Many months passed as Lance searched the wide wide web for resources on dungeons, amongst actually going to them and physically training his body. Good news, there was a lot of info. Bad News, there was a lot of useless info.

  Every Ranker And their grandma had a post about dungeons and various “useful” tips, stuff like “Aim for the head or heart” and “sharpen your weapons before use.”

  In the end, there was a surprising lack of good resources for Rankers. The best sources were often the textbooks of various academies, but… they were often highly expensive and required attendance at an academy to gain access.

  This line of search however wasn't entirely useless, as one Textbook stuck out like a sore thumb- The Sly Fox's Guide to Dungeons.

  This book was a very popular one among many of the elite academies, but it had a key difference from the other books these schools carried. This book was ancient, 32 years old, a relic from the early ages of Rankers, and a creation of Benjamin Fox before his debut as the first Unique Rank.

  The book had been updated so many times, it wasn't even funny. The new copies were created by the academies as a common tool for first years to learn the basics.

  The key note here was however, the older versions of the book were NOT used by the academies, and were scattered across the general public.

  Even better, there was a copy of it in Lexington, the city Lance was currently residing.

  Lance smiled as he made his plan for the day. Go to town, meet up with his mom and sister, show off how much he'd grown, and then go get the Sly Fox Dungeon Guide. He contacted the seller to let her know he would be there.

  …

  Colin waved as he dropped off Lance in his car, going off to do Colin things. Lance would be walking most of the day across the city, but he didn't mind. After his recent training sessions, Lance felt he could take on the world, even with only being a 3 Circle-Mystic.

  Stopping at some Italian restaurant he'd never heard of before, he got a table for both himself and his visiting family.

  About 20 minutes later, they arrived, Edith and Stella. Edith Sally King was Lance's mother, a very strict woman who expected the very best out of everyone she met. She was disgusted by anything being wasted, especially talent.

  Stella King was Lance's sister, and she was a savant, so to speak. She had an immense talent with just about anything she wanted to pick up, and was already being scouted by many colleges and academies across the nation. Unfortunately, this talent made her have a rather nasty outer personality.

  Stella spoke first.

  “Hmph. You look weaker than I remember. Aren't you supposed to be a Cultivator?”

  Lance frowned for a second before catching himself. Picking the Cultivation Path back then made him look more fit than even now, although it was more a cosmetic shift than anything. Lance assumed it was just one of the many quirks of the Paths.

  “I'm a Mystic now.” Lance replied as the waiter brought over drinks. Lance knew for the most part what his family liked, but of course his sister still Complained that the soda was too bubbly under her breath.

  His mother spoke up next, clearly displeased.

  “So you're telling me after all that time you wasted on that stupid Path, you undid all of your progress, even after cutting off your own family?”

  Lance sighed.

  “I didn't cut you off. *You* kicked me out and shut off my phone.”

  Edith scoffed. “You're blaming me when you chose a failing career over your own family? Surely I raised A better son than this.”

  Lance huffed.

  “I'm still here, aren't I? I didn't die like you expected, and if anything I'm doing better than ever. I'm a 3 Circle Mystic now, and I'll be at 4 within a month.”

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  Stella looked up finally.

  “You're only a 3 Circle? Restarting must be much rougher than I thought.”

  Lance deadpanned, crossed his arms and looked away in annoyance.

  “Not everyone's a ‘genius’ like you, Stella.”

  “Hmph.” Stella crossed her arms and Edith began pointing.

  “Hey! Don't get sharp with us because your sister is more successful than you! You had many other things you could have done with your life! Safer things! At least Stella is already Level 60 in her Smithing Class, unlike you.”

  Lance slammed his hands on the table for a moment.

  “Oh what? I could've been a Doctor? Or maybe you want me to be a Business Major like dad was! Or god forbid I became a Writer like I wanted!”

  “Don't you dare bring your father into this!” Edith began crying. The situation was getting very tense and awkward,and now other people were looking.

  A man approached, wearing a red tie and a white jacket over brown pants. He looked to Edith and Stella, then to Lance.

  “Is this man bothering the both of you?”

  Lance felt his annoyance grow exponentially at the man's interference.

  “Mind your own business. This is a family argument.”

  The man glared at Lance.

  “An argument is an argument. Clearly you aren't a very good son if you are treating your own mother and I assume sister like this.”

  Lance growled.

  “Get out. Not only did she start this, you have no right to jump into our conversation.”

  The man sighed.

  “I didn't want to pull rank, but I'm already an E Ranker. Do you really want to mess with me when you can just calm down and treat your family with respect? Just by looking at you, I can tell you're as weak bodied as you are weak Minded.”

  Lance was about ready to fireball the man.

  “Do you WANT to get burned? Because if you-”

  “Stop it you boneheads!”

  Stella spoke up, clearly annoyed as well.

  Crossing her arms, she stood up, along with the still crying Edith.

  “Lance, I know mom may have gone a little too far, but you should be more mature than this. And you-” Stella pointed to the E Ranker. “-Have no right to play the white knight for our family when we don't even know you!”

  The E Ranker looked dejected at the comment. Lance meanwhile tried to speak up, before being cut off again by Stella.

