As a child, I'd been so many times to Alice's office in a non-official capacity that I knew where every single trinket, gadget, trophy, and memento was better than the Guild Master. And yet, in this visit, I was so on edge that I could play music tugging at my nerves.
The weight of the responsibility and the doubts around my father's death gnawed at the edges of my mind. The feeling of the magic running through Scout's Oath, the power it could unleash and the potential I could reach with my Parallel Progression almost made me bolt out of the office, pull a waxed string over the bow staff, grab a quiver of arrows, and jump over the city walls to go hunt something and level up. All an excuse to run away.
"Relax George," Alice said in her soothing tone.
My mind wandered into all sorts of tangents. How unfair elven voices were, with their innate musicality and alluring timbre. How unfair were the three Gods who ruled over this planet, the uncaring ageless titans whose only contribution was to allow life to flourish in this world.
A Dragon sleeping deep in the planet Core. She keeps our continents afloat in this world of ice and water.
One metallic Golem on the red moon. He grants us the System so we could grow and prosper.
And one Goddess sitting in the ring between the two Suns. She wields her Star Knights to fend off the invading aliens from outer space who would otherwise incinerate us.
People, humans in particular, aren't native to Koiphyvv. We once lived among the stars, going from world to world, until we were sent to live here. Part of humanity still lives up there, where nobody can breathe. Some serve the Ring Goddess, some come and go as they please, crossing unimaginable distances.
Once in an century or so, a Star Knight falls down to the planet. They bring knowledge, wisdom, and prestige to those who capture or befriend them. They say escaping this world is impossible. Something about it being too big and too heavy.
"George!" Alice's voice shook me from my musings.
"Yes!" I snap back to reality.
"Did you hear anything I said in the last five minutes?"
"No. Not really."
She leaned forward over her desk, her iridescent eyes scanning me for something. "You should go home, George. Take the day off, rest for a while, get your thoughts together."
The mere thought of going back to a dead home made the world around me spin faster than the planetary ring. Each and every inch of that apartment reminded me of my father.
Alice snapped her fingers. She imbued some magic, a subtle spell into that snap because my mind cleared of all extraneous thoughts, granting me a moment of perfect clarity.
"Do you want a job with the Guild, George? We need a Scout to search for threats and post Quests for our Adventurers."
"I'm level zero!" I protested.
"I'm sure this can be easily fixed with some work. You are a natural woodsman! Trained by the best. Why don't you go with a couple of veteran Rangers and test your new Skill and talents out there?"
It was hard to deny Alice anything. I had the advantage of growing up around her so her feminine charms had less of an impact than on the other men. But she had everything. Beauty, status, levels, a kickass Charisma score, and the wisdom of centuries lived in this conflict-plagued lands.
"Okay," I said just to get her off my case.
"Excellent. I'll post the Quest immediately! Get yourself geared up to go outside the walls. Your first task is to scout three E-rank or one D-rank Quest in the nearby woods."
*
*
I went home and took my adventuring gear. A boiled leather armor with a minor resistance and self-repair enchantment, bandoliers, a potion box, short sword, a pair of daggers, and a camping backpack.
I also allocated my Attribute efficiency points. Twenty to Dexterity, twenty to Endurance, and ten to Wisdom. Each of these points would boost the Attribute by 1%. At 120% efficiency, the 10 starter points became 12. This was a way to specialize in an Attribute. Some Classes earned more efficiency here and there through levels or achievements but the System did not reveal these until one had earned it.
A double inspection showed that everything was in place. I went back to the Guild where I met my two escorts. We exchanged greetings and went out through the west gate.
Though I was level zero, I wasn't a wet-behind-the-ears novice when it came to moving in the woods. My father had trained me, showed me the tricks of the trade, of how to move without making much noise in the wilderness, of what to look for and what to hear for.
"Kid is a natural, I told you," one of the two escorts Alice hired for me, said as he elbowed his companion.
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"You knew his father, Hector," Miranda, a human Ranger, replied as she rolled her eyes.
The two were veteran Rangers, C-rank with the Guild. I had no idea what levels they were because there was no way to tell. Classes, levels, the whole status sheet she-bang was as private as one's nether regions. Some really expensive divinations could glimpse some of it but the System frowned upon those kinds of magic, relinquishing only the bare minimum.
The Guild had all sorts of tests to evaluate levels but those took hours to execute and measure and they only resulted in an imprecise range. Rank with the Guild had to be earned the hard way, by going on difficulty quests and bringing back proof of one's deeds. Every monster had a standardized trophy the Adventurer had to bring back to prove the kill. Once again, the System didn't help with that. Some said that if people could only share their notifications, things would be much easier.
But the golem God, sitting on his red moon, cared not for such things.
"I found a Goblin trail," I said to shush the two. They stop their bickering immediately and scan our surroundings, including the treetops, before kneeling next to me. Crouched next to the claw marks on the soft forest loam, I show it to them. "They walked in a single file, taking care to step on each other's footprints. But their claw marks poked the loam in different spots. I estimate that about a dozen Goblins went that way," I pointed.
"Good," Miranda crooned, her vocal fry croaking on the vowels.
"And if they are this disciplined, they might have a warrior boss leading the tribe."
