~10 Days later~
'So here we are in Oakridge Outpost, the edge of the Kingdom of Belmont of the continent Aeternis Prime… a nice place, though more of a fortress than an outpost, filled with adventurers and soldiers. It's got a real fantasy vibe to it, even if we ignore all of the people who look like they're cosplaying and the stone walls and cobbled homes. That's all fine and good but you'd think they'd have more security based on how surprisingly easy they let me in and the registration process…literally just told me to tell them my name Nico, my affiliations, and my race… though they did confirm my tier with that measurement orb. Though I guess if you think about it… to them I'm an ant… even the weakest guard at the post should be tier 1. Riona told me how stupid the gaps are between tiers…'
Nico, laying on a surprisingly soft bed, dressed in new more fitted clothes, looked at the yellowed paper card that shimmered with a slight magic glint and his own information.
'Tier Zero… Human… Nico… affiliation: none… Sponsor: 4 Star Silver Adventurer- Riona of Oakridge. Speaking of Riona… that woman… princess carrying me straight into town and then taking me into her house and keeping me here for more than a week… getting me new clothes, some basic gear, and then home attire… she's totally keeping me as her boy toy… I don't want a sugar mama dammit!'
Nico internally grumbled while his hands betrayed him as he begrudgingly made a stew and cleaned Riona's small house and dusted things off. As he was cleaning and mumbling curses, the door swung open and a voice rang out, "Nico I'm home~!"
Nico sighed and deadpanned before saying, "I'm not your wife dammit!"
Riona just chuckled and set down her shield and mace before taking her gear off before walking over to Nico and rubbing his head, "You've been loafing off of me you little brat! If you weren't 15 I'd have gobbled you up! Forget about being a wife!"
Nico took a step back making a disgusted face making Riona laugh even harder, Riona then slapped his shoulder and said, "Jokes aside I got a couple of goodies for you~"
Nico perked up while he had a small flashback to about 5 days ago when Riona headed out to grab tier up materials for Nico. Riona despite her seemingly scary stature was just someone who had a hard time getting along with anyone really, since her height, tier, and class were a bit above the average person. Even worse, which really got Nico's guilty running, was that slavery had been abolished across the continent nearly 1000 years ago. In fact all the thoughts Nico had were way out of left field since the culture in these outer rim towns and outposts is essentially everybody helps everybody. If they see some sapient being stranded or captured, helping them is the first rule. As for Riona going the extra mile it was just because Nico didn't treat her any differently for her height or for being a half orc. Nico, snapping out of his little moment, waited for Riona to carefully explain, "Look brat, all of this stuff ain't cheap, but everyone has a mentor that gets it for them that they pay back later at some point. Let's head outside and hopefully you'll be able to rank up right away and maybe even get a trait."
Nico bobbled his head before slightly scolding himself, 'I really shouldn't trust so easily, but this girl is just a gentle giant… Seriously though, where does she get off telling me I'm a brat! She's only 8 years older than me god dang it!'
Once outside Riona handed him a silver tonic motioning him to down it. Which he did, before she started handing him different edible leaves and items one by one before finally handing him a glowing orb which she told him to crush. Crushing the orb a mass of light radiated from Nico as he felt his whole being change.
[Tier Up ↑, Congratulations on reaching Tier 1…]
[Adventurer's Guide is reacting… awarded: Trait: Minor Enhancement- All Stats (Unranked) +]
[Stats:
Strength (STR)- 1 → 2
Intelligence (INT)- 3 → 4
Dexterity (DEX)- 1 → 2
Perception (PER)- 1 → 2
Constitution (CON)- 1 → 2
Charisma (CHA)- 3 ]
[Innate skill awarded: Tier 0 Spell, Firebolt, Level 1 (0/10)]
Taking a deep breath Nico felt invigorated, his perception deepened, his joints became more responsive, his body screamed with a new vitality, and his mind ran at a higher speed as a layer of brain fog seemed to lift.
Riona smirked and said, "Welcome to the Magical World Nico. I'll take you to get registered and then we'll come back and grab your gear and get you set on your first quest… then it's hands off from me and you're on your own… just try not to get captured by goblins again."
Nico turned his head slowly and nodded quietly as he tried to figure things out in his mind…
'Looks like 1 was the peak of the average healthy person and I'm guessing 2 is now the point of super natural or outlier… if stats are multiplicative… Doesn't that mean someone at tier 10 is like 1000 something times stronger? That's not even include what Riona told me about qualitative power enhancement and the absolute rule of tiers… This world is ridiculous… someone like Riona could probably level a city back on earth… then imagine what 7th Tiers or higher could do… Still I'm not happy with this innate skill… mages are strong, but their leveling path is much harder… Still no complaints… if I didn't have Riona based on what I've found out it would've taken me like 10 years to break through…I'll remember this… thank you Riona.'
