“You utter bastard!” Sam seethed quietly, as he massaged his aching wrist after leaving the deceptive little woman’s office.
Doris was all smiles and sweetness, but she hunted after information with a relentlessness that Sam usually only saw in bloodhounds. Every time he hesitated to give a piece of information the sweet little woman turned into a bloodthirsty piranha as if smelling blood in the water and began barking interrogative questions at Sam.
He really didn’t understand why the hue of the color of his eyes was so important…
But in the end, he came away with his own file added to the group’s cabinet and a nice badge that only contained a circle within a bigger circle, slightly off center, and under it a few runes and numbers acting as his identification number.
The badge itself was highly magical, but when Sam took a look at it, the sheer complexity almost blinded him. He wouldn’t be decrypting it in a long time…
[You gained an Identity Badge for the group, Nowhere!]
[Nowhere Initiate Badge: A badge made from a mysterious metal, enchanted by masters. It was given to you by the mysterious organization, Nowhere, and allows you to call yourself a member. With a specific spell, it can act as an identification to certain people. Losing it means death.]
He didn’t really like the part about the death in case of losing the badge, but as Doris explained, the group took secrecy very seriously. If their bureaucrat was as bloodthirsty and dangerous as Doris, he didn’t even want to think what their hunting squads would be like.
The old man, already standing next to him, sipping from a simple white cup just chuckled.
“Well, she is the deputy leader of the entire group here in the Emerald Kingdom…” He said with a small smile.
Sam froze for a second, then mechanically turned toward the old man. “That sweet little lady is the deputy leader?”
The old man nodded sagely. “Has been as long I have been here. And that’s a long time, young man,” came the explanation.
Sam hesitated for a second before speaking up. “Is she… uhm…”
The older man just kept smiling over the rim of his cup.
Sam spent a few seconds stumbling over his words, before taking a deep breath and letting it out.
“Is she a demon?”
“How rude…” demurred the old man then he turned around and began walking away, motioning Sam to follow him.
As he saw the corridor again, he noticed that the previously nondescript walls were filled with paintings, and the walls were lined with all sorts of plants. Some exotic, some mundane but all bristling with life.
The doors now contained name signs and Sam even saw a few evacuation maps and direction-giving maps.
“Now that you have the badge you can see more of the base. It also works with the compass you got.” The old man explained as they kept walking toward a nebulous destination. “Just touch the compass to the badge seven times, and it will lead you to the nearest entrance.”
Now it made sense why it was bad to lose it. Sam nodded and made a note to have Liz make him a few copies that he could lose if the situation demanded it.
“For now, you are an initiate.” The old man continued his explanation. “You have access to the base and the basic library. You get nothing else and your job is to be out there and if you come across any ‘bad’ demon presence to immediately report it.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes, young man. You’re untested and green. You’ll have more to do if you prove yourself.”
The moment the old man finished his sentence Sam heard the sound of notification going off in his ears.
Opening his screen, he saw his new quest.
[New quest acquired!]
[Prove yourself!]
[Congratulations on joining Nowhere! You are finally getting somewhere in the world! Now your task is to prove yourself in their eyes. Go around the world and find traces of demonic activity and report it.]
[Demonic presence reported: 1/10]
[Time Limit: None]
[Penalty: Death]
[Reward: Become an Associate of the organization]
[You are granted the Initiate title]
[Initiate: You are part of an organization. You can now access the basic facilities.]
Sam quickly read it then dismissed the screens and returned his attention to the old man who finally stopped next to a door. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a simple sign reading ‘Library’.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“You can start here. I’m sure you can find something interesting even in the basic library,” he said before instantly continuing. “And that’s about all I can tell you now. Next time we meet, maybe I’ll tell you my name.”
Before Sam could answer, the man vanished between two blinks.
Cursing mysterious old people, he let out a sigh and opened the door to the library.
There were no librarians but a few signs and labels quickly provided him enough information.
Every book needed to stay there but he could make notes. The books that appeared were based on his badge, so this was actually just the basic library. Another sign explained how it was organized.
Checking the time, Sam set himself a reminder and then quickly dove into the books.
----------------------------------------
Sadly, he didn’t find anything new to him. Mostly thanks to his future knowledge, but now that he read a lot of things, he could use it as an excuse to do a lot of things.
He looked for skills and knowledge that could be useful for his current build but sadly nothing appeared. Still, a few rune sequences were added to his Grimoire.
Closing the last book, about several rarer plants, he put it back into its place as he was not a barbarian and left the library. He still had a question and sadly he only knew one person.
A few minutes later he gently knocked on Doris’ door.
“Come in!” came the sweet voice of the scary lady.
He took a deep breath and opened the door. Instantly, the little old woman perked up behind her giant desk. “Oh, welcome back, deary! Did you leave behind something?” she asked while smiling at Sam as one would smile at a small child.
“No, ma’am. I just had a question,” he told her, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind him.
“Well then ask, young man! I’m not getting younger here, hehe!” she cheerfully replied.
Sam nodded and began. “I was wondering if there is a way for me to get a permit to purchase a plot of land in the capital?”
