Reign of The Demon King

Magic, Skills and Guilds

Angelica comes to grab them early in the morning the next day.

“Did the two of you sleep well?” She asked.

They both lied and nodded their heads. They were too embarrassed to tell the truth.

“Great, there is a lot we have to do today, although most of it will be me explaining things,” the princess noted.

“Like what?” Himari questions.

“I’ll go into further detail in a bit, but for now, just follow me.” She replied.

She leaves the inn with Renji and Himari close behind. Soon, they were at the gates of the city and the princess turned towards them.

“Today, we are going to be heading outside the city limits.” The princess stated.

“Are we going to be fighting something?” Himari asks.

“No, it is much too early to pull you into battle. In our world, creatures that are known as monsters exist. They can be as harmless as a 2-tailed rabbit or as dangerous as a dragon. Thanks to the strength of our kingdom, there aren’t many powerful monsters around here and there most certainly isn’t anything that you’ll have to worry about where we’re going,” she assured her.

“If you say so,” Himari says.

She leads the pair about half a mile from the city wall before she stops again. Himari looks around with a concerned look on her face.

“If we aren’t out here to fight monsters, then what are we doing?” Renji asks.

“I just wanted to avoid the possibility of anyone eavesdropping on our conversation. Many of the building's walls are easy to hear through and going back to the castle would be a hassle, so talking outside the city’s walls was the best option. Now, where to start?” The princess questions, a hand on her chin.

“Could I offer a starting point?” He says.

“Sure,” Angelica says.

“How does magic work? What are the elements if there are multiple? Are there different classes in terms of strength? How does one perform magic? Everything.” He questions.

“That’s a good place to start. Listen closely. Magic falls into 7 different categories: those being, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, and dark. Any type of magic that doesn’t fit into those 7 categories falls into null, teleportation magic is a good example and some types of magic aren’t exactly the same as the category they are labeled, such as ice magic, which is labeled as a type of water magic. There are several levels of magic: basic, beginner, intermediate, advanced, master, saint, and holy level. Despite its name, the holy level of magic isn’t named that because it’s exclusive to holy magic but because of the immense power of the magic. Oh, holy magic falls into the light category, by the way. Anyone can use magic as long as you know the incantation. What separates a mage from an average person typically is their mana capacity. Most people can cast a basic spell or 2, but those with higher mana capacities can easily cast dozens of spells of the same level without breaking a sweat. However, just because there is an incantation doesn’t mean that it’s needed. If you have enough talent, you can cast a spell without saying the incantation. An incantation helps you focus your mana, but if you’re going to perform holy level magic, an incantation is required, as far as I know. There are general incantations for most magic followed by the name of the specific type of magic that you want to use, while holy level magics each have specific incantations. But even if an incantation isn't needed for holy magic, reciting an incantation will increase its power and the control you have over it. The amount of mana and concentration that is needed is immense. Even the slightest break in concentration could lead you to imploding.” The princess answered.

The statement garnered a nervous gulp from Himari.

“I see, then it seems that my theory that Hanabusa-san could be of use is gaining traction.” He noted.

“Really?!” Himari asks a bit excitedly.

“Yes. Princess Angelica, is there a way to check someone’s mana levels?” He asks.

“Guilds typically have a way to check them. We can have the guild in the kingdom check her later today.” The princess noted.

“Then we can do that once we’re done here,” He said.

“And on the subject of guilds, why don’t I explain how they work? Most towns have a guild and those that don’t are always looking for traveling adventurers to complete tasks for them. There are 10 adventurer ranks: bronze, silver, gold, platinum, emerald, ruby, sapphire, diamond, amesite, and adamantium. Requests for adventures can vary from finding a missing person to defeating powerful monsters like wyverns. When you register with a guild, you start at the lowest rank. The higher your rank, the more difficult the requests become, but they also become more profitable. In order to rank up, you need to pass a rank-up test. The test proctor will determine if you are ready to rank up and take on more difficult quests.” The princess explained.

