“Entry is two copper per person. If you have a Merchant’s Permit or an Adventurer’s Badge, then the cost is one copper per person. If you’re a returning resident, please show me your resident identification.” The guard on the right said with an even tone while the guard on the left stared out into the darkness with vigilant eyes. Felix reached into his back pocket out of habit, before he came to a sudden realization, he had no money. The thought of money never crossed his mind because in normal RPGs you’d get money from killing monsters that by the time you need money you’d have quite a lot saved up.
Felix made full use of his Twenty intelligence to come up with a foolproof lie, “I lost my money along with the rest of my stuff. When that huge spirit and second sun appeared in the sky, I was in the forest on my way here. When suddenly all the animals and monsters began to flee. If I hadn’t run away and climbed a tree I fear I would have gotten trampled to death.” Felix clutched his arm and shook slightly as if he were remembering something unpleasant, “By the time I escaped the stamped, it was already close to sundown, so I came straight here out of fear. Please let me in for the night and I promise I’ll pay you back tomorrow.” Felix begged as he fidgeted with his injured hands.
The guard on the right had a stern expression as he observed Felix’s dirty appearance that slightly hid his many injuries, then his expression softened as he spoke, “I understand your difficulties, but rules are rules. How about this, today I’ll pay for your entry and a room to stay in today and you can pay me back tomorrow after you find your things. Head to Pheasant’s Rest and tell them Tod sent you. It’s my parent’s place, so you should get a discount. In times of need we need to look out for one another.”
The guard reached into a pouch tied to his waist on the right side and pulled out eight copper coins that he forced into Felix hands with a warm smile before he waved him in. Felix felt slightly bad for manipulating the young guard’s feelings, but he didn’t want to sleep in the forest, so he accepted it with a conflicted expression, ‘I’ll remember this favor, but now I have to think about how to earn ten copper coins by tomorrow afternoon.’
Entering the city, with just a quick glance even Felix had to admit it was clean for a city in the time period of cold weapons. ‘Maybe magic plays a part. I don’t really care, but I doubt I’d have the mental fortitude to endure some of the things I read about in history books.’ Felix’s thoughts were drifting in a weird direction as he dragged his tired body through the semi-empty streets until he found Tod’s parents’ inn. Walking it, he saw a front desk, a staircase and an archway that revealed a dining area. Upon seeing Felix walk in, a light brown-haired middle-aged woman with blue eyes leaning against the desk with a bored expression until she heard Felix walk in. Tidying up her appearance, she smiled politely, “Welcome to Pheasant’s Rest. Are you here to eat or to stay?”
Felix resisted the urge to run his hands through his hair, mostly because he didn’t want to dirty their floors more than he already has. “I’m here to stay. If you don’t mine me asking, does this inn have a bath I can use? A lot happened earlier today and now I’m covered in dirt. Oh, yeah that guard at the front gate said I should tell you, Tod sent me.” Felix said with a business-like attitude and a fake smile. The receptionist kindly nodded her head, “Oh, Tod sent you? He’s always making new friends with travelers, you know he wanted to travel when he was younger. I wonder why he stayed here until now?”
The receptionist sighed with a hand on her cheek before snapping back into work mode, “Sorry, there is one single room left. Almost twenty new faces checked in today alone, I wonder what brought so many people to the edge of the Empire. I hope nothing bad is going to happen.” As she spoke, she placed a key with a tag numbered [Twenty-One] on the desk, but Felix didn’t take it, “How much to stay for one night?” The receptionist lazily waved her hand, “It’s fine. You have Tod’s recommendation and we’re almost at full capacity, so we aren’t harming ourselves, so don’t worry about it.” Felix’s expression hardened, “I can’t do that. While I know of Tod, I can’t say were friends. We’re closer to a creditor and debtor. So, how much?”
