By now, all four of them were seated but no one spoke, the three of them having no idea what to say to the young man's tirade against fate. Before any of them could try and get a handle on the conversation, he continued. "And when I say trouble, I don't mean simple trouble like others at my tier not liking me and such. I mean trouble that, by all indications should kill me. I mean, I wasn't even at the first tier yet when I was forced to face and put down a tier-zero mage. But that was just the beginning, I'd only just broken into the first tier for barely a month when an abyssal monster broke through a convergence and came after me looking to kill me," he claimed. The three of them shared a glance as the young man spoke of a monster the size of a building with the aspect of madness chasing after him through the skies. There was a clear look of amusement on Kastia's face, clearly not believing a thing they were being told. Esar, however, had a dark look on his face, clearly feeling t

Ozen couldn't remember the last time someone weaker than him had dared threaten him. It was so unexpected that a smile of amusement crossed his lips. The fact that this young man was able to withstand the combined aura of the three of them was impressive, no doubt. Some item on him was probably shielding him from the worst of it. But to think that he could pose a real threat to someone two whole tiers above himself was the very definition of delusion. And that's even before one considered the fact that there were two fifth-tier mages present. "You overestimate Kaza's value. Even a thousand of him wouldn't have been worth anything on that list. But what if I want everything? How exactly do you plan to stop me, Roka," Ozen asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.Ozen could almost respect the balls on the kid as the smile finally faded from his lips and the young man glared at him. Sure, he had every intention of killing him after this was over to avoid future troubles. Still, he

All through this meeting Greg had all but ignored both the woman and Esar's presence. From Olivia's investigations, Greg had known of Esar, the fourth-tier mage who served as the head of the black tongue gang under Ozen. While Ozen was the true leader of the gang, he also maintained some distance from it to maintain an image of being a clean member of high society, not linked to a lowborn criminal gang. Esar was the one who still stayed in the slums and managed the gang's day-to-day running. That he had come alongside Ozen wasn't completely unexpected, despite Greg only having one seat prepared for a potential guest. His initial plan had been to force Esar to remain standing. Given that Ozen was the one he'd wronged, Greg was under no obligation to speak to anyone but him. The man would have been powerless to force the issue lest he be seen to be trying to get the same treatment as Ozen, who was not only his boss but a mage of a higher rank. It would have been a subtle show of force t

From the corner of his eyes, Greg could see the dark scowl that formed on Ozen's face. He'd already come out and said that he was hoping to see how Greg planned to keep the scales from Kastia, probably thinking that Greg would want to hold on to everything the necromancer didn't pick. Greg, however, was more interested in leaving Telako safely than he was in holding on to a few tier-five items that he had no use for. "A hundred platinum coins. I can have them brought over before the end of the day," the scowl was gone and a radiant smile was on the woman's face as if she'd seen a long-lost brother. Greg, however, wasn't fooled. These people didn't view him as an equal. They had been born and raised in a world that told them strength made them a class above those weaker than them. It wasn't a question of whether she had low-balled him, but by how much. "Olivia, what is the value of the ouroboros scales in terms of platinum coins?" Greg asked out loud. Even if he had wanted to, hi

Olivia once told Greg that the dungeons weren't just games, they were meant to equip him with the combat skills, quick thinking, and decision-making abilities that would allow him to navigate real-world situations deftly. And while Greg had understood her words conceptually, never had he been more keenly aware of their truth than in the present moment as his carriage pulled up to the large castle. A DINNER PARTY. That was the title of the first dungeon Greg delved. It required him to find a way to get an invitation to and consequently attend a party thrown by the nobles of a fictional city, Torrin. The dungeon, however, seems to have spilled out into real life as Greg was now about to attend a dinner party thrown by the nobles of the city of Telako. Even though she looked like she wanted to kill Greg as slowly and painfully as possible when they last saw each other, Kastia must have badly wanted the ouroboros scales. Barely an hour after she had departed, workers had begun to arrive