After finally getting out of that pursuit and running for another 5 minutes joe was out of breath as he was running his fastest for over 10 minutes, and for now at least that was very hard to do. Don't get him wrong, for most of that, he was actually running for his life as he didn't know what they were going to do, especially after healing that kid.
Soon after the kid got healed the remaining officers were tagged and the manhunt was over. Although Joe was no longer being chased he still wanted to see what happens to the boy that was tracking him, so Joe manoeuvred his spectator around to see what would happen now as everyone was going back to the other end of the park. So keeping his spectator high above the crowds he followed as they headed back. Jeremey seeing this was both delighted and worried, worried as he had no idea of the plans of this mystery person but delighted at the possibility of having a chance to talk to whoever this was. He quickly called in "Jeremey to Cleveland, you might get your chance for formal introductions sooner than you thought, their observer is following us back to home base."
"Or just seeing us out the door," Cleveland laughed, "In any case, it would still be nice to meet them."
In the meantime Jeremey went up to the kid he was shadowing "Hey kid, what's your name"
"Lucas, Lucas Clay, why do you ask?" said Lucas
"May I ask as to why you went off following our invisible friend you found, rather than going after any of the officers that were along the way". Jeremey inquired.
"Well I knew that I wouldn't have been able to catch any of the officers that I was originally chasing, then I noticed something that shouldn't have been there," stated Lucas with a little bit too much emphasis," So I wanted to see and make sure what it was."
"So why did you continue to chase them up until the fallen boy" Jeremey inquired further.
"Because whoever that is, they weren't here last time-," Lucas unintentionally stated firmly before realising and abruptly stopped talking before he overshared.
Sensing that Lucas wouldn't talk any further on the matter, Jeremey pulled out a bright star guild business card and gave it to him, "well if you ever want to talk or join our guild then contact this number and we will accommodate you as best we can," Jeremey smiled at him before leaving Lucas to join the rest of his guildmates.
Upon everybody arriving back at the clearing that they all started at and making sure that everybody was accounted for. Cleveland announced that"I am proud to see the companionship and respect that he had seen in everyone here today and that although not everyone here automatically made it into their ministry training program, that if anyone here were to apply for the training program entrance exam that occurs every year ( seeing that you can apply to join the ministry at any time, only the training program has special exam dates) and that apart from one incident where we got some help from our mystery guest that we unknowingly intruded on, there were no major injuries. But enough of my talking it's already 11:47 and you all need to get back home to log into the alternate realm for the first time."
And as soon as he said that, there was a rush of students making a break for the entrance they came in, with some of the students who were still out of breath and the teachers that were following slowly behind, relieved that they now get the rest of the day off compared to the unlucky rest that still have to teach for the rest of the day, over 100 of the ministry and guild agents left to attend to their duties, with about 30 left either catching up or sharing tales with each other.
Joe watched from above as this unfolded and chucked as he saw the rest of the people leave before suddenly hearing Cleveland's voice shouting up to him.
"Hey whoever is using that thing up there, can you please come down here a sec"
Turning to see Cleveland shouting in the direction that Jeremey was pointing in. Joe laughed at this slightly as the direction he was shouting in was 10° off from where he actually was. But he manoeuvred his spectator down in front of them anyway.
"They are coming down in front of us now," Jeremey said to Cleaveland who didn't know if his shout worked.
A modulated voice came out in front of them "verbal command: spectator transparency 80%," and after that was spoken a dark blue orb appeared in front of them, although still mostly see-through and about 10 cm in diameter with a slight indent as if a camera was supposed to be there, along the side there were lines that seemed could move to give the camera a greater range of vision.
"Ah, so this was what you were describing." Cleveland cheered to Jeremey who was caught off guard a bit about how easily and how changes were made to this spell. "Sorry for the fright this morning, and thank you for saving that boy earlier," Cleveland said with gratitude.
"Well I initially intended for my spells that I made to only be used on me, but I couldn't just go past something like that without helping, especially when I had the abilities to help," came from the orb.
"As should everybody, but sadly not everybody does," Cleveland spoke while bowing his head for a second, "Anyway, we haven't been formally introduced yet, I'm Cleveland Lancaster, and you are?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I'm willing or comfortable giving out that information at the moment," Joe said apologetically, still modulated through the spectator, "I've only been around for a short time and my name would be meaningless here as well, but if you want an alias then you can go with the man in the mask."
"Well ok then our mystery friend, I would still like to know why you were here in the first place," Cleveland responded in a more serious tone this time.
