by Pegaz
John raised an eyebrow, and Alan nodded his head to his comrades.
“Peter there used to be a knight, specializing in holding his own on the first line of defence. Of course, he beat the shit out of his boss in a bar fight and lost that position. He wound up with me and Cyril.” Alan’s jaw loosened and a slight grin formed on his face. “Adventures can make a good amount of coin, if you climb high enough in the ranks. At Rank G, though, you’ll only make enough for the necessities, so if you want to earn enough to start saving up, you’d better rank up quickly.”
And with that, Alan led the way into the Guild Hall.
Chapter 7
Silently Getting Stronger
The inside of the Guild Hall was just like how it was described by the light novels that John read from his past life. A postings board on the right side of the room was decorated with all sorts of job listings, and beyond that John counted ten counters made of treated wood. Behind each of the counters sat an array of workers. John could only assume they handled the administrative side of the guild’s dealings. To his left, he spotted a set of stairs which was packed with people. The whole establishment was not only quite impressive, but also spotless to boot.
Alan nodded at John as if to say, “follow me”. The two strode over to a counter on the far left. They got in line behind the only other two people waiting on the counter. John caught snatches of their conversation and assumed they were together. They seemed to be registering for an ID, like he intended to.
After only few minutes, the two other people walked away. Alan and John approached the counter.
"Why, hello! Are you here to register as an adventurer?" The receptionist was a middle-aged woman with glasses and straight silver hair sitting just past her shoulders.
"Ah, yes,” Alan spoke up in a clear voice. “This guy behind me is John, a Sider who's just arrived here very recently. He’s here to register with the guild."
At Alan’s words, a few heads turned. John could hear the murmurs of "Wow, a Sider!" and "A Sider appears yet again," mixed in with a few other variations. He turned towards the whispers with furrowed brows. The heads of any bystanders turned away and the whispers quietened down.
"Sorry, John, but you need to report your status as a Sider by law when registering.” Alan placed a hand on John’s shoulder, as if to reassure him. “It goes into the ID card, and comes with its own perks. For one, it gets you a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for the first month that you’re here. Though, that’s mostly because it takes about that long to learn the laws of the kingdom. Of course, that only really works for misdemeanours and other small-time crimes. Big ticket items like theft, murder, or rape will get you thrown into jail, killed or tortured."
"Fair game, I guess. Does it cost anything to register?” John added, “And where do I go to learn the laws?"
The receptionist cut in and quickly replied to John before Alan could answer.
"It does not cost anything for Siders to register, since we know that they’re more than likely to lack in funds.” She adjusted her glasses, a slight glimmer of light reflecting off the glass. “As a Sider, for the duration of your first month, you’ll have free access to the library and other public resources. This is to assist you in learning the law and to garner a working knowledge of our world.”
The receptionist took a deep breath and continued, explaining questions that John had yet to even fathom. "To study beyond the first month, however, you will have to pay the standard amount. In the case of using the library, there will be a monthly charge to read the books."
"Ah, thank you,” John gathered his thought before asking, “How long does it take to register then? I don't want to hold up Alan's party."
"We just need your name and age."
"John, 15 years old. Anything else I need to do?"
"No, I just need to put it into our file system. Your ID card will be ready in about ten minutes. In the meantime, we encourage you to have a seat and rest. We'll call your name when it's finished."
"Thank you." Without lingering any further, Alan and John stepped away from the counter and walked towards Peter and Cyril. They joined their group in sitting on a well-polished bench.
"It's so noisy here,” John frowned. “How will we hear when my name's called out?"
The three other men held in their laughter, the strain showing on their faces. John was in for a surprise.
Only moments to follow, a loud voice boomed across the hall.
"John, Age 15. Your ID is ready."
The voice was so loud that John flinched as he rushed to cover his ears. Eyes wide, he looked around at the people in the room and saw they were completely unbothered by the sound. Alan, Peter, and Cyril burst into laughter at the sight of John.
"Thanks,” John said dryly. “You could have warned me."
"No problem."
"Wouldn't be fun that way."
"These guys made me!"
At that last remark, a light-hearted argument broke out between the three of them, with Peter and Cyril ganging up on Alan in a brotherly exchange of words.
John walked back to his party members, his new ID in hand. Upon his arrival, he saw the group was divvying up the funds that they received from the fruits of their hunt. With the total earnings adding up to £54, Alan calculated that each of the members would receive an equal amount of £13 and 50 pence.
“This is the Kingdom of the North,” Alan began to explain the monetary system to John. “And here we use pounds and pence as money. The first Sider to arrive in this land was from a country called England. When he became a high ranking adventurer, he went to the king and explained his old country’s money system and how it worked."
