It was evening and Lukas was in his hotel room along with his wives.

Akira leaned back in her chair, covering a yawn with the back of her hand.

"You’re right though, the skill she used was consistent with the [Druid] class. Everything fits," she said.

"The vines erupted from the ground instead of on her body, they showed signs of growth instead of being summoned from somewhere else, and the fact that they were wet enough to resist fire means they have a measure of life within them."

She turned to look at Lukas. "It does fit but I wouldn’t call it a confirmation. After all, there’s no guarantee that only the [Druid] class has access to this skill."

"The Personality Phenomenon could also apply in this case, so we can’t pinpoint what her second skill could be even if she was a [Druid]," Melody said.

Lukas looked at her. "What’s that?"

"Two people can awaken the same class and receive different skills from each other." She set her elbows on the table. "Another way to explain it is that not every [Thief] starts with [Lockpick] and [Pickpocket] as their first skill, and not every [Necromancer] starts with [Resurrect] and [Death Bolt]."

"The criteria is unknown, but personality, circumstances, or something else about the individual influences which skills they manifest at awakening. Though most people awaken the same thing for each class to have a constant."

She paused.

"And as they advance, the divergence becomes more pronounced. Apparently, two people with the same class can end up with almost entirely different skill sets by the time they reach Elite."

Lukas thought about that. Even if Morgana was a [Druid], knowing the class didn’t tell him what skills she was actually carrying.

"Did she really say she was coming to visit?" Akira asked, her expression somehow holding both skepticism and curiosity.

"That’s what she said," Lukas confirmed.

Melody shook her head. "I doubt she actually—"

Three knocks landed on the door and the room went quiet.

All three of them looked at the door, then at each other.

Lukas stood slowly, crossed the room, and opened it.

The moment he saw who was there, he froze.

This was Ryan and Dominik. He recognized them immediately, of course.

The tall, bald one being Ryan, and the shorter, more animated one being Dominik, both from the Iron Fist guild, and both A-rank.

These were the same two men who had descended from the sky on a column of air a month ago in the Scorched Forest and healed him while he was bleeding on the ground.

His guard came up before he had consciously decided to raise it.

Dominik caught the expression and laughed, raising both hands. "Easy, easy. We are not here about Liam. No hard feelings on that front, I promise you."

Ryan stood beside him with his arms folded, his bald head catching the hallway light.

"Genuinely." His voice was dry but sincere. "The boy needed to learn that caution exists for a reason. I am glad someone taught him."

"Then why are you here?" Lukas asked.

"Could we come in?" Dominik asked.

Lukas paused.

Then Melody and Akira appeared behind him, drawn by the voices.

The reaction from the two visitors was immediate and split in the most predictable way possible.

Ryan’s eyes moved between Melody and Akira with the involuntary assessment of an experienced Awakener registering their threat level, then froze at what he felt.

There were two S-ranks inside the hotel room. His expression changed and he immediately grew more wary.

Dominik’s reaction was entirely different.

"Another one?!" He stared at Lukas with an expression of profound personal offense. "There are two of them now?"

He fully turned to Lukas. "Please tell me the secret. I need to know. How are you doing this? What am I doing wrong with my life?"

"Dominik," Ryan said.

"I am asking a serious question—"

"Be serious."

"I’m being serious! This is a matter of life and death, you know."

"Whose—"

"Mine! My life and death!"

"If you don’t shut up, I’ll bash your head in with a stone."

That seemed to do it as Dominik closed his mouth, though the expression on his face suggested the question was not going away. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Akira spoke from behind Lukas’s shoulder, her voice filled with amusement. Lukas was sure she was enjoying the whole situation. "Why don’t you let them in?"

Lukas glanced between them both.

Dominik still had his hurt expression on his face but Lukas could tell the man was aware of the threat both women represented but was choosing to play dumb.

Lukas finally stepped back from the doorway.

Ryan and Dominik finally entered.

Lukas closed the door behind them, turned to face the room, and looked between his two visitors.

Then he led them to the round table and took his seat.

Ryan and Dominik also sat in the chairs across from him.

As for Melody and Akira, they remained standing behind him, which Lukas noted produced a slight but visible awareness in both visitors.

Particularly Ryan, who kept his posture carefully neutral, fully conscious that in this room right now, they both outranked him.

"So," Lukas said, what’s the purpose of this visit?"

Ryan folded his hands on the table. "I’ll be direct. We spent the better part of two days trying to find where you were staying. Hotels don’t give out guest information easily."

He paused, before finally speaking. "We would like to formally invite you to join the Iron Fist guild."

"No," Lukas said.

Dominik leaned forward immediately. "Please don’t do that. Don’t just say no before you’ve heard what’s on the table."

He spread his hands. "We came all the way here, found you after two days of looking, and sat down properly. The least you can do is listen."

Lukas looked at him for a moment.

Then he leaned back in his chair and lifted one hand in a loose, open gesture.

"Then make your offer," he said. "I’m listening."