70 Prologue: A Request From A Friend.

The previous weeks' events fluttered through my vision. A hobgoblin loomed over me, a plant monster came in close for a kiss, and my body refused to move. I tossed and turned as I drenched myself in a cold sweat before I finally awoke.

"Ugh…"

The interior of my room was barely lit. The light coming from the window is faint at best. Today is one of my few days off, so waking up early as I usually do frustrated me greatly.

I slowly got out of bed and went towards the dresser. I've never been able to fall back asleep once I'm shocked awake, so I may as well start my day.

"So Kenji, are you thinking white sleeved shirt or grey sleeved shirt?"

I held both up towards the light of the window as I went through the day ahead mentally.

Thanks to the recent quest we completed, each of us received a thousand juns each. On top of the money, we also obtained a copious amount of experience. Each of us had risen to level 12. Kany put 5 levels in rogue and 2 into archer. She chose archer because she "didn't want to be left out of plans from now on."

Erana pumped all 9 levels that she got into druid. As a result, her magic is now far more potent.

Tael also pumped all 9 of his levels into his wizard class. He hasn't stopped bragging about how he is "one step closer to unlocking the secrets of mana."

That leaves only me. Unlike the rest of them, I haven't invested my levels yet since I've been debating on what exactly to do. It's not so easy to just have a single thing you want to be in a world full of superpowers and magic, you know?

I finished getting dressed for the day. I ensured that my sword belt was tightened to a satisfying level and stepped outside of my room. I walked down the stairs into the main hall of the adventurers guild. Since it was still very early, the only person here is the bird girl Yimmie. She is currently wiping down the tables in preparation for the day. She noticed I was walking downstairs and interrupted her work to talk to me.

"Morning Kenji-san. Up early as usual?"

"Unfortunately."

"Well, you may as well do something since you're up."

"About that… I have something to ask you if you're up to it."

"Huh? W-What could you possibly be referring to?" Yimmie looked to the side and awkwardly approached me.

"Status." I declared as my status screen appeared in front of me. "You see, I have 8 levels that I can distribute, but I'm having a hard time finding out what to put them into. Can you help me?"

"Oh… Yeah, I can do that." Yimmie visibly deflated as she said this. She sidled up next to me and looked over my status screen. She kept nodding her head and going "hm" over and over again.

"Show me your available classes."

I swiped my hand from left to right as I revealed my classes screen.

My current levels are \u003cWarrior Level 3\u003e and \u003cWizard Level 1\u003e.

"I unlocked the bard class back in Mulbik. It's a long story. As for the monk class… I don't know. I've never seen that before."

"Well, you get that class if you do a lot of introspection and get into a fistfight with someone."

"Wait, I don't need to meditate or anything? I just needed to think about myself and fight a guy?"

"Yep."

Considering that I unlocked the wizard class from just reading a book, I guess this isn't too odd.

"What does the monk class do?"

"Well, as with all classes, it varies from person to person, but at level one people usually gain some martial arts skills. Things like footwork come far more naturally. At level 2 they tend to unlock the attribute boost skill which lets them temporarily upgrade their stats."

"Woah, that sounds really useful."

"It sounds useful, but it's only strong if you have the attributes to back it up. It's not like your punches suddenly become lethal. A level 0 with a sword is more dangerous than a level 1 monk." Yimmi sat in a nearby chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Well, what about my stats?"

"For you? You'd probably be fine. A punch from a guy with 34 strength is pretty dangerous as it stands. Add monk abilities on top of it? You'd be a lethal weapon with or without an actual weapon."

I immediately allocated 2 of my 8 levels into the monk class. I could feel my body slightly shift as a result of my attributes changing.

"Okay! What else?"

"W-Well… Um… What else do you want?"

I cupped my chin as I began to think. This is the problem that has been plaguing me since I learned that I had 8 levels to invest. Now with only 6, I feel even more limited.

"I guess generally speaking, I want to be an all rounder. I want to be capable of doing anything."

"Well then you're on the right track. I recommend investing another two levels into warrior to get a new skill and then put 3 into wizard. The last class level is up to you."

Another skill. Add that to the magic that I would obtain through the wizard class and I'd be capable of a lot. This just leaves the last level to invest. Should I take a level in rogue? ...Probably not. Kany would get upset with me. I don't have the druid class unlocked so I can't pick that. I don't need a bow since I have the firebolt spell, so I guess I'll go with this one.

I allocated 3 levels into wizard, 2 into warrior, and 1 into bard. Why bard? I like music, that's why. There's no reason to be an adventurer if you can't have fun sometimes.

