“Yeah, I have multiple questions, for starters, where did we come from? I mean why don’t I remember anything about me but my name?” Damien’s question was one that was lingering in the back of everyone’s head, since they woke up in this world, they had no memories of who they were, they waited anxiously as they stared at the Guild Master.
“That’s a difficult question, you see, even after thousands of years of wanting to figure that out, we still don’t know.”
The Guild Master’s response came like a blow to many of the people here, not knowing where they come from or why they were brought here was demoralizing, except for Damien, his curiosity simply grew, “But you must know some stuff about that right, you guys mentioned that new groups of Climbers come here, how many? How often? Details like that.”
The Guild Master stroked his beard, “We know more or less those details, let me explain more clearly. It happens either everyday or every other day, but new groups are transported to the Center of Beginning, most of the time the group is composed of several people, but it only happens once a day at most. We don’t know where these people come from, just that if they pass Level 0, they will be brought to this Level.”
The information that Damien had wanted had been given to him, but there was still more things he wanted to know, he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the Guild Master, “I am aware you have more questions but in the sake of fairness, I would like to answer other people’s questions too, anyone else?”
It took a second, but several people raised their hands and the Guild Master looked around for a bit before picking a random guy from the crowd, “You, what do you want to know?”
The man was a little nervous as he spoke, “I just want to know how those Levels work, you said that people go to higher Levels than this one, can they go down Levels?”
The Guild Master smiled, “Yes, excellent question. The rules of the System are more clear on this matter so let me explain, you are able to go down and up to any Level you have previously reached, going to the center of the Level will allow the System to teleport you either down or up, depending on where you want to go. That being said, any Human, Elf, Dwarf, or Beastkin is able to go down any Level they have not previously passed the test for. You might be wondering how people would reach a Level without first passing the Level below it, its rather simple, once people stop climbing, its not unusual to find a partner and settle down and have a kid with. That kid will receive a System’s interface like everyone else, but they will not be allowed to take the test of the Level of which they reside in, they will be forced to travel all the way down to Level 1 and take this test to begin their climb. This is very popular and its known as The Descent Ceremony.”
Although this was not one of the questions he had been thinking about, the information given was rather informative, he held no complains, if this kept up he might not have to ask anymore questions.
“Alright you, what is your question?”
The young mage shyly moved her hair behind her hair, the mannerism was noted by Damien, “I was just wondering what happened if you failed a test? Do you… die?”
Nodding at her words, the Guild Master answered, “Well no, it is possible to die from failure of a test, but it is not a direct correlation of the act, you can fail and live to try again depending on the test. A word of warning though, a person can only fail the same Level’s test three times before the System will give you the Reject status effect, it’s an effect that doesn’t run out like many of the others, and once you have it, you are banned from taking the test ever again, so watch out for failing too many times.”
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Turning to the next man who was clearly a warrior, “Next question, please.”
His voice was rough to the point where it seemed to be an attempt to fill the typical warrior stereotype, “What is at the end of these Levels? What do you get when you are done?”
That was very high up on my questions, but I don’t think the answer will be what I am looking for.
“The Frontier is currently Level 96, and the people that are trying to pass this Level are known as Primers. They are given this Title for reaching the highest known Level. We believe that there are 100 Levels, so you guys have arrived at an exciting time. Hopefully, we will find out soon. Alright, next question.”
Figured, the System spoke about the Beginning, and the End, but the way it talked about it, it used the word race… meaning that waiting for others to get there first would not be good, rather it is the worst thing possible, there’s no way of knowing what will happen when someone reaches the End. I need to get stronger.
“I have a question, what are those golems that move around the city? They look scary.”
The Guild Master chuckled at that question, “You are talking about the City Vanguard, they are the protectors of this city, not even Primers would be able to defeat one, they prevent people from killing each other in the city and they exist in every Level, you should feel safe when you see them, haha.”
The sour topic of murder had been brought up nonchalantly, the atmosphere in the room grew tense, “Well, not gonna sugar coat it, people do get killed by other Climbers just as much as monsters, so keep your wits about you. Money, items, knowledge, just about anything that is valuable could end up costing you your life if the wrong people found out, watch out for the Thieves Guild.”
With the topic of their own safety being brought up, people suddenly had more questions that were thrown like a barrage at the Guild Master, “Hold on, I’ll explain the Thieves Guild and the Mercenary Guild at the same time. The Mercenary Guild is sanctioned by the Merchant Guild, and so we are given requests by anyone, the Kingdom, Climbers, and even regular people. These quests can be anything from bodyguard work to monster exterminations, the Mercenary Guild takes a cut of the payment and the actual mercenary is given the rest. The Thieves Guild on the other hand works on the underbelly of society, they will take any job that they are given, anything from assassinations to robbery is on the table if you have the money, they are a nasty bunch so don’t get tangled with them if possible.”
This man was really getting on my nerves, anytime he answers a question he drops two more, the Kingdom? At the least I hope that it is what it sounds like.
“Talk about the Kingdom and the other factions isn’t suitable for this place and would take too long, so I’ll just skip over that, any other questions?” a small period of silence reigned over the room, the Guild Master looked around and finally settled on Damien, “Well if you got any more questions then now is the time to ask me.”
Damien cleared his throat, “I have two more questions, first of all, what makes those ‘unique Levels’ really different, and second of all, how will we prepare for the test on this Level.”
“Oh great questions, let me start with the unique Levels then, Level 1 is a spring world, and so are the next three levels, after that we get four summer Levels and so on so forth, but when we get to the end of the winter Levels, instead of going straight to a spring Level , we go to these unique Levels. These Levels are special not only because their worlds are imbued with magic, but within each one, a Dungeon can be found. These Dungeons increase the rank of nearby monsters and makes living there tough, clearing a Dungeon will reward you greatly though, so if you are up for it, I greatly suggest it. About this Level, normally it is not much more difficult than Level 0, so we will train you guys without strings attached and even give you some better gear, all that we ask is that you consider joining the Mercenary Guild, we are always looking for new talents.”
What followed was simple introductions from people as they tried to get into teams, or parties, they had been informed that the party limit for all Levels from this point on was 12, so many people started to recruit in hopes of making a good party. Even the team that Damien had formed went out to find a stronger party, the still-unnamed elf girl was surrounded by guys asking her to join their team. Damien had considered going into the fray and trying to once again form a party, but considering that the previous time restriction was not in place, he thought it more prudent to take his time and learn more before he got into an arrangement with others, silently he slipped out of the room.
Training won’t start until tomorrow, they are bringing a trainer for each of the starter classes, so I will return for that, but for now… I need more information.