By satisfying the conditions required, Jobs could be ranked up. And the pattern that would appear somewhere on the body, was the proof that the conditions had been met.
The book-shaped pattern that had appeared on my right hand's fingernail was definitely the proof.
「Oh, congratulations!」
「Congrats, Noel」
The two of them were applauding me, but to be honest, I felt conflicted. I just couldn't help feeling unsatisfied that I had ranked up by killing Goblins.
Well, I'll just be happy about the fact that it didn't appear on my butt.
「Since Noel is able to rank up, only Kouga is left out now」
Kouga's eyes widened at Alma's mean words.
「Huh, Alma is also able to rank up?」
「That's right. Piece of cake」
「If that's true, show me the proof」
「Huh? Pervert. Can you go die?」
「What!?」
I held my head in my hands as the silly quarreling started again.
「Alma, stop tormenting the newcomer. You're the eldest among us. How about you learn how to act more like an adult?」
「......Uuu」
「Kouga, it can't be helped since it looks like you don't know, but the rank up pattern appears in different places for each person. It might have appeared somewhere private so stop thoughtlessly asking others to show it to you」
「Ah, now that you mention it, you're right...... Alma, I'm sorry」
Alma had a complicated expression on her face as Kouga bowed conscientiously.
「You don't particularly need to apologize......」
Alma was now looking embarrassed. I sniggered at her funny expression.
「Well, Kouga should also be able to rank up soon. So there's no need to worry about being left out」
「Is it so easy to rank up?」
「It's not easy at all. But with regards to B Ranks, it has been said that you'll have a high chance of ranking up as long as you have fulfilled the conditions」
Of course, it wasn't absolute. There were many Seekers who had fulfilled the conditions but remained unable to rank up. But I was convinced of Kouga's talent.
「For example, a Talker's rank up condition is to accumulate 10,000 points of experience from battles where he has used his buffs」
「How do you earn those 10,000 points?」
「Based on statistics, one point is earned each time when fighting an opponent of the same level. The number of points will increase exponentially according to the strength of the opponent. In other words, it'll take a tremendous amount of time to rank up by only fighting safe battles, but the time needed can be shortened by fighting in dangerous battles instead」
「I see. In that case, I should be able to rank up soon. Is that also the reason why you keep challenging very close battles?」
「That's right. Most importantly, you have your experience from the underground arena, so taking that into account, I believe that it shouldn't take too long for you to rank up」
Considering that the pattern had only just appeared for me, who was called the big-eater rookie, after fighting for almost a year with barely any rest, it was clear that ranking up was a thorny path. However, it was a condition that could be achieved as long as you were capable of counting, so it was a wall that could be easily overcome by those who were not afraid of fighting.
But it was a totally different story for reaching A Rank......
「Oh right, I forgot to tell you both. We'll be continuing to explore Abysses from now on, so if you feel any changes in your mind or body, speak up immediately」
「Is there some sort of problem?」
I nodded when Alma tilted her head.
「Abysses are ultimately the Void. Your soul will be pulled over to that side if you stay too long」
「We'll die?」
「You won't die but you will develop mental abnormalities from your soul's nature being changed. Seekers who become like that are called Dark Seekers」
「How do we deal with it?」
「That's easy. All you need to do is have the allies talk to each other. It's an old fashioned saying but the bonds between people are the best barrier to protect your soul. So, unless you're acting solo, you're very unlikely to become a Dark Seeker, but I thought that both of you should know just in case」
「Is there any method to turn them back?」
Kouga was the one asking. I shook my head after thinking for a while.
「No」
「I see」
As Kouga was making a solemn expression, the sounds of carriages coming from a distance could be heard.
「Looks like the collection team has arrived. We can say goodbye to this smelly place. Alma, I'm going to rank up after returning to the imperial capital, but what will you do?」
「......Sorry, wait a little longer」
「Got it. Let me know when you've made up your mind」
The ranking up of Jobs was irreversible. Once you decided on which Job to rank up to, you couldn't change it later. Therefore, it was not only Alma, but many Seekers who hesitated over their choices, so I had no complaints about that.