The receptionist lazily clapped, “Such an upright man, now I believe you’re actually Tod’s friend. If you did accept my offer, then I would have gotten thrown you out. We have multiple people looking for a claiming to be Tod’s friend each day looking for a handout. It’s good that you know, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. One night will cost five coppers, if you want to use the bath and do your laundry, that’s an additional copper, and if you want to eat here, that’s also an additional copper.” The receptionist lazily eyed Felix’s entire body before concluding, “From your dirty attire, I can assume you want both, so that will be eight coppers please.” Felix handed over all his borrowed money before taking the key off the desk. Felix’s expression didn’t change because he learned the hard way that free things were the most unrealistic, keeping things transactional keeps both parties happy and at a safe distance.
“The bath and clothes washing area are both on the first floor at the very back. If there’s a notice of use on the door handle, you’ll have to wait your turn. Your room is upstairs, you can find it yourself. The dining area is to your right, but I recommend taking a bath first. The kitchen closes at ten, so you have roughly twenty minutes.” The receptionist said before lazily waving him away as she rested her arms on the desk again.
Quickly following her words, Felix saw the bathroom door and looked at the bare door handle before opening it. Inside was a manual water pump, a small bathtub with a few clean rags on a nearby shelf. A small basin to wash clothes in with a strange metal plate next to it. Most importantly, a small wooden token with the words, occupied, carved into it sitting on a shelf next to the door.
Felix gently picked up the token and hung it on the outside of the door before closing and locking it behind him. Stripping out of his dirty and slightly torn clothes, he reached into his pants pocket and took the gift bag’s cloth out of his pocket before placing it on the shelf he took the token from. With a sigh, he looked at the small tears on his clothes before placing them in the small basin and walking over to the water pump. Once he got close, a blue magic circle appeared before his eyes, but this time he couldn’t understand it even when his Magic Circle Creation skill activated. ‘Either magicians have a way to hide how their magic circles are created, or the level of my skill is too low. I think it’s a mixture of both. It is a bit of a shame though, I thought I could learn something new.’ Felix stared at the magic circle with yearning eyes before grabbing a bucket and began pumping water.
After washing his clothes and taking a painful bath, where he violently scrubbed off the dirt on his body and cleaned his wounds. Emptying the dirty bathwater, Felix drew more water and cleaned the small bathtub. Nodding at his hard work, he turned his attention back at his wet clothes then the mysterious metal plate. Once he got close, unlike what he thought would happen, he didn’t see a magic circle. Briefly touching the metal plate, in the instant he touched it he realized the metal plate was slightly warm. ‘I think I get it.’ Felix’s thought went incomplete, but his hands weren’t idle. He placed his damp shirt on the metal plate and waited. Visible to the naked eye, the water on his shirt rapidly evaporated without damaging his shirt. “I see, so this plate is used to dry clothes.” Felix muttered as he took his shirt off and placed his underwear on it, feeling a bit cold.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Felix removed the wooden plaque, put it back in its place and picked up his cloth bag. Walking past the now empty, front desk entering the dining area he saw few individuals with two standing out under Felix’s sharp gaze. Not because they had flashy clothes that stood out, rather they were dressed exactly like Felix. ‘Are those other players? It might be best to stay away from them. I don’t have the ability to deal with them if something happens. Even though I’m the first Player, I’m the weakest.’ Felix quickly decided while slightly putting himself down before walking to a counter seat. Very soon a plate of meat that looked like steak, something that looked like mashed potatoes, and some mysterious green vegetables.
Decisively ate the mysterious, yet familiar meal, ‘It tastes exactly like I thought it would.’ Felix enjoyed his meal with a soft expression, until he felt a strong grip on his shoulder. “Hey, are you also a player?” A blonde, green eyed young man asked with a disdainful expression, like he was looking down on Felix from the bottom of his heart. Felix used his years of practice to… ignore him. The man violently pulled Felix up and out of his chair, “Hey, I’m talking to you. Do you think I want to talk to a pauper? If you join my team, I’ll pay you $20 a day.” The arrogant player immediately gave an extremely low price but had an expression that said he was doing this for his own good.
