Chapter 9: CH. 9 | Another Way to Leveling Up

"Huh?" Yasa said, startled, then turned to look at Michelle, "You didn’t tell him?"

Michelle gave a faint smile, then turned her face toward Theo, "I forgot. Honestly, I didn’t want to tell him because I was worried it would make things feel awkward between you two."

Yasa fell quiet for a moment, then looked back at Theo standing in front of them, "I take it you had no idea who she really is, huh?"

Theo shook his head as Yasa pointed at Michelle. Michelle’s only response was to raise her hand and give Yasa’s shoulder a light pat.

The blonde woman reacted for a brief moment, then let out a sigh, seeming to have made up her mind about what to say.

"She’s nothing special, not compared to me anyway, she’s just an ordinary sister," Yasa said.

"Let’s drop this," Michelle said, walking over to Theo, "You might not have gotten a mission today, but you can go hunt on your own and rack up EXP through grinding. The guild just makes it easier to level up, that’s all."

"At the end of the day, it’s your own ability that decides whether you grow or not, not the guild."

Theo froze for a second. He’d assumed the only way to earn exp and level up was through the guild. Turns out he was completely wrong about that.

The guild did offer missions, with rewards like money, exp, and items. But if the situation didn’t allow for it, Michelle was telling him he could just hunt on his own instead.

No guild guidance, no missions, and of course no party. To Theo, that was still enough, as long as he had some way to keep leveling up.

"Do you understand, Theo?" Michelle asked.

"I understand, thank you, Michelle."

"Good, let’s head back!"

Theo walked with them, leaving the city guild behind. Yasa and Michelle walked ahead, chatting with each other, occasionally pulling Theo into the conversation too.

The young man had plenty of questions, especially about hunting alone and where he should go to do it. Yasa turned and pulled a rolled up map out of her inventory, handing it over to Theo.

"You can keep that map. It shows the dangerous zones and the safe ones, along with their danger levels," Yasa answered.

"Given where you’re at right now, you should stick to hunting in level 1 danger zones, the monsters there are weak, and it’s rare to run into anything strong," Michelle explained.

"But always avoid hunting at night, monster strength can double after dark. That could get you seriously hurt, you know."

Theo walked while unrolling the full map of Aluric City, scanning from the safe zones inside the city to the dangerous areas scattered outside its walls, mostly found across the grasslands and forests beyond.

There are three level 1 danger zones, and the closest one to where I am now is just outside the west gate.

Still, I can’t head out right now. It’s getting close to nightfall, so I should follow Yasa’s advice.

They kept walking together through the city streets until they reached Yasa’s apartment building.

Theo’s steps froze when he spotted three horse drawn carriages parked in front of the building, white flags bearing a lion and two crossed swords fluttering at the top of the carriage poles.

A lion and sword flag? I feel like I’ve seen that in a history book before.

Right as Theo was about to ask about it, he paused, noticing that both Yasa and Michelle wore the exact same expression, sharp and dead serious.

The three of them climbed the stairs up to the floor of Yasa’s apartment. Theo’s shock grew when he saw two soldiers in heavy armor standing guard in front of the door, clearly stationed there for something important.

"Lady Archmage Yasa. The Third Prince has been waiting for you," one of the soldiers said.

Yasa let out a short breath, then turned to Michelle and gave a nod. Michelle nodded back, as if she already understood exactly what was happening.

"Theo?" Michelle called, turning to him, "We haven’t sorted out dinner yet. Could you go to the market and pick up some groceries?"

Theo stood there for a moment, still puzzled over the strangeness of the situation, then listened to what Michelle had asked. She handed him a small pouch of money.

The young man said his goodbyes and headed off, leaving the apartment building behind. Everything about this felt off to him, if they’d wanted to go shopping, they could have just done it together earlier.

The way Michelle and Yasa had reacted to the carriages was strange too, especially since they’d both been so relaxed and easygoing up until that point.

Theo really had no idea what was going on, but he just hoped nothing bad was happening. It seemed like the visitors had come to see Yasa, someone he’d only just found out was an Archmage.