I could feel my physical attributes suddenly begin to shift as I invested my experience points. Feeling this sensation once more made me question something.

"Hey Yimmie-san, how does experience work anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, where does it come from?"

"The souls of creatures you kill, obviously." Yimmie just looked at her nails as she answered me.

"Wait, so I eat the souls of my enemies? That's kinda…"

"Oh no, you don't eat their souls. You just absorb residual energy from them. That energy becomes experience and the realization spell allows you to capture and distribute it into your body."

"Oh… That's far more reasonable. Why do people that don't kill the creature get experience too though?"

"It divides the experience amount by those that did the work. If you do 80% of the work then you get 80% of the experience."

That explains why Tael got 6 experience when I only got 4 after we killed the slime.

I looked over my now improved attributes.

Kenji Fujima. Level 12.

Strength: 59

Dexterity: 40

Constitution: 40

Mana: 100

Magic Power: 23

Luck: 15

Experience: 1276

I finally broke the triple digits in one of my stats. With only 4 levels in wizard, I shudder to imagine what Tael's mana level is.

Before I was able to investigate the abilities I obtained, a familiar person stepped through the front door of the guild.

"Ah, Kenji. It's good to see you."

"Ania-sama? W-What are you doing here?"

"Oh hush with the 'sama' business. For what I'm doing here, I need you to take a job for me."

"Kenji-san, is this your grandma?"

"W-What? No!"

"Young lady I'm not speaking to you so kindly stay quiet."

Yimmie let out a little "eep" noise when Ania said this. I can sympathize with her here.

"Anyhow, I have a friend in the Frozen Mist Hills. I need you to deliver something to him."

"Why don't you just use a postage service?"

"The Frozen Mist Hills are under attack by the demon king's army currently. The price of postage is incredibly high. You, however, are free." Ania thrust a small box towards me as she said this.

"So I'm just a delivery boy?"

"Yep."

"Wait but… if the misty hills place is under attack by the demon king's army then isn't it super dangerous?"

"U-Um… May I interject…?" Yimmie was meekly raising her hand as she hid behind me.

"Very well. Speak." Ania jutted her head upwards to indicate to Yimmie.

"W-Well… The Frozen Mist Hills are under attack, that is true, but there is a city within the hills that is guarded by strong walls that were made by the dwarves. The guild offers a teleportation service every wednesday to this city. This service costs only 10 juns for a party of up to 8."

"And tomorrow is…"

"Wednesday." Ania and Yimmie both answered.

I looked up and took a deep breath. Only one day off? Maybe I can just hire some other adventurer to do this for me…

"Ah… I wish I could go to the Frozen Mist Hills. I heard they have a hot spring with mixed bathing…" I heard Yimmie mutter to herself.

"Ania-sama, I shall take this job. Leave it to me. I am going to the Frozen Mist Hills."

"O-Okay. Good." She slowly backed away from me. It seems my sudden enthusiasm was frightening her. "Take care. Deliver it to the place that's written on the box!" She exclaimed as she left the guild hall.

I held the small package in my hands as I measured the weight. It's incredibly light. This may just be because of my new physical attributes though. Oh no that's actually concerning. What if I'm so strong I'll break things because of my freakish strength?

"Yimmie, I know that magic isn't allowed inside of the city, but what about physical tests like weightlifting competitions?"

"Weightlifting? Well, we have the summer's end festival coming up soon, so we'll probably have one then. Other than that, I don't know about any random competitions."

"So is there a place in the city to test my abilities?"

"Nope." Yimmie declared as she held her hands to form an X. "You gotta leave the wall if you want to test out your abilities."

How tedious…

"Fine. When does the teleport thing happen tomorrow?"

"We start them at 11 A.M."

"When I get sent there I can get sent back, yeah?"

"Of course. We have a subsidiary hall that is equipped with another teleport system that can get you back here. They also only work on wednesdays though."

"So… I'll have to spend a week in the Frozen Mist Hills when I go?"

"Yep."

A week of mixed bathing hot springs… Wait, get control of yourself Kenji.

"T-Thanks, Yimmi-san."

"Yeah. You know, I've always wanted to go to the Frozen Mist Hills and relax in the hot springs there, but I've been so busy working at the guildhall and have never had a reason to ask for days off…"

"Jeez. That sucks. I hope that you can find a reason some time soon!" I said as I began walking back up the stairs.

I didn't pay attention to how Yimmie reacted, but I'm fairly certain that I heard someone go "Bwuh!"