"Good morning," Arthur said.
He didn't know how many times he'd returned the greeting today, or what was particularly good about the morning, but it had become a habit at this point. Arthur's mask made him look like an average- albeit attractive- British man. He couldn't help being a little vain with his current mask design and besides, everyone powerful was beautiful at this point. It came with the territory.
He'd kept his height the same. Hardly anyone knew he'd gone through a growth spurt. His accent had been the part of his disguise he'd worried about the most, but the mask helped him deal with that too. All he'd had to do was set it to the most common British accent with a touch of American in it. Since no one had said anything, Arthur assumed it was working. He hadn't even known it came with an accent-modifying feature. It would have made a pretty shitty epic item if he was discovered the second he opened his mouth though.
Arthur wasn't even surprised anymore when the rain suddenly stopped, disappearing as if it hadn't just been pouring seconds ago. Arthur walked through the village and picked up a cheese and onion pasty from his new favourite bakery. It had become a daily ritual at this point and he didn't feel right without it. Shit, I'm addicted, aren't I? This was a vice Arthur was more than happy living with.
He double-checked the System bulletin to see if he was going to the right place. It was a feature that had been unlocked at the start of the second integration phase and basically served as a news board, both on a universal and local scale.
There was also a section that functioned as a place where you could post job offers, organise local events and meet new people. In Arthur's opinion, it was best described as the System's bastardized version of social media. The only difference was that you had to pay to post something and the amount you invested would contribute to how far your message would spread, anywhere from a ten-kilometre radius to a galaxy-wide post. Of course, the cost increased proportionally.
As much as Arthur had promised himself to stop, he couldn't help but mindlessly scroll through the hottest new news articles. It still shocked him how familiar everything appeared.
Princess Leia rejects General Crawley's marriage proposal. What does this mean for the alliance?
The Dark Side of the System. An exclusive interview with an administrator.
Why you should invest in Chyrosource in 17,801
What they don't tell you about the Thompsons.
Some of the news articles were interesting and provided a window into how the rest of the universe was doing. Others had blatant clickbait titles and every fourth post was an ad of some kind. Of course, that was the moment the persistent ad removal service popped up. It appeared every time he opened the System bulletin, three thousand credits a month to remove all advertisements from your feed. Arthur refused it out of principle. I swear everything about the System is a cash grab. I guess magic couldn't get rid of Capitalism either.
Buy this service. Subscribe to this newsletter. Don't miss out on the exclusive deal. Arthur found it refreshing how human the rest of the universe seemed. Or would I call it mortal? Sapient? Is it a rule that every intelligent civilisation must eventually create its own version of the internet?
Arthur knew the real reason was that aliens had been shaping Earth's developing culture since the Bronze Age. The reason why things seemed so familiar, and so easy to adapt to was because humanity had been led down a very specific growth path and not because of some natural law of societal progression. Still, things were so much more fun when he thought of it the other way.
Five minutes later, Arthur's self-imposed restriction on doom scrolling arrived and it was with surprising difficulty that he moved on to the real reason why he'd opened the System bulletin. There it was, right there at the top, one of three notices that people had paid to post in Mossley village. The others were an alchemist searching for a specific herb and a party looking for a tank to challenge the nearest Locus of Power. Arthur ignored the other two and opened up the first post.
Talent wanted!
Do you have what it takes to defend your planet, to prevent the invasion of a realm that would see yours fallen? A planet's evolution is a time of great upheaval. It is the first time when it is truly judged, its right to survival brought into question.
Mother Earth has nourished and nurtured your race for thousands of years and now today, in her time of greatest need, she calls for champions to defend her land. Will you answer the call?
Are you worthy?
The Agroth family will be recruiting on Monday the 7th of October in Noteworth Park from 9:10 AM to 10:30 AM. All are welcome to come and see if they are qualified. Standard wages begin at 20,000 System credits a week. All recovery and healing potions required during work hours are provided free of charge. Further compensation and wage adjustments will be discussed at a later date.
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We eagerly await your presence.
As far as recruitment spiels went, Arthur thought this one wasn't half bad. It was a little over the top, but he was sure many would be inspired by it. The notice had been posted three days ago, so unless someone didn't use the System bulletin at all, they would have definitely seen it by now. Arthur wasn't sure how many people would actually turn up though. Most people, at least those who were serious about their prospects would have travelled to Manchester or one of the larger towns for the recruitments that had taken place earlier instead of waiting for it to reach their little village.
The only people who would show up today were those too lazy to travel a few miles and the men and women who had somehow missed the recruitment campaigns in bigger towns. As far as Arthur knew, it was still possible to apply through other means, but joining through the rallies often came with some extra rewards. When Arthur arrived at the park, finishing off the last bite of his pasty, he was pleasantly surprised by how many people had turned up. There were well over two hundred potential recruits, all of them standing around chatting or walking about to look through the many stalls that had been set up. A café of some sort had somehow managed to spring up and many were seated at tables, nursing hot cups of tea, trying to stave off the cold.
