In common speech, each awakened realm has a knightly title. Those at the second realm are called squires, at third - initiates, the fourth - questors, the fifth - aspirants, the sixth - valiants, the seventh - castellans, the eighth - masters, the ninth - grandmasters, and the tenth - exalts.

  Also, any awakened in charge of an organization, institution, or a location are called chaplains, assuming their realm and influence are high enough to warrant a title.

  — Excerpt from Social Dynamics of Awakened

  Day 84, 9:10 AM

  Two inches above the crossguard, her sword slashed into mine, parting metal the way a normal sword would have severed a wooden bat. While I lacked combat skills, I made it up with abundant experience.

  Her blade had smashed into mine like a hammer working a steel bar, slowing with each fraction of an inch it advanced. When it half-severed my sword, I jerked my arm up, lifting the merged swords and my opponent at the same time.

  Her eyes widened in shock, and I winked at her. If it were a real battle, I would’ve punched her stomach hard enough to break her spine, but I had to win through swordsmanship, not through unarmed combat. So, I suddenly changed direction, from pushing I switched to pulling, and my confused opponent smashed into the sand with a grunt.

  The slam didn’t daze her at all, but I used the chance to wrestle my sword free and lean the blade against her neck.

  “Cheater!” she shouted immediately. “He’s a questor, not an initiate.”

  She used the non-academic, shorter terms, labeling me a fourth realm knight.

  “He is an initiate, fifth layer — there are other mages in the audience who can attest to my evaluation.”

  Several murmurs supported the ref’s claim, and my opponent, still unnamed, glared at me from her back, my sword still calmly and passive-aggressively hovering near her jugular.

  “The winner is—” the ref announced, then paused. She never asked me my name, she obviously thought she wouldn’t need it.

  “Dandelion,” I said, focusing more on the screen before me than anything else. “Just Dandelion.”

  Last time I was a weapon master on Everrain, I had a choice between clubmanship and staffmanship. In the Eternal Light empire, I had to choose between spearmanship and swordsmanship. I used both rarely, but I could see myself switching from a staff to a sword, wherass I couldn’t imagine a situation in which I would abandon my staff for a spear.

  With that thought, I went with Advanced Swordsmanship and just as I was about to check the new level up condition, the blue screen appeared again. I had already met the next level condition.

  [You have achieved proficiency with eight different weapon categories.

  You have leveled up.

  Select a skill within sixty seconds or a random one will be assigned to you.

  Expert Staffmanship - Your skill with staves improves.

  Advanced Knifemanship - Your skill with knives and daggers improves.]

  A no brainer there, I chose my favorite, bumped it to expert tier, and waited, but no new screens appeared. I checked my level up condition, defeat two combatants with their favored weapons, as the barkeep motioned me to leave the arena.

  The indignant woman lying on the ground looked like she would stab me as soon as I turned my back to her, so I didn’t. I reached out and gave her a hand, but she kipped up, showering me with sand.

  “Bitch,” Blunt muttered in my stead, and for once I didn’t feel like controlling my heart’s voice.

  “What did you call me?” she growled in an appropriate tone.

  “A she-raptor.”

  She slashed at me with her sword, and the audience screamed. For a moment, I thought it was terror, but I realized it was excitement and bloodlust behind the expectant shock.

  I ducked under the sweep and slammed my fist into her guts. She sailed through the air, slammed into the pit’s wooden wall, piercing it and getting stuck there, dry heaving.

  “Lyre Heartstrong is banned from the establishment for two years,” the bartender said, glaring at the struggling Lyre. “Collect the fee for causing trouble and escort her out.”

  A pair of smartly-dressed bouncers jumped from the stands, pried Lyre free from the wall, and carried her out, shooting her apologetic looks all the while. They were probably much weaker than her and begging her not to cause a fuss.

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  Fortunately, the woman was either too incapacitated or smart enough to silently accept her fate. Nothing good ever came from arguing with proprietors about breaking their rules or furniture. The barkeep turned around, and I left the ring, tossing my sword at the wooden wall, into which it sank with a reverberating twang.

  “Did you have to goad her?” the barkeep, or probably Longshanks, said when I approached. “I’m of half a mind of banning you as well.”

  I leaned over the bar and smiled at her, investing my two newly-earned points into presence and pushing it to twenty-three.

  “You’re just saying that so you don’t have to pay me my bet.”

  She called my game, leaning over and smiling dazzlingly. “Boy, I’ll rip your balls off if you dare say Longshanks won’t pay her debts.”

  She placed a fistfull of twenty crystals on the counter, half second realm, half third.

  “You’re lucky you made me a lot of money, everyone, myself included, was certain Lyre would win against a wandering noname.” She drew back, her eyes digging into me as if trying to read my thoughts. “The question is how do I get a worthy challenger for you? Your strength is that of a peak initiate, possibly a bit beyond it, but you would definitely lose to a questor.”

  She folded her arms and smirked. “See? We just met, and you’re already causing me problems.”