Annoyed Felix faked a look of surprise as he looked into the arrogant man’s eyes before pointing at his ears and throat before shaking his head. The man clicked his tongue and harshly pushed Felix into the counter before walking away with his lackey, who shot Felix a disdainful glance as he walked past. Ignoring the looks of the other guests, Felix sat back down and finished eating. ‘Such a bad character. I doubt he’ll go far in this game. The NPCs seem to be more human than in other games, I shouldn’t treat them like NPC.’ Felix peeked at the few guests that saw the man’s actions and saw familiar looks of pity and disgust when they looked at the arrogant man’s back.
After he finished his meal, he stood up to leave, but the old chef called out to him, “Young man, I heard about your situation from Tod, he finished his shift and sent me a message. If you clean the dishes tonight, I can pay you for your time and effort. Though, I should warn you, there are quite a lot of them tonight. I underestimated how much those new guests can eat in one sitting.” The old man smiled bitterly as he shook his head.
“I can’t clean them all alone, I guess this is a sign my age is finally catching up to me. I promise the pay should be more than enough to repay my boy’s loan and to purchase some new supplies for the road. I used to be an adventurer you know, so I doubt your supplies will be there when you go looking for them tomorrow. Countless thieves travel through that forest to trade with one another due to its remote location to the next country.” Felix thought about it and realized while the chef was old, his body was still robust and full of vitality.
Felix didn’t say something idiotic, like, “Why?” or “You don’t need my help, you’re clearly strong.” Instead, his response was, “Can I know exactly how much I get paid in writing? It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just to ensure I get paid in full.” The old chef was surprised but soon he broke into laughter, “You’d make a good adventurer. Give me a minute.” The old chef washed his hands and the receptionist brought over an ink and quill along with a blank piece of stationary, “Boss, with this my workday is finished. I’m going to bed. I already locked up what needed to be locked up and placed the closed sign outside.” The old boss impatiently waved her away as he quickly wrote up a contract.
After reading through it a few times, he gently blew on the ink until it was mostly dried before pushing it over to Felix, “Read through it and tell me if you want to change anything.” Felix didn’t pick it up out of fear of making the slightly wet ink run, so he leaned over and carefully read through the labor contract. After reaching the area that told him the amount he was to be paid for his work, he slightly froze. He’d earn an entire twenty copper, but his hesitation was mostly due to his lack of how money works so he wasn’t sure if twenty was a lot or a little. Before making a decision, he asked a question, “Can I see the workload before I decide?” His words made the old adventurer’s smile grow even wider, “My eye for people hasn’t declined. I knew you’d make a good adventurer… Hear this rambling old man out for a bit.”
Felix wasn’t doing anything, so he nodded to the old man’s hesitant words. Soon after, the smile on the old man’s face morphed into a serious grimace, “Remember there are at least three important unwritten rules of being an adventurer. First, always ensure the pay matches the work and is clearly written out. Second, don’t take on jobs beyond your level and without proper preparations. Third, always come back alive even if you have to pay a penalty for failing the request. Running away isn’t shame, it’s making time to prepare to properly deal with it later. With those three rules in mind, you should be able to survive if you decide to become an adventurer. A lot of hot-blooded youngsters don’t follow these unwritten rules nowadays and end up buried before their time.”
The old man felt a weight was lift off of his chest when he saw Felix’s was seriously listening to his word and his expression softened, “Thanks for listening to this old man’s nitpicking words. I saw someone I once knew in you. Intelligent, but surprisingly stubborn when their mind is made up. I realized it when I saw how you dealt with those unruly guests. Anyway, follow me into the kitchen. Oh, and don’t forget to bring that contract with you.” By this point, the ink had completely dried long ago. Felix gently picked up the contract, inwardly marveling about how smooth the paper was as he followed the old owner into the kitchen.
Looking at the huge pile of dishes that were stacked from the floor to the ceiling Felix had one question, “How did it end up like this?” The old man laughed but gave no answer as he adverted his eyes when Felix looked at him. “I have a confession to make. I have no idea how money works in this kingdom. I just arrived in this kingdom from my distant home in the mountains where we barter for everything, so I’m a bit confused. I would like to say I trust you, so I’ll go with the amount you gave, but I just met you today. So, I’d like to make a slight change to what I earn from this job.”