“That seems simple enough,” Himari noted.

“How do adventurers fight? Surely it’s not exclusively with magic,” Renji asks.

“Correct, everyone develops skills as they train, defeat monsters, and complete dungeons. Some people are born with unique skills. You, for example, most likely have a unique skill since you are the hero.” The princess pointed out.

“How would I know what that skill is?” He asks.

“It’s a bit difficult to explain, but if you think ‘access skills’, every one of your skills will be read out in your mind. On the subject of skills, titles are earned similarly. My father has the title of king, and he acquired it once he won the succession race between him and his brother. Monsters can also have titles that are bestowed upon them by the god of monsters based on their powers, as well as several other conditions. The titles one can earn as well as the things that you can do to earn one vary greatly. The leading theory is that the goddess of our world bestows the skills and titles onto us and implants how to use them and what they do to us in our minds as well.” Angelica answered.

“Access skills.” Renji thought, in accordance with the princess’s directions.

In his mind he could hear a voice.

“Access skill; unique skill, Sage’s Intuition.” A voice says.

The voice was very unusual. It was like it was talking to him from another world, but also right into his ear and simultaneously in his mind.

“Sage’s Intuition? Renji thought to himself before he could hear the voice reading out more skills.

“Skill; Genius and Rapid Growth.” It said before it stopped speaking.

“So, what was your unique skill?” The princess asked.

“Sage’s Intuition.” He answers.

“Hmmm, I’ve never heard of that one, but I’m sure it will be very useful considering it is a unique skill bestowed to the hero, possibly something to help you with magic. Now, what about you?” The princess asked while shifting her focus to Himari.

“Oh,” Himari chokes as she does what the princess said.

“My skill is holy saint?” Himari asks more than states.

“Whoa, that’s very good. You’re adept at holy magic, so you’ll be good at using support spells such as healing magic or setting up protective barriers.” Angelica noted.

“So then, I’ll be of use?” Himari asks, a hint of excitement in her voice.

“More than that. You’ll be an unexpendable part of our team. Having someone that can act as support, especially the kind that can heal, is something that every party welcomes.” Angelica noted.

Himari lets out an excited shriek.

“You can target what skills you wish to gain to some extent. For example, you can gain fire resistance from being hit by multiple fire spells and walking through a volcano.” She noted.

“Both seem like things that I would like to avoid,” Himari retorted.

“That could prove useful depending on the situation,” Renji mumbles.

“Skills can be improved by using them consistently, so be sure to use as many of your skills as often as possible to increase the number of strengths you have.”

“Now, let me explain the races that are in our world. The races that you can find throughout the world are: elves, dwarves, lizardmen, ogres, fishmen, dragonewts, beastmen, dragons, fairies, humans, and demons. Most of the races have a neutral relationship, although elves and dwarves aren’t very friendly with one another and, of course, demons have a conflicting relationship with every race. Every race has its defining feature; elves have their ears, dwarves their height, so on and so forth. However, sometimes species of the same race can appear widely different. This is due to them being of different classes. For example, high ranking ogres tend to look more human-like, while lower ranking ones have an appearance that resembles a monster. Demons, however, have the most variance in their appearance and there are subcategories of races that fall into the demon race, such as vampires. Some look like ordinary monsters while some look like a mixture of multiple races. Every race has its own language, but we also have a shared language that was developed centuries ago for when we needed to band together to fight back the demon incursion.” She explains.

“So is it safe to assume that these other races won’t be hostile towards us as long as we don’t provoke them?” He questions.

“You shouldn’t have any issue with any of the races outside of demons, although we don’t have close relations with the other races, so take that statement with caution.” She answered.

“I see. Well, hopefully, we won’t have to worry about the other races then,” He noted.

“Hopefully, but that should be everything of importance, so why don’t we head back into the city in order to register you 2 with the guild.” She says.