Chapter 414 - Duncan

Duncan puts away the items I bought for him according to his requirements and turns back to me. We sit opposite each other with a table in between us. It's a small but cozy-looking restaurant-like place owned by one of the locals.

The prices are scarily high, so I just order the cheapest drink and take some food from my bag and nom on it while we wait for Duncan's order.

“Damn, I haven't eaten for a day,” he says in between bites he takes of some meat that I fail to identify. Turning to me, he asks, “What's your name?”

“Can you pick a name to register in rankings here?” I ask instead.

“Nope, the system will use the name you picked for the Community.”

“In that case, it's Noname. By the way, why are there aliases for the Community? Is there a reason to hide your real name?”

“You don't have to if you don't want to, but some people prefer to hide it, and the system just gave out that option. Your world is already changing, and it will change more after the tutorial, so it's often not even that useful.” Duncan shrugs and takes another bite.

I ask while he chews, “You said the world will change, tell me more.”

“I can say just a little bit because of censorship. You know about the 1st generation?” He watches my reaction and continues before I answer, “Good, you seem to know about it, and the system didn't censor it, so I can tell you a bit.”

He talks with a full mouth and even calls the waiter to order more.

Turning back to me, he explains, “There are 10 rounds of the tutorial. Each round gets 2 thousand people in Easy, 1 thousand in Normal, 500 in Hard, and 250 in Hell, and also at most 10 can then enter Beyond. You guys will be the First Generation of your planet with access to the system. While you are gone, your world is awakening, and there will be changes. The changes are very individual, and I don't know about your planet. When you return back and the first person of the First Generation steps back onto the surface of your planet, the system will awaken for the others. I don't think I will be able to say more.”

“Got it. About Beyond…”

He lifts his finger, “This kind of information is even more restricted and expensive, and your handler probably told you most of what I can.”

“I was curious about rankings, guilds, trading, dungeon, surface, and similar stuff.”

“Huh, your handler didn't tell you? Who did you get? How do they look like?”

“Humanoid, a woman. Pale skin, black hair with bits of red mixed in it. Pale brown eyes. Wearing all gray clothes.”

“I haven't heard of her. But it's not like I know every handler there is. I could answer these questions, so what would you like to know first?”

“Guilds.”

“Got it! Guild rankings are one of the constantly updated rankings. Before you ask, there are rankings that refresh constantly and some that stay. For example, guild rankings update once a year according to the performance of guilds. Currently, the first one is Bloodline, they are one of the oldest guilds, probably a few hundred years old? Some say they are even older. They have rules set and passed and always find a powerful Beyonder to lead it for their duration of the tutorial, and before they leave, they find a good replacement. That has been going on for a long time.”

I lean closer, carefully listening to what Duncan says, and when he finishes the sentence, I ask, “Is there any sense in joining guilds or keeping them up for so long?”

“There are some advantages to being in a guild and even more if it's highly placed. From what I know, they are also often used to create relationships that could continue even after the tutorial. If you want, I can go deeper into this, but I will ask for another epic item.”

“This much should be enough for now,” I refuse quickly. What is this guy? A third stage of Greed sub class, Master of Greed?

Actually, could he be?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Duncan asks, confused.

“Nothing, so what about other guilds in the top 5?”

“Primordial Knights some say are even older than Bloodline. You need to have primordial energy to join. Lately, they went through some troubles, and in the past hundred or so years, they gradually lost their 1st spot and will probably drop out of the top 5 the next time the rank resets. Where Primordial Knights look for primordial energies, Bloodline cares more about powerful traits. I would like to point out how rare it is for a guild to stay at top of the rankings for so long. Just imagine hundreds of guild leaders that must have worked hard to keep them there. Bloodline and Primordial Knights are only two I know about of the top ten. Frontier are rising stars that focus on exploring dungeons and the surface. Crimson Forge got three amazing crafters as of late, Eldrin, Isolde, and Silverweave, so they jumped a lot. No one knows where these three came from. The last one in the top 5 is Astral Brotherhood, and their guild master mostly used Beyond to create alliances and to reel in powerful people. He is very rich too.”

I make sure to remember most of the things he said.

My unreliable handler can go and get stuck at that place where I met her.

Explore on your own and enjoy the adventure, she said. Where the hell is the adventure in paying for information?

“I want to ask more about some guilds, is that possible within my limit?”

“You are surprisingly polite for a rookie, usually they are cockier after clearing the 3rd trial,” Duncan smiles. “But sorry, I already said a lot, and I don't want to go into details. I can say that you can learn more from guild branches, and once in a while they have tests or use other ways to accept new members. Any guild within the top 10 would be great to join because of bonuses, but I personally don't know much about them and they are extremely picky so there is a low chance to get in. Anything out of top ten and until top fifty could also be a good choice, but some can be very… well… predatory.”

“Got it.” Well, it's not too big a problem.

