A new world

"Damn, I wasn't tricked."

He had really been reincarnated. Apparently, this world was based on an anime or a light novel, but Ryan had been told he had no prior knowledge of the work, so he couldn't predict the future or anything.

"Luce, you there?"

{Of course, Ryan! What do you need?}

That was his System. Her name was Lucy, but he liked to call her Luce as a show of affection, and she had really grown to like the nickname in the short time they had been together.

He smiled. "How do I unlock the Map Function? It's grayed out and says, 'you haven't met the proper Soul Rank, rank 2', and I don't understand what it means."

{Right, how do I explain this in simple terms… Okay, I've got it. Essentially, the strength of a world is determined by its Soul Rank. This world, and we'll just call it DanMachi for convenience's sake, has a Soul Rank of 4, and that means the strongest beings have that specific rank. As of right now, your soul rank is only 1, which is very common for a normal mortal in this world, but you can raise your rank if you grow stronger. Normally, mortals must ally themselves with gods or goddesses – they have a Soul Rank of 4 – and receive their blessings, a phenomenon known as Falna. It's basically a tattoo. When you have a Falna, you'll earn experience from killing monsters, and that will increase your parameters and skills, kind of like a video game. Fortunately, you don't necessarily need a Falna, because I can adopt the very same system with ease and give you the same effects. I'm amazing like that!}

"That you are, Luce. That you are." She squealed with delight, and his smile widened.

{You can learn about your parameters by saying or thinking the word 'status'}

He followed her advice. "Status."

Basic Abilities:

•Strength: I8

•Endurance: I12

•Dexterity: I15

•Agility: I13

•Magic: I0

Skills:

•Abysswalker: S

He hummed in wonder as he read all the information. "What do the letters mean, Luce?" She was quick to answer.

{This is going to be quite the mouthful. The letters are the ranks. The ranks change accordingly: 0-99 is I, 100-199 is H, 200-299 is G, 300-399 is F, 400-499 is E, 500-599 is D, 600-699 is C, 700-799 is B, 800-899 is A, and 900-999 is S. Of course, only Basic Abilities have numerical values and, as for your skill, [Abysswalker], it makes you immune to fear, mind control attempts, and keeps you extra focused during a combat scenario. The skill is a symptom of your death and consequent reincarnation. Frankly, S-Rank skills are extremely rare in this world, and it your skill can still grow stronger}

He absorbed all the information like a sponge and sorted his thoughts. "Okay, I guess I just have to try and get stronger, and maybe find some civilization."

{I'll give you a quest!}

[Main Quest – Find the city of Orario]

Rewards: 20.000 System Tokens.

Hint: It's to the east from here.

"Thanks, Luce. Well, I guess I'll just leave this cave now." He had just appeared inside it.

It didn't take long to get outside, and he was greeted by the sight of a lush forest.

{Monsters roam the world, but they aren't as strong as the ones you'll find inside a dungeon}

"Dungeon?" he asked.

{Yes. Orario boasts one of the world's only dungeons, and the city is a hotspot for adventurers who brave the dungeon every day. Gods and Goddesses also live in Orario, and most of them have formed Familias, think of them like guilds in an MMO, and its members, the mortal adventurers, are often referred to as Children}

Ryan snorted. "Children? Well, I can't argue with that. I reckon a god is several millions of years old."

{Correct}

"So, I guess I'll have to hunt down some monsters to get strong? And, while I do that, I should also be heading east in search of Orario. Seems simple enough," he muttered, smirking a little.

Because of [Abysswalker], Ryan's mind was scarily calm, so the thought of fighting for his life didn't even faze him.

[Side Quest – Kill Goblins]

Rewards: 25 free points invested into each Basic Skill (even magic) and 500 System Tokens

Condition of Completion: Kill 25 Goblins

"Thanks for the quest."

{You're most welcome, Ryan. If you continue in this direction, you'll find a small group of goblins… ouch, okay, that's probably the last time I'll be able to give you this type of information. I'm not supposed to try and predict things around you, and my Creator just warned me with an electric shock}

Ryan grew concerned. "Please don't put yourself in harm's way for my sake, Luce."

{…Alright, Ryan}

Sure enough, after walking for a few minutes, Ryan found the green bastards. They were basically naked, only just covering their modesty with loincloths, and they used sticks as weapons.

With a neutral look, Ryan picked up a stone and, with great finesse, he threw it at one of the goblins. It screeched in pain and began walking in his direction, without alerting its comrades. They seemed to lack intelligence and coordination; Ryan surmised.

Without any plan, the tiny midget launched for him, ready to clobber him with the stick. Ryan rolled his eyes, stepped out of the way and, as the goblin tried to regain its footing after missing the attack, he kicked one of its legs, making it fall over.

"Fuck you," he said with some resentment, remembering how goblins operated in Goblin Slayer.

He stomped it on the head as hard as he could, and when it didn't immediately die, he did it again. And again. And again. You get the picture.

With a look of boredom, Ryan picked up the stick, and then kept luring goblins one by one with the same tactic as before. Sure, he was confident he could take them all in a full-on confrontation, but it was better to do things safely. He wasn't planning on dying again anytime soon.

"That's nine goblins down, sixteen to go. Status."

