We were directed by the harbormaster to the branch building of the Marso Trading Company.
We learned from the receptionist that the next ship that was scheduled to head to the Beastman Kingdom would set sail in four days.
We paid for the tickets to reserve our spots for that ship.
I had to pay for Mumador as well even though he was my slave.
It looks like slaves need to be treated well in this world.
Mumador told me that it wasn't like this in the past.
His parents had told him stories from their grandparents who were slaves.
Back then, a typical slave system similar to the one from ancient Egypt in my world existed.
Slaves were poorly treated and were just seen as another source of physical labor.
Horses were treated better than slaves during his great grandparent's time.
But that all changed when the Hero Abra from 134 years ago established the Fair Slave Treatment act.
He was the creator of Contract Magic.
Through this magic, he restructured not only the slave system but also gave a reliable way for people and countries to conduct trades, come to an agreement, and even uphold laws.
In a way, Contract Magic became part of the law enforcement system in this world.
It is a convenient tool that a majority of the people use.
Everyone has access to it and there wasn't a need for a skill to use it.
Only a bit of understanding was required in order to use it.
The Merchant Guild and the Workers Guild teaches classes for it at a reasonable amount.
Since I couldn't learn much from observation, I should go take the class when I have the chance to.
But for now,
"I guess I'll fill up my pok*dex."
The day is still bright and I think I have enough time to complete a dungeon run.
Aqua Port City has fewer dungeons around than Lam City.
I will try to complete all the dungeons and get more skills before the ship departs.
"What's a pok*dex?" Skadi had heard my mumbling and asked.
"Hm. It's similar to a bestiary, except in this one, I try to catch at least one of every type of monster in this area to get ski- information on the best way to defeat them." I said while correcting myself midway.
I can't exactly tell her or others that I want to capture and assimilate monsters for skills.
It's one of my biggest secrets.
Who knows how people will react if they learned that I could get their skills by killing them in a very painful way they couldn't even imagine.
"Oh so you're like an Explorer then?" Skadi said.
"Explorer? What's that? Do you mean Adventurer?" I asked her while turning to Mumador who only shook his head.
He didn't know what the term meant either.
"Explorers travel to many different places and make records of anything and everything. This includes finding ways to defeat any new monster they find. Your pok*dex sounds like something an Explorer would try to make."
Well actually, it's just a term from a game in my world.
I'm not really keeping track of the things I kill.
We talked more about Explorers while heading towards the Craftsman Association building in this city.
I wanted to take on some bounties for dungeons to replenish the money I spent for the travel fare.
After hearing more about them, I found that Explorers are no different from Adventurers.
The only difference I can tell is that Adventurers are guaranteed payment for a successful request.
They set out with some information for the request and they have a clear goal in mind, while Explorers tend to go in blind.
As long as the place they are going to has something that has not been recorded yet, the Explorers Guild will give missions for there.
"One of the reasons why I wanted to go to the Beastman Kingdom is to fulfill Explorer missions and enroll into the Magic Academy." Skadi told me.
"What a coincidence. I'm also planning on enrolling there."
"Wow! That means that we might become classmates!" Skadi said excitedly.
I don't know why she is so happy though.
We just met yet she's acting like we are best friends.
Not that I'm complaining or anything though.
"By the way, what happens to all the data and information that the Explorers record?" I asked.
I was more interested in hearing about the Explorers Guild than the Magic Academy.
An organization or group that emphasizes on collecting information is much more attractive than any other guild I've seen.
"It gets stored in the Explorers Guild's Grand Archives."
"I see. If I, say, wanted to get some information from there, how can I go about doing so?"
I don't know why I spoke in a roundabout way.
It's probably because I felt like I was asking about some super important secret.
If a place that holds vast amounts of information exists, there's bound to be some restrictions or a security system in place.
But I have to gain access to it somehow.
Perhaps I can find a way back home from there.
At my question, Skadi took out a business card sized rectangular silver plate.
"Only Explorers can have access to the library. They can get the information they want through the Explorer ID."
Is it alright to be speaking about this so casually?
Why Skadi was so open about speaking about it, I have no clue.
I wanted to ask but I wanted to know about the access method more so I stayed quiet.
After she did something on the silver plate a 3D window appeared like a hologram.
The window was very familiar.
"Goo*le?!" I blurted out.
I was taken aback.
The hologram looked exactly like a certain popular website from my world!
There was a simple logo and search bar on a browser window.
It even had a keyboard to type stuff!
"Goo*le? I don't know what that is, but this is called the Explorer's Remote Archive Search Engine or ERASE for short. It comes with the Explorer ID and you can remotely access the Grand Archives through it." Skadi explained.
I don't know if the mana translation is correct but it's quite ironic for an information storage database to be called "ERASE".
Whoever named it has a great naming sense.
"Explorers who have registered can search for the information they want by entering it in ERASE, like this."
Skadi gave a demonstration on how to use the thing.
It was exactly how one would use a computer in my world, tapping on the holographic keyboard to make words appear on the search bar.
Seeing the familiar action made me miss my laptop.
Unfortunately,
"Aqua... Port... City... Go!"
Skadi's slow typing irritated me a bit.
As someone from the technological world of Earth, her speed of typing was unbearable to watch.
