📍 The Bar | Later That Morning
The bar was quieter now.
Morning crowd thinner — a few dwarves in the corner,
an elf nursing something that smelled like pine
and bad decisions.
Kiyoshi leaned on the counter.
"I have questions," he told the barman.
"I'm not from around here.
Need to know how this place works —
rulers, clans, adventurers, the legend's treasure."
The barman raised an eyebrow.
"You lose your memory or something?"
"Something like that."
"Doesn't matter." He held out his hand.
"Two gold coins."
"That's steep."
"Information's worth more than ale in this world."
Kiyoshi paid.
The barman jerked his head toward a door at the back.
———
The back room was small and dim.
Battered table. A crumpled map spread across it —
five territories marked in faded ink.
The barman shut the door.
The bar noise dropped to a muffled hum.
"Five nations share this world."
He spread his hand across the map.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE FIVE NATIONS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 🌿 Elf Kingdom │
│ ✨ Terra Kingdom ( Holy Land ) │
│ ⚒️ Ferrarius Kingdom ( Dwarves ) │
│ 🌙 Lurana Kingdom │
│ ⚔️ Yavior Kingdom ( You are here )│
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
"You're in the southeastern expanse of Yavior."
The door opened.
Sakura slipped in, pulled up a chair,
sat down like she'd been invited.
Both of them looked at her.
"I got bored," she said simply.
The barman shrugged and continued.
"Noble families run the bloodlines."
He tapped each name on the map as he said it.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ NOBLE HOUSES │
├──────────────┬──────────────────────────┤
│ Harlos │ Dwarves │
│ Asmiya │ Humans │
│ Heraki │ Humans │
│ Elfior │ Elves │
│ Santra │ Beast Humans ▼ lower │
└──────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
"Beast humans?" Sakura asked.
"Humans with animal traits. Strong.
Looked down on by most noble houses."
She frowned. "That's awful."
"That's the world."
Kiyoshi kept his eyes on the map.
"Who actually governs day to day?"
"Ten Viscounts. Five Barons.
Lord Jagan Wonku — Viscount, big name locally.
The A.M.O. captain holds Baron rank,
oversees the villages, collects taxes.
Money flows up to the king."
"A.M.O.?" Kiyoshi asked.
"Adventure Management Organization.
Handles gifted people — those whose abilities awaken
anytime, any age."
He pulled a folded card from his apron.
Set it flat on the table.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ADVENTURER RANKS │
│ lowest ──────────► highest │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ E → D → C → B → A │
│ ↓ │
│ S → SS → SSS │
│ ↓ │
│ ★ LEGEND ★ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Types: Hunter / Awaken / Mana User│
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
"Like levels in a game," Sakura said quietly.
"Exactly like that," Kiyoshi murmured.
The barman gave him a look.
"You catch on fast for someone with no memory."
Kiyoshi said nothing.
"License required for official quests.
Some skip it — work outside the system.
Higher risk. No protection."
"What's an Awaken?" Kiyoshi asked.
"Strength beyond a normal human.
Grows with each rank.
They carry skills — each skill has its own tier.
Train hard, fight hard. Both rank and skill sharpen."
"Skills like magic?" Sakura asked.
"Could be magic. Could be strength, speed, something else.
Depends entirely on what awakens in you.
Academy exists for those who want proper development."
"And those who don't go?" Kiyoshi asked.
"Figure it out themselves."
"Or don't and die," Kiyoshi said.
"Or don't and die," the barman agreed, unbothered.
Sakura looked at Kiyoshi.
He looked back.
Neither said what they were thinking.
"Adventurers form groups," the barman continued.
"A B-rank quest needs five to seven B-rankers minimum.
Forests are full of monsters — and every monster has a rank."
"Everything here has a rank," Kiyoshi said flatly.
"Everything."
He slid the colour chart across the table.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MONSTER RANK STONES │
│ ( dropped on kill ) │
├───────────┬─────────────────────────────┤
│ ⬜ White │ E rank ( weakest ) │
│ 🔵 Blue │ D rank │
│ 🟢 Green │ C rank │
│ 🟡 Yellow │ B rank │
│ ⚪ Silver │ A rank │
│ 🟣 Violet │ S rank │
│ 🟠 Orange │ SS rank │
│ 🔴 Red │ SSS rank │
│ ⬛ Black │ LEGEND ( rarest ) │
└───────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
"Kill a monster. It drops a stone.
Colour tells you everything."
He tapped the bottom of the chart.
"Black. Legend rank."
"Have you ever seen one?" Sakura asked.
The barman looked at her for a moment.
"No," he said.
"And I don't know anyone who has and lived to sell it."
The room sat with that.
"Weapons are ranked too," he added.
"Imbued with magic."
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WEAPON PRICING │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ E rank = 5 gold coins ( entry ) │
│ higher rank = higher cost │
│ higher power │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
Kiyoshi touched the sword at his hip.
"What rank is this one?"
"Have it assessed at the A.M.O. office."
"And the legend's treasure," Kiyoshi said.
"I heard something about it."
The barman's expression shifted —
not quite a smile. Something older.
"Monster Island."
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MONSTER ISLAND │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Location : Hidden │
│ Access : A-rank and above only │
│ Opens : Every 4 years │
│ Rewards : Rare skills. Treasure. │
│ Path to higher ranks. │
│ Origin : Legacy of a master │
│ who reached mythical rank │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
"What does it give?" Sakura asked.
"A path to ranks most people never reach."
Kiyoshi stared at the map.
Monster Island wasn't marked on it.
Of course it wasn't.
"How do I start. From nothing."
"Get your adventurer's license.
Find a spinner — a guide who helps talents awaken."
The barman leaned back, arms crossed.
"Power makes the rule.
Get some, or get out of the way of those who have it."
———
Kiyoshi had one gold coin left.
Sakura had two upstairs.
He looked at the map one last time.
Five kingdoms. A ranked world.
A black stone nobody had ever sold.
"We start small," he said.
Sakura stood and pushed in her chair.
"We start today," she said.
Not optimism.
Just a decision that had made itself —
somewhere between her mother waiting at home
and a world that ran entirely on power.
Kiyoshi had no paper, no notes.
He memorized everything instead.
Old habit.