Half an hour later, they reached their destination. A white marble mansion within a large compound faces them from through a large gate blocking their path.
"Wowww! Who owns this place?" Wayne asks out of shock. Pretty much all of them were amazed seeing it. They are hardly at fault to get amazed as this is the first time they had seen such a grand building.
All their life, they were surrounded by the flimsy houses in their neighbourhood. Year after year, they would see their houses battered by the monster horde. It would be considered fortunate if it still stood after the attack. Only when they entered the Academy, they became aware of the life away from the slums.
But now that they are facing a pristine white building without any faults covering a larger ground than even their Academy, they couldn't help but be amazed.
"This must be what they call a palace. Now wonder my neighbours are jealous of the people in Inner village." Sunny comments checking out the copper plated gate in front of him.
"We have to fend off monster attacks year after year with our mud houses while these people can afford to build colossal buildings such as these." Mini comments disdainfully.
"Don't be like that, both of you. We are about to meet the guy who needs to employ us for the task. If we talk like that in front of him, he would throw us out that moment." Paul says, trying to even the mood.
Meanwhile Zeno is shaking his head and right trying to remember something
'Leone Bungalow… huh? Where have I heard of this name before?'
No matter how much he tries to recall, he can't seem to remember much about it. All he could remember was that this was tge house of someone his predecessor knew.
'I thought the Transmigrator title thingy makes my memory unforgettable or something. Guess it's busted.'
[(Title: Transmigrator) only helps the user recall his previous world memories, not this world memories.]
Profile interjects in between with a virtual blue screen.
'Profile, is there a way I can turn you off or something? Sometimes you just get on my nerves.'
[No.]
'Too bad…. I have been meaning to ask you something, what did you mean when you said, Higher level in View is required to identify the anomaly?'
[Every skill accumulates experience as you use it more.]
[In order to level up a skill, User either has to accumulate experience beyond the requirement limit or he has to perform feats of his own using the same skill.]
'Then why is it that I haven't levelled up at least my View skill. Obtaining the strength potion formula using the View skill should be considered at least a minor feat.
Moreover, I can't even see the skill's experience bar,... if that's what it is called?'
Zeno complains taking a look at his stats.
'View'
🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲
Name: Zeno Lockhart / Noir Rivera
Title: Transmigrator
Age: 8 (32)
Cosmic Grade: 1 {6/300}
Energy Points: 100/100 (Recovery: 1EP/min)
∆Gifts:
1. Construct Gift: Short Sword (Unawakened)
2. Unique Gift: Profile
∆Traits:
Energy Sense Lv2
Allows the user to sense the material energy within his surroundings. Effective upto 3 metres
Demon's Plague/ Possessor of Fragment of Abyss(Dormant)
Effects unknown.
Muscle Strength (+10)
Grants increased strength due to muscle growth.
Cold Mind (Passive)
Grants a mind that can ignore any emotions if he wills to. A basic version of the user's trait in his previous world.
∆Techniques:
Taoist Energy Breathing Technique Lv1
A technique created based on some sort of breathing patterns followed by Taoist monks belonging to a lost era which helps in allowing a person to expand his current energy absorption limit and continue to expand it daily by daily.
+1 Energy Point recovery per minute of practice.
+1 Excess Energy Point per hour of usage.
∆Inbuilt skills:
Scanner Vision Lv0
Combination skill of two sub skills
Scan Lv0: Allows the user to scan objects and store its info within the
View Lv0: Allows the user to view the status of a target.
Virtual Processor Lv0
Conduct complex analysis and solve problems even faster than a quantum computer while also acting as an interface for the user.
Hidden Codex Lv0
Passive skill that maintains a Digital library within the user's Mindspace which contains all the information obtained from the
🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲
Zeno notices that his View skill seems to have gotten better even though the level is shown to be zero which was never visible before.
[Nobody can see their skill experience and skill level except if they have a skill similar to View stored within their Gift.]
[However in the user's case, the View skill at least needs to reach level 1 for viewing the experience bar.]
[Skills are difficult to level up compared to Traits. The Gift present within a person has to acknowledge his/her efforts spent in a skill in order to accept it's level up.]
" When you mean a Gift has to acknowledge a person's effort, you mean you still haven't acknowledged that I have spent enough effort to level up my skill." Zeno asks.