Felix took a second to think before coming up with a new idea, “How does the original price of twenty copper and the knowledge of his kingdom’s currency sound? While I may not know about money, I have a feeling from your earlier words you were testing me, so I can conclude you are deliberately lowering my pay. If you can agree to that, then I’ll do the job to the best of my ability.” The old owner immediately agreed and ran into the dining area to make the necessary changes.
Peeking out into the dining area, the old owner’s delighted expression as he wrote made Felix’s expression darken, but he decided to accept this loss in exchange for a learning opportunity. After being handed the revised contract, Felix read through it and signed it. Felix’s next few hours were filled with soap bubbles, water and the occasional flash of pain as soap and water cleaned his wounds on his hands and wrists. As he worked a thought popped into his blank mind, ‘Other players are tasting the power that controls the life and death of monsters, while I’m here, washing dishes. Is this how those rags to riches protagonists feel at the beginning of their stories? How unpleasant, especially since I know the upper limit of this world is extremely high. Cutting mountains with a single slash, that is something straight out of a novel.’ While he dreamed of grandeur, his hands weren’t slow and soon he got into a rhythm and lost track of time.
Once the overwhelming task was completed, Felix couldn’t even feel the throbbing injuries on his hands. Sitting at the empty counter in the dining area, he laid on his arms as he looked at the old man who had changed out of his work clothes into a more comfortable sleepwear. “I’m sure your tired, so I’ll make this quick. This,” The old man placed a copper coin, 3 centimeters in diameter and 1.7 millimeters thick, “… is a copper coin. Ten copper coins equal a single silver coin,” The old man placed a silver coin on the counter that had the same measurements of a copper coin. “One hundred silver coins equal a gold coin.” The old man placed a gold coin with the same measurements of a silver coin. Looking at the three coins, Felix nodded, accepting this knowledge was the same as another game he played.
“Here’s your pay. Do you have any questions?” The old man picked up the silver and gold coins before placing nineteen more copper coins on the table, making a small copper pillar on the counter. Felix carefully counted the twenty coins, finally finding a use for that small grey cloth bag, he swept the twenty coins into it. Satisfied with a sound the coins made when he shook the makeshift bag. “Just one. What’s your name? Calling you old owner feels a bit rude now that you’ve taught me a bit.” Felix said after a moment of listening to his hard-earned money jingle in the dark grey pouch that he shoved into his right pocket.
The old man laughed as he made a face of fake anger, “Brat, so if I didn’t teach you, I’d just be Old Owner in your heart forever. Listen closely, my name is Leon Lion. Hurry up and tell me your name, otherwise I’ll keep calling you, Brat.” Upon hearing the old man, Leon Lion’s name, Felix felt speechless, ‘Doesn’t Leon mean Lion in some places. In a way, isn’t his name Lion Lion?’ “My name is…” Felix slightly hesitated before finishing his sentence, “Ingram, I wasn’t given a last name due to the small size of my village.” Felix, no, Ingram accepted his role in this new world from the bottom of his heart. Leon held his hand out and said, “Nice to meet you, Ingram.” Ingram sat up and gripped Leon’s outstretched hand, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Leon Lion.”
After the shook hands, Ingram yawned and stood up, “I’m going to bed now. My hands are killing me.” Watching Ingram leave, Leon muttered, “He really only asked one question. I thought he’d ask about my time as an adventurer or why I helped him. I’m starting to like him more and more. An ideal adventurer, he knows how to keep his thoughts to himself. If only my boy could learn from him, he enjoys making friends a little too much and isn’t good at judging character despite knowing so many different people.” Leon sighed as he rubbed his greying temples as he thought about the saying that had been circulating among the people of Yonder in recent years, “If you need a discount, just say you’re a friend of Tod Lion.”
