Chapter 3
City
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The city was surrounded by massive stone battlements that seemed to loom over everything within a twenty mile radius. The gates themselves were made of cast iron, weighing millions of pounds. This meant that only the most trusted and the strongest were allowed to guard the gates. From inside, one could hear the bustle of the city, but on the outside everything was cast in the shadows of the walls. The two boys walked up to the gate, only to be greeted by muscular guards holding spears.
"Halt. What business do you have in Alabast? You look a little young to be out here alone." The guard glanced around before asking "Did your parents come with you? If so, we will contact them and they can come here to collect you."
Conor decided to speak for them "We don't have parents anymore. We are here to register in the Adventurer's Guild and make a living, as well as to become stronger."
The leader of the guards looked at them with cold amber eyes that seemed to flash with intrigue for a slight second before hardening once again "You don't look like you would last very long as an adventurer."
Hearing those words miffed Efrain. "Just because we are children, that does not mean that we do not have the power to be adventurers. Do not think your meagre attempts to assuage us will work. This is what we have our hearts set on."
The guards glanced at each other, various emotions running through their eyes before they came to a mutual decision and opened the massive iron gate, pulling back the doors. Conor and Efrain walked through, and as the doors closed behind them with a solid *boom*, they could see that the city they had entered was much different than the little town that they were used to.
The city was filled with vibrant colors and people, with peddlers and merchants in stalls throughout the streets that were lined with marble; the entire place vibrated with life. People were crying out to them to buy their wares as the two traversed the labyrinthian city, children ran through the streets, laughing and giggling; and there were armored parties of adventurers browsing the market for supplies. Above all sat a massive opulent castle, meant for the royal of the city. The boys continued to traverse the city for a small amount of time before deciding to rest for the day. They looked around for an inn or tavern where they could settle. After many minutes of looking to no avail, they bumped into a wizened old man. He smiled at them gently before talking. "Can I help you two find something? You've been looking around for a while now."
They flushed with embarrassment before responding. "Do you know where we might find an inn? We're looking to rest for the day."
The man chuckled amusedly "You'll find an inn if you head down the fourth street on the right from here."
Conor and Efrain thanked the man before jogging off. They followed his instructions and turned down the fourth street. Sure enough, there was an inn nestled in between two other buildings. It looked to be a quiet place, made of oak wood with a warm glow radiating from the windows. The sign above the inn was shaped like a horned rabbit, with the words "Horned Rabbit Inn" engraved into the surface. The two shuddered, remembering what they had gone through. They pushed open the door and walked into the inn, only to be greeted by the sight of a very large and muscular man standing in the doorway.
The man leaned down slowly, arms rippling with muscle, before speaking in a tone that was a complete one eighty of his demeanor "Welcome to the Horned Rabbit Inn!"
Conor and Efrain were dumbfounded. This terrifying man actually was soft-spoken and seemed like a soft-hearted guy?
"I'm Noah, the owner of this inn. I've never seen you around before, so here are the prices. It's 1 silver per night, and it's an extra 4 copper for a bath, as well as another 2 copper for us to clean your room. Breakfast is made fresh every morning and served from eight to nine. Would you like a room?"
The boys nodded shakily. Noah noticed this, and bellowed out a hearty laugh.
"Don't worry boys, I'm not that scary, I hope. I just happen to be big and tall. Here, let me give you your key."
Conor and Efrain relaxed after seeing this and calmed down. They gave Noah ten silvers, which would let them stay in the city long enough to achieve their goal. They accepted the key gratefully and went upstairs to their room.
Once they were in the room, Efrain decided to check his LP. (LP 4910). Conor was surprised, but Efrain was his brother so he counted as a family member and thus, gained 1000 LP/day for spending time with him.
Conor then asked a question "Hey Efrain, how much LP does it take to get rid of the curses?"