I could make a quick decision simply because I had no choice.
†
†
Just like how Appraisers were needed to discover Jobs, their help was indispensable for ranking up as well.
Appraisers were quite special among all Jobs, as their ability did not need to be appraised and was present from the time they were born. Also, they had no rank up.
Those born as Appraisers were gathered from each municipality into the imperial capital and were given specialized education in the Appraiser Guild.
The main duty of a fully-fledged Appraiser was to help the people in the imperial capital and the various municipalities to discover their Jobs. When they weren't doing that, they would research the Jobs that had already been appraised. The values of the various Skills were also calculated using the data that the Appraisers kept secretly.
The existence of Appraisers was an indispensable part of the people's lives. If all the Appraisers disappeared, the world would be changed completely. For the worse, of course.
But to be honest, I hated Appraisers.
「Thank you for coming today, Master Noel Stollen」
I entered the Appraiser Guild--a majestic temple-like limestone building, and after a long wait, I was led to the room where the person in charge was. In the room was a young Gnome woman.
「Do you wish to rank up? That's very wonderful. As an Appraiser, I'm delighted to be able to witness your journey through a new door」
The Appraiser in charge spoke with a smile, but the smile did not reach her eyes at all.
They held no special interest in people, probably because of the special education that they had received since childhood, and their thirst for knowledge was directed wholly at Jobs. Because of the way they looked at people like they were experimental animals, they were an unlikable group as always.
「Well then, I'll inform Master Noel, who is a Talker, of the Jobs that you can rank up to. First is Bard. Next is Tactician. And the last is Monster Tamer」
What she said was the same as what I had read up on beforehand.
A Talker had three possible Jobs that he could rank up to.
Bard, a Job that had even stronger buffs using the power of songs.
Tactician, a Job specializing in group battles, and was capable of utilizing a multitude of buffs.
Monster Tamer, a Job that could communicate with and tame Monsters.
However, there was only one Job out of these three that I should choose.
First of all, while the strengthened buffs of the Bard were very enticing, it was impossible for me to perform my role as a control tower while I was singing. As a result, Bard was out.
Next was the Monster Tamer but......it was totally out of the question.
Certainly, there was a certain romance in being able to make Monsters obey you. But taming Monsters also meant that you had to look after them. It was unrealistic to set up the wide space needed to raise them in the imperial capital, which had high land prices. Especially since the stronger Monsters were generally all quite big in size. The food costs alone would be astronomical as well.
More than anything, it didn't feel like there was any meaning in purposely adding Monsters when you already had human allies. The way people and Monsters fought were totally different and the effort needed just to make them work together would wear you out.
As a result, Monster Tamer was also out.
And so, I inevitably had only one choice remaining.
「Master Noel, which Job will you choose? By the way, my recommendation is Monster--」
「It's Tactician. Tactician please」
The Appraiser was trying to say something, but I interrupted her and conveyed my intention.
「......Tactician. I see, certainly, as a Seeker, you would prefer the more versatile Tactician. But, for the Monster--」
「It's Tactician. I have no intention of being anything other than a Tactician」
「......Hmm. But, after all, my recommendation is--」
「I don't give a damn what your recommendation is. Never mind that and just make me a Tactician」
As I hurried her in annoyance, the Appraiser cast her eyes down in sadness.
「......No matter what?」
「Yes, no matter what. There's no use arguing about it」
「......tch」
This shitty Appraiser just clicked her tongue at me.
The reason why she wanted me to become a Monster Tamer was simply because there was very little data on Monster Tamers. She was persistently trying to derail my life just because she wanted a new research subject.
This was exactly why I hated Appraisers.
