'Silver gazed at the Guild and thought:'

... Being realistic, not everyone would have the patience to go to the guild every day after risking their lives in the Dungeon, that's why there are multiple branches of it all around the city, and why there is an exchange booth right above the Dungeon.

It's just that I don't know any other branch apart from the main building.

'He made his way inside.'

'Saying it was beautiful was an understatement.'

'The ground was purely out of an unknown glossy stone, the walls had a mix of stonework with wood of high quality.'

'Right in front of him were multiple booths where people were talking and discussing with the members of the guild, to his right was a large notice board, probably where quests are posted, and to his left are the exchange booths.'

'The ceiling was beautifully decorated with paintings of people Silver can't really recognize. Probably heroes and Gods that had already passed on?'

'The booths had wooden walls decorated with many carvings in order to hide the identity of the guild employee behind it.'

'They had a small hole in them in order to allow the exchange, bigger exchanges must be made in special booths since the crystals can get bigger than a chicken on deeper grounds.'

'It was necessary to hide the employee identity since adventures can get… Pretty pissed off when they didn't get the amount of money they expected from a day of adventuring.'

"HOW IT'S JUST THIS MUCH?" Screamed someone on the side

'Just like now…'

'In one of the exchange places, one of the adventures, clearly out of his mind, banging his hand at the small shelf, but the shelf resisted somehow.'

'It's clearly reinforced with some high-level stuff.'

"Adventurer, you offered 9 Kobolds, 15 Killer ants magic stones, 5 Frog shooters and 6 goblins."

"The total of the exchange is about 390 Valis per Kobold, 400 Valis per Killer ant, 530 Valis per Frog shooter and 330 per Goblin. For a total of 3510 + 6000 + 2650 + 1980= 14140 Valis." Said the person behind the counter

(They are low-level monsters.)

"Pretty decent. What is he complaining about? A team of 5 decent Level 1 adventures can only do around 2 times that in a day."

"No… This can't be. After an entire day of hunting with a team…"

"..."

Damn, either his luck is terrible or his team is trash.

(N1)

'Silver ignored the man since it was his turn on the line.'

"Good morning! How can I help you?" Said the red-haired werewolf girl.

'Her red hair reached all the way to her waist, she had a pair of wolf ears in her head, her eyes were golden, but she had that stoic disposition.'

"Good morning. I am new in Orario, so I was told to come here and acquire some information and papers. I also need to sell some surface Magic stones."

"A new citizen? Are you planning on becoming an adventurer?"

"That's the plan after I properly settle in. For now, I'm focused on gaining information about the dynamics of the city."

"Someone with a good mind. That's rare in adventurers. Please don't take this as an offense."

"It's nothing, really."

'She turned around and went to a desk a few meters behind her and bowed down to pick some papers.'

'Her long red tail swayed around the place… Hypnotizing the guys that looked at her swaying hips.'

What an ass…

Focus!

'Silver recovered his sanity and started to read some of the pamphlets on the counter.'

'Most were just advertisements, nothing interesting, but there were some recruiting notices.'

'While I read the pamphlets the girl came back with some papers.'

"Here, sign this here and here, and by paying 10000 Valis you can gain the temporary citizen permit, allowing you to access the minor gates."

"In order to gain permanent residency in the city, you need to gain the approval of at least 2 guild members or live in the city for an entire year with a clear background."

"Okay."

'He did as she asked and paid the money.'

'She picked the papers and checked to see if everything was alright.'

"You have quite a good calligraphy, quite rare among normal citizens…"

'She seemed a bit suspicious.'

"My grandmother was a mage and she was very strict…"

'He told her a bit about his life in the village.'

"... Everything checks out. For the Stones, you can bring them to the counter, just remember that the prices are considerably lower due to the reduced amount of magic in them. Are you fine with that?"

"It's not me who makes the exchange value, so I have to go with it…"

"Good. I am sick of having to deal with nonsensical people. I will pick the Familia book for you to read and search for a proper Familia. Just remember to not take too long reading it since there are others who want it."

'He gave her a nod and went to the exchange counter.'

"Hello, how can I help you?" Said a sweet feminine voice from the other side.