Efrain paused for a moment, then answered "｢God's Anger｣ costs 15000 LP to remove, ｢God's Hatred｣ takes 32000 to remove, and ｢God's Fury｣ takes 780000 to get rid of."
Conor sighed "Looks like it'll be awhile before I can fight without care huh."
The two were put into a melancholy mood, and settled down quite easily.
In the morning they woke up, eager to tackle the day. Conor had wanted to go straight to the Adventurer's Guild, but Efrain had mentioned that it would probably be better to train first.
When the boys left the city gates, the guards waved at them cheerfully "Be careful now, ya hear?"
The boys responded jovially "Sure thing guys!"
They walked for a little ways before they started to train. Conor and Efrain started off with simple workouts, jogging and push ups, before transitioning to more strenuous activities, such as running with weights, and pulling heavy rocks with ropes. They had been working for about an hour when a notification popped up.
[Due to strenuous training, Conor has gained 5 STR, and 6 VIT]
[Due to strenuous training, Efrain has gained 5 STR, and 6 VIT]
Conor was a little miffed that the VIT (vitality) wouldn't affect him, but they continued training anyway. When the sun began to set, they had trained for quite a large amount of time, and had gained some great stats.
[Conor has gained 4 STR, 4 VIT, 2 DEX, 6 AGI]
[Efrain has gained 3 STR, 2 VIT, 6 DEX, 8 AGI]
After regaining their energy, they headed back into the city. After the sun had set, it was as if the place had undergone a complete transformation. It was mostly quiet, and the stalls had all been closed. There were a few shady people that shot them looks as they passed by, but they were ignored for the most part. When they stepped back into the inn; Noah, who was reading a book in the commons, bade them a good night as they headed to their room. Once they were out of sight, Noah chuckled as he remembered the days when he spent hours upon hours training to become an adventurer.
Conor collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep nearly instantly while Efrain studied his stat board. He was going through all of the stats to come up with the most efficient combination of skills.
Once again they woke up, ready to face the hours ahead. They had prepared for today, as today they were going to get some gear. Efrain had found out he could create gold coins for 50 LP each, and had made 20. (5910 LP -> 4910 LP). They headed out into the bustling streets and slowly made their way to the blacksmith's shop. They were heckled along the way by merchants and peddlers wishing to sell their stuff, but the boys could not be bothered. Upon arrival at the shop, the two entered to find a grizzled man sitting behind a counter, playing with a dagger.
The man looked up at them and grunted "Whaddya need?"
Conor gulped "We need two sets of plate armor, two common grade swords, and two common grade shields."
The blacksmith raised an eyebrow "More adventurers eh? I'll go get your things. The total comes to about three gold."
The boys were surprised that it cost that much, but since there were not many people with the blacksmith job, and the metal ores are fairly rare in this world the high price made sense. They laid down the gold pieces and received their gear blissfully- excited to use them. Afterwards, they left the city again and went back out to the field. This time Efrain and Conor wanted to spar each other- they had no intentions of killing each other though.
Conor smirked at Efrain "Ready to lose?"
Efrain grinned back "You took the words right out of my mouth."
Without another word the two ran at each other. Efrain slashed downwards at Conor, but he sidestepped and bashed Efrain in the back with his shield.
Efrain rolled over and shouted "｢Paralyze｣!"
