--

Mikel felt the unmistakable change in his nephew’s aura and instantly knew that he improved again.

With a deeper probe, he realized that Ren had already entered the Bone Forging stage, and his realm was completely stabilized. His presence was solid and flawless; this kind of determination and discipline deserves nothing but praise.

’Another perfect breakthrough,’ he mused to himself. ’It seems that my nephew’s requirement of himself was even stricter and more demanding than our expectations.’

Still, the timeline didn’t escape his notice. Ren’s practice speed was fast, really fast.

Three months to go from muscle forging to bone forging? That’s ridiculously fast. And this isn’t mentioning the fact that it’s a perfect breakthrough, too.

Mikel himself took nine months for his own breakthrough, and that was forced. Alex was the same, and both of them liberally used supplements in their training.

Ren doesn’t. Aside from his usual diet of monster meat, which barely counts as a supplement by the way, Mikel couldn’t recall any instances where Ren used supplements to speed up his practice.

This was all his sweat and effort. Which somewhat left him in disbelief. Since when does a common grade 1 martial physique practice this fast?

However, Mikel didn’t ask. Even though he’s the clan leader, he’s in position to probe Ren’s secrets. So long as everything seems to be in order and his nephew is well and fine, it’s all good.

"Hello, Uncle. I’m planning to apply for my dungeon license." Ren went straight to the point, stating his purpose as soon as he got close to him.

"Hmm, that’s indeed your next step." Mikel nodded. He wasn’t surprised. In fact, he could tell the moment he discovered that Ren broke through.

"I’ll have Alex accompany you, then. He knows somebody in the GMU branch; that should, at least, expedite your application. How fast exactly, I wouldn’t know. But even if it couldn’t be expedited, it’s no big deal. It shouldn’t take more than a week before you get yours."

"Thanks, Uncle." Ren nodded and thanked him. Then, he was off.

However, before Ren could go any further, he was stopped by Mikel.

"Ren."

"Yes, Uncle?"

Mikel didn’t speak. Instead, he took his smartphone and tapped away for a bit. Ren then felt his own phone vibrating in his pocket. He checked it out and saw that Mikel sent him some credits. About 100,000 credits, to be exact.

"Uncle!"

"Don’t make a fuss." Mikel frowned. "That much is nothing. In fact, it’s too little. Alas, that’s all I can do for now. The GMU still hasn’t paid us from last time, so the clan’s budget is a little bit tight."

"But you can’t start exploring dungeons without any proper gear; you, of all people, should know that, right? So go on, buy something decent at least."

"Have Alex bring it to Old Sam; he’s a friend. He should give you a discount since it’s your first purchase."

"Yo, yo, yo! What’s up, old man? You rang?" Alex’s boisterous entrance ruined the atmosphere. "Oh, hey, cousin! What are you doing here?"

"Good timing. Hey, you brat. Take your cousin to the GMU branch; he’s going to apply for his dungeon license."

"Cool!" Alex stared for a bit, then he finally realized what his old man just asked of him. "Wait, what!? Dungeon license? Cuz’! You’re at Bone Forging now?"

Alex was shocked. He hurriedly put his hand on Ren’s shoulders and inspected him. And what he found out was indeed the same. Ren has indeed broken through, and his aura was very stable, with no flaws at all.

"Damn! You really are a freak! Tsk." Alex clicked his tongue in amazement. "Right, license, yeah? Alright, cool. We’ll go. I’ll bother Nathan to speed up the application; he owes me anyway."

"And take him to Old Sam before you return. He needs some gear."

"Great idea! You’ve already met before, and I can tell that Old Sam isn’t bothered by your presence; you two will get along just fine!"

Having decided their destination, Alex immediately grabbed Ren by the arm and practically dragged him out of the main hall and out of the clan compound.

Ren just allowed himself to be dragged along while enduring Alex’s horrible humming. Well, the plan was to go today anyway, and Alex will be his escort whether he likes or not.

It’s a bit of a shame that Alex dragged him out before he could return Mikel’s money, because truthfully, he doesn’t need it.

