When the sun rose in the horizon, I woke up and got ready for breakfast.
But it's strange, living underground.
Not that everyone lives in the guild's headquarters, but Evellyn and Rodrick do, and they asked me to come live with them.
Rodrick gave me the offer when we were eating.
"It's okay if you don't want to." Rodrick squeezed my shoulder when I looked at him with an expression that clearly told him I wasn't sure. "We can fetch a nice apartment downtown for you."
So I decided to give it a try.
I signed the paperwork, that offered me housing, an income of 50.000 credits a month, and what I wanted even more than the money itself.
The right to raid Nests with the main squad of Shadow Guild.
But for me to raid with them, I had to fulfill the only condition added by Rodrick.
"After breakfast, you gotta win against me in a one-on-one."
I thought he was joking, but when I raised my head from the oat meal I was eating and looked at him...
His eyes were as serious as Quintus's when he said he would kill me.
Every. Single. Time.
So I knew Rodrick was really serious.
I just shrugged, knowing I could count on my newly acquired high stats to do the job.
"Okay, old man. But don't blame me, if I hand your ass to you on a plate."
Rodrick smirked, but it was almost a grin.
I knew he didn't have any bad intentions towards me, but was that in his eyes...
Confidence in his capability of wining against me?
As he smirked, he just got up from the table, and left the cantina.
I looked at Evellyn, who just looked back at me, silent, almost chuckling.
"What?" I raised my brow.
"Nothing." She couldn't take it any longer, and let out a chuckle that was more a wholehearted laugh than anything. "It's just that, if you end up getting too cocky, the captain might as well hand 'your ass' over to you."
I widened my eyes to her, because I definitely wasn't expecting that kind of answer from her.
I finished my oat meal silently, thinking of what could make Rodrick so strong.
And when I was done eating, I went to the showers. Evellyn waited for me outside, and after I was clean and dressed, she took me to the training grounds.
Different from the guild headquarters, the training grounds were held above ground, on the top floor of the guild's building.
I looked at the whole floor, filled with gym equipment, and dozens of small arenas all around.
Was that the reason why Quintus never used the training room at home?
I chuckled bu the thought, and Rodrick immediately noticed me.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
"You bet, old man." I greeted him with a fist bump. "But, how're we going to give our all here? Aren't the walls too... Thin?"
"You have good senses, kid, I'll give you that." Rodrick smiled from ear to ear. He seemed to having fun, whatever there was in his head. "But no, we're not gonna fight here. We're gonna fight 'there'."
And having said that, he pointed to the opposite wall of the room.
The wall seemed to be made of glass, but I could feel the intense mana coming from it. It must've been imbued with some high rank mana, so it could probably withstand the blows of a B-rank wielder, to say the least.
But if it was there where I was going to fight Rodrick, the wall probably was built to withstand even S-rank wielder.
In the middle of the wall, there was a heavy metal door, that gave entrance to the true stage where the show would take place.
The whole room was an arena, and it was completely different from a conventional ring, with ropes and all.
The floor was entirely covered by tatami, and as I looked closer, I could see the mana fluctuation on the two metal walls and the two glass ones.
A shiver ran down my spine as I got more and more excited to use my full strength.
It didn't matter if I did it, I knew the arena would withstand it.
"I can see you're pretty excited, kid. How about we get down to business?" Rodrick grinned at me.
But I saw him going towards a pile of protective gears, and getting some.
I raised my brow.
"What?" Rodrick smiled. "I know you're pretty strong, kid. I won't underestimate you, and since I'm giving you this, I'll go full force on you, so if you need some, come get it."
I couldn't help but to accept Rodrick's offer.
He was being nice, but I knew that he really wasn't underestimating me, so I grabbed the headgear, the gloves, and the shin guards.
"I didn't know we were going to spar like boxing, old man."
"Oh, but we won't. However, it would be bad if we really hurt ourselves in the process, right?"
"No going for the kill, then?" I smiled.
"What? I'm not your brother, kid. But if you compare me to him once more, I might as well give you some of your teeth."
Rodrick had a smile on his face, but his eyes gave away that I had stepped on his toes.
I shut my mouth, finished wearing the protective gear, and waited for Rodrick to open the door.
As he did, I could feel the mana flowing from the walls even better.
It was almost as if they were alive, brimming with magic power.
"Quite the job you did in these walls, old man."
"Best technology the money can buy." Rodrick smirked.
As soon as we entered the arena, I felt a sudden change in the air.
There was an overwhelming pressure that wasn't there before.
I looked behind me, and Rodrick was already in his fighting pose, glaring at me like I was some kind of prey to him.
He was silent, only his breathing and the pressure of the mana around him giving signs that he was alive.
I inhaled, exhaled, and started stretching out.
If I was going to win against him, I'd have to use all I had.
Even if I had to run until my legs burst.