Titan slowly became conscious. His head hurt slightly.
“When is the next bill coming?” Hank asked in a whisper.
“Next week. If you can do a double with me a quick job then we’ll be good on it and can add some credits to the business saving account.” Charlie said.
Titan opened his eyes slowly and stared up at the brown ceiling fan as he spun lightly.
He realized he was laying on a soft bed on the floor.
“Young Blood is awake but he still looks out of it.” Hank said.
“Leave him be a bit. Let me see the budget.” Ronald said.
The scent of strong spirits and sound of casual conversations let him know he was in the gypsy bar. The Rough Riders talked quietly to themselves.
Titan stared up at the ceiling fan in thought. He heard Charlie and the other Rough Riders voices talking quietly about business.
“I passed out?” Titan asked. His voice sounded tired and weak to his own ears.
“Yeah.” Charlie said a few away. “Your body just shut down. You needed to sleep. We brought you back here first.”
Titan grimaced and tried to get up but he fell back down.
“Don’t do that. Just rest a bit. Your strength will come back to you slowly.” Ronald said.
Titan sighed. “Sorry.” He said HIs face flushed with embarrassment.
“What are you sorry about?” Eddie asked. “You just got tired and needed to rest. You’re still a human being.”
“Yeah. I am. So how long have I been down?” Titan asked feeling still tired and yawned.
“I think about nine hours.” Charlie said.
“NINE HOURS!? My mom is going to be worried.” Titan said in alarm.
“Don’t worry we called her up and told her you needed to rest.” Eddie said.
“Did you eat any breakfast before you left the house in the morning?” Charlie asked.
Titan didn’t say anything.
“Shit. What are you thinking? You’ve been using up your energy like crazy and you heaven’t eaten all day.”
“I drank the health potions.”
“Listen to this bullshit excuse.” Charlie said under his breath.
“You still need to eat. The health potions are a temporary fix. You still have to rest and eat to regain proper health points back.” Hank said.
“Hey. Didn’t Glenda explain any of this shit to you during training?” Charlie asked.
“Yes she did. It was one of the first things she explained to me in fact.” Titan said.
“You’re going to see Glenda soon. Have her go over the basics with you again and tell her about your class.” Charlie said.
Titan sighed and he nodded his head. He frowned. “Did anything else happen while I was down?”
“Yeah. Good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?”
Titan snorted. “Good news.”
“ I got into communication with the big guild coming at you. They’re going to leave you be .For now. You aren’t a threat to them.”
Titan relaxed a bit. “Ok. What’s the bad news?”
“Word is out though about you being a Psi in current circles. You’re going to have challengers soon enough when you get stronger.” Ronald said.
“Shit. Just great. I barely survived that encounter with that Psi Assassin asshole.”
The others all grunted in acknowledgement to this fact. They were all quiet for a second.
“Do you remember how you beat him?” Ronald asked.
“I didn’t beat him. I couldn’t. I was just waiting for a moment when I caught the rhythm of his moves to strike with my blink step.”
“Blink step?” Ronald asked.
“Yeah. It’s a skill. I activated it to make time slow down so I can strike at a weak point in his attack.”
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“Okay. Do you feel like you physically moved toward the weak point or did you appear at the weak point?”
Titan frowned at the question. “I had to appear at the weak point. I couldn’t move fast enough. S was faster than me.”
“S?! Was that the name of that demon assassin?” Eddie asked.
Titan nodded. “That was the only name I could see from him. It was like he was a dungeon boss. He was stronger than me and faster. How did I survive?”
“You didn’t play by his rules. You played a different game entirely.” Ronald said.
Titan grimaced. “I was trying to run away then all I wanted to do was survive. Run away."
“Sometimes winning is about outlasting the other guy long enough to run away.” Eddie said.
“Running away is winning?”
“Yes. He is stronger. You were an easy kill for him. The best strategy is to run away or survive.”
Titan shook his head. “How did I survive. I don’t understand it?”
“Simple. Your reflexes and thinking kept you alive to survive for him to make a mistake.” Charlie said.
Titan sighed and glancing around at his team mates all sitting at table with drinks a food on the table.
“I just want to put my kid sister through college? I don’t want any of this shit.”
Charlie nodded. “I know you’re just like your dad. That’s all he ever wanted.” He said.
“Is there any way for me to convince those weirdos, I just want to live a simple life?”
Charlie snorted. “Nobody that wants to make a lot money is going to give a simple safe life.”
Titan’s lips formed a wicked curvy grin. “I said to convince them I wanted a simple life and I never said it was the complete truth.”
They smiled at him.
“The only way forward is to grow strong enough that these assholes won't be able to touch you. Fuck trying to convince them of anything.” Charlie said.
“We’ll back you up, kid.” Eddie said.
“But, you got to master the basics.” Charlie said.
