As Loren and Seria began to formulate their plan to prepare for the calamity, throughout Saltera, 4 individuals had already begun to actively use their fragments of the system, already moving forward after they regained their memories of their past lives, wasting no time.
***
Not too far east of where Loren was currently, an uproar was occurring in Belmond Capital, a third of the troops stationed in the palace had rushed into the city in search of a young boy. Many of the citizens jumped in fright at the number of knights, mages and augmenters running in the streets, thinking that the capital was perhaps under attack.
Not even 4 hours had passed since the kingdom's healing mages and light elementalists were called to help a child who suddenly started to scream in pain during his lunch, after determining that there was nothing wrong with the boy's body they decided to let him rest, only find that he had vanished!
The two guards in charge of guarding the boy were beaten black and blue, they didn't understand! They only left for 30 seconds, one went to the bathroom while the other fetched the boy some water he asked for. They were both in the 3rd stage! Each was a step away from finding their path, how could a 9-year-old evade them so easily?
An hour had passed since then, and the boy had yet to be found, many of the knights thought the boy faked his illness and planned the event. Others couldn't understand why he had disappeared in the first place, why would such a kind obedient child run away? They even suspected he'd maybe been kidnapped!
'Hee hee! I have to thank Big Brother Damian when I get back.'
Within the shadows of an ally way watching the group of knights run around was a short child with curly auburn and emerald eyes, he wore flashy regal clothing and had a luxurious diamond necklace around his neck. He was clutching a large ruby that had a shadowy flame trapped inside.
It was the very boy half the city was currently looking for, yet despite being so near no one noticed him, why? It was due to the ruby the boy was holding, he had stol- borrowed it from his brother, it was an artifact, a very powerful one in fact. If any of his family knew he had taken it he would definitely receive the entire family's rage, it could trick people in the 3rd stage, that was how powerful it was.
The boy sneaked into the shadows, the darkness developing him, in his left hand was the ruby while his right arm was carrying a small calico kitten. He moved from ally to ally until he found a small child sitting outside her family home.
"Psst- Trissie." His sudden appearance made the girl jump in surprise.
"WAH! Ryan? Where'd you come from? Ah! you found Snowball! So quick too!"
'I'm fairly sure this cat doesn't look like a snowball.'
"Yep, just like I promised, take him I have to go now." He handed the cat to Trissie and walked away.
"OK! Thank yo- huh? Where'd he go?"
Back in the shadows, Ryan excitedly opened up a blue screen, he'd just finished his first quest and was keen to see what his first reward would be. He didn't even think too much about not having the other parts of the system, he was already content with the quest tab.
With a shining blue light, 2 silver coins appeared in his hands.
'That's it?' While it may have been a lot to someone like Loren, Ryan had a yearly allowance of 1 platinum coin, the silver coins were nothing to him.
'Well, it doesn't matter I was just testing it out, I would've helped Trissie anyway. This system thing is pretty cool though!'
Ryan quickly moved on and gave the coins to a beggar on the street.
'To get big rewards I probably have to do something big don't I? Doing something random won't get me anywh-"
[Hidden Quest Found]
[The Legendary Beggar]
...
"wow."
***
In the heart of the Alphonse Empire, the Imperial Capital, a young maid was hurriedly walking through the halls of a grand Palace, its size second only to the Imperial Palace that housed the Emporer, in the maid's hand were various papers her young lady had asked for her to bring. Arriving at a door the maid lightly tapped on its frame twice.
"Young Lady, I've prepared the papers you asked for."
A high-pitched yet steady voice came from inside the room.
"Come in Clare"
The maid opened the door, revealing a young child sitting still inside the room, the room itself was massive, almost twice the size of Loren's entire home. On the walls were various paintings. The paintings were vastly different to one another, not a single pattern could be found between them with just a cursory glance, that would be expected though as they all came from different eras dating back before the Empire was even founded. Each painting was a gift the child's father had prepared for her after he discovered his daughter's fondness for antiques.
The paintings weren't all though, if one took time to study the room one would find that even the full-length mirror placed next to the child's bed, to the pieces of jewellery adoring the young lady's neck, had all been specially procured for the child by her father. This made the room quite sporadic in turn, but the girl didn't mind, she was fond of the antiques for their historical value, not for interior design.
