Free Web NovelChapter 6: Knowing Each Other Better
[Reach 50% of Frontier Realm Experience before being allowed to leave]
To enter the Frontier Realm was easy as a Level One. Getting out was hard. One had to either complete their initial registration cycle or reach a minimum threshold set by the System before being allowed to freely exit and re-enter through anchored Regions.
Most new Hunters didn’t think about it at first. They only focused on entering, fighting, and leveling up as fast as possible. But experienced Hunters knew that the early days mattered more than anything else. Mistakes made here could decide the rest of a Hunter’s growth. That was why guilds like First Pavilion controlled training zones so strictly.
Rohan sighed as he stared at the system. He definitely wasn’t leaving the realm anytime soon.
And he still hadn’t seen any sign of Mia. Now, he was getting worried.
With nothing to do, he moved with Eric — who had the same predicament as other Level One Hunters — to the quarters for a decent bath and rest.
It was already getting dark.
They both took a hot tub bath and slept like dead men. Their room wasn’t small, neither was it big. It was moderate, with a traditional bunk bed and a wardrobe for the same blue armor.
To think they could choose their roommates and rooms themselves.
The next day, sunlight filtered through the window as Rohan slowly opened his eyes. He yawned and sat up on the bed, stretching.
Yesterday was pretty fun. He had formed an unlikely friendship with a chill guy and also learned rudimentary martial arts.
He stood and noticed Eric was gone. Not pondering much about it, he went to the public bath and took a bath with other boys of his age.
He would have loved to make more friends, but most of the boys there were just perverts discussing how they had glimpsed the girls in their own bathtubs.
"Fools." Rohan hissed and went back to his room after the bath.
When he got back, Eric was already in the room with two plates of breakfast.
"Oh, you’re here?" Eric said, noticing Rohan.
"Yes. We share this room, remember?" Rohan teased.
"I know. I know." Eric laughed and pointed at the breakfast. "I brought us breakfast, although it took a lot of begging to convince them that the second plate was for my roommate."
Rohan nodded and swiftly changed into the other blue leather armor, which was not stored in Inventories but was just normal leather clothing.
Eric was already eating quietly by the time Rohan sat down. The food was actually made from Frontier Beasts. Hunters were trained to adapt to such life, learning how to survive and feed on Frontier Beasts.
Although there were people given the ability to create such godly cooking, every Hunter was still expected to be able to make a dish from Frontier Beasts.
"So? I didn’t get to know much about you," Eric said as he ate a morsel of red meat.
"Oh, there’s nothing much to know about me. For starters, I am an orphan and best friends with a high-tempered girl," he said as he slowly enjoyed the red meat delicacy.
"Oh, that’s... uh... nice. Not the orphan part though. I’m sorry about that," Eric said genuinely.
"Nah, I rarely think about that."
Eric nodded. "So what’s your Class?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just a legendary class," Rohan said casually.
Eric almost choked on his food. "Le-legendary? And you say that so casually?"
Rohan raised an eyebrow. "Why? Can’t I?"
Eric shook his head. "There’s a reason reporters or journalists aren’t allowed during the awakening ceremony. People like you can easily get targeted. Don’t act like you don’t know that."
"I know that," Rohan said as he chewed the red meat with a calm expression. "I just don’t see the point in pretending to be weak. If someone wants to target me because of my Class, they’ll eventually find out anyway."
Eric stared at him.
"That’s exactly why people hide it."
Rohan shrugged. "Maybe. But spending every day looking over my shoulder sounds exhausting."
Eric opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed.
"So what’s your Class?" Rohan asked.
Eric rubbed the back of his head before speaking. "It’s nothing much. Just a Superior Class."
Rohan nearly dropped his fork. "Superior?"
Eric blinked. "What?"
"You just called a Superior Class ’nothing much.’"
Eric pointed at him. "You’re the one with a Legendary Class."
"That’s different," Rohan scoffed.
"How?"
"Because I’m me," he said with confidence.
Eric stared at him for several seconds. "That might be the dumbest thing I’ve heard since entering the Frontier Realm."
"Thank you."
"That wasn’t a compliment."
"I know." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Silence settled between them, which Rohan broke almost immediately. "So what’s the Class?"
