"Truck! Where are you? What happened? Truckkkkk"
"Shut up, why are you always being so dramatic?"
Then, a familiar voice entered my mind. I looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice. It was Truck, but he wasn't physically present. Instead, I could hear him as if he were speaking directly into my mind.
"Truck, what happened? Why did you disappear?"
"You already know, I ran out of fuel. My fuel gauge hit zero percent, and as a result, I was forcibly unsummoned. Don't worry, I'm still here, but I can only communicate with you through telepathy for now."
I let out a sigh of relief, relieved that Truck was okay and still with me in some form.
"So where do I get more fuel in this world?"
"I am not sure, let me check quickly"
After some time he responded, "Turns out that there is no fuel in this world"
"What then, what am I supposed to do without fuel? Does that mean that you are like a one-time summon thing?"
"Not exactly, turns out summoners can't keep their summons summoned forever, there are two ways that a summon can be forcefully unsummoned that is either that their health reaches zero or their exhaustion reaches a Hundred percent, but since I am a special case it is denoted by Fuel"
"I see, so how long till I can summon you again?"
"It looks like there is a penalty when you let the fuel reach zero percent, so this time it will take around twenty-Four Hours"
"What? That's a whole day, what the hell am I supposed to do without you? what's a summoner without their summons?"
"Well, that's why most people have multiple summons. In your case, you only have me for now. You should try to gather more summons or try to learn more skills and magic; if not, you could end up in a lot of trouble. But let's worry about those things later. For now, we're on the outskirts of the town. We should head inside and gather information," Truck advised.
"Right. Let's do that." I looked towards the town. It seemed like a bustling place with many different kinds of people coming and going.
As I walked toward the town, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of excitement and nervousness. This was a new chapter in my adventure, and I had no idea what to expect.
The town was surrounded by tall stone walls, and there was a huge gate at the entrance where a couple of guards were stationed. I approached them cautiously, not knowing how they would react to a stranger.
"Excuse me," I began, trying to sound polite and non-threatening, "I'm new here and was hoping you could help me out. I'm looking for information about this town."
The guards looked me up and down, sizing me up before one of them spoke, "You new here?"
I nodded, "Yes, I am. I recently arrived near the vicinity and I'm trying to find my way around."
The second guard asked, "Do you have an ID?"
"Well I used to have one but, I lost it when I got attacked by bandits and they stole all my things but I somehow managed to run away with my money"
The first guard chimed in, "Even so, we can't let a suspicious person like you inside"
Hmm… what to do, right I can use that old man's name to get inside.
"Actually, I came to this town because mister Owen Firebrand asked me to meet him here and he said he would give me a discount for his wares"
The guards looked shocked, "What mister Firebrand invited you personally? Why didn't you say that first?"
"Well, whatever this is Random Town, it is a hub for adventurers and SumMoners alike. You'll find everything you need here, from inns and shops to guilds and training grounds "
Random town really? Who in their right mind names a town something like a random town? but if I said that I will end up in jail so let's keep that to myself.
So instead I said, "That's good to know. I appreciate the information."
"You may have been invited by Mister Firebrand but make sure to follow the town's rules and regulations. We don't take kindly to troublemakers."
"Of course, I have no intention of causing any trouble."
Is that old man really that famous, what will happen if they find out that I used his name just to enter the city? Will I be thrown in jail?
Well, whatever, I will leave my future problems to future me. As I walked through the gate, I couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder. The town was bustling with activity and people going about their business.
I decided to explore the town a bit before seeking out a place to stay for the night. The streets were lined with shops selling various items, from weapons and armor to potions and magical trinkets. There were also different stalls with food and snacks, and the smell was making me hungry.
I continued my exploration until I stumbled upon a large building that caught my attention—the Adventurer's Guild. It seemed like a hub for adventurers to gather, take on quests, and socialize. I figured it would be a good place to gather more information about the world.
I entered the guild and was greeted by a lively atmosphere. Adventurers of all sorts were gathered around, chatting, sharing stories, and examining the quest boards. I walked up to the counter where a receptionist was stationed.
"Hello there," she greeted with a smile, "Are you here to register as an adventurer or seeking one of our adventures to go on a quest for you?"
She was a beautiful woman in her early twenties with fiery red hair, a stunning hourglass-shaped body, and smooth, porcelain-white skin that anyone would be jealous of. Just like her hair, her eyes also had a fiery orange color. When I looked into her eyes, they reminded me of fire for some reason.
"Hello, I am here to register myself as an adventurer"
"Well, you've come to the right place. We welcome newcomers with open arms. Just fill out this form, and I'll get you registered."
I took the form she handed me and began filling it out, providing my name, age, and some basic information. Once I was done, I handed it back to her.
"Thank you. You're officially registered as an adventurer in Random Town. Please wait here while I prepare your guild card."
After a few minutes she came back and called out to me, "Here's your guild card," she said as she handed me a card made out of some kind of sturdy metal.
"Your guild card will serve as identification and keep track of your accomplishments and rewards. Feel free to check out the quest boards for available missions. And don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. My name is Emberlyn you can call me Ember"
"Thank you. I appreciate your help."
"You are currently an aluminum rank adventurer, if you managed to complete twenty quests successfully you can be promoted to copper rank, the aluminum rank quest is relatively very easy quests like delivering messages or gathering ingredients but still be careful out there"
Aluminum is the lowest rank, not copper. Then what are all the other ranks?
"Can you please tell me what the other ranks are?"
"Certainly. As I mentioned earlier, Aluminum is the lowest rank, followed by copper, iron, silver, titanium, gold, and finally hyper alloy. These ranks correspond to different levels of adventurers.
For aluminum and copper ranks, you need to complete 20 quests for each rank. When you reach iron or silver rank, you are generally considered a veteran adventurer and need some accomplishment or recognition from people to be promoted again.
If you manage to become a titanium adventurer, you are recognized as a city-level adventurer capable of protecting a small to a large city by yourself.
Gold rank indicates a country-level adventurer, meaning you can handle the defense of a small to medium-sized country alone.
Finally, hyper alloy rank signifies that you are considered one of the strongest individuals in the world, excluding heroes and otherworlders."
Wow! That was a lot to take in, why do they have things like Aluminium or Titanium in this world? Don't they usually have some fantasy metal like Mythril or Oracalcum? And what's this hyper-allow thing?
I wanted to ask her more about this but it seems like a piece of common knowledge in this world if I keep asking these kinds of things I am sure to gather more attention.
Maybe in the Novels and Manga heroes have some kind of overpowered skills or magic from the beginning, in my case my overpowered companion is on cooldown so I should lay low until I could summon the Truck again.
What if a spy or an assassin from the Demon King's army is listening to our conversation? They could easily get rid of me when I am at my weakest.
"Now that I think about it, I killed a lot of monsters on my way to the city. Can I get something for that?" I questioned Ember.
"Certainly! If you give me their drops, I will calculate it for you and pay you accordingly."
"Drops? I don't have any monster drops."
"Don't you usually take the monster's valuable parts like the slime core or the rat tail? It's common knowledge.", she contuined.
"You bought the monster drops with you right?"
I was staring at her with a confused face.
"Right?"
We were staring at each other awkwardly.