Chapter 11: 010 Unwanted Attention (Part One)
Shortly after Alfred finished a game notification popped up in front of James.
* Ding *
-----------------------
New Quest Offered
Name: Hunt for the Rune Master
Difficulty: SSS
Completion Requirements: Find clues and hints to the whereabouts of Alfred's lost friend.
Failure Conditions: Not finding any clues within the first three days of quest acceptance, failing to find any notes from Roland or failing to find the long lost Roland.
Rewards: Roland's Completed Legacy
Failure Penalty: Loss of Rune Master profession forever, Alfred will not offer future quests.
Time Limit: 1 year
Accept?
[Yes] [No]
-----------------------
James was dazed. He was offered a SSS ranked quest. The quest deserved the difficulty rating. He had to make significant progress within three days! The failure penalties looked very harsh as well.
"Alfred, what does the reward of Roland's Completed Legacy mean?"
"He left me with a book that contains basic [Rune Crafting] knowledge. I will give that to you now if you accept my request. I guess that if you succeed you will get the rest of his knowledge. So what do you think, will you accept my request?"
Alfred saw that James was thinking and gave him some time.
[I am being offered a huge chance here. If [Rune Masters] are a big deal like he described I might as well have won the lottery. The professions in this game are different than most though. I have to be able figure out everything on my own. Then there is being able to actually preform the creation of [Runes] without any help from an automated crafting system. I guess I have to take the risk. Worst case scenario is that I lose the profession and I cannot accept more quests from Alfred.]
"I accept your request. I will hunt down your lost friend."
"Excellent! Take these two books."
"Two? I thought I would only get the book on [Runes]?"
"Well that is my gift to you for accepting my request. The second book is a skill book. Every adventurer that comes to the their respective class instructors gets two free beginners skills. You however will only get one. Do not be upset about the deficit as the book I am giving you is better than both skills you would have been given."
James accepted the books and looked at their descriptions.
-------------------------------
Name: Introduction to [Runes]
Grade: Legendary (Profession)
Function: Grants the reader the [Rune Master] profession.
Learn?
[Yes] [No]
-------------------------------
James instantly selected to learn the profession. He then looked at the final book.
-------------------------------
Name: Aura of Pure Fire
Level: 1
Grade: Epic (Class: Fire Mage)
Function: Grants the reader the ability to use an aura made from fire.
Skill Information:
[Passive]: Increase fire damage of user and allies by 5% and decreases incoming water damage by 5%.
[Active - Toggle]: Summons aspects of fire around the caster that damage anything that enters.
Damage: 10 damage per second with a radius of 3 meters
Costs: Active - drains 5 mana per second
Learn?
[Yes] [No]
-------------------------------
"Alfred, why does this skill both a passive and active skill? I thought abilities could only be one or the other."
"That is why I said it is better than the two skills offered downstairs! It is a skill I created myself! It is the only skill I have ever created. Other [Aura] skills are only passives that grant buffs! The one I created can be used to cause damage because it can amplify the heat of the passive's fire enough to cause damage!"
Alfred took a second to calm down from his bragging, "Blaise, please accept it. It is my life's work."
James felt warmth wash over him. It being Alfred's life's work reminded him of his family. He did not hesitate and learned the skill book. Alfred became happy because of it.
*Affinity with Alfred +10*
[Affinity? I guess you can build relationships with NPCs. I did not read about it anywhere before. I wonder what happens if it maxes out.]
"Alright, it is about time you head off. I have a mountain of work to do. Thank you again for accepting my request."
"It is my pleasure. Before I leave, could you tell me if there is anywhere that I can go to learn more about this world, the classes, and its people?"
"Some people say knowledge is power. I also agree with their logic and it seems like you do too. Lucky for you the nation's best library is right here in Velia. Once you leave the tower head north-east. It will look like a small castle. I will send you back to the lobby now."
***** ( POV of other players) ****
James was not aware of the sensation he had caused when in Alfred's office.
Right after James accepted Alfred's quest a game wide announcement rang out.
**** ( Announcement ) ****
Player Blaise has received the first SSS ranking quest!
He has received 10 gold and 100 nation fame.
***********************
In the middle of a forest there was a battle raging. Arrows fly through the air left and right. Large claw marks could be found on several trees and all over the ground. A man with studded leather armor and a bow could be seen firing arrows at a pair of bears.
He was laughing his head off when he was fighting. Suddenly, he went in for a final blow on the first bear. He pulled his dagger out of its holder and struck down, [Backhanded Stab!]. Quickly after killing the first bear he continued his attack!
[Shatter Shot!], an arrow was quickly fired from his bow. The arrow approached the last bear. One meter before it hit the bear it separated into four more arrows, they shot out like shrapnel. The final bear slumped to the ground.
The man was still laughing with blood all over him from the killing blow of the first bear. He looked like a madman.
[I knew it! He will bring me a lot of entertainment. So, so interesting. All that effort he took in hiding his name was thrown out the door with that announcement! The whole world now knows his name.]
Talon was still chuckling, "Well it is not like the game lets you keep your accomplishments secret like most other games anyway. With him I figured it was only a matter of time. Still though, the first ever system announcement on day one huh? What else can he surprise me with?"
