Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

The next day...

The inn room was a mess. Thalia had woken up early in the morning to clean up the place, but even after working for more than thirty minutes, there were still a ton of things to organise.

Some of the chairs had been upturned, there were bottles of liquor in every direction, packs of food stacked up to build a tower, and a few pieces of broken furniture.

"The manager is going to be furious..." Thalia sighed as she glanced at the source of the chaos.

Ark and Olivia were sleeping next to each other on the couch.

Olivia was sleeping upside down, her hand tucked inside her shirt as she periodically scratched her belly, while Ark was so straight that it was as though he had been packed up in a coffin.

Thalia could not count the number of times she had gone to check if he was still alive...

"Why are they so troubled?" She said breathlessly as she grabbed the bottles and placed them in the bin.

She was just a few years older than them, and yet they both acted as though they had just graduated middle school.

Soon, the light from the rising sun began to filter into the room, so Thalia walked up to the window, allowing the golden rays to filter in, and then she smiled as she glanced back at them.

Despite how much stress and heart palpitations she got from trying to manage the two daily, she had to admit, this was the most fun she had had in ages.

Ark woke up a few minutes later and stretched with a wide-mouthed yawn.

"Do you want to swallow me?" Olivia hissed as she rubbed her eyes grudgingly.

Ark blinked as he stared at her. "Why are you upside down?"

"..."

"Err... to stimulate my brain, of course..."

"I see." Ark glanced at the window, realizing it was already morning. Yesterday had been eventful, but today was the day he finally returned to Venaris after a very long week.

There was no doubt that Bronya and Cracker had grown impatient; they would likely give him an earful when he returned.

Olivia got up, blocking his sunlight as she stretched her large wings.

"Mmm~" she let out a pleased sigh, her back creaking like an unoiled machine. She then rubbed her belly and glanced at Ark with a small frown on her face.

"I’m hungry."

"Of course you are." Ark turned to Thalia and smiled while waving. "Good morning, Thalia!" But she gave him the stink eye and averted her gaze, causing his hand to freeze in the air.

Wait...

He could not remember returning to the inn on his own. Did Thalia have to drag him back here?

There was no way it was Olivia, because if he was drunk, then she was likely beyond redemption...

"Hehe..." he chuckled dryly. "Sorry..."

Thalia sighed. "Just be more careful next time, Ark. The guild’s reputation is resting on your shoulders, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Ark scratched his head. "I’ll keep that in mind. And while we are on the topic, there is a lot we have to discuss..."

Thalia tied up a trash bag and glanced at him. "Oh, really?"

Ark nodded.

But considering how long the talk was likely going to be, it was something best had over breakfast.

Ark joined Thalia to clean the room so that they could finish faster, and then when they were done, they all had their baths and headed out to the nearest restaurant.

It was the same restaurant Ark had visited the first time he arrived in Eden, The Divine Dragon.

The beastfolk woman who attended to them was more than happy to see them return, although she was confused about who Ark was at first, due to his human form.

Not long after, their table was filled up with all kinds of food.

"There are a lot of things we must do before we can officially call ourselves a Guild." Ark grabbed a cup of fruit juice and used it to wash down the chicken he had eaten.

"Which are?" Olivia asked from beside him.

Ark raised a finger as he listed them out. "First and foremost, we need to be registered in the association to even be able to do guild business."

Guilds had the right to challenge and claim dungeons and towers, as well as a number of other rights given by the government and association.

But operating as a guild without formally registering was highly illegal, and most achievements would often be rendered useless with no formal acknowledgement.

They would be unable to buy land in the guild name, enter the guild wars or guild rankings, and even the system advantages permitted to guilds would be unavailable.

Basically, registering the guild was the first realistic step to take.

"So is there any problem with that? We can just register at the association today, right?" Thalia asked.

"Well... There are two requirements to fully register as an official guild."

The two girls stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

Ark made sure to quickly pop a quail egg into his mouth before speaking.

"First, we need to complete at least one dungeon run as a guild, and it will most likely be an Iron-Rank dungeon."

Olivia paused, her spoon of food stopping just at her lips. "Iron Rank?"

She could understand that the requirements would not be easy. If it was too easy, then some fools would try to open their own guilds without the skills to actually run one.

But an Iron-Rank dungeon was still a little too much for them to handle... especially considering that the boss monster would likely be near Silver Rank.

Thalia frowned. "Isn’t that a little too harsh?"

Sure, experienced players could pull it off, but having such a condition was like denying the newbies a chance to operate their own guilds.

"Of course we won’t be completing the dungeon alone." Ark waved the fork in his hands dismissively. "We will be working with the junior members of an already registered guild..."

The association assigned the requirements based on the current power level of the guild.

For more powerful players, they could be assigned a Silver, Gold, or even Mythril-Rank dungeon depending on how strong their members were.

And for more experienced players, it was often a solo guild run with no assistance...

Still, in their case, working with another guild did not mean it was all peaches and roses.

Actually, the fact that they were even mandated to work with one went on to show how difficult the challenge was.

Newbies at the Copper Rank taking on an Iron-Rank dungeon? Many upcoming guilds had been wiped out this way, both them and the assisting guild members...

"I guess that makes sense." Thalia said after listening to his explanation. "So what is the other requirement?"

Ark suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. Because this was the requirement he dreaded the most.

With a depressed look on his face, he said, "One..."