--

"Yo, cousin! What up! What up! Bring it in!!!"

Alex’s boisterious and loud voice caused Ren to release an exhausted and helpless sigh.

He’d probably never get over how energetic this man was. Although he’s a nice dude overall, he’s just too loud sometimes.

Ren half-heartedly accepted a hug from Alex, who firmly patted Ren’s back as if wanting to push his soul out.

Damn it, this guy’s not even controlling his own strength.

"It is way too early to be this energetic, Alex." Ren’s eyes twitch as he endures the sting of Alex’s hit on his back.

And he wasn’t lying. It’s 6:30 in the morning; the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, but Alex’s voice was louder than the roosters in the clan. Fortunately, this was their area in the training hall. If they’d been anywhere else in the compound, Alex would’ve seriously woken someone up, quite rudely, too, with how loud he was.

"Ahahaha! My bad!" He laughed and didn’t sound apologetic at all.

Ren just sighed and shook his head.

"What’s up, anyway? Do you need me for something?" Ren asked.

"Well...not a need, per se." Alex shrugged. "I’m just wondering if you’d want to join me for an errand."

"..."

"Look. You’ve cycled between here, your house, the library, and occasionally, the Apothecary Hall recently. I get that you’re diligent and all that, but aren’t you bored or...I don’t know, stuffed?"

"You never explore the rest of the clan compound! Hell, you haven’t gone out of the compound since you graduated! Seriously, are you really planning on staying here until you reach the Pulse Awakening Stage? That’s not the way to go, you know?"

"Okay, okay. I hear you," Ren sighed. "You’ve said so much, yet you just want me to come along with you on your errand. What is it anyway?"

Ren couldn’t refute Alex’s words anyway. He does not, indeed, explore too much. He doesn’t visit the other parts of the compound since he has no business being there, and he never goes out again after he graduated from prep school. He just cycles to his home, the library, the training hall, and, recently, the Apothecary Hall.

Although Ren never complained or never felt the need to really explore just yet, he’d admit that he had been rather strict with himself lately.

Although it can’t be helped since he’s got goals to achieve and things to prove, it’s a bit uncomfortable when Alex puts his current lifestyle into words; therefore, he plans on joining him. But before he does, Ren wants to know what errand Alex had first.

"I’m off to deliver crates of potions to the Lifestyle Guild to complete the clan’s quota for this year. I’m also meeting with my party members. Come with me! I’ll introduce you to them; they’re nice, I promise!"

Well, that certainly doesn’t sound bad or complicated.

"Fine, just let me do my stretches. I’ll go home, shower, and change. I’ll meet you at the gates."

"Cool! We leave at 7:00; don’t be late!"

After saying this, Alex hopped onto the roof and ran back home in the same manner. Ren shook his head and began doing his cooldown stretches.

Concluding this training without these stretches was risky; not only does it make one’s chakra flow chaotic and unstable, it also leaves the body burdened with unnecessary pressure, pressure that might leave some hidden injuries later on.

The cooldowns lessen, stretch, or outright remove those risks. Many looked down on it, but Ren, who’s familiar with this world’s martial arts and had the Unparalleled Comprehension gift, didn’t.

If anything, he valued the warm-up stretches and cooldown stretches even more than the actual training itself because they not only ensured the body could take on and unload pressure better, but they also lessened or eliminated risks of injuries.

After doing all his cooldown stretches and feeling his chakra peacefully ebbing away, Ren stood up and walked back home.

He showered, changed clothes, and went to the compound’s gates, where he saw Alex having a conversation with the guards.

Alex sensed his presence and waved at him. Ren nodded to the guards, and soon they exited the compound.

Ren sensed the difference immediately. There’s this ’dullness’ in the air that Ren couldn’t explain properly. It felt different from the charged and active atmosphere within the clan.

"That’s the ’Burden of Incompetence,’" Alex told him softly, almost whispering as if he were revealing a federal secret to him.

