Chapter - 1

Rex Vagus was having a great day. He had just successfully hunted a Monstrous Mammoth and traded the corpse in for 80 Gold. The receptionist had been surprised that someone had successfully killed a B-Ranked beast without damaging the beast's corpse. There could be no dispute either as the Association Card had registered the kill to be legal. The other Beast Hunters hadn't been too surprised. The equipment that Rex was wearing gave off the impression that he was quite skilled. His armor was light, but it gave off a sheen. He was wearing simple black leather gloves along with boots meant for quick movement. His chest and back were covered by a thin and light black armor that had intricate red runes on them. 

It had been three weeks since Rex had encountered the Metal Liger. In the three weeks since then, Rex had tried to stop growing the number of his skills and instead had started to solidify his foundations. The first thing he had tried to get a good grip on was his Unique Ability and the Void Element. He had discovered that while he had great control on the Void Element, he had no other reserves except his Inner Mana to draw from. This puzzled him as he was quite proficient in External Mana Manipulation of the other elements. He had decided to investigate this later. On the other hand, Rex hadn't made any leeway with his UAB. One of the consequences of his repeated attempts to understand his ability had been an unfortunate title.

Because of your reckless attempts to hunt beasts above your capabilities and failing each time, others refer to you as the Suicide Hunter.

You have earned a title: Suicide Hunter

Residents feel either extreme pity for you or loathe you for wasting your life.

This title had let Rex feel what it was like to be an outcast. He had not felt the effects of his old title mostly because many people did not know of him being a survivor of the Black Calamity while those who did were either Travelers or Natives with a different disposition compared to the common residents. Now, people looked at him with the same pity he would have shown a poor crippled child. At first, Rex had been unaffected by it, however, it was when the loathing had started that he had truly started feeling frustrated.

Another change that had occurred was in the form of a 'system announcement'.

[table=darkred]DECREE OF THE GODSThe Gods have decided to remove auxiliary skills such as Running and Swimming from the Skill List.

In addition, the Gods have begun the World Rending Event. This Event is something that will take place over two years, starting now. All Travelers, whether they like it or not, will be part of this Event.

We have decided to warn all Travelers of this Event as this is the reason we have brought you into our world.

Each of you will serve a purpose.[/table]

Rex still hadn't quite figured out why the 'Gods' would announce such a thing. However, it didn't affect him much so he didn't give it much thought. He figured that the more 'Major Guilds' would focus on 'World Events'. 

The players had come to classify 'Quests' or missions in a few different ways, namely: Singular, Local, Area, Country, Continent and World class quests. These usually had a correlation with the rank or difficulty of the quest. Rex usually solved either Singular or Local quests, these quests usually had an impact on a single person or a small area like a village. Rex didn't care much for fame, he was just trying to make a living in the game while having as much fun as he could. At least that had been his original plan. The moment Sano had disappeared coupled with the fact that his Beast Companion had been killed, Rex realized that things were not going to be as fun as he thought.

Today, however, was a good day for Rex. He was going to meet some old friends today and finally, officially start the mission that would establish his 'Guild'. Many 'Guilds' already existed, however, within the world of Novus Mundus where there were already such things such as Profession Guilds and the like, these 'Guilds' were renamed as 'Clans'. Clans had the same functionality as a Players Guild would have in other games. Today would be the first step in helping Rex establish his clan in this world.

During the beginning of the three weeks after Rex's 'Awakening', Regina had reached out to him and told him that Kazmain had asked for every Clan member was to convene at the Arano  Kingdom's capital, Andura.  Rex had since journeyed Northeast until he had reached the hilly kingdom of Arano. Like Evoco, Andura practiced a discrimination-free policy. 

As Rex had journeyed through the kingdom to reach the capital, he had been awed by the different cultural practices. Since the kingdom was located just north of the desert, they had a fairly dry ecosystem and had difficulty hunting as most creatures here were usually reptiles. However, in the world of magic, anything is possible. When the Virule Empire had first annexed the Arano Kingdom, it was barely a gathering of tribes and had been labeled the 'Land of Barbarians'. The Aranians were usually of a sturdy build and were good at fighting, something that made them good mercenaries. The Arano Kingdom soon had a nickname, 'The Mercenary Paradise'.

The Virule Empire is the largest domain that any one race ruled over, the race, this time, being humans. , It was a vast area that spanned from the western coast to the eastern gulf, from the northern mountains to the desert in the south.

Rex walked down the worn city street. The city of Andura was the headquarter city for the Adventurer's Association. Like any typical fantasy game, this place functioned as a good place for people to exchange monster corpses and do 'requests' for money. The city itself had a rough outlook to it. The buildings were quite standard, brick and mortar, open windows, a passable drainage system and well laid out streets. The nobility was of the righteous kind, at least most of them proclaimed to be. The citizens lived quite happily and boisterously. It was the mercenary capital after all.