He found the market close to the city center. Theo wasn’t sure exactly what to buy, since Michelle hadn’t given him any specifics about what tonight’s dinner would actually be.

Given that uncertainty, he decided to just pick up common ingredients, things like seasonings, vegetables, and meat.

He spent a full two hours at the market, the crowd of shoppers being a big part of the reason why. Still, he was glad to finally finish, even though by the time he stepped outside, night had already fallen.

Theo made his way back to Yasa’s apartment. In front of the building, the carriages were already gone, apparently having left the city already.

When the door to Yasa’s apartment opened, Theo stepped inside and found Yasa and Michelle sitting on the sofa, sipping beer from their glasses.

"Theo?" Michelle greeted him, smiling.

Theo came in carrying a basket full of groceries. Yasa got up to look through it and smiled at what she found.

"You really know how to pick good ingredients," Yasa said.

"I grew up in an orphanage," Theo said, washing his hands, "Of course I know exactly what good quality food looks like."

"Really? Does that mean you can cook too?" Yasa asked.

Theo paused for a moment, then turned to look at Yasa, "Yeah."

"Awesome," Yasa said, her face lighting up with excitement, "I want to try your cooking tonight."

"You want some too, right?" Yasa asked, turning to Michelle.

Michelle smiled, took a sip of her beer, and looked over at Theo. She mentioned it had been so long since she’d had his cooking that she’d nearly forgotten what it tasted like.

Theo let out a short breath, then carried the basket of groceries into the kitchen. He really could cook, but back at the orphanage, there had never been much variety in ingredients, so his range of dishes had always been limited.

He figured he’d probably end up putting a few new twists on some old recipes he used to make. Still, what put Theo at ease was how the two of them were acting.

At first, he’d assumed things would turn serious and tense, right after the Third Prince had come to see Yasa.

But tonight, both of them were back to acting completely normal, as if nothing had ever happened at all.

Maybe the reason the Third Prince had shown up was simply because he was a friend of Yasa’s, friends could drop by whenever they pleased, and leave whenever they wanted too.

He cooked everything in a wok, adding seasoning as he went, filling the whole apartment with a rich, savory aroma.

It didn’t take long before Theo came out carrying two plates of stir fried meat and vegetables. The smell was so inviting that Yasa and Michelle both looked eager to dig in.

Theo did the same for himself, and the three of them sat down together to eat at the table. Theo used the moment to finally ask about the Third Prince from earlier.

"They mentioned a Third Prince, did something happen?" Theo asked.

"The Third Prince is a friend of Yasa’s from the academy. He came by because he happened to have some business in the city," Michelle answered.

"I never would’ve guessed that holding the title of Archmage could get you friends among royalty," Theo said.

"That’s the perk of being strong, you earn respect and recognition, and plenty of people want to look up to you and be your friend," Yasa answered.

Theo smiled and kept enjoying his dinner until his plate was completely clean. He carried it to the kitchen and washed it in the sink.

"So? Are you comfortable staying at my place?" Yasa asked.

"It’s a lot better than the orphanage, I like it here," Theo answered.

"About the academy... could I even get in with my classless status?" Theo asked, the thought coming to him after learning Yasa and the Third Prince had known each other from there.

"That’d be tough," Michelle said, "They’re incredibly selective, even people with a class have a hard time getting in."

"But there’s another way. Have you forgotten, Michelle?" Yasa asked.

Theo finished up the dishes and walked over to join them. He noticed Michelle looked like she was thinking hard, while Yasa was trying to jog her memory.

"Are you thinking of—"

"Right, I know exactly what you’re thinking," Yasa said, cutting her off.

"What is it?" Theo asked.

Yasa turned to face him, meeting his eyes fully, "If you manage to reach platinum adventurer status, you can get into the academy through a guild recommendation."

The young man took that in, then let out a small laugh once it sank in, "Forget it! I’m barely a rookie, and classless on top of that, it’d take me a lifetime just to reach platinum status."