"You wanna play rough? Okay. Say hello to my little friend!" A man says, before the rapid sound of gunfire is heard.
Currently, an old television film is being aired on the television, and I listen to it while waiting for Thoth. Along with listening the television, I'm sketching in a drawing book I bought a few months ago, following a cartoon style developed in the east. I believed it was known as 'anime,' but I'm not so sure. I liked the appearance, so I decided to try and copy it.
I was waiting for Thoth right now, who was already an hour late. My father locked himself in his study again, researching the [Summoning Magic] that the king requested. Mother hasn't returned yet, so I was all alone in this living room, with nothing much to do besides drawing. Now that I think of it, recently, I've been spending more time with others rather than being alone. It was a nice change to have from my previous life.
The doorbell rings as I finish the clothing on the character I'm drawing, and I put the book down before heading to the door. I put on my shoes and make sure I have the keys in my pockets before grabbing the door handle. Upon opening the door, I see the cheerful girl I was waiting for. She wore tomboyish clothing similar to mine, and stood about ten centimeters shorter than me. Her hair was short and spiky, which was the exact same style I had in my previous life. At this point, it truly was a mirror image of me as a female in modern clothing.
"Hey Aria~! I'm here!" Thoth waves her hand at me while giving me a smile.
"...you're late." I immediately reply.
"Ehehehe, yeah, um, about that..."
"Woke up late." I state the reason she always gives for being late.
"But, but, it wasn't my fault you know!? Last night, there was a really cool movie at the cinema, and I went to watch with my family, and we came back late, and, and..." Her words trail off as she fails to think of an excuse for waking up late.
"...let's just go." I tell her, walking out the door.
"Yeah, yeah, let's just forget about it and go register!" She says happily as she follows me.
As optimistic as ever, she acts as if her being an hour late didn't matter very much. This was a common thing whenever we made plans to go out, so I was used to it. After locking the door, we both exit through the front gate and walk down the main road into the city.
"Although we were both men in our previous lives, I still feel a bit jealous looking at your appearance..." Thoth suddenly says.
"...why?" Curious about this sudden comment, I slow down my walking pace a bit to have her walk besides me.
"You have such beautiful hair, you look hot in those clothes, and that chest..." Her words cut off again as she stares at her own flat chest before grabbing at them.
"Why are you getting all the good stuff!? Why did I turn into you!?" She spontaneously starts throwing a tantrum, pounding her fists at me. She didn't put any strength into it, though, so it didn't hurt that much.
"...fate?" I truly did believe it was just fate playing around with us.
"What, so fate decided that you would get a D-cup at the age of 13!? I mean, look at these freaking things!" She yells while suddenly grabbing at my breasts.
"...luck?" I state the second reason that comes to my mind. This got me a blank stare from Thoth, who releases my chest.
"That's right... you're always the lucky one... it's like you have a stat for it and the limit for it broke..." She begins muttering as she abruptly stops and starts sulking near a telephone pole.
I don't stop walking, knowing that she'll catch up anyway in a few seconds. Just as I predicted, a few minutes later, Thoth comes running from behind towards me, already over her short depression.
"Aria~ don't leave me behind like that! I don't wanna be left alone all the sudden, you know?!" She complains about miscellaneous things for the rest of the way, and I give short replies or just don't respond at all.
We reach the heart of the city, where the guild building was located. Thoth and I have never come here before, so this would be our first time entering. We step through the front doors, surprised at the sight of the interior.
The [Adventurer's Guild] was much more unique than we thought, the building very similar to a shopping mall. There were several floors to it, with escalators all over the interior of the building. There are several shops set up by craftsmen and merchants, but there were also taverns and training fields set up. I look at a nearby electronic map on a wall, before locating the [Guild Office] which was at the center of the mall.
Thoth and I head towards that direction, looking at the shops set up on the way. There were several equipment stores, which surprisingly all had different categories of weapons. Based on their names, and what I can see from peeking through the doors, they were all class-based stores. Some of them looked like [Union] shops as well, the equipment marked with famous emblems I recognized on adventurers I encounter in the dungeon.
[Unions] are several parties of adventurers gathered together, forming a large group within the guild. This feature was added to the [System] about a year ago, when another world was conquered. It synchronized with the [Event System], where they can earn bonus effects from the system based on their performances. These effects varied from slightly increased experience gain, minor increases in elemental magic, a small percent increase to damage and more.
These effects are really miniscule at first, to the point where it's worth near nothing. But the larger a [Union] grows, and the more effects it gathers, they can stack and add up to quite a lot. I believe that the largest [Union] right now was called the [Epiphany]. A religion-based [Union], it was well known for owning effects that increases [Light Magic] abilities by 80%, and every other element by 50%. With that, they also have an effect that increases their armor's defence by 50% as well.
"Wow this place is awesome! Look at all the stuff they're selling here!" Thoth yells with excited tone, slowing down her pace a bit to examine the items in the display cases.
"...we'll visit later." I tell her, pulling her away from the windows.
When we reach the center of the mall, there's a huge cylindrical, glass elevator that goes to the very top of the mall. Inside the glass elevator, was a huge platform that seems to be powered by magic, connected to every floor in the mall. The panel had several buttons on it for each floor. At the very top, a button had the word 'Guild' on it, and I press it assuming that it will bring us to the [Guild Office]. The platform shoots upwards, the view through the glass becoming a blur.
"This is so cool! This is like riding on a dragon that's flying straight up into the sky! Woohoo!" Yes, this was a girl who's supposed to have a mental age of a few centuries.
The elevator stops at the very top, which goes into a completely new floor that didn't have any merchants or shops in it. Instead, there were several hundred adventurers all gathered onto this floor. There were several reception desks that were occupied by staff members who either looked really handsome or really beautiful. Opposite to the desks were several doors with signs on them that lead to different areas.
As soon as we exit the elevator, several adventurers notice us and begin pointing at us. Many of the male adventurers turned to look at us, giving us amorous looks. At least, that's what Thoth and the others said those kinds of expressions were. I didn't recognize very many of them, and they probably didn't know who I am. Normally, anyone that recognized me wouldn't be whistling at me, and they would be showing looks of respect instead. At least, that's what Thoth and the others told me whenever I notice those stares during competitions.
A staff member leaves the desk she's working at and comes to greet us. She had a childish appearance, looking even younger than the both of us. Her pink hair was tied into a ponytail, the length of it going halfway her back. She actually wore a suit that fit her size, giving her a bit of a professional look.
"Welcome to the [Guild Office], my name is Kari. Are you two also students that just graduated?" She greeted us with a mature attitude, contrary to her appearance.
"Yep! We're here to register and become proper adventurers now!" Thoth replies cheerfully.
"Follow me, and if you have your [Adventurer's License] right now, we'll register you into the system right away." The girl heads towards the doors, before entering one that had the sign displaying [Main Room].
"Woah, look at all the [Magic Pylons] they have set up in here!" Thoth says out loud as we enter the room. The room contained many small glass pillars spread out, illuminating with a dim light and runic carvings.
"The [Guildmaster] just built this a year ago, throwing hundreds of thousands of gold into the project. Rather impressive, isn't it?" From the way she speaks, Kari definitely sounds more mature than she looks.
[Magic Pylons] were extremely advanced devices made with both magic and technology. To use one, all that's needed is to have direct contact with it and provide mana to the small glass pillar. Upon doing so, your consciousness will be transferred into the obelisk, linking yourself to the pylon.
These pillars are usually set up in networks, where there will be a main pylon while several others will be linked to it. They can be used as databases to compile information, and can have several other functions to it if a professional [Magic Engineer] worked on it. In this case, the [Magic Pylons] are the main form of receiving and completing quests within the guild. Of course, that's not the only function, but it's the main use of the pylons.
