"You have not answered me," Alina reminded him.

"What even is there to answer?" Lev frowned. "Everything is in front of you, and I have no reason to explain this to you, either."

"One Master point per ten questions."

That made him shut up quickly. Master points were rare. Lev didn't know how many he currently had, but he was still certain that dangerous quests barely gave two or three.

"How much is a Master point worth?"

"Your current balance is 4 points," came the simple answer. A month of patrolling, taking harvesters to the edges of the Grand Forest, and facing a large portion of an eight-rated wave by himself only amounted to that much. Lev no longer had any doubts about just how enticing that offer was.

"I'll decide which question to answer."

"Obviously," Alina gave him a look. "First, who are you?"

"I'm Lev, born an orphan and currently a Master hunter aiming to become an adventurer."

"Is that all?"

"For that question? Yes. There are Master points on the line."

"How did you end up under Alec's tutelage?"

"I sought him out and asked for an apprenticeship."

"Why did he accept?"

"Because of my special circumstances and titles."

"Explain."

"I won't tell you anything about the former," Lev shook his head. "Even for the latter, I'll tell you the gist of it if you count that as an answer."

"Fine."

"I was born with two titles. One improved my soul and the other my willpower."

"Why?"

"I am not willing to answer that."

"Alright. Give me a moment," she said and summoned a thick tome on her lap. A pen also appeared in her left hand, and she started writing almost too fast for Lev to track. He didn't try to read and gave her time, sorting out the answers in his head to maximize Master point gain.

He also sent a short glance at Sherron, who nodded gently. It seemed that there was no harm in answering.

"Thank you for the wait," Alina closed the tome and stored it back in a spatial storage. "When did you first meet Sherron?"

"Back when she and Orianna came to visit Alec after hearing about the new apprentice."

"What was your first meeting like?"

"I was scared out of my mind," Lev chuckled. "Both of them had such potent auras."

"They keep their auras constantly contained. Why was it scary, then?"

Whoops.

"Erm, I have an increased sensitivity to auras," he regretfully answered, knowing damn well that could've led to extra questions, and consequently, more points.

Hakim spoke for the first time during the whole exchange. "If you're worried about information leaking, you have my word that it won't. She knows better than to leave behind records of delicate information."

Lev looked at him for a long few moments, deciphering the expression. Hakim didn't seem to be worried about the questioning in the slightest, and, if anything, his eyes seemed to be encouraging. With a shrug, Lev turned back to Alina and waited for her next question.

"Who are you?" she asked again, sure of her question.

"I am Lev, twice-orphaned and a reincarnator."

She didn't react immediately, eyes frozen as her brain tried to process the information. "Twice?"

"Correct. Once in this life, and once in the past life."

"Past… what?" Alina turned to Hakim, agitated. The guildmaster only nodded once. "Where did this past life take place?"

"Not on Monarch or the Empyrean Empire."

"Where, then?"

"On a planet called Earth. I don't know what era my civilization existed in, but most likely before the Empire."

"… I don't know what to ask. If you are willing to explain in detail, I can increase the number of points-"

"You can figure that out on your own," Lev interrupted and sighed. "Where to even begin?

"I don't remember seeing my parents on Earth. Nobody even told me who they were or how I ended up in the orphanage, let alone if they were dead or alive. All I know is that there was no one else willing to take me, and nobody ever contacted me either.

"It wasn't a terrible life though. Earth was not a civilization of magic or mana. I think there wasn't any mana on the planet. Animals were all we had in nature, no monsters. Humans were the only species on the planet too, so we had a long history of everything.

"There was a lot of horrible stuff in that history, but plenty good too. Either way, technological advancements remained somewhere in the middle of that, but for me, it was definitely a positive. I found a cracked old phone on a sidewalk one day and waited for anyone to come searching. When no one did, I kept it for myself since there was no card or anything inside to identify the owner.

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"Oh, a phone is like an artifact not similar to the recent breakthroughs with mapping. It let me connect to a global network of information, and that was plenty to spend my free time on. That lasted until I turned sixteen and was urged to earn a living for myself, to free up space and food for the younger generation.

"Things… didn't quite go as well as planned. I didn't have any clean clothes, let alone knowledge about how to present myself in front of a professional. Plenty of doors were slammed close in my face before a kind gentleman pretty much took pity on me. It was a last-ditch effort at applying for an assistant. No, not even an assistant, just a glorified pack mule.

"I don't know what Mr. Benson saw in me, but he accepted me as a personal assistant. I wasn't his secondary assistant, or even tertiary, but he still kept me around. The wage was also enough to let me pay for transportation and clean clothes, plus a bit extra.

"That was still far from enough to live on, though. I worked part-time in a bakery and lived in their back alley in a mound of sheets and blankets. Food was also covered by those kind folks, may their souls find eternal peace.

"Three years passed like that until a chance for promotion fell in my lap. Several big shots were looking for capable assistants, and it turns out, Mr. Benson was training me for that opportunity. It was supposed to be a pretty big day," Lev scratched the side of his head, eyes staring at the ground. "Well, nothing good came out of it. I came back to my shoddy apartment that I could barely afford and passed out on the bed almost immediately. My… arms hurt quite a bit, and some previous injuries had been reopened, so the pain was too much. Next thing I knew, my eyes opened in another orphanage, one present on Monarch."

That was supposed to be enough, but then Sherron twisted his chair until Lev's back was facing her. Leaning forward, she rested her head on his shoulder, staring into his eyes with the most kind, gentle expression he had ever seen on her face.

A short glace was sent toward Alina, who bowed while seated before quickly marching out of the office. Only Lev, Hakim, and Sherron remained.

