System Change

Derek walked the long road from Torith’s gate entrance to the Adventurer’s Guild, taking in the scenery along the way. He was not in a rush, he still had plenty of time before lunch. The difference in quality of the buildings and the way people lived in the first district versus those in the merchant and noble districts never ceased to amaze him.

Every city had its slums and rougher areas, but none from his previous life on Earth had ever been as divided as to what he saw here. All that he could think was that the living conditions must be very heavily enforced.

Finally, after strolling through the ‘commoner’ district of the city, he made it back to the Adventurer’s Guild. I really hope he was able to confirm that we drove… killed… those bandits on the way from the village. Maybe I should have picked up another mission to complete along with the other… Well, hindsight’s 20-20.

Derek opened the giant double doors of the guild and took a step inside. I feel like I’m in a Western walking through double doors like this. He glanced at the doors that swung shut. If only they kept swinging.

Once again, he walked over to the counter on the far left. Nia was standing there with a beaming smile.

“Derek! I was told you left for a mission near the mountains yesterday. Did you forget something?” She asked.

Derek chuckled. “Nope. Actually, I’m here because I hunted the Fengs and need to turn the mission in. I also need to talk to Francesco and see about another mission… Along with other things.”

Nia stared at Derek for a while before finally coming to her senses. “Oh… I see. You must have already hunted some of the beasts before and decided to turn them in instead. That’s fine too.” She smiled.

Derek smiled back. “Wrong again.” He laughed. “I’m just pretty fast. Not to mention that it didn’t take much time at all to find the mushrooms.” He lied. Finding the monsters had taken the majority of the hour that it took to hunt all 15 of them. “I would go turn the mission in at the counter over there.” He pointed to one of the counters on his right. “But I need to talk to the guild manager, so I figured I’d knock both things out at once.”

Nia looked at Derek like he was crazy. Then looked down at his temporary gold badge and seemed to come to terms with it. “Please, have a seat. I’ll inform Mr. Jaccobs of your arrival and he’ll be with you shortly.”

Derek stayed standing instead of having a seat. If the previous day was any indication, the man would not keep him waiting long. In fact, not two minutes after Nia left, she came back, trailing behind Francesco.

“Mr. Hunt.” Francesco said, offering his hand in greeting. “Nia tells me you have already completed your mission. That’s great!.”

“Indeed.” Derek nodded.

“Please, follow me to the back and let’s get you taken care of.” Francesco motioned Derek to the door.

“Lead the way.”

Inside the meeting room, the two were sitting at a table. “You have the corpses on you?” The manager asked.

“Of course.” Derek flicked his hand, and one of the Poison Fengs appeared.

Francesco nodded. “Good. Leave them and the mission here with me when you leave.” He grabbed one of the binders laying on the table and flipped through some pages before stopping. Then, he made some marks on the page. “Alright, I have marked the mission as complete for you.”

Then Francesco pulled two gold coins from his storage ring. “Here are the rewards for the mission. Normally, it would be less, but since it was quite the distance and close to a dangerous zone, the reward is bigger.”

Derek inwardly laughed at the small amount. “What about the other mission? Did you have a chance to check on everything while I was gone?” He asked.

Francesco nodded. “Of course. I sent some runners and found two of the people your group saved, and I personally paid a visit to Captain Bronson. After some discussion, I have determined that the bandit camp that your group stumbled onto was indeed the one from the mission.

“Since Bronson was the only person registered to the guild at the time, I have put him down as team lead, and you as a member. As for the young boy that traveled with you, if he registers at the guild in the future, he will have a completed mission waiting for him.” Francesco then summoned 20 silver and put it on the table in front of Derek. “As this mission was closer and not deemed to be much of a threat to a team of Silver Ranked adventurers, and the split between three team members, the pay is not as grand.”

Derek did not join the Adventurer’s Guild to make money, but after seeing the rewards, he checked it off of the list as a fast way to make money. Still, he took the silver and put it away.

“With that…” Francesco pulled a badge out of his ring. “You have completed your two silver trial missions and I can officially make you a Gold Ranked member of the Adventurer’s Guild.” He placed the badge in front of Derek, then summoned a book out of his ring. “Now, I just need to update the member list.” He jotted down something in the book. “Done, it is official. Please return your temporary badge.”

Derek handed the manager his temporary badge, and the man stored it.

“Now, please inject some of your mana into the badge for activation.” Francesco said.

Derek did as told, and a notification appeared.

Would you like to bind ‘Adventurer’s Badge: Gold’ to you?

Y/N

Derek focused his mind on yes.

‘Adventurer’s Badge: Gold’ has been bound.

“Now, it doesn’t do much, but when picking up or completing missions, you will be asked to provide your badge. It will be tested to make sure you are its owner and that it is an official badge of the guild.” Francesco continued.

“Also, you are the only person that can activate the badge. It will slightly glow when you inject your mana. There is no tracing or listening spell on the badge, so you don’t have to worry about your privacy. If you are skeptical, you can have it tested. If you lose the badge, it will cost 10 gold coins to be replaced, so it is best that you keep an eye on it.

“Do you have any questions for me about the badge?” The manager asked.

Derek shook his head. “Nope, that’s it.” Derek stood and walked over to an empty corner. He dropped the 15 Poison Feng corpses onto the ground. “I guess this will do?”

Francesco winced. “That’s fine. Don’t worry about the cleanup.”

“Thanks. I will see myself out if there isn’t anything else.” Derek said and Francesco nodded. “See you around.” Derek walked out of the room.

Francesco walked over to the pile of corpses, putting a glove on his right hand in the process. “I should have told him to take them to the completion counter to get a hang of what it’s like to complete a mission.” He sighed, placing corpse after corpse into his storage ring.

Derek walked back into the front of the building. Nia was waiting behind her counter, reading a book. “Slow day?” He asked from behind, causing the woman to jump and let out a light cry.

Embarrassed, she replied, “Few people have not already registered for the guild, so there’s a lot of downtime. I mostly deal with kids who have just unlocked The Great System. Other than that, I help at the other counter when things get busy or Mr. Jaccobs if he needs help.

“Most of the time I’m just here all day with nothing to do. But, the pay’s good and I don’t have to risk my life. Plus, I get to read as I like. It’s a win-win.” Nia explained.

“Oh? What’re you reading?” Derek leaned forward to get a look at the book.

Nia quickly hid the book behind her back and brought a hand to her cheek before stammering. “N-nothing you would like.” Calming down, she looked at the badge he had pinned on his shirt. “I see everything went well for you.”

Derek nodded. “Yup.” He was still wondering what kind of book the woman had been reading, but decided to leave it alone. He did not want to embarrass the poor girl any further. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around more often. Enjoy your book.” He winked at her. Okay, now I’m done embarrassing her. “I’ll see you later. I have some more business to take care of. Have a great day.” He left the guild, leaving Nia standing like a statue with her book clutched behind her in her hand.

Okay… Got my guild badge. Now I need to pop in and see how Stella’s doing, then I need to have a chat with Thomas. Derek walked up to the gate separating the lower district from the middle and waved at one of the guards. The gate opened immediately. I wonder if they all know who I am already, or if it’s the gold badge…

He did not think too much about it, and walked through the gate. I wonder if I’ll get the same treatment going from the merchant district to the noble district. He began his trek to the Crown, all the while thinking. They really need to get some carts and buggies, or taxis or something. Maybe I’ll create a bicycle taxi next...

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