[Yes]
"Why do you hate me, Profile?" Zeno asks out aloud, drawing the attention of others around him, at the same time bringing him back to reality.
"Don't you think the big guy is acting weird again?" Wayne asks Paul which the latter ignores.
"I was just remembering some things. Whatever let's go in." Zeno comments awkwardly as he moves onto the gate while the kids stare at him confused.
Seeing Zeno talk to thin air like that, Mini asks Merin to be careful of him, worried that he has gone cuckoo.
Just as they are about to open the gate, a gatekeeper appears out of nowhere and stops them in their paths. Apparently it seems that the military guards are also here to investigate the matter of the theft.
Usually the military guards stationed in the village don't involve themselves with the villagers' problem. To them, the villagers are more like outcasts of the kingdom rather than its residents.
This is not just the case of Reedling Village, but also the case of all the neighbouring villages along the kingdom's border to the ocean. But even compared to those villages, Reedling Village's economy is too poor because of the absence of loot from the Slime Dungeon.
However somehow Mr. Simon using his influence managed to get the guards involved in finding the thief.
Because of which the gatekeeper informs them that no one is to be let in or out until the military guards' investigation is over.
"Now that the guard sirs are investigating the task, what do we do?" Paul asks worried. His concern is that they may be wasting their time waiting in front of the gate while the military guards may solve the task and get the reward.
"Whatever the case, let's just wait for some more time." Zeno decides after some time. Even though he said that, he too shares Paul's similar concern.
~Meanwhile inside the mansion~
Things are hectic opposed to the situation outside. Servants are being questioned by the military guards to get an idea of how the theft could have happened.
Some of the military guards search for the stolen object, fiddling through each stuff and some are questioning the servants from the butler to the gardener and see whether their testimonials match. If they could find an irregularity somewhere, they could narrow it down to the thief.
"How is it going, everyone?" A voice calls out to them from above where a young man seemingly in his twenties appears from above the staircase.
He is Leone, the firstborn of Mr. Simon, the owner of this mansion. He is also one of the few people in the villages who have managed to graduate from the Reedling Academy to go on to study at a higher Academy.
"It is of no use, young master. Whoever stole it must be someone from the outside.
We have checked every nook and corner. If it was one of the servants who had done the thievery, we should have been able to find it by now."
Answers the butler who was helping the guards in their search.
But Leone is not ready to accept such an excuse. He is sure that it was an insider job since this isn't the first time something like this happened.
At first, it was just some coins. They only thought it was some sort of mistake at that time. After some time, more and more things in their vaults started to disappear.
The thing that adds more mystery is that there were no signs of any breaking in. No scratch marks or cut marks on the vault. It was as if the thief had a duplicate key for the vaults.
That is when his father set up an alarm within the vault. This time, the moment it was triggered, Mr. Simon made the arrangements to have all of the mansion locked from within, preventing anyone from getting out or coming in.
Since they haven't found anyone suspicious within the compound after the incident, the only logical explanation is to suspect the servants. But who did it or how they managed to do it still remains a mystery.
"Whoever it may be, he has managed to get on father's ugly side with the last theft.
Where is father, by the way?" Leone asks.
"Sir Simon is having a talk with the Military Guard Captain, Sir Dorian in the drawing room."
The butler informs.
Leone walks to the drawing room and sees his father arguing with Dorian.
"I want that bastard caught. I don't care how much silver or gold I have to spend. I need to get that bastard right away, Captain Dorian." Simon shouts angrily at Dorian in a high voice.
"Sir Simon, I can understand your concern. But you have to give us some time to figure it out. We still need to find anything about the thief to take action." Dorian responds patiently.
"It must be one of those hooligans from the Outer Village at work again.
Put all of them in prison, I don't care anymore." Simon argues.
"Sir, I cannot just put a bunch of people in prison just because you lost some gold."
"What do you understand, Captain? It isn't just the matter of some gold. It is a matter of pride. My PRIDE..
This is the fourth time this has happened again. Moreover that bastard even took my treasure with him this time."
Simon replies back filled with indignation. Hearing Simon argue back, Dorian felt a strong urge to beat him up. But he held back himself from doing so.