"Just put your hand on the pylon and it'll guide you through the registration. Your DNA will be recorded onto the databases, and it'll recognize you whenever you touch a pylon associated with the guild. You'll be able to add your statuses to your [Adventurer's Licenses], which will be updated automatically based on any changes you make through the pylon." Kari explains to us.
"Okay then! Here's the moment where we'll officially be recognized as adventurers! Are you ready for this, Aria?" Thoth says, facing me.
"...yeah." I reply, step towards one of the pylons.
I sit down cross legged, with Thoth right next to me. We both stretch our hands out to the pillar, and touch the smooth, glass surface at the same time. My vision turns black in an instant, as if I was just engulfed in darkness. When it returns, I find myself floating some sort of light blue space with nothing in sight, completely nude.
"[Adventurer's License] detected. Confirming Identity. Adding DNA to database." A voice similar to the [System] speaks out.
"Welcome to the [Guild Network]. Please confirm your status." It says after completing its process.
Name Aria Brynhildr
Age 14 Years Old
Gender Female
Titles [Angel of Annihilation] [Blinded Shadow] [Boundless] [Demon Slayer] [Devil Slayer] [Elementalist] [Fallen Hero] [Heartless] [Hunter of Giants] [Ice-Cold Predator] [Immortal Slayer] [Inferno Hunter] [Tempest Walker]
Classes [Arcane Knight] [Martial Artist] [Destroyer][Gun Paladin]
Level 71
Health 39,110
Mana 38,360
Strength 1532
Agility 1617
Intelligence 1504
A dark blue screen with my status appears. A [Yes/No] prompt appeared under it as well.
Examining my stats, there was a slight difference from what it should be. The stats are a little over 2% of my original power. No, I can't release half a mark or a quarter of one. During my expeditions, I've fought several thousand monsters and leveled up 8 times. Along with that, my stats have increased by over 100 each. Now, maybe some will think that it's a really slow pace for someone who trained for 6 years straight.
Remember that my original abilities should be 50 times higher right now. That means it also takes 50 times more experience to level up in proportion to my abilities. So one level up with this curse on is the same as leveling up 50 times with my original power, and the same applies for my stats. It's the equivalent of leveling up 400 times, and my stats increasing by 500 each.
Yes, that's right. My rate of growth is several times faster than it should be. I don't know if it's supposed to be some sort of gift from fate or part of the [New Game Plus] skill, but it's quite unfair for someone like me to have this. Inheriting all my previous abilities and more, I can even grow at a rate faster than a genius training for his whole life to level up. Just like Thoth, whose level is over 100 now I believe.
I confirm my status by pressing [Yes] on the screen in front of me, before it disperses into magic particles.
"Please confirm your main title. Only one can be chosen, and it shall be displayed on the [Adventurer's License] until it is changed."
Angel of Annihilation Increases damage by 10%, grants [Overcome] skill.
Blinded Shadow Increases [Dark Magic] proficiency by 75%, increases [Darkness Resistance] by 25%. Grants passive night vision, grants [Stalking Eyes].
Boundless Increases experience and stat gain even further
Demon Slayer Increases damage against demons by 50%, increases [Darkness] resistance by 25%.
Devil Slayer Increases damage against demons by 75%, increases [Darkness] resistance by 50%, increases stats by 5%.
Elementalist Increases all elemental magic efficiency by 50%, decreases mana consumption of magic use by 25%.
Fallen Hero Increases all stats by 10%, grants [Leadership Aura] skill.
Heartless Enables [Aura of the Heartless] to inflict abnormal effects based on the level differences between the caster and anyone in their vicinity.
Hunter of Giants Increases [Strength] by 20%, grants [Pain Nullification].
Ice-Cold Predator Increases [Ice Magic] proficiency by 75%, increases [Ice Resistance] by 25%. Lowers body temperature naturally, grants [Aura of the Arctic].
