CHAPTER 14 – HOW THE WORLD WORKS

I was forcefully brought back into the main hall by my new self proclaimed big sister. I received a fair few cold stares from my fellow adventurers, as Violet dragged me across the crowd. Who would’ve thought that having a beauty cling into your arm would make people jealous... They were jealous, right?

She left me off at where Seth and the others were waiting.

⌈Here you go! I took good care of him, so you best do so too. See you soon!⌋

She changed her tone back into seductress mode as she let me go. Even Seth was flustered.

⌈H-Hey, kiddo... What’s that supposed to mean!? She took.. c-care of you..? I…⌋

⌈No, no, no... It’s not at all what you think!⌋

⌈Oh.. and I thought that you would be satisfied. Oh my... I guess I’ll have to do even better the next time! See you, darling!⌋

Next time!? DARLING!!?

⌈To think my most esteemed customer was such a beast... Oh no...⌋

⌈Nee~, are you perhaps into older women? Are you!?⌋

⌈What do you mean by 'beast'!? And she’s not that old, either! All she did was–⌋

I was interrupted mid-sentence...

⌈Pervert…⌋

There it is! There it fucking is! Lumi’s calling me a pervert again. Goddammit, I’ll just never interact with people again.

The old man once again captivated the crowds with his voice.

⌈Alright. Have each of you received your classes? Good. I’d like you to meet someone now.⌋

⌈Oh my, Nero! No need to be so formal about my introduction.⌋

⌈She is your senior adventurer, Violet. She is also the first, and one of the only people to have reached the rank of Peculiar. She was originally here to give guidance to the new adventurers, but as this year is different, we shall go about it as such. Violet, if you will.⌋

Eh!? Violet is the first ever adventurer to reach the rank of Peculiar!?! That lewd woman? Peculiar doesn’t sound all that impressive compared to the Legendary-Rank of the old man, but I suppose there’s a major difference between how the two came to be.

⌈Oh my.. I’m nothing special. Now, allow me to explain how these classes work.⌋

And so she began her mind-numbingly long speech.

⌈Every adventurer will begin with an Usual-Rank class. Most of these classes will be very basic, such as Swordsman, Mage or Ranger. The class you get will mostly be determined by your weapon of choice as well as your fighting style. The direction your class will go as you rank up will also be determined by how you fight.⌋

⌈Ranking up will happen naturally over time, as you challenge more and more intense Trails. It is said, that ranking up will require one to break through their own boundaries. One can artificially do this, by challenging a Trail of a higher rank than oneself, but it is not advised, as deaths outside the trial are absolute. You’d do best to remember that if you wish to stay alive.⌋

⌈As your class ranks up, your attributes will also rank up. As an example, when I ranked up from a Regular-Rank Sorceress to a Peculiar-Rank Hex Sorceress, my Magic attribute raised from B to an A. However, do keep in mind that your class rank matters more than the rank of an attribute. For example, the B-Rank magic attribute my Regular-Rank Sorceress had would triumph over the B-Rank magic attribute of an Usual-Rank Mystic.⌋

⌈As far as we’re aware, the ranks are as follows, from lowest to highest,

Usual,

Regular,

Peculiar,

Abnormal,

Exceptional,

Extraordinary,

Legendary.

The attributes are ranked from F to S.⌋

⌈Another, still rather unknown value, is Rarity, which all items seem to have in place of attributes. Rarity seems to follow the same F to S ranking, yet the differences in rarities are way more fickle than class attributes and still require more research.⌋

⌈When a Class ranks up, it will evolve according to the nature of the adventurer. When I started out, I was an Usual-Rank Mage and after a while, I became a Regular-Rank Sorceress, however, a comrade of mine, who was also an Usual-Rank Mage is now a Regular-Rank Apprentice.⌋

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⌈The intricacies of how the class system works are still unclear to us, but we are doing our best to uncover the secrets behind it. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask.⌋

I’m honestly quite stunned. I didn’t expect such an elaborate speech from someone with such an, uhh… exotic personality. She really knows her stuff, huh?

Soon enough, questions started rolling in.

⌈You talked about Trails having ranks.⌋

⌈Ah, yes. The Trails to the east start from the Usual-Rank. The further away you stray from the capital the higher ranked the Trails will be. The Trails in other directions start at much higher ranks, to the point that even I wouldn’t dare go there alone, and as such, only the realm to the east is being explored currently.⌋

Surprisingly enough, Lumi raised her hand and asked a question.

