The adapting was a weird experience. Really, really weird. Probably because of those beings they called Aspects. Their blessing and a ritual they did allowed us to awaken our soul's potential. Souls. That was another thing.
'Souls are real.'
"Earth would be turned upside down."
"Most Worlds are when the barrier drops."
I turned towards the man next to me. We had been put into pairs and told to explore the city after being fed common sense and information until our minds hurt. We were also given common clothes and some money. I had been put with one of the people who appeared by themselves. Torsenilius Et Orion. He said just to call him Senet since, in his words, his longer name being said reminded him of his mother calling him when he fucked up.
I could relate.
'Anytime my middle name was said I knew I was in deep trouble.'
My head shook as I tossed those thoughts away and focused on the task and the choice I had to make.
'We can be sent back. It's just time to choose whether we want to go back or not. And, whether we will fight the Anima like we were summoned to do.'
The basic information we learned was on our continent's basic geography as well as some history whereas the quote unquote, advanced, information was on the Statuses and Races alongside the four Professions.
"Are there only four?"
"Professions?"
Senet seemed confused. Though perhaps growing up in a world with this, barrier, gone meant that all of this was common sense.
'Still, do they even question any of this? It makes sense if they wouldn't if they've lived with it all their life.'
"It'd be best if you didn't say that in front of any scholars."
"What?"
"Even if you don't say it, you were underestimating a ton of races just now. All beings from new worlds are inherently arrogant because they don't have all of the universe's history or understand the lengths or depths some races went to uncover knowledge. No, there aren't four but there are only four on this planet because it can't take the weight of more of them. I can't explain in depth because I'm not a scholar but I do know enough history to say you shouldn't underestimate the curiosity for knowledge or the insanity some races went to just to learn. Just look for it in the right places and you'll understand things."
I was speechless.
"What, didn't expect me to know so much? Because I look like a brute? I try my best to keep that façade. It makes it easier for me to kill those off-guard when I figure out their class or gimmick."
"...well, dang. I'm sufficiently impressed. I do apologise though because I don't internalize these kind of things easily, I might be rude without knowing again later."
"It'll take time or someone to tell you in depth but I can understand that. I still haven't understood some things despite knowing them. I likely never will. So worry not Dwight, things like that take time."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
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"-lith, a sub-species of giant that covers or turns themselves into pillars when they reach the end of their lifespan so they can help keep their future buildings stable. These pillars are us-"
"You're rambling again."
"Huh?"
I shook my head.
'These humans that come from a barrier world are interesting, though their attention span and focus could use some work.'
My wing pain flared again, it disturbed my focus long enough for the human to have somehow gotten some sort of skewer from somewhere. They noticed my confusion.
"Want some? It's pretty good, I was told it was made from a Thith. Whatever that is."
"A bird-type monster if I remember correctly. It's raised and culled since it gives a decent amount of experience to those below Tier 3 and it is a reasonably tasty monster."
"Interesting. It tastes much better than anything on Earth."
"Of course it does. Any possible food you made on your planet is sorely lacking compared to our universe's food."
"Well, yeah, the wider universe has most likely billions of years of history with a lot of ideas developed throughout many years. I'll be surprised for a long time by a bunch of things you might find normal."
"It is like that for all newly opened planets. The curiosity and hunger for knowledge even rivals a tenth of the Elder Fae."
I noticed the rambling begin again, triggered by my mentioning of the Elder Fae.
"Elder Fae, or Elder Fairies, masters of illusion and the closest to their ancestral race, their curiosity is second only to their ancestors and their hunger for knowledge is arguably even greater. They are greatly ang-"
"Stop."
"Huh?"
A Fae floated by us in the next second. Tier 0 or 1 at most by their energy level. Probably a librarian class of some sorts since they were absorbed in a book. We watched the Fae go by as I felt the side of my clothes tugged on. His voice shook a little.
"Why are Fae angered by their size being mentioned?"
I hesitate.
"It is not my story to tell."
"But aren't you part Fae?"
I froze. I turned toward him to see his eyes glowing slightly. My soul vision activated subconsciously and my eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. His soul had a string connected to his eyes.
'He has Soul Vision... not only that but... it's damaged. His entire soul is damaged.'
I stayed stock still for a while before he seemed to get nervous and let go of my clothes to scratch the back of his head.
"S-sorry, I probably brought up bad memories. Forget I mentioned it."
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
He walked forward, his focus changed towards the surroundings, once again marvelling at most things.
'His soul... why is it so damaged, he should be in excruciating pain yet appears to feel nothing. Ah, this isn't good. My curiosity is flaring again.'
My metaphysical wings twitched once more.
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I walked slowly but surely, my destination was the Mercenary guild I was informed of. Earth never had anything like it on the scale it is. My partner, one of the SS, Solo Summoned, was coming with me since we both wanted to see this guild. Kayode, Dwight and Enitori were all looking at different things like we planned and I, the great Kacey Myl, was in charge of finding out about the Mercenary Guild before we reconvened.
I pulled up my status screen for the 18th time, still partially unbelieving.
