Gathered around a round table were his new party members, all waiting for him to take a seat so that they could begin the introductions. Kayden pulled out a chair for himself as his eyes casually wandered all over the room.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Bringing you to the Adventurer's Guild will probably bring more trouble, what with your conflict and all, so I brought you to this random inn I found," Ezekiel explained briefly. "Please sit. We'll be setting off pretty soon."
Kayden lowered himself onto his seat while scanning the faces of the people before him. There was Ezekiel, who he could now consider a comrade-in-arms, and the healer girl, who he had just came down together with. There were also two other members that he was less familiar with.
He looked at the man who had seaweed-like hair and wore a dark blue shirt with the buttons undone and collar raised. The man had a grin on his face that could be mistaken for either confidence or haughtiness. Seeing that this man was going to be the party leader, he sincerely hoped it was the former.
Sitting closely next to the priest was the final member of the party, and she looked like your stereotypical mage. Large brown wizard hat resting on a head with long pink hair and an expression that seemed to glare at everyone present. Only when looking at or conversing with the healer did her eyes soften.
"Alright then, let's get the introductions over with. I'll start," The party leader began. "I'm Louis, the greatest adventurer to ever sail the oceans! You already know this, but I'm the party leader, and I serve as the tank, or main melee combatant, in this party.
"Now, you may have already heard of me, but over at the Southern Ocean, I'm known as the greatest pira—sailor that ever lived, the great Captain Tianos!"
"I didn't miss that…" Kayden muttered under his breath.
Louis ran a hand through his dark green hair as he continued with his self praises. "I have a great blessing that gives me great power! I have great control over water, the ability to see things at long distances, and—get this—I can control lesser sea creatures!"
It sounded impressive at first, but the more Kayden listened, the worst it got. His face darkened as he thought of the implications.
'Hold on, control over water and sea creatures? Wouldn't that make you nearly useless on land? Your only redeeming ability is the ability to see long distances, but doesn't Ezekiel already do that but better?'
He didn't like what he was hearing but decided to push further before jumping to any conclusions.
"Uh, may I know of your other abilities? Like fighting skills or whatnot?"
"Ah, yes. I'm the greatest at navigation and steering a ship! I'm also a very great leader, as I commanded over twenty crew members back where I'm from. Also! I can fight! It's not with me right now, but I wield an enchanted greatsword!"
"Enchanted? That's impressive." Kayden found himself nodding his head. Enchanted items are always very expensive and hard to find, and Kayden himself did not have a single one. As far as he knew, his master didn't have any either, but with her dimensional magic, who knew what kind of items she had kept hidden behind those portals?
"So, what can it do?"
"It can absorb liquids and fire them as a ranged projectile!"
His nodding came to an abrupt stop. 'Liquids?' He looked over at the other party members, and the two girls avoided looking him in the eye. Only Ezekiel remained unfazed as he started introducing himself.
"Alright, we'll introduce ourselves in a clockwise direction then. Let me introduce myself once more, I'm Ezekiel Schwartz. I'm skilled with a bow and my abilities are clairvoyance, which allows me to see things from tricky angles or far away, and I can also enchant objects to make them explode. I'll leave it to you to judge how skilled I am."
"Nice to meet you, Azekeil Shordz." Kayden replied. The ranger didn't tell him anything that he didn't already know, and he was fully satisfied with having him being in the party. "I look forward to exploring the dungeon with you."
"… You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
The next person in line was the mage, and she simply waved her hand.
"Okay, ~ Let's not waste any time. I'm Alice, a fire mage. That's all~"
She put her hand down.
'… Short and sweet, I suppose. Welp, fire mages are fire mages. They make good ranged attackers so there shouldn't be a problem there.'
Kayden looked over at the last member that had to introduce herself. The girl wrung her hands nervously and stood up before performing a full ninety-degree bow.
"M-my name is Cathy! Cathy Black!" She stuttered, "Sorry, I'm not very good at these kinds of introductions…"
Alice placed her hand on her back, which was her attempt at calming her down. Kayden took note of their close relationship.
"Thank you, Alice… Um, my abilities are very complicated to explain… Here."
All of a sudden, a voice rang in his head.
"Can you hear me?"
'Crap. Is the System acting all weird again? Yes I can hear you! But I can't say that out loud!'
"Can you hear me? Don't panic! This is one of my abilities, telepathy."
Kayden paused. That hadn't been the System. Indeed, the voice sounded much younger, very similar to the girl who was introducing herself, Cathy.
'This… this is…'
He was stunned. A voice had penetrated his mind, and it was the healer's voice. The way it echoed in his head in perfect clarity was very similar to how the System did it, and Kayden came up with a crazy theory.
'Telepathy, huh? What if this is how the System communicates with me? But wouldn't telepathy allow me to communicate without speaking aloud?'
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
'Ah, yes. Yes I can.'
He waited for a reply, and it did come, but it wasn't what he expected.
"Hellooo? Please respond… I'm not sure if this ability works unless you give me a response…"
Confusion spread across Kayden's face. 'But I just did?' He looked at Cathy, who had a similar confused look on her face.
"Idiot! You have to respond aloud! Cathy's telepathic abilities are only one-way for now." Alice's sharp tongue snapped him out of his confusion. Hold on, did she just insult his intelligence?
Cathy put her hands to her mouth and blushed as her voice came out muffled. "S-sorry, I-I forgot to tell you…"
Louis, the party leader who had remained silent all this while, burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha, you aren't the only one that fell for this trick. Azkrill here did the same too," He clapped the ranger on his back, who gave an irritated look in return. "As for me, I never fell for it!"
