Immediately, my senses were almost overloaded. The clamor of the crowd, the blinding brightness of the sky, and the innumerable pungent smells all conspired to give me a headache. It took me a moment to steady myself before I took in my surroundings.
Dynstad was an impressive city, with countless towering stone buildings as far as I could see. Even a layman like me could see how the stonework was intricate and downright beautiful. And though seemingly everything was made of stone, it still felt lively and vivid, with ever-present banners, flags, and tapestries decorating the stonework. Far off in the horizon, I spotted something of a castle-cathedral hybrid that towered over everything. Its gothic features loomed ominously, a direct and stark contrast to the rest of the city.
Then there were the people. They were far less uniform and planned than the city they inhabited. hundreds of people walked the cobbled streets, from presumed nobility flanked by armored guards to beggars only garbed in scraps and rags. They all gave me a wide berth, or rather, they flowed around a gigantic circle of runes and sigils that seemed to be haphazardly placed in the center of the street.
I wasn't alone in the circle, though. Surrounding me were a few other people, mostly humans, though there were a couple of elves and an orc as well. They all seemed haggard, all wearing very well-worn travelling attire. And all of them kept shooting sidelong glances my way. Not that I could blame them.
I was wearing a set of modest black robes bound at the waist with a blue sash, as well as a pair of well-fitted gloves and boots. That wasn't what caught their attention though. I believe it was the fact that the hood was down and they could plainly see my skull. Why the hell couldn't the system put me in a less exposed spot? If I was able to scowl, I would have.
Speaking of which, I finally noticed my new body, or maybe my lack of one. I was surprised by just how natural it felt. Sure, small things like my balance were shifted and my feeling of temperature was gone, but the rest of my senses were present, even if they were now attached to bone instead of flesh. I was excited to learn more about my new form but that wasn't the time.
In front of our assembled group was a man in flowing white robes, detailed with dozens of woven patterns and each subtly hummed with an unknown power. His face was weathered with age, but his expression was serene, quietly surveying each of us, one by one. I was thoroughly grateful that he didn't look at me any longer than the others. Something about him screamed "danger!", even despite his kindly old appearance.
"I bid you welcome to Dynstad, the greatest city in this or any age", his calm voice projected, piercing the noise of the crowd easily. The boast didn't sound hollow either. His words had a certain and undeniable weight to them, and I found myself hanging onto them intently.
He waved his hands in a sweeping gesture before continuing, "I am certain you all are exhausted from your travels, as the transfer circles are wont to be draining. However, it is my duty to inform you of the various laws of this citadel. Listen to them well, as breaking them have dire consequences."
He paused for what could only be called dramatic effect before saying, "First, abide by the common rules of the land, such as abstaining from theft or murder, but especially do not trifle with the chosen of the goddess Ailuria, as the guard will not prevent them from seeking retribution when they inevitably revive."
Chosen of Ailuria. That was the term that this world used for players. Supposedly, the people here believed that the Chosen came from the heavens to fight against the growing evil that threatened the land. I thought it was an excellent explanation because anything that would confuse an average person about the players would be brushed under the rug, due to their being from the "heavens". That, and the certain amount of reverence that being a Chosen would bring. Though, I had no doubt that attitude would shift to anger or even outright hostility over time. It would be a natural result of being treated like an NPC, even if that was technically true.
"Be wary of the dueling tradition, as it is often used to settle serious disputes. If you are challenged and refuse, your claim is forfeit. Such is our way, that the mighty may not be hindered by the cowardly", he explained.
Ah, that was another thing. Dynstad was a warrior society to its core. From what I read, all sorts of crazy stuff were permitted or even encouraged if you had the combat chops to back it up, and that included much less savory things like slavery. The city was ruled by a council of people whose levels reached into the high hundreds, it was the only way they could keep their seats of power from the tides of challenges that came for them.
"And most importantly, show deference to your betters. Do not make eye contact with those of noble blood, and always obey their commands without fail. That is, unless you wish to spend several eternities in the catacombs", his words not-so-subtly implying the caste system in place. I always hated shit like that.
"That is all. This is the point in the introduction where I would offer assistance to any Chosen of Ailuria, but as there are none among you, I bid you good day", he abruptly ended his speech by blinking out of existence.
Huh, that was strange. Maybe choosing Hardcore Mode made it so that NPCs couldn't tell I was a player? If so, that came with a host of problems, as well as advantages.
After a brief moment where they milled about, the people in the summoning circle began to disperse. Sighing internally, I went to do the same. I had hoped that that guy would stick around so I could ask directions, but it was looking like I would have to do things the hard way.
"Oi! Hold on!", I heard a shout, directed at me.
