Key:

( ) = Speaker

{ } = POV

[ ] = Titles

Location: Runscav, Draacia Kingdom, Paradisial Plains

{Rex Yamamoto}

Date: 9th to 15th days since Merge

120 days, that's how long we have to rank up to Cobalt if we want to join the dungeon raiding party.

It's now the morning after the day we had arrived in the town of Runscav. As I looked out the window of the small room we had in the Association's inn, I noticed that a light mist had enveloped the town. We ate a small breakfast comprised of some of the left over dried fruit and water we had packed for the trip across the Scorching Wastes. We were still broke, so that was really the only option we had. Hell, we were lucky to have even found a place to stay the night. The Association's inn only requires you to pay either after you check out or, for those who plan to stay at the inn for several weeks, at the end of each week. Thus, we were able to get a room without even a single coin to our name. We knew the first thing we needed to do was solve our financial problems, and since it was still pretty early in the morning, we had a pretty good chance to complete a few quests by the end of the day. So, after we finished eating breakfast, we decided we would head for the Association hall to take a look at the quest board.

However, before we left, we attached a metal collar to our necks and attatched an earpiece on our right ear. Apparently, these tools had been the reason we were able to communicate with Lance so easily the other day and, right before we parted ways, he had given us a pair. It was called an Translation Collar and Traslation Earpiece, a tool that had been created long ago by a mage with an analysis ability. It is not only possible to transfer one’s magic to another person, but it’s also possible to transfer it to certain objects. Thus, he imbued the collars and earpieces with his analysis ability, which resulted in these collars’ ability to translate one's voice to another language, and the earpiece translates voices of unknown origin to that of the user's native tongue.The mage had given an explanation to how it worked, however, most of the scholars of that day couldn’t comprehend some of the concepts he had spoken of. Moreover, the speech he gave was incredibly long-winded, thus many of the scholars fell asleep before they could hear the full explanation. Those who did manage to stay awake decided to copy down everything he had said, and let the future generation decipher what he had said. Till this day, scholars are still unable to decipher what he was saying, and there are even reports of scholars falling asleep while reading said speech. Wow, how boring and long-winded must that speech have been to be able to put people to sleep just by reading the transcript? I decided then that if I ever got a chance, I would take a look at the transcript and see how bad it was. Luckily, the mage had descendants who have continued the practice till this day.

Getting back to the topic at hand, since the Association’s inn is directly connected to the Association hall, it didn’t take us that long to get there. Unlike yesterday, there was barely anyone in the hall. It seems everyone was either still asleep or eating breakfast at the Association’s cafeteria. We walked over to the quest board and took a look at the various jobs that had been posted. From what I saw, copper ranked adventurers were given jobs that primarily focused on their passive class rather than their offensive or support classes. We eventually found jobs that were related to our [Hunter] and [Blacksmith] classes. I took a job which required me to hunt down 35 boars from the nearby forest and bring them to a restaurant in town. Pops took a job that required him to complete 15 sets of templar armor and deliver them to an armour shop in town. Both of these quests needed to be finished within 7 days. However, since neither of us had any experience doing these sorts of jobs, we decided to begin immediately so that we could finish on time. With that, we headed toward the Association’s reception desk to formally accept these jobs.

That was what we had decided 6 days ago. It’s now the 15th day since the two worlds have merged, and both Pops and I were bronze ranked adventurers. How did this happen? Well, I think it’d be best to start from when we had accepted our first jobs.

When we got to the Association’s reception desk to formally accept these jobs, Pops and I received both the equipment and training required for the jobs we had chosen. Apparently, most copper ranked adventurers aren’t expected to have much experience with the jobs they had chosen. Since most new adventurers come from poor backgrounds, they have almost no experience in any of the jobs that are posted on the quest board. Thus, the Association has made it their job to not only stock up on extra equipment, but also hire trainers to provide training for the jobs that new adventurers have chosen. My trainer was a man named Thomas Aldsworth, a professional hunter who appears to be in his mid-30s. Pops’s trainer was a dwarf named Craust Donstroff, a master smith who’s serious expression gave off an aura that revealed his years in the trade. With the bow and arrow I had been given my the Association’s receptionist, I was taught the basic techniques of using a bow and setting up traps. Pops was given a set of blacksmith’s tools and was taught the various techniques of shaping metal.

One benefit of having these classes is that they make it easier for you to learn and master skills that are related to that class, otherwise known class boost. Thus, after having killed my fourth boar, I began to go on a killing spree, and ended up reaching my quota of 35 boars by nightfall. I’d completely mastered the use of a bow and arrow. A similar situation ended up happening to Pops. He picked up the techniques he was taught rather quickly, and, at the local smithy, he completed his quota of 15 full sets of templar armor by nightfall as well.

Now, most people aren’t able to learn these techniques that easily, even if they have a class boost. That was something we had learned from the receptionist’s shocked expression when we said we had completed the quests we had accepted that morning. However, both Pops and I were already quick learners before we received our class boost, so we assumed that our learning speed must’ve increased exponentially with the added effect of the class boost. After we had turned in our goods, our quest papers were given a stamp of approval by the quest givers, a sign of proof that we had completed the tasks we had been assigned. When we turned in these papers, she gave us 250 copper coins as the reward for the job’s completion.

