Gazelle also handed over the two silver scrolls.
"These are your initial class-specific skills. You may acquire more from the Association archives, but those must be purchased with Association Points."
She gestured to the Association emblem stitched onto the left breast of her uniform.
"You can earn those by completing Association-issued tasks, quests, investigations, or guild contracts," she added. "The more difficult the assignment, the more points you'll earn. Fairly straightforward."
Ezekiel nodded again. "Understood."
He unrolled the first scroll and tore it. Another notification followed.
{Skill Learned: Tame (Active)}
Tier: Common
• Tames a creature of user's will.
• Selected creature must submit to the user prior to skill usage.
• MP Cost: 50
• Cooldown: 2 Days
A second scroll followed immediately after.
{Skill Learned: Summon (Active)}
Tier: Common
• Summons a tamed creature to fight alongside the user.
• +10% to summoned creature's attack and defense.
• MP Cost: 20 — ??? / Second
• 50% EXP gained upon each kill is transferred to the summoned creature(s).
• Cooldown: 15 Seconds
Ezekiel's gaze sharpened as he analyzed the fine print. These weren't just skills — they were the foundation of his entire class identity.
Tame, for instance, was deceptively vague. The system required the target to be submissive before the skill could even take effect. That meant negotiation, coercion, intimidation, or outright defeat — anything that would make the creature acknowledge him as dominant.
A simple skill on paper, yet infinitely complex in practice.
Summon, meanwhile, was far more dynamic. The MP drain scaling with creature grade was a sharp double-edged sword.
Higher-tier creatures could be devastatingly powerful, but the mana cost to sustain them often crippled lesser Summoners before they could even make a dent in battle.
Worse still, while Summoned creatures gained EXP, most of them — especially those of Common to Gold tier — had strict level caps. Once they hit that cap, no further growth could be achieved unless the creature evolved.
And creature evolution? That was rarer than snowfall in a desert. The criteria were obscure — sometimes a specific environment at a specific time, sometimes a few synergy items woven together, sometimes just absurd chance on a routine day.
Most Summoners simply chose to abandon old summons and start over with stronger ones — a laborious process of finding, taming, and raising each from scratch. And if you weren't willing to go through that grind repeatedly?
You stagnated.
Which is why Summoners were a dying class even among the NPCs — gloriously powerful later on, yes, but so high maintenance that few had the patience, resources, or resilience to reach the summit.
But Ezekiel?
He already had what most didn't: preparation.
His Epic Quest — Dhamra's Will — had provided him with the Magma's Treasures, rare utility items that completely mitigated many of the early-game weaknesses of Summoners.
He allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief.
This wasn't going to be easy.
But it was going to be worth it.
He looked up, and smiled.
"Thank you, Gazelle."
Gazelle blinked, her lips curled into a professional smile, tinged with real admiration. She had just noticed how calm his countenance had been all this time.
Someone so young, yet so composed at the face of such a legendary achievement — she couldn't fathom it.
Perhaps, some people were just built different. His aura was truly deserving of respect.
"My pleasure, Sir Ezekiel. You've given me the most exciting morning of my entire career."
She hesitated, then lowered her voice just a little.
"If you ever need to request Association clearance, higher-ranked summons' data, or even restricted archives, please… drop my name. I'll make sure you're not kept waiting."
Ezekiel bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. "I'll remember that."
A thought suddenly flashed by her mind and Gazelle clasped her hands before her, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Better yet... Would you like to register with the Association as an official Adventurer?"
Her tone held a formal decorum, but even that couldn't quite mask the excitement bubbling beneath the surface.
Ezekiel gave a small smile and nodded. "Yes, please."
His easy agreement momentarily surprised her, but it was again replaced with unbridled joy.
Anyway, Ezekiel had already planned on it. Registering with the Adventurer's Association was a tactical decision — one that brought far more benefits than drawbacks, especially for someone like him with no backing whatsoever.
To be clear, registration didn't mean employment. It wasn't a contract of servitude. There were no obligations to follow orders from the Association, no restrictions on his movements, no loss of autonomy.
He'd remain independent, free to chart his own path — but now with institutional support, access to exclusive missions, facilities, and the vast knowledge archives the Association guarded so fervently.
And now that he held an EX-Grade assessment, those benefits would likely be multiplied several times over.
In exchange for such luxuries, all they wanted was priority in trading antiques, artifacts and other obscure dungeon materials or beast and monster drops from the Adventurers.
It may sound too good to be true, but the entirety of the Association was built up on maintaining a steady stream of supply and demand chain on these goods.
And being the backbone of the dungeon economy in the entirety of Enia, their profits far exceeded their investments into their members.
"Wonderful! Then, please follow me. I'll also help you sort out your Sub-Class scrolls while we're at it."
With that, she stepped away from the Assessment Hall and led Ezekiel back through the winding hallways to the central elevator. The smooth descent brought them back to the Association lobby, still bustling with adventurer NPCs.
They arrived at the class assessment desk. Gazelle moved behind it with practiced grace while Ezekiel stood at the front.
With a flick of her wrist, three more scrolls appeared on the desk.
"These are your Sub-Class scrolls," Gazelle explained. "You may choose any or all of them. Once selected, each will grant you its respective Sub-Class and an accompanying skill."
Ezekiel reached for the topmost scroll and tore it with a swift motion.
Ping—
{Congratulations! You have attained the Sub-Class: Miner!}
{Skill Bonus: Mining I (Active)}
{Warning! Skill 'Mining IV' found in user's Skill Archive!}
{Skill 'Mining I' converted to 50 Skill Points}
{Mining IV (Active)}
Tier: Pseudo-Epic
• Enables user to mine Common to Silver-tier ores via system interface.
• User must remain within 5,000 meters of target ore during mining.