Basic Abilities:

•Strength: I12

•Endurance: I13

•Dexterity: I17

•Agility: I15

•Magic: I0

Skills:

•Abysswalker: S

Ryan clicked his tongue. "Yeah, that's not a lot of improvement. Is this also normal for people with a Falna, Luce?"

{Yep. If you want to see consistent and steady improvements, you'll have to challenge yourself. If you had confronted all the goblins at the same time, you would have been in more danger, but your Basic Abilities would also have seen a higher increase}

"I'm guessing I need to use magic to raise my Magic?"

{Yes, but as of right now, you have no way of casting any spells. When you complete your first Main Quest, and receive those System Tokens, you may be able to buy a spell or two from the System's Shop.}

"Alright. Guess I'll continue my search for the goblins I need to kill, and then I'll set up camp somewhere." He was feeling a little hungry, and he also needed to secure a place to sleep.

Goblins were easy to come by in this forest, and they were all disorganized and scatterbrained, so it was a breeze to kill them off. It was kind of funny, considering how goblins' strength should lie in their numbers, but they refused to fight together. Lucy assured him things would be different in Orario's dungeon, though, and he accepted that as the truth.

[Side Quest Complete]

-25 free points have been invested into each Basic Skill (even magic)

-500 System Tokens

"Guess I'll just steal their place." Ryan reasoned he could simply make use of this goblin camp; he just had to get rid of the bodies first.

After cleaning, and disposing of the corpses, Ryan started a fire in their firepit. Some of the nearby trees had fruits hanging, and they kind of looked like Bananas, so decided to harvest some for dinner.

"Huh? They taste like oranges. Okay, whatever you say, fantasy nature."

He needed to hunt some game for meat, but so far, he hadn't come across anything that looked remotely edible, and there was no way he was going to devour a goblin carcass.

Ryan held out his right hand and clenched it. "It still feels surreal, Luce."

{You'll get used to it. I'm sure of it, Ryan}

A new world, hell, this was a world based on something that was simply a work of fiction back on Earth. Despite this, everything felt real, so this wasn't a simple fiction.

Suddenly, he heard some growling, but he decided to ignore it - it was just another goblin. Although, this one had a different skin color from the rest, a fiery red.

Slowly, it made its way closer to his camp. Meanwhile, Ryan kept chewing on the 'bananas', not paying it any mind.

Much to his amusement, the weirdly colored goblin didn't attack him, and actually had the guts to sit down next to his firepit. Ryan chuckled and threw one of the strange fruits to it.

The goblin inspected the fruit with a curious look, and then it gobbled it up in seconds. It was oddly cute, Ryan mused to himself.

"What's your story, little guy?" he tried asking, but it just tilted its head to the side, clearly unable to comprehend what he was saying.

Well, if anything, it was nice to have someone to talk to, Ryan reasoned, and decided to spill some words. "You wanna hear a secret? I used to belong to a different world, but then I got my dumbass killed and ended up here. Luckily, I have a cute… guide, who has been an immense help. Her name's Lucy, but I like to call her Luce."

{Stop… it's embarrassing}

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "But it's true, Luce. Without your assistance, I would be lost, so it's a godsend to have you around. And you're also really cute." She grumbled something incomprehensible, and Ryan just smiled without adding anything more on the matter.

The goblin was silently observing him, and Ryan was struck by an idea. "Say, is there a way I can make this guy evolve? A monster companion would be pretty cool to have." If he could gain a monster taming skill, it might be possible, Ryan rationalized, but he wanted it confirmed by Lucy.

{You can buy a bunch of different skills in the shop, but the cheapest one should be… [Tame]. Monster tamers are a thing in this world, but if you were to attain that particular skill, you would be the first person ever to make a monster genuinely docile and friendly. Also, monsters affected by [Tame] will become bound to you, and they will be able to understand your speech, and your emotions. And, as you grow in strength, so will they}

"Pretty cool." He began browsing the shop, and some of the items were… pretty ridiculous when it came to their pricings.

"Ah, there's [Tame]. 2500 Tokens, huh? I have 755. Do I also get Tokens from killing monsters?" He must have gotten some, if he hadn't, he would only be at 500, since that was the amount he was given for completing the Side Quest.

{Yes, and the stronger the monster, the more you'll receive}

Well, if that was the case, Ryan wanted to grind Tokens until he could afford [Tame], and then he would tame his new goblin friend.

Ryan scrunched his nose. "Wait a second… It might actually be female." He was able to see underneath the loincloth for just a moment as the goblin hopped around his bonfire, kind of life it was dancing, and the reincarnator was positively sure the goblin didn't have a penis.

With its newly discovered gender in mind, Ryan decided to name it. "From now on, I'll call you Navi." Of course, Navi didn't say much of anything in return, except for some slight growling, but Ryan was still very satisfied.

"It's getting dark." Fortunately, it was in the middle of summer, so he wasn't about to freeze to death. Ryan gathered some thick leaves and made a bed out of it - he also made one for Navi, and she actually understood his intentions, lazily plopping down on her pile of leaves. He got a laugh out of that, closed his eyes and shortly fell asleep after that. But just in case, he told Lucy to wake him up if he was attacked by monsters, or if Navi decided to try her shot at killing him. Thus concluded Ryan's first day in this strange new world.