Immortal Slayer Increases all stats by 10%
Inferno Slayer Increases [Fire Magic] proficiency by 75%, increases [Fire Resistance] by 25%. Increases body temperature naturally, grants [Blazing Trail].
Tempest Walker Increases [Wind Magic] proficiency by 75%, increases [Wind Resistance] by 25%. Increases by speed by 20%, grants [Storm Blast]
This was something new. I wasn't told anything about this during my classes, so I'm not aware of what this exactly was. I didn't even know this existed, but it seems far too convenient.
"...help." I say, hoping to get a response from the guide.
"Currently, you are able to select a main title. Each title grants their own effects to allow the holder to become stronger, and are all unique. This title will also be displayed on the [Adventurer's License], but it's effects won't be shown to those who view it. Only one title can be equipped at a time, and can be changed anytime by accessing any [Magic Pylon] associated with the guild." The voice does respond, but still doesn't explain where it came from in the first place.
"Origination?" I ask the voice.
"Upon conquering the dungeon world, [Knulline], the [Party System] was upgraded and granted the title system." I recall hearing something about another world being conquered, but I was in the middle of a [Hidden Boss] battle, so I ignored the [System]'s voice. It still doesn't answer why none of my classes talked about this, though.
"...limit." I say afterwards.
"The amount of titles an adventurer can equip is equivalent to their tier. A [Mortal Tier] adventurer can equip one main title, an [Immortal Tier] can hold two, and it goes on to the maximum limit of five main titles in the [Titan Tier]. Currently it is impossible to increase this limit." I assume that the voice said 'currently' because it's a feat that may be possible in the future when the [Party System] is upgraded even further.
Having no other questions to ask, I look through the list of titles I can select, wondering which to pick. They were all amazing in their own way, but the ones I was most interested in were the titles that granted me skills. Based on the description, if I equipped the [Heartless] title and used my aura, I can basically freeze my enemies in place. [Leadership Aura] was fairly self explanatory, which was the plainest of the skills. The [Boundless] title scared me a bit, thinking about how fast I would start leveling. If I added that onto my rate of growth, I might just reach level 4,000 before I hit adulthood.
The titles I obtained from defeating [Hidden Bosses] with Thoth gave me higher magic affinity and a skill unique to its elements, with the exception of the [Hunter of Giants]. Although they were interesting, rather than specializing in one aspect, I focus more on balancing everything equally. Normally something like this would turn out to be a 'Jack-of-all-Trades,' and 'Master-of-None,' but I was a bit unique.
I decide to pick the title that granted a skill I know nothing about. The title the [System] officially granted to me two years ago, I select the [Angel of Annihilation]. After pressing [Yes] on a confirmation prompt that came up after selecting it, the screen disperses away again, leaving me floating here alone in the light blue space.
"Registration complete. You are now an [S-Ranked] adventurer. The [Adventurer's Guild] network is now accessible. Would you like to access the network now?" Thoth was probably waiting for me, so I don't open it. I immediately press the decline button on the next screen that appear and a bright light blocks my vision again. A huge surge of wind suddenly rushes by me, and I suddenly find myself back in the real world, hand on the glass pillar.
"Finally~ took you way too long to finish!" The girl next to me says while stretching her body.
"...too many titles." I explain.
"Yeah, and I bet all of them either increased your stats or gives you a new skill that makes you more overpowered than you are right now.." She guesses correctly.
"The both of you have successfully registered, correct? Your status will now be visible on your [Adventurer's License], along with your main title. Your adventurer tier and rank will be displayed on it as well, and if you choose to, you may join the [Leaderboard] for the guild." Kari, who was standing behind us while we did this, says something that interests both Thoth and I greatly.
"Oh! Oh! By any chance, is this leaderboard something that ranks adventurers against each other?!" Thoth makes another guess, which is probably right as well.