"Mmh! Today I'm going to beat the crap out of those outrageous morons....no wait....those guys must already be more powerful than me....*sigh*...Let's see..." (Rex)

NameRex VagusRaceHalfling (Draco-Elf)Title (Currently Equipped)Suicide HunterClassNoneProfessionEnchanterPrimary ElementEarthSecondary ElementFireDeviant ElementVoidUnique AbilitySurvivor's InstinctAffinitiesEarth 25%)Wind (18%)Fire (20%)Water (5%)Void (40%)ResistancesLightning (51%)Paralysis (Medium)Void (93%)Physical (20%)Poison (5%)Fire (4%)Skill List

Spoiler :

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Mana Meditation

Mana Sense

Mana Manipulation

Mana Condensation

Earth Manipulation

Fire Manipulation

Void Manipulation

Aura Sense

Enchanting

Wind Manipulation

Physical Skill Set

Sword Fighting (Basic)

Mana Sight

Elemental Weapon Mimicry - Sword

Rex grinned as he looked at his status. He had made considerable progress. The Elemental Weapon Mimicry was something he had tried to do on a whim. It had taken him nearly two weeks to just use that skill and he was sure that he wouldn't master it anytime soon. The Physical Skill Set was mostly basic fighting techniques that he had practiced and added to his skill list in the last week. Mana Sight had been crucial in helping him come up with the idea behind the mimicry skill, simply passing Mana through one's eyes wouldn't do, he had to circulate the Mana through his eyes to create a thin film that would allow him to 'see' Mana. His sight wasn't perfect just yet. In addition to his skills, his enchanted armor set was also a great asset. Apparently Sano had simply handed the blacksmith enchanted materials to work with. The armor improved his overall physical and primary element resistance by 10%. Also, the gloves had an earth enchantment which made it suitable for punching and climbing. His boots were wind enchanted, designed for speed and fast travel.

Rex walked into the inn where he was staying. It was a well-lit place with a bar and ten single rooms and five double. Unfortunately, unlike the high-class inns, it didn't have its cooling system. It was a small place that charged 200 bits per night. The currency system of the world was entirely based on gold. Apparently the world agreed that gold was, more or less, the least useful. A fact that Rex found amusing as gold had been so coveted in his world mostly due to its many uses. In this world, 1 piece of White Gold was worth 100 Gold which was worth 10,000 bits (1WG is 100G and 1G is 100 bits). Other metals in this world were more sought after as they served a better use in combat and against beasts. The only reason White Gold was so precious was because it was gold mixed with silver. Silver was considered a holy metal because of its effects on the undead.

Rex walked up to the innkeeper and asked for his lunch. The innkeeper told him that it would be ready in a few minutes. Rex looked around and found himself a seat near one corner of the establishment. He was used to eating here and listening to the gossip of what was happening around town. As Rex sat down he reminisced to the time after he woke up from his so-called 'Awakening'.  He had woken up in an unknown bed and had found himself alone in his room. He had then been confronted by his sister as to what had happened. Apparently, he had passed out for almost a day. When Rex explained what had happened to him, his sister seemed like she wanted to choke the life out of him. Her exact words had been, "Why is it that ever since you arrived you've been involved in something or the other!? You're just a big lump of disaster walking around!" 

Rex couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered that particular lecture. Sighing, he sank into his thoughts.

'Well....if it was chaos that I wanted then....I got it..*sigh*...' (Rex)

"Is this seat taken?" (???)

"Hmm?" (Rex)

Rex looked up and found two people wearing hooded cloaks looking down at him. The voice he just heard sounded familiar to him but he wasn't sure where he had heard it.

"I'm sorry but, I'm waiting for my friends." (Rex)

"Well...you don't mind if we sit then?" (??)

Rex looked up in surprise as he recognized the second voice. He had heard it not too long ago.

"Nox? Kazmain? What's with the hoods?" (Rex)

"They are traveler cloaks. Good for hiding my handsome face!" (Kazmain)

"You mean to hide your bruises." (Nox)

"Ha ha! I did hear about an old lady beating the crap out of you!" (???)

Rex leaned his head to look around Kazmain to locate the source of the newcomer.

"Selene? Sarah? Ha ha! How are you guys doing?" (Rex)

"It's Fel, Boss. And Selene's Ira. I'm good. How are you? I've been hearing weird stuff from Reg. Is it true you called an Elder Dragon an old man? And shouted at him?" (Fel)

"Well, it's not like I didn't expect it." (Ira)

"Well, looks like everyone is here! Shall we get started?" (Kazmain)

"Wait. What about Mike and Rohan?" (Rex)

"Well Amicus Tork and Caelum, as they like to call themselves, well....the former is kinda far up north....like far up. Don't know how he ended up there. I mean, so far all the Ork players, well the ones I know of, end up in the empire. As for the pervert, well, he ended up becoming an undead cause he got frisky with a Goddess." (Fel)

"...What?" (Rex)

"You heard it right, boss. Anyway, he's doing quite well anyway. He said that Kazmain should hold his position for a bit while he sorts stuff out." (Ira)

"Sorts stuff out?" (Rex)

"Alright, alright let's forget about that bag of bones. We've got a meeting to start." (Kazmain)

"Right. Barkeep! Five drinks and postpone my meal!" (Rex)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello guys,

Here's my rant (which is somewhat IMPORTANT):

I think I'll start writing now. The only problem is the lack of inspiration, motivation, and stuff. I've been reading tons of stuff here recently trying to find the right flow for myself. Did anyone read Sage Fall? Pretty good IMHO. Anyway, things are slowing down for me. I'm going to lose motivation also soon considering that I'm getting a new PC rig (Yay, me!). I'll be interning soon, going to the gym and all that normal life stuff that normal people do. If any of y'all noticed....this is a 2100(approx.) word chapter! And I'd like everyone to comment and give me ideas. Like I've said before- I have an overarching idea but the devil is in the details. Also, I'm more of a one girl romance type guy for novels. So sometime back someone didn't want Haley to be romantic interest numero uno so....go ahead guys. Gimme your opinions.

That's that.

Have fun. Next chapter in a week? Maybe?

Adios. Ciao. Alvida and whatnot.

----------------------------------------

Oh! And please point out any errors! Thanks!