Usually Dorian as the head of the military guards wouldn't bother himself for any work from the villagers. Being appointed by the noble family, he needs to listen to no one in the village. Hence he can ignore anyone else's order. But Simon's different.
Even though Simon in no way is a Baron or even a noble, he is filthy rich. Simon's multiregional store- Beastloot Enterprise is an enterprise that has stores in all the neighbouring villages around Reedling Village which makes him by default the wealthiest in the village.
If they have to survive during the Dungeon Break, they need weapons and armors. Simon's store is the only one who supplies it and his cooperation is absolutely necessary if they need to fight off the horde.
That is why Dorian was nodding his head to everything Simon was saying.
~Outside the mansion~
Some of the military guards were checking the compound for any trace of the thief. That is when two of them notice a bunch of kids outside the gate. From that, a grey haired kid stands out to them.
"Hey, Brien. Isn't that Larry's kid who was brought to the tent 4 days ago? What's he doing in here?" The red necked guard asks his companion with thick feet, pointing at Zeno.
"You sure, it's the same guy, Conan? Wasn't that kid's bones broken or something? There's no way he can get better within such a short time." Brien asks back.
Both Brien and Conan were the same people who were there when Adam rescued Zeno from the dungeon. They remember him from that time.
"I don't know. Let's ask the boy." Conan replies before continuing to shout at the group in front of the gate. "You, the one with the gray hair, come in."
Having nothing else to do, Zeno was using his
Just as he was getting busy, he gets distracted when they call out to him suddenly. Similar to how they recognised Zeno, he too recognises them from the time he woke up first into this world.
'I know those two. They were in the tent that day.
But why are they calling me?'
Zeno ponders as he enters the compound.
"What are you doing here, kid?
You don't even look injured anymore. How did you heal this fast?" Conan asks as Zeno comes closer.
Zeno thinks whether to answer truthfully or not. He doesn't know them that well, so he has no obligation to give them an answer. But for the sake of entering the mansion, he decides to answer.
"My brother gave me a healing pill to help me heal faster. And I just came here to take up the task regarding the Traceless thief with my friends. " Zeno says pointing at Paul and his group. He isn't worried mentioning the pill would bring trouble to Adam. Even if it did, he doesn't actually care.
"Did you catch the thief yet?" Zeno asks without a pause. If they did, he no longer needed to wander around here and waste his time.
"No, we are still searching for him or her, whatever it is.
On another note, does your brother know you are here?" Brienn asks after answering, looking a bit concerned.
"No, why do you ask?" Zeno asks confused. He couldn't get the idea why he has to inform Adam on wherever he is going.
"Well, since you are the son of our benefactor Larry and brother to our junior, we can't have you wander around unattended. Can we?" Brienn answers suddenly acting a bit protective.
'What's these guys' deal? I understand the part about benefactor. What did he mean by junior?' Zeno ponders to himself.
"What do you mean your junior? He works at the Academy, for all I know." Zeno asks.
"What did you think he did before you saw him as a teacher?" Brienn asks, coming in between.
"Well..., Some sort of menial jobs, I suppose. He would run some errands for the villagers and they pay him for that." Zeno answers recollecting from the memories.
"Well, most of his errands come from us, the military guards. So technically he can be considered my junior. But just don't mention that in front of him." Conan answers.
"Why not?" Zeno asks, this time a bit doubtful.
"Sigh….., That kid can hardly take a joke from others.
One moment you are making fun of him for being a kid or shortie, next moment he is beating you around like a ragdoll."
Conan answers as if remembering a past trauma. Brienn also nods showing his agreement.
"I understand. He can be bossy, sometimes." Zeno comments remembering the time Adam tried to coerce him to join the Academy.
"To my knowledge, he joined the Academy because he and that old Principal Adrius striked some sort of deal between them.
I don't know the details, but it's something about a competition between the Academies of other villages and the old guy wants Adam in it." Conan informs what he knows.
'Maybe that's why he always comes late to home. Not that I care that much.
If he is as strong as they say, I don't need to get worried for him.'
Zeno deduces and decides in his head.
"I really don't care at all. I am not here to talk about him.
I want to know if there's any way to meet Sir Simon. If he was the one who got to put up this task notice, then he should be willing to meet us."
