At noon in Alp town Rak is sitting on a chair watching people gather at various hung up papers advertising the towns new upgraded library. On it is an addition that one Abstinence will pay the lowest entry price of one copper indefinitely.
One copper isn’t much of a price, it is the lowest price anything is sold for, and is only so low because Town planner Ung has the authority to manage such details.
On the very bottom on the paper is a recruitment for any production related skill. Simply stating “Abstinence is looking for production inclined individuals that are willing to learn.”
“With this I can only hope to see some returns. In the worst case I’ll have to set up empty production workshops and fill them later. And if it comes to it, I’ll go to Trove or Hampter and recruit novices.”
Beside Rak is Town planner Ung. Both are enjoy ‘expensive’ drinks.
“To Alp town.”
Rak is woken from his thoughts and turns toward Ung.
“To Alp town.”
It can be difficult to identify people from the real world but sometimes it's obvious. Outside of excluding people like Ung, who is clearly native to Chaos theory’s world. Real world people have a different attitude towards things, which is hard for Chaos theory to replicate.
With the uproar Rak’s new advertisement is causing the library is getting swarmed. Fortunately it is a large house, large enough to serve as a warehouse previously. But even then there are too many people gathering.
“Don’t you have to manage the library?”
“No, without guest passes they can’t touch the books inside.”
Rak took another sip of his drink before speaking again.
“It would be nice to have a search system like the ones in cities.”
“That’s not impossible. But I’d have commissioned a specialized library building. Never saw any reason to do so.”
“Right. And there still aren’t that many books inside. But they will be limited as they can’t copy them.”
“If things work out I might be able to commission a library. There are some restrictions to it.”
“Oh? Tell me.”
This time around Ung looked at Rak with a small smirk.
“I knew you’d be interested in this.”
Ung enjoyed that Rak had an interest in how the Chaos theory government system worked. Only there are numerous facet to managing a village, not to mention a town. Speaking about one thing might take a day. The explanations around things could be simple however. Managing the library cost for example sounds simple but it is more convoluted than expected.
In short, as there is no library, the guest library pass is not actually a library pass but a pass to be allowed to interact with government property. Similarly the towns carriage drivers use the towns carriage and have a pass for it. With an official library building however, things change slightly but things work the same.
“First there is the reading quota.”
Ung intentionally pauses to savour the moment of having someone hanging on their every word.
“Quota?”
“Over a hundred thousand books have to be read from the beginning to end.”
“That shouldn’t be difficult.”
“No. We already have forty two thousand read. Of course not many people visit the town’s library. But that should change now.”
“What’s the other conditions?”
“This is a difficult part. A person has to gain inspiration from reading. A total of ten thousand.”
Ung waited for Rak to ask but to his surprise Rak was in deep thought.
“Inspiration must be what I got from reading those horse riding and carriage driving books. Calling it inspiration makes it seem mysterious but if I look at it from a game’s perspective it is probably a boost in ‘experience’ and ‘proficiency’.”
Only when Ung coughed very deliberately does Rak return his attention to Ung.
“Like I was saying. Inspiration is a very strange thing but we already have two thousand and sixty seven inspirations counted out of ten thousand.”
“How do you know when someone has been inspired?”
“You can't know. But Chaos theory knows.”
“I see.”
“Last condition is trivial. Coin.”
“Ah. How much?”
“Only five hundred gold. Nothing to worry about.”
It can’t be forgotten that Chaos theory government takes a percentage of every purchase within town. Not only that, but anyone within town that completes a quest and is rewarded coin, a portion of it is given to Alp town. Only by completing quests outside for protected Chaos theory areas can one escape these taxes.
“Then it’s only a matter of time before we complete it. Speaking of completing things. My basic farmhouse is completed. I’m planning on building a workshop for alchemists, a refinery to be specific.”
“You found an alchemist already?”
“Arlina’s son.”
“Little Sevon?”
“Yes. I haven’t talked to them yet but I’m planning on offering to support the boy.”
“That’s good. Every since that boys father died he hasn’t been seen since.”
“Hasn’t been seen? What do you mean? He isn’t dead?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know. There are people that vanish after dying but we can’t say for sure if they are dead. After all, Chaos theory is unpredictable.”
This is the first time Rak heard about people dying out of something other than old age in Chaos theory, and that was all from books he read. But when he thought about it, he didn’t know if people died of old age here as well.
“So there is such a thing? Will people be locked out of Chaos theory at some point?”