Conor could feel his body seize up and got nervous. Efrain was about to level him, when he managed to say "｢Play｣ EnV - Paladin"
(MP 1324 -> 1224)
Efrain had to block his eyes as the armor materialized around Conor's body. By the time the light faded, the ｢Paralyze｣ had worn off. He winked at Efrain and sped towards him. Efrain barely had time to put his shield up before Conor's sword slashed it. Conor grunted with effort trying to push Efrain down, but it was futile. Since the curse had come into play, his strength was halved. He was pushed back with a yelp, but jumped up charging again, once close enough, he began to slide on the ground. Efrain slashed at Conor, but he used his hands to spring over Efrain and land behind him. He thrusted his sword, but missed as Efrain ducked and swept his legs out from under him. He fell on his butt, and rolled out of the way just in time to dodge a well placed sword thrust. Efrain noticed that Conor was sweating heavily, and it was justified. His skill used up 600 MP/min, so Efrain estimated Conor only had about a minute left. Unexpectedly, Conor dropped the skill, and as his armor disappeared, he took off his newly purchased platemail while dodging thrusts and slashes. Without the platemail, he moved faster and dashed at Efrain once again, only to be blocked by a shield. Conor spun aside the shield, and slashed his sword into the niche between the shield and the body, and heard a yelp. The hit connected, and he smiled, but Efrain quickly swung his sword around to rest against Conor's neck.
Efrain chuckled. "Maybe next time don't get so cocky?"
They both broke into laughter before sitting down to take a break. The usual notifications quickly popped up, but the boys were surprised to see what was written.
[Conor has gained the skill (Sword Mastery LVL 1) - Movement speed with a sword is increased by 1%, damage with a sword increased by 1%.]
[｢Play｣ has leveled up! MP usage slightly decreased, new song acquired! (Teminite - Beastmode)]
[Conor leveled up! Gained 5 stat points, Gained 108 MP]
[Efrain leveled up! Gained 5 stat points, Gained 58 HP, 100 MP]
[Efrain has gained the skill (Sword Mastery LVL 1) - Movement speed with a sword is increased by 1%, damage with a sword increased by 1%.]
[｢Paralyze｣ has leveled up! MP usage decreased to 95 MP/use, chance to hit increased to 52%.]
They both had gotten more benefits than expected, and were now a little stronger. Per the usual, Efrain dumped all his points into INT (INT 35 -> INT 40. MP/LVL increased to 110 MP/LVL. MP cap now 630 MP). They remained in the field for a little while longer, and soon neither of them could ignore the fact that they had certainly gotten stronger. That night before they went back to the inn, they went out to celebrate their progress. They went to a place where they had puppetry shows, and they relaxed in the city, browsing the stalls that lined the streets full of life.
Back in the hotel room, as they were settling down to sleep, Efrain checked his LP again. (5910). Their main goal now was to save up enough LP to get rid of the curses on Conor. ｢God's Hatred｣ was first. Even today while they were battling, Efrain was afraid that he would accidentally hit Conor and kill him, but even though he only had 10 HP, he was more resilient than he looked.
As the light of the morning sun flooded the room, the kids could be seen already suiting up. They were extremely excited, as today was the day that they became official adventurers. They rushed down the stairs and waited impatiently for their breakfast.
Noah laughed as he brought the food out "Haha, big day today? What do you two have planned?"
Conor and Efrain bounced in their chairs as they told him "Today we're going to go to the Adventurer's Guild and register! Soon we're going to become the strongest around!"
Noah's smile melted away "The Adventurer's Guild? I know I can't stop you two, but I will give you some advice. You two are only ten years old, and that place is full of tough people, some good, and some bad. Be careful of who you talk to. I once knew a kid like you two, young, hopeful, and full of ambition. He joined the Guild, and about a year later, He died during a dungeon expedition. He was the only one who died. The group that was with him said that he was ambushed, but I know better. They sacrificed him so they could escape. I know I haven't known you two for that long, but I would hate it if you two passed because of one of those scumbags in the Guild. Make sure you trust who you're with to the fullest."
They stopped bouncing and looked at him with all the sincerity they had "Don't worry Noah, we don't plan to trust too many people, besides, we can't die yet, your food is too good!"
There was a laugh from the kitchen, it was Noah's wife, she was the one who cooked breakfast every day, and she was very good at it too. After some idle chit-chat, the boys left to become adventurers. The streets were crowded like normal, but there seemed to be an uneasy undertone to the town talk today. Conor and Efrain didn't catch enough to hear what it was, but it made them slightly nervous. They had walked for about thirty minutes when they realized that they didn't even know where the Adventurer's Guild was! Quickly, they found a man at one of the stalls and asked him where the Guild was. He told them that it would be down the main road. While sprinting away, they cried thanks at the man.