As a side note, the money in this world is ranked in the same order as the first four ranks in the adventurer’s ranking system. It goes from copper, to bronze, to silver, to gold. A bronze coin is worth 100 copper coins, a silver is worth 500 copper coins, and a gold is worth 1000 copper coins. To give you an idea of how much this is actually worth, a full set of top tier gear for either the [Ninja] or [Swordsman] class is worth around 25 gold coins. This means we’re still several months away from getting the best equipment for our offensive classes, which is reasonable. If we were able to acquire enough money to buy them within a few days, I’d be suspicious about the quality of those products. However, a regular meal at the Association’s cafeteria only costs 10 copper coins, and a week long stay at the Association’s inn costs 25 copper coins. With that in mind, it could be said that we just earned a weeks worth of labor in a day.

The next 5 days went by pretty quickly. We found out from the receptionist that although jobs with week long deadlines did pay quite a hefty amount, the highest paying jobs were those that had large quotas over 50 that were required by the end of the day, or priority jobs. These were jobs posted by people who needed a large bulk of these goods delivered quickly, usually for a last minute event of some sort. These jobs were relatively few, but they were pretty much untouched as most would see the deadline for the given amount as absurd. For most people it would be unthinkable to fulfill that quota within a day, however, with our skills, Pops and I could probably do it. What was especially attractive about these jobs was the reward for completion. Over 2 gold coins were being offered for the completion of any one of these jobs. For those 5 days, Pops and I chose one of the priority jobs that related to our class and completed them by the end of each day. In total, we earned around 14 gold coins, which is enough to keep a roof over our heads and our stomachs satisfied for at least a couple of months.

This morning, the 15th day since the merge, as we were walking toward the quest board to find another quest, Lilica called us over. Lilica is the name of the receptionist who worked at the reception desk. Over the course of the last few days, we had gotten to know her pretty well, and she’s definitely given us a lot of good advice since we got here, such as where to find the best food in town for the cheapest price or where to get the best equipment. She even helped me find the best hunting spots for some of my quests. As expected of someone who works at the Association. Due to her help, we were able to get all the money we had acquired up till now, and have even managed to upgrade our current gear.

I now wore a set of light, black armour that I had purchased at one of the local armour shops. It had was covered in armour plating, yet, it was still extremely light and easy to move in. That’s because of the material used for the armour. Dragon scales. As hard as diamond and resistant to heat, armour made primarily of this material are ranked as top tier armour, so the going price for such a set is usually 25 gold coins. Usually, the dragon scales that are used for these sets of armour are extremely thick, and large amounts of them are used to reinforce the body by lining the armour with various layers of these scales. However, since I didn’t need the scales to be that thick, nor did I need as many of them as I was still smaller than the average male adult, I managed to cut down the price to around 8 gold coins. The scales that I used were around 1/3 of the thickness that would normally be used, and instead of having several layers of dragon scales, I only had 1. Furthermore, this armour didn’t make a single sound when I moved around in it. That’s because these dragon scales were taken from a Nightstalker, a type of dragon that is famous for their ability to silently move around, making them especially deadly during the night. Their scales had adapted so that they wouldn’t make a single sound if they rubbed together. I also attached a small hood to the back so that, when needed, I could hide my face within the hood. This armour was, in my opinion, best suited for those who have chosen the [Ninja] class as they’re offensive class. Being able to move around in complete silence was definitely an advantage that could only be provided by this armour.

I also ended up switching out the bow and arrow that the Association had given me with a compound bow that Pops had made. In the past, Pops had taken various different combat related classes. In an archery class he had taken, the bow he had used was a compound bow. After experiencing how the bow worked, researching it’s construction online, and tens of hours lost due to the process of trial and error, he created a replica. We still have said replica, but it’s in storage, along with all the other replicas Pops has made throughout his life time. You remember that katana and desert eagle he had in storage? I just learnt that those are replicas as well! Apparently he devoted a large amount of his college years studying various different weapons and how to replicate them. I let out a sigh when I learnt about this. Really, this guy is probably the genius of his generation, but he’s a NEET….

Anyways, getting back on track, I now equipped myself with a compound bow and carried a quiver on my back that held around 30 arrows. For close combat, I replaced my brass knuckles for a pair of steel kusarigama, a weapon composed of a kama, a sickle like tool, and a kusari-fundo, a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. I was quickly learning how to use the weapon due to my trainer John Malice, a retired adventurer who had mastered the [Ninja] class, which the Association had, once again, provided for me. Although he was only meant to teach me the basics, it seems that my accelerated learning rate applied to the use of the kusarigama, or kusarigamajutsu, as well. Because of that, he was impressed, and ended up teaching me various advanced techniques as well. By the end of my training session with him, I had completely mastered the basic techniques he had taught me, and also made some progress in mastering the more advanced techniques. Both of the kusarigama and the compound bow costed only a 3 silver coins to make, as we only used steel to craft both weapons.

