"Mountain city?" s.h.i.+ro raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's because the city is situated at the peak of several interconnecting mountains. We like to categorise the mountains into three sections. The main mountain, 5 large mountains and the shorter mountains. Our faction is situated at one of the 5 large mountains due to our prestige. However, I'll give you a warning now and that's to not offend the city lord. He is literally a one man army that can force back a large wave of high level intruders all by himself. Naturally, he lives on the main mountain. Plus, you cannot miss his residence." Freya replied.

"Heh~ so the city is literally on top of a mountain range?" s.h.i.+ro asked.

"That is correct." Freya nodded and glanced backwards.

Making sure that everyone was on the manta ray, she patted its head and commanded it to fly.

"UWAHH!!" Madison cried out as she grabbed onto the armour for dear life.

"Relax Madi. The mount uses mana to secure everyone so that you won't fall." s.h.i.+ro chuckled.

"Why didn't you tell me at the start?!" Madison asked as she took a deep breath.

"Well I didn't think you'd react like that." s.h.i.+ro shrugged.

"Well anyways, Freya, what role do you have in the faction?" She asked, turning to Freya.

"My role is pretty similar to yours. I'm also an elder but naturally, my responsibilities are more binding in terms of relations to the faction."

"Ah, kind of like an office worker?" s.h.i.+ro asked.

"Pretty much. I'll also take this time to explain the ranks we have." Freya said as she realised that this was a prime opportunity.

"The lowest rank is that of a recruit. They're given a trial period of sorts to demonstrate their prowess. After recruit is normal member, elite member, core member, treasured member, prestige member, protector, elite protector, guest elders, elders, the council and finally the faction leader.

"The prestige members are also known as the successors since a protector would teach and train the prestige members to be the next generation of protectors." Freya explained.

"Can you skip ranks? Something along the lines of becoming a protector without being a prestige member." s.h.i.+ro asked curiously.

"Well it's possible. But you have to prove yourself in multiple ways before you can be recognised as a protector. Oh, by the way, did you know that we had to add a new rank just for you? Guest Elders were never a thing in our faction haha." Freya laughed lightly.

The new recruits were surprised to hear that the faction had added a new rank just for the girl in front of them.

Their gazes held the burning question of why she was given this kind of treatment.

"If you guys and girls are wondering, it was because she was able to eliminate a level 50 when she was more than 10 levels under them." Freya said, seeing their questioning gazes. She had the same question asked repeatedly so she wasn't a stranger to the stares.

"10 levels under them?!" They cried out in shock.

"It was just a simulation. Don't think about it too much." s.h.i.+ro chuckled.

'If it wasn't a simulation, I would be able to eliminate more because my stamina won't be limited.'

"Ah, another piece of information about your new guest elder, she's the owner of a pretty interesting t.i.tle in New York." Freya grinned, wanting to mess around with s.h.i.+ro.

"What t.i.tle?" They asked in excitement. For someone to be able to take down level 50's with a difference of 10 levels was bound to have an awe-inspiring t.i.tle right? Wrong.

"Her t.i.tle is the infamous An*s Destroying Princess." Freya grinned.

"Eh?"

The recruits paused for a second, not believing what they had just heard.

"Pardon me but can you repeat that?" One of them asked.

"You didn't hear wrong. Her t.i.tle was the An*s Destroying Princess." Freya chuckled.

s.h.i.+ro only smiled and nodded her head as if she was proud of that t.i.tle.

'Why aren't you denying it!!!' They retorted collectively in their minds.

However, Lyrica, Madison and Silvia didn't make a single reaction since they had gotten used to s.h.i.+ro's shenanigans long ago.

"I think you can still find videos of my matches online. Who knows?" She shrugged nonchalantly.

The recruits looked at each other and pulled out their phones one after another.

After watching the matches, blood drained out of their faces as they sat a little further away from s.h.i.+ro.

Ironically, they had received several adverts on the page that suggested them to buy an a.s.s plate for emergencies.

