36 Chapter 36: May I Please See Your ID?

For the rest of the evening, I started making plans and buying the necessary items. The first thing I bought was the 5sp Magical ID cards.

The ID cards resonated with the owners mana and reported their name, race, age, rank, criminal status, and their basic parameters, though the last part could be hidden by the user.

The backside of the ID had a crest unique to each individual owner, and when injected with the owner's mana, it would glow, though, nothing would happen if someone else did the same.

Because of that, this became a normal way to confirm one's identity in this world. Cards like these were used by the Guild who had discovered an ancient machine capable of producing them, though, they still don't entirely understand how the machine works, they have learned enough to produce a sufficient quantity of cards each year.

Although, I didn't have such machines, I had something even better, the system. I quickly purchased a card to test it before injecting my mana into it. That was the initial binding practice. The first person to inject their magic inside would become the owner of card.

Soon, a dark-violet light emerged from the back of the card in the shape of two overlapped triangles, one inverted, and hexagonal cutout in the center of them. It looked like like a machine cutout of David's star (1).

When I checked the front of my card, I saw this.

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Name: Orion Anvindr

Job: None

Race: Slime Lord[2]

Age: ???

Rank: Special-A

Status: Non-criminal

Parameters: Hidden

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Unlike seeing one's status, the parameters only showed the total points gathered across all evolutions.

There were two other interesting things listed on the card. 'Hey, Saul! Why does the "none" next to the job mean? Haven't I unlocked several job classes from the humans I've devoured?'

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Currently, you are only gaining the passive bonuses from your jobs as you do not have a job slot to equip them. These passive bonus simply help you improve related skills faster and have an easier time learning new related skills.

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'Oh, so how do I get those job slots?' I asked.

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Humans of this world have a single job slot that is filled from birth. By leveling up the jobs, they gain higher parameters and additional skills until it reaches max level. After it reaches max level, they can choose from one or more advanced jobs that give better parameters and abilities to replace the previous job. Although they loose the boosted parameters initially, they are able to keep all the abilities they gained.

The process is similar for Mix-blood monsters, but you yourself are an anomaly. Like normal monsters, you have no job slots. On the other hand, you are able to level up the jobs that you've aquired and gain all the abilities they provide too. The only demerit is that you don't gain the additional parameters provided by having an equipped class, though, this should not be a particular issue for you.

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'Ah, I certainly do gather parameters much faster than I can level up, so the job-class parameters wouldn't help me a whole lot when I have a hard limit on my stats. In fact, it might even hurt me overall since it would limit the stats I can achieve and keep through developing myself.'

/-------------------------------------\

Affirmative.

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'Well, that solves one mystery. My other question is the rank shown. What does it mean that I am Special-A rank?'

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In this world, monsters and those who fight them are ranked differently. Monsters are generally ranked solely on their magical energy. Upon birth, you were already an A+ ranked being based on this scale. Between receiving a name from Veldora and devouring numerous monsters, you have reached Special-A rank, otherwise known as a Calamity class monster.

Although the ranks may be the same, there can also be a considerable difference between monsters of the same rank due to their unique abilities. With your abilities, you would provide a difficult fight for many (S-) and S-ranked monsters, even if you could not defeat them.

Humans are also graded differently since their ranks are based on their capabilities rather than their magic capacity.

There is also a unique ranking system for those adventurers that receive blessings from their gods that appears to be based on the monster rank-up system. These adventures gain excelia from their battles against monsters that challenge them and it is used to increase the adventure's parameters as well as level up.

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Hmm… Although the process seems a bit more convoluted thanks to the gods and goddesses' interference, it certainly seems to give the adventurer's a smoother path to advance.

The main issues are that it effectively ties one to a god or goddess, and that growth is only really effective in dungeons where monsters are constantly spawned.

On the surface, monster population can't support such hunting as seen by the goblins that were "forced" to retaliate and take human women to support their birth rates.

The difficulty of hunting them can also vary greatly, unlike the fairly balanced dungeons that start with easier foes in the early levels and become progressively more difficult the farther one goes.

Satisfied with the unexpected lessons, I quickly purchased a Magical ID card for each of the goblins, and ID collars for the direwolves. Similar to the cards, various collars were also produced for tamed beasts in the surrounding countries.

With this, it would become easy to identify everyone, and keep track of their contributions. I stored the items in my inventory and started looking at the items for the next phase of the plan. The cards and collars cost about 2,000sp altogether, but the rest of the items I bought would be much more expensive.

Still, it would be worth it once my subordinates started raking in the SP for me.

I exited the tent I had set up for this project and was pleasantly surprised. Kurobe and the construction crew I assigned him had already begun working on the framework for the dorm buildings, and they had created quite a bit of rough lumber for the project to.

The construction team also consisted of three older Earth mages that were unable to provide help on the frontlines anymore. Instead they volunteered to help build the structures in our settlement and assist in defense when needed.

This was better than I could hope for, and Kurobe also seemed quite grateful for their support. They had already used their magic to create several large stone stoves that the Timiano sisters and Treyni were using while the goblinas helped prep the meats and vegetables.

It was an impressive sight and I wasn't surprised to see a few more helpers joyfully assisting the sisters and my favorite dryad.

In the few hours I was gone, Hakurou, had continued his demonic training and indoctrinated a few dozen new warriors from the latest tribe with his violent teaching methods.

Ranga had sent out a several of his pack members alongside the goblins to scout out the surroundings and to bring back some fresh prey under Souei's instructions. The rest were guarding and patrolling the camp.

It was a satisfying and relieving to have such capable subordinates, and it instilled more confidence for the direction we would take in the future.

Soon, a large bon fire was drawn in the center of the camp, and everyone not working began settling in to eat as the sun went down. Naturally, the patrols remained until their shift was finished and then they too would come and enjoy their meals.

After everyone gathered, the goblinas began handing out bowls of garden curry. It seemed like most of Treyni's cooking knowledge was related to curry, so next time I think I'll ask the sisters to come up with a dish for us.

After a hearty meal, I decided to dispense the ID cards to everyone, and explain their usage. As everyone received their cards, a veritable light show lit up the surroundings.

With this, even if not everyone had a name yet, they would still be identifiable and be able to take quests and receive rewards. According to Saul, each card had the ability to store additional data, which it used to track additional information such as their contribution points and personal information.

Naturally this information was heavily encrypted, and not even I could alter it freely. Only Saul who would control the system would be able to do so.

I explained that the day after tomorrow, they would be able to start taking jobs and quests to receive contribution points for their work. A month later, they would stop receiving free food, and they would have to pay their contribution points for it.

I chose that time as it was also the period of time it would take for the dormitories and the first meal hall to be finished and ready. As part of the deal for the sisters, I would also be constructing workshops with a small store in the front for them to teach their trade and sell their wares.

Although currently the sisters were the only ones with apprentices, I hoped to develop more skilled workers as our population grew.

Although some felt a bit disgruntled about not being able to freely eat such delicious meals, the situation hadn't changed much in reality. There were also some concerns about those who were unable to fight and hunt, so I did my best reassure them and explain the ideas I had for civilian jobs.

The remaining three elders would have jobs requiring more responsibility. Namely, I intended for them to be held responsible for accepting quests, checking their completions, and exchanging the contribution points with rewards.

This would all be monitored by the system too, so even though I didn't completely place my faith in them, I could still rely on the system.

I also threw some bones towards training with the the humans, or working with the civil teams such as the cooks and the construction teams.

After answering many questions, about the new systems, I had to eventually stop them and tell them that demonstrations would begin tomorrow.

The night had grown late, and when I found my way to Treyni, she was still chatting with the girls. It seemed like they were going to be having a girls night together to discuss topics I don't even want to think about.

Surprisingly, Mia had volunteered for the night watch today, so I decided to check on her and see how she's doing. There was one more thing I needed to do first, though.

