Rio and his friends moved to the special class for a professional course on the basics of exploring the Deas (aka magical monster mazes with a bad attitude). After the class, they’d head to a real Deas, which made Amoon visibly tense—like “sweating through your armor” tense. But Rio, ever the chill one, told him not to panic just yet—they still had time, and no one wants to see him faint at noon like a drama queen.
The instructor, now ready to wrap things up, offered to answer any final questions. Rio raised his hand and asked if there was a way to fast-travel back to levels already cleared—classic gamer energy. The teacher was impressed. Unfortunately, he said that while some Deas in the southern provinces do have that option, the ones in Lawn City definitely do not. Rumors exist, but nothing confirmed. Rio thanked him politely.
Then Amoon, still processing the info, asked Rio what instant travel was, and marveled at how Rio knew so much despite being a D-rank newbie. Rio just shrugged—it was something he’d heard, not Google-searched.
They moved to the city’s Deas, located smack-dab in the center of the city, which had the charming trait of doubling its monster population every year. No one knew why. The teacher explained the inner walls were built to keep those multiplying monsters from turning the city into monster stew. Amoon looked at the whole setup like it was the start of a natural disaster movie. But the teacher reassured him: “This happens every few years. Totally normal. Ish.”
They passed the guild building near the gate, where normally adventurers check in, but since they were pre-registered, they could stroll right in. Rio noticed Amoon getting nervous again and advised him to breathe. Deeply. Not hyperventilate. Amoon did, felt better, and they entered the first level—which was basically the tutorial stage. Nothing too dangerous. But they were told not to stray too far from the Deas Gate.
Rio and Amoon stuck together and soon sensed something ahead. Amoon drew his sword like a nervous anime sidekick, but Rio, cool as ever, pinpointed the location. He froze the creature—a beginner monster known as a Soldier Ant—and told Amoon to go for the neck. Teamwork made the dream work: Amoon pierced the ant’s neck and landed the finishing blow. Both were thrilled, like kids who just beat their first boss fight.
Rio, always the sentimental adventurer, suggested they take the ant’s magic stone as a memento of their first successful hunt. Amoon, ever the rule-follower, asked if that was allowed. Rio reminded him, “We’re adventurers now. Loot is life.” He showed the stone and proudly declared it a lovely keepsake. Amoon was kind of in awe.
Later at their residence, they celebrated their first Deas mission. Neils sipped his drink, wishing it was wine. But Itto reminded him alcohol was forbidden—apparently, tipsy adventurers make poor dungeon divers. Still, Neils didn’t care. A win’s a win.
Itto praised Rio and Amoon for taking down a Soldier Ant on their first try. Rio humbly said Amoon did the stabbing, but everyone agreed the magic stone was the real trophy. Then Itto asked what they planned to do tomorrow. Amoon wanted to go back to the Deas, but was nervous about going alone. Rio offered to accompany him—even to level three. Amoon lit up like a kid being offered extra dessert.
Still, Rio found it odd they’d encountered an ant on level one. Usually, that level’s infested with boring bats. Neils agreed and said he’d also heard of Soldier Ants crawling up to the first and second levels recently. Suspicious.
Cue Abel’s dramatic entrance. He confirmed that Soldier Ants could tunnel up from lower levels. Rio, always the sass master, told Abel not to mess with rookies. But Abel was actually being helpful, and then asked if the three guys were Rio’s roommates. He introduced himself and casually dropped the fact that Rio is strong… but also has “some personality issues” (the polite way of saying he’s a lovable weirdo). He asked them to take care of him.
Neils, unable to contain his fanboy energy, stood up and told Abel he was his hero and asked for a handshake. Abel, being cool, granted it and advised Neils not to overdo things and to work hard.
Abel offered some sage advice to Neils: staying alive is priority number one for any adventurer. Neils, taking that very seriously, promised to train smart—not just hard. Curious, Rio asked Abel why he was at the guild so late. Abel explained that their mission took longer than expected, and they were only just returning.
Right on cue, Abel’s team showed up—and Lihya was not thrilled to find him in Rio’s room. Ria told Abel to stop running away from his responsibilities and report to the guild leader. But Abel, ever the noble procrastinator, claimed he was simply guiding the “next generation.”
Lihya, unimpressed, called in backup: Warren, who stepped forward and unceremoniously picked Abel up like a grumbling sack of potatoes. Abel, thoroughly annoyed, pleaded with Rio to do something. Meanwhile, Lihya approached Rio and stared at him like she was scanning for magic residue. Rio, a little weirded out, asked if something was wrong—until Ria called Lihya away.
Ria apologized for the chaos—they had to take Abel back to the guild leader. Rio figured as much; after all, Abel was their team leader. Abel, however, looked at Rio like he’d just been betrayed in a reality show. While all this unfolded, Amoon stood there, stunned by the drama. Ida, on the other hand, was starstruck by Ria, convinced she looked like an angel. Neils continued to fangirl over Abel, which made Rio ask him, “Seriously, what do you like about that guy?”
Cut to Abel’s team on their way to the guild master. Lihya admitted she shouldn’t have stared at Rio like that, but she was curious—was he really a magician, as the rumors said? Ria agreed. Abel reassured them they’d see Rio’s abilities soon enough.
The next day, Amoon was in a hurry, but Rio, cool as ever, told him to take it easy. They headed to the Deas Gate, checked in, and not long after entering, they were ambushed by two wolves. Rio took one down with ice arrows. The other lunged at Aean, but he countered with a solid strike. A third wolf suddenly appeared and almost got Aean, but Rio’s ice magic saved the day again. Amoon then finished the wolf off—but was left completely wiped out.