They dismissed it as a joke at first but only now did they realise that the adverts were being serious.

There was even a quote on the advert!

[I couldn't sleep with a peace of mind until I bought the N#ke a.s.s plate. Now I can rest easy knowing that my rear is well protected.]

"Wait, but wasn't the princess only 13 years old? And it wasn't too long ago either. Surely that can't be you right?" One of them asked.

"Look at the name, and cla.s.s." s.h.i.+ro replied without looking back.

"But you're level 48."

"And who said I can't level up quickly in Cairosa?" She countered.

"…" The recruit wanted to say no but he knew it was possible. For someone to level up that fast, they would need to risk their lives every day to jump into dungeons with their party. To make matters worse, they would need to challenge higher level dungeons to get enough EXP.

One of the few solutions would be to challenge everything solo but she's not crazy enough to do that right?

'Nevermind, She is crazy enough to do that.' They corrected themselves after looking at s.h.i.+ro once more.

They continued to talk for a little while as s.h.i.+ro, Lyrica, Madison and Silvia listened patiently.

"Ah before I forget, I should explain what you girls are doing shouldn't I?" Freya said as this didn't apply to the recruits. She had already explained what they were doing so she could ignore them for a little bit while explaining what the three girls were going to do.

"Your situation is a little different so listen carefully. While you do gain a certain amount of resources to help train yourselves every week, it'll be less than normal. To increase the amount of resources that you can get per week, you'll need to complete the faction quests that are posted on our website. There are several types of quests that we put up but here are the more common types.

"Attack/hunt, guard, rescue and harvesting herbs. All of these quests are self explanatory so I believe that I don't need to tell you what they mean, I presume." Freya said with a smile.

The trio shook their heads since they had already done their research a long time ago in preparation for coming to the faction.

"Good. Other than that, I think all that's left is to show you around and arrange some rooms for you." Freya said before turning to s.h.i.+ro.

"As for you, since you're a guest elder, your quests would be harder than others. Is that ok?" Freya asked.

"Couldn't be better. Easy missions would be boring after all." s.h.i.+ro chuckled since she intended to do the hard missions for better rewards anyways.

"You know, lots of people would love to have your spot and have easy missions. That way, they'll be safer." Freya said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I suppose you can say that I enjoy doing difficult tasks. Gets the blood pumping." s.h.i.+ro shrugged.

"Understandable." Freya understood where s.h.i.+ro was coming from since she too enjoyed the feeling of happiness that comes naturally after finis.h.i.+ng a hard quest.  

They continued to chat for a little while as the scenery flew past them.

Going higher and higher into the sky, the trio and the new recruits started to exhibit signs of fatigue while s.h.i.+ro was still joking around with a smile.

'She's fine with the high alt.i.tude? Interesting…' Freya thought with a smile.

Due to the location of Verica, the strain that it puts on the adventurers is much higher. This type of area would help the recruits understand how to conserve their stamina with better efficiency.

Not only that, but due to the fact that there is a severe decrease in oxygen, they would have to be more conservative with their movements. There were more factors that would hinder adventurers but overall, this was the perfect location for newbies to be trained into skilled personnel.

However, all of this was child's play for s.h.i.+ro. As a person who had mastered the use of her body in her previous life, this alt.i.tude posed no problem for her. h.e.l.l, it was no different from normal since she would make sure that she was always in her peak condition.

"Hey s.h.i.+ro, aren't you finding it a little stifling to breath?" Lyrica asked as sweat started to form on her face.

"Me? Nah I'm fine. I've gotten used to the thin air before so it's not a problem for me." s.h.i.+ro replied.

"Got any tips?" Madison asked. The other recruits nodded their head as well since they were curious as to how s.h.i.+ro was completely fine.

"Well, the only advice I can give to you is to try and take full deep breaths if that makes sense? Not the kind that is almost like you're holding your breath but rather deep breath in and deep breath out? Arg! It's hard to explain. I just learnt with experience." s.h.i.+ro replied whilst scratching her head.

