"You again?"
The evaluation officer didn't look up from his datapad. "Frank Hagan. Trader class. Still F-Rank?"
Frank nodded. "Last I checked."
The officer, gray-haired, sun-wrinkled, the kind of man who'd seen too many rookies fail, sighed. "Alright. Step onto the ring."
The assessment chamber was nothing special, bare stone walls, rune-inscribed tiles on the floor, and a lingering smell of sweat and scorched mana. Three judges sat behind a wide console, their faces unreadable under the blue system light. A dozen other F-Ranks stood in the viewing area, whispering among themselves.
Frank walked calmly into the center of the ring. He didn't posture. Didn't flex. Just rolled his shoulders and said, "Ready."
"Start with combat demonstration," said the woman on the far left, adjusting her visor. "We've logged your class as support-type. So show us your offensive protocol."
"Copy," Frank said.
He slid into a stance, one he'd mimicked a hundred times, watching others better than him.
Piercing Fang – Level 1.
A simple lunging strike technique, designed for agility builds.
Frank dashed forward across the stone in a blur. His footwork landed clean. Blade forward. Motion tight.
He hit the training dummy dead center, right in the throat joint. The system registered the precision with a soft chime.
The middle judge raised an eyebrow. "You weren't using that form last month."
Frank sheathed his blade. "Training."
"You've put on muscle."
"Dungeons will do that to you."
"Which one?"
Frank hesitated just a beat. "Minor anomaly, mid-tier E-rank. Squad run."
The older judge narrowed his eyes. "And yet, still no recorded team advancement. No contract signatures. No weapon upgrades registered. Yet your stats have spiked."
Frank smiled just a little. "Trade contacts."
There was a brief silence.
The woman judge scrolled through his log. "Your system shows improved vitality, reaction speed, and durability. That shield technique... wasn't logged last time."
Frank shrugged. "Picked up a new skill."
"You're unranked in any guild."
"I like my freedom."
One of the other candidates scoffed under his breath. "Try saying that when you're stuck F-Rank another year."
Frank ignored it.
The lead judge leaned forward. "We acknowledge the improvement. Your stats are higher than last quarter. You've shown growth in combat capability, reaction time, and tactical presence."
Frank felt something stir. A glimmer of hope.
"But," the judge continued, tapping a rune into his screen, "no guild affiliation, no registered kills in solo or ranked missions, and no public market record of gear sources."
Frank's jaw clenched.
"Assessment final," the judge said. "F-Rank retained."
The words hit harder than he expected.
Frank nodded once. "Understood."
The woman judge gave him a longer look. "You're close. I'd suggest logging at least one ranked solo run, or applying for E-Rank provisional support next cycle."
"Noted," Frank said quietly.
As he stepped off the ring, someone from the waiting line muttered, "Guy's wasting his stats. Bet he bought half those boosts."
Juliet would've said something. Kaito might've roasted the guy alive with wind.
Frank just walked on, quiet.
But in his system, a note blinked:
[System Objective: E-Rank Advancement Unlocked]
Goal: Complete 1 Ranked Dungeon Solo – Time Limit: 30 Days
Bonus Reward: Trader's Adaptive License – Tier E]
He glanced at it, then at the ring behind him.
"E-Rank," he murmured to himself. "One month. I'm not staying down here forever."
"Looking for a slot?"
The voice came from behind him.
Frank turned. A woman leaned against the rusted frame, arms crossed, two short blades hanging from her hips and a smirk like she'd seen too many amateurs die trying.
"Depends," he said. "E-Rank team?"
"Yeah. Quick in, quick out. Cave crawler nest. Shouldn't be more than a four-hour sweep." She eyed him up and down. "You don't look fresh, but you don't look ranked either."
"Trader class," Frank said, pulling back his cloak to show the system badge clipped to his belt. "I support. Buffs, emergency items, utility movement."
She raised an eyebrow. "Soloing?"
"No," Frank replied. "Looking to piggyback for rank progression. You need a fifth?"
She gave a short whistle. "Karn! We've got a maybe!"
A burly tank stomped over, armor scratched to hell and back, carrying a shield large enough to count as a mobile wall. He looked Frank up and down, then grunted. "Trader, huh?"
"Useful one," Frank said, keeping his tone neutral.
"Do you support or stay in the back and pray?"
"I throw support and survive."
A new voice chimed in, this one low and calm. A lean figure with a hood stepped beside them. "He's not twitchy. That's rare."
The shortblade leader nodded. "Then it's settled. You die, we split your loot."
Frank gave a thin smile. "Try not to trip over my usefulness."
"Name's Vika," the woman said, already walking. "Blades. Karn's our tank. The quiet one's Rue. Caster's back getting clearance."
Frank followed, steps light. "Frank."
"No guild?"
"Independent. For now."
"No problem," Vika said. "Just don't be dead weight."
They passed through the dungeon gate marker ten minutes later, registered under a temporary party license. No one talked much on the walk to the staging post. These weren't friends. They were professionals.