Hector tapped my back. "Lead the way, young Scout. Let's find this Goblin tribe!"
Following the tracks was easy. The season was damp and the only precaution the Goblins took to hide their passing was to walk in a single file-ish.
I heard the sounds of a Goblin camp an hour later. "Stay here," I told my escorts. "I'm going to scout the tribe and report it to you."
The three of us checked our weapons and readied our bows. Scout's Oath sang with joy as I nocked an arrow. Then I was off. Waddling like a duck, I moved slowly, crouching and moving slowly from cover to cover. Some city kids thought it was better to move quickly to stay less exposed but the eye recognized fast movements at a distance better than slow, intentional movements. A blur at the corner of one's eyes would send one into a state of high alertness before even the conscious mind could understand what was going on.
The Goblins took over a flower meadow, trampling all the undergrowth and putting up their crude tents. I counted around forty, plus a bigger Chieftain and a wrinkly Shaman. The two were bigger than normal Goblins that were the size of a five-year-old child but not big enough to be considered Hobgoblins.
Three well-traveled trails led away from the camp. I noticed some crude twine strung around trees and bushes; rudimentary traps that would hopefully alert the Goblins before any threats reached the clearing. Not me. Satisfied with the information I gathered, I went back to my escorts.
This Goblin village counted as a D-rank quest. Novice adventurers started as G-grade and it took them a long-time grinding quests to go up in grades. Given, the F-grade promotion happened at 5 quests but the amount required skyrocketed after that.
Hector and Miranda listened carefully as I reported my findings. They schooled their expressions as if they were playing cards for serious money. Only after I finished did they make any sound.
"That completes your assignment," Miranda said. "Do you want to shoot at the Goblins, or to return to the Guild?"
"Neither" I replied. This was an opportunity. I could test my Parallel Progression if these two killed the Goblins now that I gave them the intelligence about the village. "I want you two to exterminate the Goblins. They are too organized and the Chieftain seemed stronger than the average D-rank party's appetite. I think that if we leave these Goblins alone for a few days, they'll grow too strong. We cannot risk it."
"What about your assignment?"
"I'll find some al-Mi'raj warren or something."
They both suppressed a laugh. "I see your point," Miranda said. "Let's go, Hector. Hey, do you want to take some shots?"
"No," I replied. "It would be unfair to have you carry me while I earn Experience."
"Nobles do it all the time," Hector retorted but I just shook my head in disgust. "Suit yourself."
The two went to the Goblin village. I climbed on a tree and made myself scarce. Soon, I heard the shouts and the faint sound of bowstrings delivering death. These two C-ranks were the real thing. They stopped after fifty-seven shots combined. I couldn't hear not a single Goblin grunt. But the real treasure was the notifications I got.
> A level 12 Goblin Mudspitter was killed.
>
> A level 17 Goblin Flint Snapper was killed. +1 Dexterity.
>
> A level 15 Goblin Stick Poker was killed. +1 Endurance.
>
> A level 23 Goblin Stone Flinger was killed. +1 Wisdom.
>
> [...]
>
> A level 45 Goblin Chieftain was killed. +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance.
>
> A level 44 Goblin Witch Doctor was killed. +1 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity.
I gained a grand total of nineteen Attribute Points from the Goblin massacre, more than one level-up worth. Scout's Duty was the real thing. It was still less than what I'd gained if I had fought and killed those Goblins but here was the kicker.
The Experience awards were based on the comparison between one's level and the enemy's. Killing a common creature with the same level as you granted 100 Experience points. As a Rare rarity Class, I needed 3,000 points for each level. Each level above your own granted an extra 25% while each level below deducted 20%. But once you leveled up, everything changed. With Scout's Duty, I gained a level's worth of Attributes without moving up the Experience tables.
I could become an ultimate level 1 if I refrained from earning Experience. There was no worth in doing so, though. Levels would grant me more power and Scout's Duty wasn't bound to my own level. If a level 100 creature was killed using intelligence I scouted, I would earn five points regardless of my own level.
But Attributes carried with them a diminishing returns effect. 100 points in an Attribute, say Strength, would double my carrying capacity, the energy of my weapon swings, and so on. But to double that again, I would need 200, then 400, and so on. At higher levels, a single Attribute point was worth shit. And the difficulty of gaining levels only increased.
Some Classes with low rarity soon hit what was called a "soft level cap". A point where they couldn't earn Experience at a satisfactory rate, when a single level could take decades of grinding low-level creatures because those monsters at the same level would insta-kill the person. A higher rarity granted stronger powers and more Attributes so the soft cap was bound to rarity.
Parallel Progressions threw that to the wind. So long the person could earn points through their PP's, they would never hit the soft cap.
Hector and Miranda returned, the former holding a bloody burlap sack and the latter a clinking leather backpack.
"The trophies and the loot," Hector said through a grin. "These Goblins were loaded, thanks for the tip, lad."
"We will split the loot three ways," Miranda announced, drawing a frown from Hector.
Only then I noticed they had located me up the tree effortlessly. As if I hadn't tried to hide myself.
Feeling a rush of power from the Attributes Scout's Duty granted me, I jumped down the tree and joined them. Time to find those al-Mi'raj warrens and complete my first task.