Kayden fell into deep thought. 'This is interesting. Her telepathy is like a tier 1 spell, not very complicated. I assume the higher tiers of telepathy-based spells would allow for two-way communication. If that is how it works, I have to strengthen the System somehow…'
He was giving his all to solve this conundrum. After all, if he had to constantly talk aloud to communicate with the System, the people around him would see him as a lunatic. Wait, they already did!
Recalling what the System had just mentioned previously when he had just awoken, Kayden found a possible solution.
'The System said that new features will unlock themselves if I reach certain levels? Then, there can only be one answer! To level up!'
"Hehehe. This problem will be solved once and for all…"
"U-uh, Mr. Rogue?"
"Ahem. Right. I was able to hear you."
He really needed to fix his habit of speaking aloud. Maybe he was crazy after all.
"Great! I have a lot of other abilities too, so I think it's best if I just fill you in later."
"Alright then… Cathy?" He asked to confirm he got the name right.
"Yup!"
Looking away from her smiling face, he finally began his own introduction. His hands moved to cover up his face and his eyes peeked through the crack between his fingers. Posing dramatically, he said in a voice equally as confident as Louis' during his introduction.
"My name is Kayden! No last name! And I'll be the future God of Thieves! Hope we get along!"
"Haha! Very nice introduction!!! But not as good as mine." Louis applauded, but Kayden wasn't sure if it was for him or Louis himself.
He looked over at the other three members and discovered that neither Ezekiel nor Alice was amused, while Cathy only gave an awkward smile. Kayden decided to drop his act.
'I suppose one Louis is already enough for the party…'
Immediately dropping his stupid act, he continued introducing himself normally.
"Uh… as you already know, I'm a rogue. I can hide, pick locks, disarm traps, and all that good stuff. My abilities are illusion magic and recently, transformation magic too."
"…Illusion and Transformation magic? You have dual blessings? So you're one of those geniuses!" Alice stood up and yelped in an unnaturally high voice. Her reaction was strangely over the top.
"Nah." Kayden immediately denied it. "It came as a package. I only have one blessing."
"How are you sure?"
"The Syst—Uhh, just trust me." He had to correct himself. The System was something he would not reveal, lest it made him a target for others, especially if that Matou kid knew. He had a feeling that the kid would hunt him down to the ends of Eden.
"Hmph! That would make the blessing pretty powerful if it really is as you said. Regardless, you're still a genius. How old are you?"
"… Seventeen."
"You're that old and you haven't joined any academies? No scouters or recruiters? Nothing?"
"Scouters? Nah, none of that sort." Kayden didn't recall anybody trying to recruit him into schools or the army or anything. He assumed that he had his master to thank for that. How much better can you do than an A-ranked adventurer anyway? "Anyway, I'm not old! How old are you?"
"You're not supposed to ask a lady for her age. But I'm sixteen."
"Fifteen?" Since the wide brim of her hat had always shaded her face, Kayden never got a good look at her features. Now that he was paying his full attention, he noticed that she indeed appeared quite young, even for her age, which was supposed to be the threshold for adulthood. That explains all the whining!
"Yeah! Just so you know, I got a recommendation letter from the famous Solus Academy! I'm a great genius myself!"
"Solus Academy?" The name sounded familiar to Kayden, but he couldn't put a pin on it. Was getting a recommendation letter from there that impressive?
"You don't know what's the Solus Academy? Have you been living in a cave?"
"Psst, Kayden!" The System whispered to him, though it was completely unnecessary. They couldn't hear the voice anyway. "That's the academy that Dragonsteel brat's going to. I've heard that it's pretty much the best academy on the Central Continent.
"Also, don't reply aloud! I'm warning you! If you still reply to me, it would be your fault!" The System added.
"Um… I've heard of the Solus Academy. The city lord's son himself is going there."
"Oh," Alice sat down and waved her hand. "I've heard about it. They call him an unparalleled genius or something, but I'm sure it's just an exaggerated rumor spread by his father. Who wouldn't call their son the best of the best? I would like to see how he would fare with my flames."
Kayden's eyes twitched as he began sweating nervously.
'Oh boy, you really don't want to find out. I had more trouble with him than even Brandon! And he's a B-ranked adventurer. Doesn't that make him nearly an A rank?'
He saw that Alice had her eyes closed as she described how she would beat Matou one-sidedly. Kayden decided to leave her to indulge in her own fantasies and turned to Cathy.
"I've noticed that both of you are quite close. Are you perhaps joining Solus Academy too?"
She grew flustered at the mention of their relationship but quickly calmed herself before proceeding to explain.
"I'll be trying to enter, but I'll have to pass through the entrance exams first… I-I don't have a letter like Alice does…"
Upon hearing her name, Alice returned to reality and immediately turned around to assure her.
"Cathy, you'll definitely pass! After all, you're a genius too!"
"Aw... T-thanks…"
Kayden looked over at the two male members to see their reactions to the girl's actions. Party dynamics were important, and he had to take notes. Louis looked bored, probably because the topic wasn't about him, while Ezekiel had a calm and collected look.
'Not much I can glean from him…'
He stared off into nothing and fell into deep thought once more. Since magic academies could make him stronger, perhaps he should give it a shot. To achieve his goal of becoming the God of Thieves, he needed all the power and skills he could get.
'Solus Academy, huh?'