  “No. Shut up, I don't want to hear your excuses. Learn to be more mature and maybe we can try this again some other day. Congrats on 3 Circles, and go to hell.”

  Stella marched out of the building, dragging Edith with her. With horrible timing, the food finally arrived, and now Lance would have to pay for all of it, despite the fact it was going to mostly go to waste.

  Lance ate his food in silence, packed up the ‘other plates with to-go boxes, and left the restaurant.

  …

  Lance was still rather pissed as he got to the Library, the meeting place agreed upon for the book. Walking in the door, he dryly looked for someone, anyone sitting around and waiting. Spotting a young lady with purple hair and a semi-gothic look, he grimaced. He Instantly got a feeling of deja vu, and it wasn't a good one.

  Behind Lance,a man in a white jacket with an all too familiar red tie walked in.

  ‘Please, not again.’ Lance thought, closing his eyes.

  “You!” The man shouted in annoyance. “Why are you here!?!”

  Lance sighed.

  “To get my eyes bleached, the hell do you think I'm here to do? It's a library!”

  The E Ranker scoffed.

  “Tsk, you're such a rude person. Anyway, get out of my way. I'm here to purchase a book.”

  Lance frowned as the man approached the Gothic-looking girl Lance noticed before.

  The E ranker spoke and bowed.

  “You must be Ceilia. I'm Lenny Robertson, but you can call me Len for short.”

  The girl smiled, though it felt off.

  “I'm Ceilia, so you assumed correctly. I'm just waiting on one other person, then we can get started.”

  Len looked confused.

  “I thought you were just gonna sell me the Sly Fox Dungeon Manual? Why do we need to wait on someone else?”

  Lance's heart fell.

  ‘Oh hell no.’

  Lance was about to leave when Ceilia noticed him, her smile widening.

  “Ah! You must be the other buyer.”

  Lance cursed to himself, as Len looked on in shock. He was unsure if he even wanted to get the book now, as he had a sinking feeling it would cost more than just money.

  Lance walked closer and sighed.

  “Yep, that's me.”

  Ceilia grinned and put her hands together.

  “Perfect! And I have good news for both of you! I'm selling the book… for free!”

  Lance groaned while The oblivious E ranker grinned.

  “Great, I'll be happy to take it off your hands, lady Ceilia!”

  Ceilia smirked and wagged her finger.

  “Uh-Uh! There's a condition.”

  Len frowned. “Condition? What do you want?”

  Ceilia pouted and tapped her fingers together.

  “You see, I've been sooooo bored lately. I love watching Ranker Fights, but they are sooooo scripted and cliche, it hurts my maiden heart!”

  Ceilia feigned grabbing her heart dramatically, before continuing.

  “I want to watch you two duke it out. The winner gets the book, deal?”

  Lance rubbed his forehead as he felt a headache coming on. Len looked at Lance as If to analyze him and then looked back to Ceilia, smirking.

  “So you're telling me I get to beat up this pathetic slime of a man and I get the book for free? Sure, I'll bite.”

  Ceilia turned to Lance, putting on a cutesy face.

  “What about you? Won't you fight for my sake?”

  ‘Go to hell woman!’

  Lance smiled politely. “Sure.”

  Lance knew that logically, he would be at a disadvantage. Still, there was one thing that kept him willing to stay in.

  ‘I get a chance to beat up that dumbass who ruined my family dinner!’

  …

  Soon Lance found himself at a local skate park, surrounded by many others who had came to watch the fight. The fight wouldn't be for another 10 minutes, so people were still gravitating around Ceilia and Lenny as if to gawk at them.

  Ceilia had changed outfits, donning what now looked like royal attire, with a tiara and everything. She was wielding a scepter like a judges’ gavel and wearing

  A long flowing crimson cape with white trimmings. Her eyes were hard to read through the crowd, but she could clearly see Lance, smirking as if to say “Don't lose too quickly.”

  Lenny on the other hand was invisible among the crowd, too many people surrounding him to see through. Still, Lance figured he was here, otherwise people wouldn't be so wound up over there.

  Suddenly, from the crowd popped a familiar face.

  “Colin? What are you doing here?”

  He grinned.

  “I heard you got into some sort of Fight Club, so I wanted to come see it for myself.”

  Lance frowned. “Fight club? Really? I didn’t know this was your kind of thing?”

  Colin shook his head.

  “It isn't, but you got involved. Bro's gotta look out for each other, right?”

  Lance smiled, genuinely. He patted Colin on the back.

  “Thanks for the support man.”

  Colin turned around and smirked.

  “No problemo. Just try not to get blood on the apartment carpets later, cleaning people cost more than you think.”

  Lance laughed. “Shut up.”

  The crowds suddenly began murmuring as Ceilia struck the ground with her Scepter. To Lances’ surprise, he even felt the ground shake a little.

  “

  ‘How strong is she?’

  Ceilia smiled widely as the crowd parted way.

  “Welcome one and All to the Sly Fox Fight! Tonight I have a feeling we're gonna see a good one.”

  Looking across the way, I could finally see Len, who was smirking wildly. He cracked his knuckles.

  “This will be a piece of Cake.”