Chapter 4: 1/1000
'What?'
[The heart starts to beat]
|He did it|
He stood there, staring at the three windows that just appeared.
Following the first, the next two looked different from each other.
The first one was very elegant, while the other looked more torn up and unorganized.
But those two observations didn't matter now for Leo as he questioned himself.
'Did I just hold a conversation with the system?'
This seemed like a fever dream—an even bigger one than regressing itself.
And why were there windows that looked completely different than the normal system?
'Could it be that there are two, or even three, systems?'
...
'Maybe I'm just imagining things...'
|No, you aren't|
Leo almost fell on his butt from the sudden shock, staring at the pop-up.
'Are you the system itself?'
|I am half of the system|
His heart was beating so fast that he felt like it would jump right out of his chest.
He wondered how the public would react if they found out.
But he snapped back to reality, realizing that the reward for the first Celestial-grade class didn't come through.
'Can I get my reward before we talk more?'
|Of course|
...
[Congratulations on achieving a monumental task]
[Rewards: 50 000 gold]
[Gold 50 000]
'Thanks. If not for this, I wouldn't be able to do what I want in time.'
Summoner was the most resource- and gold-hungry class, being the only reason its previous owner had died.
Skill ceiling, though, that part was almost limitless.
Leo stood up and began walking towards the Tower, storing his staff back in the inventory.
'Well, nice to meet you. I'm...'
|Leo Astralis|
'And you are...'
|I am the system made to guide you through your journey|
That for sure was at least a tiny bit helpful. But it also meant that the two contradicting messages in the cave were caused by them.
He walked past the giant crowd that had formed around the girl he had helped.
'Why did you lead me through the tunnel that led me nowhere?'
|It was him. I wanted to lead you towards a place that would save you, but you chose his one instead.|
'So the more hostile one is trying to kill me...'
The window was now bigger and more aggressive, almost screaming.
Well, he wasn't wrong. If not for being hopeless at that moment, he would most likely not learn self-dependence.
Leo and the swarmed girl met their eyes, her face still surprisingly happy as if she didn't realize he just used her.
Better for him, it meant she wouldn't tell anyone about it.
He wanted to get the most tedious part of his equipment out of the way first.
|I hate to say that, but he is right. It doesn't sound like a good idea to start climbing without spending the gold you got.|
Their concerns would be right, if not for the fact that he already had a plan for most of the money.
'Just watch and learn.'
Doors of the Tower opened, inviting him in. With high confidence, he marched inside.
On the other side, a bustling town filled with Unbound.
"CHEAP SWORDS AND ARMOR!"
"HIGH-QUALITY POTIONS! BUY 1 PAY FOR 2."
"LOOKING FOR A TEAM! LOOKING FOR A TEAM!"
The bustling heartbeat of the city hit him like a truck.
Climbers and non-combat unbound walked everywhere, chattering and trading.
Leo skipped over all the stalls with poor-quality equipment.
He couldn't risk losing all of the gold on small upgrades, or he would slow down too much.
Not that far away were the walls to the outside of the first floor.
Watch out, end of safe zone!
That sign didn't stop him because he knew what he was getting himself into.
The gates outside opened, letting Leo out; bare plains with rivers and bushes were visible everywhere.
|I recommend you go towards the plains; they have pretty weak monsters that would let you train fast.|
'Do you know where I can find kobold shamans?'
|?|
'Uuh... small blue things with big staffs...'
It was difficult to describe a creature he had never seen.
|No. I know what you are referring to. It's just that...|
'So you won't help me?'
|... It's in the mountains on the horizon|
He bowed and was on his way towards the cave in the mountains.
The thing he was after would be able to drop there.
***
Less than an hour later, guided by both the systems, he found himself in front of the destination.
Growl
A group of kobolds left the cave with their weapons out.
[Kobold level 1]
[HP 50/50]
[Kobold level 1]
[HP 50/50]
[Kobold level 1]
[HP 50/50]
[Kobold Shaman level 2]
[HP ⛊100/50]
Leo pulled out his staff and summoned a small slime.
[1x Slime]
[HP 25/25]
[Summoner Slots 0/1 ⚚]
One of the kobolds ran up to him with a small dagger in his hands.
'Move.'
His slime jumped on top of the monster, dissolving it in one attack.
[+5 XP]
[+1 Gold]
[+Material: Kobold Skin]
Given how weak the monsters were, the XP rates were atrocious.
But that didn't matter as he wasn't here to level up anyway.
[New Quest]
[Slay 500 kobolds]
[1/500]
[Reward: ???]
'Isn't it too early for that?'
Leo stared confused at the message that just appeared.
He thought it was a daily quest, which wasn't supposed to appear just yet.
|It's a small incentive to make you grow faster :)|
'Oh... thank you a lot, miss.'
Killing as many as possible was his plan anyway, so this came as a nice bonus.
grrr
Another one jumped his way.
***
After hours of killing them, Leo collapsed from exhaustion.
[Quest completed!]
[Reward: [Drop Table] ability]
"That was phew terrible."
Kobold shaman nearby stared with a furious face as the man sat on a pile of corpses.
[Drop Table]
[Kobold Shaman]
[100% Kobold Skin]
[5% Iluminite Ore]
[0,1% Pygmy Necklace]
|It seems you got very lucky, Master Leo|
The female voice of the system wasn't wrong.
[Inventory]
[500x Kobold Skin]
[24x Iluminite Ore]
[2x Pygmy Necklace]
In only 100 shaman kills, he got two copies of the item he wanted.
Which was even better than he expected, as now he could use one of them.
Leo took out the necklace and put it on, increasing his summons capacity by 2.
[Status: Unbound]
[Leo Astralis - Level 6]
[Gold 52 000]
[Class: Summoner]
[Mana 150/150]
[Magic: 15]
[Summoner Slots 2/3 ⚚]
[1x Summoned Slime lvl 6]
He couldn't visit the smith today, barely reaching the pub by the entrance of the Tower before his legs gave out.
Ding ding
"Hello, how could I help you?"
The bartender asked, his hands busy cleaning a mug.
It was a pretty slow day for this pub due to the commotion outside related to the two classes.
"I would like a room for one... and some food."
His belly rumbled. The last thing he had eaten was still 700 years in the future.
'Wouldn't that mean that I ate something that shouldn't exist?'
Leo pondered as he ate a hearty meal.
He shrugged, noticing the flaw in his logic.
After finishing his meal, he ran upstairs and got into a wooden bed with a few pillows.
For a normal person, it would be a below-average room.
But for Leo it felt like he was a noble, falling asleep right away.
Without his knowledge, a crowd of people began to form in the plaza all around the city.