“For your cute little company?”
Sam cringed a little at the description but nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
The little woman picked up a few papers on her desk, and shuffled a few documents around, while continuously murmuring to herself. After a few minutes, she nodded, put the document on the desk, and looked Sam in the eyes.
“Well, young man. I don’t see any reason to deny you. Your cute little project could be even more useful for us. Go to the nearest administration office and you will get your permit.” After a brief pause, she continued with a slightly joking tone. “The money, however, must come from you.”
Sam bowed deeply. “Thank you, ma’am.”
----------------------------------------
Leaving the base, he was left on the other side of the city, almost next to one of the administration buildings. Quickly going in, he took the permit from the surprised official and quickly high-tailed it out of there back to the Mage Tower, so that he could be alone.
Once he was safely ensconced in the room, he dialed Lucy.
“Yes? I’m a little busy here,” came the slightly anxious voice of his friend.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing important – Back! Back I say you foul beast! – Now what is it?” she replied while Sam could hear grunts and impacts in the background.
“Got your permit for the capital. It’s for three buildings, but…”
“YES!” came the celebratory exclamation from Lucy while in the background something loudly expired, punctuated by the caw of a raven. “How the fuck did you do that?”
“I can’t really tell you, but it’s legit…”
There was a sigh and a disappointed chuckle. “One day, Sam, I promise I’ll get your secrets out of you…” There was the sound of walking, then a quiet sigh as Sam heard Lucy sit down on a chair.
“Now tell me what you can!”
“So we are just ignoring what you were doing?”
“Nothing happened, Sam.”
“Alright….”
“Nothing! Happened!”
“Okay, okay…”
----------------------------------------
After finishing with Lucy, he spent a few minutes just meditating and patting Lucky, going over what happened and organizing his thoughts.
‘What should I do first? Go to the library and get extra training or go back to the Training Hall and chance failure?’
He went over his inherited memories to see if there was anything that he could do before his eyes lit up. ‘Oh, that fracture!’
Standing up he began to pack his stuff away while opening the forums and searching for fractures around the capital. He quickly hit pay dirt.
‘Walking armor fracture’
Grinning, he checked to see if it was still at its original place and after confirming it he left his room at the Mage Tower.
As Sam headed toward it, he went over all the information he had.
The fracture was a small curiosity. It appeared in an actual museum that was full of old armor and antique weapons. This led to the fracture being populated by autonomous armor wielding all sorts of weapons. And they always wielded the main weapon of the first person of the group entering.
It had a few interesting drops, but as of now, it was just an eccentric fracture that most serious players avoided as it didn’t provide enough experience points or drops to make it worth delving it. But once again, thanks to his future knowledge it was perfect for him.
And in the future, a lot of people would recognize the same thing. Thankfully, it was under the control of the city, so they only needed to pay an entrance ticket. After the popularity of the fracture skyrocketed, the museum housing it became the most well-funded museum in the country.
----------------------------------------
Walking into the old building, curiously checking out the exhibited places, Sam approached the receptionist.
“Hello, I heard there was a fracture here. If I buy a ticket, can I check it out?”
The man boredly sitting behind the counter simply nodded and held out his hand. “Three silvers.”
Sam paid it without complaint. Even though the ticket was ten bronze coins.
The money vanished quickly. “Go up to the second floor and you can find it in the ancient armor section.”
“Thank you!”
----------------------------------------
He found himself in an arena, built from mortar, stone, and wood, looking as if somebody had taken the museum and transformed it into an arena. The ground was covered by sand, and on the opposite side was a grate that was slowly rising into the air.
Sam could hear the rhythmic thump of metal-clad feet coming from the darkness.
Settling into his stance, raising Moonlight into a defensive position, he simply began circulating his mana.
Out of the darkness came suits of armor, holding their own long swords.
The thirteen suits stopped in a line and for a moment they just looked at each other and the first one stepped forward.
Sam grinned as he followed along.
This was the secret of the fracture. The fact that the fracture appeared in a museum influenced what it contained. A museum is there to teach and showcase what the ancients knew. And if somebody entered alone, they would be able to call upon this knowledge.
The suit shot forward, belying its weight, and Sam had to work fast to block the strike. Moving a little to the left, he countered the strike with one of his own, which the suit of armor blocked by holding the sword facing toward the ground which then transitioned into a lunge that Sam swatted aside with his mana-enhanced arms and struck at the shoulder plates.
They gave way and the arm holding the sword fell to the ground which allowed Sam to quickly cut down the armor.
However, he didn’t have any time to rest because by the time the pieces of the armor fell to the ground, lifeless, two other armors were upon Sam, their swords aiming at his throat and stomach respectively.
Grinning, relishing the challenge, Sam took a graceful step back and avoided the strikes. The armors simply continued the motion and transitioned into a half-circle movement, cutting at Sam from two directions.
He ducked under them and couldn’t help but laugh.
The game was really marvelous…
‘And hopefully, this will allow me to figure out what the trainer wanted from me…’ he mused as he went on an offensive against the two suits of armor.