"No that's pretty much it. You need to become more proficient with your body in order to make decent progress here in Vericia." Freya said whilst standing up.

"Now then, I formally welcome you to the city of Vericia." She smiled and gestured in front of them.

A ma.s.s of clouds separated to reveal several mountain peaks above an ocean of clouds.

Each mountain peak was filled with houses and large buildings.

Narrowing her eyes, s.h.i.+ro could already locate where the adventurer's guild, auction house and blacksmith were located. Not to mention, there was a structure that looked somewhat close to a colosseum.

"We'll be arriving shortly at the branch guild and it is where we shall part ways. s.h.i.+ro, you'll follow me to the main hall."

"No problem." s.h.i.+ro nodded her head.

Arriving at one of the mountain peaks, s.h.i.+ro looked at the main building in interest. It was something similar to a giant place with multiple towers that had banners hanging off the sides, showing what the tower contained.

Blacksmiths had a hammer and anvil on their banner, mages had a staff, warriors had swords and so on.

In the middle, a giant tower was connected to the other building with bridges between them for easy access.

Naturally, the biggest tower would have the biggest banner, showing off the faction emblem.

Framed with an icy border, the emblem contained the image of a woman who had 2 pairs of wings made from ice, spreading out from behind her.

The manta ray flapped its fins and landed on one of the platforms.

Several people wearing white and blue uniforms walked over to them with a smile.

"For those who have melee type cla.s.ses, follow me and I shall take you elsewhere to split you into your respective groups." A man smiled slightly.

"Good luck." s.h.i.+ro smiled, giving Lyrica and Madison a thumbs up.

"You too." The duo replied.

Watching the man leave with a group of people, a woman stepped forward.

"For those who have a magic based cla.s.s, follow me. Of course, it doesn't matter if you're support or not." The woman said with a small smile.

"Good luck to you too." s.h.i.+ro turned and patted Silvia on the shoulder.

"Thank you."

After they left, only s.h.i.+ro, Freya and two others remained in the area.

"I presume you must be the new guest elder. I was never told that you were quite the charming woman." The man said with a small bow.

"Thank you." s.h.i.+ro smiled slightly to show that she accepted his praise.

[Talius - LVL 92 Winter's Apostle]

'Winter's Apostle? Never heard of such a cla.s.s.' s.h.i.+ro thought, seeing his cla.s.s.

"I'm Natash, this dipsh*t's twin sister." The woman replied.

[Natash - LVL 90 Arctic Saintess]

Both of them looked rather similar to one another. Natash was only slightly taller than s.h.i.+ro while Talius was a head and a half taller than her.

"Natash? Did you forget what I said?" Freya smiled wearily.

"I haven't." Natash rolled her eyes.

"As you both know, this is s.h.i.+ro. While her level is still 48 and far from what an elder should be, her capabilities are definitely top notch." Freya smiled.

"While I do trust your decision and welcome her in with open hands, the disciples aren't so nice. They're suspicious about this elder." Talius frowned.

"I've been hearing quite a few complaints as well. Some of them even said that if she wasn't at least C cla.s.s, we should reject her." Natash followed up, feeling rather annoyed by the disciples reactions. However, it wasn't as if it wasn't uncalled for.

They can't just promote someone without a proper reason.

"Hmm we need a demonstration to let them see her power." Freya suggested.

"There's going to be a recruit demonstration in a week or so isn't there? We can use that chance to show off her skills to prove that she's worth the role." Natash clapped her hands together.

"That's right. The recruitment demonstration will have all the new recruits show off their prowess to the already existing members to prove their worth. It also allows them to decide on whether or not they want to recruit them into their party for any future missions." Talius nodded his head.

'Hmm, that should give me enough time to reach level 50 and potentially cla.s.s up depending on what happens.' s.h.i.+ro thought to herself.

"We'll do that then. s.h.i.+ro will also compete in the recruitment demonstration to prove herself." Freya nodded.