III: Sunflower City.
"I think we should choose a city in a medium-difficulty area," said the boy holding a Pokéball, apparently very excited about the Pokemon he got, as he kept tossing the ball in his hand.
"Sounds like a good idea, not too easy to be useless for our development, but not too difficult to destroy us. It has to be a city near an area of conflict or a source of creatures that can be killed," 613 said, pointing out several cities on the continent that met that requirement.
Marie heard other opinions from the group around her. Between them, they chose a city in the south of the continent called Sunflower City, which was near a mountain range where the classic dwarves lived, and further south had a forest called "Death Forest", a name not at all original, but which left much to the imagination, being an area of medium difficulty with a possible elven city-state deep within it.
613 couldn't help but cluck his tongue, this continent couldn't be more clichéd, even the backstory one could choose for their sudden appearance in this world was clichéd things.
Oh yes, after confirming the Sunflower City, they were presented with several options of a possible backstory that would be useful for them to integrate, and they were random, these three were the ones 613 got.
[Son of Peasants: You are only a member of the lowest class, but you retain your freedom, unlike slaves. You went to the city-state of Sunflower to start a new life, try to get money, and maybe find a good woman to marry, too bad you'll be cuckolded on your wedding day, but that won't stop you].
[Hangman's Apprentice: You are a city boy without parents, something normal in this age and fantasy environment. You have been taken in by the town executioner to be trained in the art of killing prisoners with a decapitation sword. You have some prior knowledge of this, so for one month you will have the opportunity to be retrained by your foster father and delve deeper into the art of killing people who only stole an apple because they were starving].
[Member of the local circus: You are not a deformity, but you were born in the circus, with your previous knowledge of projectile throwing, you can be retrained for one month to deepen the art of throwing objects, maybe you can put on a good show and attract the attention of some noble lady].
...
Excluding the first option, the last two options were influenced by his golden finger, the knowledge of spin. Even though this skill is very powerful in battle, its main use has always been for assassination and execution, and even the medical knowledge contained in the Golden Finger is aimed at making the executioner's death painless.
"I should take option 2, I cannot just train and condition my body for free for a month, so I guess gaining knowledge of some skills or techniques in this world is not as simple as doing a few missions and then getting a tutorial. No, it seems that this world is more complicated, and I will not miss the opportunity to gain knowledge of swordplay.
Even if it's for execution, such a technique must be profound, chopping someone's head off is not simply swinging your weapon, many things must be taken into account, such as the force applied, the angle of the swing, the most optimal placement of the strike... oh boi, what if there are other interesting techniques? I will try to squeeze this "adoptive father", not only for his knowledge but also for his connections.
An executioner must have connections, or he wouldn't live long enough to cut off the heads of possible criminal gang members or members of some influential family. Besides, I can tell you that my golden finger is related to an executioner's knowledge, there's no way I'm going to tell you that I have the spin, which is a broken ability that can even break through dimensional defenses at its peak.
And who says I can't learn projectile throwing from the circus? It might be a lot harder, and I might have to use money or connections, but I have another way to improve my strength," after his quiet reflection, 613 approached Marie and told her about the option he had chosen.
"Oh, I decided to join the army, I will get 3 months of training to improve my knowledge, also I have a chance to impress a local mage who can teach me how to control the draconic aura of the boosted gear. If I do not find a way to generate magical power, my Sacred Gear will only be able to use the inherent draconic power and my stamina," Marie told 613 and the other members of the group without any qualms, earning the admiration of the rest, and even our protagonist was astonished.
Damn, what a lucky woman, it doesn't help that she looks like a military woman with that demeanor of hers,' 613 thought as he heard the decisions of the others and his golden fingers.
There were 13 people in the group with him, each with their backstories, but they all decided to meet in the square within the first week of their arrival to discuss the information they had gathered and plan for the rest of the year. In this short time, they had gotten to know each other very little, but at least they decided to give this association a chance, since it was impossible to survive alone and get the necessary points by the end of the year.
[You need 1,000 points to survive to the end. Try to get more points, the more points you have, the more benefits and rewards you will get at the end].
[You will be teleported to the designated location in 3, 2, 1...]
613 felt dizzy and his vision went completely black, soon he felt a warm sensation fall over his body even though he was completely covered and could barely feel it. Opening his eyes, he noticed the strong glow of sunlight, then his body shook with fear, but he managed to calm down in time.
"No, here the sun doesn't want to melt you, calm down..." With soft breaths 613 calmed down, he was in another place, in another world, he was no longer in his shattered home.
"Seone! Come out quickly, it's time to train!" 613 heard a rough voice behind what seemed to be the door to his room.
With the knowledge added to his mind earlier, he responded with discomfort.
"I'm coming Dad, I'm just getting up," 613 or Seone replied, that was the name he was given in this world and the one he remembered in the memories implanted after his appearance in this room.
Where he was was a small room with a single bed, and a small desk with a somewhat worn candle on it. There was an open window that let in the sunlight that was just coming over the horizon.
"Lay off the straws, boy, or you'll lose the strength to lift the sword and wake up groggy like you are now. I'll give you ten minutes to come out," the voice trailed off, leaving the sound of footsteps to indicate its distance.
"Wow, it seems some things never change..." With a sigh Seone looked out the window, his house was on a hill and he could see part of the city in the distance, a beautiful view indeed.
"Sunflower City... that name comes from those huge sunflower fields, doesn't it? How wonderful," he said as he proceeded to remove the bandages and trash he had used to cover himself completely.
With his appearance uncovered, we can see this tanned-skinned boy with brown eyes, black curly hair with a serious look, not very prominent but interesting features. His physique isn't very amazing, he doesn't have a slim swimmer's body or one full of muscles, no, he even seems to have a bit of a belly.
He wasn't very handsome, but he had a certain charm, although it was very much hidden in his unkempt appearance. Seone put on a pair of khaki pants and a white t-shirt then put on his boots and left his room. Following his memories, he came to the kitchen where there was a table.
"Oh no, I have to eat the legendary medieval bread..." said Seone as he saw the "bread" on the table next to a steaming cup of milk, but there were no other options, it was that or stones, and well, this bread wasn't too far from stones anyway.
"What if I made this bread into a ball and used it as a Spin Ball? I think that would do the trick," the boy joked as he finished his hard-to-eat breakfast and walked out into the yard, starting his first day of training.
"I have the urge to make a joke, but I think I should take this more seriously," Seone muttered as he walked out into the courtyard, but first he looked at the strange watch on his left wrist.
This was his first step, one of many in the future to survive in this place, to earn points, and to claim rewards at the end of all this shit. He has high expectations for these rewards, so after the training, he will ask the first-day AI what these rewards are.