After a brief moment of hesitation, I turned. Behind me was an elf, and a rather short one at that. Standing around 5' 2", the young elf woman bounding up to me was undeniably cute. Her frizzy ginger hair, splash of freckles, and adorable green eyes all contributed to that cuteness, but what really made it was her smile. Even with a missing tooth, it just seemed so damn genuine.
I was instantly on guard.
"What?", I bluntly asked. Again, I was surprised to hear my own voice. It was smooth and deep, with an undercurrent of authority, even with only a singular word. I really did not remember sounding like that.
"You're new to town, right?", she asked, either ignoring or ignorant of my rudeness, "I would definitely remember a ... eh, face like yours. I'm Lizzy! I recently became an adventurer and I started helping people around! Dynstad can be kind of confusing for a first time visitor to explore, so that's where I come in."
I stifled the urge to ask what was in it for her. She would obviously say it was out of the goodness of her heart or something like that, but I suspected it was to level some skill or lead people down back alleys to get them robbed. I was well aware just how paranoid that sounded, but my intuition didn't often fail me. Or maybe it was my natural hatred of elves that was speaking.
"Sounds fine to me", I flatly responded, "Where can I find the adventurer's guild?"
Each town had one and finding Dynstad's was my first priority.
"Follow me!", Lizzy beckoned, heading straight towards the ominous building I saw earlier.
As we travelled the city, my elf guide rattled off piece after piece of trivia, and pointed out almost every point of interest we came across. As annoying as it became, I did my best to commit as much of it to memory as possible. I needed to know more about this place if it was going to be staying here for awhile.
During our approach, I couldn't help but notice just how large the building we were approaching really was. It easily stretched beyond the clouds. The Chateau, as it was apparently called, was established hundreds of years before the city itself. It was a marvel of magically-enhanced architecture, and modern builders were still learning lessons from it to this day. As I craned my head upward, still not able to take its whole height into view, I couldn't help but agree that the thing was impressive. It was a maze of buttresses, ribbed vaultings, gargoyles, stained glass windows, and features I didn't even have words for. I found myself finding patterns in its construction, which were parts of other patterns, and so on and so on. The tiniest details had echos in the entire web of patterns, like ripples on a surface of water.
You have gained the "Observe" skill!
Was I really staring at it hard enough to earn a skill? Well, whatever. "Observe" was one I was gunning for anyway, as it was deadly useful. From what I understand, it could stack with the perception stat to eventually become monstrously powerful.
I found that my vision could now zoom in slightly and I could pick out details that I didn't see before. Nothing crazy, but I appreciated any help I could get.
Snapping from my reverie, I realized that we had arrived. The Chateau was in a center of its own park, filled with trees and winding paths. I had basically walked through the whole thing without realizing it. Mentally berating myself for my carelessness, I strode up to the entrance.
Flanking the massive door were two men in shining armor, both well over six feet tall with heavily muscled frames. They both had spears by their sides with wickedly sharp points. Their visors were closed, but I could still feel their gazes on me, honed in like a laser sight.
"Hey boys!", Lizzy greeted with a friendly wave.
"Ah, if isn't our little resident guide. Who did you bring today?", one of the guards asked.
"Oh, this is ... erm, what's your name again?", the elf inquired.
"Azin", came my simple reply.
Silence reigned for a moment. Then another. I wondered seriously if I had done something wrong.
"You, uh ... you sure about that?", the guard who hadn't spoken yet hesitantly probed.
"That's my name, yeah", I certified, making sure my voice wasn't shaking.
"Um. You probably don't know since this is your first time here, but there's a guy who went by that name a while back. It's got some baggage with it", Lizzy explained.
"You could say that again", the first guard agreed, "I'd like to slap some sense into whoever named you after a damn lich."
I facepalmed. Great, just like me to choose such a shitty name. What made it worse was that I knew for a fact that a name could never be changed. Well, it couldn't be helped.
"If I see my master again, I'll be sure to knock some sense into him myself. This was probably funny to him", I grumbled.
It was a good thing I worked out a good backstory for Azin already, one that I was definitely proud of. But I wasn't about to info-dump it onto these total strangers, that would be the mark of a rank amateur. It would be much better to pepper tiny details about it here and there. The backstory lie had been carefully constructed to generate pity, amusement, or curiosity, depending on what I shared from it. It would be a key factor in effectively socializing with people without giving away that I was a player.
You have gained one point of charisma.
Good to see that the system saw the merit in what I was doing. Though it did surprise me to gain a point of charisma so quickly, as my affinity with that stat was pitifully low.
"Yeah, definitely do that, bones", the second guard laughed, "Anyway, where you headed?"
