by Tao Wong
“Oh! Sorry,” I say, flushing slightly. Of course that would be the easiest way to get this done. Still, I’m a little irritated. It’s not as if he gave any indication.
While my embarrassment turns to anger, Ali makes my quest notification appear before my eyes before sharing the information with the attendant.
System Quest (On-Going)
Learn what the System is about, its applications, methods, and origins. Knowledge of the System will give you strength. True knowledge of the System will provide something even greater than strength.
Reward: Variable and progressive
Status: 23%
“What the hell. That isn’t what it was before!”
“Well, you want in, right? I figured changing the Quest wording back to its original would be better,” Ali sends to me.
I mentally sigh. The Spirit used to change all my notifications and withhold knowledge “for my good,” but we had that talk ages ago. But in this case, I just never bothered to open the Quest screen again. There wasn’t a point. The updates on progress were sufficient for me. And while I might never tell Ali this, I kind of like his original wording better.
“Twenty-three percent. Quite respectable for a Questor who has only been on the path for less than a decade,” the gnome says, becoming friendlier. “It’s always a pleasure to meet a fellow Questor. You may call me Ric.”
“John Lee, Ric.” I offer him my hand. Ric stares at my hand before clasping it on the outer edge and turning my arm upward. I blink, but Ric seems to consider his actions perfectly normal. “I was wondering, what is the normal percentage?”
“For a Questor or the general public?”
“Both.”
“For most, their completion rates sit between five and fifteen percent, depending on age and circumstance. To be considered a Questor and receive acknowledgement among our ranks though, a minimum completion rate of twenty percent is required,” Ric says. “That number is impossible to achieve without dedicated research.”
“Thank you. So as a member, is there…?”
“Oh, how forgetful. One second.” Ric waves his hand over me then toward his notification screen.
A moment later, I get a new notification.
Congratulations! You have gained membership with the elite order of System Questors.
Reputation +2 Galactic Reputation
Fame + 2000
Title Gained: Apprentice Questor
Renowned through the Galactic System, Questors search for the ultimate truth endlessly and fruitlessly. Perhaps, one day, they will learn the meaning of life. In the meantime, they continue their never-ending quest.
Effect: Gain +10% more experience from System Quest completion rates
“That’s useful,” I say, glancing at the Reputation increase. Getting Galactic reputation up is hard, since it mostly derives from Galactic-level Contracts or makes its way up from a bunch of local reputation points. Even if the Questors might be laughed at behind their backs, they’re still a Galactic organization. “And the benefits?”
“Access to all Questor chapter houses. Access to our library of knowledge.”
“Full access?”
“Of course,” Ric says with a sniff. “What is the use of information that is locked away? Our goal is the betterment and progress of the Quest.”
“Sorry.” I pause before asking the question that has puzzled me. “What’s the highest completion rate right now?”
“That would be Grandmaster K,” Ric says. “He’s at eighty-seven percent.”
My jaw drops while even Ali whistles.
The Spirit asks the next, obvious, question. “So how come he hasn’t written the encyclopedia of what he knows? If he did that, everyone would be at the same level.”
“He did. And the results varied greatly,” Ric says, shaking his head with a frustrated expression. “It seems that the only way to build your completion rate and come closer to the truth of the System is to understand and learn matters slowly. Even if the information is all provided, without a good grounding, it seems impossible for one to achieve the same heights.”
“Oh, like learning math,” I say. It’d be like showing someone Einstein’s theory of relativity, e = mc2. Sure, it looks simple and everyone understands what it says, but they don’t necessarily understand what it means or the proof behind it. Not unless they’d built the necessary knowledge beforehand. Though come to think of it, wasn’t the entire thing physics more than math? But you proved it via math. And engineering.
“Yes, exactly! Once one has proven or understood the basic hypotheses and theories, then you can climb higher. It is hoped that more of the younger generation will join us in the search,” Ric says. “Sadly, our work is dangerous, and too many promising youngsters fall too early.”
“Dangerous?” I say, cocking my head. Thus far, I would call what I’ve done to get my twenty percent the opposite of dangerous.
“Extremely so. Just last week we lost Ium, a promising scholar, while he was attempting to disprove Waslter Kababa’s theory of Mana flow and health regeneration. It seemed one of the monsters achieved a higher, unexpected rate of regeneration and bit off Ium’s leg, hampering his escape from the dungeon.”
“That’s a whole new kind of field work,” I say neutrally.
“Well, it matters not. At your stage, you should stick to the recommended leading list for now.” Ric points behind him. “Go ahead then, young scholar. Do us proud!”
“And bore me to death,” Ali complains as we leave.
Ric ignores Ali, an act for which I’m grateful enough.
The library itself is a bit, well, underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, there are miles upon miles of books stretching in all directions. The building has an open-air central column that allows those with flight abilities to travel with ease. Yet the total number of Questors within is small. I catch a glimpse of three people, and my minimap doesn’t show many more. In the end, I walk ahead and touch the simple steel stand with my hand, allowing it to access my interface. A navigation menu blooms then flickers as Ali communicates with the system for me.