The two headed towards one of the only multifloored buildings in the area, with a simple shield and sword symbol on its entrance. Immediately inside were numerous tables, servers carrying plates with beer and food, at the back there was a board with dozens of requests and commissions along with three open windows with three desks and receptionists. Furthermore, there seemed to be stairs to a second floor though Nico could instinctively tell he wouldn't be able to go up there.
'Seems like some sort of barrier, I'm guessing this is the effect of my ridiculously high INT…'
Shaking his head he followed Riona right up to the counter where the receptionist immediately straightened up upon seeing Riona's badge. She spoke gently, "Welcome back Miss Riona. How can I help you today? If I'm not mistaken you're usually on the second floor?"
Riona just waved her hand before sticking her thumb back at Nico saying, "Hey there Petra. I'm just here to get that kid on his feet, first quest and whatnot."
The receptionist named Petra quickly took a look at Nico, before nodding and saying, "I assume you'll be acting as his sponsor?"
Riona just nodded and then Petra asked Nico to come forward and hand his identification card over. Within moments Petra had procured a wooden badge engraved with a star and some slight magic. Petra paused for a moment and said, "You can sense that? Hmm… as expected of someone who miss Riona recommended."
Nico seemed a bit surprised and confused before Riona chuckled and said, "Kid you shouldn't stare too much when others use their skills and magic, it's rude you know… Petra here's a fairly nice 2nd Tier so she won't bite, just a warning for next time."
Petra smiled and continued to file some documents before pulling out a paper, a booklet, and the badge she had been tampering with before pushing it towards Nico and clearing her throat before saying, "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild Mr. Nico, please just sign here confirming that you will to the best of your ability complete quests you select, and agree to the 7% guild fee from any commission or quest you complete. Additionally you agree as a member of the guild to not in any way intentionally damage the guild's reputation and standing. Since Ms. Riona is sponsoring you the normal warning and sign up fee of 1 silver coin is waived. This wooden badge here is your Adventurer's ID and is a valid ID for any circumstance, please do not tamper with the magic you sensed earlier, that is the guild seal, that legitimizes your badge. Do you have any questions?"
Nico shook his head and Petra smiled said, "Happy Adventures and stay safe, we wish to see you again Mr. Nico."
Riona, who had at some point left, came back with a slip of paper, and handed it to Petra saying we'll take this one. Petra nodded and said, "Good luck hunting that nest of Goblins Mr. Nico."
Riona told Nico to just wait while she went to get their gear as it would be quicker that way and Nico didn't have any complaints and just bobbled his head.
Nico read through the booklet, which was titled: Adventurer's Guidebook, thinking to himself, 'great now I have two of the same thing…'
Nico flipped around the pages before landing on something that surprised him, '...Innate Skills gifted by the Genesis System are rare, occurring only in 1 in 1000 people, and do not affect a person's mental capacity to learn skills. Additionally while there is no clear measurement system of proficiency it can be broken down into level 1 up to level 10.'
Nico's eyes narrowed before landing on his own status panel where Firebolt was labeled with a level 1 with a proficiency marker.
'So my reincarnation really does have tangible benefits…'
Nico, now completely vested in reading, continued, 'Traits are extremely rare, appearing only 1 out of 10,000 people… traits are unique to each person with there being every few people to ever have the same trait…once a trait is earned there is no path to gaining another. Though rare, there are some extremely rare occasions where traits might be upgraded via clearing special dungeons or gaining recognition from the akashic records.'
Nico paused upon seeing a diagram of what a trait panel should look like before again staring at his own panel….
'The diagram doesn't have a + there….. Wait when I first came here the genesis system said it assimilated the Adventurer's Guide or the foreign system… I guess that means my status panel has additional features… This is good. That means I have a clear path to getting stronger… where others are locked to a level of strengths I can grow. I'm guessing my proficiency will rapidly grow too…'
Just as Nico was getting lost in his thoughts Riona came back and tossed a bag at Nico telling him to put on his gear. Snapping out of his stupor Nick quickly slipped into the leather gear that Riona had gifted him, and fastened the chest piece, the knee protectors, the arm guards, and the shin guards, before slinging a cord over his shoulder and securing the iron sword that Riona had got him. Lastly he tightened a belt around his waist and clipped on the knife hostler with the large knife that again Riona had gifted him before throwing the bag's strap over his shoulder and presenting himself to Riona for "inspection."
Riona smirked at him before letting her hands roam around him, making Nico squirm and Riona's smile deepen; she simply tightened the latches and then said, "Let the adventure begin kiddo!" smacking him straight on the ass.
Nico's eyebrow twitched as he thought to himself… 'I really hate this world's women…'
***Author's Note: I originally didn't want to post another chapter before I finished my other works, but I didn't realize that novels have a different system than FFs and require 4,000 words to be posted. Previous announcement still applies, I have the chapters, but I want to be able to post stably and write only about this rather than the variety I've got going right now. I do apologize for any confusion (just look at the announcement).