  Her question was excellent, and her whole hard sale pitch went along with what I needed to level up.

  “I can fight two—” I almost said guys again. “—opponents, one swordsman against two at the same realm, that probably rarely happens, right?”

  She frowned, her eyes narrowing as she struggled to discern whether I was serious, joking, or mocking her.

  “You’re serious,” my winning smile finally got through, managing to show my sincerity.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? I need training, and fighting in real life is rarely what you’d call fair. Getting ambushed two on one is almost something you could call fair.”

  Such a battle would be a tough fight for most but the best-trained knights. In general, it took four knights to stand against one a realm higher, while six even had a good chance of winning if their enemy failed to whittle away their numbers quickly.

  “When can you fight? Lyre failed to tire you out…” She thought I was some inexperienced yokel, but I would have none of that.

  “How much time do you need to gather a good-sized crowd? I don’t feel like working for a pittance.”

  We hashed out the details, and agreed on a larger event at two in the afternoon the day after tomorrow. With almost two days to kill, I had to do something. Things were looking decent, and this run looked like a keeper, or at least the parts that happened thus far.

  When in doubt, scout. I first went to the library and discovered most libraries had the exact same books in stock, while the repositories in the imperial capital, the royal capitals, and the princely palaces had copies of all the works humanity had amassed over the countless years.

  That was good, it meant I didn’t need to do library runs, save in one of the world’s major metropolises. At the same time, it was horrible, since the entire empire ran on a rather limited reservoir of knowledge.

  Next up was the adventurers’ guild. It was a massive structure, situated at the heart of the city, along with the other guild houses, library, citylord’s palace, and administrative buildings. I planned to visit most of those, but first came the adventurers’ guild.

  The grand stone building had a triple-width door and large window openings, but no doors or windows. Intricate seals lined all the apertures, and I recognized them. They regulated sound, heat, and the passage of small particles. Extravagant and interesting, but the size of the door indicated the building was made so that people could flood in or out of it.

  I had read a primer on the adventurers’ guild. They organized the hedge knights and hedge mages, found work for them, and helped wealthy individuals hire them. The whole organization was losing money, but received regular donations from imperials and royals to keep it going.

  The author didn’t explain the reason, but after thinking about it for a while, I figured it out on my own. It was in the ruling class’s best interest to direct the awakened at their problems and to steer them away from being problems, like bandits, raiders, and such.

  I appreciated the mind behind such a simple, yet useful idea. I also appreciated the quality of the interior. The guildhouse opened immediately into a large common room, which resembled a top tier inn. Large window openings allowed plenty of light and fresh air, the walls were whitewashed, decorated with paintings, weapons, and trophies, while the huge, massive wooden tables were ornately carved, their surfaces pristine.

  Whoever ran the establishment deserved a medal. A young serving girl and a serving boy, both under twenty and wearing clean, smart uniforms, flitted around the eating and drinking customers. They were inhumanly graceful, and I realized they were also knights, probably at the first realm, maybe second. I smiled at how motivated they were to move like ghosts, their footsteps silent, and they seemed to play a sort of game with some patrons, who seemed to know them and lash out with their arms and legs, trying to knock them down.

  The atmosphere was harmonious, one of people familiar with each other, and I immediately liked the place.

  I headed for the large bar and counter at the back, where a wrinkled old man stood, wiping an already clean glass in the manner of practiced barkeeps everywhere. The only thing off about him were the arms as thick as tree trunks, and the massive ax hanging on the wall behind him.

  [Name - Dandelion Blackfist

  Class - weaponmaster level 2

  Health 25/25, Strength - 25, Agility - 25, Physique - 25, Wisdom - 25, Intellect - 25, Willpower - 25, Presence - 23, Charisma - 25, Composure - 25

  Abilities - See Abilities for more information.

  Attribute points remaining - 0

  To level up, defeat two combatants with their favored weapons.

  Statuses - none]

  [Abilities - Initial Appraisal, Initial Forest Ambush, Advanced Looting, Literate, Inferior Heartcore, Initial Mana Gathering, Initial Mana Circulation, Initial Black Fist Arts, Advanced Body Reinforcement, Master Rider, Initial Fast Reader, Initial Reference Checker, Expert Calligraphy, Initial Arithmetics, Initial Persuasion, Initial Photographic Memory, Initial Time Optimization, Initial Logical Deduction, Initial Steady Hand, Initial Eye For Detail, Initial Seal Deconstruction, Initial Seal Prototyping, Expert Staffmanship, Advanced Swordsmanship, Initial Spearmanship, Initial Clubmanship, Initial Flailmanship, Initial Knifemanship, Initial Axmanship, Initial Macemanship]

  [Anarchist Level 7

  Abilities - Rage, Redo, Blunt, Heavy Handed, Direct, Insightful, Precise, Amicable, Visionary, Godly ??, Gate Sealer ??, Vengeful ?, Grandmaster Rider ?

  To level up, force the authorities to impose justice upon a party they had previously ignored.]