"Hello. I have some Magic stones I acquired on the surface and I would like to exchange them for Valis. I also have some monster drops."

"Please just deposit them on the shelf hole, please."

He opened his backpack and picked a green pouch, it was filled with over a hundred goblin Magic stones.'

'Next, he took three pouches, one for the Kobolds, one for the small forest lizards, and the final one for Rocky Moles.'

(N2.)

'Finally, he finished the goblins so he took a small bag with the stones from another monster.'

"Cu-Customer! Can you slow down a little?..." Said the girls from behind the counter panicking a little.

"Of course."

'After a few seconds, she replied:'

"Okay, please continue. May I ask how you acquired so many Magic stones?"

"I did so over the years, I used to have more but they naturally degraded, I used to hunt for any sort of monster in the forest and mountain with my grandfather."

(Notes)

"So you have prior monster hunting experience?"

"Yes. I hunted goblins, Kobolds, Orcs, Jungle lizards, Stone fishes…"

'As he said that, he deposited the stones he acquired over the years into the hole.'

'Most of them since there was still a small quantity on his inventory.'

'After several minutes of slowly depositing the stones, he stopped.'

"Is-Is it over Mr?" Said the girl on the other side, tired

"Yes…"

"Thank The Gods…"

"The small monsters are over, I mean. I still hunted some bigger ones."

"..."

'He picked the crystals from the Silverbacks, wyverns... Those didn't really fit in a pouch, so he stacked them up in a big sack.'

(N3)

'He placed the final Magic stone on the counter.'

"That was the last of it."

"... Just wait a minute, customer…" She said with a tired voice.

'Some of the adventures and guild personnel looked in his direction with pity, not at Silver, but at the girl making the calculations.'

"Okay… The final amount will be…"

"I still have the drop items." Said Silver as he picked the pouch where the small fangs, nails, and such items were.

'This isn't all that I have since his backpack only has that much space, he will eventually sell everything.'

/Thump!/

'He heard something hitting the wood from the other side.'

"Are you okay miss?!" Asked Silver said to her

"... Yes, customer… Thank you for your care."

'Her voice was now considerably rougher...'

"The final amount will be…"

'Silver waited for her to speak.'

"... No more items?" She asked

"That was all."

"Finally! The amount is roughly 1 Million Valis."

(Go to the notes for more information on why.)

"Hm… Okay."

Seems about right. In the dungeon, finding a monster is normal. But on the surface, it would be rather difficult to find one. Plus the Magic stones are worth less.

This is also due to my own consumption. In order to fuel my understanding of magic and other crafts, many Magic crystals were sacrificed in experiments.

Some were even used in order to improve living conditions in the village. Otherwise, I would have many more.

The guild holds a monopoly in the Magic crystal industry inside Orario, but not in the rest of the world. So it's pretty normal to sell the stones collected on the surface to merchants, although there is the thing of being paid in other forms of coins.

Which I obviously didn't bring, since I would have to convert them and bla bla... It's much better to just leave them with my family since they will make better use of it.

This brings my total wealth to 1.2 Million, after I sell the extra equipment on my inventory plus the rest of the items I should easily surpass 2 Million.

And they say making money is hard.

Of course, when you have a family of second-class adventurers to help you, it would be pretty easy to make several million Valis.

"How would you like to receive the money?" She asked

"Give me a tenth in small coins for day-to-day use and the rest in big coins."

'She gave him one small sac containing 9 coins worth 100 K each, and one big sac with dozens of coins.'

"Thank you."

"It's nothing, next time, please go to the bigger booth if you have a high amount of items to sell. Also, please don't come back." She said in a sweet tone.

"..."

'Silver stayed there, stunned.'

Such a mood swing...

'He went back to the red-haired werewolf and picked up the book. From there, He sat in one of the padded chairs and started to read.'

'It was a thick book with several thousand pages, each one with several Gods and Goddesses, explaining their main roles and strength. The book even covered Gods outside of Orario.'

'There are many types of Familia, from exploration types that focus on Dungeon delving to manufacturing Familias that develop and create Items.'

'He wanted an exploration-type Familia, so that he could continually fight in the dungeon. But it's not like Manufacturing Familia don't have their own raid groups. They need materials after all.'

