This city was interesting. Stone buildings next to wooden ones, food carts and stalls littered the areas I rode through. It was alive and that was different. Beseria had been a country in decline, its cities almost deserted and its towns abandoned, but this place, Klangdor, was not, it was full of energetic people. And besides the stalls, Jaeger also met new... people. He hesitated to call them anything else, for while some were simply people like him, others were completely different.

From the gate to the guild, he passed many strange people. A man covered in scales was running some kind of noodle stand, a being that looked like a wolf and a man had merged was selling hats. Jaeger had understood that he was somewhere new and different, but now he couldn't shake the idea that he might be in the land of the gods. This was reinforced by something flying quickly over his head, he couldn't identify it more clearly than its human shape as it flew past him. He leaned a little closer to Ventress, who was taking all of this better than he was, and hurried her to the Guild.

Soon, the Adventurers' Guild came into view. It stood alone, occupying a small section of the city. As he approached, he dismounted Ventress and tethered her to a nearby area. He fed her a few carrots from his saddlebag and took a deep breath before entering. A body met him as he entered and pushed him back out.

“I told you what would happen if you pulled that stunt again, didn't I? Now leave, you're banned from the guild. I don't need scum like you tarnishing our reputation.” A fierce voice shouted from inside the building.

The person who had been thrown into Jaeger pushed away. A man in finely crafted leather armor emerged, twin scimitars sheathed at his hip. He spat at the building, glared at Jaeger, and then walked away. Watching the man leave, Jaeger noticed something about him; he had large ears that ended in a pointed tip. He shook his head and moved into the building.

“I told you, you're banned! Oh, you're not Garran. In fact, I don't recognize you at all.”

The fierce voice belonged to a four-armed giantess, she wore some kind of full-body robe, and try as he might, he could not remember her features except for the patterns on her arms. She didn't seem to have anything against Jaeger, but her tone hadn't gotten any friendlier. He thought it best to clear things up quickly.

“I'm new to the city. One of the gatekeepers told me to come here and talk to the guild about a guide.”

She moved closer and examined him.

“Hmm. You an adventurer?”

“No.”

She tilted her head, took him in fully, and then seemed to come to a conclusion. She snapped her lowered hand behind her.

“Ma'am, we talked about this. You can't just snap at the attendants, it's rude and we don't know what you mean. We're not telepaths, except for Lucy, and you know she only works nights.”

“Ah, Lisette, my favorite guild member. If you could escort this man here to one of the introduction rooms, please. He needs an O-class intro.”

“Oh, oh, by the goddess. I've never done this before; this should be fun. Come on, mysterious stranger.”

Jaeger felt lost, but his gut told him to follow the new woman. As he followed her to this room of introduction, he took a look at the guild. It was filled with a large number of people; some like him, others more fantastic or divine. The only thing they had in common was the feeling they all gave off, a feeling of danger. From the man with the full plate armor and the big sword, to the tiny figure holding a cup with both hands in the corner. Everyone here was dangerous in some way, it reminded Jaeger of the few times he'd encountered other bounty hunters.

“Right through here, please. I don't know if you heard, but my name is Lisette, and I'll be helping you adjust to this world. An O-class intro is for Outworlders, it's a mix of a magical presentation and me actually talking.”

Lisette led him into a room as she began to speak, setting up a device and waving her hand over it. She must have been a goddess, because the device began to glow as if full of lightning. She snapped her fingers and it flashed. Something ran over Jaeger's whole body, it felt like a firm and soft blanket over his whole body and then it tingled. Then he blacked out.

Stolen novel; please report.

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

“Hello, mysterious stranger? Hello?”

He came to groggy, feeling like he'd just finished celebrating a big bounty. But when Jaeger opened his eyes, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room, and then he remembered. The Guild, Lisette, the glowing device. He jumped to his feet in alarm and immediately fell back into the couch he'd been sitting on.

“Calm down there. Oh man, I don't know if this is normal or not. Okay, calm down. I used this integration machine and it seems to have affected you more than expected.”

Jaeger blinked a lot, struggling to take in her words as he tried to move his body. He was both numb and sore, and it was hard to move.

