Upon entering the guild hall one thing became very apparent. Most notable would be the chair that went right by his head and slammed into the wall, shattering on impact like it was glass. The second thing were the two natives duking it out in the center of the room.
Clearly these two blokes had seen their fair share of fisticuffs. Both had their fists up, dodging and weaving around one another while glancing blows off the body. A circle of people had formed around the brawlers and cheered on the fight. One was an overly buffed up demon with muscles on his muscles, swinging savagely. Cyrus was fairly confident that each one of those blows would kill him in an instant. His opponent was a slim and skinny looking elf, each step he took was like a waltz while moving around the demon.
The elf ducked under another punch and his fist shot out, hitting the demon in the chest with a flurry of punches faster than the eye could see. Too fast for Cyrus to see at least. Despite the visual strength disparity, it was clear that stats truly meant everything in this world as the demon dropped to his knees. Holding his stomach in pain and blood dribbled out of his mouth. Cyrus guess that this was due to internal damage, each of those punches must have had immense strength behind them to make such an impact.
Just like that the fight was over as if it had never happened, the crowd dispersed and mostly ignored the bloody demon on the floor. A few other demons walked over to their fallen companion and gave him a red potion. Cyrus watched the demon chug it down and the results were shocking to him. The small cuts adorning the demon’s body slowly disappeared and his health looked visually better, to the point the demon was able to stand again.
This once again affirmed Cyrus’s lack of knowledge about this world. Miracle potions such as those were essential if he planned on fighting in the dungeons. Right now Cyrus was severely lacking money, so he doubted that he’d be getting any weapons or potions until that problem was resolved.
Before parting ways with Farah, she had given him two tips. The first was to register with the guild as soon as possible. The second was to avoid talking about his or asking the specifics of someone else’s abilities or stats. It wasn’t uncommon for adventurers to target each other for loot, giving out too much information could paint yourself as a target. He wasn’t even sure if he could trust other people in this world yet, let alone tell them anything about him. The last person Cyrus could really trust was far away.
Leaving those thoughts for later, Cyrus observed the area around him. While it was far less rowdy than before now that the fight was over, one could hardly call it calm. Adventurers were truly free, free to do as they desired and make as much noise as they wanted. Individuals of all species filled the tables of the guild hall, laughing and drinking as if there was never a reason to stop. A loud crash brought attention to a demonic woman who drank herself unconscious and fell out of her chair. At the table a plump dwarf was laughing at his success, clearly from having drunk her under the table.
While the creatures of this hall were relaxed and excitable, that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. Almost everyone was donning armor of some sort, ranging from leather and chainmail to metal greaves and robes. Just as many had weapons latched onto their bodies, massive broadswords across the backs of multiple strong backed people. One elf even had small knives on just about every limb of her body, covering her like she was a living weapon.
That didn’t bode well for Cyrus, all he had was his fists, a few apples and his will to live. Not much to go on but it was a start at the least. He spied the front desk where a human woman was filling out paperwork, this was clearly a good place to start. He strode his way over to the desk and rang the bell, getting her attention.
“How can I help you sir?” She asked in a polite tone.
“I was looking to register as an adventurer, is this the right place?” Cyrus asked, for some reason he felt eyes on his back after doing so as if he were being watched. While Cyrus wasn’t sure what the feeling he got was, he chose to write it off as paranoia.
“Of course sir, the process is simple. In order to become an adventurer you’ll need to sign a contract promising to uphold the basic laws of the country. We’ll teach you the basics of your job and the requirements that need to be met. Please follow me to the back room and we’ll begin.” She informed Cyrus before walking around the desk and gesturing him to follow her through the back door.
They made their way into the room where an obelisk stood in the center. It was six feet tall just level with his height and gave off an ominous aura. Beside the obelisk was a table with a few papers on them.
“What you’ll do is touch the obelisk so that we can measure your current level and assign you a rank based on it. Once done, you’ll read through the papers on the desk and fill out the required information as applicable. Then you’ll be an adventurer!” The human remarks smiling.
“That’s much easier than I expected, what are the ranks for adventurers?” Cyrus asked, curious about the hierarchy structure.
“That information will be on the paper instructions you fill out. Now let’s start with your obelisk test please.” She urges.
Cyrus complies and walks over to the obelisk. He gently placed his hand on it and the obelisk began to emit a faint black light. The girl in turn placed her hand on it and let out a small gasp. Her eyes shown with light as if she’s experiencing or reading through his information. She pulls her hand back with her eyes still wide and looks at him suspiciously, her gaze full of doubt.
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“How do you have access to Void magic at your level? Normally only the highest-level individuals are able to use that kind of magic. Are you really level 15? Or are you using an artifact to hide your level?” She pushes, the shock evident in her eyes.
The shock was equally evident in Cyrus’ eyes as well, the last time someone found out he had this kind of magic he was about to be sacrificed. He would be damned if that was going to happen again. The clerk seemed to pick up on his apprehension pretty quickly based on his expression.