"It’s called Rune Knight. Apparently I fall between Evolving and Evolved Class."
Rohan sighed. Classes were separated into two categories: Evolved and Evolving.
Evolved Classes were classes whose abilities were universal and already present in the user, while Evolving Classes were those that gained new abilities every time they leveled up.
"Rune Knight allows me to carve runes into objects, weapons, and even my own body," Eric said after a short pause, as if he was still deciding how much to reveal. He scratched his cheek lightly and continued in a calmer tone. "They’re not permanent at first. I have to redraw them or refresh them with essence, but once I stabilize them, they last longer and become stronger over time."
Rohan listened without interrupting, his eyes focused on him instead of the food for once.
"Right now I can only use basic runes like strength, speed, and reinforcement. Nothing fancy yet," Eric added with a small shrug, as if it wasn’t worth much attention.
Rohan tilted his head slightly, processing it in silence for a moment. "So you basically turn yourself into equipment," he said simply.
Eric nodded once, then picked up his cup and drank before answering. "Yeah, something like that. But it also works on allies and weapons. I can put a strength rune on your sword if we fight together. Or defense runes if things get bad."
He paused, then added in a quieter tone, "That’s the idea anyway. I’m still learning how to control it properly."
Rohan finally took another bite of food, thinking through the implications without showing much reaction on his face.
Eric leaned back a little, relaxing now that he had explained it. "The instructors said Rune Knight grows by level, so each time I rank up I unlock a new rune type. Right now I only have three stable ones."
He tapped his fingers on the table lightly as if counting them in his head. "Strength rune, speed rune, and reinforcement rune. That’s it. Three runes and still evolving makes it sound unique."
Rohan gave a short nod, not impressed or disappointed. If he were to add Eric to his Network Bond, it would actually make sense. A Class like Rune Knight would help him a lot in his network, but the issue was presenting the offer to Eric. Who knew if he would accept?
Eric, unaware of Rohan’s thoughts, pushed his empty plate forward and leaned back in his chair. "Anyway," he said casually, "I think I can also apply runes mid-combat now, but it drains a lot of essence. If I mess it up, it backfires on me instead." He gave a small awkward laugh.
Rohan looked at him for a second longer than usual, then stood up from the table. "Then don’t mess it up," he said simply, as if it solved everything. freewёbnoνel.com
Eric blinked, then shook his head. "That’s not how it works."
Rohan didn’t reply.
"So, what about yours?"
Rohan tilted his head. "It’s called Infinite Sharing. Turns out I have a Network where I can bond with people to store, use, and share their abilities and other elements within the network. It also applies to foes I kill. I get their abilities and other resources stored."
Eric froze for a second, then slowly leaned back as if trying to process what he had just heard.
"That sounds... way more complicated than mine," he said carefully.
Rohan shrugged. "It’s simple. I connect to people. I use what they have. They can use what I have. That’s it."
Eric pointed at him. "Nothing about that is ’that’s it.’ That’s like five systems stacked together."
Rohan took another bite of food. "It works."
Eric stared at him for a moment longer, then sighed as if he had given up on understanding it fully. "So you’re basically a walking party system."
Rohan nodded. "If you want to simplify it."
Eric rubbed his face. "And you said it’s Legendary?"
"Yes."
"That actually fits," Eric muttered. "Overpowered nonsense usually comes with overpowered names."
Rohan looked at him. "You’re not wrong."
Eric gave a short laugh, then leaned forward again. "So what happens if you bond with someone stronger than you?"
"I get their abilities and other things related to them, although currently I can only bond with Level One Hunters," Rohan said.
Eric blinked. "That’s it?"
Rohan nodded again.
Eric went silent for a few seconds, then spoke slower. "And what do they get from you?"
Rohan paused this time. "The same thing. My stored abilities and resources, if I am willing to share."
Eric leaned back again, this time more serious. "So it’s mutual."
"Yes."
Eric exhaled and pushed his plate away. "Alright... I think I get why you don’t care about hiding it."
Rohan stood up from the table. "There’s no point hiding what you can’t control."
Eric couldn’t argue with that. Suddenly, a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
"Should we try it now?"