“What did you do to me?”

“Ah, you are awake. Okay, this magi-tech gives you the details that anyone from this world would naturally understand. Little things and big, we have to use it with Outworlders because we don't know what you don't know and let alone with you don't know you don't know. This includes common laws, magic, classes, general understanding of the system, and more. If you have been so badly affected, then you are not only an Outworlder, but you were brought here deliberately uninformed and without key body and mind integrations. They've now been applied, so if you feel weird that is the reason why.”

As he sat there listening to her, he could feel his body warming up and slowly responding to him. He could move more and more. When she stopped, Jaeger had finally regained control and he felt different. Like there was more to him than before, it was hard to describe. Jaeger just knew that there was more to who he was now. Then a warmth spread over his arms, quickly turning into a flash of pain. He must have screamed or something, because the next thing he knew, Lisette was running to his side, taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves.

There were tattoos on Jaeger's arms. They resembled chains, running from his elbow to his wrist, which they seemed to coil around. The pain traced the tattoos and filled them in. Slowly the tattoos went from outlines to fully detailed silver chains. When the last bit was colored the pain disappeared, abruptly no lingering pain, just gone.

“What is this?”

“Hmm, silver chains across the forearm. Intriguing. Soulbound, perhaps, or magical abilities tied to his class.” Lisette muttered to herself, looking at and poking at his tattoos.

He moved his arms away from her and asked her again.

“What is this?”

“Oh, right. Well, stranger, these are magical tattoos. Either from soulbound equipment or a magical ability from your class. Either way, they're not a common ability, if I had to guess, this is something that was rewarded to you. For what, I don't know.”

“Well, we can deal with my new tattoos later. How about you explain why I had to come here in the first place? The guard didn't say why, he just heard my class and sent me here.”

“What class?”

“Bounty Hunter.”

“That would do it. You're a combat class. Any guild could have done most of this and even helped you as an Outworlder. But not many are able to offer you the same kind of support that we can for your class. And of those that can, we happen to be the ones with the least restrictions.”

He almost asked what a combat class was, but as Jaeger thought about it, the information came to his mind. A combat class was just that, a class that focused on combat. Bounty Hunter was one of them. There were combat classes and non-combat classes, you could use both, but combat classes leveled faster in combat and non-combat classes outside of combat. There were more nuances than that, but he knew enough for now.

“Alright, so what you can offer me work?”

“Oh yes, we are an adventurers’ guild. Adventurers are basically mercenaries, but without the politics. If you take your work through the guild it’s going to mostly be monster hunting/extermination, criminal hunting/extermination, and miscellaneous tasks.”

“Does this place do bounty hunting?”

"Of course. I must say, this place has never seen a bounty hunter before. Most adventurers don't want to spend their time hunting bounties, monsters pay more and have less moral implications." Lisette looked at him as she spoke, showing no judgment, just seeming to explain.

“Good. That means less competition and less bias. So how do I join?”

Smiling at him, Lisette pulls out a ream of paper and hands it to him, along with a pen.

“Read through this and then sign at the bottom.”

As Jaeger grabbed the papers a parchment unfurled before him.

Contract Hunter - Bounty hunting isn't just about finding someone and bringing them in. Usually a bounty comes with requirements, and as a Bounty Hunter, you need to know what they are.

When you read a binding document, you understand what it means and whether it is beneficial, neutral, or malicious.

He knew immediately that this stack of papers was neutral to him. It contained no negative traps or double talk. It was simply an employment contract. Surprised by his sudden understanding Jaeger still took his time to read over it, and it confirmed for himself. Satisfied with both the contract and this new ability he signed the contract.

“Jaeger. That's a nice name. All right, Jaeger, now that you've signed up, I'll take you to our testing facility. If you don't have any weapons, we can provide them.” Lisette looked at him as she spoke and noticed his lack of weapons.

“Ah, my gear is with my horse. I’ve got her tied outside, so I’ll need to get them.”

“A horse too, very interesting. All right, I'll come with you, then I can lead you straight there.”