Lily stared at the staff for a few seconds, then looked back at Mike.
"You’re really full of secrets," she said.
Mike shrugged.
"Everyone who survives has a few."
She held the Black Mithril Staff properly now, testing its weight.
"It feels... good. Way better than my old one."
"Epic gear usually does," Mike replied. "It should boost your mana control too."
Lily nodded.
"Yeah, I can feel it already."
She paused, then looked at him seriously.
"Thanks, Mike. Really."
Mike waved it off.
"You gave me an Epic skill book first. This just makes it fair."
Lily smiled.
"Then don’t complain when I start leveling even faster."
Mike chuckled.
"I’ll just have to work harder."
They sat quietly for a moment, eating and resting.
After a while, Lily spoke again.
"So what’s your plan now?"
Mike shrugged.
"Me? No real plan, actually. I’ll just drift wherever Origin World takes me."
She looked at him seriously.
"I’m serious."
"Well," Mike said, "my main plan is to reach the peak of Rank 2 as soon as possible, then join the Academy entrance exam."
Lily nodded.
"I plan to do the same. But do you think we even have a chance?"
Mike shook his head slightly.
"I don’t know. The chances are low. People who awaken in their third and final year mostly fail to enter the Academy with only three months left to prepare. Statistically, barely one percent pass. I looked it up."
He added,
"And most of those who do succeed mainly because of two reasons, either they awaken with powerful talents or got a major opportunity in the Origin World."
Lily was quiet for a moment.
Mike looked at her.
"What about you?"
"Hmm what do you mean?" Lily asked.
"I mean, have you awakened any talent?"
She hesitated, then nodded.
"Yeah. I awakened a talent too, along with my class."
Mike stared at her in surprise.
Talent awakening was even rarer than awakening the Origin System itself.
Yet here they were—two people who have awakened it and are from the same batch.
"If I may ask," Mike said carefully, "what’s your talent?"
Lily looked at him for a long moment.
"Promise you won’t tell anyone?" she asked, looking serious.
Mike smiled back.
"You’re still the same, Lily. You are too kind, you should keep somethings hidden. Like your talent if you have awakened a higher rank one, which I am guessing you have given the way you are talking."
He grew serious.
"There are a lot of ways people can control or exploit you if they know."
Lily nodded.
"That’s why I didn’t even tell my parents."
Mike blinked."Then why are you telling me?"
"You’re my only friend," she shrugged.
"Just a friend?" Mike sighed dramatically. "Of course. Why would a B-rank Water Mage love a poor E-rank Knight like me?" He let out a heavy sigh as Lily’s lips twitched, sensing his melodrama.
"Are you done?" she asked.
Mike nodded. "Yeah. So... what’s this talent of yours?" he asked.
She leaned in and said quietly, "It’s SS-rank—Limitless Fountain of Mana. It increases my mana by a million times the normal amount."
Mike stared at her, stunned.Fuck... isn’t that even more broken than mine? She could just stand there and turn into a one-woman army. Not to mention, she’s already a B-rank mage.
Damn. I thought I was the broken one, but I was a fake broken guy. This is the real deal. And it’s ’just’ SS-rank—she hasn’t even reached SSS yet, Mike thought.
He looked at her. "You’re joking," he said.
"No, I’m not," she replied calmly.
Mike rubbed his face. "Then you’re insane. What the hell are you not using skills like Land of Decay for? Those skills are literally made for you."
"That’s why I chose this dungeon," she nodded. "I was aiming for that skill."
"Oh... now it makes sense," Mike said, finally understanding. "I was wondering why a water mage like you would come to this dungeon. If you were focusing on water skills, you should’ve gone north—there’s a D-Sea–type dungeon there with plenty of sea monsters. Getting water skills would’ve been much easier."
"Yeah, but there are no Domain skills like the ones here," she nodded and said.
"Okay then, I’ll help you—just let me hug your thigh when you’re a higher rank," Mike said shamelessly.
She covered her mouth and giggled. "Of course."
They then bid farewell going home after planing to farm the dungeon until Lily obtained the Land of Decay skill from the boss. Meanwhile, Mike also kept an eye on the market for any high mana-consuming skills that would suit Lily.
One that is too mana consuming but also powerful, as Lily don’t have to care about Mana with her broken talent.
After returning, Mike went to his room and lay down on the bed, then logged back into the Origin World. When he opened his eyes, he was inside the tent.
In the Origin World, it was still night, but sunrise would come in two or three hours. Mike stepped outside.
Emperor was lying nearby. Mike patted him on the head.
"Okay, buddy, let’s go. We’ve had enough rest," he said.
Emperor let out a low woof as Mike packed up all of his stuff and put them back in his inventory, mounted up, and set off along the road toward Valor City.
A day later, they arrived.
Now Mike stood in a long line, a massive queue of people waiting to enter Valor City.
Mike stood in line for almost an hour before he finally reached the gate.
Two guards in dark armor checked everyone carefully. One of them glanced at Mike, then at Emperor behind him.
"Adventurer?" the guard asked.
"Yes," Mike replied.
"Rank?"
"Late Rank 0. I just started," Mike said.
"Not bad for your age, kid," the guard nodded. Then he added, "Place your hand on the crystal ball."
Mike nodded and did as told. The crystal glowed green.
"Clear. Welcome to Valor City," the guard said.
Mike thanked him and stepped inside.