There are areas beyond the Outer. Unexplored regions full of not yet discovered Artifacts and Grimoires. Infested with unknown undiscovered bizarre creatures. Many lands with untap potential. Lands and places that humankind never set their foot in. Caves, mountains, plains, forests, rivers, lakes, deserts, canyons, sea and many more unexplored region with extreme conditions and weather.
Who will be the one to explore these regions and places? Mercenary. Adventurous Mercenary. Filled with desires for fame and riches. For recognitions and power. For what purpose they explore these dangerous regions? To discover ruins. Past civilizations. Historical monument and buildings. These places are filled with never before seen Artifacts and Grimoires.
Alex closed the book titled 'Introduction to Ruins'. He was excited. His boss just said something a few days ago to him. He said that a group of Mercenary found a very large ruins. Because it was too large to be explored by them, they informed the Mercenary Management. And Management mark that place as a free for all. That means that anyone can explore the ruins and everything they discovered will be theirs.
Faust said to him that they will be exploring the ruins. He said he need to increase his collection of Artifacts and gave Alex the book saying that he wanted Alex to join him. Alex was really super excited. This would be the first time he'll be exploring a ruin. His boss said that he needed to prepare a few things before going. He order Alex to finish the book in three weeks time.
Alex was anxious that the ruin would be fully explored in three weeks but his boss said that that is impossible. He said that a very large ruin like this usually take 2 to 4 years to be fully explored. He also said that a large place did not mean that you can found Artifacts and Grimoires lying around. People usually need to excavate or enter hidden places for a chance to find Artifacts or Grimoires.
Alex was relieved when he heard that. His boss had a lot of experience going on ruin exploration. He knew because his boss got most of his Artifacts from ruins. 70% of the Artifacts were from ruins while 30% distributed to auctions, naive sellers or taking it as a prize for killing the owner.
His boss sometimes update his catalogue of his collections by opening the vaults once a year as some sort of celebration. Alex knew from the bottom of his heart that he admit and believe his boss is an oddball. People usually sell the Artifact that did not chose them. Alex at least knew that much. No one actually made a collection of Artifacts because it was meaningless to them.
His boss beg to differ. His boss thinks that by collecting Artifacts would do humanity and mankind good. He proudly claim that most of the Artifacts in the basement are there to be use and not for catching dust. But he rarely brought them out and leave them in the basement in the vault to catch dust.
Today his boss came to him. His boss rarely came to see Alex himself because he thinks that a secretary is the one who always need to see their boss. Faust told him if he really wanted to follow him. He said that during the exploration the dangers are everywhere. The most dangerous of them all are humans. Alex puffed out his chest telling his boss not to worry because Alex knew the dangers of human.
His boss sigh. His boss always sighing. This was a sign when he gave up thinking on something. He said that he would teach Alex the things that he must know when exploring ruins. He has a reluctant face but Alex didn't mind it. He knew his boss is a kind person. His boss always said to him that he is not doing charity. But he often saw his boss going around Outer searching for abandoned children in the slum.
He often time take them to the agency but if they were afraid of following him, he would gave them money or foods. His boss also found him in the slum and took him in. He said to Alex that he has an orphanage but Alex didn't see any sort of orphanage when he arrived. All he saw was a tall building not a dorm or a big house. He said that this is the orphanage. His boss has a weird taste sometimes.
Alex didn't like much of his boss friends. They like to come asking for a favor instead of giving him a job with a decent payment. His boss always give in to their requests. No matter how hard and tough the requests are he will accept them. He didn't understand why. In the past, he asked him about it one day. His boss answered that in a friend relationship it must be two ways. He helped them and they helped him.
But Alex never seen his boss asking for a favor with his friends without giving them a decent payment. The latest favor he asked for was from Evelyn. He promise to give her 25 coldwoods just for doing a little favor. He thought it was unfair for his boss. But his boss was never upset with it. His boss is weird. Alex vow to himself that he will always be beside his weird boss helping with his job.
"Here Alex. I have written all the information I experienced while exploring ruins. Read and finish it. You can ask me any questions about the ruins after that."
"Yes sir. Sir can I ask something before that?"
"Yeah, of course."
"From what age do you explored your first ruin sir?"
"When I was 10. I joined a group of veteran Mercenary as a porter. At that time they found a large ruin a little bit smaller than this one. I was quite lucky at that time because I got a good group. I heard that some of the kids who become porter at that time were badly treated."
"So are we also joining a group of Mercenary?"
"No, some of my friends will join this exploration. We usually explore ruins together. And you Alex. You will become our porter. Can you do it?"
"Absolutely sir. This is my first time exploring so the role of a porter suits me."
"Good then. Usually my team hired an outside porter. I must tell you this first. Every role in the exploration team is very crucial. Even porter."
"I never think the role of porter is insignificant."
"Nice. Then I'll be going to my office. I still has something to do before the exploration in two weeks. Come to the office if you want to ask question alright. Ciao~"
Alex watched as his boss walked away. This confirmed it. His boss is weird.