After Nero stepped away from the counter, he approached the first board where, according to Lars, the orders of the mortals were hanging.

He looked at it and examined the orders. Only a few ones were hanging on the wall. Two were about specialized knowledge, and another one was about a hole in a house. Then there was a also cleaning order and a wedding order.

Nero focused mainly on the orders related to knowledge. One mortal wanted to know how to grow wheat. That would earn him 10 credits.

The other one was a question about the best hunting spots in the area, worth 12 credits. Nero pondered for a moment. He could actually answer one of those questions.

Over the past years, Nero had acquired a great deal of knowledge, including knowledge of agriculture.

However, Nero put that order aside and made a mental note of it.

He then approached the board where supposedly the orders for the community and the magicians were posted.

These orders were naturally more profitable but also required a longer-term commitment. For example:

"Farm the wheat field number three," or "Milk the cows in pasture twelve," or "Hunt seven deer and bring back the leather and meat." There were 10 credits for every kilogram of meat and 5 credits for every five hundred grams of leather.

In addition, there were many other orders. In fact, there were also education tasks and even gender-specific orders related to intimate activities. It was prostitution for credits.

There were also orders for house construction or renovations. None of the orders appealed to Nero.

He had no desire to engage in this slave labor, but apparently, he had no other choice.

He left the hut and looked around. The next building seemed to be some kind of tavern.

Nero only now realized how hungry and thirsty he was.

He entered the tavern slowly. Inside, many poorly dressed people were sitting, yet they appeared quite happy.

They were chatting, laughing, drinking, and eating. Nero went to the counter and asked for something warm to eat and drink.

The bartender looked at him and said, "That will be four credits."

Nero cursed inwardly. But of course, it came with a cost; Lars had already warned him about it.

Disappointed, Nero left the tavern. He stepped outside and observed the people bustling about. They didn't appear unhappy. But Nero was different.

Once again, Nero was hungry and poor, worth no more than a filthy slave. He hated this feeling. As he looked around, he sensed anger and disappointment welling up inside him.

Anger and disappointment in his own weakness.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He needed to calm down. He needed to clear his mind. Anger would not help him here. He had to stay level-headed. What was this setback anyway? After all, he was still breathing and alive. He still possessed all his physical and mental abilities.

He simply needed to start over. Nero took a deep breath; his eyes were cold and motionless, like a lake on a calm day.

He returned to the task house. He needed credits to afford food, so he had to start taking on some orders.

As he entered, he noticed another board at the entrance that he had overlooked the first time. Many papers with names were hanging on that board.

At the top of the board, there was an engraved text:

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Selection for Magical Ascension. Price: five thousand credits."

Nero started calculating in his mind. According to Lars, one could earn ten credits in five hours. Assuming one worked ten hours a day, that would be twenty credits.

But with expenses for food, housing, clothing, and taxes, one could probably earn a minimum daily wage of ten credits.

That was almost three thousand six hundred per year. Based on that assumption, one could accumulate enough in two years to qualify.

However, Nero could already see hundreds of names hanging here, so what were the chances of being chosen? Nero took one last look at it.

He approached the orders and searched through them. The hunting tasks seemed to be the most coveted, as they were already taken.

Nero continued looking. None of the tasks really appealed to him, so he chose the most profitable one.

The daughter of one of the community leaders needed mathematical expertise. Nero hesitated for a moment but then decided on this task. It would earn him thirty credits and would probably take only three to four hours. Nero hoped that the community leader would have more knowledge.

He needed to go to District Two, Glarel Street Seventeen. If only Nero knew where that was, he could get started.

He tore off the paper and went to the symbolic at the counter. He registered himself for the task.

After that, Nero went out and looked around, searching for someone he could ask for directions.

Soon he spotted a suitable person. It was a friendly old man strolling leisurely down the street. He seemed to be in a good mood and not in a hurry.

"Excuse me, good sir," said Nero, greeting him.

The man turned around, perplexed, and looked at Nero with raised eyebrows.

"Good sir... Hahaha," he chuckled briefly. "How can I help you, young man?"

Nero smiled kindly, "Do you know your way around here?"

"Somewhat, yes. I've been in this camp for several generations now. Why?"

"Unfortunately, I'm completely new here and need to find the second district. Specifically, I need to go to Glarel Street seventeen."

"Ohhhh..." the old man murmured. "To the community leader Koal. A good man indeed. Yes, you need to..." The man gave him detailed directions. Nero thanked him and bid him farewell politely.

It was quite a distance. Only now did Nero realize the scale of this village. Initially, he had thought it was quite cramped and small, but he was mistaken.

The village was rather large. There were certainly more than ten thousand people living in this village, making it way larger than the village he came from.

It was even larger than some cities in his former world. Of course, it didn't come close to the Holy City, but that was not comparable.

Large fields were everywhere, but interspersed among them were clusters of tightly packed houses. In these clusters, there were also these task houses.

Now Nero understood the district divisions. A district consisted of a settlement, a task house, and many fields.

There were very few magicians to be seen, and the further Nero moved away from the wall, the fewer there were. Hardly any ventured so deep into the village.

The district Nero came from was District Forty-Four, and he had to go to District Two. Finally, Nero arrived in the second district.

A stark contrast could be seen between here and the forty-fourth district.

While the houses were clearly older, it was much cleaner here. Nero realized that this was the higher area.

Shortly after, he finally arrived at Glarel Street. Nero didn't even need to check the house numbers to know where he had to go.

The community leader's house was significantly larger and more well-maintained than the surrounding houses.

Nero approached the grand door and knocked firmly. An old woman opened the door and looked at Nero inquisitively.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

Nero smiled slightly, "My name is Nero Nihil. I'm here regarding the posted task."

"Which one? We have posted many tasks."

"I'm here for the mathematics tutoring for the community leader's daughter," Nero explained.

"Ohhhh..." the woman made a sound and scrutinized Nero with doubt. "And you can teach mathematics?"

"But of course," said Nero, "I was taught by my parents during my childhood."

That was, of course, not true, but Nero had absorbed as much knowledge as possible.

This included the basics as well as advanced mathematics. Surprisingly, mathematics in almost all worlds was nearly identical.

In some, it was slightly more advanced than in others, but the fundamentals were always the same.

Additionally, with the help of the Symbol of Ramor, Nero could understand the language completely, including grammar and tenses.

However, when it came to history and geography, Nero was completely clueless. He had no knowledge in those areas whatsoever.

The old lady nodded slowly but with skepticism. "We shall see. Please come in, and I will inform the master of the house."

Nero nodded and stepped inside behind the woman. The house was large and well-furnished. They walked through a long hallway into a spacious and comfortable living room.

"Have a seat. Master Koal will be with you shortly."

Nero did as instructed and sat on a comfortable, large sofa with soft upholstery.

It confused him.

Every mortal he had encountered so far looked poor and hungry. Nero of course knew the reason. They all spent as few credits as possible to be able to make a living.

But Koal seemed to live in luxury. Did community leaders receive a lot of credits? Or were community leaders magicians? Nero couldn't believe that because why would magicians need the help of mortals?

Many questions raced through Nero's mind as a tall, old man entered through the door.