"Are you alright?" Sherron whispered, understanding how overwhelmed he was right now after digging so deep.

Lev wasn't seeing right. His eyes stared at the floor, but the ground seemed to distorted. A silent tear fell, clearing up his vision.

"Yeah…" he whispered back, tilting his head until his cheek rested next to Sherron's. "It was extremely painful, you know? My arms were bloated to almost twice their size, and I'm pretty sure they were permanently damaged. My arm sleeves were also filled with dried blood because the bones in my right arm were barely whole.

"What happened?" she asked in the same, tender whisper.

"I…" Lev struggled to find words for a few seconds. The struggle turned into a hollow chuckle. "It seems so insignificant now. My encounter with the warg was so, so much worse."

She didn't say anything this time, only wrapping her arms around him from behind and waiting.

Lev sighed. "When I was like… ten? Or maybe eleven, I and a group of kids were playing in one of the larger back alleys. The game of tag got a bit out of hand as someone ended up putting a bit of money on the line. All of us wanted the reward. It could buy a bunch of sweets.

"The group eventually ended up running through the entire city block, remaining out of sight and choosing only vacant routes. After the winner had been decided, which wasn't me, we noticed just how far we were from the orphanage. There was a giant building above us. I couldn't even see its top without fully craning my neck.

"One of the doors near us opened, and an immaculately dressed chef stepped out. He seemed like a decent sort, not looking at us with pity or anything. We were all tired and sweaty, so he offered us water and food that would take some time to prepare.

"There wasn't any reason to deny for us. We were all kids and didn't really know better than that. I settled down in a corner to wait, too tired to stand for much longer."

Lev deflated after that as the memories came back in earnest. "I think I may have dozed off for a bit? When I opened my eyes, all the kids were running, and a boy was towering over my prone form. He seemed so huge back then, and the stench of alcohol wafting off him was immense. Out of the corner of my eye, I was able to spot the terrified expressions of one of the other kids as he was dragged into the back door by the neck by another boy.

"Well… long story short, I was reminded of my place quite clearly after that. I don't even remember much of it past my own screams and the occasional crunch of bones, only that 'rats like me didn't deserve the same air as them' and other things like that. When my mind cleared enough to fully open my eyes again, my right arm was bent in three directions, and my left leg wasn't any better.

"The rest is just like a fever dream. I dragged myself on one arm for a very, very long time. It took minutes to move for a few meters, and thank Monarch I wasn't bleeding much that I eventually made it to the road.

"I… almost wish I hadn't. There was a broken, bleeding kid dying on the sidewalk, and nobody moved to help me," Lev laughed. It came out without warning. "Someone actually threw me back into the alley, behind some trash.

"Even then, the people walking past me could see my state clearly. There were many who wanted to do something, but didn't move because they either couldn't afford to, or because they didn't want to get involved in whatever trouble I was a part of. Who could blame them? A random dying kid in the open. That just screamed shady business.

"Then there were the people who just looked at me in disdain. As if they couldn't believe they had to see trash like me that day! I was clearly in the richest part of the city, and their perfect clothes and visages reflected that. There was barely any foot traffic, and it still took… I don't know how long before a car stopped by. Funny, that. A vehicle stopped close by, not a pedestrian.

"It's fortunate that I was taken to a hospital after that, because I was half-convinced my organs were going to be sold on the black market given my condition. It's not like the half-dead boy could've put up any resistance, and the law enforcers usually turned a blind eye to such regions for obvious reasons.

"My right arm wasn't ever fixed either. It was just brought to a serviceable state. The doctors warned me quite sternly that any physical exercise was strictly forbidden. I couldn't even carry a bag in my right arm because of how much it hurt.

"The injuries truly made themselves known again on that promotion day. It was the day my life was supposed to turn around, you know? But well, the organization I worked in wasn't any better than the boy I had met on that fated day. Someone actually paid a few of the recruiters to approach me and guide me to one of the guest rooms.

"I was too excited and nervous to notice that we weren't moving to the interview rooms. They made me settle down and used the excuse of informing their colleagues to get out and discreetly lock the doors. It took a long time for me to realize that they weren't going to return and tried to move out. Obviously, the doors didn't budge.

"I thought it was a mistake at first, so I waited after knocking loudly on the door. Nobody answered in the next few minutes despite multiple attempts, and it was then that the panic set in. Monarch knows how long I spent screaming and clawing at the door, hoping anyone would realize that someone was trapped in there.

"Well, the janitors and caretakers had either been paid off or sternly warned to not touch the guestrooms. The doors remained shut for a long while, and slowly the sounds of parties and the social gathering died down. By then, my arms were already beyond repair, and I only noticed that the door opened because I was leaning against it when a maid approached the room.

"Back then, if I wasn't completely numb, I may have noticed the tears streaming down her face or her shaking body. Well, I do remember there was someone else there who called out to me, a woman I think. Didn't really register her voice and ran back to my apartment, and you know the rest."

Sherron had moved sometime during his retelling. Her head rested on his back as her arms hugged him tightly, a constant reassurance.

Lev breathed out and looked at the ceiling, feeling both tired and oddly light after finally letting it all out.

"It wasn't even that bad," he giggled, the sound containing a wealth of emotions. "The fight with the warg had reduced me to less than half, and even the final move from the flame tiger had nearly burned me alive. Both of them were far, far, more painful than what the boy had done to me. I just let it keep me down for way too long, never truly processing the pain and constantly pushing it down whenever it tried to resurface. Understanding came years later when I learned about therapy and how people coped with such situations, but the whole experience had already turned into a permanent scar.

"I… I'm just glad to be here now," he closed his eyes and leaned back into Sherron's embrace. "Good riddance to that shit planet."

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