Zeno asks, showing the notice in his hands to them.
"I can help you pass a message. But you better not keep your hopes up. This man Simon, views everyone solely based on how they are useful to him. If it isn't for the fact that he is rich, no one would bother with him."
Conan takes a look at the notice and informs Zeno.
Conan then asks the gatekeeper to let the other kids in too for the time being. Zeno then joins them and informs them on what's happening.
~Inside the mansion~
Argument between Simon and Dorian has taken a turn for worse.
"You can't just ask us to catch a thief when you can't even tell us what it is that you have lost.
How do you suppose we do that?"
Dorian asks, masking his indignation. He is outraged over the fact that he has to even work for this obnoxious guy in this hellhole of a village.
He had thought Simon would be willing to tell what it was lost
"I don't know. You, guys are supposed to be the experts.
All I can tell you is that it's some sort of a cube of many colours."
Simon answers in the same tone.
Leone who has been listening to their talk all this time knew that it was going downhill. But he can't think of anything that could change the outcome.
His father would remain stubborn till the heaven's rapture and Dorian would never be willing to stoop low to his father's whims.
That is when Conan comes into the room looking for someone. Noticing Conan appear suddenly, Leone calls him close and asks him what's the matter. Conan informs him about the Academy students who have come for the task.
"I was the one who put up the poster. I really didn't think anyone would come given my father's popularity." Leone comments as a matter of fact to no one.
"I heard that, Leone. Didn't know you had such high opinions of your father. Good to know."
Simon comments sarcastically as he happens to hear his son's remark and wasn't pleased.
'Damn it'
Leone slaps his head in regret that he said it near his dad. Now his father would be talking about it for a whole week before it cools down.
"Anyway bring them in."
Dorian instructs Conan. If they prove to be of any use to the investigation, he doesn't mind delegating jobs to them.
Hearing Dorian's instruction, Conan nods his head and leaves the room. After a while, Conan brings the group into the room.
Zeno didn't really expect to be let in that fast. The rest of the group were all just going along. All of them were pretty amazed by the structure of the building to notice the group of people inside.
"You are kidding me, aren't you?"
Dorian asks Conan, seeing them. When he heard students, he expected much older students. He did not expect some 6-8 year old kids. Turning to the group, he asks,
"Who sent you here? Who authorised this task for you? " Dorian asks, slightly irritated. He knew the answer but he just wanted to make sure.
"Sir Fleming, I spose." Zeno answers in the group's stead.
"Holy Angel in Heaven!! Why am I not surprised!!?
That senile old man must have sent you brats to make fun of me."
Simon outbursts as he tries to hold it in. He wasn't sure whether to be furious at old Fleming for sending some brats to his house or laugh it off as a joke.
"I don't think that we are that welcome here" Paul whispers secretly to Wayne, maintaining a straight face.
"You think? They clearly don't want us here." Wayne retorts back whispering, showing a wide smile at everyone in the room.
Sunny just stays quiet as usual not knowing what else to do. Merin and Mini were still checking out everything in the room not willing to get involved in their talks.
Things seemed awkward at this point. But Zeno didn't want to go back empty-handed. He doesn't know when that Abyss fragment may become active and become a problem for him. He needs any info he can collect from the library to remove it. In order for that, he has to complete this task. Otherwise he would have to wait till another suitable task comes up.
"I think we will be of some assistance in this task. Otherwise we wouldn't have come here.
Please give us a chance. If we don't find anything, we will leave right away."
Zeno suggests.
"*Sigh* Tell me your name, kid."
Dorian asks after a short sigh.
"It's Zeno. You may know my brother, Adam." Zeno replies hoping Adam's name would help create a better impression.
"Wait a minute. You are Larry's kid?" Dorian asks, straightening up in his chair.
'Using Larry's name is also pretty convenient.' Zeno thinks nodding his head.
"Okay, I will give you a chance. How exactly do you wish to help us?"
Dorian decides after thinking for some time.
"Take me to where the theft took place. I might be able to come up with something."
"Ok, alright. If you get nothing, you get out of here with your friends. Simon what do you say?"
"Well, he is Larry's son. I don't mind letting him try."
Simon answers relaxing into his chair. He turns to Leone and says,
"Take the boy to the vault. See if he can come up with something."