“So the king adopted the money system from him," John concluded. Alan confirmed this and went on to explain the conversion. They were as follows:
1 pound = 100 pence each
Bronze coins = 1 pence each
Silver coins = 10 pence each
Gold coins = 1 pound
Platinum coins = 10 pounds
Titanium coins = 100 pounds
Adamantium coins = 1,000 pounds
“Most adventurers usually deal with platinum coins and lower. Even the high ranking adventurers are no exception to this. Only merchants really use titanium and adamantium coins, since the kingdom produced them especially for those in that line of work.”
"How long ago was that first Sider here?"
"About 600 years ago, why?"
"I'm from the same country,” John’s voice was perfectly even as he spoke. “I’m from England too."
Having said this, John couldn’t help but compare everyone in this world to his home. It was all so foreign to him now, or better yet, he was the foreigner. The fact that he would never be able to return home struck him, and he felt the pit of his stomach drop.
"Ah, sorry but there isn’t much more known about that Sider.” Alan frowned at John, taking a guess at what was obviously bothering the younger man. “Even though Siders were known of back then, not many of them recorded anything about themselves. It was other people who documented how the Siders affected our civilization, like influencing our currency. Other than that, not much is known. We don’t even know if there was a specific reason why they never recorded anything about themselves."
"I keep hearing the word Siders, what does it stand for though?” John quickly added, “Not the short version!"
"Didn't we mention this earlier?” Cyril stepped into the conversation, a tad bit annoyed. “The term ‘Siders’ isn't so much an abbreviation as it is a nickname, of sorts. The official name is ‘Dimension Traveller’, though, that phrasing often sparked controversy. No Sider could prove if there really was a different dimension that they came from, or just the other side of the universe."
"So we just came up with Siders,” Peter smiled at John. “You've either come from the other side of the universe or the other side of a dimension. Either way, the name works.”
"I get it, thanks,�
� John quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, where do I buy some clothes? I know I'm dense when it comes to noticing my surroundings, but even I can tell I'm getting more and more stares. Something tells me it’s more to do with wearing nothing but a strip of fur, rather than being a Sider."
"Oh, you can buy them here at the Guild Hall! On the second floor they sell armour too, but the cheapest is a little out of your price range. If I remember right, I saw some basic clothing priced at £5 for a top and trousers. Nothing fancy, but it will work."
"Alright, thanks,” With a tilt of his head, John added, “And what about you guys? I'm much weaker than you without any training or weapons, so I know I can't join your party. I'd only drag you down."
"That's fine. It’s common knowledge that Siders usually become stronger at a faster rate than normal people, though no Sider has ever explained why either. We just take it for what it is.”
"We'll probably rest up for the night then head back to the forest to finish the quest we were on. If we hadn't met that bear, we would have completed the quest by now."
"We’re a few extra days behind schedule now, but the money from the bear was worth it!” Peter was turning out to be quite the optimist. He turned back toward John and asked, “What about you? Have a course of action yet?"
"First priority is to get some clothes.” John considered his options. “I guess I’ll head to the library for now and try to catch up on some history. I've only got a month of free access there, and I need to learn as much as I can. Maybe I’ll do a few odd jobs for pocket money in the meantime."
“Then this is where we part ways,” Alan spoke up in a sombre voice. “Siders get free lodgings for a month in the building across from the library. Forgot to mention that earlier. Our party wishes you the best of luck in your endeavours."
At this, the three adventurers shook hands with John and bid their farewells.
After parting ways, John began his search for a new wardrobe. He walked upstairs, and upon reaching the appropriate floor, he found what he was looking for. On a nearby rack, he spotted a pair of black trousers and a shirt on sale for £3 and 50 pence. He purchased the items easily enough.
He then walked into a corner behind a display and made sure no one was looking. Hurriedly, he took the fur strip off and stepped into the trousers with ease. Then, buttoning the shirt up, he rolled the pelt of fur up and stepped back into the crowd.
John walked back downstairs to the Guild Hall and went to the counter that had the words "Buying" above it. He showed the fur strip, and the merchants gave him £2 for it. Better than nothing, he supposed. No wonder Alan had chosen to cash in the bear fur ahead of time. The freshness of the pelt really made such a huge difference.
Walking out of the Guild Hall, John asked a few people for directions to the library. After following a few different directions, he found it without too much trouble. He stepped into the building, ID card in hand.
The librarian checked his ID over and then guided him to where the essential educational books were. With his Sider status, he wasn't allowed anywhere else in the library without paying the monthly membership fee. Free trials always had limitations.
The clock read “12:45PM” when John sat down to read.
After roughly four hours of scouring the various books that he had access to, John eyes were about ready to melt out of his skull. As he rubbed his temples, he heard the system's ‘ding!’ of a notification.
Smiling and still pretending to read, he opened the system. He had twelve free Idlers. Turning the Continue skill off had prevented them from continuing without his direction. He turned the skill back on and proceeded to place all twelve of his Idlers into the Flesh Strength skill slot. The third level needed a little over two hours, so he closed to system and carried on with his reading.
5 minutes later ‘ding!’