"Aqua Port City: a coastal city located in the southern part of the Cloud Kingdom. It was established in..."
Skadi started to read out the information from the results.
It included the history, geography, population density, nearby dungeons, local specialties, and a whole bunch of other details.
"... Last updated seven years ago on the second month of winter on the third day of light. Update value multiplier: 1.7. Wow that's pretty high!" Skadi continued to speak.
It's amazing how much information ERASE provided.
It was like Wik*pedia or something.
I didn't expect such a modern technology to exist in this world.
I thought that this place was a fantasy world with Swords and Magic genre.
Everything I've seen so far supported this assumption of mine.
But ERASE and the Explorers Guild made me think that maybe it's the Modern Fantasy genre instead.
My curiosity for the founder of the Explorers Guild grew more than anything else I'm curious about.
"Skadi, I think I get it already so no need to demonstrate more."
It's a bit rude but I didn't want to see her slow typing anymore.
We had to slow down our walking speed because of it.
"How can I join the Explorers Guild?" I asked straightforwardly.
No use beating around the bush if Skadi was cool with it.
I didn't care about the restrictions the Explorers Guild might have.
If I had to go to another country and stay there for a few years, I would not mind.
It's a bit wasteful since I already paid to go to the Beastman Kingdom, but the benefits the Explorers Guild provides through ERASE alone is worth it.
"You want to join?! Here please! Register through here!"
After tapping a few keys on the hologram, a registration window appeared and Skadi held out the silver plate, practically shoving it into my face.
It's like she was expecting this and planned for it to happen but got overly excited when her plan came to fruition.
I took a step back and looked at the new window.
It only had two phrases on it.
"Explorers Guild Registration. Please insert mana to the terminal now...?"
"Terminal refers to the Explorer ID. Just use it like you would use a piece of equipment." Skadi eagerly explained.
I could have guessed that.
But, I can't use equipment at all anymore.
Well since this is high tech item, it should be able to work.
I held Skadi's ID and made my mana flow into it.
{Mana Pattern discovered.}
{Verifying new user...}
{Mana Pattern verified.}
{Creating Mana Signature in database...}
{System Data retrieval error.}
{Manual Input required.}
After several messages appeared and disappeared, what remained on the window was a typical website registration form.
Fields where I needed to enter my name, age, job, race, etc. were on the holographic screen.
It was similar to the Adventurers Guild form that I saw before.
"Ah that's the first time I saw this window. Usually it automatically fills that up." Skadi said.
Is it because of my different system or because of my body's condition?
Oh well. As long as I can register.
I read through the form and quickly filled it up.
"How come you can type so fast?!"
"Practice and experience."
"Aren't you literally just registering right now...?"
Skadi reacted while I filled the form while walking but I just answered casually.
I didn't have to worry about bumping into anything because I could still observe my surrounding just fine with [Sensing].
As we arrived at the Craftsman Association building, I almost completed the registration.
There was one part that caught my attention.
"Referrer: Skadi Trident. Remaining Slots: 3?"
"Ah! That means that I get some benefits as your referrer. Every time you earn contribution points, I get a small portion as well. Contribution points are needed in order access more information."
Isn't that like a pyramid scheme?
No wonder she was so insisting.
Have I been tricked?
No, it shouldn't be.
It's too elaborate to be a trick and I don't think Skadi is such a cunning person.
But with a system like this, shouldn't the Explorers Guild be more well-known?
"What's the remaining slots for?" I asked thinking that it had something to do with my thought.
"After working as an Explorer for a year and every year after that, you can get one referral slot. I've been an Explorer for three years but I never had a chance to invite someone…" Skadi said dejectedly.
No wonder the Explorers Guild doesn't have a reputation yet.
It takes a year to recruit a new member.
Even then, in this world where death is always just around the corner, the nature of Explorers who venture into the unknown doesn't help with their survival and propagation.
Is Skadi had died before using her referral slots, it would have been wasted.
"Well, I'm glad to be your first." I said and smiled brightly at Skadi.
Seeing my face, she immediately jumped back with her lightning fast reflexes.
I couldn't even follow her with my eyes and before I knew it, she was already 10 meters away.
"…Ah. I was told before that my smiling face is scary…"
It was Dawn who said so.
Mumador, who had been quietly following behind us while we were talking, was confused since he couldn't see my expression.
"…"
There was an awkward silence between the three of us.
"…Sorry. I meant no harm."
CHAPTER END.
Name: Ruby Sen Lv. 18
Age: 17
Race: ???
Class: Magical Creature
Job: - Lv. 18
HP: 20 [100%]
MP: 20 [100%]
STR: 15 (+5)
DEF: 15 (+25)
INT: 22
WILL: 20
SPD: 16
<
Assimilate
Mana Manipulation
Physical Resistance
Foresight
Shapeshift
Novice Magic Caster
Poison Resistance
Sleep Resistance
Intermediate Weapon Master
Paralysis Resistance
<
Dissolve
Sensing
Sculpting
Detonate
Appraisal Analysis
Cloning
Mana Designing
Mana Disturb
Heal
Boost
Stealth
Engraving
Steal
<
Tongue Enhancement
Sin of Sloth