“Ronald. How much do you know about the Psi class?” Titan asked.
Ronald shook his head. “Not enough to answer your questions properly. Glenda will know more and be able to help you. Sages like to collect a lot of knowledge.”
“What is a sage class?” Titan asked.
Ronald grinned. “That I can answer. A sage is a walking breathing library of knowledge and wisdom of the ages. A fucking grandmaster of their chosen profession.”
Titan frowned, laying his head back down. “That sounds a lot more useful and powerful than the Psi class.” He said.
“Sages and the Psi are different in terms of power. They share similar traits of heavy use of the mind.” Ronald said.
Titan smiled as the image of Glenda’s backside in creame white dress came to his mind.
“You like her.” Charlie said.
“Like who?” Titan said, pretending not to know who Charlie was talking about.
The other men chuckled lightly. Titan glared up at the ceiling.
“I don’t have time for romance.” He said.
Charlie snorted. “You sound older than me. She is a looker. I can understand you appreciating her big brain and other interlectural assets.”
The image of a shapely female backside white dress with gold designs on the side of the dress appeared in Titan’s mind.
“Look at the look on his face fellas.” Hank said. “He’s thinking of her ass right now.” He said.
“Man. Shut up bro.” Titan said half heartedly.
The men collectively roared in loud laughter.
“Okay. We got to hear the story.” Charlie said.
“What story? We were talking about the last battle and The Psi.” Titan asked.
“Oh no you don’t.” Eddie said. “We don’t give a shit about that. How in the world did you meet that young cutie?”
Titan sighed. “It’s not much of a story. I was looking for a government dungeon crawler license. So I could start dungeon crawling real fast.”
“Slow down. Tell us a story.” Charlie said.
Titan closed his eyes and thought back to
a few hours ago. "I looked up a place to get a quick Crawler Licence. I made an appointment at the Central City down town office and took a bus to the office."
….
Seventy-two hours ago…
Titan arrived at the government licensing office building in the afternoon.
He opened the door walking inside just as another young man dressed in jeans, black shirt stomped out of the door.
Titan stepped aside. The building had bare brown walls black and white checked floor. It was empty but for one beautiful blond young woman inside.
She was a strawberry blond with a tiny nose and large sea blue eyes. Her smile was playful and surprising seductive to Titan.
Her dress was a form fitting white dress with gold lining and trim that seemed to glow. The dress hugged her curves nicely.
Titan was a little confused by her. She seemed totally out of place in the boring government office setting.
“Hello. I am Glenda. I am here to assist you in the process of dungeon management and extermination.” Glenda said in feminine rich voice.
Titan nervously smiled at her walking forward. “Hello. I am here for the one day test and licensing. My name is Titan Young.”
Glenda nodded her head. Her eyes seemed to radiate the same warm energy that surrounded her body.
She calmly placed a thick stack in front of him. Titan stared at the stack.
“Please answer every question on this test and character sheet. You have fifty minutes to complete the test. I will be timing you.”
Titan nodded, taking out a pen from his jacket pocket. He smiled when he saw it was multiple choice.
The test was pretty basic, lining out personal choices and reasonable caution when entering combat..
Titan quickly got through the test half way until he heard an alarm go off on Glenda’s wrist watch.
He put away his pen as Glenda took the test back and quickly speed read through it.
Glenda looked up and held up the test. She pointed to the section he hadn’t finished. It was a section of optional class choices.
- Fighter - direct attacks
- Warrior -brute force
- Ranger - range attacks
- Rogue - calculating tactical
“What choice best fits your role or fighting class?”
“My dad said I had a rogue type of class." Titan said.
Glenda nodded. “Okay. You scored eighty-five percent. That is a passing score. Congratulations. Do you have a weapon? If not then I have weapons that would fit your chosen fighting class.”
Titan snorted but he shook his head. “No. No. I don’t have a weapon. Thank you. I need a weapon.” He said.
Glenda’s smile seemed to lighten his mood even more. He had gotten his license.
Glenda waved a hand on the counter between them. Several daggers and swords appeared.
Titan whistled. His eyes scanned the weapons silently until his gaze fell on a blue and ebony blade sword.
He picked the sword. He smiled. “What’s this called?”
“Axiom Edge. The Evolving Weapon. Excellent selection. A fourteen inch short sword. Excellent fit for your chosen class.”
Titan tested the sword and felt a buzz of something about it. “Is this a magical weapon?”
Glenda grinned at him. “Oh yeah. It’s an enchanted weapon that will evolve as you change and level up.”
Titan nodded. “Yeah. I like it. Can I get a bit of training in the use?” He asked.
Glenda’s face radiated delight. “Of course. Please follow me.” She said and turned around.
Titan couldn’t help staring at her round ass. He groaned.
The counter disappeared and a doorway appeared leading to a back room.
Glenda opened the door walking through the door with an extra sway to her hips..