27 minutes later ‘ding!’
Then, John went back into the system and removed the Continue skill from use.
2 hours and 15 minutes later
‘Ding!’
Now with his Flesh Strength indicator reading as Level 5, he wondered about any offence-based skills that he’d completely ignored up until this point. As he skimmed through the list, he didn't notice any skills that had to do with weapons. It was all about physical strength, both inside and out.
Still pretending to read, his eyes rested on the skill ‘Knuckle Damage’ for a few seconds.
Knuckle Damage
Power Level: Bonus in attack when using knuckles to fight.
Speed: The time needed to open and close a fist. It is the same motion as a grip. The Palm Toughness' Speed Skill stacks on top of this.
Ignore Defence: You ignore 0.1% defence per level. (Stacks with other skills)
Bonus for maxing all skill levels: In between all five knuckles on each hand is a layer of ligaments. This layer is hardened per level, though remaining just as flexible. At the maximum level, they are almost impossible to break.
After a few seconds to contemplate, John reactivated the Continue skill then placed all twelve Idlers into the Knuckle Damage skill slot.
‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’, ‘Ding!’
After forty-three seconds, the sound rang ten times. John looked down at his fists.
He could feel them burning. The skill had levelled up too fast and each upgrade had stacked on top of each other. The whole 10% increase to the maximum power of his knuckles was working at the same time.
Clenching his fists in pain, loud pops could be heard emanating from his limbs. He opened up the system and switched the Continue skill back to ‘off’, so the levelling stopped at Level 11. Just under another forty-two seconds passed and another ‘ding!’ rang out.
The burning sensation almost doubled making him want to scream out, but he managed to hold it in. After around five minutes, he could feel his knuckles begin to cool down. Looking down at them, the skin seemed unscathed. Thank god.
He lightly tapped the wooden table to ward off the bad luck, but to his surprise he heard a louder bang than expected.
Lifting his hands, he nervously inspected the place where he tapped on the table. There was a dent, a few millimetres deep. John was tempted to do a full power punch to test it, but he overcame the temptation.
Abruptly, the librarian from earlier opened the door and shouted into the room.
"Library closes in ten minutes!"
Figuring it must be close to 8pm, John put all the books back while glancing back at the system. He checked his stats, noting that the Knuckle Damage skill had a Power Level 11 alongside it. All twelve of his Idlers were now free.
Not knowing the exact time needed per Knuckle Damage level, John figured it must be quite low. With twelve Idlers slot and with the Idlers Speed levelled up to 24 seconds per second of the time, it only took him one minute and twenty-five seconds to reach the 11th level. That was fast, no matter how you looked at it.
He was lucky that he started levelling this skill sooner rather than later. He tried to imagine the pain it would have caused him if he had waited until he had fifty Idlers, as opposed to twelve. Yikes.
Mulling it over, John placed seven idlers into Idler Speed skill slot and one Idler into each of the Attack Skills. His current list read:
Attack List:
Palm Toughness - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 0/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 1s
Knuckle Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 11/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 15m
Elbow Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 0/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 1s
Knee Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 0/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 1s
Feet Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 0/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 1s
Idlers Speed - Idlers 7/99, -1 Second Per Idler - 1/9, Time – 10d
It was onl
y just a few seconds before numerous ‘ding!’s rang.
Four of the skills must have raised by two to three levels, each of them toughening up certain parts of his body. He only knew about the ligaments in the knuckles. Elbow Damage could mean hardening the funny bone, for all he knew.
Walking out of the library with ‘ding!’s still ringing in his ears every couple of seconds, he could feel various parts of his body heating up as the changes took place.
Scared that he might scream out in pain, he quickly ran out of the library and across the street. There was a small inn, just like Alan had mentioned. He recalled the free month of lodgings that Siders were supposed to get at this particular inn, but before getting to the entrance he heard one last ‘ding!’ notification. A pop-up came into view in his right field of vision.
Congratulations! You have run for more than 1,000 feet total, unlocking a new skill: Sprinter
Closing the pop-up and ignoring it for now, John hurried to the front desk and showed his ID card, asking for his lodgings. The desk person sensed his urgency and within a few minutes John was situated inside his new room. He flung himself onto the single-sized bed and clenched his teeth, once again submitting to the waves of pain that assaulted him.
Chapter 8
The System’s Surprise
Twenty excruciating minutes later, the pain subsided. John, who lay panting on the bed, opened his skill list as he caught his breath.
Attack List
Palm Toughness - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 10/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 8m 43s
Knuckle Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 12/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 18m 32s
Elbow Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 10/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 8m 43s
Knee Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 10/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 8m 43s
Feet Damage - Idlers 1/99, Power Level - 10/100, Speed - 0/100, Ignore Defence - 0/100, Time – 8m 43s
He was going to have to check each skill and figure out what each one did, but before that, he decided to check on the Idler Speed skill. It currently read as 9d 20h 4m 0s.