Laying on his bed, Ingram stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, laying on an unfamiliar bed, under an unfamiliar blanket, in an unfamiliar world. ‘Now that it’s quiet and I have time to think. It’s been a very long first day in the game. I wonder how John_Doe2619 is doing. I hope their first day was better than mine.’ Ingram closed his eyes and gave into his accumulated fatigue, and he began to dream.
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On a desolate road, Felix was sitting on a bench outside of his parent home waiting for them to come home so they could go on their annual family road trip. His younger sister, Emily had a piano practice today and he didn’t want to have to sit through her music lesson, was his excuse, but in reality, he was planning on surprising his siblings with a few gifts he bought with his first salary from his part-time job. For his eldest sibling, Tomas, he got a new set of drumsticks, Tomas broke his old ones during an argument with one of his band mates. For his older brother Bart, he got a cheap jar of guitar picks, he always seemed to lose them. For the eldest sister Beth and her twin Emily, he had no idea what to get girls their age, so he settled for hand-cream that smelled like oranges.
He had no idea what to get his parents, whenever he asked, they would give evasive answers, so he got his father, Ted a new pair of sunglasses and his mother Mary, a new pillow because he remembered she was complaining about her neck hurting from her current one. They all sat inside, sitting within each of their respective rooms. Felix felt giddy at thinking about their surprised faces when they saw the gifts he picked out. Would they like it? Would they hate it? Felix couldn’t wait to find out, but as minutes gave way to hours, there was still no sign of them, not even a call or text saying they ran into traffic, or something was holding them up. When he went inside to escape the mosquitoes, all he heard was, silence, a familiar silence that haunts him even to this day.
Waking up before the sun rose, Ingram shot up, sweat coating his body. “That dream again.” Ingram rested his hand on his forehead and took several deep breaths to calm himself. “At least I woke up before I had to see… Ah, how I wish I could leave this cruel world behind, but this world holds all the things they left behind. The only thing they left behind is me and the house. Everything else was taken by those vultures.” Ingram silently sat up after laying in his bed for what felt like an hour, but in reality, was about ten minutes.
When he left his room, the sun was already beginning to illuminate the sky. After making sure he didn’t leave anything behind, Ingram locked the door and looked down at the borrowed key before tightly gripping it. “I can’t sleep. It’s time to go. I guess I’ll explore the city, but what should I do with this.” Ingram’s grip slightly loosened on the key, “If the receptionist is there then I’ll leave it behind, if not then I’ll hold on to it until I come back.” Ingram muttered as he walked down the empty hall. The worst-case scenario happened, and nobody was at the front desk. He stood in front of the desk for a while, his expression changing and not seeing anyone for a while, he turned towards the door going with his original plan. After walking down, the street towards the main road, Ingram looked around in confusion, but he didn’t see the shop he saw in the memories he forcibly remembered.
‘Where is it? I thought something with such an imposing name would have a large store on the main street.’ Ingram stopped and began to recall those mysterious images. After staring at the image of the shop’s exterior, he realized it was in a very dark location. Looking around the well-lit street, Ingram came to the conclusion, ‘It’s in the depths of an alley.’ With even a small glance around the main street revealed several dark alleyways. With a bitter smile, Ingram was about to enter a random alley until he heard someone’s furious voice followed by a chorus of different angry voices. Deciding that following the crowd was better than randomly wandering in the depths of the backstreets and drawing the attention of the less than upright citizens of Yonder.
By the time Ingram neared the angry mob at the far end of an alley, the atmosphere was close to its boiling point as a group of ten players were angrily glaring at the person he was looking for. “You scammer, if you give us a refund, then we’ll let bygones be bygones. If not, don’t blame us for being unkind.” The leader of the angry mob said as he haughtily crossed his arms as he looked down at the cloth covered woman was staring at the mob with her expression obscured in shadow. Suddenly she looked towards the entrance of the alley and saw Ingram walk in, as he did so he discreetly glanced up for moment before continuing forward.