“There are plenty of stories about it. There are a few religious factions branches in the cities that revolve around the whole thing.”
Ung waved his hand and laughed before taking another sip of his drink.
“I was never into the whole thing but before I took over Alp town I learned architecture near one of these places. Can’t say I’m impressed with them. But people believe what they believe.”
“Right. There are at least tens of them. I never paid them any attention when I was travelling.”
“See? Tens of them! And they all think their the one true faith. Heh! They probably all from the same tree, only roots twist and turn in all directions.”
Ung and Rak slowly drank their drinks and chatted before finally going back to work. Rak of course didn’t have work but he still had plans to talk to Arlina about her son Sevon.
By the time Rak Found Arlina the lunch rush was over. Usually Ung and Rak would go to the Laughter medicine to have a bite to eat but this time they found a small family owned shop that sells miscellaneous things and services food.
“I shouldn’t hurt. I’ll go get the boy and you can ask him yourself. He’s very stubborn about doing things his own way. So bear that in mind.”
Arlina didn’t flinch when Rak said he wanted her boy to come work for him. Not only had the boy been on a rebellious streak, if he found out Rak had invited him to come work and his mother said no, there would be no knowing how he’d react.
“Don’t worry about it. Even if I wanted him to create something for me, I’d have to wait for him to develop his job.”
“Your words, not mine.”
For some reason Arlina liked that Rak wanted her boy to come for him, she felt it was like Rak would be taking him under his wing. And she was tired of that defiant expression Sevon gave her when anything around the business came up.
Sevon entered the room with his mother, his hands and face both dirtied with dirt. While he had become an alchemist a good deal of his time still went into tending the gardens. And unlike wildflowers and herbs these plants sometimes needed daily care.
“Hello there mister Sevon.”
“Good day mister Abstinence.”
Sevon stands as tall as he can as he greets Rak.
“Please sit.”
Arlina steps backs, moves to the bar and begins to clean some already clean dishware. Her eyes and perked ears betray her facade but no one is paying her any attention.
“Have you read the books I gave you?”
“Yes. They were very informative. I still haven’t had the chance to thank you.”
Sevon is extremely polite and proper, if it wasn’t for his young appearance and dirty face he’d pass for a young adult.
“Great to hear. I have you heard about the new library?”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What library?”
After explaining the situation Sevon just nodded. It didn't mean much to him that this library was free or if it had changed locations. Sevon’s mind had already been widened by his visit to Trove and he no longer had any mind on Alp’s affairs. Not to mention Laughter medicine is one of the most lucrative businesses in Alp.
“I would like you to become my private alchemist. Of course I’d make it so you have access to an herb garden and I would supply everything you need to progress your abilities.”
Rak felt a bit off to offer a small kid like this a job. And the more he said the more he felt it was a bit off. Nonetheless he was already here and he had already said the words.
“What would I be doing?”
“At first I just need you to train for at least four hours a day. I’ll pay you for the time and in return you’ll work for me in the future. Of course, your pay will increase as you become more adept at your job. It might still be some weeks or months away before I require your help.”
Even though Sevon was in a somewhat rebellious phase he still looked at his mother when he had to make a decision. Unfortunately for him his mother fiercely looked away as she wasn’t intently listening.
“Where is it?”
Rak didn’t respond immediately but instead summoned his user interface. A holographic window appeared before him and he began using his hands to navigate it. When he had cut out Alp down from his map he waved his hands and pushed it towards Sevon.
“I’ve marked on the map. It is outside of the town, on the outskirts of Alp’s territory.”
Sevon mimicked Rak’s actions and opened up his map. Soon he frowned.
“This is so far away. How do I travel back and forth? I have to maintain our garden.”
“I’m sure we can come up with something. Do you know how to ride a horse?”
“Of course.”
“We can try and get you a horse in the future. In the beginning you can work from home. How is that?”
“I agree to your offer then.”
Between the two there was little else to talk about so Rak created a temporary contract where it stated that Sevon would train his alchemy four hours a day for fifty copper coins an hour. That would be fifty six silver a month.
This is an extravagant pay for just training the boy but Rak honestly didn’t feel the sting. Even if it was two gold a month he’d laugh it off. Rak understood the need for investmenting when it came to creating long lasting businesses.
“What smart young man.”
Once Sevon went back to his tend the Laughter medicine herb garden Arlina took a seat.
“So you stole my little boy, what about my daughter?”
“If she finds a job I just might.”