「Haaa, understood. Tactician is fine then?」
「Haven't I already said that so many times. Please be quick. I'm busy」
「Then, as your mind seems made up, I'll start the ceremony」
The Appraiser opened her arms and began to sing in a language that was different from the common language. I wasn't a specialist so I didn't know too much in detail but it seemed to be a song in an ancient Gnome language
In the first place, the special Job of Appraiser had originated from Gnomes. Therefore, nearly 80 percent of them were Gnomes. Appraisers of other races all had Gnome blood in their ancestry as well.
This was what the song meant:
「I, open a new door inside you. I, open a new door inside you. You, the one who wishes for great power. Turn those eyes to the sea within you. Shine the light of wisdom on the dark water surface. The light will become a door that opens to the real world. I, open a new door inside you. I, open a new door inside you--」
Eventually a blue glow enveloped me and a mysterious power welled up from the depths of my body--
†
†
Tactician, a B Rank Job from the Talker series. Its trait was a super high modifier to thinking speed.
Originally, the Talker Job's intelligence modifier was already top-class among all Jobs. It had now been further strengthened thanks to this newly obtained trait, and it was now possible to divide my thoughts into multiple pseudo-personalities and even maintain the brain's processing speed while they were all thinking in parallel.
By utilizing this trait, the battle situation could be analyzed from any viewpoint in real time, so it was possible to derive a prediction of how the battle would unfold with an accuracy that was close to precognition. The time that could be predicted was extremely short, but was a very fitting trait for a Tactician.
Naturally, it was up to me to make the most of this trait in real battles. It would be meaningless if I could tell the future with certainty, but was unable to formulate a method to deal with it. In other words, my cooperation with Alma and Kouga, who were like my arms and legs, would be even more important than before.
Now that my rank up was done, I left the Appraiser Guild and headed to the Seeker Guild. My purpose was to deal with the procedures for creating a clan.
Along the way, a crowd of screaming female fans caught my eye.
「Kyaa! So cool! Look over here-!」
「Let's have a meal together! I'll treat!」
「Excuse me! Could you please sign this scabbard!?」
It looked like the person in the center was apparently quite popular with women. The age of the female fans ranged from young to elderly, and they were not all ordinary people, there were some who were clearly Seekers.
Seekers were the people's idols. Every year, the various newspapers in the imperial capital all worked together to survey the people and put out rankings for『Men you wanted to hook up with』and for『Women you wanted to be your girlfriend』, and Seekers took all the top spots every year.
But the number of them who were also admired by their peers were pretty limited. I got curious and stretched to see the person in the center of the group. Since the surrounding people were all women, I succeeded in getting a look at the person I was looking for quite easily.
It was a young man with lightly curled flaxen hair. His age was in the mid-twenties. He was one head taller than me. He had a gentle expression and his eyes looked to be always squinting. The dark blue coat that he had on matched his hair color well. And a long sword was hung on the sword belt at his waist.
It was a man I knew. I see, now it made sense why the women had crowded around him. After all, he was the man who had been ranked number one on the 『Men you wanted to hook up with』rankings for three years in a row.
Of course, he wasn't just a pretty face. His strength and title were overwhelming.
The strongest clan in the imperial capital, and 1st Star of Regalia, was Supreme Dragon Squad. The name of the young, genius Swordsman who served as their sub-master was known to every Seeker.
The instant I uttered his name, Sieg suddenly turned his gaze towards me.
「Oh? Aren't you Noel Stollen?」
He clearly said my name in a voice that carried well through the cheering voices. Sieg pushed his way through the women and walked towards me.
「As I thought, it's Noel. Wow, what a strange coincidence」
The calmly delivered bald-faced lie was sufficient proof that I was indeed this man's goal from the very beginning.
And I had a rough idea of the reason behind it.
Noel has finally powered up into Kumoko from Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka?, but don’t worry, Noel is not going to split into multiple personalities. But a new character has made an appearance already and it’s the sub-master of the strongest clan! Stay tuned to find out what happens!
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