He went on with his hunt with a gleeful smile at the thought of the fun he would have thanks for Blaise.
Players all over the game and forums were talking about the player named Blaise. Everyone wanted to know who he was. The top guilds sent their best trackers and information gathers out to find who Blaise was.
Little did they know the player they were looking for was oblivious to what was going on. He did not even know how the messaging system worked. He had thousands of personal messages (PMs) but was unaware.
******* ( End of POV ) ******
Just like before James's vision blurred for a moment and then he found himself in the lobby of the tower.
He wondered about Alfred's origin but did not want to pry into it just yet. He followed the directions he was given and found his way to the library.
When he arrive at the library he saw that it was indeed a small castle. There were even guards posted at the doors and on the walls.
[Just what kind of information is held within the walls of this library that requires a fully armed guard?]
As he was walking towards the building a guard stopped him.
"Welcome to the National Library of Glish. I have not seen your face yet so you must be a new adventurer. I will give you a quick rundown of the rules of the library. First, everyone can enter for free for their first visit, after their visit the cost goes up 1 gold per visit up to 50 gold max. Second, no books may leave the property. Third, you cannot freely move between floors. Only once you get permission may you gain access to higher floors. Lastly, absolutely no fighting of any fashion. Once you agree to the rules I may let you pass."
"I agree but why does the library charge for each visit? Also, why does the price go up so fast?"
"The kingdom has low tax rates so the kingdom must get money from somewhere. Adventurers and natives who hold positions of power and importance are the usual visitors thus they should have the money to enter. As for why the price increases is because of the need for knowledge. Even knowledge has a price since it can be powerful in the correct hands. Adventurers often need to learn more about what they find when they are exploring the world. Thus is it prime way for the kingdom to earn money."
"Well it makes sense. I hope I find what I need this trip else it will be a long time before I can make a return visit."
"Good luck young mage. I'll give you a tip, there is no limit on how long you may be in the library!"
James took the tip to heart. He decided that he would exploit the no time limit and get as much as he can out of this trip. He does not want to spend so much money to return to the library.
He quickly entered the main building and saw a majestic library. There were wall to wall books. He has never seen so many books in one place. There were reading tables that were nearly all full of players reading books.
He was quickly greeted by a NPC.
"Greeting young mage, I am Edward the [Guardian] of the first floor. It is my job to aid our visitors in finding the books and knowledge they seek. Is there any topics you are looking for?"
"It is nice to meet you Edward. I am looking for books on [Runes] and/or [Rune Masters]."
"Only a few people ask for such subjects. They do not last long in their research though. [Rune] are mysterious, so much so that normal people cannot grasp even the slightest bit of knowledge on the topic. Are you sure you want to read such books?"
"Thank you for the warning but I have some affinity for [Runes] I would like to dig deeper and learn what I can."
"I wish you luck then! The first floor only has 8 books dealing with [Runes] you would find more information on the higher floors. You can find the books on this floor in the 76th row of shelves and four shelves in on the left side."
"Thank you very much! How do I gain access to the higher floors? The guard said I would need to get permission from someone."
"That is correct, you must get my permission. If you want, I can give you permission to head to the second floor. The second floor holds knowledge that is currently above your understanding. Prove to me that you can make use of what you will find upstairs."
* Ding *
-------------------------------
New Quest Offered
Name: Test of Knowledge
Difficulty: B-
Completion Requirements: Read 1,500 books of the 8,000 total books of the first floor.
Failure Conditions: None
Rewards: Access to the second floor of the library
Time Limit: Unlimited
Accept?
[Yes] [No]
-------------------------------
James choked, "I have to read 1,500 books in order to be able to go to the second floor?"
"Yes, it is only then that I will consider that you have a basic foundation of this world's knowledge."
"I won't like it but I accept."
James was very disgruntled. [I must find a clue for the quest I got from Alfred. This library is the best bet I have. I have a feeling that what I am looking for is on a floor above me. I must finish this quest quickly."
James quickly went over to where Edward told him to look for books about [Runes]. He picked up the first book titled "The Power of Runes". He went to pick up a second book when he got a warning.
-------------------------------
Players may only have one library book at a time, you must finish reading the book before you can get a new one.
-------------------------------
James felt his eye twitch. [Who the hell thought that this was a good idea?]
He could only go with the flow; he absolutely could not waste any time. He started to read as quickly as he could.
Two minutes later he returned the book back to the shelve and picked up the next one. He continued this process until he was finished with all 8 rune related books.
* 8 of 1,500 books completed *
He looked at the small quick update he got. It took him exactly 2 minutes to reach each book. He spent 16 minutes reading in total.
[If every book takes 2 minutes to read this is going to take ages. If my calculations are right it is going to take me 50 hours to read all of the required 1,500 books to move to the next floor... The days in this world are 48 hours long; that means it would take over a day to read all the books that I need to. What a gross waste of time.]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Envision
Envision I felt I had to break up the chapter 'Unwanted Attention' due to the chapter's original length running over 5,000 words.
Let me know what you all think about longer chapters. Would you want to read through extra-long chapters or do you think splitting them into multiple parts is acceptable. I do not wish to simple pad my chapter count by ripping chapters in half.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone