~ The Next Day ~
25th of April, 418 A.W.
~ Evelyn's POV ~
It was early morning on the next day at the City of Prontera. The comfortably dressed Evelyn Snowbright can be found at a café at the southern outer district located near the southern gatehouse within the city limits, eating her third strawberry scone while she partook in a cup of tea. The tea tasted and smelled like jasmine, but it was called something else that she has yet been able to enunciate.
Dressed in a (New, Clean, and Gorgeous Blue & White Sundress), a (New, Clean, and Tasteful White & Blue Sun Hat), a pair of (New, Clean, and Comfortable Blue Female's Underclothes), and a pair of (Clean, Comfortable, and New Black Sandals), Evelyn was a vision of beauty; which she was oblivious to since she just dressed herself in a set of what she thought were 'decent' and 'comfortable' clothes. She didn't know that she'd be attracting any attention while she was blissfully enjoying her breakfast.
All that she could think about was how, 'Oh my god! These scones are so good... Ahhh, this is the life.' Her blissful enjoyment of her meal actually had more than a dozen other people asking to partake in more scones for themselves.
While this happened, her System told her, [...so it is true. Watching someone enjoy their meal will make others more hungrier... Fascinating...]
Evelyn would've replied, but she was starting up on her fourth strawberry scone without a care in the world. [Possible weakness for Evelyn detected and observed? Strawberry Scones... Odd...]
~ Half An Hour Later ~
~ Evelyn's POV ~
After that enjoyable meal, Evelyn can be found at a street filled with early street merchants plying their wares towards the early risers of Prontera or getting their carts and stations set up for the onrush of customers near the middle of the day.
She was browsing their wares, listening to gossip, mingling with them, and at the same time her [Basic Human Midgardian Written & Spoken Language Comprehension - Skill] was gaining exp. As she browsed and brought a few interesting looking hand-me down books out of curiosity, she learned from the merchants how the price of lumber, stone, rice, and other common foods & goods have been at the rise over the last few months.
From what she heard from several worried merchants, it was due to several prominent rice farming villages near Geffen being ransacked by Orcs. It was also hard to get lumber from the lumber companies around the Kingdom of Rune-Midgard since most of their personnel have been drafted as levies by the nobles of their lands due to the ever growing conflicts. The usual quota from the stone quarries were not being met due to the attacks by Stone Golems making it more dangerous for the workers.
The usual Guilds that always supported and guarded the quarries were bled dry of manpower due to them being issued quests to fight out in the frontlines. No one really knew why the Stone Golems were supposedly more at a frenzy near the quarries, but it sounded pretty suspicious to both Evelyn and her System.
'Either the ones in charge are being too negligent or incompetent to let all these things happen... or something isn't right. Maybe it's due to inexperience since most of the more qualified and wiser leaders, individuals, and such are supporting the Kingdom's efforts at the different fronts... Or maybe the people they delegated to run their usual operations are just that idiotic...'
[We don't really have all the facts; however, those merchants were pretty helpful. Where to next?]
After having brought another (Worn Tome of Unknown Language); another one that her System wants to decipher, for the cheap price of (100 Zeny), Evelyn started heading towards the nearest Guild, but not just any Guild... it was called an Information Guild. She learned from a friendly female merchant that these Information Guilds were made for the sole purpose of finding, storing, and sharing information... for a price.
'We'll go to the nearest Information Guild, I'm curious as to what kinds of information we'll be able to learn from them. I plan to use at most 1,000 zeny to see what we can learn...'
~ A Few Minutes Later ~
~ Evelyn's POV ~
It didn't take that much time at all until Evelyn found herself inside the headquarters of the 'Foxy Sleuths'; the 4th best Information Guild based in the City of Prontera according to their receptionists, and it was a decently sized four story building constructed out of oak wood and polished granite. Their banner consists of an orange fox holding a magnifying glass in it's mouth on a white background.
At this moment, Evelyn was in front of one of the receptionists; a silver-haired young woman by the name of Helga, and the badge she wore on her white collared t-shirt read: [Helga; Experienced Sleuth]. "Well hello there, it's nice to meet you," the woman greeted Evelyn with a simple smile. "How can our fine establishment help you today?"
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm looking for information on basic news around the Kingdom of Rune-Midgard, any new and confirmed rumors around the City of Prontera, and the Port Town of Izlude; the main trading port of Prontera. I'm interested in just the basics of information. I want to be informed of these things since I just got here and I didn't want to be blindsided by false rumors," Evelyn said with a slight shrug.
Helga's smile slightly widened and with a twinkle appearing in her left eye said, "Well then, it looks like I'll have to give you the (New to Prontera Information Packet), (Recent & Confirmed Rumors; Foxy Sleuths Edition), and the (Recent Kingdom of Rune-Midgard News; Printed & Editted by the Daily Gazette of the Augustus Journalists). You're not the first or the last that have asked for these since we get new and returning citizens walking through our doors all the time. The cost will be 580 zeny in total."
Evelyn nodded to her, handed over the proper amount in coins; which was 5 silver and 80 copper pieces..., and said, "I'm looking forward to being informed."
After making sure the payment was correct and properly stowed away, it took Helga less than 5 minutes to gather the packet, folders, and a thick and heavily editted newspaper with all sorts of attached notes all over it; which she then bundled up into a thicker leather binder for all of the said items. The silver-haired woman then handed it over to Evelyn while saying, "Here they are, and would you be needing anything else from us today?"
"Hmmm... now that you mention it, I am curious... are there any wandering healers versed in Healing Magic?", the raven-haired Evelyn asked with a raised brow.
Helga put a hand on her chin and pondered for a couple of minutes, before saying, "This will be free of charge since our Guild has never had that question asked of us before, at least not to my knowledge. From what I know, there aren't any such people... at least around these parts. If you come back in a month or so, then we could have an answer for you. However, it could cost you 5,000 or upwards to 50,000 zeny, depending on how rare this information is, how difficult it was to dig up, etc. We are the Foxy Sleuths Information Guild and we love a good mystery, after all." The silver-haired young woman's eyes sparkled and her grin got brighter; somehow, after she said that last sentence.
Evelyn couldn't help returning a bright grin at Helga's likeable attitude while replying, "It looks like I'll see you again when I come back. I should have enough zeny by then." She gestured her right hand up for a shake; which Helga took and reciprocated, and then she said, "The name's Evelyn Snowbright... it was nice meeting you."
"Helga Walters, same to you...", replied the peppy sleuth.
And with that, Evelyn left the HQ of the Foxy Sleuths with her leather binder safely stowed away in her inventory. As soon as she was a block away, her System popped up with a notification.
[Congrats! Your Basic Human Midgardian Written & Spoken Language Comprehension - Skill is now at Level 2. I held off on the exp earned pop-ups since you were busy.]
[It now looks like this...]
[Basic Human Midgardian Written & Spoken Language Comprehension - Skill - (0/5 Upgrade Slots Used)]
>> [Level: 2/5 (0/200 exp)]
>> [Passive]
>> [Any self-respecting Human Midgardian should know how to speak and read the written word of the most prevalent language of their people.]
>> [Update: Unknown Passive Effects at Level 2 and higher... Will discover as it's used...]
'Thanks, System.' Evelyn then subtly gestured for the screens to go away while she walked towards the general direction of the Prontera Church while asking for directions from the closest City Guardsmen.
'It was lucky that we found out that some people also have access to a kind-of inventory spell; otherwise, it'd be pretty annoying having to lug our stuff everywhere.'
[It was a given, since this is a world of magic. It helps that we witnessed a lot of adventurers and merchants use all sorts of different spells, bags, carts, and such to hold more items than what looked possible. You using your inventory to store easily carriable items looked pretty tame in comparison to that merchant from earlier pulling out an honest to goodness battle-axe that was twice as tall as he was and it looked like it weighed 300 pounds.]
'He did say that it was a (Minotaur's Battle-Axe)... maybe he was trying to flex either his strength or the fact that he had one to sell...', she thought with a shrug.
[Possibly...]
'Wait, that reminds me... Does our inventory have a weight capacity?'
[Hmm... Calculating... Answer not clear at this moment... Once I find out, I'll get back to you. I'll have a fraction of my capabilities focused on finding out.]
It took them at most an hour on foot to reach the steps of the Prontera Church due to the rise in foot traffic, the slowly growing crowds that she had to avoid, and the fact that the church was located at the northeastern district of Prontera while she came from the south.
'How are things looking out on trying to decipher those (12x Worn Tomes of Unknown Language) that we brought?', Evelyn inwardly asked while her eyes took in the magnificent sight of the Church of Prontera; the walls of which looked to be constructed out of white bricks, mortar, and a type of dark wood. The abundance of iconography in the form of crosses were odd to Evelyn since she thought that the Pronteran Church followed the Norse pantheon... It's another thing that both Evelyn and her System need to find out, but the raven-haired woman knows that it's necessary. She doesn't want to accidentally insult someone's beliefs.
[A fraction of my capabilities are trying to decipher them, but to no avail as of this moment. We'll need more information, knowledge, and such... We'll need more samples of what these languages could be before we can slowly uncover what's in these Tomes. These might've been sold to us for less than 900 zeny altogether, but there's bound to be hidden knowledge in these things.]
