Ren and Elara were currently sparring with Cassandra. Even though she didn’t turn into her beast form, she could still face them with ease.

She was already at 4-star, so her original form was already enough to face 1-star awakeners like them.

During their spar, she gave them tips to improve their attacks and defense. She also told them how to make their teamwork better and more deadly.

After sparring for several minutes, they stopped and sat on the stone chairs.

"When are you going to take a mission? I think you two are strong enough to take the H rank quest." Cassandra asked.

Their organization had quests just like an adventurer’s guild in a game. They were divided into nine ranks, just like awakeners.

From the easiest to hardest, they were H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A and S.

The difference from the game was that they needed to give fifteen percent of the reward to the organization.

It was like a tax, and the money would be used to keep everything running.

Normally, new members needed a month or two before they were allowed to take a mission.

But Ren and Elara were different.

They were extraordinary awakeners, so Aria gave them permission immediately.

Of course, they were only allowed to take the H-rank ones because above it was the same as digging their own graves.

Instead of answering immediately, Ren turned to Elara and threw a question at her, "Elara, should we take one?"

"I will let you decide it," Elara replied.

"So, how is it?" Cassandra asked.

"We need to chec-" before Ren had finished his words, Virelia stepped into the private training ground.

"Oh, instructor Cassandra, you are here too?" Virelia was startled when she saw Cassandra because she had previously thought Ren and Elara would be the only ones there.

"I’m their instructor. It’s normal for me to be here." Cassandra’s gaze fell on the food bags in Virelia’s hands. "Are those food and drinks?"

"Yes." Virelia put everything on the stone table. "What did you guys talk about?"

Cassandra took one of the snacks and ate it without thinking twice. "I was just asking when they were going to take a quest."

"Isn’t it too fast?" Virelia responded.

"Not at all!" Cassandra shook her head. "You know how strong they are, right? And leader has already given permission." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Virelia turned to Ren and Elara. "Are you going to take one?"

"We need to check it first. If we find one that suits us, we will take it." He didn’t want to be reckless because the consequences could be fatal.

"I will join you." Virelia had been feeling tired with her job lately, so she wanted to take a break.

Ren was taken aback by her words.

Then, he turned to Cassandra and asked, "Is that allowed?"

"Of course!" Cassandra replied instantly. "You guys are members of the Aether Organization. As long as it’s not higher than your rank, we don’t have any problem with it."

"Sure! You can join us." Ren agreed immediately.

"Great!" Virelia smiled happily. "Alright. Let’s eat first."

"Un." Ren nodded.

After eating, they went straight to the Mission Center.

Actually, they could access available quests through a smartphone. They checked them in person since it felt more satisfying to look at them directly and feel them.

Once they were in front of the board, Ren’s eyes scanned the missions pinned on the wall before stopping on one of them.

’Lightning Thief?’

He read the details.

The poster showed the thief’s picture.

He was a grown man with red hair and brown eyes.

Below his photo, his crimes were listed, such as stealing money, silver, gold, and other valuable things.

He was wanted, dead or alive.

The reward was 1,000 dollars.

’This looks easy.’

The wanted man was only a one-star mage.

He believed they could catch him without a problem.

When Ren was about to ask their opinion, he saw Elara looking at one of the quests intently.

’Monster Subjection?’

After reading it in detail, he understood why she was interested in it.

In short, a large group of monsters attacked a village and killed several people.

The village only had five awakeners, and all of them were 1-star, so they didn’t dare to attack the monster’s nest.

That was why they asked for five powerful awakeners to help them.

’Does it remind her of her village?’

A question flashed through his mind.

At the same time, Virelia moved closer to them. "Let’s take this."

The one she chose was to catch the thugs who had destroyed a restaurant. They were all weak, so she believed they could handle them.

"Hmm? Are you interested in it?" Virelia asked.

Elara came to her senses after hearing her question. "N...no. I...I just want to read it."

Virelia immediately shifted her gaze to Ren.

"This one looks good. Let’s take it," Ren chose to abandon what he had chosen.

"That’s right." Virelia did the same since she could tell that Elara wanted to take the quest so badly. "The price is 1,000 dollars. It’s better than the one I chose."

"Re...really?" Elara’s eyes lit up.

"Yes." Virelia nodded.

"Hmm? Which one are you going to take?" Cassandra approached them.

"This one." Virelia showed the quest to Cassandra.

After reading the request, Cassandra said, "You need five people to take this mission."

"It’s fine. I will take care of it." It was not hard to find two more people with Virelia’s connection.

"Let me ask the leader’s opinion on this." Without waiting for their answer, Cassandra rushed to Aria’s office.

Five minutes later, she returned, but she was not alone.

She was with two teenagers.

The boy had blue hair and black eyes, while the girl had pink hair and silver eyes.

Ren and the others were startled.

Cassandra said she would meet their leader. They had never expected her to return with two teenagers.

"Let me introduce them to you." Cassandra knew they were confused. "He is David Miller, and she is Lily Foster. They were from Loran District and the participants with the highest scores in the test."

She then continued, "They also challenged three magical creatures and managed to kill them. Leader chose them to join you because you are all talented awakeners."

"Hi, I’m Lily!" Lily waved her hand with a bright smile.

"Hello, I’m David." David did the same.

Ren and the others began introducing themselves.

"Now that the requirements are met, when are you going to go to Northvale Village?" Cassandra asked.

"How about tomorrow?" In Ren’s eyes, departing immediately was not wise.

"I agree!"

"Me too."

"I’m fine with it."

"I...I also agree."

One by one, they expressed their agreement.

"Alright. You guys can return now. I have something to discuss with leader." Cassandra immediately left.

"Let’s go back to the private training ground," Virelia said.

"Private training ground?" Lily and David said in surprise.

"Yes. Let’s go." Virelia replied.

A moment later, they arrived at his training ground.

"Wow!" Lily and David opened their mouths in amazement.

The more they explore, the more impressed they become.

The moment they found out it also had a hot spring, their eyes lit up instantly. They had always wanted to soak in a hot spring before, so they almost could not control themselves.

"How did you get this private training ground?" Lily asked curiously.

"This place belongs to him." Virelia pointed her index finger at Ren. "He faced six magical creatures in the test and managed to defeat them, so the organization decided to give him special treatment."

"What?!" Lily and David only fought three beasts, yet they almost lost their lives.

The fact that he faced six of them and still won the fight meant he was a genius among geniuses.

"Just for information, he also awakened both paths," Virelia added. "In short, he is both a mage and a shifter."

"What?!!" Lily and David’s mouths fell open in surprise.

Virelia placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin proudly. "He is amazing, right?"

Both Lily and David instantly nodded their heads.

Ren’s lips twitched as he saw what she was doing.

’Why are you acting like they are praising you?’

Her personality was really unique in his eyes.

"Hehe." Elara giggled softly at Virelia’s behavior.

----

A/N= I’m using dollars as the currency since we’re used to it.

But please don’t compare any prices to real-world ones. Let’s just focus on the story.