Bab 48: Chapter 2: Empire
"First, tell me where exactly am I."
"You are in Tera canyon of territory of Archduke Sylvester."
So, I'm in a dukedom. After getting through Alt's territory safely and managing to leave the forest after two years of travel I came before an almost endless desert.
Never though there would be a fricking desert next to a forest. And it took almost two more years to cross that fucking desert.
I died almost dozens of times in that desert. Not because of heat or some kind of animal. But because of starvation.
That fucking desert had nothing to eat and energy saturation in that place was atrocious. And without energy my little world tree can't supply me with vitality to keep myself alive.
Being hungry everyday truly sucked. I could store up energy and vitality when green sun rose and used that stored energy and vitality when other two came up.
Only then did I understand tree's words. Forest's energy saturation was off the roof. I never went hungry when I was in the forest.
"Tell me more about this dukedom then."
"This dukedom is part of Great Grindel empire. And controlled by one of the five archduke Sylvester Trindal. And archduke lives in the capital Trin which is about twenty kilometers from this canyon. I don't really know how many other cities are subservient to this dukedom."
"Okay. Then what are you doing here? It was obvious that those snakes were stronger than you."
"We were here for a mandatory quest from the guild."
"Guild?"
"Guild is where adventurers get their quest according to their rank. Guild also oversees adventurer's action and enforce rules that need to be followed."
"What about this mandatory quest then?"
"Quests that are involuntary. As long as your rank is sufficient to meet the quests requirement you are forced to take that quest. But mandatory quests are rare."
"Tell me more about rank."
"Adventurers are ranked according to Aluminum, Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Crown. You start at the bottom when you register at the guild. Then after completing certain number of quests according to your rank you can take a combat exam then if you ace that exam, your rank increases to the next one."
"What is advantage of registering at the guild?"
"Well, first of all no matter what city you are traveling you don't need to pay any entrance fee. Second, access to quests posted in that city. Third, as your rank increases, information and services you can get from the guild increases."
Hm. Since I got nothing I would seem to be a right choice to register at the guild and become so called adventurer.
After doing that I will see what I will do then.
It is indeed nice to be in a place with high energy saturation. Now I can train again. After coming out of the forest and traveling through the desert I couldn't train at all. It took every ounce of energy I stored to survive in that fucking place.
"Excuse me."
"You are excused."
As I said that this dude just blacked out for a while thinking. Confused look on his face is priceless.
"What do you need?"
"What are you going to do with those snakes?"
"You tell me what can I do with them?"
"Well you can bring them to the guild and complete the quest then get the reward. But since you're not an adventurer you can't do that. And you can't eat them since their meat is poisonous."
"So, if you bring them to your guild you can get the reward?"
Dude's eyes grow brighter.
"Yes."
"How much the reward will be?"
"Those are adult ones so, at least two hundred gold coins each."
"Can you elaborate on currency around here?"
"There is a bronze coin, silver coin, gold coin and highest is mithril coin. From bronze to gold, every latter coin equal ten of former ones. And mithril coin equals thousands of gold coins."
"Okay then you can take them to your guild and we will split it 50-50. How's that?"
They look at each other and nod.
"Deal."
"So, how are you going to carry them?"
"Like this."
Red haired woman who looks like wizard raises her hand and bracelet on her wrist shines then corpses of the snakes disappear. Wow, legendary storage item huh.
"Hmm. Convenient. How much is that bracelet?"
"Ten thousand gold coins."
Shit. That is expensive. Fifty of those snakes.
"How big is the space inside it?"
"It doesn't have pre-determined space. It just stores items. And my bracelet is capable of storing five items."
That would be convenient when you need to carry something big but when you need to carry many small things it will be useless huh.
"There are items with pre-determined space inside it. but they are way too expensive for us."
"Now that we got what we came for. Let's head back and complete the quest."
This dude in lighter gears seems to be the leader. Get come next to him.
"So, what's your name, dude? Mine's Alder."
"I'm Riki. Paladin is Artas, mage is Lina, warrior is Tank and fainted priest is Elaine."
Paladin, mage, priest? So, there is a class for them. It seems power structure here is different from where Alder lived.
There was only wizards and warriors. This is interesting.
"Then what are you?"
"I'm an assassin."
"So, how do you get a class?"
"When children reach five they get tested for their potential. And if their potential is sufficient they get blessing. And that blessing opens up a system for them. After getting their system they find their class. Those whose attributes inclined towards physical go for classes like warrior, paladin or thief etc. For those whose attributes incline toward magical go for classes like mage, priest or summoner etc."
So, basically kids get tested for their Soul Root and Body Potential when they reach five. And if their test results are high enough they get system from their blessing. Fundamentally, power structure here is similar to where Alder lived but more diverse.
This is interesting.
"So, what is your party's rank?"
"Our party is Bronze ranked. Quest this time required bronze and silver ranked are forced to participate. Higher ranked ones are voluntary. If we bring at least one heart of a Stone snake we can complete the quest."
It gets dark only after we walked for about two hours. And Riki decided to camp for the night. Apparently, it is dangerous to travel through the canyon in the dark.
They pitch their tents and start a campfire in the middle. After settling they start to eat. They aren't supposed to cook in the wilderness apparently.
And from the looks of it, paladin Artas and priest Elaine are couple. They are way too lovey-dovey. On top of that warrior Tank is in love with the priest. Hmm. One-sided love is pathetic. Hahaha.
"So, tell us more about yourself, Alder."
Riki the assassin asks me.
"Well, there isn't really much to tell. Name's Alder. Orphan."
As soon as I said that atmosphere suddenly got heavy.
"Don't let that bother you guys. Hehe. Any other question."
"Where did you come from?"
This time paladin asks me. If there is a stereotype for a paladin this guy is it. Blond hair, blue eyes, buff body, giant hammer and shield. And most of all he is handsome.
"I came from The Forest."
"THE FOREST?!!!"
They all shout at the same time.
"Come on you're kidding me, right?"
Says the warrior Tank. This one is well I would say he is a stereotype warrior but still. Another buff body, brown hair, brown eyes, big sword and big shield. As for the face so-so.
"Why on earth would I be kidding?"
"So, you really came from The Forest?"
"Yes. What is so surprising about that?"
"Many powerful people went to The Forest and never made it back. And now you're saying you came from there."
"Well I did come from there."
It takes a while for them to believe me.
"What was that wolf you summoned? Was it you summoned beast? Are you some kind of summoner?"
This time mage Lina asks me. Fiery red hair, crimson eyes and curves in all the right places. Reminds of a certain fire using hero from certain game.
"No, it wasn't a beast. It was a mana construct. No, I'm not a summoner."
"How long did you live in The Forest?"
This time priest Elaine asks me. Another blondie, with blue eyes, robe hiding all the curves. And stuff as tall as herself. Another stereotype.
"About four years."
I never though human's eyes were capable of getting this big.
Riki suddenly comes out of his stupor and
"Enough chit-chat let's go to bed. I will stand guard."
"Don't worry dude, I will stay awake. You look obviously tired."
"Appreciate the offer mana but let me be frank with you I don't trust enough to leave my party's safety in your hand yet."
"Fair enough and smart."
"Then let's stay awake together."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone