"You're not really kidding when you said that… I'm so sorry for what you've been through, old man. May you regain your lost childhood as an adventurer."
Martin's annoyance might have shot up if he heard what the guard said to him, but Martin's attention was somewhere else.
'Magical tool detected.'
'Begin analyzing.'
'Analyze complete.'
======================
from mana import extract_signature
from arcane_net import send_query
…..
def mana_check(target):
signature = extract_signature(target)
response = send_query("soulprint.db", {
"action": "scan",
"signature": signature })
…..
if status == CRIMINAL:
set_light(color="red", intensity=0.8)
log_event(f"{target.name} flagged as CRIMINAL.")
else:
set_light(color="white", intensity=0.5)
log_event(f"{target.name} is clean.")
return status
=====================
Martin blinked in stunned silence after seeing the line of code appear in his IDE.
He was a product manager for a digital product. Codes weren't foreign to him, as he sometimes needed to understand the progress update of the IT guys.
But he wasn't a programmer himself.
'That explains why my gibberish earlier couldn't produce any spells. This is real, bona fide magic programming…
I hope the AI is smart enough to write code on its own…'
"Sir, are you okay?" The guard asked Martin, whose eyes looked empty all of a sudden.
"It's okay, sir, even if you are level 0 right now, you can start leveling up now that no one is hindering your growth anymore."
"Ah, yes, thank you, sir guard."
Even after paying the toll and walking away, the guard still followed Martin with his eyes, a hint of pity lingered as the guard silently cheered for Martin in his mind.
"That poor guy, he might really be the one having overprotective parents all of his life…"
'And I'm sorry, mother, hope I didn't disturb your rest in heaven.' Kayn prayed silently as he continued moving.
There were a lot of things that Martin had never seen before when he walked the streets of the city.
From vendors selling questionable-looking meats, to all kinds of different species of people walking around and chatting with each other.
Dwarves, Elves, and Beastmen, all the creatures that Martin had only seen in animated shows, were present in the city.
He wanted to do all kinds of things and try out this and that, but Martin needed to sort out one important thing first.
He followed the direction the guard had given him to the adventurer's guild and finally arrived there.
The building looked just like a large tavern made out of wood. People constantly went in and out of the building, a scene that was all too familiar for a fantasy story enthusiast.
"Let's do this." Excitement bubbled as Martin took a step inside the building.
But it died even faster when the guild receptionist saw the same info the guard saw using a similar crystal orb.
"You're 31 years old, level 0, no current job, and no previous jobs… Sir… You might want to reconsider becoming an adventurer.
It's a dangerous job. Many young people who even had prior training still lost their lives.
I strongly recommend you choose a different occupation."
Martin could just smile wryly, but he was still adamant.
"It's okay, young miss, I still want to become an adventurer."
Seeing the stubborn old man in front of her, the receptionist had already talked with enough people to know that a stubborn old man wasn't someone you could talk some sense into, so she just gave up.
"I understand, sir. But since you are level 0 and have no job experience or current job, you'll need to enroll in an adventurer's preparatory course first."
"That's fine by me."
Martin then paid the fee, leaving only a small amount of his starting money to his name, and got his student identity card.
The receptionist also gave him the schedule of the courses that will be held and the minimum requirements to graduate from the preparatory course.
"So, I need to reach level 10, choose my first job, and have a certain level of mastery in both melee and ranged weapons to graduate… Seems fair, I guess."
Martin was about to go towards one of the training courses available this afternoon when the receptionist stopped him.
"Wait, sir, I assume you didn't know what magical affinities you have with you, do you want to test them?"
'Magical affinities?' The thought of casting his own magic lit up Martin's eyes.
He took quick steps back to the guild receptionist and put his hand on top of another crystal ball.
Red, blue, green, brown, white, black, and silver motes of light appeared inside the crystal ball. The receptionist stared, jaw open, at the old man in front of her.
While Martin himself tilted his head, not knowing what the motes of light meant.
"Sir… You have an affinity for all elements! Even the rare space element! Now it's clear that you have a very high chance of succeeding as an adventurer!"
Martin almost failed to stop his feet from jumping up like a little kid when he heard the receptionist's words.
While not rare amongst humans, most humans still only have three or four affinities.
And Martin even had the space affinity, an element that only 1 in a thousand humans have.
While they were talking about mana affinities, Martin decided to ask, "How about my mana then? Is 10.000 mana a lot?"
Even more dramatic than before, the receptionist's eyes opened wider, her hands slamming the table in front of her.
Even other adventurers in the room who heard his voice jerked their heads towards him.
"TEN THOUSAND??? With no previous job at all!?
Sir, have you been blessed by a god or something!?"
Knowing that he had put unnecessary attention towards himself, Martin nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head.
'They better not think of me as a demon in disguise… I'm a good manager who cares for his employees' wellbeing at heart.'
"Ah, no, sorry, I misread it, I only have a thousand."
But the receptionist's face didn't get much better.
"A THOUSAND? That's still 10 times the usual amount for someone who had never gotten a job!"
'I messed up, didn't I?' Martin thought to himself as he reminded himself to be more subtle in his inquiries.
"But that is still understandable for someone very talented. You are incredibly fortunate."
Not wanting to acquire even more attention towards himself, Martin excused himself from the room and ran towards the back of the adventurer's guild, where the classes for the course were held.
'Alright, just be lowkey until I figure more things out about the norms of this world.
I don't want unwanted attention that will cost me my joy and freedom while playing this game.' Martin reminded himself as he went to his first available class of the day that would start in a few minutes.
But of course, fate laughed at Martin's goal, knowing it had some shit in its back pocket to ruin his plan.