Feeling someone’s eyes on him, he followed the gaze and saw obscured woman was looking at him with a probing gaze. Ingram turned his gaze way and asked, “What happen?” A few members of the mob turned and gazed at him with unfriendly expressions, but the ringleader saw a chance to vent their anger, “Pal, listen to me, don’t buy anything from this store. The owner is a swindler that sells defected magic items at exorbitant prices. When we asked for a refund, she refused and threatened to call the guards if we don’t leave. I can’t swallow such injustices.”
Ingram nodded before asking, “Do you have any proof? Evidence is the most important thing when it comes to things like this. If you do, then go to the guards and open a case. Pressuring her in the back of an alley with,” Ingram did a quick headcount, “Including you, ten people. How is this fair? Besides, does this shop even offer refunds?” The angry mob’s leader felt choked and narrowed his eyes dangerously, “Are you taking an NPC’s side? Are you abandoning your fellow players? Are you looking down on us?”
Ingram laughed as he slightly raised his hands, “I’m not on anyone’s side. Just think about what would happen if you attacked a person in the city. I’m sure there would be a nice cold cell for you to live in. I’m trying to stop you from making a massive mistake.” Ingram had an expression that said, “I’m doing this for you.”, but in actuality he’d prefer to not to get involved. However, this is a necessary conversation because the person they’re ganging up on has something he wants and if that person gets angry and leaves before he gets his hands on it, then he wouldn’t have anyone to cry to.
The other nine players all had mixed expressions, but the leader glared at Ingram for trying to ruin his prestige in front of his would-be followers, ‘If he keeps this up, then I won’t be the first person to make a guild on the server.’ The leader began walking towards Ingram before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a broken watch, that glowed green. “Here’s my evidence. I bought this watch for two silvers, and it doesn’t do anything.” He harshly shoved the watch into Ingram’s hands and a system prompt sounded,
{You have obtained, [Uncommon] {Broken}
Ingram carefully looked at the minute and hour hands before rotating it, only to see the back missing along with more than a few cogs. “Yep, that’s broken alright.” The leader snatched the watch back before he attempted to speak, but Ingram continued, “So, why are you cornering the shopkeeper and not bring it up to the guards. Besides if it was broken when you bought it, then you got what you paid for. It’s your fault for not checking the condition of the merchandise before buying. What if that’s how she wanted to sell it, maybe you can get it fixed and resell it at a higher price. When broken, it’s already an Uncommon treasure, how good of a treasure would it be when it is complete?” Ingram’s swift but composed analysis made the other players fall deep into thought, with their thoughts flickering in their eyes.
Ingram secretly smiled as he gave a final push, “We can earn money so much easier than normal people, so while it may be a loss in the short-term, you can treat this as a learning opportunity. Now you know you have to learn how to inspect goods and understand merchants before making future purchases.” At this point most of the anger the players felt were mostly gone, because they knew that fundamentally it was because of their own ignorance and arrogance as players that they got swindled.
One player weakly protested, “We can’t observe the name or state of a treasure without first becoming its owner.” Ingram gave him a pitying look, “So you need someone to tell you when something is physically broken? Besides I’m sure there’s a way to see the name and state of a treasure, it’s just that we aren’t a high enough level to do so yet.” Of course, his last sentence was pure conjecture, but most of the players seemed to believe him due to their experiences in other games.
Just when Ingram thought he calmed the angry mob, the leader’s voice spoke up again, “That doesn’t change the fact a magic shop doesn’t sell anything even close to a complete magic item.” Ingram looked around at the desolate alley and felt like sighing. “Are your eyes just for decoration?” At Ingram’s provocation, the leader reached towards his belt where a small knife was tied. “No need to get agitated, calm down. Take a closer look at where this shop is located. We’re in the depths of an alley. There are only a few reasons for a business to be located this far from the main street.”
The leader’s ferocious expression softened the more he listened, “First, they can’t afford a shop on the main street, so they took what they can get. Second, they inherited and as the city changed it was slowly pushed deeper into this alley as the city was expanded to accommodate more people. Meaning this place could have been on the main street at one point but didn’t move for one reason of another. Third, it’s in a place where the owner doesn’t want to be noticed unless it’s a certain kind of customer. There are other reasons, but these three are probably most accurate in my personal opinion.”
