4/13/200th Year of the 5th Era
Neverwinter
As soon as George and Miu woke up from their nap they noticed that the pawn guild was very lively despite how late it was and sure enough they went to the front desk and talked to the lady behind the desk as George and Miu are refreshed and ready to truly learn about the situation they are in. George specifically took notice of the secretary style uniform with an old Victorian twist that the woman was wearing and how flattering it looked on her.
"Excuse me ma'am but my sister and I are looking to join the guild and also we never caught your name." George said as he tried to play it cool.
"My name is Taiyana although most people just call me guild girl for some reason and if you're looking to join the guild you'll have to sign some paperwork. Although I have to ask how old are you two?" Taiyana asked as George looked back at Miu.
"Were orphaned teens. Is that a problem?" George asked honestly as she shook her head.
"No but…Young one's like you don't tend to last long as Adventurers. Are you sure you wouldn't want to go to an academy or find some other line of work that is safer for you both?" Taiyana asked with clear concern in her voice.
"You don't have to worry about us." Miu said firmly as George smiled in agreement.
"We can handle it." George said as Taiyana sighed before giving them both stacks of papers and things to write with before both teens sat at a table and completely ignored all the stares they got along with the whispers.
"These questions are written in English but seem a bit older in format. Civil war era writing to be sure." George said calmly as he was carefully writing with a feather and ink well like his sister.
"No doubt. But the questions themselves are similar to job interviewing questions." Miu commented as both teens didn't spend much time with the questions and quickly handed the papers, feathers and ink wells back to Taiyana who looked at them with a surprised expression.
"That was fast. Normally orphans have to ask for help answering the questions or even reading them." Taiyana said to them while the both of them just shrugged in response.
"We are efficient if anything. So, are we in the guild now?" George asked as Taiyana put the papers away.
"Well, the papers have been filled out and from the looks of them they are in proper order. So, both of you give me your hands." Taiyana said and both George and Miu extended their dominate hands as Taiyana took out what looked like two golf ball sized crystals that have barcodes all over them and shined with a bright blue light. Taiyana placed one crystal on the back of George's hand and the other on Miu's hand.
The crystals effortlessly got absorbed into their skin and on the back of their hands was a decent sized barcode.
"These are your Pawns Guild identification codes. These codes will identify you both as adventurers and in the case of a untimely death the codes can be retrieved from your bodies and information on your death can be used to place bounties on targets like powerful bandits or creatures." Taiyana explained as both George and Miu nodded their heads.
"Good to know. Now do you know how long the local library or bookstore stays open?" George asked as Taiyana looked at them with a slightly confused look.
"Well, the library is open all day and night excluding holidays and is run by several Warforged." Taiyana said before she gave the teens instructions to the library and soon enough both teens entered the 'Weeping Owl' library and saw that the place was fairly large and several Warforged were wandering around organizing books or cleaning.
The Warforged are automatons built from a mix of organic and inorganic materials but are in a humanoid form appearance wise and frankly they were very polite as George and Miu immediately went to work and grabbed stacks of books before sitting at a table and began studying book after book on every subject in this new world that they found themselves in.
Several hours had passed since they first entered, and it had gotten to the point that one of the Warforged beings checked up on the teens.
"Pardon the intrusion but you two have remained seated here for hours studying book after book in a seemingly random cycle. Do you require assistance of any kind?" The Warforged asked as both teens looked up from their books.
"No thanks. We are just studying." George said to the automaton.
"Once again I must apologize but what exactly are you studying?" The Warforged asked as Miu responded.
"Everything. World history, fairy tales, science, mathematics, yearly calendar, recent historical events, past wars, politics and the list goes on. Actually, you could help us by finding me the last book in the series called 'A Concrete Moon' please." Miu said to the Warforged as it left in search of the book.
"Your already on poetry? I'm still studying the recent war for new territory." George said with a nervous chuckle.
"Your slow big bro." Miu said bluntly as George sulked in his book for a moment.
"Whatever the case maybe we are at least figuring out the world we are in. The land of Eos is where Neverwinter is located, and the capital is ruled by queen Morgan Zeldi. Adventurers don't have long life spans due to how powerful monsters are and there is also the fact that magic is broken up into tiers and some people are born with bizarre abilities known as Traits which can grant a person random power and what not." George explained as he closed his book. "During the war between Eos and the Evolving Lands a sixth-tier magic casting monster delivered heavy casualties to both sides when their forces were at their most vulnerable."
"The Hydra known as Vall. He wasn't killed but was extremely wounded and left the battlefield soon after when a S-Ranked hero hit him with a sixth-tier spell of their own. The tiers are ranked from one to six, but the power scaling doesn't scale geometrically and instead scales logarithmically. The magic multiplies in strength based on each tier of power instead of simply stacking on top of each other like in other media of magic." Miu said as George reached over and rubbed his sister's head.
"Our stats say we have MP, but I have no clue on how to use magic. A lot of books on magic are mostly just theories and it seems like actual grimoires and magical texts are being horded by the mage's guild." George said as both teens sighed.
"I'm also curious about the save feature we've been given." Miu said before she focused and summoned up the very screen.
Would you like to create a [Manual Save]?
Would you like to [Load] a previously saved file?
"Yeah. That implies that we can save our progress and maybe turn back time and alter how we do things." George said before both of them hit the save option and created a new save file instead of overwriting the previous save from after they became adventurers.
"Save constantly and frequently. Games like Skyrim taught us that." Miu said as the Warforged quickly brough Miu the book she asked for.
"Were also getting a lot of information to fill out our Codex as well. This guide to the beasts of Eos was very helpful along with the guides to alchemy and wild plants and vegetation." George said as he patted the books in one of the stacks next to him.
"Were running into a bit of a loop though. We've been here for hours and enhanced our INT stat as well as unlocking new skills, but we aren't getting any other useful information outside of things we could learn in basic conversation. All that's left are fantasy stories, poems and other non-important material." Miu said bluntly as George leaned back in his seat.
"Yeah. We might have hit a dead end. It would have been more helpful if the mages guild wasn't hording all the magical tomes and whatnot." George said as he stood up and stretched a bit. "Job List." George said as he summoned up a list of jobs that he managed to unlock through his studies.
Job List!
Fighter-Level 1
Brawler-Level 1
Alchemist-Level 1
Thief-Level 1
End!
"Not a lot of jobs from just reading on certain material so maybe we need to do specific things to unlock more classes." George said as Miu nodded her head in agreement before both their stomachs rumbled a bit as they left the library and headed back to the pawn's guild and sat at a table alone.
"Excuse me but are you two really adventurers?" A guy asked as he walked up to their table as George and Miu looked the guy over for a moment.
He is an elf with pointed ears and fair skin as he also has shoulder length black hair and blue eyes with an athletic but still pretty slim frame as he is wearing shiny metallic armor as he also sports a long sword sheathed to his waist.
"Who's asking?" George asked as the elf smiled.
"I am Moz an elf warrior with a team at my side and we are currently looking to take you two on as teammates." Moz said as George and Miu both narrowed their eyes but didn't look at each other and instead closely examined this guy's attitude, appearance and armor.
"Really that's pretty nice. My sister and I are brand new to this whole adventuring thing and we could use a more experienced hand to guide us. Right Miu?" George asked as he turned to his sister who wore a bright smile on her face and nodded her head.
"Yup." Miu said back.
"Wonderful. Why don't I introduce you to the rest of the team." Moz said before George and Miu both stood up and followed Moz as a few eyes in the guild gave the two teens sad expressions thinking that they don't know what they are in for but George and Miu knew exactly what they were doing in this situation and continued to playthings out.
The skill [Acting] has levelled up! Level: 1-2-3!
Both teens ignored the identical skill alerts as they came up to the table and saw Moz's teammates. Ben a human thief and Rono a half-orc magic caster. Ben is wearing dark leather body armor with two knifes attached to his waist along with a belt of pouches across his chest while Rono is wearing a light blue cloak over brown robes with a grimoire satchel around her waist holding her magical book along with her wand as it was a long and thin stick with a red crystal at the tip of it.
Ben is a bit old with tanned skin and wrinkles with short grey hair on his head while Rono has light green skin with black hair done in shoulder length dreadlocks and seems to have a smile on her face.
"Hello there. Its nice to meet you all." George said with a warm smile on his face.
"Are you two really adventurers? You seem a bit young." Ben said bluntly as George chuckled.
"We just started, and we don't really have anything else we can do to earn coin." Miu said as Moz spoke up.
"These two are going to join our party. We could use the extra help." Moz said to his teammates who didn't seem to argue.
"Well, we've already got a difficult quest from the notice board. The usual monster slaying but it might be a bit much for these youngsters." Ben said with a chuckle of his own.
"Nonsense. I am positive that these two have real grit. I've got a good feeling about them. Now what is this quest?" Moz asked as Rono now decided to speak.
"It's a quest to slay a goblin camp. They've apparently got pushed to close to the territory by some powerful monster or something and are making camp nearby. We've just got to take them out." Rono said with a yawn.
"How many goblins are there?" George asked.
"Does it matter? Goblins are weaklings and cowards. They'll run away as soon as you flash some steel or a spell." Ben said as the group laughed at that but for George and Miu it started to confirm their suspicions.
"What about potions or healing items? Are you bringing any?" Miu asked.
"No. We used up the last of our healing supplies on our last adventure but again it won't be too difficult to deal with some pesky goblins." Moz said before he turned around to leave. "Let's stop wasting time and head out."
"What about getting me and my sister some adventuring equipment?" George asked.
"You and your sister are going to stay in the rear and avoid danger. Right now, all you have to do is learn." Moz said before the group started leaving as George and Miu now had all the information they needed about Moz and his group.
Soon enough they left Neverwinter and started walking towards the last sighting of the goblin camp as Miu constantly lagged behind to gather nearby herbs and plants.
"Why the hell are you picking up a bunch of plants?" Rono asked with some mild confusion as she looked back at Miu who stuffed the plants in her Inventory and luckily Miu telling them that she was born with that ability as a rare Trait proved to be a boon. Nobody questioned it and since they share an Inventory that means that neither of them has to worry about not sharing or something.
"I enjoy collecting flowers. I think their pretty." Miu said back as Rono, and the others didn't question it as George and Miu just continued moving with the group.
"We've been walking for a while. Why don't we take a break for a moment." Moz said as he sat down on the ground. "How are the waterskins?" Moz asked Ben who reached into his back pocket and showed a small satchel bag that he opened as he was able to push his entire hand in there and pull out five waterskins.
"Is that a bag of holding?" George asked.
"Smart kid. This bag can contain a limited number of items based on the strength of the enchantment. Also, we could use a refill on water. I accidentally brought the wine skins instead of water." Ben said with a nervous chuckle.
"George why don't you and your sister go refill our skins. There is a river in the nearby forest. The animal shouldn't bother you." Moz said as George and Miu picked up the waterskins.
"No problem." Both teens said before they headed off towards the nearby forest and only when they came up to the lake did, they decide to talk.
"This plan is stupid. If they wanted to engage in PVP they could have challenged us to a duel instead of trying to take us far away from Neverwinter." Miu said as they dumped the wine from all the waterskins onto the ground.
"Yeah, but that means that they plan to do more than just fight us. They are looking to either sell us or feed us to monsters or worse case would be trying to sell us to the goblins. If there are any." George said before Miu took out some of the herbs she gathered and started crushing them in her hands and mixing them together with some of her spit until she got the herbs into a good enough mix that she placed into each of the waterskins before they filled up the skins with water.
You have learned the 'Sleep Powder' recipe!
You have created an 'Extremely Lesser Sleep Poultice'!
"The plants around Neverwinter are used for things like sleeping potions or basic spices that can be traded after they are mixed together in a certain way. A real adventurer would know about that, but these people didn't have the faintiest idea. They are complete idiots." George said as they shook up the waterskins a bit to get the hastily made powder properly mixed into the water as the books they read had told them that these local herbs are tasteless and not used for much other than a weak sleep powder of spice creation so this wouldn't be much help at first glance.
However, what it would do was give George and Miu time to complete the next stage of their plan.
"Were back." George said as he and Miu put on their smiles and gave their 'teammates' the water that each of them easily drank without question.
"Nothing beats some fresh water on a hot day. Are you two sure you aren't going to drink any?" Moz asked as both teens shook their heads.
"Were fine." Miu said before they went back to heading towards the goblin hideout and sure enough after hiding behind several trees George and Miu saw a camp of goblins. Little green men and women wearing animal skins and bones as clothes and armor as well as having similarly crafted weapons.
"About time you got here." A voice said from behind them as the group stood up and turned around to see a black robed figure emerge from what looked like a circular red shaded portal of magic.
"Sorry kids but we might have lied to you a bit." Moz said as both George and Miu turned around to see Moz pointing his sword at them as Ben grabbed his daggers and Rono took out her wand.
"More sacrifices for my ambition. They seem weak though." The robbed figure said before the effects of the sleep poultice started kicking in as they suddenly started swaying back and forth.
"Next time you try to kidnap people or kill them. You should really make sure they are just as stupid as you are." George said with a smile before they all suddenly dropped onto the ground. The sleep poultice won't last long but it will give both teens more than enough time.
"Well, this is a new development. You two actually have brains instead of being the stupidly over trusting adventurers those fools usually bring me." The robbed figure said as if he was proud of them.
"We know how the world works. Anyway, what will it take for you to let us go and take these idiots in our place?" George asked boldly.
"You certainly don't waste time for someone in their formative years but why should I take them and not you when I can have all of you for myself?" The robbed figure asked.