It seems that Mikel has forgotten that Ren had been making potions ever since and had been receiving cuts from the sold batches. He had accumulated a respectable amount of credits because of that, enough to equip him fully for his first dungeon exploration.

He didn’t need more, especially something coming out of the clan’s pockets. Besides, Ren has got millions of merit points. If it turns out that he couldn’t buy any gear with the credits he had, using merit points should be able to do that, and the quality might even be better.

"I’m guessing Dad gave you some spending money for your gear, and you’re feeling a bit guilty?" Alex’s question shook Ren to the present.

He looked at him dumbfoundedly.

"Yo, it seems like I’m right. Holy shit, I’m so handsome!" Alex laughed, completely ruining the atmosphere immediately.

"That’s a fluke; I can’t read minds. It’d probably be cool if I could, but alas, not in the cards for me."

"Anyway...relax, and don’t worry your silly head over it."

"Dad knows that you’ve got money from your potions and still gave an additional one anyway. This isn’t him showing bias or preferential treatment. He does that to everybody who’s about to go on their first dungeon exploration."

"The clan is your backing, and the same goes for us. We look out and support each other. If the clan can’t even do this much, then what’s the point? That’s what Dad usually says. So yeah, don’t worry about it. It’s all good."

"Just accept the money. Dad told you to spend it on gear, but he’s not actually forcing you. You do what you want with it; keep it, save it, invest it, lend it, or give it to someone else—up to you; that’s your credit now."

"So long as you don’t use it for gambling or buying illegal drugs or anything illegal full stop, you’re all good."

Well, then. It seems that Ren had misunderstood the situation. He thought that Mikel gave him this many credits because of their familial bond, but it turns out that this applies for everybody.

If that’s the case, then Ren feels a little bit better about accepting it.

The two of them rode a bus and made their way to the GMU branch located near the heart of Central City.

It couldn’t be missed. It’s a huge building with that big sign of an inverse tower with a slanted halo and a logo that reads "Grand Martial Union - Central City."

"Alright, here we are. Central City’s GMU Branch." Alex gestured grandly. "Come, let’s go inside so you can fill out the form, then we’ll go straight to Nathan’s office."

"No need." Ren shook his head. "I did the online registration; I should already have a file there. They should just need my biometric scans, and it’ll be finished."

"Ooh! Genius! You just saved about 30 minutes of time waiting in line. Well, to Nathan we go then! Since you’ve already got your file, we can skip the initial part."

That’s what Ren wanted too, hence why he used the online service. He didn’t want to wait in line holding a form with his basic information only.

And so, Alex swaggered into the branch office like he owned it. Ren followed behind him, ensuring to minimize his presence as much as he could because Alex was really eye-catching.

They rode the elevator to the third floor, and Alex led him to Nathan’s office, who turned out to be one of the senior managers of the branch.

"Nathan, my man! Long time no see."

"Ugh." Nathan practically deflated on his desk when he heard Alex’s voice. "What foul wind blew you here? What do you want? What do you need? Leave me alone, Alex!"

"Hey, what the hell!?" Alex sounded offended. "What’s up with that energy? I thought you missed me, too? You wound me, Nathan. I thought we had something!"

"God, please! Don’t cause a ruckus! I’m going to get fired because of you!"

"That’s a fucking lie! You practically run this place on your own; they wouldn’t dare. They need...no, they’re desperate for people like you."

"I shouldn’t have told you anything," Nathan grumbled to himself, but his voice was loud enough for Ren to hear.

"What the hell do you need? Say it now or else, fuck off. I’m busy."

"Hey, chill man. It’s no big deal really." Alex then slung his shoulders to Ren and made the introduction. "This cutie right here is my cousin, Ren."

"Ren, this is Nathan, Senior Manager of this GMU Branch, the only one that matters and the crankiest of them all. Say hi."

Ren sighed at Alex’s antics but did as he was told anyway.

"Hello, Sir. I’m sorry for the trouble we caused so far. But I’d like to ask for a little bit of your assistance."

Nathan’s eyebrow practically rose beyond his forehead when he heard Ren’s polite tone.

"Well...at least somebody knows manners. What is it? I swear if it’s something illegal, forget about it. I may hate my job, but I also love it."