The leader’s expression was dark as he came to the realization this place wasn’t a hidden store in terms of secret items, rather a secret store that holds items not many people want to buy. With a huff, he turned and left, “Come on, I’ve lost the mood to ask for a refund after being lectured for so long. It’s just chump change in my eyes.” The group all left with slightly dark faces, but the obscured woman remained in her original spot. Looking into the sky again, Ingram’s eyes locked onto a massive translucent magic circle he couldn’t understand in the sky focused on where the group was. “They’re gone now. You can get rid of that magic circle now.”
The cloaked mage shook her head before she walked into her store and Ingram followed. She silently stood behind the counter and lazily leaned against it as her hidden eyes remained locked on Ingram. Silently walking around the mostly empty store, he saw the stack of pages he was looking for were safely stored within a display case and to his surprise the pages were glowing platinum. Not hiding what he was here for, he walked in front of it and looked at the price tag. His expression changed, not because it was expensive, rather because it was too cheap. ‘Platinum glow, so this is a Mythical grade treasure. So, if this is what I think it is, then I lucked out. I assume this is Chapter one of the mysterious book that made the Ancient Spirit go mad. I can’t believe a Mythical Treasure is only worth five copper. Why didn’t those players buy it then?’ Despite his thoughts, without even reacting to the mythical light flowing out of the pages, he looked at the counter. “I want to buy these pages.”
The cloaked mage waved her hand and a silver magic circle appeared and the display case vanished, exposing the pages. Ingram picked up the pages and walked to the counter before placing them down in front of the obscured mage. She reached out her smooth hand and Ingram placed five copper coins in her hand before picking up the first chapter. As he turned to leave, he suddenly heard the hidden mage speak, her smooth voice seeming to permeate his mind, “Out of goodwill, I’ll give you a valuable piece of information. Those pages are cursed, each time they were purchased, the buyer soon returned them claiming they are illegible and cursed them. I don’t know what curse it is, even when one of my ancestors took them to a Curse Mage they couldn’t figure out what made them unreadable. They’ve been in our family for generations, so do you still want to buy them?” She held her hand out, the five copper shinning on her palm, as if trying to tempt him.
Ingram turned around and looked into the darkness that hid her face before smiling, “I love a challenge. I won’t return these, are you sure you don’t want them? They are your family’s heirloom.” The unseen mage dismissively waved her hand, and Ingram saw the world stretch. When he regained his wits, he was already outside and the store was missing as her cold voice tinged with relief echoed in his ears, “Our family’s curse is finally gone. A word of advice, those pages slowly absorbed the luck of their owner. They’re your problem now. Finally, I don’t have to guard them anymore. I hope I never see them again and by extension, you.”
Ingram smiled as he spoke to the empty alley, “I hope you can live freely and without regrets.” Looking down at the mythical pages, a system prompt finally appeared,
{You have obtained, One-sixth of [Mythical]
Subduing a smile Felix quickly walked back towards his rented room, but he met the mob’s leader outside of the alley. He was leaning against the wall holding his broken pocket watch until he saw Ingram step out of the darkness. At this point the sun had already completely risen above the horizon. The man’s eyes looked at the pages in Ingram’s hands before revealing an expression of disdain.
“I can’t believe you spent five copper to buy that dark grey trash. I thought I’d ask you to be my number two because I admired your intelligence, but your eyes seemed to be bad, so forget it.” The player shot another disdainful glance at the pages before walking away like a proud peacock. Ingram had a confused expression as he looked down at the platinum light before muttering, “Dark grey?” Deciding to put his confusion behind him, Ingram returned to the inn. Stepping in, he saw the receptionist lazily sitting at the desk, only to perk up when she saw the door open but immediately returned to her original lazy appearance. Ingram pulled his room key out of his pocket and handed it to the receptionist.