"Because taking them is a better deal for you in the long run. Me and my sister are adventurers, and it won't take us long to reach the top of the guild ranks and it pays to have adventurers like that owing you a favor. These fools seemed a bit old and content with their ranks and never tried advancing from what I could see and frankly they deserve to be your playthings for trying to harm my cute little sister. So, in sort I'm saying we should make a deal. Cut us lose and we will owe you so long as the favor doesn't involve us sending random people to their death." George said as the robbed figure nodded his head with a hum and was actually being reasonable.
"That certainly puts my ambitions to a halt, but I understand your logic. Those idiots hardly did any work for the actual guild and spent more time bragging about being warriors to stupid villagers before leading them to me. So, I will accept your offer on the condition that you take the blessed ring from that elf's hand and give it to me." The robbed figure said.
"What does the ring do if I may ask?" George asked as the figure chuckled.
"The ring bolsters a person's magical resistances, but the fool didn't know that and thought that it just looked nice. A gift from his father to his spoiled and rotten child. That enchanted ring will serve me much better." The robbed figure said to them as Miu quickly removed the elf's gauntlets and saw the silver circular ring on his index finger and tossed it to the figure.
"Wonderful. Its good to actually speak with competent people for a change." The man said as he placed the ring on his finger.
"Before we part, I have conditions of my own. The conditions are that you let us have their equipment as well as telling us who you are. We can't exactly help you if we don't know who we are dealing with." George said as the figure removed his hood as George and Miu saw that it was a dark elf with pointed ears and silver hair combed down past his ears.
"My name is Tellvan Rigurs and I am a dark elf necromancer. You have made a powerful friend young man and girl and when the time comes, I promise that you won't regret this deal we have made. Feel free to take what they own it doesn't matter to me. I finally get to teach these brats some basic manners. However, as a show of good faith I will give you some assistance." Tellvan said before he raised his hand and a green magical energy ring had formed around the heads of Ben, Moz and Rono.
"What are those?" Miu asked.
"Those are a little spell of my own design to impair a being's mental functions. It only works when the target is sleeping but no matter what they won't awaken anytime soon." Tellvan said with a smile.
"Thank you for the courtesy." George said before he and Miu stripped the adventurers of everything they had until they were down to their underwear.
"They're all yours Tellvan." Miu said as Tellvan raised his hand again and levitated the three former adventurers up into the air as a magical portal formed behind him.
"You two have my thanks. We will meet again in time and don't mind the goblin village. They aren't a threat yet, but I still recommend that you don't let them spot you. Goblins can do nasty things to other races." Tellvan said before he entered the portal with his three victims.
"Let's head back Miu. Our work is done." George said as they started to head back to Neverwinter when they saw a new message appear in front of them.
You have completed a [Random Encounter]!
You have earned 300 EXP and levelled up!
Level 1-2
Level 1-2
The skill [Acting] has levelled up! Level: 11-12!
You have earned 1 Perk Point!
You have earned 1 Perk Point!
"Interesting. We both gained a level from the random encounter, and it didn't register as an actual quest, and it seems that we do in fact get perk points that we can actually save up for later which likely means that we can summon up a list of perks that will be available to us." Miu said as they soon re-entered Neverwinter.
"That seems like what's happening so far. Now let's head over to a local blacksmith and actually get some decent equipment." George said as the armor they grabbed from Ben and Moz only seemed to serve as more decoration than function. They were too flashy and frankly they didn't seem well made so after finding one of the cities blacksmiths they traded away the armors but kept the weapons before using the coins they got to by some new equipment.
After changing into the armor George is now wearing a hard leather chest piece with gauntlets, greaves boots and a cap style helmet. over tan long johns that cover his body from his neckline down to his wrists and ankles. He also grabbed a circular wooden shield while Miu didn't get any armor due to her brother's insistence and instead started studying Rono's grimoire of magic.
Soon enough they had enough coins left over to grab some food from a nearby bakery and now returned to the pawn's guild with full stomachs to the shock of several adventurers.
Neither teen said or did anything and instead sat at one of the free tables as George had grabbed a nearby newspaper and started reading it while Miu continued studying her magical book.
You have studied the ins and outs of mana theory and as a result you have learned to manipulate your inner Mana!
Your mana pool has increased!
You have learned the skill [Mana Manipulation] Level 1!
You have unlocked the job [Mage]!
"Now I can cast magic." Miu said as she kept reading the book as the book serves as something of a journal for Rono's quest in learning magic which wasn't much since she stopped after learning a few spells that she liked instead of putting in the extra work to learn as many spells as possible.
"Awesome. It won't take us long to beat this world sis. It won't take long at all." George said happily as he went back to reading.
End!
A/N: Okay so a group of people tried to get the jump on our heroes, but they flipped the script and now have a better start to becoming adventurers but only time will tell what kind of adventures they become. The spoiler warning now is that whatever kind of adventurers they become. They are still going to be total trolls.
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