⌈Could you perhaps elaborate more on the content within the Trails, such as the objectives and rewards, and how they compare to those of the trial Trail. If possible, could you also provide insight as to how many people can enter a Trail at once?⌋

⌈Excellent question! The trial Trail had 4 objectives to complete, but as you probably realized, one of those objectives, ‘Reach’, was redundant. This was because the Trails in the wild each only have one or two objectives, and the trial acted as an introduction for the four types of objectives. Some Trails will also have time limits, unlike the trial Trail. The rewards will include a Shard of Knowledge, as well as a piece of gear, such as a weapon or an armor piece suitable for your class, or in some cases, other miscellaneous items, such as potions or spell tomes. As per how many people can party up to challenge a Trail, as the Rank of a Trail goes up, so will the number of people able to enter. Usual Trails are strictly solo, Regular Trails can be challenged by two people at once, and so on.⌋

A piece of gear? Like rewards for completing a dungeon!? Nice! But… a shard of knowledge? It has to have something to do with the horrible living conditions outside the city walls. I guess I’ll ask…

⌈What’s a shard of knowledge?⌋

⌈My, my… erm. Excuse me.⌋

Goddammit...

⌈A Shard of Knowledge is the name given for a bright white stone that contains the knowledge of the past age, from the time before the Convergence. Once a Shard of Knowledge is retrieved and released here, in the Chapel of the Capital, the contained knowledge will radiate throughout the lands, restoring the knowledge lost after the advent of the Gods. So far, we have retrieved the knowledge for things such as planting new trees and harvesting grown plants, constructing huts and handling various metals up to bronze.⌋

⌈May I ask a few things about the knowledge?⌋

⌈Sure! Anything for you~...⌋

Control yourself, woman!

⌈It has been 20 years since the Convergence right?⌋

⌈Correct.⌋

⌈And all the knowledge was lost then?⌋

⌈Not quite. We were left with some knowledge vital for survival, such as reproduction…⌋

…

⌈…however most advancements the races had made until then, were, indeed, lost.⌋

⌈For how long have adventurers been active? The living conditions outside were absolutely horrible compared to inside the walls, not to mention that handling metals such as bronze hardly differs from handling iron, apart from it being slightly harder to forge, yet easier to cast, as it’s an alloy made of copper and tin. Smiths should’ve easily learned the difference between the two in a couple of decades…⌋

⌈Wha..? An alloy..? Anyway... Adventurers have been active ever since. However, it should be noted that only a couple adventurers pass each year, and as such, the progress has been slow.⌋

⌈That is all, thank you.⌋

⌈My, my! No problem!⌋

I suppose if you put things into perspective, already forging bronze is pretty far along the timeline of human development back in my old world. I guess the progress isn’t exactly linear though… In what world do people forge swords from bronze while they live in huts much worse than what the three little pigs were able to build.

A burly man with a massive battleaxe strapped to his back raised his voice next... My precognition tells me this isn't going to end well.

⌈You said one could rank up from challenging a Trail of a higher rank. Since a miss like you is able to raise up to the rank of Peculiar, surely a Regular-Rank Trail won't be much of a challenge for me and my bro!⌋

⌈My, my.. Nothing is stopping you from trying.⌋

⌈Ahahaha! I’ll show you!⌋

⌈But..⌋

⌈But what? I’m sure it won't be all that big of a deal. After all a fragile little gi–⌋

⌈You will die.⌋

The whole hall went silent, as her cold words reflected across the empty space. One could practically hear the shivers running down the crowd’s spines, as Violet absolutely annihilated the battleaxe guy. The expression of the caring and loving big sister character was gone, and the aura around her could only be described as menacing. And that terror had penetrated the souls of the rookie adventurers.

⌈Anything else?⌋

She asked while forcing her face into a wicked smile.

⌈N-No…⌋

⌈Then... Any other questions?⌋

I guess this is my chance to pry more into the ranks and the differences between the ranks.

⌈Is the difference between ranks really that big?⌋

⌈My... Yes indeed. While a well-trained person might be able to clear a wild Usual-Rank Trail, but no matter how well you train, even a Regular-Rank Trail will be a death sentence for someone who isn't an adventurer. The difference might not seem all that large at a glance, but the gap in strength between the ranks is like heaven and earth. Although you might be able to barely survive, since you’re in possession of a class skill and an exquisite weapon, along with the blessing of the greatest God of them all, I’d advise everyone else not to kill yourselves in arrogance, just because the Gods had decided to pass you all on a whim.⌋

She really likes to pamper me, doesn't she? I guess it isn’t all that bad. She really did a number scaring the others off though. I suppose she has a reason to do so though.. Perhaps she has lost a comrade before, and doesn’t want it to happen again, even if she has to retort to, bluntly put, scaring the shit out of the newbies.

It seemed like nobody had any more questions so the old man took over...

⌈No more questions? Very well. You will set out towards the east tomorrow, and hopefully come back victorious before sundown, and bring glory to the Gods above! I shall pray for your success. Thank you all for participating this year! You’re dismissed.⌋

Once the cheering, excited crowds started dispersing, our group was stopped by the old man himself.

⌈I won’t let you lot go just yet. The Gods seem to want to reward you…⌋

Finally! Some well-deserved recognition.