"Correct. Due to competitions of strength between adventurers, the guild has decided to properly have a [Leaderboard] to display who is the strongest. In order to make it fair, we've separated the rankings into different tiers. Rank 1 for the [Mortal Tier] will be different from rank 1 in the [Immortal Tier]. If you choose to join the [Leaderboard], you will have your [Leaderboard] rank displayed on your [Adventurer's License] as well." She explains to us.
"...how to join?" I ask.
"Access the network using the [Magic Pylon], and you can join there."
"We'll do that later then. Now that we're done registering, I want to go look at all the shops and [Unions] here!" Thoth says.
Both are things that don't require the pylon, so it looks like we're going to head back to ground floor. [Unions] is a function part of the system, and it was far too difficult to integrate into the pylons. It's easier to just directly use the [System], so there's really no point to make it accessible via [Magic Pylons].
"Then I shall return to my station. Thank you for joining the [Adventurer's Guild], and I wish for your survival in the future." Kari bows before leaving the room, Thoth and I exiting shortly afterwards. On the way to the elevator, a couple of the men from earlier finally approached us, blocking our path.
"Hey there, I overheard you when you talked to Kari earlier. You're both new to the guild, huh? If you want, I can help you out with your early days and show you the ropes." One of them says to us. This confirms that they didn't know who we were.
"Sorry, but we both learnt everything we needed to know, so no thanks! Now get out the way, please?" Thoth says with a fake smile on her face.
"Hah! Learning from the books is different than practical experience, you know? The first few days are overwhelming for any newbie, no need to get overconfident!" His friend says. Doesn't look like they're giving up, but I don't want to deal with this.
"Don't need help." I say, already past him and inside the elevator.
"Wha-"
"Yep, so please don't bother us again!" Thoth interrupts him as she pushes him away before entering the elevator. I immediately press the button for the first floor, and as the door closes, the man shoves his feet right between them.
"Now just wait a minute. That's not how you treat someone who's more experienced than you. Don't just go disrespecting me without consequence!" He says as as open the door to the elevator again. This guy is way too persistent. It's starting to annoy me.
"I'm going to have you two show me some re-" Again, his words are cut off, but this time it was because I kicked him in a very special place.
"Get out." I throw him out of the elevator before pressing the button again, and this time we weren't stopped.
"Aria... that was cruel... how's he supposed to have children now?" Thoth says with a grimace on her face. She was formerly male, so she was able to imagine how painful it was to get kicked like that.
"...don't care." I reply.
"Well, I don't either! Good job!" Her expression makes a full 180° as she gives me a thumbs up.
The high speed elevator makes it to the bottom during this short exchange. The fact that it can move that fast without me feeling it at all is seriously cool. I want to find out the type of magic used to create that, and see if I can utilize it practically in battle.
"And here we are! Let's go shopping~!" Thoth yells before immediately running through the crowds.
I follow behind her, and we visit several of the stores we saw earlier. Just like I thought, they were all based on different classes. The biggest stores featured equipment for the common classes like [Swordsman] and [Thief]. The smaller stores sold equipment for more rare and unique classes, but they're of higher quality to make up for it. There weren't any shops for generalized classes that used several weapons at once, because they can get their equipment from a variety of different stores. We couldn't enter any of the [Union] shops, because we weren't part of any.
Most of the employees treated us kindly, recommending items based on our appearances and asking some strange questions that seemed a bit too personal. Others treated us quite rudely, believing that we aren't really fit to be actual adventurers or aren't capable of using their store's equipments. There were even some adventurers making fun of us when we were looking at heavy armor, saying that we wouldn't be able to handle the weight. We did our best to ignore them, because it wouldn't do any good to start a fight within the guild building.
"Why does everything have to be so expensive~?" Thoth complains as she leaves a shop for [Berserkers].
"...save money." I suggest. I had over hundreds of gold coins from accumulating them over the years. I didn't buy very many things, and whenever I needed clothing, my parents or Thoth would buy them for me.