"I would like to know that as well," Joe said with obvious hints of frustration and annoyance making it through the modulated." And Jeremey you hit a little too close to home with what you said before about suddenly finding yourself somewhere that you aren't supposed to be can make you go into hiding, but with the difference that I'm shouldn't be here in the first place, not just being here in particular."
"Wait you could hear that," Jeremey responded surprised as the orb was over 15 meters away at the time.
"Let's just say I was keeping an ear out for you," said the modulated voice before turning back to Cleveland in a more serious tone," And after I arrived here, I did some research to be able to respect the laws of the land, as this land is now where I live. I know what the Ministery of shifter compliance is and does, and so before you get down into doing your job, I would like to preface some things first. The definition of a shifter is someone that can transfer their powers and abilities from the alternate realm, hence the alternate realm system, to this world. And all subsequent laws use this definition with respect to their jurisdiction, I, however, do not fall into this category as my powers have neither been transferred to this world nor granted by the alternate realm system as all of my abilities I've made myself. So by definition, I do not need to follow shifter laws, However, this world's laws are mostly aligned with my own and own my code of conduct. However, if insistent, I have only used passive abilities and an ability to stay hidden from others as much as possible, apart from that healing spell that was legal regardless, none used with any malice, and the only law that I would technically be breaking, if I was subject to, is the general non use of abilities within 5 kilometres of a settlement, of which is being broken to stay unknown and away from people as much as possible, the furthest away from people I could manage while doing so."
" Well he has got you there," Jeremey remarked while stifling a laugh, " That does explain a lot though with why he has abilities that we haven't seen before."
Cleveland surprised by the man in the mask's response and then Jeremeys remark replied " If what you are saying is true, with some credibility given by my friend here's remarks, then legally true, we do have no jurisdiction over you in the use of your abilities. However, I am glad to hear that you will still follow those laws though perhaps with a few tweaks, either intentionally or not, and I respect you for having a code of conduct as not many even think about things like that, and seeing your circumstances beforehand I wouldn't have sent people after you anyway as it was clear that you intended to stay away from people in the first place let alone do harm to anybody so I would have no need to worry about dealing with you anyways."
And after saying that Cleveland pulled out his wallet and went to hand over 5 100 unit notes of this country's currency," And speaking of codes of conduct, I don't like to leave debts unpaid, as outside healer services can cost quite a bit, but I don't have that much on me at the moment," before realising that he is attempting to give money an orb," um sorry I forgot for a second"
"no worries. verbal command: stow object. oh and don't worry I can only store items that aren't in the possession of someone else " Joe replied as he got close enough, and after verbalising the command the Money that Cleveland was holding had a fire or wave-like pattern emerge as the matter infused mana getting progressively darker blue as the second went on, originating from the point closest to the orb appear on it before it disappeared into nothingness when the darkest blue part of the wave passed over leaving nothing behind.
Jeremey intrigued and Cleveland startled by what just happened both asked "what was that?"
"That was my version of an inventory. And a better one than what I read your one to be might I say, " Joe replied.
"But inventories can only be accessed in the alternate realm" Jeremey instinctively said, "and only the storage stones that high-level runesmiths can make with rare and specialised materials that aren't that commonly found in our world have to be within cm of an object to store them and still can only store a limited volume of things"
"Well as I said, I've made all of my abilities myself, and my inventory is linked to myself not a system element, so I should be able to bring stuff across as it's the same inventory", Joe replied.
"But anyways feel free to contact us or drop by and ask for me as it would still be nice to meet you in person, and I do hope that we can be friends," Cleveland said, "oh wait, do you even have a way to contact us?"
"I hope that we can be friends as well, and yes, yes I do, but I will only do so if it's urgent," Joe stated.
"Verbal command: dismiss spectator" and with that, the orb that was in front of them disappeared, Cleveland was surprised at the sudden disappearance, Jeremey still had a lot of questions as he was interested in everything to do with magic, but with no further avenue of inquiry, he could only drop it for now. Now that there was no reason to remain in the forest any longer the remaining officers and guild agents as well as the remaining drones headed out, back to their duties that needed to be taken care of. Jeremey's mind raced with questions about how this mystery person and how he is able to do the stuff he's done, Cleveland on the other hand pondering about what this person said and what he meant by stuff like,' I've only been around for a short time and my name would be meaningless here as well' and 'but with the difference that I'm shouldn't be here in the first place, not just being here in particular' sending him into deep thought as he made his way back to the MSC HQ.
After Joe used his radar to confirm that the rest of the people left he slumped down on the nearest tree to him, thankful that everyone else had left. Looking at the time on his hud he saw that it was past mid day so he could now enter the alternate realm, however instead of going strait in, Joe went to find himself another hiddy hole before entering, this one even better than the last. He still cast dome of protection as an extra safety measure making it the same colour as the souroundings.
