It had been an interesting two days for Aidan since he was left in the store building to take care of himself. Throughout it all, Nina hadn't returned once, so Aidan took it upon himself to learn everything there was to know about this town, the country–pretty much everything he could get his hands on.
The library visits were enlightening, to say the least. He visited enough that he actually learned how to read the Common language, which is typically formed to meet on common ground between the races and different countries.
From those visits, he ascertained how the system worked. It was available to everybody, regardless of age, though it was possible that the different races had a different take on the system, such as having different stats or even an entirely different pool of energy.
He wasn't that surprised about a fantasy world having different races, but hearing about how a group of dwarves personally mined through the mountains several decades ago to create the city known as Forontia today was definitely interesting. And how there was a war a while back where the humans and dwarves fought each other for supremacy over the mining rights within the city and that got the humans to basically steal the city from the dwarves.
So the reason why this city is human centered made a lot of sense when you bring in how the city was acquired.
Back to the system, he learned a lot about classes as well, such as how one can gain a class at level 5 and choose abilities based on whatever the class dealt with. Aidan studied up on what classes can be learned. Apparently one can gain a Class depending on every kind of role you can think of, such as Warrior, Thief, Mage, Archer. Classes like Healer, however, are reserved to those who work in the church, and only by joining them can you learn the secrets to be a healer.
And just like how everyone referred to the Healer class as part of the church, people also have their own opinions on other classes.
From what he learned, a lot of people would look down on those who pick the Thief Class as that Class had a lot of controversial abilities that can be a problem for the people around them.
That didn't mean that the class was useless. But he knew that even with the pass that allowed him to live here comfortably, having that kind of class wasn't worth it.
Throughout his little jaunt through the town, he realized that his talent was a lot more than he bargained for. Typically people wouldn't be able to learn spells or skills before attaining a Class, as the Class is the major point in one's life when the system provides a sort of guideline to the users on how to use the system.
However, his talent changed that. What it did was provide a guideline for Aidan to learn specific spells and skills tailored to his talent, and according to a glossary of well-known talents and their effects, his talent stood out as a high quality level talent.
Because it helped him understand a specific affinity that connects to everything.
Most users have their own affinity that plays with how they understand magic. One doesn't always need to choose Mage to learn magic, for example. They just need to study the flow of mana within their bodies through using their natural affinity. So if one person learned that he had fire affinity and practiced with fire, they could slowly learn how to cast spells related to fire.
There were already plenty of research materials of mages practicing with fire, water, earth, and air–the natural four elements. There were also other different types of affinities, but no matter how much he looked into it, Aidan couldn't find anything related to the Path of Harmony.
In other words, he was on his own discovering new types of spells to use with his specific affinity.
Skills are gained from natural learning, which also includes how one interacts with their natural affinity. He also learned that the spells, skills, and abilities all have a set of ranks that dictate how strong they are or how much the user understands them.
From lowest to highest, there's copper, bronze, iron, steel, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, mythril, adamantium, orichalcum, and finally Dragonite.
Equipment and other items also follow their own ranking system outside of the skills and spells, which follows the usual pattern of inferior, common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, and mythic items.
Needless to say, barely anyone ever heard of mythic rarity items, and most common people only ever see as high as Uncommon rarity items in their entire lifetimes. Rare items and above are those that were found typically by adventurers and explorers in unexplored regions of the land, which also included dungeons and other areas filled with monsters. The forest that Aidan landed in was also considered one of those monster-infested areas that could contain treasures if one had the abilities for it.
The more he learned about the world, the more he realized how game-like it was, yet also how it wasn’t. He mistook a history book for a fantasy novel once or twice, and it had definitely been a confusing time when he would stumble into different genres in the library.
That wasn’t all that he did, though. He would sometimes go out into the city and just travel around, surveying the lay of the land while talking to one or the other about general stuff. He had a good feel of the city, and so far the district he lived in was a pretty decent place to live, if you excuse some of the minor crimes that often plague the area.
Of course he would also went invisible and basically spied on a few conversations going on between the citizens, gathering some more intel about the interesting things going on in the town.
Plenty of nasty stuff like corruption, bribery, and some scuffles between the different gangs were some of the things he noticed from the rants and complaints the citizens had. He felt bad for some of them, losing some of their valuables from running into a gang member of the notorious Red Riot. Some even lost their lives when faced with either the Stained Brotherhood or the worst of the bunch, the Chainlords. Rather than just killing them, they would kidnap them to be slaves for profit.
These names were totally out there, but the chance of running into either the Chainlords or the Stained Brotherhood was low as they typically had lower numbers and were spread out everywhere, leading Red Riot to have the biggest gang by far with the most coverage.
But this was something that even some of the ordinary citizens were talking about, which meant that this was just ordinary information. He tried not to be careless around others with a higher level than his own, as he sometimes got found out by someone who was at a higher level than him.
Thankfully he managed to get away before the higher-leveled person managed to figure something out, proving what he read that the overall level of a person dictates the true level of power, not just their stats or rankings of the spell or skill. But he did manage to get away, meaning that just having a higher level wasn’t everything.
Right now he was at his store, sitting at his table while taking a bite of the kebab he snatched up from one of the booths during his invisible outings. At first, he grew increasingly guilty when he stole to make do, but as time passed, it became a smaller and smaller needling feeling that soon became overwhelmed by the need to eat and to avoid starvation. He was currently writing down all of the things he learned in a journal he also picked up from somewhere, using a pencil-like tool to write his thoughts on the matter.
He needed to have some sort of outlet while he waited for Nina to become a store clerk. It was decided that he would be working in the Raining Treasures that was to open up soon. He even did his due diligence to spread around that the store would open up soon, getting some of the people’s attention and giving them the directions to the store when it would open. Hopefully that way when the store finally opened up, he could have some available customers to get started in a good position.
Throughout all this, he looked up at his status page, seeing the new notifications that came up throughout the two days.
You have gained a title!
“Bookworm”
You read a lot of books in a short time! What could be more important than the ability to learn?
+1 Intellect
+1 Wisdom
…..
You have gained a title!
“Street Rat”
You stole your first ever item! Not exactly something to be proud of, but hey, whatever pays the bills.
+1 Dexterity
…..
You have gained a title!
“Ghostly Shifter”
You managed to skulk around without anyone noticing you for days. Bet you must be fun to be around at parties, eh?
+1 Perception
+1 Speed
+1 Dexterity
…..
You have gained a title!
“Smartass I”
You raised your Intelligence attribute to 10. A great achievement!
+1 Intelligence
…..
Spell Upgraded! Vanish (Copper) became Vanish (Iron)!
…..
Skill Upgraded! Sense Vibrations (Iron) became Sense Vibrations (Steel)!
…..
Skill Upgraded! Humanoid Tongue (Copper) became Humanoid Tongue (Bronze)!
…..
Skill Upgraded! Soul Meditation (Copper) became Soul Meditation (Bronze)!
…..
Skill Upgraded! Stealth (Copper) became Stealth (Iron)!
Throughout his adventures into the city, he had upgraded most of his skills and advanced them to another rank. So far his highest skill was Sense Vibrations, which helped him understand the world around him through his own special eyes that see through the fabric of reality.
It was still a little messy sometimes, but he could practically feel his way around a place without batting an eye, and he swore that he would never get lost unless something messed with his senses, which he doubted considering how unknown harmony was to the world. He can practically tell the layout of the town like it was the back of his hand, an incredibly useful skill to have when traversing a new world.
He also wanted to practice more with Craft during the two days, but even though he stole a few minor things like food and waterskins to drink from, he still didn’t feel comfortable outright stealing valuables from the people around him. Instead he mostly focused on crafting the items that were already inside of the building, such as the stuff in the basement below him. Though he experimented with a few things, making new items from the crap he found in the basement, it still wasn’t enough to warrant a rank increase. He didn’t know how long until the rank increased either as there was no progress bar for that type of thing, just like his level.
He also knew that experimenting with his skills and spells didn’t warrant leveling either, as he was still level 3. The only way to gain experience points to level was to kill other creatures emitting lifeforce like himself, or to create new items out of base materials. That was how most crafters gain levels when fighting is off the menu.
Unfortunately the crap he found in the basement wasn’t suitable enough for his Craft spell to level, nor decent enough to gain experience points from. He needed actual materials, such as ingots for metal-based creations or even monster materials like the horned wolves he used to make his clothing. For now, he had no other choice but to wait on Nina to arrive with said materials.
And speaking of the devil, someone knocked on the entrance door to the storefront. His heart hammered against his chest at the idea of Nina somehow figuring out that he broke the contract and making things more dangerous for himself, but he kept checking his status page to see that the title ‘Contract Breaker’ was nowhere to be seen. He also considered if perhaps he needed to Vanish his title ‘Street Rat’, but decided to leave that in. He had a feeling that she was going to ask exactly how he managed to feed himself without any money, and he didn’t want to show his hand early as to how he managed to avoid doing actions that would otherwise save his life.
