “Well then!” Jujud laughed, standing up. “This marks the creation of the first grade party of the dragon!”

  “Who decided we’re the party of the dragon?” I asked.

  “It’s a yearly thing,” Toya said. “Chinese calendar. Of course, they make up a new naming system every few months. ”

  Catania stood. “What’s our first contract?”

  “Nope,” Master Jujud said.

  “No?”

  “Before that, I need to make sure you can work as a team, sillies,” Jujud chuckled.

  Catania nodded slowly, shooting a glance at Sip. “Fair. And how do you figure that out?”

  “In combat.” Jujud rose to her feet. “You will all fight me, right now. When any of you manage to touch me, I will consider your group ‘passed.’”

  Before the others could stand, a deafening wave of mana tore through the field, kicking loose stones into the air, scattering the other students.

  Our fight had started.

  // {Notice} //

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