'Silver needs a goddess he could trust and show his skills to. But Gods can be deceiving sometimes.'

'Hestia is a perfect choice, but she should only descend two years in the future… Too much time wasted waiting.'

'Loki is the second-best option, but they are an Elite family. It's almost impossible for a no-name like him to enter their Familia when they aren't recruiting.'

"Unless I show my worth…"

Their next recruiting is next year… I would have to wait for one to two months. Some of their policies aren't really to my liking either. They are also a bit too big.

But without Falna I can't Level up, in fact, I can't even have a skill. A lot of effort would be thrown down the drain.

(N4)

(More on this when I start to explain Levels.)

If only I could level up by myself…

…

'He stayed there reading through the pages for the next 2 hours before closing the book in wonder.'

'Silver was simply stumped by the vast number of Gods and their rich history.'

So many Gods… From all sorts of religions. I know that they were based on real Gods in the original series, but this is the real world.

Is it just a super coincidence, or could there be a bigger factor behind it?

'He got up and went to the line one more time.'

'But he was suddenly called by a pink-haired girl on the side.'

"Heyyy you there! The handsome boy with the "killer" book!"

'She looked young, about 18 years old? She had a slightly mischievous look on her face. She was wearing the guild's standard clothing.'

"Did you call me, miss?"

"Yup! Rose told me you had the "brick" with you?"

"Right here."

'He dropped it on her hands, but she surprisingly picked it up without even flinching.'

"..."

Be careful who you make fun of here in Orario...

"Arg… I hate this book… Hey! Before you go, do you have any more questions?"

"In fact, I have… Can normal Non-adventurers enter the Dungeon?"

"Yes and no! I mean, it used to be like that hundreds of years ago, but the death rate was so big that they implemented a rule to control who could enter."

"Although the death rate is still high, it's certainly lower than it could be. But after the… War, the number of low-level adventures plummeted and we are now allowing normal people to enter if they have a pass."

"Although we always encourage people to enter a Familia first!"

"What do you need in order to enter? How can I gain a permanent pass?"

"After registering your Familia you will gain an adventurer card that can be used to enter the Dungeon."

"You can gain a pass by proving to be able to have the strength necessary to survive the upper floors. It isn't perfect though, as many still manage to infiltrate it."

(Upper floors range from the 1-12th floor.)

"Security is quite lax though, after all, if people want to kill themselves, why should we stop them?"

The security is there more to act though than anything…

"What do you do with them?"

"Not much, most just die inside. But we punish the others by throwing them in jail as usual. After all, if you want to enter and believe you have enough strength, just come here and apply for a permit."

"But most are bandits with a criminal record, so they snuck in the dungeon knowing they can't enter it through normal means."

"Even if they come back, they need to sell their stuff, but we don't accept items from people without an adventurer identity."

"There is no need for you to worry though since you already have the pass. It's just there on your papers, but I still recommend you to enter a Familia."

"I see, thank you for your time. Send "Rose" my regards then."

'Silver gave her a slight bow and left the guild as he waved.'

'The pink-haired girl looked at him leaving and then dropped her head a little.'

"I lost…"

'Behind her, the werewolf girl with red hair came from behind the corner.'

"I told you he wasn't trying to impress me. You owe me dinner."

"Nooo…" She said in a dramatic tone

…

'Outside of the guild Silver made his way towards a close-by Inn, recommended to him by one of the pamphlets.'

"..."

… Someone is following me.

But why? The money? Give me a break.

'He entered an alley and hid using Chameleon to turn "invisible".'

'Three guys entered the alley and started to look around.'

"Are you sure he entered this alley and not the next one? This is a dead end." Said the one wearing a light brown cloak.

"He entered here, I'm sure! He probably jumped over that low wall over there."

'There was a wall about 3 meters tall at the end of the alley'

"Wasn't he supposed to be a newbie? How can he climb that so quickly?" Said a small but burly man, his most striking feature was his massive head. No doubt, he is a dwarf.

(Not all dwarfs have big heads.)

'This surprised Silver a little.'

A dwarf? Being a bandit? Now that's rare. Not that they can't, but most have different values as to Humans. So they normally don't resort to petty thievery.