When arriving at the Guild, the boys were astonished at the extreme size of it. After shaking off any nervousness and negative thoughts, the pair strode inside. Once inside, they realized that the Guild was a lot more gruff than they had initially though. Many burly guys were sitting and drinking at tables, while shady people hung around in the corners of the room. A couple times, one of the people in the crowd had jeered at them to "Go home brats! This is no place for you!" Swallowing their fear, Conor and Efrain went up to the receptionist's desk and waited. After a few minutes, a young girl came and asked them what they needed.
Whispering, Conor said "We would like to register to become adventurers"
The girl put up a hand to her ear and cocked an eyebrow.
Efrain repeated the question, albeit louder.
Looking satisfied, she led them to a room in the back. An orb was sitting on the table in the middle of the room.
She sat them down in two chairs, and began to speak "Alright you two, I need you to put your thumbs on this orb one at a time. It will show your systems, then register you into the guild."
Efrain went first
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Efrain
Spirit - Probabilitizer
LVL 5
Job - Jobless
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HP - 570
MP - 630 (Regen 90/hr)
LP - 6910
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STR - 14
VIT - 16
DEX - 9
AGI - 14
INT - 40
WIS - 19
CHR - 5
LUC - 4
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Skills: (Sword Mastery LVL 1)(Paralyze LVL 2)
Unique Skills: (Create LVL 1)(Edit LVL 1)(Grant LVL 1)
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Money - 16G, 68S, 72C
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The girl's jaw dropped open. She didn't respond, so Conor went ahead and scanned his as well.
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Conor
Spirit - Maestro
LVL 5
Job - Jobless
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HP - 10
MP - 1432 (Regen 630/hr)
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STR - 21 (-10) = 11
VIT - 26 (-25) = 1
DEX - 8
AGI - 36 (-18) = 18
INT - 4
WIS - 3
CHR - 4
LUC - 1
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Skills: (Play LVL 2), (Natural Mana LVL 17 [64.93%]), (Analyze LVL 2),
(Sword Mastery LVL 1)
Curses: (God's Anger LVL MAX)(God's Hatred LVL MAX)(God's Fury LVL MAX)
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There had never been a situation such as this, and accordingly, the girl just about fainted, but the boys sat her down and handed her a glass of water. They sat there in silence for about ten minutes before she opened her mouth. "I- I really don't know what to say. Efrain, your status is overpowered, Conor is the same, but those curses are deadly. However, you both meet the minimum requirements to register for the guild, so here are your cards."
After receiving the cards, the boys admired them for a little bit.
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Efrain
LVL 5
Rank F
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Conor
LVL 5
Rank F
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Before they walked out the door, she stopped them again "You two may have very strong stats, but you are only rank F. That means the highest rank quest you can accept is a rank E quest, and at your level, those might be quite hard. Complete enough of those to raise your rank. Ranks go like this: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS, SSS+, X, The last time we had an SS adventurer, let alone an SSS or SSS+ was over two hundred years ago. The only way to achieve that status is to do something so heroic or amazing the whole world recognizes you as the best.
Nodding quickly, the boys walked out the door and towards the request board, where they would be able to accept a quest and start to get stronger. They browsed for a while, but nothing had caught their interest, so they began to head home. To them, they wanted a fighting request, not an herb picking request.
Along the pathway home, they could see the sky become tinged with red, then purple as the sun set. They had been in the Guild all day, familiarizing themselves with the process and the place. All of a sudden, Efrain sat down, feeling extremely sad. At once, Conor knew why, and sat down as well. They mourned for their parents until the sky turned black, and the moon shone upon them."