Pops now wore a black trench coat made of dragon leather which, although expensive, is much cheaper than dragon scales, and only costed him around 2 gold coins. It’s much more flexible than dragon scale armor and also has resistance to heat, but it’s durability is much lower than that of dragon scales. He wore a black flared top hat with a ribbon of red silk that was used as a hatband. He forged a second black katana using various different metal, which costed him a single silver coin. He wears a single scabbard on each side of his waist, and has a shoulder holster for his desert eagle. In total, these upgrades costed around 12 gold coins, or 12,000 copper coins, leaving us with 2 gold coins, or 2,000 copper coins.

You know, we really should thank Lilica for her help some time. Maybe we’ll treat her to dinner one of these days. Anyways, when we reached the reception desk, which was where she had called us from, she began our conversation with a question we didn’t expect to hear so quickly.

“Morning you two. I just want to ask if you two are thinking of taking the promotion test to bronze class?”(Lilica)

“Wait….what?”(Rex)

“What? You two didn’t know? You’ve completed the necessary requirements to take the promotion test for bronze class.”(Lilica)

Again, what? What the hell!? We’re already able to take the promotion test to bronze class!? Isn’t this too fast? No, it’s definitely too fast!? I thought that there must’ve been some mistake. Maybe the translation collar isn’t working. Yes, that must definitely be it, I’d just misheard her! So I tried to clarify the situation by saying,

“But it’s only been a week. We couldn’t possibly have met the requirement already….”(Rex)

But before I could finish, Lilica interjected, saying,

“True, the requirement to pass to bronze rank is to complete around 12 week long quests, and the average time it would take to finish that many quests would be around 4 months. However, since you’ve each completed 5 priority quests and a single week long quest as is, you’ve pretty much completed the equivalent of having done those 12 quests, making you eligible to take the promotion test.”(Lilica)

I was stunned. It hadn’t even been a week, and we were now eligible for a promotion test to bronze class, a feat that usually would’ve taken months to accomplish. While I was trying to process what we had done, Pops had begun laughing.

“BWAHAHAHA! You hear that Rex! We just completed something that should’ve taken 4 months in less than a week! Ha!”(Pops/Takeru)

“Oi, what are you laughing about you bastard! What we did is strange! No, it’s too strange! We’ll start gathering too much attention toward ourselves and, because of that, there’s definitely going to be a lot of trouble ahead of us!”(Rex)

“Well, if we do run into any trouble, I’ll just let you handle it! HAHAHA! Gah!”

I dropped kicked him as soon as he started laughing at the misfortune that awaited me, and began beating him yelling “Don’t leave you problems to me you bastard!”(Rex)

While I was beating him, a voice called out to us from the woman we had begun to ignore during our family squabble.

“Um, if you two don’t mind, I’d still like to know if you two are planning on taking the promotion test or not.”(Lilica)

We turned toward the receptionist and, after a glance at each other for confirmation, we told her,

“If it’s possible, we’d like to take the test today.”(Rex and Pops/Takeru)

“Today eh? Well, it looks like you’re in luck, the examiner is actually here today. If you want, you could actually take the test right now.”(Lilica)

After that, Lilica took us to a large dojo-like building where our promotion test to bronze class was held. Honestly, there wasn’t that much to say about the test. All they wanted to see was that we had mastered our passive class, and we passed with flying colors. I was made to hunt down a boar in a labyrinth within 15 minutes, while Pops was made to create 3 sets of Templar Knight armour within an hour. I completed my test within 5 minutes, easily tracking the boar and killing it as soon as I had sight of it. Pops finished his test within 20 minutes, easily crafting 3 complete set of Templar Knight armour. Since we’d been taking on quests which had quotas over a hundred for that last few days, our skills have increased exponentially, and tasks of this caliber were nothing for us.

The examiner seemed somewhat surprised, but Lilica, who had been observing the test alongside the examiner, just smiled at us as we complete our tests.

“Well done you two. With the completion of your tests, you have now been promoted to bronze rank adventurers.”(Lilica)

As she said this, she walked up to us and grabbed our adventurer’s cuffs. She then placed her Association badge on the copper plaques that were attached to our cuffs, and they began to change color from copper to bronze.

“This plaque is made from a special metal call Aurorium. It’s a special type of metal that’s well known for its ability to change color. We use these metals for the plaque so that we can easily change the plaques color should an adventurer pass the promotion test.” (Lilica)

With a warm smile on her face, she, once again, taught us something new about this world. Aurorium huh? This could actually come in handy during stealth missions. Wonder where I could get some. I’ll ask her on another day, I think we’ve bothered enough this week. Pops and I invited Lilica to dinner with us to celebrate our promotion to bronze rank, which, after begging her that we needed to repay her somehow, she accepted. With that, we ended the day buy having dinner at one of the more expensive restaurants in town, and continued to celebrate until midnight, when we decided that we’d partied long enough and, after saying our goodbyes to Lilica, went back to our room in the inn and crashed for the remainder of the night.