"But, but, I don't know how! Every time I go out, I always buy snacks, and if there's something that's pretty, I wanna buy it right away!"
"Your fault."
"Bu! Aria~ let me borrow some gold! I wanna get that armor I saw in the [Berserker] shop!" She pleads to me.
"40% interest." I reply.
"Geh! Um... actually, I'm really curious to see which [Unions] we can apply for! You want to check out which ones are available?" She asks me, changing the topic immediately.
"...no." It seems like she forgot who I was for a second.
"Ah, yeah, you don't like to be part of a group. That's just how you are, isn't it?" I nod in reply to this.
"Then in that case, how about we-"
"Aria, my dear princess, it's been too long!" A familiar voice calls out to me.
"Tch, why'd he appear now..." Thoth mutters something quietly, and I ignore it.
I turn to the source of the voice, and sure enough, I see Pyrion walking towards me from the direction of the [Guild Office]. Over the years, he's changed quite a lot as well. I believe he's now a proper adult, standing at a height of around 185 centimeters. His appearance gave off a 'cool' vibe with his short black hair and cold look. Though whenever he talks to me, he adopts a more friendly attitude.
"Are you going to register as an adventurer right now?" He asks us.
"We already went to do that." Thoth replied for me.
"Ah, is that so? I was given an [S-Rank] status, and I have no doubt that Aria is also an [S-Rank]. How about you, Thoth?"
"...[A-Rank]..." She whispers in reply.
"...what?" Both Pyrion and I say out loud, surprised.
"I got an [A-Rank]! Something wrong with that!? I didn't get an S just because I didn't ace the written portion of the exams! I mean, seriously, who the hell needs to know trigonometry and crap in the middle of the dungeon!? Who needs to know how to write a proper thesis when you're going to be killing stuff!? It's so freaking stupid! There's no reason for me to know this, but they still put me a rank behind!" She begins to rant in public, attracting the attention of other adventurers around us while we try to calm her down.
---------
"Sorry..." Thoth apologizes with her head down.
After about 30 minutes of ranting, we brought her outside the building to a nearby park and managed to cool her down. When she finished, she realized what she just did and is now in a state of depression again. I didn't realize that cared that much about not being [S-Ranked].
"Well, you can always just rank up to S through a test." Pyrion says, trying to encourage her.
"Yeah, but I need to complete multiple [A-Ranked Dungeons] before that. By the time I finish that, Aria's probably going to be in the [Immortal Tier]." She says.
Is that what she's worried about? How dumb.
"Mmf!?" Thoth lets out a strange sound as I suddenly wrap my arms around her, pulling her into my bosom.
"I'll wait." I say as I hug her tightly. She was my first friend, and my closest, and there's really no reason for me to leave her behind. It's not like there's any competition for me when it comes to being the strongest.
"...thanks." Thoth says, hugging me back. We remain like that for a bit, forgetting about the third person that was with us.
"Yeah, I'll take my leave now... I'll see you two around I guess... not like you're listening to me or anything." We both ignored his farewell though, and when we're finally done with our little moment, Thoth starts talking about what we should do now that we've graduated.
"For now, I'm going to have to go around conquering [A-Ranked Dungeons]. There's not enough of them here in Atalin, so I'm going to have to visit the other countries as well." She tells me.
"...I'll come too." I tell her.
"Nope! You're definitely not!" Surprisingly, she refused me.
"What you're going to do, is train even more! You got a butt load of other things to learn, don't you? Remember the wish I told you about before our final battle? I want to see you complete it, so don't disappoint me now that you have the chance!" A smile appears on her face, and I'm sure surprise was on mine.
"...I'll complete your wish." I say to her, feeling a smile run across my face.
"Aw, there it is! That angelic smile!" Thoth says before poking my cheek. She did this every time I smiled, which I never understood. Not like I disliked it though.
"Tomorrow, we'll go do our first quest together, okay?"
"...Okay."
We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and talking, before headed home. Mother still didn't return today, but it was fine.