Adventurer Guild, New skill

A brown-haired youth strolled on the streets beside a blue-haired woman while paying heed to the surprised gazes everyone sent his way. His eyes darted toward the wide streets.

The town is pretty nice, Leo thought.

Horaud Town was different — bustling with adventurers equipped with weapons, the various stalls on the sides, the merchants shouted to compete with each other, and finally a water fountain in the middle of the town's plaza — giving an lively aura to the place.

A gate was located ahead of the fountain looking like an entrance to some underground cave.

Leo pointed at the gate. "What's that?"

"Oh, that's the entrance to Orcus Labyrinth," answered Irene accompanied with a nod.

"I see."

"Let's eat something first, shall we?"

"Yeah, my stomach is killing me for a while."

A few streets past, Leo stopped before a building similar to an inn or restaurant. A wooden board hung above with some unknown letters carved on it.

"It's the most affordable inn in this town, only costing 7000 Luta for a month with the best food," Irene stated with a smile.

He gave a nod and asked Jen about Luta. She snickered and asked for 1SP again.

'Take it, you miser.'

(Luta is the currency used in human countries. It comes in blue, red, yellow, purple, green, black, silver, gold with their values being 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10,000 respectively.)

"Here, take it."

Irene's voice brought him back to reality. He glanced at the three black coins on her palm and furrowed his brows.

"Why?"

It was unbelievable for someone to act this kind after witnessing his berserk state. Even he might have freaked out. However, Irene's expression showed no fear, only a gentle smile. That much he could discern after being an interrogation specialist for years.

"You lost your money, right? So keep it."

Leo scratched his cheeks and accepted her kindness. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it," she waved her hand with an elegant smile.

Maybe she isn't that bad after all.

"Now let's go in!" Irene urged and dragged him inside.

Irene ordered some meat based recipe. Leo took no time in picking up the bowl and soothing his growling stomach. In no time, all food on the table was devoured.

He cleaned his face with a napkin and gave a thumbs up to Irene. Irene titled her head and gave another smile.

After that, he rented a room for one week with breakfast and dinner for three thousand Luta — a cheap deal for broke people like him.

They went out to buy some supplies and "commoner clothes" for Leo. He had to borrow another 1000 Luta from Irene. She complied easily.

Her smile made him guilty about thinking of her as weird. He swore to pay her back in the future.

***

Leo and Irene entered inside the adventure guild — a room with clean vibes, a neat counter sat in front, and some people gossiping sitting on the tables on the left side. As he entered, every gaze went to him.

Silence filled the area.

*Whistle*

Only to get broken by a loud whistle.

"Kid got guts dating Ice Princess."

"Irene-samaaaaa."

"I love you!"

"Please take me!"

Creepy whispers reached him.

Irene splendidly ignored them and strode to the counter.

"Is the branch head busy?"

The receptionist, a young girl looked up and froze. "N-No, Young miss, Loa-sama is free."

"Then, I'm going in."

She pulled toward the room behind the counter. The room had loads of papers piled on a table. Behind which, sat an burly man with a scar on his right eye and a shining bald head. Unlike the slight wrinkles on his face, his ripped body was brimming with vitality — he wasn't one to be messed with.

"Uncle, I need a status plate for my friend." Irene went to the point without any greeting.

So she is the niece of Branch Head. That explains her reputation. But she shouldn't be feared that much, right?

Irene's uncle opened a drawer on the table and tossed something at Irene.

Irene turned to Leo and shoved the plate in his hands. "Drip some blood in the center."

Must be the requirement for the plate...

Leo bit his finger and dripped a drop of blood on the center. The plate absorbed the blood and flashed

a light similar to his blood color. A circle with strange characters appeared on the plate.

"Idiot!"

Irene scolded and engulfed his finger in her mouth; her soft lips and tongue licking the blood while her sultry glared at him. The sheer cuteness overwhelmed his mind for a moment.

He let out a dry cough and forced his finger out of her hand. Scracthing his cheeks, he replied,

"This much pain is nothing."

A sudden chill wrapped around him. He jerked his head and sharpened his glare. Irene's uncle also narrowed his eyes.

This man is strong...

The bald uncle nodded with a strange smile.

*Tch*

A barely audible sound distracted him. Irene still smiled caly.

Was that his imagination?

He shrugged and inspected the status plate.

Leo Evans

Age:17 Male

Level: 2

Job: Berserker

Strength: 90

Vitality: 100

Defense: 100

Agility: 80

Magic: 340

Magic Defense: 340

Skills: Swift steps — Martial Arts — Marksmanship — Weapon Mastery — Mental Fortitude — Pain Tolerance

(Touch the minus icon, quickly!)

Leo tapped the icon as Jen said.

'What was that about?'

(Your parameters are way too high for a mere level 2. Stay low profile until you get stronger.)

