Volume 1 - Chapter 4 - The old man heads to the city of beginnings
Chapter 4: The old man heads to the city of beginnings (1/2)
Yesterday, I traveled into a wild cave dungeon in search of a hidden room that was capable of resetting a person’s level. In that same room, there was a girl around the age of 13 encased in a giant crystal. After releasing her from the crystal, I brought her home where we discovered that she suffered from amnesia. Unable to recall her name, she requested for me to name her. Now, that girl is called Luna.
She was satisfied with her name, saying that it was a cute name. I should probably avoid letting her know that I got the name from a meat pie.
Fast forward to the next morning, I am sleeping soundly in my own bed. Originally, the plan was to have Luna sleep on the bed while I slept on the sofa. However, Luna was so adamant about sleeping together that she even crawled onto the sofa while I was sleeping. In the end, I carried her to the bed and got into the bed together with her. After I got into the bed, I turned my back towards her and fell asleep. This girl is either really shameless or just outright bold, wanting to sleep with a man that she had just met the very same day.
Could it be that all girls her age are this bold?
Well, regardless of her behavior, she wasn’t an ordinary girl. She was a girl whom I found encased in a crystal and suffered from amnesia. If anything, she was far from ordinary. Not to mention the crystal she was trapped in was located in a hidden room within a random wild dungeon. Even if coincidentally the entrance to the room was discovered by an adventurer, the person would have to satisfy the requirement to unlock the room. Any adventurer who was level 50, would not have discovered the room as the dungeon level was estimated to be around level 30. Thus, for someone to locate the hidden room, they would require information about the room beforehand. Anyone who had access to such information is definitely not normal. If the person who located the room wasn’t normal, there is no doubt that the person trapped inside is not normal too.
At this point, I am fairly certain that Luna was a special existence. The very fact that she was a Fox Beastman is proof enough. Foxes didn’t exist in this world, and that confused me when I first discovered her. However, once I remembered the memories of my past life, I could determine that her ears and tail resembled a fox. Well that is still a superficial reason though. Truth was I wanted to be in the same party as Luna. My instincts were telling me that this girl must not left alone. As a veteran adventurer, the more experience you have, the harder it is to ignore your intuition.
For breakfast, we ate some preserved food that was stored at home for emergencies. After breakfast, we waited outside the front door as I was expecting a carriage to arrive. After waiting for several minutes, a carriage could be seen turning the corner before arriving at my doorstep.
Initially, I planned to leave this village and return to the countryside. However, I only intended to bring the essentials as well as my valuable magic items such as my Magic bag (Capacity:Large) and my Magic Sword. It was a routine for adventurers who were changing their base of operations or retiring to sell off their furniture and other items to merchants in the area. In my case, it was the latter. This was a well-accepted practice as it allowed the adventurer to earn a large sum of money while the merchant obtained excellent second-hand goods that were more likely to be beneficial to the merchant either for resale purposes or for quality of life purposes as items that are picked up from dungeons are generally classified as Magic items.
When I was an adventurer, I had obtained many valuable items from venturing into the dungeons. Although there weren’t any intentions to use most of the items, it was the norm to hoard as much items as possible as there was a chance for the items to be useful in the future. This does not mean that I did not sell any Magic items as there were still items that were useless for adventurers. I sold many items on the marketplace in my time, however the stockpile that I possessed had never diminished as they were always replenished whenever I entered into a dungeon.
I kept valuable items such as my Magic Sword and Magic Bag as they were rare items that almost never appear on the marketplace. These types of items are worth a fortune, however they were not items that could easily be obtained by having money.
Normally, I would deliver the goods to the merchant using my Magic Bag as it was capable of storing up to 100 kilograms of items, however as I was also selling heavier items such as furniture, my Magic Bag wasn’t able to store all the items, thus I had to ask the merchant to collect the items personally using a carriage.
[Good morning, Yuuya-san. As we agreed, I am here to pick up the goods.] (Merchant)
[Oyassan, I leave the collection to you, the items are all in the living room.] (Yuuya)
The merchant proceeded to collect all the items that I had prepared in the living room and loaded them onto his carriage.
[Yosh, that’s the last of them. As far as I can tell, all the items that we agreed on are present. Here’s the payment.] (Merchant)
The merchant handed over a small pouch as well as the parchment detailing the transaction. As I was about to sign the parchment, I spotted an item in the corner of my eye.
[Oyassan, sorry but could I keep that dagger?] (Yuuya)
[Well it’s just one dagger. The goods that you sold me were mostly first-class items. That one dagger doesn’t matter that much. Go ahead. I’ll let it slide as a sign of our friendship.] (Merchant)
[Thank you.] (Yuuya)
The merchant returned the dagger that I asked for and I took the dagger graciously. After being an adventurer for decades, this was the second best dagger I have ever come across.
Its name was Bazerato.
It’s a lightweight dagger that was crafted from the Fang of a monster. It inherited its offensive properties and durability from the monster it belonged to, possessing offensive capabilities and a durability that was on par to a normal long sword despite being a dagger.
For your information, I kept the best dagger in a compartment on my breastplate for emergencies such as my Magic Sword breaking in the middle of combat. I kept it there instead of my Magic Bag as the few seconds required to find the dagger in my bag is a matter of life or death in the midst of combat. It wa also useful for other situations outside of combat.
[Here Luna, take this dagger.] (Yuuya)
I passed Bazerato to Luna.
[This dagger looks expensive.. Yuuya I can’t take this dagger, I don’t have any money on me.] (Luna)
Sigh this girl. She couldn’t just receive the dagger without any worries can she.
[The money doesn’t matter. If you want to be an adventurer, you will pay me with your body.] (Youya)
So long as you work hard as my party member, that much is fine.
[Huh? Okay.. If that is fine with you. I don’t remember anything so it’s my first time. I don’t have any experience so I’ll try my best!] (Luna)
Luna’s face started to turn red as she started fidgeting around. The tip of her tail was sweeping the ground as it moved back and forth.
[Eh? You? To such a small child?] (Merchant)
[Sigh. Please don’t cause any misunderstandings. And you of all people should know that I will never lay a hand on a child. Luna, I meant that you will be working as an adventurer to pay back the money.] (Yuuya)
[Phew. Then I will do my best! Together with Bazerato!] (Luna)
Luna seems to be excited about using Bazerato. It’s a good thing that she has taken a liking to it. Based on her body structure, it would had been difficult for her to handle a normal sword. So it was best for her to utilize a short dagger which is easier to use. Bazerato is a powerful dagger because it does not have any level requirement, meaning that even a level 1 adventurer could equip it. Although the dagger itself is powerful, I need to remember to teach her how to properly handle the dagger as well as sword techniques.
[Anyway, it appears that you have picked up another brat again. You never change even as time passes by huh.] (Merchant)
[Well that is how I am, I can’t help it.] (Yuuya)
My relationship with the merchant goes back to my adventuring days. Back in those days, I was a relatively well-known adventurer. Once, I had participated in a quest to rescue an Elven village from pillagers. We were both in the same group and in the end, the quest was successful with us managing to save a bunch of elven girls from being kidnapped. Among those elven girls, was Phil.
The clothes that Luna is wearing now were the exact same clothes I gave to Phil that day. Phil grew up as an adventurer, in the same party as me, alongside Leonard who is revered as hero in the current era. The same party that I had abandoned.
[Well then I wish you guys good luck in your future endeavors. Oh before I leave, remember to sign the parchment.] (Merchant)
After quickly revising the contents of the parchment and the pouch, I signed the parchment and returned the parchment to the merchant.
[Now then, I hope to see you again, Yuuya.] (Merchant)
[You too. Oyassan. I wish your business runs smoothly. Isn’t it time for you to leave the business to your son?] (Yuuya)
[Don’t be crazy. I am still up and active you know. Different from a certain someone.] (Merchant)
I smiled bitterly at the merchant’s retort. I forgot that I told him I was retiring today. However, my retirement plans ended yesterday. Now I will be restarting my adventures.
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Chapter 4:The old man heads to the city of beginnings (2/2)
Part 2
Before heading over to Rumberg, Luna and I travelled on Raptor to a neighboring town where we paid for a caravan that was heading towards our destination. The distance to Rumberg was too far for us to rely on Raptor for any battles that might occur, so I decided to travel there with a caravan instead. For caravans, although we were required to pay a fee, we had escorts that served as our bodyguards during the trip. So our safety during the trip was guaranteed. However the downside was that the caravan travels at a slow pace. Most likely, it would take us two days to arrive at Rumberg.
As I looked back from the carriage, the village could no longer be seen in the distance. When I left the village, one of the people who came to see me off was Nikita. She cried as I was preparing to leave, telling me that she wanted to follow me. She was willing to leave behind her family and the bar to accompany me on my journey. However, I could not allow such a child to abandon her family and their business just to follow me. After trying to convince her for half an hour, she finally gave in and accepted my departure.
After arriving at the town, Luna and I joined the caravan where I was offered a high price for Raptor. Although the amount was tempting, the bond I had with Raptor was priceless and rejected the offer.
I feel that I am starting to become sentimental. Is this because of my age?
[Yuuyaaa. I’mm boreddddd.] (Luna)
While I was lost in thought, Luna was fed up with the journey.
[The trip will only last two days. It won’t be long.] (Yuuya)
[But the trip is boring!!!] (Luna)
Well this caravan is unusually large, and there is a large number of escorts. So its expected that the journey will take quite a while. For a child like Luna, it would be quite a dull trip.
[Well then let me explain to you about what we will be doing when we arrive at Rumberg. We will have to do a bunch of administrative matters, attending classes and meeting other people as well as select our class.] (Yuuya)
[Tell me about the classes!] (Luna)
Luna whose tail looked like it was about to fall asleep became lively as it stood up in anticipation.
[Adventurers are capable of raising their levels by defeating monsters to earn experience points. However, they will be unable to gain experience points unless they have a class. Thus a class has to be chosen before an adventurer can start increasing their levels. Normally the class chosen will be set for life, meaning that the class will be the person’s specialization for the rest of their life. It cannot be changed so it should be chosen carefully.] (Yuuya)
[The status for each classes differ accordingly to their battle styles. There will be a class correction value added to a person’s status depending on their class, adding additional values into various stat parameters. These class correction values added on top of the person’s basic status determines their final status.] (Yuuya)
[Each classes serve a specific role in a party. Generally speaking, there is the vanguard, and the rear guard. Vanguard classes serve as the front line for the party, directly confronting monsters and serving as a wall for the back line whereas the rear guard classes directly attack the monsters as well as cover the front line.] (Yuuya)
[Easy to understand. Luna wants to be a vanguard! Youya gave me a dagger, I want to use it!] (Luna)
Truth be told, Luna is suited to be in the front lines.
Back when I was playing the game, Beastmen were characters that were only NPCs and unusable for players. It was possible to become friends with NPCs, and the characteristics for NPCs was discovered. Beastmen had increased physical capabilities whereas their magical abilities were decreased. These were stat corrections that are well suited for the vanguard.
[Since you want to be a part of the vanguard, I will explain the different classes for the vanguard. Generally, the vanguard have weak magical capabilities but high physical capabilities. The common classes are Warrior, Fighter and Thieves. Warriors specialize in attacking and defending, with high values in their Attack and Defensive parameters. However, as a result their Speed parameters are decreased. Fighters specialize in hand-to-hand combat, having higher Attack parameters and Speed but only to a limited extent. Thus, even if they equip powerful weapons or strong armor, their overall capabilities does not change that much. On the other hand, Thieves have high Speed parameters but their Defense and Attack parameters are decreased. In exchange, they are given special class skills called Exploration Skills.] (Yuuya)
[eehhhh.] (Luna)
Luna looked as if her brain was overloaded and unable to take in the information. She tilted her head as she tried to understand the information and failed.