"Let's go! We can't lose the fat sheep!"

'And so they went after the "sheep".'

"Fucking idiots…" Said Silver as he transformed back to his usual self

'He got out of the alley and continued his way to the Inn, and after half an hour there he was.'

/Tropical mangos/

"Is this the Inn? Did I make the wrong turn and ended up at a fruit store?"

'He opened the door and found himself in a nicely decorated room.'

"..."

Good carpet, nice woodwork, the atmosphere is calm and relaxing… Very good so far.

"Welcome to tropical mangos! How can I help you?" Said a feminine voice from behind Silver

'He looked behind to find nothing, but he soon looked to the ground and saw a very small child.'

"A Pallum kid?" Silver said out loud

"I AM NOT A KID! I AM 11 YEARS OLD!" She screamed in a childish tone

Cute.

"Can you give me a room then?" Asked Silver

"Of course!" She said with confidence.

"How much for a one night with a meal?"

'She made some calculations with her fingers and said proudly:'

"200 Valis and you gain a free bath if you order for an entire week!"

"Then make it a month and add dinner as well."

"Huh?!"

'She touched her head and started to make some fast hand gestures'

"1000...3000… No, it's…"

"350 Valis a day, a full meal for breakfast and dinner, plus the bath. I imagine you brought the pamphlet right? That's where the free bath comes from."

'A man came from behind the little girl and gave her a small pat. It was without a doubt her dad.'

"So it's an extra 150 Valis for two meals every day?"

'He took out the paper while the child looked stunned.'

"I forgot about that!"

'Silver took the coins and placed them on the counter.'

"Is there anything you are allergic to? Like Bluips flowers or Lizard eyes?"

'Those were normal condiments made from plants and herbs. It's not really Lizard eyes, they just look like it.'

"As far as I know, no."

"Breakfast time has already ended but I can make one for you if you wish, your room is the last one to the left after getting up the stairs." He said as he gave Silver a key with the number 1-400, meaning it was the fourth room on the first floor.

'The little girl looked at me from behind the counter, curious.'

'She seemed upset.'

"..."

Sigh, kids…

"I will give you a challenge, if you can answer me I will admit you are the best."

"Go on then, haha! I've never lost!"

'Her dad just looked at him with interest and a little bit of a warning.'

Chill dude…

"What came first? The chicken or the egg?"

"The egg!... Wait, but who put the egg then?... The chicken? But then…"

'The father knew of this trick question and just smiled at the little girl. Silver gave him a nod and got up the stairs.'

/Cleng/

'Silver closed the door behind him and sat on the bed.'

'But soon enough he said:'

"I am finally here! One step from starting my adventure… I can't wait! Let see how this dungeon truly is!"

'He left his backpack inside his inventory space, took out one of the spare swords inside, and made his way to the dungeon.'

'After 35 min of walking slightly fast, he was in the big plaza where the dungeon was located.'

'He turned his neck and looked upwards.'

"So tall, they must've used magic of a very high level to set such a thing."

Hum. Wasn't the Gods the ones who actually built this?

As far as I know, when the Gods descended they destroyed the original Babel tower and rebuilt it.

'Around Silver there were dozens of people of different races, wearing heavy and light armor, mages, assassins, everything you can think of.'

'They were preparing and discussing the Dungeon.'

"It looks like an MMO."

'He went to one of the entrances and saw multiple guards standing in front of it. Silver gave one of them his papers and they let him in, but after he was a few meters ahead one of them said:'

"Another lost cause, he didn't even bring basic armor. Only a basic sword."

"Shouldn't we stop him?" Said the other guard

"Not our problem, the papers say he is capable, so he is. Now shut it, the next person is coming."

'Silver, on the other hand, heard everything even though he was several meters away.'

'His enhanced senses were working wonders.'

I agree with them in a sense, but it's not like I will parade myself and attract attention.

But… Perhaps I am attracting more attention by not bringing anything… Alright, next time I will come with the basic gear.

…

'Inside the tower was a large area with a large hole in its middle; there were four entrances that led towards multiple spiral staircases.'

'At the very bottom was the first floor.'

"First, let's see how strong these monsters are compared to their counterparts on the surface."

.

.