After dealing with Arlina for some time, Rak was immune to her jokes. But he wasn’t immune to her leg rubbing up against his under the table.
“Oh? A merchant and a thief. Would you like to talk about business upstairs?”
“After you.”
Although it wasn’t as passionate as before Arlina kept to her merchant roleplay throughout, feeling it was very exciting. Biggest difference was the volume, Rak didn’t lose control and neither did Arlina.
“Good merchant!”
Even though Rak didn’t play along with Arlina she was still enthusiastic about it. When the affair was finally over Rak and Arlina layed in bed before getting dressed again.
“That sure was quick.”
Rak paused for a moment before continuing dressing.
“How does it keep increasing in intensity. Last time wasn’t this intense.”
Even though he had played around with Alley only yesterday and had a similar experience, the memory of his and Arlina’s time a few months ago was still vivid in his mind. With the comparison he felt the difference in more clarity.
“Every sensation is increasing in sensitivity. Do you know anything about it Lina?”
Arlina smiled when she heard the question.
“No. I don’t know.”
In the end it isn’t just Rak living in this world. Everyone feels the increase in their sensations. They can’t smell things further away or but they certainly could smell things in more depth. As the change was gradual it is mostly things like pain and pleasure that are easily noticeable. Perhaps its only vision that seems to be lacking. For now.
When Rak slinked away from the Laughter’s medicine he had the feeling he was doing something underhanded or shady. The activities were fine but after understanding that Arlina’s husband ‘died’ and it wasn’t really confirmed. Who knows if the man returns? Rak felt he was acting like a homewrecker.
“Forget it. Even if he returns it can’t be blamed on me.”
In part Rak is dealing with his conscious, which shouldn’t be an issue. And in part with the implications if he lost Laughter’s medicine business. And then there is the chance that he could lose some of his established reputation if things went further.
Few people understand the value of a reputation within Chaos theory. When people know you they can become like Town planner, a valuable asset and friend. What Rak doesn’t know is that a nefarious reputation will simply attract different kinds of people. People he hasn’t had much contact with.
The biggest issue with Chaos theory was exactly the lacking structure to guide people. There are all these tools in place but they are left for them to stumble across. As to why Chaos theory takes this approach rather than guiding with dedication is Chaos theory to know and everyone else to guess.
“With the library set up I can only wait for people to seek out Town hall to respond to my recruitment.”
Ung took the initiative to act as a middle man between Rak and people with production abilities. In reality it shouldn’t be difficult to discover and learn an ability after using tools like books. With the right books they’ll easily learn an ability.
The trouble is getting the related job. Just as Manipulators specialize specifically in assimilating their energy into items, often referred to as anchors. So can a person learn to manipulate their energy into an appropriate item and shape it from there. Only the latter is slow and difficult.
When looking at abilities it is best to recognize the time relative to practice. Learning tens of abilities is very much possible, and can be considered easy with the right tools. But training these abilities will take arduous work. Some of which can be alleviated by tools but time is still required.
“I’ll invite Url over to inspect the farmhouse and try to put down some plans for the future.”
The more Rak set up infrastructure the better he felt. If it was the real world he could get these things done in a few days at the latest but in Chaos theory things weren’t simple. Even just getting the right to buy land to build on was a struggle.
Not to mention Rak only has access to what Alp town government lets him build. If he wants higher quality buildings he’ll have to get an architect and woodworkers specialized in house construction.
The farmhouse recently builds is actually more a storage place and only has a few other uses like tools to tend animals. The animals themselves live outside within the fenced area. Or if they are loyal like Rak’s two horses they can roam freely. Speaking of the two, they are both accompanying Rak around town entirely untethered.
“As always the animals around Url’s land are numerous.”
Without counting it is easy to see there are over thirty animals roaming around Url’s house and hunting lodge. Majority of these are unranked and the smaller ones know how to sustain themselves on the pastures. But sustaining does not mean its beneficial to their growth, only enough to state them.
“Url should move near to the Endless mountain range and have these animals hunt with him. He already has an army.”
Rak let his thoughts wander a bit before calling for Url in the usual fashion. Soon Rak and Url were riding on Rak ́s two horses. Url´s attention was entirely on the horses. Rak didn't mind, he has long since gotten used to quietude.
“This is the place.”
Despite travelling in silence the trip went by quickly.
“A farmhouse?”
Url leapt off the horse with ease and began inquisitively inspect the property.
“I was hoping you’d help investigate ways to increase animals growth to tier one and beyond. Of course I don’t expect tier two animals but perhaps advanced tier one animals should be the current goal.”
Url went from touching the fencing to knocking on the farm house walls to lifting and inspecting every tool within the farmhouse. A farmhouse and a hunting lodge contain similar items but in the end a farmhouse is strictly a production building while a hunting lodge aimed towards surviving and hunting.
“Tier one animals isn’t difficult.”
Url knelt on one knee and swiped a grassblade from the fields.
“Advanced to peak tier one will need both training and adequate food stuffs.”
“I expected as much.”
“You’ll need to get your hands on quality unranked materials and then have a tier one alchemist refine them. There are other methods but this is the most common.”
“What other methods are there?”
“Enhancing items is not an uncommon ability. A cook can even produce great results. Not just for humans but animals as well.”
Rak walked with Url and only listened.
“It is also possible to learn simple infusing abilities. If the ability symbiotic with the food in question even a Manipulator like you could do it.”
“Oh?”
“Your two boys have eaten well but you must have bought their food in cities, right?”
“That’s right. I stock up on quality food in cities.”
“With above average quality they have achieved some growth but mostly they have been exercising often.”
“They are restless and never stop running around. Even when they are exhausted they still want to roam around.”
“They’re good boys.”
When it comes to his passion even Url speaks more.
“If you give them higher grade food they’ll soon break through to tier one. After they do you’ll need to arrange higher tier food.”
“I’m aware of this. I read a few books on the matter. If I hadn’t come to you I would have gone into the city and have an alchemist refine large quantities of food for me.”
Speaking of things like refining, at this stage it is simple as infusing items with energy. Majority of the energy dissipated but a small percentage remains within the items. This energy is expanded when the item is used or consumed.
Alchemists deal especially with infusing their energy into items and therefore are known to do things like increasing an item’s grade by a degree or even increasing its tier. This isn’t too rare as most production related abilities use unranked materials in tier one items. Olrics brewing is an example of this. Of course the quality suffers and can only reach a novice level.
All manners of abilities use energy, most can be seen as a form of infusing energy into an item only the degree of which it is done is vastly different. When Rak infuses an alchemist refined stone, he does so carelessly but effectively.
If an alchemist’s methods were used to infuse the same stone they might be able to sell it and others could use Manipulator’s shields or other abilities by proxy. This is how items work in general.
“What kind of animals are you thinking of keeping?”
“Horses first and foremost.”
There are numerous types of mounts capable or even better at transporting items over long distances than horses but horses are the most common. This can be seen when Rak was looking for riding instruction books.
“I also wanted to get your stance on something that could be questionable.”
“Oh?”
“How do you feel about training beasts of war?”
Url paused his steps, following which Rak also stopped.
“Can you explain further?”
“I want to capture various animals, train them to be fighters and sell them. They would act as companions, protectors and attackers.”
“This isn’t impossible. But it is time consuming.”
“Even if it is, I think it’s worth it.”
Surprisingly Url had no notion of protecting all animals. He himself is a hunter and has hunted numerous animals.
“Capturing is one thing, training is another.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I ride out today, it might take me a few days to find particular animal to capture.”
“Ah, I see what you mean. Don’t worry. I’m in this for the long haul. If in the end we have to sell the animals for several gold, then that’s what we’ll sell them for.”
Rak had no issue catering to a niche market if that was the case.
“What about breeding animals? Is that possible?”
Rak hadn’t thought about it but he didn’t realise there were no person younger than thirteen years old within Chaos theory’s world.. And even those were about to become fourteen within six months. So when talking about breeding animals, it could be an odd situation.
“We could breed animals, it's not something I’m well versed in but I know some things.”
Url kept walking, they were still far off reaching the end of the fenced off land.
“As for training the animals. This is easier but also time consuming. The two horses I sold to you were trained not just by me but their herd as well.”
“They train themselves?”
“That’s right. If you train a couple of strong senior members of the herd, these senior horses will instill their wisdom to the herd’s younger generation.”
Rak’s eyes gleamed hearing this.
“How many horses. No, how many animal groups do you think you could manage at once?”
“Hard to say. If its horses I could maintain a herd of a thousand easily. As for other animals? I would have to look at each animal individually. If there is strong herd mentality, it is easy.”
“I see.”
“Wild field lions only set up in certain number of groups. A single male lion and ten to twenty lionesses. They won’t create a larger group. Any more than that you’ll need to set up a new group. This makes future training more difficult but not impossible.”
