What I Need Right Now
"Looks like something good happened to you?"
Lucard flashed a grin at me, who was silently screaming inside.
"Haha, something like that."
I brushed it off and began inspecting my new C-rank Fate Card — Mercenary Gladiator.
Then, its details appeared before me.
[Fate Card] [C-rank]
Contains the fate of a gladiator who casts off the shackles that bound him and marches toward freedom.
Special: Retains the powers once possessed as a lower-rank Fate.
This card held not only the skills of its current rank, but also those from its earlier, lower-ranked versions.
"Taste for Bondage, Taste for Masochism, Taste for Sadism."
Those three were the utterly ridiculous skills of the F-rank Slave Gladiator.
"Crime of Wrath, Crime of Gluttony, Crime of Deceit."
I'd never used them before, but even the exclusive skills of the D-rank Prisoner Gladiator were still stored within.
That was because this card had ascended step by step, all the way from the lowest rank up to C.
However, that didn't mean I could use all of them at once.
"Only one skill from each lower rank can be retained."
In other words—
"Equip card."
[C-rank Fate, Mercenary Gladiator, has been granted to Gillothian Elro de Vault!]
[You may activate some techniques from previous Fates. Choose now.]
After a moment of thought, my choices were clear:
From Slave Gladiator, I chose Taste for Bondage.
From Prisoner Gladiator, I chose Crime of Wrath.
The F-rank Taste for Bondage was, surprisingly, quite useful.
It had once saved my life at the very start of the game — a survival skill that shone brightest in lethal situations.
"Sure, it only activates when I'm restrained, which is kind of annoying…"
Still, it was far more useful than gimmicky ones that merely restored HP by getting hit or caused bleeding without dealing real damage.
And the D-rank Crime of Wrath — that one was a Berserker skill.
[Offensive Technique]
Exclusive to the Prisoner Gladiator. Stores Rage Energy generated by physical or mental damage and channels it into devastating attacks.
In short, the more I got hurt or affected by debuffs, the stronger my attacks would become.
"Wait, was the original description this vague?"
I couldn't be sure. I didn't remember every detail of every D-rank Fate skill.
"I'm pretty sure it used to say something like 'Gain 2.3% Rage Energy per 1% of damage taken.'"
Yeah, I distinctly remembered that…
But now the description had changed.
"…Was that maybe how it looked in the beta version? I think?"
Honestly, I had no idea.
Even I couldn't remember every line of text perfectly.
"Hmph…"
Something felt off about this.
But before I could think too long, the system messages rolled out.
[You have inherited two exclusive skills from your past Fates.]
[You have obtained three exclusive skills of Mercenary Gladiator.]
[May fortune favor you.]
At last, I had secured a C-rank Fate.
"Man, this game's brutal."
Well, maybe because it wasn't really a game.
Still, having raised the Slave Gladiator up to this point filled me with genuine satisfaction.
So what kind of card was Mercenary Gladiator?
Naturally—very solid.
…I mean, considering I'd been crawling here with an F-rank card, how could I not be satisfied?
But in truth, it was a great card.
It offered hefty bonuses to physical stats, and even granted combat power boosts in urban and plains environments.
"And its exclusive skills aren't bad either."
After climbing two full tiers, its unique abilities had finally become usable—actually humanly usable.
At this stage, even those lunatics at GodSoft had no choice but to start designing serious, balanced characters.
"Dance of Blades, Quest of the Gale, Quest for Gold Bars."
Yeah, those were some damn good skills—especially when paired with Sea-Walking Swordsmanship.
And now, tomorrow was approaching fast.
"Ritual of the Crimson Wind."
That event—where the children of Aulrax would die meaninglessly—and the quest tied to it were both scheduled for tomorrow evening.
If I'd switched to a magic-type Fate during the second shuffle, it would've been easier.
"But it's not like a gladiator can't handle it."
Of course, I'd need some practice first—
and maybe grab some rewards on the side.
* * *
Before entering the Ritual of the Crimson Wind tomorrow, I planned to clear a small dungeon first.
"Train my new skills a bit in an instance dungeon, and get some decent loot."
A perfect two-for-one deal.
That's why I'd told Kals to fetch me a weapon.
And this dungeon…
Now was the perfect time for it.
Cleared right before the Ritual of the Crimson Wind, it offered the best possible rewards.
[Dungeon]
Remnants of a long-forgotten civilization. Collect fragments of its hidden history scattered across the continent.
Of course, I'd already collected all those "fragments of hidden history," so that didn't apply to me.
"Yeah, I remember being obsessed with that collection once."
According to the lore, in the distant past, this continent had only one unified nation.
Many names appeared in records, but the most well-known one was—
"Everlast."
Astonishingly, every citizen of that ancient kingdom was said to possess the power of a demigod.
Just as most of today's Imperial citizens were Mages, the people of Everlast were all half-divine beings.
"I wonder what that country must've been like."
Naturally, the revolutionary army didn't exist back then, and Aulrax would've looked completely different.