I purchased the tier-1 Illusory formation for 2,500sp, then installed the device at the center of our camp.

It was a lot cheaper than the barrier, but it only detered unintelligent monsters from approaching while confusing intelligent beings below B-Rank.

Although the guards would need to keep watch for more dangerous threats, it would at least keep away the more pesky monsters. On something so cheap, there was no way to manage who it affected and who it didn't, but it did have safe passage corridors that would allow those that knew the method to safely traverse the illusions and enter the camp.

At night, the guards would remain close to the walls, but I sent a message to those in the active duty channel to warn them not to stray away lest they get trapped.

They quickly affirmed my orders, so I felt safe activating the formation. I could feel a noticeable dip in the nearby mana levels but it was only a small difference. I noticed that even here, the human women and some of the weaker goblins were still struggling a bit with the mana levels, so hopefully the new measures in the next few days would help some.

After the discussion with the women, Saul informed me that monsters would all eventually adjust to this environment so long as they were gradually exposed to higher mana levels. Even humans would benefit from it, seeing larger increases to their mana when they level up their job-classes, especially with those related to magic.

Naturally, humans also have higher chances of gaining magic related jobs and skills from being exposed to such an environment for a long period of time.

Thinking about the day we all would be able together, I smiled a bit wryly imagining a house full of such beautiful and lively women. Things have certainly begun developing in an interesting direction.

I shook those thoughts from my mind before locating Mia on my map, then using [Flash Step] to quickly reach her.

"Yo!" I spoke, quickly appearing beside her and startling the diminutive hobgoblin.

"Huh?!" She quickly drew her bow and created a distance between us.

Facing away from me she was about to leap out into the illusory formation so I flashed forward, grabbed her wrist, lightly tossing her back towards the wall.

She easily righted herself and scowled as she looked at me. "What are you doing here, Orion?"

"Apparently having to save you from jumping headfirst into the Illusory formation I just finished warning you about." I replied matter of factly.

Her brows furrowed as she looked past me at the swirling mass that covered the ground just behind me.

Although it didn't really look like there was anything there, that area gave her an ominous feeling and that's why she reacted so vigilantly when I spoked her.

I raised my hands in surrender as I approached her, but she was in a terse mood as she quickly asked, "So, what are you really here for?"

I moved beside her and gently pat her short spiky hair. "I just came to check on you. You shouldn't have any problem with the mana now, but I wanted to see how you were settling in and what you thought of all this."

She enjoyed my head pats for a moment, then looked towards either side. She sighed in relief when she noticed she could barely the other watchmen from here.

"Is now really a good time for this? Shouldn't you be cavorting with your wife right now or something?" She asked while moving ahead of me to continue her patrol.

I smiled and matched her pace. "Indeed, I would certainly like to do such, but that doesn't mean I can't be concerned about you too, right?"

The short girl harrumphed as she slung her bow over her shoulder. "I don't really understand why you're doing all of this, to be honest. Why should we change the way we've always done things. It works good for us, no?"

I nodded towards her statement, "Indeed, for small groups, personal hunting and foraging can be effective, as well as basic bartering when necessary, but it severely limits the group as it grows, and it's much too inefficient. I have much bigger plans than allowing you all to remain simple hunters!" I asserted with a proud grin.

The night wind was a bit chilly, but also quite refreshing. The brisk, dark, night was quite different from the warm evenings I spent with Treyni warming my side, but chatting about various things as we walked brought its own warmth. Especially whenever Mia would laugh or giggle about what we were talking about.

She had begun teaching a small group of 15 the knowledge and experience she had of archery in the early morning, them she rested in the evening so that she could take on the first of two night patrols. Each watch lasted 6 hours, then the previous patrol members were swapped out with freshly rested members.

We patrolled back and forth, but there wasn't a great deal of excitement to be had. I'm not sure if this new formatiom will be good for our people or not. If they become too relaxed, it could be detrimental when it really counts.

I guess I would just have to discuss it with the other leaders and see what they suggest.