'What's the average stats of people here.'

(10 in everything.)

'That's pretty weak. But there would be some old monsters here, like this bald uncle.'

"I want to join the guild as an adventurer."

"Sure, give me your status plate," Irene's Uncle agreed easily.

Leo tossed the plate. Irene's Uncle took out a pen and wrote something on it then threw it back. The plate now had adventurer listed as a Job in it.

"You will get a ten percent bonus to sales in the guild and ten to twenty percent off in shops doing business with guild related shops."

Leo shrugged his shoulder and turned to Irene.

"Let's go."

[Quest Completed: Join the Adventurer Guild.]

Reward Obtained: [Analyze] function unlocked, 100SP

Irene silently followed him.

***

Two quietly walked toward the inn. Leo glanced at her and asked the question bugging him.

"You don't like your Uncle?"

"He is annoying," she replied plainly. "Let's meet tomorrow, we will go to the Great Labyrinth to collect some raw materials. Will you come?"

Leo already expected the invitation, e

so he gave a quick nod.

"Sure."

Irene relayed the details about meeting before they both parted ways with a simple goodbye. The sun had already sunk half below horizon and returned to the inn.

He returned to the inn and took a refreshing cold bath. He entered his simple room including only a single bed and chair and threw himself on the bed.

"Today sure was tiring, it's been a while since I enjoyed myself so much."

(.....)

'Why are you so silent now?'

(I was just thinking about how simple-minded you are.)

'Says the cheap woman. Tell me about analyze function.'

(Analyze can scan and quantify any living and non-living thing.)

He looked at the bed. 'Analyze'

[Wooden Bed]

[A simple bed made of wood with a mattress stuffed with wool.]

This skill was like a jackpot — important for checking stats of monsters. He opened inventory and equipped his new sword. A sturdy built sword appeared in his hands — made of iron and some other alloys he couldn't recognize.

'Analyze'

[Tempered Iron Sword]

A sword made from high tempered iron, giving it high durability and sharpness.

Rank: C

P. Attack +100

'Cheap sword, but it will do for now. The ranks start from?'

(F-Rank is lowest.)

'Sell me information about this world. I don't want to look too suspicious asking common things here.'

(1SP.)

'Why do you even want my SP?'

(So I can upgrade myself and unlock new functions for you.)

'Ohh.'

(As you know this world is known as Tortus, ruled by 3 races. Human rules Northern half, while Demon rules Southern half of the continent. Whereas beastmen or demi-humans live in the far east side of the continent. Humans and Demons waged war for centuries over their beliefs since their beliefs clashed. Humans put their faith in Creator God Ehit whereas Demons believe in their Demon God.)

'So, it is safe to say that Ehit is the one who summoned Eri.'

His lips twisted in a vicious smile as his instincts craved revenge.

(As you are now, you will die against his weakest soldier.)

She poured cold water on his plans.

'How much for a detailed map of the Tortus?'

(30SP)

'Rob me. How much SP will that Ogre mana crystal sell for?'

(100SP. The mana crystal has accumulated quite a bit of mana.)

'Take it, and buy the map.'

He whipped out the map from inventory. The parched paper indicated locations of many important places — seven blue marks were brightest showing an approximate direction of most of the 'Seven Great Labyrinths'.

'Good, now spit out the price for a detailed map of every city here. I don't want to explore every city to finish the Minimap.'

(1000SP. It will decrease your workload by a margin.)

'...Not buying. Tell me about the Great Labyrinths.'

(1SP)

He was tongue-tied by her cheapness, asking 1SP for everything.

(The Great labyrinths are seven labyrinths scattered all over the continent also marked on your map. They all have different types of trials to overcome. The one located in Horaud Town is Great Orcus Labyrinth. Said to be 100 floors high with every floor harder than the previous one. No one has cleared it yet.)

He had four months to help Eri, so his first goal was to reach at least Level 60 or 70 during this time.

(Don't meet her before that, or you will regret it for the rest of your life.)

He never heard her this serious.

'And why is that?'

(.....)

[Quest available: Save Eri Nakamura and her classmates]

Your childhood friend and her classmates will be in big trouble as said by 'The Entity', save them before they die.

Difficulty: S

Rewards: Upgrade [Minimap] function, Upgrade [Analyze] function, 10000SP, 1x [Mystery Shop] Coupon

[Accept / Deny]

'Accept and

how do I use magic?'

(Tw—)

'Take it!'

(First, you need a magic circle inscribed on a paper in Ancient language. Then chant the incantation to channel mana in it. Different inscriptions are needed for various effects such as size or area of the spell. An Affinity in elements ignores the usage of extra inscriptions of that certain element.)

Leo nodded his head at her simple explanation.

'Which affinities do I have?'

(You have…)