Apparently, this region had once been the resting place of the kingdom's former monarchs—a royal necropolis.
"Hence the 'Tomb Ruins.'"
Fittingly, the Ruins of the Ancient Kingdom's Tomb was structured as a vast maze of corridors and chambers leading to the royal sanctum that held the king's memorial tablet.
In other words—
"To clear it completely would take about a week of in-game time. Party of five, all at least level 75."
It Meant a Dungeon I Had No Chance of Clearing in My Current State.
But to me, this place was nothing more than a "small dungeon."
"There's another path off to the side—separate from the main route."
That's where I planned to enter.
The main corridor leading to the Ancient King's Memorial Hall?
That wasn't somewhere I could go right now.
"Instant death, one second flat."
At my current level, I couldn't even open the main passage's door.
Instead, there was a smaller tunnel right beside it.
[Dungeon] The protective magic that guarded this section has weakened, leading to its forced closure.
Entry Restriction: Level 10 or below.
Simply put, it was a low-level route.
You couldn't reach the Ancient King's memorial tablet through it, but it served as a preview route to give a taste of what the main dungeon was like.
"Though… for a mere preview, the difficulty's definitely on the spicy side."
But that only made the dungeon's rewards and bonuses all the more impressive.
Among the dungeons accessible under level 10, this one was both the shortest and the toughest.
"And it hides a reward big enough to make you forget all that pain."
That's what this place was.
There's a reason why Aulrax is often called the paradise for newbies.
"Sir, I've brought the weapons you asked for. …Huh?"
Thomson, who had gone out together with Kals, stopped mid-step as he entered my room.
He had just noticed that I was already wearing armor.
[Equipment Package] A fine set of four pieces of equipment designed for fledgling adventurers.
Contents: Worn Armor, Rusted Helmet, Frayed Boots, Punctured Gauntlets.
"Didn't think I'd ever be wearing this again."
I ran my hand over the cracked leather of the Novice Traveler's Worn Armor, a wave of nostalgia washing over me.
This was the starting gear you received at the very beginning of the game—
a reward from the simple tutorial where you practiced by whacking a few straw dummies.
"Most people make fun of it, but…"
Surprisingly, the Novice Traveler Set had one of the best cost-to-performance ratios for its level.
In my case, I'd kept using it until I hit level 12,
and only then swapped to the Apprentice Traveler Set.
This time would be no different. I planned to level up enough and then change my gear all at once.
Except for one thing.
The gauntlet.
As its name suggested, the Punctured Gauntlet, full of holes along the surface, was set to be replaced in this dungeon.
"Good work, Thomson. Nothing happened, right?"
I took the weapon from him, stored it in my inventory, and asked out of habit.
But for some reason, Thomson's expression looked uneasy.
"Uh, sir… the thing is…"
"…?"
"There was a battle."
"…!"
No way—
Was that why Kals wasn't here?
As my face stiffened, Thomson quickly waved his hands.
"Ah, it's not that serious! We weren't the ones fighting!"
"…Huh? You weren't in the fight?"
"We almost got caught up in it when the Black Society and the City Guards clashed, but we managed to slip away."
Ah—so that's what he meant. They'd fought each other.
"Then where's Kals?"
"The knight went through a few crawl spaces, got covered in mud, and went to wash up."
"..."
A second-rank knight of the Royal Order, crawling through holes and covered in filth just to avoid the City Guards…
"Man, now I feel awful."
If this were still a game, I wouldn't have cared. But since this was reality, guilt hit differently.
If Tirvaen found out about this, she'd probably smack me upside the head.
"Anyway, the City Guards are everywhere outside. Seems like the Black Society's people aren't taking it well either."
Of course not.
To those underworld dealers handling dirty money in the back alleys, this must've come out of nowhere.
They'd be confused and furious.
…But honestly, I felt the same way.
"Did security really ramp up this much?"
The quest I'd accepted was designed to attract the City Guard's attention—
which made sense.
A fugitive roaming around the city would obviously put them on alert.
But this was beyond normal.
"It's certain that the Aeolem Order's opposition factions are involved…"
Maybe the higher-ups were already aware of it.
"Someone could've reported it straight to the commander."
The City Guards would continue expanding their patrols,
and before tomorrow evening came, new dangers might arise.
In that case…
"Thomson, listen carefully to what I'm about to say."
"Yes, sir?"
"We're leaving this place now—and we won't be coming back."
"…?"
"I told you I'd get you into the City Guard, didn't I?"
Thomson blinked blankly and nodded.
"Then just do this one thing. Follow my orders exactly, and you'll be a guard in no time."
"What… do you mean, sir?"
Thomson's eyes shone, filled with confusion and curiosity.
"It's simple."
I smiled faintly.
"You're going to sell us out."
"I—I could never do that, sir!"
"Oh, but you can. I believe in you. Good luck."
After all, we weren't actually going to get caught.
In fact, the bait I'd just laid would throw the City Guards into complete chaos.
And in that time, I'd clear the dungeon—
and go straight into my next quest.