(A/N: Thanks for all the comments this last week or so, all the enthusiasm for a new chapter was nice. However, this is a hobby, I don't make money from this or anything. So this story will only be updated when I have spare time and have ideas for what I want to write. Sorry if that disappoints but that is the way it's going to be. Again thanks for the support and enjoy the chapter!)
I quickly run through the remaining forest within a day. From a distance, I see a great wall, probably 25 meters high. There are a good amount of trees on the outside of this wall, with houses built into or onto them. Various sizes and shapes, all connected through wooden suspension bridges. Looks quite nice. The whole aesthetic of treehouses is always something in fantasy, simple yet beautiful.
I eventually run upon a beaten dirt path, worn from travel. 'I'm getting so excited! It's becoming more and more like a fantasy! I mean magic, dragons and monsters are all cool, but I've always loved the medieval architecture of fantasy worlds!'
I continue walking down the road smiling like a lunatic. Everyone who has walked past looks at me like I'm a crazy person. Which I suppose is quite right. I have been using inspect on most of the Elves around here and It seems like most of the elves outside the walls are Wood Elves. It makes sense why they would live off the land and in trees. According to inspect, they are very intuned with nature.
A lot of the females are walking around with woven baskets carrying berries and herbs, none of which are of very high quality. I casually observe my surroundings trying to pick up some common etiquette for around here. Being able to understand the language and what they are saying does not mean I know etiquette or slang.
"You see that guy over there?" Elf 1 says.
"Yeah, I see him so what?" Elf 2 responds.
"He's a human, haven't seen one of those in a couple of years. Must be pretty brave, coming here despite having such low mana." Elf 1 whispered.
"Yeah, such a shame. Probably going to get bullied into the ground in town. The king is spreading his ideals quite quickly these days," Elf 2 pondered.
I just shake my head and keep walking. With my enhanced senses, I could have heard that conversation from a couple km's away. It seems though that everyone thinks I am quite weak. It must be due to mana containment. Speaking of that, Mana containment is at 5% overcoming now, so I must be starting to release a minuscule amount of mana.
I continue walking while listening to different conversations and such. I don't like spying on people like this, but It's necessary for information gathering. I finally approach a wooden gate that is embedded in the giant stone wall. The line in front of me is quite long so it may take a bit.
The line goes by much quicker then I thought it would. As I approach the gate 2 guards step forward.
"Human halt! You must come into the inspection room before continuing into the city!" Elf Guard 1 yelled at me.
"Alright, I'm coming. No need to yell."
I follow guard 1 into a small door in the wall next to the gate. The room is made of stone and has a single table with two chairs one on each side. The table has an orb on it, the room almost resembled an interrogation room from my previous world.
"Sit." The guard commanded.
I pulled out the chair and sat down. "Okay, let's get this over with. I don't wanna be here anymore then you do," the guard continued. "Hand over your Human Identification, if you do not have one just put your hand on this orb and it will tell me your criminal status."
I calmly leaned forward and put my hand on the orb. There was no reaction. I took my hand off the orb and sat back in my chair. "Is that it now?"
"No, it is not. As a non-resident, you must pay an entrance fee of 10 silver." The guard smirked.
"I don't have that, but, I do have this Unideer horn." I say while taking out the horn from my bag, "Would this be enough to cover the entrance fee."
The guard inspected the horn and said "Yes, this would cover the entrance fee and then some, a Unideer horn is worth 1 gold coin. It's quite surprising someone as weak as you has one. However, I will not question."
"I would like change for the horn, kind sir."
"Ah, of course, give me a minute. I will go and get your change." The guard then went through another door which, I assume leads further into the wall.
A couple of minutes later the guard comes back with my change. Once confirming the amount was correct, I continued through the gate into the city. Based on knowledge from my previous life, I will assume that 100 silver equals a gold, at least I hope so. If it is not, I might have been scammed.