Completed reading list received
Quest updates received
Recommended reading list created. Map of book locations created.
A small map of the library flashes before my eyes, books highlighted. A large number are placed close to one another in front of me, but a number are scattered through the map in somewhat random locations. It only takes a few seconds to work out why. The cluster of books are the recommended reading materials, most of which I’ve already purchased. The rest are the books that detail random things I’ve either learned or considered and tested. Those are the areas where I’ve progressed above the “standard” level of a Questor.
“What’s with the physical books anyway?” I ask.
“Copyright laws,” Ali says. “The Questors have the rights to the works that stay in the library, but if someone wants to purchase them otherwise, they’d need to go through the Shop. Keeps the Credits flowing.”
“And piracy?” I ask. Not that I intend to do so, what with standing in the middle of a giant library, but I’m curious.
Piracy of books and media was a major thing back on Earth before the System, what with the ease of access. Of course, everyone had their own excuses as to why it was acceptable, why they “had” to do it—inconvenience, difficulty in access, lack of funds, how it was a “victimless” crime. Hell, I’d done it too. But truth was, any excuse was just a lie to excuse our poor morality. Piracy was easy, because we didn’t think we’d get caught and we didn’t know who we were stealing from.
“Possible. It happens for sure. But few people do it in large quantities,” Ali says. “A lot of these writers and publishers pay into the Copyright Bounty System. The CBS scans the System for broken copyrights and then adds the number and quantity to their bulletin, with the appropriate bounty. Bounty hunters stay connected to the Galactic bounty network, and well, it’s often nice and
easy money if they run into someone with a high enough bounty.
“There’re even a few bounty hunters who spend all their free time running down people like that. They call the work relaxing. Seems like your average copyright pirate is a nice change from their normal marks. After all, the serfdom or Credit fine isn’t worth the penalty of killing a bounty hunter.”
“Huh,” I say, rubbing my nose. The System would make something like that a lot easier. “What happens when they get caught?”
“Credit liens, fines, serfdom, the usual,” Ali says. “All tracked through the System.”
“Gotcha.” Makes sense. I make further note not to break the law. Though… “What about all that human TV you watch? Isn’t that copyrighted?”
“Pre-System,” Ali says with a sniff. “Doesn’t count.”
I sigh, shaking my head. Of course it doesn’t count. It’s not as if the System is meant to be fair. I push that thought aside, deciding it’s not my problem. Not right now. My problem is figuring out what to read first. After a time, I make my decision and head away from the cluster.
“You know, jumping ahead isn’t always a good idea,” Ali says as he floats alongside me.
“Whatever. I want to see how their recommendation engine works. And how good it is.”
The walk through the stacks is serene, the atmosphere only slightly oppressive—like all libraries. At least there’s no grey-haired harridan in a moldy wool sweater staring at me over thick lenses and scolding me when I make more noise than a mouse.
Hours later, I’m seated in one of the Questors’ comfortable chairs, legs up and yawning slightly. Next to me are the books I’ve taken out and skimmed through for their details, providing me an understanding of the way the referencing software works.
Basically, most of the works recommended to me that aren’t part of the basic reading list are what can be considered the next best thing to read after I’ve achieved a certain upgrade in my Quest. The tricky thing is, much of my success with the more advanced areas of the System Quest has been via fortuitous encounters. Like watching a dragon sleep, drawing in Mana. Or being dumped into a Forbidden Zone.
As such, my understanding of the reasoning behind the System and the way the System works is not necessarily detailed, just experiential. Which means that sometimes, the recommended books are too complex. In some cases, it’s because the books are written by those who have come to the same understanding via experiments. In other cases, the books are written as a description of another individual’s experience. In such cases, those experiential books are supposed to trigger quest updates for the next portion, rather than explain the point of those updates.
“This… is going to be complicated,” I say, staring at the pile of work.
I can’t exactly rely on the recommendations. And yet there’s no point in sticking to the normal reading list either. I want—I need more of an understanding of the deeper intricacies of the System. If following the normal reading list was effective, then there would be more Questors with higher completion rates. Finding a balance between the two seems to be my big struggle for the next few weeks.
“You know, laughing by yourself like that makes you look rather insane,” Ali points out as I break out chuckling to myself. “I mean, research makes me crack, but you’ve only been at it for, like, five hours.”
“Nah, it’s not the work.” I chuckle again. “It’s the idea that figuring out my best research method is going to be the big struggle of my life for the next little while. It’s… nice.”
“Boring!”
His opinion makes me chuckle further as I pull a chocolate from my inventory and get back to reading. Boring it is. I could do with boring.
“As can be seen from control group three, it is clear that Elemental Affinities are the most ‘base’ form of powers. The individuals who have Elemental Affinities have been gifted powers to wield forces directly, without the intervention of the System itself. As experiments in both the Forbidden Zone and outside System-activated locations have shown, there is no loss of Elemental Affinity abilities in both locations.