[Youya~, are there any other classes?] (Luna)
[There is another class called Magic Knight. It is a class that has a high Attack parameter and is the only class capable of using magic.] (Youya)
[That’s the class! It looks like the strongest class to take!] (Luna)
[I am going to stop you right here. That class is out of the question for you. Although it is a class with high Attack parameters and capable of casting magic, that class has a lower Defense parameter as well as physical capabilities as compared to the other classes. It can’t use Wall either. And although magic can be used, the spells it can used are limited to Intermediate tier. Intermediate magic is far weaker than Advanced magic used by Magic Casters in the back lines. Magic Knights are capable of using offensive magic as well as supportive magic, but they can’t cast recovery magic, making their supportive magic far inferior to a normal healer. It is a class capable of doing everything, yet it is weaker than every other class. It is merely a half-baked profession that can’t be used in any role.] (Yuuya)
The job of the vanguard is to protect the rear guard, while the rear guard covers the vanguard. Magic knights are unable to act as a shield for the rear guard due to its low defensive capabilities as well as the inability to use Wall. However even if the magic knights was delegated to the rear guard, it is merely an inferior magician. In that case it would be better to choose a full-fledged Magician. Thus magic knights are looked down upon as a weak class and no parties will be willing to accept them into their party.
[I understand. Only choose from Thief, Warrior and Fighter. Hey Yuuya..] (Luna)
Luna dropped on all fours, and crawled towards me while looking me dead in the eyes.
[What class do you want Luna to pick? I want to serve Youya. I want to be useful to you.] (Luna)
What is this girl doing? Telling me that she wants to serve me with such a cute face.
Well if it’s a class I would like…
[If it’s a class I want in my party, it would be a Thief. Venturing into the dungeons become more convenient if our party has a person with exploration skills.] (Yuuya)
[I understand, then when we arrive at Rumberg, I will choose the Thief class. Then I can be useful to you!] (Luna)
[Yeah, I would be happy if you did so. I very much would like you to be the Thief in my party.] (Youya)
*Bun**Bun* Luna’s ears fluttered up and down.
[Pleasing Yuuya is my number one joy!] (Luna)
She’s a good kid isn’t she.
Although what is with her choice of words? Is she sure that she doesn’t remember anything?
Anyway, I am glad that I gave this girl a dagger back in the village.
Thieves typically utilize daggers as their main weapons, thus their attacking capabilities are naturally lower as compared to a normal sword. Especially with her compatibility with daggers, I felt that Luna was well-suited to being a Thief. My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a town appearing in the distance.
[Hey Luna, look outside the window.] (Yuuya)
[Hmm? What’s outside?] (Luna)
Luna opened the windows and tried to squeezed her head out of the window. Her fox ears fluttered in the wind as she stuck her head outside.
[Ah! I can see a large city. It is soooo much bigger than the village Yuuya was in! And the wall surrounding it is so large too!] (Luna)
[That’s our destination. It’s the beginning town of Rumberg.] (Yuuya)
Rumberg is not just the beginning town for adventurers. It is essentially the essence of the country. The country itself revolves around the nurturing of adventurers, and most adventurers start out here to get their classes before becoming actual adventurers.
Although there are other beginning towns for adventurers, there is an important reason why I chose this popular town. Based on my memories of the previous life, there is a hidden room in one of the dungeons here which fixes the level bonus for all stats to the maximum, 3 points per level. Finally, I can free myself from my cursed status.
As I was staring at Luna’s fox tail shaking back and forth rapidly, Luna pulled her head back into the carriage.
[Yuuya, what class are you choosing?] (Luna)
[Magic Knight.] (Yuuya)
[Eh? But didn’t you tell me that Magic Knights had the weakest class?] (Luna)
[Yes I did, and it’s the truth. Magic knights have the weakest class regardless of their role. They are too fragile for the front line, and too weak for the rear guard. It is the class that can do everything but can’t do anything. It is the weakest class. If the person wasn’t me.] (Yuuya)
Even when I was playing the game, the main player base had deemed Magic Knight to be the weakest class without a doubt. Although they were given recognition for the fact that they were able to cast supportive magic, it wasn’t anything too spectacular.
That is, until the Level Reset function was discovered. When it was discovered that a person’s level could be reset, another hidden feature was discovered.
That feature, was given the name “Magic Customization”.
As a result of that feature, the Magic Knight’s popularity rose tremendously. It was the class that had the potential to become the strongest in the hands of a skilled player.
However, because of this, more people avoided inviting magic knights into their party. The class popularity grew as more people wanted to try out the class. As a result, there were many Magic knights who were still weaker than an average player using a common class. It was basically a gamble, and Magic knights was an all-in.
[Well even if the class is weak, Yuuya is still strong!] (Luna)
I am glad that Luna was just being Luna. If it was anyone else, I would had been abandoned on the spot.