Elincia (1)

A sleek, black and elegant Lamborghini Huracân STO was gliding through the skies silently at a lonely altitude of thirty thousand meters above the ground.

The 4.5 meters long, 2 meters wide, and 1.3 meters tall elegant beauty, built with the latest superior aerodynamics was cruising at a speed of 1,200 kph, putting the current day private jets to shame.

Alfred sat in the passenger seat watching the scenery disappear in a record-breaking fashion. In front of him, on the windshield lay the real-time video of a humongous city sprawling into the distance.

Beside him, John was busy introducing the various aspects of the gigantic city. The dashboard in front of him was as smooth as a mirror, while a 3D hologram was slowly rotating above it.

John sat up and pinched the northwest and southeast corners of the hologram, slowly drawing them together.

"The northern and southern main city gates are separated by approximately 134km. As for the eastern and western gates..."

He tilted the hologram for a better view before continuing.

"Have a 203km distance between them. Of course, these are just the main city gates. There are more than twenty or so various small gates that are used for everyday traffic."

Alfred listened intently while scrutinizing the holographic map. As he was busy relaxing his tired soul these last few months, he didn't do much investigating of his new environment.

Everything he knew was a result of the previous landlord's five years of effort.

What a taboo!

The first thing one must do in a new setting is to familiarize themselves with their surroundings, lest one be beset with emergencies.

'I really was slacking.'

Alfred shook his head in self-depreciation.

...

[Ding!]

[New mission generated]

...

Alfred was surprised.

Judging by the flow of things, he could already imagine the MO of the mission.

...

[Mission Name: Physiography]

[Mission Type: Chain]

[Description: You were transported to this world by unknown powers for unknown reasons. Most of the geographical knowledge from your past has been rendered obsolete. To live a safe and tranquil life, knowledge of one's surroundings cannot be lacking]

[Objective: Educate yourself about your current landmass]

[Requirements: Geographical knowledge 0/1, Political knowledge 0/1]

[Reward: 8,000 EXP, 50 attribute points, 5 gold, 1 D-grade item voucher, next link of chain mission]

[Remark: You don't even know common knowledge?]

...

'As I thou-'

"..."

'What the fuck!? 8,000 EXP?'

Alfred shuddered imperceptibly.

If he was alone, he would be throwing a one-man party already. He did see the type of knowledge-based mission coming, but such exuberant rewards? 8,000 exp... how many levels could he get with that?

He wanted it.

He wanted it so badly!

...

John didn't know what was going through Alfred's mind. But feeling his imperceptible shivers, he could understand. Although Elincia was just a minor city, it still had a 27,000 square kilometres large area.

How could a 6-year-old small boy not be moved upon seeing such a huge city for the first time? If he wasn't awed, then something would definitely be wrong with his little head.

"Elincia has about 85 million civilians, and 3 million soldiers for security 24/7. Eighty percent of these soldiers are normal people like you who are still in the Aperture Opening realm, but they are all equipped with state-of-the-art defensive and offensive gear. Of course, the rest are all real martial artists who have already entered into or surpassed the Molding realm. There are even some official Adepts and Mages present for emergencies..."

John kept stewing in his misunderstanding while introducing the small city.

...

Although he was busy lost in his ardent desire for the rich rewards put in front of him, Alfred wasn't stupid. What sort of concept was 8,000 exp? Was it as easy as plucking an apple off a tree? Even if Apple picking was easy, was an apple tree just put down for him to pick at his leisure? Did he even have the skills to pick said apple? Was the snarky system so kind? Even if he took ten thousand steps back, Alfred could use his toes to think; just look at those simple mission requirements.

Geography 0/1

Politics 0/1

Since when we're such concepts measured in such units? What did this mean? Everything was left to the sole discretion of the system!

He wanted to rage!

He wanted to vent this sour feeling.

'Fuck!'

Sadly, a demon was sitting a few feet away from him. One wrong move and he would just be giving said demon justification to snatch him up.

...

"...and finally we have the adventurers guild. They issue missions in various fields, like hunting wild beasts, finding natural treasures, etc. Whenever you stop by a city, I recommend that you check out the adventurers guild before leaving. That way you can earn while gaining experience." John said while smacking his dried lips.

Done introducing the city, John flipped his hand and a bottle of mineral water appeared.

Pop!

Gulp!

With a twist and a few gulps, the entire 1-litre bottle was emptied.

Hearing the word "experience", Alfred felt his heart twinge.

He sulkily looked at John, feeling aggrieved. But when he saw John pull a bottle out of thin air, he felt excited once more.

'That's right! This ain't my old world. Isn't it just reading a few books? At worst, I'll just ask this old man for higher-level access if I can't complete it with public knowledge.'

Feeling his spirits lifting once again, Alfred put his focus on John once more.

"Dad, how did you just do that?" he asked innocently.

"Hm?"

"This?"

John flipped his hand a few times, making the bottle disappear and appear a few times.

"It's magic" he smirked.

"..."

Alfred rolled his eyes.

'Is he trying to fool a 5-year-old kid? Shameless!'

...

[Well, technically your 6. But in reality, you're 5 years 12 months and 3 days old. So you can still be considered a 5-year-old, by extension]

...

'Why don't you add the hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds while you're at it?'

"Haha," John laughed. "It's a storage equipment. When you complete your training, you will be given one. Although it's a tiny one, don't look down on it. It's relatively expensive, and most ordinary civilians can't afford one. It's for this reason that there are over 3 million soldiers in this small Elincia. Small things like these are somewhat restricted and have their prices purposefully hiked, but are basically standard army provisions in the Oolong Republic." John sighed.

"Well, you probably won't understand..." John lamented.

'Isn't it just controlling the masses?' Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Alright, we're here. Let's head to one of the northeast gates."

John sat up and a steering wheel unfolded from the dashboard.

Taking the wheel, he silently guided the sportscar to one of the many small gates along the 100+ meter tall city wall.