The child had ocean-blue hair that ran down her back and calming cyan eyes with long lashes that would make any young lady in the capital green with envy, despite her childish appearance that came from baby fat in her cheek she'd yet to lose, the girl still had a noble bearing one would expect from a daughter of Alphonsean nobility.
"Not to overstep my bounds Young Lady, but are you sure we don't need to see a healer? you looked to be in so much pain..."
The maid's eyes were filled with worry, only a dozen or so hours had passed since she found her Lady kneeling over in pain. She would have immediately found help if not for the girl grabbing her hand, pleading for her not to do so, collecting herself not 2 minutes later and acting as if nothing had occurred.
"Thank you for worrying Clair, truly, but I assure you I'm fine, and please do not let anyone know of what happened. Now, could I see the papers you brought?"
"Of course, my Lady" Clair still felt worried, but reluctantly agreed to her Master's request.
Receiving the stack of papers with a smile, the young lady glanced at the papers before placing them on the table. Each piece of paper contained information on various masters who lived in the Captial, every master had already entered their path and were powerful figures of the Empire. But if this 9-year-old child asked any of them to tutor her, every single one would claw at the chance to become her teacher.
"Don't mind if I ask though Young Lady, but why are you looking at these people? They're all from different paths, I believed you had already chosen to become an elementalist."
Clair's various questions towards her Lady could already be considered a faux pas, but neither of the two cared, Clair had served the girl since infancy, she was more like and sister than a servant to the child.
"I have, but there is no harm in looking to see if any other path suits me, perhaps I have hidden talent to become a barbarian."
"Haha, surely you jest Young Lady. Now, I shall take my leave, contact me if there is anything you require."
"Actually, Clair, could you look for any information regarding the Belmond Academy for me if you have the time?" Clair didn't understand why her Young Lady wanted information about an academy outside their Empire, but nodded nonetheless before closing the door.
Once the door was shut the girl quickly rifled through the papers, ignoring all the information about the master's achievements or accolades and only paying attention to their various abilities, how powerful they were, how useful they could be and how quickly she could turn them into skills.
"Sigh... I knew something was wrong with that Goddess, wasn't that just an automated message? Whatever though, it's sad to lose the rest of the system, but 'Skills' are a perfect match for me."
Her noble countenance began to fade as the 20th-century woman inside took over, she quickly began to sort each possible skill by order of difficulty to learn, usefulness, and compatibility with one another.
"Thankfully I was born a noble, so I'm already in the 1st stage of mana mastery, I can already start collecting all the spells and elemental abilities I want."
As she looked through the different Weapon Masters, looking for a weapon art that could match her abilities as an Elementalist, she asked herself.
"So there are 4 other heroes huh? I don't really want to meet them... I can't trust they won't try anything, even if the system said we can't steal the fragments from each other. Well, I just need to get as strong as possible before they do."
***
In the northern territory of the Alphonse Empire, A fierce battle had just occurred between a large herd of mana beasts and a group of mercenaries. The mercenaries had been trekking through the Crimson Tundra on a mission to reach an outpost situated deep into the mountain. It had been a few weeks since the start of their journey so when they saw a group of blade mammoths, they rushed at the chance to fill their stomachs, after a short but bloody battle the mercenaries came out on top with at least 2 months of food now on hand.
Spanning a radius of 70 meters around the mercenaries was an area of completely blood-red snow, even the snowflakes falling from the sky with dyed crimson, this phenomenon is how the Crimson Tundra got its namesake. Whenever the blood of a corpse is spilled in the mountain range, it quickly absorbs the blood, colouring all snow in the immediate area red, this effect spreads to even the atmosphere.
Roughly 20 meters away from the main battlefield sat what looked to be a young man currently sharpening a glave on the whetstone, he was about 140 centimetres tall with shallow scars strewn across his body. He had thick rotund arms, and his muscular body was obvious to the eye even with his winter gear covering his body. His short spiky black hair was covered in blood, and his deep abyss-like eyes were entirely focused on sharpening his glave, not even sparing a glance at the man approaching him. Not a single person could ever tell that this war-worn veteran was only 9 years old!