I was glad that awkward moment had passed.
"The adventurer's guild", came my immediate answer.
After waving their hands a bit in a complicated gesture, both guards gripped a door handle each and swung it open. Lizzy had explained that the Chateau had well over a thousand rooms and it was much larger than it was on the inside than the outside due to spatial magic. Each door served as a portal to any other room, and that included the front door.
Both my guide and I walked in and the doors shut behind us not long after. I found myself in what could only be called a stereotypical tavern, complete with grimy furniture, merry song, and a bar lining the back wall. Everything was made of wood, so that combined with the warm murmur of conversation and the smell of booze gave it quite the cozy atmosphere. Everyone present seemed to be at least somewhat competent, and I couldn't really find a single person without a weapon.
I walked to the bar, careful not to bump into anyone or arouse any undue attention. Though I couldn't stop the stares I felt every now and again.
Arriving at the bar, I found it unmanned, though that wasn't for long. I heard the screech of wood on wood and saw a gnome woman clamber onto and sit on a stool, placing her hands onto the bar. She was pretty, damn pretty at that. Her jet black hair fell down to her waist, contrasting with her pale skin. She wore form-fitting leather armor that accentuated her very pronounced curves. I had never been one to stare at pretty ladies before, but I found myself spellbound, at least for a moment. I managed to shake myself free of her charms almost instantly. Her violet eyes seemed for a second to be disappointed.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"Well, well. I didn't expect you to find such an interesting character, Lizzy", the gnome's voice was velvety and sweet, almost unnaturally so.
"Heh heh", the elf laughed a bit, "I am pretty great, yeah."
"I was looking to join the guild and sign up for adventurer's academy", I made no effort to hide my haste. Something about this woman told me not to interact with her for an extended period of time.
"What's the rush? I'm Adrianne, by the by. I'm sure we can ... get to know each other before we get down to business", she flawlessly deflected my request.
"Oh, come off of it, Addy! I don't think I need to remind you that the boss told you to stop trying to pull that stuff", Lizzy saved me.
Just what "stuff" that was, I had no idea, and I honestly preferred it that way.
"You're no fun", the gnome pouted for a moment before recovering, "Alright, if that's what you came to do, then the process is fairly simple. All I need to do is look over your full status, ask a few questions, and then I'll start you off at bronze level. You'll be able to take on bronze and silver level quests and take bronze level classes for free. Sound good?"
I nodded, taking off my glove and offering my skinless hand to her, palm up. I was already aware of the process, but I dared not interrupt her.
She took my hand gently, quietly tracing the contours of each knuckle before smirking. I was very uncomfortable.
"Full status", Adrianne finally broke the silence.
The next few minutes were her scanning screens, which seemed invisible to me. Her eyes widened more than a few times.
"I ... you ... wow", she stammered, finally pulling her hand away.
Pulling out a ledger from under the bar, she began scribbling away, muttering to herself every now again.
Lizzy and I exchanged a glance.
"Okay! I think I've got it all now. You are one impressive bag of bones for your level, Mr. Azin", Adrianne brightly said, "Your affinities, abilities, and that one skill in particular are spectacular."
I made a point to scratch behind my head meekly before responding, "Yeah, my master said something about me being his pet project. Wish he was as sane as he was competent though."
"Hmm. And who is this master of yours?", the gnome inquired, interest apparent.
"He gave me orders to keep that under wraps, sorry", I answered with regret. Having a small amount of mystery to me would give things a bit of spice.
"Ah, I understand", Adrianne nodded sagely, "I think I may have an idea of who your master is then. Anyway, let's get onto those questions so we can finalize your entry into the guild."
The next few minutes were filled with a myriad of questions, some bland like a favorite color, other intensely personal, like first love. I couldn't exactly figure out how this was relevant to being an adventurer, but I answered nonetheless, taking care to fortify my background lie as much as possible.
"Al~right! You're pretty much set up, Mr. Azin. Here", she concluded, handing me a simple bronze card with my name on it, "Good luck on your adventures. You can come talk to me any time if you have any questions. Hell, it would be nice to chat even if you didn't."
I hummed my assent, studying the card, before requesting, "Can you teach me the portal commands to a few rooms?"
She did so gladly, teaching me the ones to access the training hall, the guild room, the grand library, and a few others.
Making my way off, I gave a goodbye wave to the two women. Both gave off the impression that there was more to them that meets the eye, so I decided to be careful around them.
