The Beginning

Swoosh.

A blade swung down in a beautiful arc as the morning light bounced off its smooth surface, lighting the face of a young man soaked in sweat. The scene of his swordplay would have been comparable to a painting of a beautiful dance if it were not for the carcass of a beast soaking in a pool of blood beneath it.

"Took me long enough…" the young man sighed.

After sheathing the bloodied sword, the young man pulled out a short knife tied on his thigh and plunged it into the wolf beast he had just hunted to dismantle its body. His hands moved with ease, showing expertise, as he separated the body parts and put what seemed to be profitable in a sack.

"Where is it? Where is it?" The young man searched the dissected carcass, looking for something until he finally spotted a shining item embedded in the beast's innards. "There!"

The item was a beast core, or so how the people in this world called it. Such thing filled the young man with wonder about its mysteries as he stared at the one in his hand in contemplation.

What these were, he already knew. He recognized that these were what powered and made the wild beasts so much stronger than what he remembered as the beasts with one were stronger in comparison to those who had none. He learned it the hard way when he underestimated a beast with a core assuming that its strength was just like the previous ones he had slayed.

As for how these things came to be, he had his own speculations about the matter. He had already discovered that this world had an energy that enabled magical phenomena to occur like what the novels he used to read depicted— Mana. Regarding other questions delving deeper in this topic, he had no answers. He knew too little about this world to know.

"Hah. Forget it. I better get back first before I think about it any deeper. I'd probably know more after I sell these later." The young man muttered as he put the beast core in a leather pouch along with the other cores he had previously gathered.

--

The sun, scorching, was over the young man's head, indicating that it was already noon when he arrived at the gates of the city— Obsidian City. He was greeted with sights of towering walls of few meters in height and thickness as he raised his head in fascination. It had already been a few days since he made it in this place, but such unfamiliar sight still filled him with excitement every time he looked on. It was unlike the modern cities he was used to which had no need for walls for protection. It reminded him of the history classes he had back in the day.

Ahead, crowds of people wanting to enter the city lined up. They waited for their turn to be inspected before being allowed inside the city. Waiting in line certainly wasted a couple of minutes. Of course, such custom need not be done on Earth, especially on highly-developed countries which had basically everything automated. But still, it was not that bad here as they also had their own tools to assist them. Of course, the tools were powered magically, obviously showing that the development in this world inclined towards the use of mana.

As his turn for inspection came up, the young man took out his magical identity card issued a couple of days ago and handed it to the nearest guard. The person in charge of the gate seemed to have recognized him and said, "Oh? If it is not you, Akt! How is it? You finally got enough?"

Although taken a back, Akt, the young man in question, smiled. "Yes, mister. It took a few days, but I think these are enough."

Akt was not the least bit surprised that the guard had recognized him. He had been going in and out of the city for the past couple of days, using the same gate each time. And with his features— smooth, white long hair and eyes that seemed to sparkle golden— he was bound to be easily recognized by folks in the areas he often frequented in.

"Do you know where I can sell these the best? It's my first time selling cores, so I'm a bit clueless. Still, I know from asking around that I can just sell these to the Adventurer's Guild, but I don't mind having more options."

The guard took his identity card and swiped it on the magic tool he was holding and answered, "Well, if you want to sell those cores off fast, the Adventurer's Guild is enough. You also don't need to go elsewhere when you submit the proof of completion. Surely, you took missions for those things, right? Plus, if you want something that you think the Guild might have, you can simply exchange those cores instead. It's simply faster that way."

"Makes sense…"

"But if you want to earn more, go to the Magic Tower. It'd take more time since they would analyze every individual core before buying, or so I've heard from my colleagues. If you don't want that, the Merchant's Association is also a good place, but you have to be good with haggling. Otherwise, those merchants might eat you alive."

Akt raised his eyebrows a bit, "Seems like you have experience?"

"Shut up. Those merchants are really scary."

Both could only laugh. One did in amusement, while the other one in self-mockery.

"You seem to know a lot, huh, mister?"

"Well, after having been a guard in a city as huge as this for so long, you're bound to learn a couple of things." The guard chuckled and slapped his shoulder. "Alright, inspection done. You better get going, or else, the line won't move forward."

"Okay. Then, see you next time, mister."

And so, Akt bid his goodbyes and headed towards the bustling city.

--

In the southern part of Obsidian City, an imposing building made out of smooth white bricks and expensive looking tiles as roofing stood tall. A huge sign was mounted on top of its humungous doors and written on it was "The Adventurer's Guild".

Like what he felt upon seeing the city walls, Akt felt astonishment for the building in front him once more. The building was truly well-built; its artistic touch was something worth gazing upon. He felt that no matter how many times he had to look, he would probably feel the same appreciation as he had when he first saw it.