Name: Kacey Myl Title: (No Title) Race: Human Racial Skill(s): Socialite Path: Magic Class: None Tier: 0 Level: 0 Affinities (Level/Rank): Fire (5/A-), Metal (4/C+) Stats:
Strength 2 Agility 7 Dexterity 10 Endurance 4 Energy Density 1 Energy Reservoir 1 Cognitive Speed 10 Aura 1
General Skills None Class Spells None Ability Spells None Constitution None Unique Ability None
Of the four Professions, I had to pick Magic. It wasn't even a question. Using Magic was the dream of many on Earth and I'd be among the few who would have it.
The others definitely sounded interesting but not interesting enough for me to pick them.
'No bonus stats or anything which sucked. Not to mention the stats. Why is it 36 for humans and higher or lower for others? Is it a difference in size or is there a-'
"We're here."
My thoughts were cut off as my SS pair informed me that we arrived. Now, before we came here, I was told it was organized and grand. I can say that I underestimated it quite a bit despite being informed of that.
To start with, the very first room, the reception area and door was at least 10 times my height -I was 1.72 meters tall- probably taller, and most likely designed for the bigger races and beings. Then there were the other noticeable things, stairs on either side of the inside entrance leading up to a kind of first and a half floor with stairs to the second. Everything was made of this weird, brick-like wood. Sounded like wood, felt like wood, smelled like wood, looked like brick.
The inside was beautiful and well-lit with what I can only assume are strategically placed Chandeliers on the ceiling. There were 5 reception desks. One for those the size of a human, One for those the size of a Bear standing, and one I can only assume is for those the size of a Giraffe. The other two seemed to be for different things given they had larger desk space, perhaps selling resources and something else.
My and my partner lined up at the human-sized desk queue.
It took a few minutes, the receptionists were insane at their job. Person after person was handled and whatever they came for was done within seconds of informing the receptionist. Anything I read told me not to underestimate receptionists and this just enhanced that belief. But we got there at last.
The receptionist was an Oni, a race famed for their traditions and honour.
'Treat them like a normal person, respect them, don't take up time.'
"Hello, is there a guide or ruleset we can look at on how the mercenary guild works?"
"Yellow door down at the end of the hall to your left, the lecture will start in," they glanced at something, a clock I presume. "7 minutes. Follow the basic common sense, have patience and most of your questions will be answered in there. You're rather lucky, the Guild Master will be lecturing today."
"Thank you."
We went to the left and found said yellow door after a bunch of others. This place was massive, each door was at least 30 meters apart with the actual hall probably being somewhere in the 300s.
We entered, finding ourself in what I could only describe as a College lecture room, complete with desks and stairs to higher desks. There was no ceiling and the larger desks were at the back of the hall, presumably for larger races. Most desks had already been taken, people looked visibly excited and there were even some people who looked like veterans excited too. Me and the man I came with, Spiros Insin, sat near the front at one of the empty desks.
On each desk was a notebook and a brochure, along with a what looked like a pen and two pots of ink.
After taking stock of what I had, I looked to the front, at the lectern and lecturer.
'The receptionist said that the Guild Master is lecturing today, so that's the Guild Master?'
At the lectern was a tall and lean person with a rather ambiguous body, they could be a woman or a man. Their facial features were covered by a white full face mask with a black whirlpool on it, their hair was noticeably ocean blue and even tied into a right-shoulder hanging braid reached their chest. There was a kind of aura they gave off, I felt it even when 15 meters away.
The wait was not long after as the Guild Master checked a watch of sorts then spoke with a voice as ambiguous as their body, neither male nor female.
"Right then, I will begin the lecture. I haven't done one of these in a while so bear with me. You're all mostly Greenhorns so I'll start with the basics and answer questions about those before I do in-depth questions from our Starred Veterans. Understood?"
"Yes Sir!"
I jumped in my seat a little as tons of people said it almost at the same time.
'Refer to them as Sir, got it.'
"Now then, I'll start with the boring history first and then we can get into the workings.
The Mercenary Guild was made by me and was simply another organisation for quite a while, I recruited archivists and explorers and was mainly an exploration guild at the start. It branched out as we started taking requests for other things for a while before I laid the foundation to become a multi-faceted organisation. Covering almost everything from Exploration and Instruction to Combat and Alchemy.
It was around 20-ish years after I branched out that the Cataclysm happened and I decided to take matters into my own hands. I formed a contract and alliance with the Four Kings of the city we are in, Quadra Maximus, QM as most call it. They then funded the Mercenary Guild in exchange for things I won't mention or bother getting into.
With that, this became the home base and headquarters and branched out into other cities and even some villages as everyone recovered from the cataclysm and its effect on our world.
Our world become much, much larger than it was before and tons of mutations, resources and new beasts popped up. I can proudly say we archived 33% of information on Fauna and Flora in Variega.
Now then, that's really all you need to know on the basic history of the Guild, if you want to learn more, go to the Library or ask a Yellowhorn."
'Well damn. All four kings? We only met one and were terrified. This dude spoke in front of all four and made it out alive and with benefits? No wonder they're respected... or is it for another reason?'
I noted down all I could remember and prepared for the explanation that was to follow.