"Woo~ A twin-headed blade mammoth! You really are a monster aren't ya kid, hard to believe that you haven't even mastered the 1st stage."
Next to the boy was the 5-meter-tall corpse of a blade mammoth, one of its two heads was crushed into mush, its brain matter spilling onto the ground. Large chunks of its flesh were carved out, the pieces scattered around the youth. All mana beasts could evolve, and most blade mammoths would evolve to gain a 2nd head, making their blade-covered trunks twice as difficult to handle. Yet most of the blood covering the boy wasn't his own.
The boy continued to work, his eyes unmoving.
"Even evolved it's still a Stage 1 beast, plus I did master the 1st stage."
The man's eyes widened in surprise.
"WHAT?! When?! You only gained body enhancement 2 months ago!"
'9 hours ago.' The boy only shrugged.
"HAHA! Damn, am I happy that your OUR monster and not somebody else's, I gotta tell the others bout this. F**K! We gotta feast to celebrate!"
'You feast every second day, that's why we had to hunt today.' The child stayed silent, blowing air out of his nose in annoyance.
After seeing the man had left, he opened the system to see his gains. Prior, when he had unlocked the system, all the experience he'd gained in his years as a little mercenary let him level up several times at once. When he added the points to strength and vitality, other than just a qualitative increase in muscle mass, he realized that it also gave him a lot of control in sending mana to his muscles, letting him directly master the 1st stage.
'Tch- I'm still pissed off I didn't get the rest of the system, but this will have to do. 4 other heroes huh? Who cares, I'll be the strongest anyway.'
When Loren thought of the person who got the level part of the system, he only considered how strong they'd be if they joined a mercenary band after gaining the system. He had no idea what monster would be created if that person was born in one, let alone one of the most renowned and powerful mercenary bands in the whole of Salteria.
***
While the town of Rito was situated on the far west of the Saltera continent, on the far east was the independent Port City of Rund. The city had a thriving economy on par with the empire, this was thanks to the city controlling the only safe passageway to the eastern continent of Bai'Zai. To the north was the territory of Orboss the sea serpent, while to the south was the Everblack Torrent. If any person wanted a steady flow of shipments to arrive to and fro the 2 continents, they could only arrive in Rund.
Usually, the Empire would move to conquer such a vital piece of land, but Rund had sole trading rights with Bai'zai, so the Empire could only bite its tongue and trade through Rund.
But even in a thriving city like Rund, there are slums, and within the slums, a plump merchant was talking to a young child who had apparently come to him with a business opportunity.
"Don't worry I'm sure if you test my product, you can verify its quality."
The little girl who spoke had a confident business smile plastered on her face, which was entirely in contrast to her appearance. Her platinum hair was covered in oil and multiple strands stuck together, her tan skin dry and cracked, covered with dirt and grim, she looked like she had just climbed out of a sewer. The worst was her clothes though, they were in tatters, barely hanging onto her skin, the once white clothing were now stained a disgusting brown.
But one part of the child had never changed no matter what state she was in. Her golden eyes were still as bright in these filthy slums as they were when she was born. It was like she was staring into the future, her future, the place she wanted to be. Her confidence radiated out of the 2 eyes like the midday sun and ever since she gained her memories back 2 days ago, they were even brighter.
"I call it 'Soap', it's a cleaning product with a far longer shelf life than any lotion you can find, it's perfect for selling to sailors."
"I apologize, but you're trying to sell me a cleaning product while looking like... that? Miss Earthborn you must be joking."
The girl's mouth twitched, that was her last name, but it was not one she wanted. She was an immigrant from Orland, the smallest and weakest country in Saltera, whenever a person leaves Orland they are forced to take 'Earthborn' as a last name by every country they go to. It was a way to insult the colour of their skin and their homeland, as well as tell Orlandians that they belonged down in the dirt.
'It's a f**king desert country dumbass!'
"I paid for the meeting, so please just check my product, I assure you it's extremely valuable!"