Rio praised him and offered a handshake. Amoon accepted it with pride. Rio noticed that Aean’s swordsmanship looked a lot like Abel’s and asked about it. Aean revealed that he was trained in his village by a master named Kiro, who studied at the royal capital and taught the Hume School style. That’s where Aean got his skills.
Rio figured Aean had a bright future ahead—once he got used to adventuring. Aean guessed Rio was a magician but clearly also knew his way around a sword. Rio explained his style was self-developed and that he didn’t consider himself a sword expert. He then checked if Amoon had caught his breath. Amoon insisted he was fine, but Rio warned him not to overdo it. His fighting style was demanding, but if mastered, it could keep him safe from injuries. First step: cardio. Run, run, and run some more.
He also told Amoon that he’d traveled with Abel for a while—and even Abel, talented as he was, worked on fundamentals every day. Genius or not, you gotta train. That fired Amoon up—he wanted to work just as hard as Abel. Rio smiled. That was the spirit.
The next day, Rio skipped the Deas—he had other plans. He went to the library, where the librarian pointed him toward the alchemy section and suggested he start there. Rio gathered useful books but soon found himself overwhelmed. So he stepped outside to get some sun.
That’s when the sun got… blocked. Yep, an eclipse. And things got weird. Suddenly, a fire blast came at Rio, which he managed to block just in time. A mysterious girl wielding fire magic appeared, mumbling something about a human being involved. She was clearly not here for a tea party.
Rio wondered if she was an Akuma. She blasted more fire, but Rio countered with enhanced magic and a flurry of ice. She added wind attacks to her moveset, but Rio blocked those too, surprising her.
Then she got serious—revealed her personal weapon and launched a flurry of strikes. Rio held his ground, matching her moves. As sunlight peeked through the eclipse again, Rio launched a wave of ice arrows, but the girl dodged them all like she had cheat codes. He realized she was using wind to boost her speed.
She soared into the air and dove down, but Rio deflected her again. She then charged a fireball, but Rio beat her to it. Still, she kept attacking. He fired more arrows, and this time, she blocked with fire and earth magic—but couldn’t dodge everything. Some arrows hit, and she was injured.
Rio saw his chance, soared up, and attacked—but she blocked again. Her wounds healed freakishly fast, throwing Rio off his rhythm. She pushed him back and prepared another massive fire attack. But then something unusual happened: water droplets began falling. The first one hit her—and burned her.
She winced in pain and used earth magic to defend. She summoned a huge wave of fire as a final move, but the sunlight returned. The girl sighed—her time was up. She hadn’t had a fight this fun in ages. Rio told her to leave already. She smirked, saying he’d enjoyed it too, and this “isolated” place had strange rules. Her powers were limited here, and she vanished just before explaining what that “isolation” meant.
Rio was left with one thought: what was that place?
The girl then introduced herself to Rio as Leonor, and asked for his name. Rio told her, and even pronounced her name correctly—Akuma—which shocked Leonor, since he knew who they were. Honestly, she should’ve finished him off right then and there, but Rio wasn’t someone you could just eliminate during a coffee break.
As the sun began to rise completely, Leonor said she wanted to meet him again. Rio, however, politely declined (in his head). But she insisted that it was impossible for them not to cross paths again. And if it wasn’t with her, it’d be with another one of the Akuma. She then made it awkwardly possessive by saying, “Don’t let anyone else kill you but me—your life now belongs to me.” After dropping that dramatic line, she vanished.
Rio, who clearly wasn’t paid enough to deal with this kind of chaos, muttered that he survived by sheer miracle. If not for his special outfit, he would’ve had a hole in his shoulder. He was now exhausted and suffering from dizziness—classic RPG side effect.
He dragged himself to the guild and discovered a fat bag of money waiting for him. He didn’t even think this cash was in his account, but apparently, the guild master had already exchanged the Wyvern stones. Suddenly, money wasn’t a problem anymore—so maybe no need to grind side quests for a while.
When he returned to his dorm, he found it suspiciously empty. He headed to the library to buy books, but peeked out the window and saw his dormmates lying face-first on the ground, clearly beaten up. Another student had done the honors. Neils said that if they weren’t so drained, they could’ve taken them too (wishful thinking, buddy). One of the thugs scoffed at the “empty threat,” but Ido called him out for talking big when he literally ambushed them. The bad guy just shrugged and said, “Do monsters in Deus warn before attacking?”
Too bad his goons suddenly collapsed, having been whacked by none other than Rio himself. Rio told the main goon he was right—they shouldn’t have warned him. Then he decked him. Neils helpfully identified the guy as Dan from Room One. Rio looked unimpressed and asked, “What do you want now, Dan? Gonna crawl away with your tail between your legs?” Dan didn’t like that and tried to hit Rio, but Rio easily dodged and smacked him so hard he hit the ground.
Neils noticed how badly Rio hurt Dan, while Rio figured he might still be a little too tense from that whole Akuma situation. He pulled out a healing potion and started with Ido, since he was a priest. They also decided to have Aean join their training. Neils felt slightly humiliated by how chill Rio was about all this. Seeing they were all kind of broken, Rio suggested they take a break and clean up.
Afterward, Itto cast a healing spell on Rio, and it worked! Rio was genuinely happy and finally believed that Ido was, in fact, a priest. He thanked him sincerely.
Itto explained that although the earlier attack didn’t break any bones, it was dangerously close to being lethal—if it had hit the heart, game over. Rio admitted that his heart was the target, but luckily, he dodged at the last second.
Neils, still shocked, asked, “Wait, if you’re that strong, why dodge?”
Aean chimed in with, “Who were you even fighting?”
Rio just smiled and said that he’d tell them everything someday. To himself, he thought about how Leonor was an Akuma, and based on what she said, there were likely many more. He realized he had a lot to uncover in this strange world.
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