Hmm, what the hell happened to Earth? Did I come back to the wrong planet? No matter how you think about it, this isn't normal.
In front of me is a city...no, it's much too grand to call it that. How can a building be so tall? It makes no sense. Are those buildings floating!? I'm going insane.
"Rose, what the hell is this?"
*ding* [It seems that due to the advent of magic, human civilization has made a leap forward in terms of technology.]
"Thank you, Captain Obvious, anything else you would like to add?"
*ding* [Should I ask the system add 'petty' to your character sheet?]
"Ahem, that won't be necessary."
Ms. Exhibitionist walks closer to me, "I've been wondering since earlier but did you just come back from the tutorial world?"
"Hmm? How did you know?"
"It wasn't that hard to guess, you were in a dungeon with no cloths, and as soon as we leave, you start gawking at city like a kid from the countryside." she said matter a factly. "I'll show you the way to the Returners Association. They take care of all the people that come back."
"Returners Association? Seriously? that's the best name they could come up with?"
She just shook her head and waved for me to follow her. Before we leave, I turn to look at the entrance of the dungeon. My heart stops for a moment. What I see can only be described as a black whole with stars littered inside of it, glittering different colors depending on how you look at it. Did I just come out of that? These are not the dungeons I remember!
"Let's not think about it." I say, reassuring myself.
I walk on the unnaturally clean sidewalk of the city. It's a lot more sanitary than what I'm used to. I was about to ask why that is when some asshole threw a piece of garbage at his feet, even thought there's a garbage can a few steps away. I was about to pick it up when a small robot came out of a box that near the edge of the sidewalk. It picked up the the piece of trash and threw it away. Then it tucked itself back into the box where it came from.
A song starts playing in the background. I look for the source and find it's from one of the buildings casually floating around the city. The billboard on the side is playing an ad about a brand called Arachne.
"Check out our website to get the best deals on the newest styles and trends!" the announcer said as it showed a picture of a model.
"She looks familiar..."
"Oh, you mean Stacy Grant? She's a famous returner that took the world by storm with revolutionary ways to utilize mana for crafting. She's the reason we have super buildings like this." she said as she pointed to a building I couldn't see the top of.
"When did you become an exposition character?" I ask, confused.
"Who the hell are you calling...!" she sighs, "never mind, we're here. I'll show you to the reception and they'll take care of the rest."
We walked through the doors to find an annoyingly large lobby. It took a solid minute to walk to the center of the room where the receptionists' area is. Such a waste of space.
As we get closer, one of them speaks to us, "Ah, Ms. Matilda, it's been too long. Are you here to renew your Hunter's License?" she asks politely.
"Hello Maria, it really has been too long. I would love to stay and talk, but I have to go. I have a new returner for you; can you take care of him?"
"Yes, of course. follow me please." she said as she stood up.
Before I could follow her, Matilda(that's her name apparently) calls out to me, "Wait, before you go, can I have your contact information? You saved my life after all, I at least want to treat you to dinner."
"I don't have a phone."
"A phone? You have your system interface don't you?" she said with an odd look.
*ding* [We do have a communication function at least...]
Damn, there goes that excuse...oh well, I don't really have any other reason to refuse, it's free food after all.
After pausing for a second, I answer, "Sure, why not?"
"Great!...Ahem, see you in about a week?" she said, turning away in embarrassment.
"That's fine with me. See you then, Ms. Exhibitionist."
"Dammit! Just call me Matty you bastard!" she yelled.
"Ms. Exhibitionist?" the receptionist questioned.
"I'll tell you later, shall we?" she nods and walks towards what looked like an elevator.
I follow behind her and enter, but the 'elevator' was just a room with an intricate magic circle in the center. Why do people like complicated magic circles so much? Just a normal circle, or any other shape for that matter, would work just fine as long as it's given the correct commands and sufficient mana.
A bright light shone from the circle as we changed locations to a slightly different room; it looks like the different floors are color coded and numbered for easy use.
"Ah, it's so nice to be back civilization. I thought that I would never return...." I say somewhat sadly.
The receptionist looks at me empathetically as she understood what I meant, as she used to think the same. We continued on until we arrived at a small office. The name tag above the door read 'waiting area.' I was given a form to fill out and she showed me inside.
"Wait here for the time being, we will call you soon." I nodded and sat down on a nearby recliner.
I started watching TV to waste some time when I seen that model again, Stacy Grant. She looks so familiar, but I don't recognize her. It's frustrating but it can't be helped; It's been 5 years after all. Waiting for about 10 minutes, they call for me. I was shown to a different room that read 'ability testing' above the door. The door opened and I was greeted by a middle aged man; I read his name tag, his name is Steve.
"Hi there, come on in. I'm just going to give you a series of tests and ask you a few questions. After that, we'll get you ID ready and you can be on your way." he says with a smile. "Ok, let's get started. First, what's your name?"
"Kilo Axiom."
"Level?"
"3"
"Already? Didn't you just get back?"
"When I woke up, I was in a dungeon with nothing, not even the cloths on my back."
"Well shit, talk about unlucky. I'm glad you made it out of there alive. Next question, What are you main abilities?"
"I'm a mage with a few fighting skills." I said as I had prepared this response already.
"Good. Last question, what are your plans for the future?"
I have to think for a minute as I haven't thought about it yet. My main priority right now is getting home to see my family. After that, I don't know yet. There is one thing on my mind.
"I'd like to go to college. I was kidnapped right after graduating, after all."
"Great, I was just about to bring that up. Here, take this." he said as he handed me a pamphlet.
"UMA, University of Magic and Art" I say out loud.
"Indeed, it's a free college that opened a few years ago with the advent of magic. It will get you integrated back into society and get you better job opportunities. What do you think?"
"...When does registration start?"
"Whenever you want, the sooner the better. Classes begin in two months."
How fortunate that I came back during summer break. This will give me time to catch up with my family, it's been 5 years. 5 years...I want to go home.
"Good, is there anything else I should know?" I say with a little less spirit than before.
"Just one more thing." he said softly, noticing the change in my mood. "Follow me."
We walked into a room that was attached to the one we were just in. It had white walls with an array of targets and dummies. It was a training room. One of the dummies walked forward and stopped about ten paces in front of me. I look back at the Steve tapping away on a tablet.
"First, I want you to show me those fighting abilities you spoke of. Then, we will test your magic abilities. Begin when ready."
I look at the dummy in front of me, I wonder how I should attack it? I start manipulating Mana to reinforce my body then I stop. I want to see what I can do without Mana. I leisurely walk toward the dummy to test it a bit. I'm not used to fighting offensively up close, so I try to get it to attack first.
As soon as I got in melee range, it shot a right straight at me. I dodged easily but it kept going. Keeping it's momentum, it lunged its knee at my stomach. I simply take a step back.
It still didn't stop however, he put his left foot back on the floor and used it as a pivot point to throw a right back hand swing at my head. I was pleased by the ability of this dummy. I was expecting something far lower in level than this. After meeting Ms. Exhibitionist, I was worried about a certain cliche popping up. I was thinking that the overall level of being too low to fight against the upcoming tribulation. That's a relief.
I duck under the dummy's strike and throw a punch at its "ribs" since they were wide open. The dummy was knocked back a few steps before it stoped moving.
"Good, that's enough, let's move on." his voice was a little higher pitched than before.
"Alright." I say, ignoring the strange behavior. I'm really glad I could dodge the whole 'Everyone is weaker than me' trope.
"Now, I want you to try and hit all three moving targets at the same time." he said as he tapped his tablet. The targets on the far wall began to move.
"Got it."
I don't want to spend much more time here. I'm tired, hungry, and home sick. The sooner this is over, the better. Since I'm dealing with moving targets, I'll use something fast and versatile. Since I don't have much Mana right now, I'll need a catalyst. With that thought, I start rubbing the sleeves of my shirt on my hair. By doing this, I created a bit of static electricity. Using that as a catalyst, the air around me starts crackling with electricity as I add Mana to the process. By doing this, the amount of Mana I would have to use otherwise was essentially halved.
Controlling the electricity, I created three lightning spears. They were rather lacking in power but made up for it in accuracy and speed. Launching them at the targets at such high speeds, they appeared to be neon blue lines. Hitting all three targets, they didn't do much damage, just as he had intended. How could he go and break their training equipment? Well, this attack was more used as a tool for paralyzing an enemy for a few seconds so its only natural.
Looking back at Steve, who was sweating a little, spoke, "I'm done, can I get that ID now?"
"Yes, o-of course." he said with a stutter, "walk out the way you came and go down one room to the right. You can't miss it."
"Ok." I said as I walked out.
..............................................................
Haaah, I hate this job. Just 6 years ago, I had just retired from military service, but what am I doing now? I have to give these arrogant ass kids ability tests, and record their meager abilities. I have another such kid today. I asked the usual questions and recorded everything. I asked him about his plans for the future and his face darkened a bit. Well, he did just get back after all, he hasn't had time to think about it.
I was surprised to hear that he wanted to go to college; most kids immediately want to start hunting monsters. After we finish up with the questions, we head to the testing area. I call out a dummy for him to fight and set it on the lowest level.
Why is he just walking towards it? Normally one would attack in this situation, right? I put the dummy in offensive mode as he gets closer. As the fight ensues, I'm impressed by his form, so I raise the level up one. He ducks under the last punch and gives it a jab in the ribs.
"....."
What? Why the hell was that punch so weak? Sure, it's strong for a normal person incredibly weak compared to his peers. I shut off the dummy and stop the fight. He did say he was a mage so it makes some sense that his physical abilities are subpar. Next, I start up the magic portion of the exam.
What I see next is a bit bizarre. He starts rubbing his sleeves on his hair. What the hell is he doing? I then see tendrils of electricity in the air around him and then he formed them into spears. All three spears hit their targets, leaving a little singe mark on them.
Why didn't he just make the lightning spears immediately? This doesn't make any sense. Not to mention that they barely did any damage. I start to sweat thinking about his future.
Is this kid gonna be ok?