"Haha, I doubt that... Though..." The fat merchant completely ignored the soap on the table, not even realizing its value, and then he started to look at the girl, a disgusting smile crept onto his face.
"Maybe if I clean you up a bit you'll really have something worth selling."
The girl gritted her teeth in anger, it was already enough, what he just insinuated was HIGHLY illegal. Grabbing a small crystal from her pocket she crushed it between her hands, a bright light escaped her palms as the merchant and his 2 guards jumped out of their seats.
"What did you just do?!"
Outside the meeting room stood a middle-aged man, he had messy brown hair and murky tired green eyes, he watched as the crystal in his hand began to break apart, he grabbed his two daggers and walked towards the building as he yawned.
"Guess it's my turn..."
As the merchant and two guards rushed towards the girl, they were stopped as the door to the building crashed open, and the broken door crashed into the 3. The tired man stepped inside the building and lazily looked at the trio.
"You could've hit me you know?"
"I didn't though."
In a flash one of the man's daggers flew out of his hand and instantly decapitated the 2 guards, it then flew around and directly stopped under the plump merchant's throat.
"W-Weapon Master!" The merchant's eyes were filled with terror.
"Need him alive?"
"Nah, I have the recording crystal remember, plus I have a Weapon Master as a witness." The girl's smile returned as the circumstances flipped, she brought up her middle finger and gestured to the merchant. Though they didn't know what the gesture meant...
"W-Wait, I give you anything just do-" Ignoring his pleas the lazy man quickly slit his throat and the merchant's body fell to the floor.
This is what the girl wanted the entire time, she never expected a wealthy merchant to work with a girl from the slums, especially an Earthborn. Her entire plan was to goad him into attacking her so she could steal from him. Rund has very strict laws regarding business dealings, anyone caught attacking the opposite party during a business meeting is given the death sentence, as well as all their belongings going to the offended party. The fat merchant was always known to skirt the lines of the law.
After getting access to the system she immediately took all the money from her first spin wheel as well as the starting money the system came with and went to work. She'd heard a rumour recently about a down-on-his-luck Weapon Master arriving in Rund who would work for a cheap price as long as the job was easy, lucky the rumours were right, albeit even someone in the 3rd stage would've worked.
That's why she didn't clean herself before the meeting or get new clothes, she wanted him to look down on her, underestimate her, think she was weak, think she was nothing. Only to have the rugged pulled out under him at the last moment!
'Ah, I missed this." Making people who belittled her pay what the girl's favourite hobby.
The original plan was to have him try to steal the formula for the soap from her though, she didn't expect him to have been so disgusting. Everything worked out in the end anyway so she was happy as a clam.
Rummaging through the pockets of the 3 corpses, she took out each of their purses, grabbed a glistening gold coin and kissed it.
'From my past life to my current one, you've always been my best friend haven't you, who needs the other parts of the system when I have you!'
Turning around she looked at the lazy man still standing by the door.
"Hey, I'm about to make a F**k tonne of money soon, you in? No overtime with benefits." She said with her practised smile.
The man dully stared at her and tilted his head.
"What's a tonne? And why are you fucking it? Aren't you too young?"
...
'I-Is this guy r******d?
***
Each of the other four heroes began to make their steps, they all had their own goals, their own plans and their own ideas about the other heroes.
But each hero still collectively had the same thought.
""""Thank God I'm not the guy with the system guide.""""
***
"ACH-CHU!" Loren wiped his nose.
"Are you cold?"
"No, I think someone's talking sh*t about me."
"Weird, I also got a strange feeling just now."
A moment of silence passed between the two.
"It's probably nothing, alright I should go to bed we've planned a good amount and it's getting pretty late."
Loren began to get ready for bed but noticed that Salrie was looking at him with a hesitant gaze making him tilt his head.
"What's wrong?"
Salrie looked look and pressed her 2 tiny fingers together and asked.
"I... Don't know your name yet so... I wanted to ask." Loren's eyes widened.
'Oh yeah, I didn't say my name, completely forgot."
Loren reached out his hand as if asking for a handshake.
"Loren, Loren Rito, it's good to meet you Salrie." Salrie gave a bright smile.
"Yes! It's good to meet you, Hero Loren!"