After making himself comfy and putting his coat into his inventory Joe firmly stated,
"Entering the alternate realm"
upon saying those words, his vision went black before being filled with weard teckno-like lines with junctions and nodes mixed amung them.
[System notification: system binding in progress]
{ Soul manipulation detected; blocking manipulation atempt}
[Error: system binding failed]
[System notification: resolving binding issue]
[System notification: system binding in progress]
{ Soul manipulation detected; blocking manipulation atempt}
[Error: system binding failed]
[Error: unexpected input detected]
[System notification: resolving unexpected input ]
{Inter-system interaction protocol confirmation accepted}
[System notification: Alternative system input detected]
[System notification: system update to allow inter-system communication]
[System notification: System update successful]
{ Alternate realm transfer routine want to transport user's soul, does user wish to accept Y/N ?}
"yes" Joe said while stifling his laughter from the unintentional clashing he caused.
When he next opened what he thought to be his eyes he found himself in a black void, with a green platform from his system quickly generating beneth him,
[System notification: generating player infomation]
{Unortharised scan in progress: blocking unortharised scan}
[Error: player information not detected]
{Inter-system interaction protocol: Generating interaction porthole}
[System notification: Inter-system interaction porthole detected]
[C.C.S.S user information received]
[Error: CCSS user information contains unresolved or missing attributes]
[System notification: resolution in progress]
[System notification: raise player exception; cause inter-system hand-off]
[System notification: refining communication protocol]
[System notification: updating Inter-system user interaction protocols]
[System notification: update complete]
[System notification: administrator account detected]
[System notification: CCSS user: Id 0 granted elevated system privileges]
{User Id 0 has gained elevated alternate realm system privlages}
[System notification: you can now veiw restricted system content]
[system notification: you been granted access to administrator only content]
After seeing the number of system pop ups and minor system upheaval he caused Joe audably chucked as he didn't expect this to happen.
Though after this the void opened up into a medieval looking hallway with statues going down the side that seemingly corresponded to the initial classes available to chose from,the fighter, the rough, the shield warrior, the ranger, the magician, and the cleric. With all the statues having a description of what the class does under it. It was at that time that the system started to speak,
"Welcome to the alternate realm, a realm of mystery, intrigue, triumph, and anguish, where you will face unimaginable foes and forge unbreakable aliences, meet new people and experience new worlds. with a variety of classes and ocupations to chose from there is something for everybody. And with a variety of continents and factions to chose from you can find wide ranges of cultures and beutafull landscapes, fight fourotious beasts, and interact with a whole range of races. Now please select a class."
The six classes now poping up in front of him,
"verbal command: assert administrator authority, skip class selection"
[System notification: Class selection can not be skipped as it is an essential part of player functionality]
[System notification: exception raised, class collection skipped, CCSS does not require a class]
[system notification: would user want to enter face moulding segment]
[System notification: CCSS does not support face moulding]
[System notification: does CCSS administrator want to inquire upon restricted or administrator content]
"yes, scan mana given and give analysis" Joe asked while releasing 5 units of mana.
"system analysis: high grade mana detected 100% will infused, high grade mana is mana that is infused with will power of over 80%, high grade mana is made when external mana without a source of will have limited to no impact on the composition of mana in any reserve, with the amount of will infused determining effectiveness, the mana provided would be worth 500 units of mid grade mana that the average player's would be with only 1% will infution."
'well that clears up what that guy was talking about then' Joe thought.
"will there be any further lines of inquiry before main log in" the system asked.
"no" Joe replied.
"does CCSS administrator wish to enter the main stage or tutorial stage."
"Tutorial stage," joe replied
As soon as he said that a globe appeared in front of him.
"Does CCSS admin wish to chose starting location or have one chosen at random within the Odairus Empire "
"I wished to be spawned within the Odairus Empire in a starting village that is then close by to a weapon master in which to train my combat skills"
"that can be arranged, please wait a moment"
"weapon master Sir Edin Horn, has expressed that it would be his honour to have you as his student, though wishes you to achieve level 10 before official training begins. Through special circumstances Sir Edin Horn will be instructing you from the main world stage as well."
"Is that all?" the system asked.
"Yes." Joe replied.
"system reminder: as you are not fully incorporated into the alternate realm system, you may experience some lack of ordinary system functions from alternate realm systems end, However all crutial features and failsafe's will still function."
{Alternate realm transfer routine want to transport user's soul, does user wish to accept Y/N ?}
"yes" Joe replied, and with that, Joe was now officially in the alternate realm as his vision went dark once again.