At this point Url had stopped again, his mind was working through the logistics and as he went on his mental image got larger. He saw hundreds of field lions all in different groups.
“For these lions I reckon you would have to build specialized areas for them. When they learn to cohabitate with other prides they can be dealt with like the herd of horses.”
“Amazing.”
“Some animals I have little experience in dealing with, in particular fowl. But with some time I should be able to learn.”
“How long does it take to breed a horse?”
“About four months. That's early adulthood. Your horses I found wild but they were just reaching their early adulthood then.”
“Only four months?”
“Six accounting for the mare gestation period. But I am not an expert in these matters, like I said.“
Rak fell into thought.
“Six months is nothing. This is definitely the way to go.”
Even if Rak could send Url out to capture animals constantly it was much more feasible to breed them. Url still had other things to do than just capturing and taming new animals. Though newborns would have to be tamed it was far away from the difficulty of taming a wild animal.
Url and Rak continue to talk about various things. Rak modifies his previous contract with Url to state he is now paying him three gold a month and that he is now under Rak’s general employment.
The contract is ambiguous and Url can deny to do anything Rak asks him to but Url can now work more independently. Using the brewery’s delivery trips Url will capture beasts he thinks could be valuable.
They have also decided to use Url’s horses to breed a new generation and move a portion of the pride to Rak’s land temporarily. Wild horses would also be introduced if the opportunity appeared. Url explained that horses would travel fast and far and rarely stayed in one location for long periods at a time.
Eventually Url felt the urge to go get started. Rak reminded Url that if he could breed any other animal as well that would be great. As to whether Url took note of it is unknown.
“So far things are going alright. There are some mishaps but in short six or seven months I’ll have a working taming facility. Raising animals won’t bear fruit for a long while.”
After sending Url off and being left alone Rak began walking back to the house with the intention of training his Manipulator abilities and continuing his analyzes of his many consumable items.
“To remove excess costs over long periods I need to make sure I can generate my own supply of food. That means I need a farmer on top of people with abilities to refine food to a higher standard.”
Rak hasn’t tried his hand at various job related abilities he has casually read up on. Mostly Rak read for entertainment but a few books like horse riding books were picked specifically. Rak has also read a book on formations but went nowhere with it.
“Farming should be a common ability. I should have Town hall set up a quest for one. Even if they specialize in a particular crop, switching them up shouldn’t be an issue.”
After discussing with Url, Rak realized that jobs are not as cut and dry. At this stage a tier one or unranked ability can only go so far. But the benefit is that they can easily be molded. Olric, Rak ́s brewer can easily pivot to other drinks, though there will be lacking proficiency, it won’t be too glaring.
“I no longer feel like I’m progressing with my Manipulator abilities. If I understand this system correctly, only my proficiency with the abilities is increasing but the numerical attributes associated with the abilities aren’t increasing.”
Through numerous wisdom books Rak had gathered that abilities were indeed split into level, increased with experience. And proficiency, increased through repeated practice.
“There must be a limit of some sort on how much experience my abilities and Manipulator job can receive through training alone. Perhaps they are interlinked as well, that isn’t out of the question.”
Rak opened his door and casually sat down by the large dining table, items poured into a large pile. These were the items bought in the Bazaar tower.
“If it comes to it, I’ll have to either mimic father and go into the Endless mountain range or travel to a city and enter their Strange zone.”
It isn’t obvious why Rak is aiming to reach tier two Manipulator or why he’s training at all. Perhaps its the innate feeling of not wanting to be left behind. There is also the feeling Alley gave him. It might be just to feel empowered.
The reason why Rak persist in his seemingly pointless analyzing of items is to prove something. Not to himself or others but see if his guess is true. He read book after book and made the educated guess that abilities can be deterministically learned. A part is proving that there are no useless actions as well. Even if in the end he doesn’t receive the ability he expects, he should receive something.
As for his Basic stamping or Basic reading, those can still be attributed to the number of steps he took or number of books he read. It might not be that read continuously, though we know that is indeed the case. These are some of his thoughts on these matters at least.
“I’m getting faster at this. I can’t be sure if it requires certain period of time or if the quantity I’m going through is enough. If I want to be safe I should start again but I don’t believe Chaos theory, if is as expansive as it is, won’t recognize my efforts.”
In Chaos theory, the Chaos theory General Artificial Intelligence is literally god. But even gods might have limitations to their ability. Perhaps Rak’s thoughts and actions are futile and Chaos theory isn’t as detail oriented as he is guessing.