This was probably the point where a player would take a quest and get started on levelling, so I should do the same, right? Nope, absolutely wrong. That would inevitably lead to a dangerous situation, and I didn't even have a usable spell as yet! Instead, I would focus on getting new skills and spells, raising them to a higher level, and increasing my stats as high as possible. Yup, it was grinding time and it would be for the foreseeable future. Well, I did have a hard limit, and that was my stats. There was a cap to how high you could raise them and that depended on your affinities. So not only did the speed of the stat gain depend on the affinity, but so did the limit. At MAX affinity, I would be able to raise the stat by 300 points at most, until I reached level 100. After every 100 levels, I would be able to raise that stat another 300 points.
So the limits are as follows:
MAX - 300
Very High - 200
High - 100
Medium - 50
Low - 25
Very Low - 10
Of course, this grinding only plan would probably sound ludicrous to your average player, but I wasn't your average player.
You have gained one point of will and one point of intelligence.
Oh yeah, it was definitely grinding time.
----------------------------------------
I left the library with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. I had spent the whole night trying to research the "Flow" skill and I had nothing to show for it. It didn't matter if it was a historical account, skill catalogue, or even hearsay, the skill was mentioned in name only and rarely at that. The only impression that I garnered was that it was nigh mythical and regarded as a legend rather than actual fact.
On the plus side, I did gain a few points of will and intelligence and the "Research" skill. I was already feeling the effects of the boost. My steps felt moved with more purpose than before and information became easier and quicker to digest. If this was only a handful of points, I was very excited to see the power of more.
Another reason I wasn't too miffed about spending the whole night researching was that it was too late to start classes when I signed up anyway. All of the classes I was interested in took place in the morning.
First came the craftsman class, which I was now standing in line for. The training hall was beautiful, with the entire left wall covered in stained glass and the right marked with countless doors. It was literally a hall, and one that seemed to stretch onward to infinity. Not many people stood in line in front of the bronze door, the number easily under ten. I guessed that being both a craftsman and an adventurer was a rarity, or maybe the few that arrived signed on exclusively for the free classes.
Those lined up generally talked amongst themselves and occasionally shot pointed glances my way. I got flashbacks to when I was still in school, when I was treated much the same way. Well, being an outsider wasn't all bad. It gave me more time to my own thoughts, which practically buzzed with anticipation.
The door suddenly creaked open and the line subsequently filed in.
The classroom was huge, much larger than needed for a class our size. The rest of the students seemed to realize this, as they took seats closer to the podium rather than farther. I took a seat in the dead center of the body of students. From my experience, that was better than sitting on the edges because it helped you to blend in more thoroughly. The kids that thought they were being sneaky sitting in the back of the class near the windows almost always got a rude awakening when they started getting bullied, in my real life classes.
Seat politics aside, class was starting. Standing behind the podium was a tall tanned man with blonde hair and an easy smile. His laid back expression was belied by his sharp eyes.
"Hello and welcome to bronze-level craftsman class. I am your instructor, Anton Lowery. If that doesn't sound right to you, then you can leave now", he beamed.
A dwarvish woman hurriedly left at that prompting.
"There's always one. Anywho, let's jump right into things", he chortled, pulling out a small block of wood and a carving knife from the podium, "Today will be mostly free-form. I see a few new faces, so I'll need to appraise your skills myself."
With practiced and rapid motions, Anton neatly transformed the hunk of wood into a small figurine of a princess and the details were startlingly lifelike. After his demonstration, he began handing out identical hunks of wood and knives to the class.
"Now don't worry if you can't accomplish the same level of polish as I did. Just focus on making your vision a reality", he said simply, as if that was the easiest thing in the world.
I carefully took off my gloves, figuring it would be better if cut my bone than ruin the gloves.
Then I began trying to think of something within my skill range to carve, but I kept coming up blank. Frustrated, I began idly twirling the knife around in my hand. It was no larger than a pen, the object that I learned the twirling trick with in the first place. I began noticing the subtle details about the knife. The heft, the balance, the blade ... all of it was exquisite. Just how expensive was this thing anyway, and why would it be handed to a bronze-level student like me?
I was suddenly struck with an idea. I reached out into the corner of my mind and pulled. I could feel my inner wellspring of mana flicker to life, engulfing me with a sensation that I couldn't identify as either extreme heat or extreme cold. Tentatively, I grabbed hold of the cloud of mana. It resisted me at first, but I knew how to handle it, guiding the cloud with firm intention rather than brute force. I had learned at least this much about mana manipulation from a combination of the skill, my own research, and experimenting with it last night. Slowly, ever so slowly, I poured some mana into the carving knife.
Immediately, the knife glowed with a dull blue aura, as runes lit up on the blade.
Mana Control has increased to Apprentice rank Level 3.
