I got quite a few stray glances as I traversed through the busy streets. Trying not to bump shoulders with passersby, I huddled to the side where my bulky frame wouldn’t catch too much attention. My concentration was already slipping, and I caught myself drifting up from my levitation every few minutes.

  I adjusted my hood over my face, but was surprised by the sudden appearance of a lanky figure in similar clothes.

  “Master. You have returned.” Hollow bowed.

  I stopped in my tracks and nearly fell back from surprise. Even though I could feel the link of his telepathy, his actual body was nearly untraceable these days. I wasn’t sure if it was completely intentional, but it felt as though he had a constant veil over his mana.

  (H-Hollow…? What are you doing here? Weren’t you with Veyra?)

  Looking past him, I noticed the out-of-breath figure hurriedly chasing behind him. Veyra’s hood came down as she ran over, and attracted quite a few glances from the men around us. The closer she got, the more it felt as though they were staring solely at us as a group.

  We’re standing out too much. This clock covers my body, but it’s not making me exactly invisible here...

  (We'd better get out of here. There are too many eyes on us.) I said as we rushed into the alley.

  After getting out of sight, the three of us found a corner in the city that seemed perfect to hide out for the night. With such a crowded city, we had to push our way to the margins of the city wall, just outside the paths of the streets.

  Veyra and Hollow slept under a half-torn tarp where what looked like a merchant stall had been abandoned. Without any money or connections in this city, we had little to no other choice than to rough it.

  Just as Veyra rested her head, I noticed Hollow sitting beside her with his head against an upright plank.

  Ever since his evolution, he had been taking rests or occasional naps. It still didn’t look exactly like sleep, and wasn’t as frequent, but he seemed a lot more alive this way.

  I reached for my bag of belongings, and the creaking of my stone body echoed through the alley walls, drumming louder the further it went.

  I'd better not move around too much, or he’ll start to get antsy again. Maybe I should try to rest for the night as well. I sat down opposite them and scanned the scraps and shabby condition of the area around us. If I weren’t a golem, we could’ve at least found a place to rest by one of the churches.

  “Grrrrrr!” I let out a mellow growl.

  I love my body and how strong I’ve gotten, but what was I thinking coming here? At this rate, how could I ever meet the saint with a body like this? She’s practically a symbol of hope to this land. A monster like me… we’re from two different worlds entirely!

  My head sank under the thoughts clouding my mind.

  I bet there’s no way I could pass as human, could I? The thought left my mind half as a joke.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  {Human Transformation is possible through possible evolution options skill}

  I brought my face closer to the screen, almost grabbing it from excitement.

  Wait, really?! How? When? Can I use it now?!

  {Human Transformation cannot be used at this time}

  I figured as much. I got a little excited there, but still, this is great news! With a skill like that, I could walk around the city without worrying about getting attacked. Even better, it means I could meet the saint without her getting scared. So, which of my evolutions unlocks Human Transformation?

  {Unable to provide that information at this time}

  How can you call yourself the Absolute Appraisal…? Fine, I’ll just have to figure it out myself. Maybe once I figure out how to evolve this skill, I’ll get a straight answer!

  “Graaar–” The beginning of a roar just about escaped my mouth when I heard Veyra rolling over from her sleeping position.

  I'd better keep it down…

  The next day, we headed straight through the city towards the Adventurers Guild. I’d heard about it from Freya during our first quest, but it seemed like the best way for us to grind up our levels and earn some coin at the same time.

  The massive hall entrance left me nervous beyond belief, especially with all the adventurers and armoured warriors roaming in and out.

  (Remember to keep a low profile. We can’t risk being outed here, alright?)

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Got it.”

  Most of the tables were vacant, with one or two parties seated, enjoying a quiet drink. Although most of the room circulated around the message board, the reception desk had a hefty line building.

  “This is where we get our quests.” Veyra pointed out the wall plastered with pages and various kinds of odd jobs.

  From a quick glance, nothing really jumped out at me. It was mostly the strange requests you’d expect from an old lady who needed help or chores around the city.

  Rescuing a missing cat, chasing away a stray elephant deer… these are classic tutorial quests, aren’t they? Maybe we’re looking in the wrong section. Yeah, that has to be it, right?

  I noticed the crowd growing larger on the other end of the wall. A lot of swordsmen were gathered around a small party, all holding wet bags and flaunting them about.

  “See, those kobolds weren’t anything to cry about!” A shorter male with an axe on his back shouted giddily.

  {Talos Fenril Lv28}

  {Species: Gnome}

  {Status: Minor Injury}

  “If my party weren’t such cowards, we could’ve taken on the whole lot of ‘em! Good thing I was there, bwa-ha-ha-ha!” Tears welled up in the corner of his eyes while laughing.

  Level 28 is pretty strong. From the looks of it, most of the adventurers in this place are pretty varied. Since our levels are similar, we should probably go for what they’re taking.

  As I approached the quests stamped in front of the gnome party, my eyes drifted to the sheer staggering amount of pages pasted over one another. Half of them were covered by the wall of new quests placed over the old ones.

  Defeating hordes of lizardmen, exploring ruins. They all looked too good to be true. We could have chosen any one of them, and I’d be happy.

  (Which one should we start with? They’re all so cool!) My eyes bounced from page to page with a giddy grin.

  “Uhm, Atlas, I don’t believe we can take from these.”

  (What, why not? I know they look a little intimidating at first, but we need stronger challenges if we’re going to level up.) I met Veyra with a firm nod, but she seemed more focused on the details of the pages.

  “It’s not that… Look here, the rank is too high for us.” Her finger outlined the symbol for B on the page I had in my claws.

  (Ranking, is there some kind of restriction on what we can take?)

  “That’s right. You and Hollow aren’t registered, so you’ll have to start at E rank. I’m only a C rank, but I doubt they’d believe me without my Adventurers pass, so I’ll need to request a new one. At rank E, we’re only able to take E rank jobs…” She said, while holding the cat rescue page with a sour grin.

  Cats, huh? Well, I guess we have to start somewhere.