At a glance, Arthur could immediately tell that more than fifty percent of the people here wouldn't make the cut. Many were simply too low-level whilst others had rushed and crossed the level hundred barrier with a common class. No matter what their levels showed, they would never amount to much. Oh, I forgot about all the people who'd come here after failing elsewhere, Arthur realised. That explained why there were so many more people here than he expected. His suspicions were confirmed a second later when a middle-aged man came to stand next to him.
"Is this your first time trying out?"
"Yeah, first time. What about you?"
The man didn't answer immediately, instead stroking his wispy beard as if in deep contemplation. Just when Arthur thought he wouldn't get a reply, the man spoke.
"I tried once already in Manchester. Didn't make the cut."
"And you've somehow grown enough in the past four days since, that you'll get in this time?" Arthur asked.
The man chuckled. "No, not even. I've got an Uncommon class. Four days can't change that. Rumours are, though, that the talent scouters are less strict in rural areas compared to the big cities. Hell, I recognise five people who failed in Manny with me."
Arthur sincerely doubted those rumours held any truth. If the tests weren't standardised, then it would lead to massive weaknesses in Earth's defensive efforts and cause a whole host of other problems. He could think of ten off the top of his head. It would be a mark of poor leadership and make him immediately lose trust in the Agroth family, not that he trusted them much in the first place. Arthur decided not to tell the man next to him any of that. It wasn't his job to give others a reality check and he had a feeling the guy already knew all of this. He'd just come on the off chance that those rumours turned out to be true.
Arthur made small talk with the man- who he learned was called Johnny- until the time for the recruitment tests finally drew close. He learned a few interesting things about the local scene, which monsters tended to crop up where, who to go to when you needed proper healing, spots to avoid and who to keep an eye on as up-and-coming talents. They were joined halfway through by a young girl Arthur didn't think was a day over seventeen. Sammy was loud and excitable and couldn't go thirty seconds without saying something. She was also very clearly crushing hard on him. Arthur would have to be blind not to notice how she kept stealing glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking.
This is awkward as fuck, Arthur thought helplessly. He'd never had to deal with the attraction of someone so much younger than him. As a twenty-year-old strictly into older women only, anyone younger than him was a no-go area that he'd avoid with a twenty-foot pole. I swear I made myself less attractive with the mask. I guess my charm just can't be hidden away, Arthur joked to himself. If Sammy had been an ordinary girl, he wouldn't have given it a second thought, knowing this was the first and last time they'd probably ever meet.
Unfortunately, after him, she was by far the strongest potential recruit here today and Arthur suspected she had an epic class. That meant they'd probably end up as colleagues or at least work together in some fashion in the future so it was best to nip the problem in the bud before any misunderstandings occurred. Arthur was no conversationalist, but the way he slipped Iris into the conversation, his beloved girlfriend, as he put it, made him want to pat himself on the back. The way Johnny was looking at him, amused with an eyebrow raised, told him he wasn't anywhere near as slick as he thought.
"Damn, I hate handsome fuckers," he joked, quietly enough that only Arthur could hear it.
He smirked at the man and gave him a half-bow in mockery. Johnny scoffed and rolled his eyes whilst Sammy just looked on in confusion. Finally, it hit ten past nine, the time when the recruitment trials were supposed to start. Arthur had wondered where the Agroth nobles had been all this time or if they were running late but he needn't have worried. They arrived in grand fashion using a large teleportation array, an item that Arthur knew cost a hefty sum of System credits. They were generally one-time use and the prices started at 15,000 credits, a lot of wealth to throw around just to avoid mundane travel. Five people had come: three humans, one elf and a halfling, all of them with power fluctuations suggesting they were rare classers at the minimum. He'd become a lot better at sensing these things over the last week, having finally had some time to practice using his Perception for one of its intended purposes.
From the way the non-humans were positioned and the way they seemed to be waiting for orders, Arthur could immediately tell they were hired workers, perhaps guards of some kind. The old halfling was the strongest in the group by a large margin which led him to believe he was correct about the security job. The apparent leader of the group, a man who looked to be in his thirties stepped forward. His hands were clasped behind his back, the default pose of an elderly person, though it looked a little strange on someone so much younger. He cleared his throat.
"Good morning, everyone. I'd like to thank you all for turning up. I'm surprised to see so many." He didn't speak loudly, but his voice carried to every ear. "My name is Edward Agroth and I'll be overseeing the recruitment trials today,"
"I look forward to working with you all."