When the watch was up, Mia and I returned to the camp, but she was trudging her feet along the way. I picked up the flustered hobgoblin and carried her back to the tent I set up after Treyni's reprimand.

"Wah! Idiot! What are you doing, she hollered as quietly as possible. I waved off the surprised goblins and hobgoblins that finished their shifts at the sane time. They looked between me and my flustered captive before giving me a thumbs up heading off on their own.

"Hush, Mia! Do you want to wake everyone in the camp up?" I spoke quietly while quickly moving through the tents.

"Ugh…" After a moment of futile struggling, Mia relaxed and "allowed" me to carry her away.

When we arrived at the tent, I quickly cast [Cleanse] on the both of us, then entered the tent and sat the pouting hobgoblin down on the comfortable pelt blankets.

Instead of arguing with me, Mia started taking off her gear, storing her bow and arrows in the corner, along with her boots and gloves.

I had been sitting on the pelts, casually watching her after reabsorbing the spiritual energy that made up my socks and tabi. I had considered purchasing some sleep wear that was more comfortable than my normal robes, but I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

When all that remained was her normal dress, Mia came back and laid down on her stomach beside me. "Since you dragged me here, the least you could do is give me a massage, right?" She said looking at me from over her shoulder.

I raised my brow and then laughed softly. "I had expected you to enjoy my massages, but I didn't think you would take to them so soon, little sister."

She gave a light harrumph, but didn't deny my words. "So, what exactly is your plan, big brother?" She asked while I slowly began working on her neck and shoulders.

"Hmm… I suppose I just want to create a force capable enough to me to sit back and take it easy?" I joked.

"Mmm…" she hummed as I moved down her spine, "That certainly does seem like something you would do. A bit of extra work now to save you more headaches down the road…"

"Hahaha, I'm glad you approve."

I continued massaging the rest of her body: her legs, feet, arms and hands. I was ready to end it, but Mia sat up and suddenly began removing her dress.

I froze slightly, once again taking in the bluish flush of her pale green skin. When I finished processing the scene, I turned my head away and asked "What are you doing, Mia?"

"Isn't this what you brought me here for? I don't really get these family bonds you keep talking about, but this is what you want, right?" She said as she moved closer and turned my face back towards her.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were spinning slightly. I couldn't help but chuckle at how cute she was behaving. I decided to give her a slight push to see how far she would take this, so I leaned over and pushed her down.

"Wha—whoa! Wh-what are you doing?" She asked, immediately placing her hands on my shoulders.

I looked at her again, but this time she felt much more like a vulnerable kid sister. I couldn't help but sigh as I laid down beside her and pulled the fur blanket over us.

"Although I am more than happy to devour you, it isn't something you should do on a whim or when you aren't ready." I said, patting her head once again.

"Isn't that quite hypocritical when you are currently using me as a hug pillow?" She retorted while not resisting as I hugged her from behind.

"Maybe, just consider it me marking my territory. Besides, isn't nice just to relax like this once in while?"

Mia shuffled around a bit until her back was pressed against my chest and then used one of my arms as a pillow. She yawned slightly and then assented, "It's… not so… bad" she muttered.

I smiled as I thought about her being just a bit more mature than Lilith. I couldn't help but wonder if that girl would be just as wild and rebellious in the future.

"Goodnight, Mia," I whispered.

"Goodnight… big brudder…" she muttered tiredly.

I was surprised that she fell asleep so easily, but knowing I would have a lot more work to do in the morning, I also rested my eyes for just a while with my fun-size hug-pillow in my embrace.

1) See image in discord. It's just the hexagram part of the ouroboros insignia from Fullmetal Alchemist.

Author's note: Sorry for the late chapter, today I had a test in German and a bunch of work in my OOP class. Next chapter, missions start, rivalries are declared and the first hint of Shizue and the guild members should appear. Though it will be another 1-2 chapters before the officially are introduced to Orion. Also, I'm thinking of limiting the term "adventurers" to the dungeon divers and making everyone else guild members.

Well that's all for today. See you next time!