As they waited for the gate to pulse open, Karn checked his armor straps while Rue cleaned arrowheads with silent precision. Vika flipped a dagger in her hand with casual repetition.
Frank glanced around at the others. No Juliet. No Kaito. No familiar voices calling his attention. Just flickering torches, cold air, and strangers who expected results.
He pulled up his system window and checked his loadout again.
5 Burst Potions
2 Reaction Elixirs
Piercing Fang: Ready
Reflexive Guard: 1 Use Cooldown Active
He breathed in.
Vika glanced back. "Nervous?"
Frank shook his head. "Focused."
The gate flared blue. The dungeon opened.
The narrow cave corridor curled inward, lit only by faint blue fungi and the glow of Karn's rune-etched shield. Every step crunched gravel and broken shell fragments underfoot.
"Crawler territory," Rue said quietly, voice muffled behind his scarf. "Watch for chitin piles and cracked shell trails."
Vika gestured forward with her blade. "Standard sweep formation. Karn up front. Rue, rear left. Caster covers the right. Frank… midline."
Frank adjusted his grip on his shortblade, staying just behind Karn and slightly offset. "Got it."
"You got buffs on hand?" Karn grunted.
"More than you need," Frank replied. "I time them when it matters."
They advanced deeper into the tunnel. After five minutes of tense walking, the air shifted again.
Vika stopped. "Nest chamber. Movement ahead."
Rue picked an arrow without a sound. The caster whispered, "We've got… six. No, seven crawlers. Huddled around something."
Karn planted his shield in the dirt. "We hit hard, fast, before they swarm."
"Frank," Vika said, not turning, "watch our back line. Prioritize survival. Don't get fancy."
"Understood."
Then skittering, Dozens of tiny legs scraping over stone.
The first crawler lunged from the shadows, fangs open, legs blurring.
Karn blocked with a grunt. "Engaged!"
Rue fired, his arrow slicing through two crawling heads in a flash. The caster let loose a twin-spell, fire streaking across the left flank, ice bursting on the right wall.
"Frank, left side!" Vika barked.
He rolled out of the way of a leaping crawler and downed a tonic mid-motion.
[Rapid Reflex Tonic – Agility +15, 30 seconds.]
His muscles tightened, the world slowing just enough.
Frank spun, ducked under a pincer, and drove his blade into the soft gap under the crawler's mandible. The creature spasmed and dropped, twitching.
"Didn't expect clean strikes from the trader," Rue murmured.
"Neither did I," Vika added. "Stay sharp!"
More crawlers poured in from the back wall.
Karn roared and body-checked one into a column. "They're flanking!"
Frank's fingers darted for another potion.
[Burst Barrier – Deploy.]
A translucent shield snapped into place, intercepting a crawler that had just leapt toward the caster's blind spot.
CRACK. The shield held. The caster turned, eyes wide. "That... was on point."
"I watch the edges," Frank said simply.
They fought like that, tight, brutal, coordinated. Rue dropping threats before they reached the group. Vika darting between targets like a phantom. Karn tanking entire swarms with stubborn power.
And Frank weaving between them. Blocking. Buffing. Striking. He wasn't just patching holes. He was predicting them.
Then they reached the next chamber.
The air stank worse, acid and eggs.
Crawlers retreated as they approached, hissing in a half-circle.
Frank's HUD pinged:
[Cave Matriarch Detected – Mini-Boss]
The Matriarch crawled from its nest, massive, armor-plated, its mandibles crackling with acidic fluid.
"Form up!" Vika barked. "Frank… watch our caster again."
The battle was a blur.
The Matriarch barreled forward. Karn caught its charge, skidding back but holding. Rue fired two arrows directly into its mouth. Vika dove over Karn's shoulder, slicing across the beast's exposed throat.
Frank popped a reflex booster and blocked a surprise flanker with his blade. The steel held. He twisted, flipped the vial, and tossed it at the Matriarch's legs.
[Sticky Vial – Target Slowed by 30%]
The liquid burst beneath its feet. It slipped just long enough for Vika to drive her blade between its eye plates.
The creature screeched, flailed and fell.
Silence.
Only their breathing remained.
"Clear," Rue said quietly, lowering his bow.
Frank opened his system.
[Mini-Boss Defeated]
[+3 Stat Points Earned]
[XP: +640 | 64% to Level Up]
He exhaled slowly.
"Not bad, Trader," Vika said, sitting against a stone outcrop. "You kept your head. Your timing's tight."
Karn dropped to one knee. "And your potions are faster than any healer I've had in months."
The caster offered a tired smile. "You freelancing next week?"
Frank sheathed his blade. "Maybe."
"Then we'll call you," Vika said. "You're better than most rank climbers I've seen."
Frank nodded but didn't speak.
As the others looted crawler chitin and unhatched cores, he glanced at the exit light flaring in the back of the tunnel.
One run down. One rank to go.