Rafe looked at his quest screen first. Just to be sure. The girl was important, but nothing in the wording said he had to take this kind of shit.

Rafe's posture changed subtly. He stretched out his hand, getting ready to summon his sword at a moments notice. He glared at Helare and got ready to open his mouth. But his aura senses picked up something threatening just then.

Rafe's eyes shot wider. E grade. And not one. A whole platoon of them. And they weren't fresh E grade either. The only time Rafe had fought a legitimate E grade was the time he had fought Sam at the end of his time on Aeon.

Sam was probably much stronger than these approaching goons, but Rafe had to consider she had been limited during the trial. She had limited her power to not immediately crush him. And she wasn't exactly a physical combatant. And she had still been too overwhelming for him. With concept abilities to augment their possibly much stronger veils, Rafe had no idea if he could fight these guys.

It was honestly kind of exhilarating to consider. Maybe he could isolate one of them and have a quick spar, just to know how he stacked up. Just to know if he could still bypass E grade veils.

He was not even halfway through the F grade. He was probably being overconfident, but the fact that he could even consider fighting an E grade impressed him a little. It also scared him. He was being reckless. He was not in the trial anymore. He had to consider death as a real possibility now.

Helare had reeled a little from the dangerous expression on Rafe's face. He stored that bit of information away. Maybe she was used to all her little whims making everyone in her kingdom jump for joy.

Rafe was from a different world. A world where death was preferable to this kind of barbarism. And he had seen it with the demons and the other Elemenoids and just ignored it. He was disgusted with himself.

"I came with you in good faith, princess," he said slowly, not letting his expression waver.

He let his hands relax, knowing how impossible it would be to kill her just then. He would try to get away if it came to that. He trusted his speed if anything.

"I will not be made into some kind of… possession. Do you understand?"

Helare looked genuinely bewildered, looking at him with wide eyes. It was probably going to be hard to get her to see his point.

"Don't bother trying to scare me with violence, in case you think that'd work. I'd rather die than live like that."

"She does that sometimes," Filoria's voice cut through the tense atmosphere after a few moments of quiet. "She doesn't mean to though. She was probably still angry about earlier."

Not an apology. Just a few excuses to placate him. That was not going to fly. This whole shit storm was going too far.

For some reason, since he'd left the trial, he acknowledged his emotions were a little out of control. He still couldn't deny a great deal of anger in this moment. Quest chain or not, he was ready to walk away. Sometimes, one needed to take a stance.

Maybe he couldn't leave through the system. But so what? Once he grew strong enough, he'd leave this world behind as well. He could just go and start hunting beasts for hundreds of experience. It would probably take him a long time, but if he attempted a few E grade beasts here and there, maybe he could advance a bit faster.

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The system too, needed to know it couldn't control him. Yeah, he needed to take a stance on this whole situation. Acting subservient was probably why the princess thought it was okay to make that unreasonable statement she just had. It was probably why the system was being an asshole.

"That's great to know," he snapped at Filoria. "Really explains everything. Oops. My bad."

Yeah, he still had a lot of ill will towards her. The look on her face was precious. What was with these girls and thinking they were all that? How the hell was she surprised he despised her for almost killing him? That one incident had been a source of trauma for years in the trial world.

"In that case, I think I'll see myself out of here. It was a pleasure meeting you both. You too, Hestus," he nodded slightly at the tiny greenish man who had backed away during the charged exchange.

"Where are you going?!" Helare screamed, seeming to have snapped out of her confusion.

Rafe saw no need to answer her. He noticed Filoria's hand subtly go for her sword. He looked up and let her see the challenge in his eyes. Maybe she was close to the peak of the F grade, but she was not touching Rafe with a sword. He hadn't seen her fight, but he didn't need to. There was just no way a person near his level who wasn't a pure warrior could rival him in swordsmanship.

Filoria probably noticed his confidence. Her hand faltered. He did not care.

"You did not listen to her offer," Filoria said.

Rafe wanted to snort, but he didn't want to engage them anymore.

'Ding' Objective 3 incomplete.

User advised not to leave the quest area.

It didn't matter how much attention the system was paying to this. There was also the matter of those two beings he'd seen when he'd first arrived here. Instead of wasting his time pandering to the system, wouldn't finding them be a lot better.

"What?!" he heard Helare snap at Filoria. "Why would I be making him an offer? He's just—"

"You make a reasonable offer, or he walks," Filoria said. "There is something about him…"

She faltered. Rafe wanted to roll his eyes, but it was a talent he hadn't been able to develop much, despite years of trying. His aura skill was stronger than Filoria's, but because of his lower level and weaker soul and generally weaker stats, she was able to resist buckling under the pressure he sent her way.

"Boy," the tiny merchant's voice rang, loud enough to break through the now bickering girls.

He released his aura, the little man did, and Rafe realised he had been mistaken. The E grade guards were something, sure, but here was a D grade individual in the flesh. Just what was this world Rafe had gotten himself stuck on?

"You have a strong aura," the tiny merchant said, "but you're still an F grade child. That being said… I'm convinced you could be of great help to us."

For some reason, even if this little guy should have been the most dangerous foe Rafe had ever faced, he didn't feel threatened. Not one bit.

"I'm not interested," he said.

"I'm willing to offer you some of the best books on Metallurgy. Books that have information even on methods far above what an F grade should be able to know."

Rafe frowned. Turned back to the merchant. It would be wrong to say he wasn't interested. How did metals develop under the Essence? How did differences in rank affect how metals were processed later on? Still, it was hardly tempting enough.

'Ding'!

Rafe wanted to ignore it at first, but it had become second nature to always at least look at his notifications whenever he wasn't in a combat situation, so he looked at the block of text unconsciously. He started in surprise. There was something larger going on here. He was now sure there was something larger going on here.

"So, if, hypothetically, I decided to work for you," Rafe started, "what kind of metals would I be using? Ores, or fully refined."

"Fully refined, of course," Helare forced herself back in, trying to sound confident she was the one making Rafe's dreams come true.

"We are in a mine, and the metal we mine here is an important ingredient in any endeavor you'll be undertaking. So of course we'll give you ores. In fact, it will be cheaper for me to buy ores than processed metals, so it works out," the merchant spoke over the princess.

She whirled on him, but Rafe took the opportunity to shove his hand forward toward the merchant.

"Deal," he said.

"Deal," the merchant shook on it.

The incentives he'd received to stay weren't half bad. They weren't half bad at all.

'Ding' User Rafael Kingsley advised to stay at quest site.

Rewards for staying: Legacy Concept visions.( That contain echoes of the user's/ Rafael Kingsley's path.)

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