• +15% chance to extract Gold-tier ores.
• Detects up to Gold-tier ore veins within a 50-meter radius.
• Mining duration varies by ore type and quantity.
• MP Cost: 2 MP / minute during mining.
• Skill Evolution: 50 / 400 Skill Points
Ezekiel's eyes gleamed faintly. The Skill Evolution counter had adjusted neatly, absorbing the low-tier Mining I without conflict. It was a small but meaningful optimization — one more step toward the fully-fledged Epic tier version of the skill.
Happy with the smooth integration, he moved on to the other two scrolls.
The next gave him:
{Congratulations! You have attained the Sub-Class: Forger!}
{Skill Bonus: Forger I (Active)}
And the last:
{Congratulations! You have attained the Sub-Class: Alchemist!}
{Skill Bonus: Alchemy I (Active)}
Though he didn't expect immediate use out of either, Ezekiel took them without hesitation. Forger and Alchemist were long-term investments, and both offered incredible passive value once nurtured properly. For now, they were seeds.
As he dismissed the notifications, Gazelle slid something small and metallic toward him — a silver badge, no larger than a coin, shaped in the perfect geometry of a hexagon.
On its front, carved in high detail, was the emblem of the Adventurer's Association: A Wyvern mid-flight, wings outstretched and claws poised. The craftsmanship was so fine it seemed alive.
On the back, etched in delicate black script:
Ezekiel
Summoner — EX
"This is your Association member badge," Gazelle said, her tone reverent as she handed it over. "I've already registered your name in our global network. With this badge, you may accept members-only tasks and bounties from any branch. Just present it at the relevant desks."
She explained while continuously writing on the clipboard that she'd been holding all this while. Each letter she wrote in would immediately disperse into the air like grains of sand.
It was a mesmerizing sight to behold.
"You'll also be able to access restricted archives and skill records using the same verification."
Ezekiel accepted the badge, gave it a cursory glance, then stowed it in his inventory without fanfare.
"I understand."
Finally, Gazelle reached under the desk and pulled out a small chest, the size of her own palm. It was more ornate than he expected. A glowing magic lock sealed its lid, and the wood shimmered faintly with embedded mana circuits.
"These are just a few modest gifts from the Association," she said with a bashful smile. "I selected the items personally, based on what I believe a new Summoner might find useful."
Ezekiel's curiosity perked up. What could possibly be hidden in such a tiny chest? Was it space magic again?
And he was right. The box felt faintly warm in his hand, humming with an almost negligible wave of mana — a telltale sign of spell-infused storage.
But despite his curiosity, he didn't open the chest.
He didn't want to here. The lobby was crowded, filled with adventurers pretending not to watch him, though he could feel the occasional flicker of detection magic and appraisal skills bouncing harmlessly off his passives.
Occasionally one or two higher tiered skills would succeed in their probing, but Ezekiel paid them no mind.
He didn't care for stirring up trouble, but if someone came to him looking for it, he wouldn't back down.
"Thank you," he said warmly, storing the chest. "Your help today has been invaluable."
"Oh please, don't mention it, Sir Ezekiel!" Gazelle waved her hand in faux modesty, but her proud posture betrayed her delight. "It was my honor. Truly."
Then, with a sigh and the briefest flicker of annoyance: "If only the Branch Manager were here... he'd have been overjoyed to handle the selection himself."
Ezekiel raised a brow, suppressing an amused chuckle. The flash of marital exasperation in her expression didn't go unnoticed.
"He would've enjoyed the moment," Ezekiel offered diplomatically.
"Hmph. Yes, and then spent the next month boasting about it like he was the one who achieved the score."
Their shared laughter was quiet but genuine.
With the formalities concluded, Ezekiel finally turned toward the lobby exit. His movements were smooth, his steps firm.
The silver badge now rested snugly in his inventory. The class scrolls were registered. The skills acquired. The gifts secured.
But his day was far from over.
He had yet another destination to head to.
Outside, the village greeted him with golden light. The afternoon sun bathed the streets in warmth, casting long shadows beneath the decorative banners and gently rustling awnings. The air buzzed with the faint hum of mana-infused carriages and clinking armor.
Ezekiel didn't linger.
His destination lay to the east: the Central Library of Fwerah, a towering spire of glass and silver that housed both public and restricted records. Besides that, it also connected to the Central Information Hub of Enia.
He planned to archive the hidden dungeon — White Stone Cave — and claim the rewards tied to its clearance.
A flicker of silver light passed through his pupils as he passed by a dark alleyway.
The vision buff from White Stone Ores was still active, enhancing his eyesight in shadowed spaces. Its true strength only emerged in darkness — low-light caverns, underground ruins, unlit dungeons.
Fortunately, the buff had little impact in bright environments — otherwise, sunlight would've made walking the streets unbearable.
He still had sixteen hours left on the buff as well, and he intended to make every second count.
There were three dungeons around Fwerah with potential rare drops and hidden lore triggers. The Level 10 Black Widow Cave, Level 15 Hydra Lake, and Level 20 Death Swamp.
Normally, no one would attempt to solo them on day one — not without a team, proper scouting, and prep.
But Ezekiel wasn't normal.
He had the advantage of knowledge that others didn't. Besides, dungeons in ReLife had no minimum challengers requirement. Going down a full solo-route was very much within the expectations of the game.
That little detail only spurred him on as Ezekiel planned to speed-run these dungeons.
And along the way, there were other loose ends to tie — such as his promise to Lance, the blacksmith. He didn't forget the man's trust, and he had no intention of breaking it.
Ahead of him lay a long day.
A gauntlet of quests, dungeons, and preparations. Creatures to track. Materials to gather. Risks to take.
And yet, as his boots hit the cobblestone, Ezekiel's heart surged — not with pressure, but with excitement.