"See you later.

" Foster said with a smile on his face, waving at Silvia as he left her apartment. She waved back at him briefly and then stepped back inside. Walking down the stairs of the building, past all the other apartments seemingly supplied to the employees of the common guild, he suddenly saw another familiar face. It was the young man that had taken care of them at the guild a few times, the receptionist that they had the luck to speak to every time they went there until now.

"Huh? Mister Locke?

" He asked,

"What are you doing here?

"

Foster looked at him with a raised brow. He figured it was pretty obvious what he was doing here, considering his appearance right now. His hair was a mess, he was carrying his jacket over his shoulder, and just loosely threw his tie around his neck. Seeing someone like that in an apartment building where they didn't even live really did not leave much up for imagination. It seemed like the young man quickly realized this as well.

"You had that date with Si- Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I'll just.... I'll just leave you be...

" He pointed out, and Foster smiled lightly. It seemed like he was on his way to work now, so Foster simply threw his arm over his shoulder and figured that they could just go part of the way together. The common guild was on the way to the Red Riverside, after all,

"Come on, let's talk a bit, shall we?

"

"T-Talk? But about what?

" The guild employee asked, and Foster smiled at him,

"I don't know, maybe you could give me a few tips? Or hook us up with some nice quests here and there.

"

The employee immediately shook his head,

"I'm sorry, I can't favor anyone over others... that would be really unethical.

"

Foster looked away, clicking his tongue, before quickly turning back,

"Come on, we're friends, right? I'm not telling you to hide this stuff from anyone else, I'm just asking you to... you know, help out a new and naive adventurer. You can't in good conscience just let me take random quests that are too dangerous for me, right?

"

"...Do you even know my name?

" He asked, and Foster stopped for a moment. He locked eyes with the young man in front of him, and slightly squinted his eyes,

"Aaa.... Bb... C...

" Foster started, trying to gauge his reaction. But then, out of nowhere, he got an epiphany,

"John!

"

"Chris. My name is Chris.

"

"That's what I said!

"

"No, you-

"

"Listen, Chris, buddy.

" Foster said, letting out a deep sigh,

"I'm dyslexic, alright? I mix letters up all the time, it just happens. Are you just gonna judge me for that?

"

"...I don't think that's how it works.

" Chris replied bluntly, and once more, Foster clicked his tongue,

"Wow, just throwing away all those years. All those adventures. I left my wife for you.

" Foster said bluntly, as Chris rolled his eyes, figuring that it was easier to go along with it than try to fight against it,

"Fine, what do you want to hear?

"

Foster thought about it for a moment, and then finally asked,

"What is the fastest way to advance your adventurer tier?

"

"The fastest way?

" Chris repeated, surprised,

"You really just have to fulfill quests, that's it. There's no trick to it. You just have to do it.

"

"...Seriously? So you can't advance by just being strong or something?

"

"What? No, of course not. That's not what the adventurer's guild is about. We're an organization that helps connect clients with adventurers that can help them out with their requests. Well, of course, the higher tiered quests need people to be adequately powerful, so it does play a role, but just being strong doesn't help you advance.

" Chris explained to Foster, who couldn't help himself but let out a loud groan. He was used to things working out just because he was strong, so having something where he actually had to do work for his success was rather annoying.

"Fine. Then what sort of quests let you advance most quickly?

" He inquired, and Chris had to think about it for a few moments,

"Things that are above one's expected skill level. Because, well... I might have said that skill doesn't matter, but that is only really the case from tier three onward. Then, everyone has to follow standardized testing through the Guild Headquarters to advance to each next tier. Even private guilds need to do that.

"

"...Is there a quest that would let me get to tier three right away, then?

"

"Well, no. Except if you completed something at the level of a tier 5 quest, then maybe, but since you can't accept those anyway, that's not really possible.

" Chris pointed out. Foster was even more annoyed now. There were so many troublesome rules. But then, Chris said something interesting.

"Although... if you can reach the tenth floor of the basement, it should be pretty simple for you to advance to tier 2, at least. We have frequent requests for materials from floors around there that we evaluate quite highly, so those should help you out. You should talk to your handler about it, they should know a bit more.

"

With a slight grin on his face, Foster nodded his head,

"Awesome, sounds good. Thanks for the tip then, bud.

" He said, hitting Chris' back,

"Anyway, I've got to head back to my Inn now, so I'll see you... some other time, I guess?

" He said, while Chris was trying to rub the spot on the center of his back where he was hit. Foster turned around the corner and quickly started making his way to the inn, so that he could get changed in time for the meeting at noon.

It didn't take him too long to get back there either, and before he knew it, he was back in his room and could drop down onto the bed. Aster slowly climbed out of his hair. He was clinging to him quite a lot since last night. Since he didn't want the small spirit to witness everything that was happening in Silvia's bedroom, he had created a small 'nest' of sorts in his suit's chest-pocket and hung it up outside her room's door, so that he wouldn't be able to see anything. But for some reason, Aster didn't want to seem to let go of him anymore.

"Don't worry, everything's fine, bud.

" He said, closing his eyes for a moment. It didn't take long until someone knocked on his room's door, though, making him quickly sit up,

"Who's there?

"

"Lynol.

"

"Come in, it's open.

" Foster replied immediately, and the swordsman quickly stepped inside. Seeing that Foster was still wearing the suit that he left in last night, he could conclude what happened rather quickly, and stared at his friend,

"Seriously? So you are with Silvia now?

"

"Well, not really.

" Foster replied quickly,

"It's just sex, so nothing serious.

"

Lynol shrugged in response, since he didn't particularly care about that anyway,

"As long as she doesn't distract you from training, I don't care.

" He pointed out, and Foster looked at him with a wry smile,

"Is everything about training to you?

"

Confused, Lynol squinted his eyes and stared at friend,

"Is... is that a trick question?

"