"Thank you," Jake said, because he wasn’t sure what else to say to that.
"Don’t thank yet," Angana said.
"Liking you and supporting you politically are different things. Clan Phoenix will remain neutral until we see how the contest develops. But I’ll be watching, and I’ll be honest in my reports about what I see."
She turned to face him directly.
"Which ans if you do sothing stupid or cruel or shortsighted, I’ll report that too. Fair warning."
Jake stared at her, wondering who had asked her for support.
Angana extended her hand, and Jake took it. Her grip was firm and brief, the handshake of soone who had better things to do than perform elaborate social rituals but wanted to acknowledge the connection anyway.
"Good luck," she said.
"You’re going to need it."
Then she was walking back toward the courtyard entrance with that sa controlled, precise stride, and Jake watched her go until she disappeared through the doors.
Raani appeared at his side a mont later.
"She’s very direct," Raani said.
"She is," Jake agreed.
"Did she tell you anything useful?"
Jake thought about the assessnt, the warning, and the acknowledgnt that Clan Phoenix was watching and would remain neutral until they saw sothing that changed that calculation. "She told that being liked and being supported aren’t the sa thing," he said.
"Which is probably the most useful political lesson I’ve gotten since arriving."
Raani looked at him with that sa expression of admiration she’d been wearing since the bath, the expression that suggested Angana’s observation about her being half in love with him was more accurate than Jake was entirely comfortable acknowledging.
"Co on," he said.
"I need to talk to you about sothing."
They walked back toward the villa together as the evening settled into full darkness around them.
*
Angana’s departure left the courtyard feeling quieter than it had been, the lantern light settling back to its normal warmth without the sharp presence of Clan Phoenix’s envoy cutting through the space.
Jake stood on the terrace for a mont longer, looking out at the city lights spreading below like stars pressed against the mountainside, before turning to Raani with a question that had been forming since Asurani’s visit the previous night.
"I need to know about dungeons," he said.
"A-rank specifically. Where they are, how to access them, and what the guild protocols are for entering them."
Raani’s expression shifted imdiately from the soft admiration she’d been wearing to sothing sharper and more concerned.
"Young master, dungeons are—"
"Necessary," Jake interrupted.
"Before that, I need to tell you that I am also what you call an agent. I belong to Asurani Covenent. She was the one who helped before I was awakened."
Raani was startled as she didn’t expect him to be a reincarnator. It was unprecedented. Agents had kids but never one from the other world. She took the information with subtle anxiousness.
She looked at him with profound expression.
"So, tell about the dungeons."
"I can only get stronger through real experience, not just training in controlled environnts. I need combat that pushes , that forces to use the bloodline abilities under pressure, and sitting in the villa learning theory isn’t going to accomplish that."
Raani looked at him for a long mont, clearly running through argunts in her mind and discarding them one by one as she recognized the determination in his face.
"A-rank dungeons are dangerous," she said finally.
"Even for experienced Class I fighters. You’ve been awakened for less than a week."
"Which is why I need the experience now rather than later," Jake said.
"Before the Trial of Domain begins, before Karut or the other candidates start making moves against , I need to close the power gap. The only way to do that quickly is through real combat against real threats."
The logic was sound even if Raani clearly didn’t like it, and after another mont of silent assessnt she nodded once with the particular resignation of soone who knew when an argunt was already lost.
"The guild office," she said.
"We’ll need to register you properly first and get you an official adventurer’s identification, then we can look at available dungeon missions."
They left Raaya Villa as the evening deepened into full night, Raani leading the way through streets that were quieter than they’d been during the day but still busy enough with late traffic and people moving between taverns and night markets.
The guild office sat in Roakan’s rchant district, a large stone building that glowed with warm light from its many windows and bore the familiar crossed-sword emblem that marked guild facilities across the three realms.
Inside, the main hall was active despite the hour: adventurers checking mission boards and turning in completed contracts, clerks processing paperwork behind long counters, and the organized chaos of an institution that never fully closed because dangerous work didn’t respect normal business hours.
Raani moved through the crowd with the confidence of soone who knew exactly where she was going, leading Jake to a registration desk near the hall’s rear, where a tired-looking clerk was sorting through a stack of completed mission reports.
"New registration," Raani said, and the clerk looked up with the automatic politeness of soone in custor service before his eyes registered who was standing in front of him and his expression transford into sothing between shock and confusion.
"Dragon Maiden Raani," he said, his voice going slightly higher than it had been.
"I—we weren’t expecting—that is, how can I assist you this evening?"
"Standard adventurer registration," Raani said, gesturing to Jake.
"Class II, full credentials, priority processing."
The clerk’s eyes moved to Jake and widened further as he took in the resemblance to certain portraits that hung in Roakan’s historical archives, the dark hair and sharp features that marked him as belonging to a particular bloodline, and the way Raani was standing slightly behind him in a position that suggested protection rather than escort.
"Na for the registration?" the clerk asked, his hands already moving to pull the appropriate forms from beneath the counter even as his attention stayed fixed on Jake’s face.
"Jake Raikarndel," she said clearly.
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