This result would further explain the Technocrats’ obsession with such individuals and known criminal kidnapping, experimentation, and enslavement. Their actions in the Second Elemental War have resulted in the reduction of individuals with this power in the general sphere and the introduction of Spirits, Elementals, and other contracted eternal powers. (See Rum & Kol’s Treatise on the Second Elemental War for further discussion).”
I pause for a second, putting a finger on the book, and look up. I stare at the floating Spirit. Ali never speaks about his past. About why he has a Contract with the System directly, or what that means. Of who, or what, he actually is. I know what he looks like, what he says, is drawn in many ways from my mind. Formed, as he said, when our Contract was formed. But it says nothing about what the man is. There are depths to the tiny Spirit that have yet to be explored.
When Ali looks up, a frown on his goateed face, I flash him a tight frown before turning back to my book. For now, all I need to know is that he’s a friend.
“For our purposes, it is sufficient to understand that Elemental Affinities are the base. Spells are pre-System attempts at achieving the same affinities by those without the gift. Spells must use Mana as their catalyst in an attempt to replicate the actual functions an individual with Elemental Affinity is able to achieve by will alone.
However, it is clear that Spells are cumbersome and often, in the older variants, inefficient methods of replicating such effects. As an example, the original Flame Bolt spell requires triple the Mana cost of a Flame Bolt Skill and takes approximately two and a half times longer to cast. And, as we know, the Flame Bolt spell only requires a small number of calculations and formulae answers.
This leads us to the third variation on Elemental Affinities—Skills. Class Skills are, without doubt, System-generated aspects. There have been no records of Class Skills existing outside of the System. Furthermore, all Class Skills are not active in non-System-activated space, unlike manually studied spells. Even System-learned spells are useable outside of System space, though at increased cost (see W-12-A for 18888 Experiments in Mana use outside of System Space).
Skills are thus concluded to be the System’s method of replicating Elemental Affinities. It is further believed by this research that…”
I exhale, shutting my eyes as my mind is barraged by a sudden deluge of Quest updates. I twitch, shutting them down as fast as they arrive, though a part of me wonders about the sudden increase. Interesting as Elemental Affinities are, and it is interesting, I’m not entirely sure why it’s suddenly so important to the System.
But there’s only one way to tell. I pick the book up again, focusing.
Days later, I walk into the hotel suite, moving around the armed and armored individuals in the room by instinct. I dodge the casual swipe of a polearm and snag a can of proverbial green juice and a sandwich as I head for my room. My increased Constitution might make sleeping a minor thing for me, but I’ve been up for days on end. Only the sudden thrust of the naginata’s blade stops me, taking my attention away from the book I’ve still got open.
“What?” I say grouchily.
“It’s been a week,” Mikito says. “You haven’t come back or answered your messages in the last few days. You obviously haven’t even changed your clothing. You just left us to handle everything alone.”
“Uh, everyone’s alive, right?” I turn to stare at Mikito and my eyes narrow slightly, running over her combat-armored form, then move to the pair of armed humans in the suite. Their faces and names take a moment before they slot into place. Both are members of Katherine’s security services. “Problem?”
“No,” Joe, the short and bald fellow, says, his dusky skin mostly hidden under his armored jumpsuit. “We’re hitting a dungeon today.”
“Oh good. Have fun.” At Mikito’s growl, I raise an eyebrow.
“You didn’t read Katherine
’s message, did you?” Mikito says accusingly.
“Message?”
“Aaargh! No wonder Lana told me…” Mikito mutters the last bit, but I hear it clearly. My eyes narrow, but the little Japanese woman glares right back at me. “Katherine told us we have to find a new place in ten days.”
“Oh. I’ll get right on that.”
“The message was sent a week ago. When we arrived,” Mikito says, stressing the last bit. “She forwarded it to me the next day when she realized you hadn’t opened it.”
“Oh. Ohh…” I blink, realizing we have less than three days left. Four if you include today. “Damn.”
“Exactly.” Mikito sighs. “I’m running a dungeon today. We need to increase the security personnel’s Levels and earn some Credits. Harry’s doing the research you were supposed to follow up on about finding us a place to rent. But all the places he can find require a one-year non-refundable deposit.”
“One year!” I yelped. Recalling how much the rent was from what Ali mentioned, that amount is insane. “How are we going to make that much?”
“Dun. Geon,” Ali intones then floats over to smack me on top of the head. “Like what you were supposed to be doing.”
“Really?” I whine slightly and get another smack from Ali. It obviously doesn’t hurt, which is why I’m allowing it for now, though I glare at the Spirit to warn him against trying again. “Fine. I’ll… umm…”
“Figure out a guild to join today. After you rest,” Mikito says, pointing her naginata at me. “Then do research on which dungeon we should hit and what quests we can get.”
“Right, right.” I bob my head in acknowledgement as the Samurai waves out her entourage.
The guards have great poker faces, barely letting anything escape. Too bad I’ve got my Eye of Insight so I can easily see their amusement and fear. Amusement at me. Fear of Mikito. Once they’re gone, I sigh and scratch my head.