The strange thing about this was that while the architecture itself was an amalgamation of what he thought was similar to the ancient eastern and western style in his world, he did not feel the slightest incongruity in it. And in fact, this did not only apply to this one building but the rest of the infrastructures in the city.

Akt felt strange inwardly when he thought about it. Still, he came here with business in mind, so he shook his head to clear out his thoughts and entered the place through its huge doors.

Earlier, he had debated where he would go between the Adventurer's Guild and the Magic tower. After ruminating his choices, he decided for the Adventurer's Guild. As for the Merchant's Association, he took the guard's experience to heart.

To be honest, after a few days of hunting beasts non-stop, he was quite impatient to get what he wanted. He reckoned that going to the Magic Tower when he acquired high-tier cores would be better, but that was for another story.

The inside of the Adventurer's Guild was not like one would expect considering one would imagine an adventurer as uncouth and wild. While that was not universal, it was what one would expect after hearing stereotypes from stories and seeing low-ranking adventures that had yet to earn their keep.

The interior itself was neatly and elegantly designed. The flooring was clearly made out of high-quality wooden planks, shiny and surprisingly clean despite having been stepped on by many people. Something magical was definitely going on for it to look like this, Akt reckoned.

As the outside was huge, the inside obviously had a lot of space in it. The first floor was filled with multiple counters manned with neatly uniformed staff. Aside from that, numerous seats and tables filled the vast majority of the floor for people to wait on. And on the further most right, a huge board filled with papers neatly stuck on it could be seen along with a crowd moving to and fro. It was where the requests, jobs, and even announcements were placed.

The second floor was a place akin to a restaurant and a pub, allowing adventurers to relax their tired bodies and enjoy their hard-earned savings with delicious food and alcohol. In fact, Akt even dined there once using the money he earned from hunting small animals. But obviously, the amount he earned from that did not allow him to come back every single time. The food was delicious though, he thought.

As for the other floors of the guild, he could only guess. The upper floors were not open to the public after all.

Looking around, people of different walks of life could be seen inside. Some looked dirty while some looked well-off. Filled with people, the inside of the Adventurer's Guild was not only that of beautiful aesthetic, but also one filled with vigor and vitality.

As Akt walked through the crowd towards where the materials could be sold, several looks of admiration, envy, and even slight animosity were directed towards him. It should be said that while his looks were praise-worthy, one would normally not attract such unwarranted attention. However, his peculiar hair color and golden pupils made sure to make him stand out more than he wanted to. Still, after having dealt with such situation for as long as he could remember, he was unperturbed. Fortunately, the counter he was heading to was not filled with many customers at the moment because while he did not really mind the attention, it was still unpleasant to be stared at like some kind of rare specimen.

'Hah… I definitely need to buy a cloak before I come back here next time.'

The shop counter was where all the low-level transactions of the guild occur. It was where the guild facilitates buying, selling, or even exchanging of items. Of course, national grade items and other powerful objects were dealt with behind closed doors. But aside from that, items that could still be bought with monetary power could be found here.

"Greetings, customer! Would you like to buy, sell, or apply for an exchange?" The receptionist asked.

Akt was stunned for a moment when he saw the receptionist. He was surprised to see that it was an incredibly beautiful woman. He averted his eyes reflexively and happened to land his eyes on the other guild staff members. It was then that he seemed to have understood something. It was as though the higher-ups of this organization made it their mission to hire every good-looking person out there. It was a mystery as to how he had not noticed this peculiarity for the past couple of days when he was selling the materials of the small games he had hunted. However, that could just simply be attributed to his single-minded pursuit of wild beasts and their cores... Probably.

The receptionist woke him up from his stupor and asked, "Is everything alright, customer?"

"A-Ah. It's actually nothing. I just thought that you're very beautiful."

A giggle escaped the woman's lips. "Boy, I've heard that pick-up line countless of times. You need to up your game, alright?"

Akt could only smile wryly. He understood that the receptionist have mistaken his thoughts as flirting. And to be honest, he thought that it did sound like that.

"It's not like that. I'm not flirting with you, big sister. I just found it odd that all of the staff here seems to be a beauty of their own caliber. A smart move if I have to say so."

"A 'smart' move, huh. Say, why do you think so?" Curious, the receptionist asked playfully. Normally, she would not have wasted time with customers, but his reason did pique her interest.

Akt was also not in a hurry or anything, so he played along and replied, "Well, would you make things difficult for a beauty, or in your case, a handsome man?"

"Good answer!" The receptionist clapped her hands. "To be honest, your answer is not that far from the truth. Anyway, we already went off the track, so may I ask what service does customer require?"

"An exchange."

"Then, what item would sir like to get from the guild?"

Without hesitation, Akt answered, "A mana cultivation manual."