'It can't hurt to find out... Hey System, I'll have to use my (1x Beginner's Map) in my inventory later on. I keep forgetting about it.'
[Hmmm... Calculating... Partitioning off a fraction of my capabilities to work on it now. I'll use it from within your inventory and I'll see what happens...]
'Thanks, System...'
~ After 40 Minutes Have Passed ~
~ Evelyn's POV ~
At this moment, Evelyn can be found inside the Church of Prontera; within one of the many hallways that connect to the main chamber a.k.a. the nave - the main part of the church where the congregation come to worship, and she's currently asking a Priestess a bevy of questions. The green-haired and young-looking Priestess was ever so happy to enlighten Evelyn on the workings of the church. So far, their conversation has been going on for at least half an hour.
"...and that's only some of my duties. I'm still new, so I've yet to gain complete access to the full and complete Holy Compendiums of the Priests & Priestesses of the Pronteran Church. It's a misunderstanding by those not of our Church that there are only spells and such in our Holy Compendiums, but that is folly. There are certain Rites, Rituals, Responsibilities, and all sorts of other information for Priests and Priestesses to learn, understand, uphold, and I've heard that there are things that'll help broaden our minds."
The green-haired Priestess; named Jessica, dressed in the garbs of the women in her station, was pretty open about a lot of things about the church. Evelyn took note of it in her mind while their conversation continued.
"That is pretty fascinating," said Evelyn with a nod; obvious interest written on her face.
"I know, right! When I passed the trials and was welcomed as an Acolyte, I knew I'd be studying a lot of texts. And now, as a new Priestess, the studying has only ever gotten more difficult, strenuous, and in-depth, but learning how to wield advanced Holy Magic and to experience it's many facets is worth it." With a bright grin, she continued with, "As soon as I'm qualified and tested, then I'll be sent to help out at the Town of Payon alongside a few dozen of my clergy. I've heard that there's been undead attacking there, so I can't wait to help."
"Well I wish you luck on that, Sister Jessica. I'm sure you'll all be a great help. Before I go, I'd like to ask if there were ever any Acolytes or Priests that aren't part of the Pronteran Church?", Evelyn asked with a careful expression on her face.
Jessica's smile turned into a thoughtful frown before she answered with, "There have been small groups of such people decades ago, but no one has seen any hide nor hair of them today. These individuals used their powers to heal, aid, and always traveled outside our Kingdom's borders since they were all mostly free spirits. I'm not surprised that they didn't last long. The lands outside the purview of our great nation aren't the safest, after all."
With her questions answered, Evelyn said, "Why thank you for your time, Sister Jessica." Evelyn nodded to her in gratitude with a simple smile.
"May the Light of Rune-Midgard shine on you and bless you on your journey.", said Sister Jessica with a small nod of her head while her hands were clasped together in genuine prayer.
As Evelyn walked out of the church, her mind was elsewhere. She decided to wander around Prontera and find a place to eat an early lunch while she took in the sights. An interesting sight she bore witness to was of a young man busking in the streets with a guitar in hand, a bow and a quiver of arrows strapped to his person, and his outfit had the look of a simple yet hardworking adventurer.
Evelyn stopped by to listen alongside a decent crowd of onlookers to his music and voice; which she found pretty soothing. As she heard the strumming of the instrument and his song about a fair lady being chased by a gryphon; a decent song that Evelyn's never heard of before, she also took note of the people around.
With a bit of concentration, she activated her [Enhance Hearing - Advanced Skill] to earn exp towards the skill, to train it, and to see if she can once again split her focus while she listened to the young man's music.
According to her System, it's only 10:43 AM, so she has plenty of time to wander around some more, listen to more rumors, gather more information, find a weapon store, and to take in more of the city. She doubts that she's seen everything that it has to offer, so why not make it enjoyable, sate her curiosity, and kill some time until she has to pick up her fitted clothes from the seamstress from yesterday.
~ A Couple Of Hours Later ~
~ Evelyn's POV ~
With a relaxed and satisfied atmosphere about her, Evelyn can be found sitting by her lonesome on a wooden bench underneath the shade of a tree; a few of which dots the area near the marbled water fountain in front of her.
There are children playing near the large water fountain while their parents watched them closely. There were vendors selling their wares near the area while another group of children were kicking a leather ball around; playing wildly, having fun, and they looked as carefree, cared for, and healthy as most young children were in this city. Evelyn made sure to take note of that fact.
She had just finished eating a delectable lunch from a place called 'Morroc Mum's Curry', after she visited a few weapon stores, listened for some more rumors, gathered some more information, and now she was taking some time for herself to rest and relax.
At this moment, she was reading up on the (Recent & Confirmed Rumors; Foxy Sleuths Edition) with a raised brow and a small frown on her lips.