"It’s an invisible pressure in the air that presses down on everybody, especially those who aren’t doing their part."

"You hadn’t been born yet when it was placed on the kingdom itself, and people had gotten so used to it that they mostly just ignore it by now."

"It’s placed on the kingdom because of our poor performance during the Imperial Ranking Tournament. The placement of the kingdom dropped by ten positions on the Honor Roll; that’s why we have it now."

’The Honor Roll...’ Ren’s pupils constricted as if he were suddenly reminded of something incredibly terrible.

He then subconsciously looked at the skies above Central City, and when he squinted, he saw it.

A large but faintly visible outline of a scroll hidden amongst the clouds. There seemed to be things written on its surface, but they’re too faint for anybody to make them out.

That’s the honor roll at its inactive state. It’s the very thing that records many details about the human civilization.

It’s not under the control of anybody, not the Grand Martial Union, not the Imperial Family, nobody...

Legends say that it predates human civilization itself. Its existence is closely similar to the World System, and just like it, it’s something that no human could completely subdue or control.

It has its own rules it follows, and it also has its own agenda. The one thing it won’t do is lie.

The ’Burden of Incompetence’ is a punishment granted by the World System to the Letter Kingdom because of its poor and declining performance, and that was determined by the kingdom’s current ranking on the honor roll.

There’s so much more to the Honor Roll, but frankly, Ren didn’t want to think about it for now. It’s way beyond his grasp anyway.

Ren peeled his gaze away from the sky and continued on his way to the Lifestyle Guild with Alex.

On their way there, Ren was once again reminded of how he and everybody in his clan become eye-catching to the eyes of common folk.

Their dense sleeve tattoo on both arms is something that they cannot hide even if they want to since it extends even to their fingers.

It makes them look like gangsters, really. But since their clan was located in Central City, the majority of people here could recognize members of the Banished Arms Clan.

And it’s usually followed by whispers and rumors. People would often say that god had forsaken the people of the clan because they’re rude and bullies. None of which are true, by the way; it’s just that some people are thirsty for gossip.

Ren had learned how to tune this out subconsciously. It had been a common occurrence in his entire life in this world.

Once upon a time, there was a ’Karen’ who reported him to the principal of the prep school, calling him a disrespectful thug, gangster, and stain to the illustrous reputation of the school simply because he had the tattoos. She wanted him expelled because she believed that Ren was a hopeless and irresponsible child who’s a bad influence to others.

He remembered this memory fondly because the face that ’Karen’ made when she discovered that there’s a whole ass clan bearing the same tattoo and was educated rather ’convincingly’ by Mikel - the Clan Leader himself, as to why she’s wrong in her assumptions, was rather hillarious.

It’s funny how people could be so confident with themselves without possessing the right intelligence and wisdom to back it up.

Anyway...

The Lifestyle Guild was located near the heart of central city. This isn’t their headquarters, just a branch location. Their headquarters is at L-City, which is also known as the Lifestyle City, which the guild claimed for themselves.

They’re pretty powerful due to the fact that the guild was practically the labor union of this world. Every mundane job and common person who’s not so fortunate to awaken a decent talent but still has the passion and sense of responsibility to make contributions to the kingdom gravitates to the Lifestyle Guild.

The Lifestyle Guild was practically in charge of all common and mundane works out there. And with the sheer scope of their abilities, they could make a large and lasting impact on the current trend of the kingdom. That’s why they have an entire city for themselves.

This guild bears the insignia and the honor of not only the Royal Family but also the GMU and the World System. In terms of legitimacy, you’d be hard pressed to find something that’s as trustworthy and recognized as the Lifestyle Guild.

Today, Alex and Ren were off to fulfill the clan’s quota to keep the good graces of the guild. It’s one of their responsibilities because without the guarantee of the guild, it would’ve been very hard for the clan to remain in the Central City.