“Woah easy there sir, I’m not going to pry into such information. You might find that some religions and factions are not so easy going about that sort of magic though. Do you know how to use it?”
Oh if only she knew…“I can’t really yet, the System told me I had access, but I don’t know how to use magic yet. I really am level 15, though I won’t tell you how I got it.” Cyrus responds irritably, feeling as if he just walked out with his pants down considering she was able to look into his abilities.
“Well you are entitled to your secrets, you better me be good at keeping them though. It’s possible someone may hurt you to find out the method you used to get it. Magic is widely diverse with many schools and techniques. Seeing as you don’t know how to use magic, it’s obvious you’ve been on your own for a while. In order to use magic you need to pull up your magic screen by saying “access magic”. This will bring you to your spells.”
Cyrus did as she instructed him and found himself looking at a new screen in the System.
*Magic Tree – Void*
Spell: [Void Aura] – Coat your weapon with the aura of the Void, any damage dealt with this aura will deal extra damage and delay healing.
Passive Ability: [Life Burn] – The blood of your enemies empowers you. The more your enemies bleed, the greater your strength will be.
*Warning: Magic is a well that will refill itself with time. Empty the well will incur consequences*
Cyrus had to admit, he was sort of worried about the path this was taking. The passive ability alone left little to be said about the purpose of Void magic. It was meant for individuals to increase their talent in killing. The spell [Void Aura] was also incredibly useful with many simple applications. Many monsters were bound to have some sort of regenerative ability, a spell to limit healing would allow him to combat that.
The extra damage boost from the spell was also a bonus, Cyrus still did not have a weapon so further inquiries would have to wait. Having access to magic was a start so he would take it regardless.
“Thanks, if only the System came with a help guide it would’ve been easier.” Cyrus says with a sigh of relief.
“It does come with a help guide when you first turn 15 sir.” She says pointedly.
“You know what… maybe I just didn’t pay enough attention on the time. It’s been a while since I turned that age so I may have forgotten over time.” Cyrus returns, laughing nervously at his obvious cover up.
Lucky for Cyrus, she doesn’t approach the topic and instead moves on with the enrollment. She goes through the documents and marks down his level and writes down his field of magic before taking the sheet into her own hands.
“You don’t have to worry about others finding out about your current level or Void magic unless you tell them. This is for enrollment purposes and kept confidential to the Guild master’s and Lords, only to be used in times of requirement. Release of any information is highly irregular. Now if you’d please complete the enrollment papers we can move on.” She remarks pointing at the desk with documents.
Cyrus took a seat in front of the desk, feeling slightly nervous that someone wrote down his level and magic field. Oddly it felt like that information should be kept private even though he had only just obtained them. Looking through his contract it became clear that the adventurers job was pretty lax. In order to maintain your license you only needed to complete two quests a year to prove you’re alive.
The ranks of an adventurer start with F rank for those level 1-30. E ranks are level 31-49, D ranks are level 50-99, C ranks are level 100-149, B ranks are level 150-199, A ranks are level 200-300 and finally S ranks. Individuals who have passed level 400 and reached a new height. Those people had to be true monsters with as many stats as it comes with.
A lowly level 15 like himself probably couldn’t even comprehend the amount of power those people wielded. As much as it scared him, it was equally as exciting. A burning feeling lit inside his chest, the want for power and the need to be at that level was far too attractive. It was like an itch that he wouldn’t be able to scratch until he achieved it.
Finishing looking through the sea of papers, Cyrus signed at the bottom as if to say he would follow the laws of the Kingdom. The rules had been pretty straightforward like the ones on earth. Basically saying not to kill anyone or steal someone’s stuff. Those laws were pretty much made to protect someone of his own level.
“All right I’m done, is there anything else I need to do?” Cyrus asked the guild lady.
“No you’re all done now; this tag will mark you as an adventurer with a rank. Having this tag will allow you to take requests from the guild. In addition, this bag will be your cosmic space. Special privileges may be granted to you should you perform any great tasks or raise your rank more.” She puts a silver tag on the desk with the letter F marked on it and a small pouch next to it.
Cyrus grabs the tag and drops it into the side pocket of the pouch. Upon touching the pouch he is met with a prompt from the System.
*Bind – Cosmic Pouch(Y/N)*
This was a no brainer; Cyrus willed the bind between himself and the pouch and immediately felt the connection between himself and the inanimate object. It was almost as if he could feel the presence from the cosmic space without looking at it.
“Congratulations on becoming an adventurer sir, now that we’re all done, you’re free to do as you wish. I recommend forming a party the first time you choose to go dungeon diving so you’re more likely to come back alive. Remember, you can’t be free if you’re dead, good luck.” She recites as if it were from memory. Judging by her efficiency she’s probably done this a number of times.
“Thank you for all your help.” Cyrus replies tersely, getting a nod from her as they exit the room and return to the main hall of the guild. It was only the height of the afternoon, so he had plenty of time to go about his day. Right now his main goal was getting to the dungeon and in order to do so, he needed a weapon. In order to get that weapon he needed money.
Thankfully, he knew just where to start.