The city was bustling with elves moving about the streets in a semi-chaotic way. My clothes seemed to be commonplace. There were a few outliers in the streets, such as people with armor be it leather, metal, or otherwise. There seemed to be a few people in robes as well, I will assume they are mages.
I continued to amble through the streets, taking it all in. I observed people noticing everything is very medieval-like, nobles are an existence that people look up to, and others despise. 'I hope I don't have to deal with any corrupt nobles anytime soon,' I thought while eavesdropping on conversations. Walking down the street I found a stall that was selling some meat skewers for a single copper coin, seemed pretty cheap and I haven't had food in a while.
"Hello sir, would you like a meat skewer? They're only one copper coin!" The man enthusiastically tried to sell me the skewer.
"Sure, I'll have one if you have change for a silver coin." I handed him the silver coin.
"Alright, here's your change and your meat skewer sir! Please, come back again!" the man said, still as enthusiastic as ever.
"Mhmm," I nodded and headed down the street while eating the meat skewer. Let me just say, not impressive. Bland with no spice just meat. Lovely.
After walking around for a short while after I spotted the Adventurer's Guild. Identify comes in handy for almost everything. As I walk into the guild I notice that it is very rowdy, seemingly a completely different place than the rest of the country. Elves seemed to have been fairly calm and composed for the most part. Yet in here, there is nothing but loudmouths and hooligans. A lot of the men were quite burly which is uncharacteristic of elves.
I quickly scanned for the sanest person in the establishment and saw a young male elf standing behind a counter. I quickly walked up to him, "Hello, I would like to join the Guild."
"Yes, of course, let me just grab the paperwork." The elf said cordially, he went inside a door and came out with a stack of three papers. "Alright sir, follow me to the inspection room." The elf stepped out from behind the counter and led me to a room on the left.
The room was very cozy, a couple of bookshelves filled with books, and a fur carpet on the ground. In the middle of the room was yet again another table. This one looking much nicer than the last. With some ornate carvings on the leg posts and apron/skirt. There were also two nice wooden chairs. I sat on one while the elf sat across from me.
"Okay. Sir, if you could please put your hand on this orb, it will read your status and give us all the information we need to fill out this paper. The orb will transfer all of the information to the paper without the need for writing." The elf gestured to the orb.
I put my hand on the orb and what I got quite astonished me.
[
Name: Jack Richardson
Age: 19
Race: Human
HP: 154/154
Vitality: 77
Strength: 84
Agility: 87
Endurance: 102
Mana: 129
Total Stats: 479
]
For reference my actual status is.
[ HP: 3,068/3,068
Vitality: 1,534 (+53)
Strength: 1,690 (+18)
Agility: 1,748(+26)
Endurance: 2,034 (+131)
Mana: 2,576 (+97)
Total Stats: 9,582
Active Skills: Inspect (B, 1%)
Body Skills: Night Vision (C, 56%), Body Enhancement (D, 94%), Body Manipulation (D, 86%)
Mana Skills: Mana Sense (B, 67%), Hide Presence (C, 76%), Mana Manipulation (D, 87%)
Unique Skills: Acquisition (D, 23%)
Resistances: Mental Fatigue (C, 47%), Mana Containment (F, 25%),
Mana Containment (EX, Overcoming {5%}
]
Hmm, there must be a reason as to why it shows my status so low. Not quite sure right now though.
"Everything seems to be in order, the information has all been filled into the paper. You will start as an E-Rank with 479 total stats, once you get to 500 total stats you will be able to rank up to D-rank. After D-rank you will only be able to rank up after two requirements have been met. One is the total stat requirements, and the second is to have a certain amount of merits. We can discuss more in-depth when you get to that point. You will be able to take D-rank and E-rank quests from the quest board, you need to confirm the quest you are taking with guild staff so we can mark the quest as in progress. If you fail to complete a quest, it will result in a penalty. Understood?"
"Yes, I understand." I replied, as soon as I 'agreed' a white light was present on the paper and a bit of my minuscule mana escaped. With all that done I was officially an adventurer.