I was only slightly disappointed that I didn't gain a skill like "Mana Infusion", but it made sense to have that sort of thing under the umbrella of "Mana Control".
Picking up the knife, I could already feel the difference. It was obviously enchanted and that enchantment seemed to be either activated or supercharged by the mana I put into it. Either way, it seemed downright eager to cut into the wood, easily shearing off a paper-thin slice of it like the wood was made of nothing but air.
After that discovery, I found that I had an idea of what I wanted to carve after all and I set to work after it.
The other students were having some difficulties. Their creations were turning out to be less than great, often looking blocky and covered in splinters. It seemed that the knife, in its normal state, was simply too dull to do more than hack away at the wood.
Anton was going from person to person, encouraging them and giving pointers on how to work within the limitations, before stopping at my desk.
"Hmm. This is interesting", he murmured, picking up my carving, "Totally smooth. No splinters either."
I had chosen a simple sphere, the size of an apple. I was surprised at just how flawless the simple design came out, and I had leveled up "Dexterous Hands" twice as a result.
"Why a ball, may I ask?", Anton questioned.
"I figured doing something simple to perfection would be better than something complicated but flawed", came my honest answer.
The man guffawed at that and roughly slapped my back, clearly pleased. I nearly toppled over at the incredible power of that playful slap, and I made a note to not mess with Anton.
"Good answer! Though, you should know this: a craftsman must always strive for perfection, but perfection is impossible. It's in the trying and failing that we learn to be the best version of ourselves", he imparted, and I took those words to heart. To bone. Whatever.
It was then that I realized that Anton had made that delicate princess statue with a dull knife. The man was full of surprises and I was more than excited to learn from him.
Returning to the podium, Anton coughed to get the class' attention.
"Well now, I'm pleased with you guys and I've got a better handle on your personalities and abilities, so today was a resounding success!", he claimed, despite the majority of the class only creating misshapen blocks, "So, I'll only ask one question. How does a craftsman level up?"
One human man raised his hand immediately before replying, "By increasing crafting skills?"
"A good guess but no", Anton shook his head, "Yes, you. In the back."
"Via combat?", she hesitantly offered.
"Oh gods, no. Could you imagine an old alchemist granny dungeon delving to level up? Out of the question", he rejected, to a round of laughter in the class.
It seemed as if the class was stumped. Reading the atmosphere, Anton slipped back into that easy smile of his.
"Craftsmen are unique amongst the other classes. We create, and only create. We thrive not on the field of combat, but in the workshop. And so, it stands to reason that we gain power by creating", he lectured, "The more thrilling, inventive, and novel our creations, the more we level up. I've taken the liberty of shutting of any experience gained from our lesson today so that I could explain this to you in full."
With a snap of his fingers, a screen appeared.
Craftsman has increased to Level 3.
You now have 10 free points to distribute to a stat of your choice.
The fact that Anton could simply turn off experience gained was very impressive. I assumed it had something to do with a "Mentoring" skill or something similar, at least I hoped so. If he just had the power to turn off experience, that would be frightening.
But I had a bigger problem, and I waited until the class was shuffling out to talk to my professor about it.
"Oh, is that the case, then? Hmm, an interesting problem", He nodded, "If you're so keen on holding back your level, there's an option in the menu for that. Here, let me show you how."
And with a few well placed clicks, I was now permanently a level 3 craftsman. At least, I would be until I turned level gain back on. Once I did, all the levels would be gained at once. It would be a huge windfall, and an excellent start when I actually began focusing on levelling up.
After a quick thank you, I bolted off to the next class, which was no doubt already starting.
It turned out that I was right on the money, as the bronze door was already ajar with a line of students entering in. It would seem as if wizard class had more interest than the craftsman class by the number of people participating. As I entered, I counted just under 30 students.
I sat down, again in the dead center of the class. It didn't take long for the rest of the class to find their seats but it seemed as if the professor was running late.
The low conversations of my classmates were actually quite relaxing as they blended together into a collection of garbled nonsense. That is, until I heard a shrill laugh, followed by a loud giggle. It would have been fine if it had ended there, but the conversation around that noise was particularly loud and annoying. But there was something ... familiar about that particular brand of annoying.
I spun around in my chair to face the source. There was a gaggle of girls who had pushed their desks together and were chattering incessantly. They were varied, with one being taller than the guards at the front door, another with what could only be called a halo, and even a lizardfolk girl. At the center of their little circle was the source of their squabble, a handsome human older teenager with pitch black hair and chestnut eyes.
As suspicion turned to confirmation, I loudly groaned and buried my face in my hands. Apparently it was loud enough to get the attention of the boy in question, who looked at me in worry.
Yup, that was my brother and his annoying harem.