{The Truth of Recent Ongoings #827}
{Recent & Confirmed Rumors; Foxy Sleuths Edition}
{#1: A few weeks ago, rumors began to spread about a wandering group of traders that were traveling from Geffen to Prontera disappearing without a trace. A week later, a band of adventurers with one of our Sleuths secretly tagging along found out that they were slaughtered to the last person by a horde of Petite Dragons led by an unknown monster.}
{#2: There was a wedding held in secret earlier this month by the St. Claire noble family's youngest daughter to the 3rd born of the Vincent family; a vassal and knightly house under the banner of the St. Claire duchy.}
{#3: A pack of Dire Bears have been migrating from the forests north of Payon; the Village of Archers, to the northeastern forests of our beloved City of Prontera. How they were able to cross the eastern gulf of the sea is still a mystery to us all.}
{#4: The price of blue gemstones will rise from 300 zeny a piece to 1,000 zeny. These enchanted crystals are used as reagents in order to perform specific spells. The City of Geffen have been creating as much as they can to help fuel the war effort. However; due to the demand for these reagents at the warfront, the sale, distribution, and transport of these to other areas have been reduced significantly.}
{#5: A massive monster ant colony has appeared once more and it's located deep in the deserts to the east of the Town of Morroc. It is unknown as to how many of them there are now at this very moment. What we know for sure is that it appeared 2 weeks ago.}
As Evelyn read through more and more of the confirmed rumors, her frown grew. There were also 35 more down the line; which was pretty jarring. Each confirmed rumor was mixed in with maps and pictures; except for the ones that dealt with nobles, price changes for items, etc. Evelyn was surprised that there were pictures in this world, but then again it was a world filled with magic; so it shouldn't have been as much of a surprise to her.
For an hour and a half, she was sat on that bench and reviewing the (Recent & Confirmed Rumors; Foxy Sleuths Edition). She was also able to review the (New to Prontera Information Packet) as well as the (Recent Kingdom of Rune-Midgard News; Printed & Editted by the Daily Gazette of the Augustus Journalists).
After she finished absorbing the information and having her System catalogue them all to make it easier to digest and recall, she then went ahead to walk around some more, train & level up her [Enhance Hearing - Advanced Skill], and to collect even more information. While she was doing this, her mind was thinking that, 'I feel like a private investigator and/or detective... It's kind of exciting.'
Evelyn's concentration, multi-tasking capabilities, as well as her eye for gossip grew as she got slightly better at listening in and eavesdropping on others while she looked completely engrossed on reading a book and sitting on a bench nearby or leaning up on a wall and looking like she was just resting her eyes. It got so convincing, that a fair few people asked her if she was feeling alright; which made her have to make up convincing stories and such.
When the time came, she went to the seamstress to pick up her new fitted clothes and they looked pretty impressive. As she and her System received them, they witnessed information that they've never seen before... (New, Clean, and Fitted Red & White Robe of a Fledgling Acolyte [+5 INT][+3 VIT][Uncommon][Repairable][Requirements: Level 10, and Acolyte Job Class]). The white & green as well as the black & red fitted ones were also of the same make.
'There are now rarity values, a description saying that it can be repaired, and a level as well as a job class requirement. What do you think, System? Any thoughts as to why this showed up now?'
[It's probably due to the fact that these robes were made by an individual with a Job Class in Weaving or something of the like. Or maybe it's because it's so well-made that it's special properties are now able to be seen. The level requirements and Job Class requirements appearing are a mystery for now. The repairable description must be due to the fact that we've found a good enough seamstress that can repair the clothes that she made for us. Unless proven otherwise, then these theories could be the truth.]
[If we don't solve it today, then we'll find out eventually another time. It was the same way when we found out that the zeny we get and store in the inventory can be dessiminated to their proper denominations. For example: 100 zeny can either be 1 silver or 100 copper pieces while 10,000 zeny can either be 1 gold or 100 silver or 10,000 copper pieces.]
'I see...', while she inwardly talked to her System, she went to find a place to eat an early dinner. After that, she plans to mentally review what she learned with her System, organize her inventory, and get a good night's sleep in her booked room at her chosen inn. Tomorrow... Evelyn plans to continue Leveling herself up in the forests around Prontera, eventually change her Job into that of an Acolyte... and then... the skies the limit.
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{Author's Note:}
Hello everyone, I've got another chapter out. It took me a bit to get this chapter right. It's a little short, but it's sort of necessary. I tried to get it to flow and I think it worked out.
I was able to attend a wedding a few days ago and it was magical. The dancing was fun and I got to see some great dancers. I even got to see some breakdancing, some salsa, etc.