The question is if I want to make my own guild or join an already existing one. Would a guild try to restrict my freedom? If yes, would it be worth it in exchange for the bonuses I get? What are these bonuses?

“What do you need to create a guild?”

“I think it's currently 10 thousand shards for a few people, and the price goes up the more members you want to have in your guild. There are also some requirements for the guild master, but I don't know. Listen, Noname, I need to deliver another item. Would you mind if I go? We can meet back here in two hours and continue. I still owe you some answers.”

Looking at him, he doesn't seem like a scamming type. Well, if he is I will find him.

“Works for me, so in two hours?”

Duncan seems a bit surprised at first but then smiles brightly, “Thanks. I will hurry up!”

He then takes the rest of the food with him and after checking some items, rushes away.

Sitting in the place, I watch Beyonders move around and wonder, is there anyone keeping order? I expected it to be more cutthroat, but so far I haven't seen any fighting, which could mean there are consequences for them. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it.

I also decide the next time I see my handler, I will try to steal some stuff from that table. She gave me just a few small pieces of advice and I don't even know how useful they are. Don't go to the surface, don't go into the dungeon, don't join guilds.

Sure, mom.

Even though I'm nowhere near the top of the pack here, I don't think I'm weak either, and my curiosity is already killing me.

Just a short expedition should be fine. I can even try to find one that starts just before my Stay token wears off and I will get sent back to the 6th floor in the middle of it.

A familiar sight grabs my interest and I look to the left. There, surrounded by a group of people, I see a man with a crown floating over his head. His crown is yellow in color and its edges move lazily like flames.

More than before, I want to send my senses to it, to examine it and to learn more about it. Maybe I could go to the guy and ask, and if he refuses while being a huge dick about it, I can beat him up slightly and ask afterwards. There is no need to hurt him too much, just a surface wound or something.

Maybe I could even provoke him to make him attack... I pause my train of thought and force myself to keep sitting in my spot. I guess this is why Tess had so much more success dealing with Miwa and other people in my stead.

Patience, I need a bit more patience and to channel my inner Savant. Not too much, though, I wouldn't want to start forfeiting.

I'm still new here and don't know the rules. People here can't be underestimated, and if I ended up killed by some weakling's more powerful older brother, it would be truly shameful. So, I watch as the man with the crown leaves.

Another person catching my interest is a beautiful woman with blonde hair that barely reaches her shoulders. She is wearing simple armor and has a sleek bow with a string made of mana. Her eyes are dark green.

What catches most of my interest is neither of these things. It is the mantle that she is wearing, if you could call it that. The mantle is made out of mana or similar material and moves as if it's alive or an unpredictable wind blows into it. The mantle is pale blue with a gradient, darker at the top. It also looks like tiny purple stars shine inside of it. Some are bigger, others smaller, and some are of darker purple while others are of lighter color.

Out of everyone I saw here, I'm sure she is the strongest by far. It's to the point it feels odd she is even here, and people around reacting to her seem to be of similar opinion. It's as if a noble knight decided to visit a tiny rural village that barely sees any travelers.

But that mantle of hers, is it a similar kind of skill as the crown? Could it be that there are some "equipment" types of skills? Could there be a skill called fire sword or something similar?

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised, and I would even welcome it. I will always prefer my own power over equipment that could be taken away, and my [Mana Crown] and [Regalia] confirm this sentiment.

She must have sensed my gaze, as her eyes turn to where I sit and I meet them.

As quickly as she finds my gaze, she looks away. I'm immediately judged as no danger and neither too interesting to stay on longer.

Just that single interaction irks me surprisingly a lot, and with amusement, I observe my own feelings. It's fun to do it now that I don't use [Focus] to weaken them.

A cheeky little thing, present Nathaniel is angry he isn't the top dog in the room, and that also means he isn't safe - left to the mercy of more powerful people. He wants to activate his trait, release his mana and skills, and he wants to fight these people.

There will be time for that, no worries. Just a few years and we will see what we can do about the rankings.

***

An hour later, Duncan returns totally breathless and with sweat on his face.

"Sorry, Noname! I tried to hurry as much as I could. You know, the man has to make his living and I need to save up for something. I hope you didn't wait for too long."

"It's fine."

He is here half an hour earlier than he said, and in that time, I haven't been annoyed by waiting not even once. Just watching passersby made it fun. Observing people here, their equipment, bearing, size of group, I have learned something as well.

And Duncan, bless that guy, orders a drink and thirstily drinks it all, clearly tired as he tried to hurry as much as possible. It almost makes me feel bad for the tiny anchor I left on him so I could track him in case he tried to scam me.

"I still have a lot of questions, but the most important one is: Do you know about any expedition to the dungeon that will happen in around 2-3 days?" I ask when he is done drinking.

There is no way I will waste a 3-day long Stay token just to sit around and collect information.

***

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