He approached the door, looking down at himself to find that he wore a normal shirt, pants, and shoes that he still had when he first crafted them, and opened the door. There he found his landlord and supposed master Nina, her hood hiding her appearance but not her sweet smile.
“Hello again, Aidan,” Nina said, her voice sweet as honey as he last remembered. “I see you got some new things added since the last time we saw each other.”
He hated how that made him think that she instantly found out about his “Contract Breaker”, but he had to remember that her talent allowed her to see everything his status showed, including his new spells and skills he learned and upgraded.
“You know, it’s really creepy when you can just see through me like that,” Aidan said, his voice dripping in sarcasm as he let her in.
He had to show her that he wasn’t afraid of her, but he also needed to show that he understood his place. At least that’s how he’d let her see it, considering that she can’t exactly order him around anymore. But he still needed her support, and as long as she knew she had the upper hand on his life, she’d continue to provide that support as long as it’s to her benefit.
Nina stepped in, surprising Aidan when nothing else showed up behind her. She didn’t carry what looked like a lot of crates that she said she was gonna bring to supply the new store that would be born.
“I heard rumors about you spreading the store’s name to other people. That’s good for you to take some initiative.”
“You didn’t exactly leave me with anything else to do,” Aidan said, trying to stave off from enjoying the praise. He knew she was full of it, anyway.
“And yet, you managed to learn quite a lot of things. I figured a spirit like you would’ve figured out a way to get around others’ views. I’m so very glad to have you under my wing, because that ‘Vanish’ spell of yours sounds incredibly useful. Can you make other things disappear, not just yourself?”
He wanted to frown at that, but he kept his face neutral. The way she dug around for secrets made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn’t know whether answering questions is a part of following her orders to the contract. Making sure not to give away on his deception, he answered her the best he could.
“...I tried, but it’s difficult,” Aidan admitted. He probably could do that, considering he made his Contract Breaker title disappear from his title list. Seeing how Nina didn’t even connect the two together proved that his troubling title didn’t show at all. “And there’s a time limit.”
Just to be safe, he kept experimenting on how many times he could make things from his status page disappear, but so far there really wasn’t a time limit. His Contract Breaker title was basically gone from his title list. He tried to see if he could make other parts of his status disappear, which they did, but made sure to keep everything visible when Nina arrived. Thankfully this meant that he no longer had to hide behind a false identity and his pass was next to useless if he can just make his troublesome titles disappear, like ‘Kinslayer’ and ‘Street Rat’.
For now, he wanted to step away from his conversation as questions filled his mind.
“What about the stuff you said you’ll bring? I don’t exactly see anyone coming in to bring supplies.”
“I already brought the supplies. Hold on.”
Like a certain Mary Poppins, Nina opened up her coat, her hood down to display her beautiful face once more, and seemingly rummaged about in a little pack beside her hip. Then in the next second, a large crate just landed on the ground, creating a thud that made Aidan flinch in response.
“Son of a–!”
He nearly cursed when Nina kept bringing out wooden crate after wooden crate, some filled with various items ranging from simple kitchen utensils to other metal-based tools to actual armory and weaponry, like chainmail and actual swords and axes. About eight crates appeared out of thin air from wherever the hell she pulled them from before she stopped, letting out a satisfied breath.
“Here you go. Make sure to set up everything and make the storefront look pretty. I want you to open the shop up bright and early tomorrow.”
“Y-You want me to set up everything by myself?” Aidan complained, seeing the large crates and the even longer list of items he needed to prepare and set up. “It’s gonna take forever!”
“Well then, it’s a shame that you didn’t put your points into Might or Endurance,” Nina said. “I’m exhausted and I’m going to sleep for a while. Make sure not to wake me up throughout it all.”
“Wait wait, before you go,” Aidan said, not able to hold back any longer. “What the hell did you use to bring so many of these out?”
“It’s a spatial storage bag,” Nina explained, her eyes bidding tears as she let out a yawn, proving that she was indeed exhausted. “A nifty thing. It’s also extremely valuable for a good reason. Now then, I’ll be off. Don’t try to break things while I’m out.”
Nina said as she just left Aidan before heading upstairs to possibly one of the guest rooms above. Aidan wanted to curse her out, but he kept his cool as he remembered that he wasn’t entirely under her control.
Still, he had to keep following her orders to not rouse her suspicions. So he went and did as she asked, wishing that he had leveled up at least once to put some points into Might as the crates were indeed heavy as hell, really making him wonder just how strong Nina was, or at least how high her Strength attribute really is.
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