3 Starter Town

It was just past sunrise as I sighted the town after scaling a hill, the forest had ended just a bit ago and I was now viewing rolling meadows showered in gentle morning rays.

It wasn't really a challenge to find, as all I had to do was follow the beaten path, but this would be my first time entering a settlement outside of the boonies, and I was worried about adjusting to what I would find inside. It didn't help that this town was considered fairly average in quality, power, and development, despite it being the closest town to the boonies that I lived in.

If it was a more primitive settlement than it would be easier for me to adjust, but I would be heading directly into commoner society, something I was never even close to touching before. Basically I felt that this average town was far beyond what I could handle, since I was fresh out of the lowest point possible in society.

I sucked it up, and braved myself for greater things. Even though I had ran for a few hours at a moderate pace, covering the over 30 kilometers between where I lived and the town, I only felt as though I had been out for a morning jog.

I stopped running and walked the rest of the way to the town because I was worried I might look like a suspicious person and get barred from entry. Large palisades surrounded the town, which seemed to be made out of some dark petrified looking wood, and were over 10 feet tall.

The surrounding meadows were much more aesthetic and peaceful than the crowded forest of the boonies, and I was feeling very relaxed just observing the surroundings. I basked in the warm sunlight which chased off the slight chill of the early spring as I began following the path around the wall, waiting to come upon an entrance.

The town was quite a few kilometers across at any point, causing its circumference to easily exceed 10 kilometers, so it took a good few minutes of walking around the wall to finally find a gate. When I did, my eyes met two guards who wore matching part-metal, part-leather armor. I had seen very little of this kind of thing before, and was very interested in the armor as well as the guards themselves. The guards weren't the only ones there though, a few adventurer and merchant type people were checking in with one of them as they left, while other travelers who were coming back into the town were speaking to the other guard.

'One to manage entry the other to manage exit,' I noted.

"Hmm? Are you an adventurer? If you left on a mission or something you must know that you need to return through the same gate that you left through."

When it was my turn to speak to the guard dealing with those entering the town, he confirmed my suspicion that I wouldn't be able to get in so easily. The guard had sized me up and seemed to conclude that I was an adventurer from my toned body.

Actually, despite the fact that most people in the town would have the system, that didn't actually mean they would all be well built like I was now. The system doesn't forcefully change your body type or anything, a natural fatty would stay a fatty after the system's standardization, even though they would have the same stat levels as me. The only thing the system did during the standardization other than stat upgrades, was basically genetic repair.

That is to say I was born with the genes to be built well like this naturally, I was too malnourished to achieve what my body was originally capable of, and so the system fixed that and rebuilt my body according to my genetics. And although I didn't look like a puffed up and stacked power house (thankfully), I looked as though my body had toned itself through many [Monolith] runs. As physical fitness was usually tied to a career as an adventurer. This basically meant that my muscles were decent size, but my BMI was low enough to showcase them well and increase my natural attractiveness.

"Ah... actually this is my first time in town. I'm a new adventurer whose just entered Stone Rank and I came here to register with the Pentaz Guild."

"Oh? You are really well toned for a new adventurer, just go to the town center and look for the biggest building around. You'll see Pentaz's insignia on it as well."

"Thank you..."

I made to walk past him and into the town as I thanked him, but he started speaking again quickly.

"Anyways what's your name? I'm Brad, and I'm 20. You should really look into guarding out here with me after you sign up. I'd really love to help you get settled around here, don't worry I'd show you the ropes it's easy when you have someone to teach ya."

He threw me a wink.

"o-Okay. I- I'll um, check that out."

Recovering from that interaction that contained more care and concern then I had collectively received in my entire life, I moved on. I remembered the town was called Breezy Meadow Town, and it was a quarter hour walk or so to reach the center of it. Which is where the main guild building for the town was. I appreciated the relaxing atmosphere of the town as I walked, which felt extremely homey and nice compared to the wooded slums of my old home.

The architecture was a mix of wood and stone for most buildings, and I noticed many different kinds of places like homes, taverns, inns, and a variety of businesses interspersed with small and trees and gardens all over.

There was a large, open, and straight-shot walkway all the way to the center of town, which also bordered on a waterway that bordered the path. It seemed like a man-made waterway used for the population's water supply as well as in-town transport. Small boats that held people and/or cargo slid down the river peacefully, as I wondered where each of them was headed to.

Walking along the wide stone path, I passed many people who were dressed in a variety of ways I had seldom come across: seeing people who I assumed to be blacksmiths, leatherworkers, housewives, craftsmen, and many more. I never failed to be most interested by those clearly wearing weapons, armor, and other adventuring gear.

Based on my limited knowledge, I knew the Pentaz Guild was essentially the local powerhouse. The branch in this town being a subdivision of its headquarters which were in the nearest city, where it competed with two other guilds of similar size. This town was likely one of the many towns Pentaz controlled completely, considering it was the sole guild in this entire town. The city was fairly far away to my knowledge, especially with my subzero travel experience, it wasn't a place for me to even consider just yet.

Typically, rising adventurers that held talent would make a name for themselves in some random town, and then either make their way to the city themselves or be asked there by the guild they were a part of. It was like a kind of turf war with a prospering city as its main battleground, and my goal is to use that crazy world of guild competition to climb my way up!