Not wanting to disobey his father,
Leone asks Zeno to follow him while taking a set of keys from his father before leaving the room.
Rest of the group just looks at each other not knowing what to do at this point. They continue to stand there before being offered a chair to sit on.
~Inside the Vault~
Leone opens the door to the Vault where the valuables are stored. As Zeno looks inside, he is greeted by a lot of coins and loot stuff lying around in a heap.
'That's a lot of gold. Too bad this guy is here.
Wait, maybe I can grab a handful if I can send the guy outside.' Zeno thinks in his mind.
Behind all that, a metal locker with a keyhole could be seen lodged into the wall
"The treasure was stolen from that locker. Do you need to get it opened?" Leone asks, pointing at the vault.
"No, that would be enough." Zeno replies. "Let me have a look at it. You can wait outside if you want. It may take a while." He suggests not wanting to be seen while he is talking to Profile and also wanting to nick a few coins off the heap.
"I will be outside. Just so you know, if you touch those gold, an alarm will be set off. So try not getting too close to it." Leone suggests pointing at the gold heap.
"I wasn't going to anyway, haha", Zeno replies with a laugh till Leone leaves the room.
'Dammit!!' Zeno curses in his mind.
"Well, I better do what I came here for. Let's see. Profile, you have any idea?"Zeno asks out to Profile.
[User can always use his skills.]
"I know. I just asked for a second opinion. Here goes.."
'View>>Thief'
Zeno prompts facing the locker
Nothing comes up. His energy points are also staying the same.
"Why isn't it showing anything?"
[Appropriate command is required.]
"Whaat...?? So what command should I use to find the thief then?"
[User needs to find out on his own.]
"You really want to make this hard for me, don't you?
Whatever, I knew it wouldn't be that easy either. Let's try the normal one."
'View'
[Object: Locker
Composition: Gold reinforced titanium alloy
Description: Hollow cuboid that can be opened with its key, durable enough to withstand both physical and acidic attacks.
Contents:
534 × Energy stones
64 ×Low Epsilon tier Monster cores
1 × Medium Epsilon tier Monster core.
120 × Slime jelly loot
Last opened: 8 hours ago]
"Ok, now we are talking. Let's try this."
'Scan'
Zeno says aiming his hand at the locker. But this time too, nothing comes up.
'Profile, why isn't it working now?'
[User needs to be in contact with the target for that.]
"Alright."
He then uses it again touching it and now a screen appears.
[Scanning error: No text detected]
'Why would you think I am scanning for a text inside a locker?'
[Specific commands for the target are not set.]
"Okay, then let's look for um.. uh fingerprints!!"
'Scan>> Fingerprint'
[Higher level in Scan is required.]
"Dammit! Let's go back to View.
What should I use next? Missing contents seems good enough."
'View>>Missing Contents'
Still no screen comes up.
"Maybe missing is the wrong word here. What is missing and what is not is based on a person's perspective. Same thing goes for thief.
I need to use words that are related to the thief but also provide the same results from all general perspectives."
'View>>Retrieved Contents'
[Ancient Storage Relic
Entry: 2 days, 14 hours ago
Retrieval: 2 days, 13 hours ago
.
.
20 × Slime Jelly loot
Last Entry: 1 week ago
Retrieved: 6 days, 16 hours ago
.
.
.
42 × Energy stones
Last Entry: 2 days ago
Retrieved: None
.
.
. ]
This time, the screen goes on displaying info on contents that were taken from the locker. At the same time, Zeno notices his energy points getting consumed by Profile in his Mindspace.
Not wanting to be emptied of fuel, he cancels the skills since he got what he needs.
"So this Ancient Storage Relic thingy is what's missing. Next I just need to know the name of the guy in whose possession the thing is."
Zeno comments as he clicks on the name to generate it's screen. This time too, considerable energy points get consumed but nonetheless it has results.
[Item: Ancient Storage Relic
Description: A puzzle invented in the ancient times enchanted with spells of Magic, a lost art of the time. Solving the puzzle allows the user to access its contents.
Owner: Dinian]
Zeno then clicks on the word Dinian to generate his character menu. But the endeavour fails.
[Live targets need to be within User's senses to view their character profiles.]