She lazily played with the key before looking up at the standing Ingram with a look of confusion. After clearing his throat, Ingram spoke, “I want to stay the night. No need for any food or bath.” He placed the nineteen pages on the desk as he reached into his pocket and pulled out five copper coins before placing them in front of the receptionist, who just gave Ingram the key back. That was as far as their conversation went, Ingram walked upstairs and entered his room. Sitting on his bed, he gently picked up the first page and began to read it, only to realize there were no words on the page, rather a magic circle. With a confused expression he used his Magic Circle Creation skill and tried to read it, but suddenly the magic circle activated and began to absorb Ingram’s {Unknown} mana like sharks who smelled the blood of their favorite prey. Soon all nineteen pages began to rapidly absorb Ingram’s mana until suddenly they vanished, and new information flooded into his head along with a system prompt,
{{Unknown} Mana has reacted strongly to One-sixth of the
The white system window vanished, making Ingram’s heart skip a beat before reappearing with a platinum background with his updated stats as a flash of pain shot through his body before rapidly fading,
{Name: Ingram
Race: Human
Mana Type: Mixed Mana
Experience: 226
Life Level: 1 (Experience required until next Life level: 9)
Main Class: Basic Barrier Mage [Level: 0/600] (Experience required until next class level: 9) [Press to see learnable Magic Circle Components] [3/21 Learned]
Sub-Classes Hidden until unlocked (Unlocked at Life Levels 10, 20, 30, 40)
Hp: 125/125 | MP: 4,500/4,500
Stamina: 80/80 | Satiety: 84/100 | Thirst: 81/100
Physical Attack: 0 | Physical Defense: 0 | Movement: 2
Magic Attack: 300 | Magic Defense: 225
Stats:
Vitality: 5 |Strength: 2
Endurance: 4 |Agility: 2
Intelligence: 20 |Wisdom: 15
Free Stat Points: 10
Free Class Points: 0
Skills:
Passive;
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 1/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Mixed Mana Control- You have obtained the ability to feel Mixed mana in the air. All magic stats grow by 1.99% when using Mixed Magic. The more Mixed Magic you use before recovering MP the more Proficiency you gain.
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 0/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Wand Proficiency- You have the talent to use Wands. The more you learn about how to properly use a Wand, the more Proficiency you gain. Magic Attack increased by 1% while using Wands. {Activates when you obtain a wand}
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 0/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Magic Staff Proficiency- You have the talent to use Magic Staff. The more you learn about how to properly use Magic Staffs, the more Proficiency you gain. Magic Attack stats increased by 1% while using Magic Staffs. {Activates when you obtain a Magic Staff}
[Proficiency Points: 4/10 | Proficiency Level: 1/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Memory Reinforcement- Reinforces your memory to better remember everything, the more you learn the more Proficiency you gain. (Imprinted Knowledge 4/5; [Survive Quest Reward, Solidify, Sphere, 3 Inches])
Active;
(Innate) [Trash] Treasure Compass: Summon a crystal omni-directional compass that points to the location of an unowned treasure of the same grade within 10 Kilometers. (Uses: 20 [Gain two charges every hour]) {Can only find treasures of the same rank.} {Evolution Conditions} [Upgrade chance obtained, Press here to spin the wheel]
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 1/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner] Specialized Meditation- Calm your mind and feel the mana that exists all around you. Gently guide it into your body to nourish your body and refresh your mind. Each meditation recovers 100 to 1000 MP every 30 seconds, with a 1.99% chance to increase your MP by 15.
[Proficiency Points: 0/10 | Proficiency Level: 1/10 | Proficiency Rank: Beginner]
Barrier Magic Circle Creation- Create a magic circle using mana. The components of the magic circle are completely relent in the caster's knowledge with more variations and flexibility in exchange for using more mana per magic circle. 9.9 seconds after the magic circle has been mentally completed, a magic circle will appear using the caster’s mana, faulty or not. As for when to activate the Magic Circle, as long as the distance is within 10 meters, it is up to the will of the caster, if outside of that range, it falls apart.}
“My mana gained a name, Mixed mana. My class changed into… Basic Barrier Mage? I wonder if this is a secret class, I doubt that only I’ll get it… I wonder if there are any other copies of