Chapter 35: Talent
Arielle and Vera who was well-versed with the area led Augustus to a cozy inn, After booking a room, Augustus took it upon himself to teach the girls how to circulate their mana.
"I'll start with Arielle first," he said, instructing her to sit cross-legged with the mana stones in her hand. As he circulated the mana inside her body, he advised her to "Feel the same thing on the stone and accept it inside your body to strengthen your mana circle, fill it to the brim, form another core, and repeat."
Vera followed suit as Augustus guided her through the same process.
They were quick learners for their first time, but Augustus couldn't help but wonder how they didn't know such a basic technique when even a subpar mage like himself knew it.
Was it the goddess they mentioned? He held back his query and waited for them to finish absorbing the mana stone.
Arielle was the first to do so, and the mana stone in her palm crumbled to dust as the mana inside was absorbed.
"Feeling the difference yet?" Augustus asked.
"Yeah, but I had no idea this existed. We thought leveling up was the only way to get stronger," Arielle said.
"Leveling up?" Augustus chuckled at the thought of a game-like system in this Sword & Magic Dimension.
"Yup, hunting monsters and leveling up is the norm around here," Vera added.
"What? It's true?" Augustus though Arielle was joking.
"All the Irregular know about it as soon as they arrived. I'm start to think that you're not an Irregular, are you perhaps lived in a cave and just came out."
Augustus contemplated this strange world where people were treated like players and Irregulars roamed. "Well, then, how about I power level you guys by repeatedly killing goblins?"
"That's what the royalties do, but we'll need to get the killing blow," Arielle explained.
Augustus nodded, "No problem. I can help immobilize them while you finish them off. But first, let's increase your strength with these mana stones." He left behind a hundred stones and headed out to greet Sir Galen.
"Contract," Arielle suddenly grabbed Augustus' arm, halting him in his tracks.
He raised an eyebrow, "There's no need for that, is there?"
"Sign it, or we'll take these mana stones and run," Arielle threatened with a sly smile.
Augustus sighed and handed her the slave contracts, "Alright, there you go."
[You have obtained 'Arielle']
[You have obtained 'Vera']
[You have unlocked 'Subordinates' Features]
"What is it again?" Augustus asked, growing tired of the system as there were so many things to keep track of.
[Subordinates System]
[1-Star Subordinate, Arielle]
Level: 8
Class: Magic Bowman (Epic Rank)
Unique Talent: Nature Empathy (Epic Rank)
STR: 8 CONS: 5
AGI: 14 DEF: 3
INT: 24 MAG: 24
[1-Star Subordinate, Vera]
Level: 6
Class: Mage (Common Rank)
Unique Talent: Sword Master (Legendary Rank)
STR: 8 CONS: 5
AGI: 8 DEF: 7
INT: 17 MAG: 14
As Augustus surveyed the description, his gaze lingered on Vera, a mage with a legendary talent for sword.
"Good," Arielle said, satisfaction clear in her voice as the contract was established. "Now you own us. If you abandon us, you'll suffer some backlash too."
Meanwhile, Vera was still absorbed in trying to absorb a mana stone, her focus unbreakable.
Augustus seized the opportunity to ask Arielle about how they obtained their classes.
"When you reach adulthood, the goddess blesses you and assigns you a class," Arielle explained.
Augustus furrowed his brows. "Can you change or upgrade your class?"
"For upgrade, yes, but it's rare," Arielle said. "It depends on your experience, and the goddess will offer you grant you a new class. For class changes you'll need Class Books that you can find in dungeons or purchase them in the market, but they're incredibly expensive."
Augustus turned his attention to Vera. "I think she might be in the wrong class. Do you know anything about talents?"
Arielle shook her head. "You can have your talent inspected, but it costs ten gold coins. Most people don't bother since it's often useless. And besides, many die before their full potential is revealed, so classes and talents don't always mean much."
"Well, Vera's talent probably isn't normal," Augustus mused, examining the information on his system. If legendary talent is normal, maybe the Irregulars might be monsters.
Augustus' eyes widened in awe as he inspected Vera's talent.
It was none other than the Legendary Talent, Sword Master, which granted her a staggering 1000% increase in experience gained while using a sword.
"Yep, that's overpowered," he thought to himself.
When Arielle asked about Vera's talent, Augustus revealed the truth to her.
Arielle looked at Vera, who was meditating diligently, and then turned to Augustus in disbelief. "Really?" she asked, her voice laced with excitement.
Augustus nodded, reaffirming his statement.
Excitedly, Arielle interrupted Vera's meditation, exclaiming, "Vera! You're a Sword Master! Stop meditating and start practice swordsmanship!"
"Eh? What?" Vera opened her eyes forcefully, losing her concentration on the mana stone she was trying to absorb.
"How much does a Swordsman class book cost?" Augustus inquired, hoping to purchase one for Vera.
"I'm not sure, but it's at least 10,000 gold coins. It might be even more expensive. I'm not knowledgeable about the market," Arielle replied uncertainly.
The cost of a swordsman class book was exorbitant, with a market price of ten thousand gold coins or more. Augustus pondered his options, realizing he only had around 20,000 points and wouldn't be able to afford it.
Meanwhile, Arielle was curious about her own talent, having never gotten an inspection. She knew she could communicate with spirits,
"What about my talent? Do I have hidden talent too?" Arielle asked, eager to learn about her own abilities.
[Nature Empathy]
A talent to communicate with and control all natural elements.
Augustus read the description to her which left Arielle a little bit confused.
'I thought it would be Spirit Whisperer.'
Arielle reflected, 'Now that I think about it, every time I've wanted it to rain, it rains a few hours later, and I can communicate with all the animals I meet with no problem. Also, spirits are attracted to me.'
Vera seemed to be the most perplexed among them. "So, I'm what again?" she asked, her confusion evident.
"You're a Sword Master, Vera," Arielle reiterated. "A legendary talent that not even Irregulars can hope to possess."
"But I'm not confident with swords," Vera admitted sheepishly. "I've never even held a sword before."
"Try it, you never know," Augustus encouraged her, hoping that Vera would at least give the sword a chance.
The reason for his eagerness was that the subordinate's system worked almost the same as Guest Features.
"You guys stay put; I'll be right back," he added, intending to claim the free points for joining whatever clan.
"I'll try my best to get ten thousand gold coins so I can change Vera's class to Swordsman," Augustus thought to himself as he hurried off.
He quickly went to the Knight's outpost, where he was guided to Sir Galen's room. Augustus showed the guard his insignia, which allowed him to enter freely.
"I'm here to see Sir Galen," Augustus said to the guard, who then announced his arrival to Sir Galen before guiding Augustus to the room.
"Welcome, Sir Gray," Sir Galen greeted him as he entered the room. "I have prepared documents for you to sign and an ID card for you."
Augustus slowly inspected the documents he was given. "This is just for formalities, no contract or anything, right?" he asked.
"Yes, that's correct," Sir Galen confirmed, smiling.
Augustus read the document content just to be sure, and he found that everything looked fine. In fact, the terms were extremely favorable for him. He could do whatever he liked under their name and not suffer any repercussions at all.
[Sudden Quest Completed]
[10000 Points Obtained]
"It says I can ask for a sponsor in the document. Can I request a Class Book for Swordsman?" Augustus asked, hoping to get his hands on one as soon as possible.
"That... We'll need you to complete some task. We'll reward you with the class book if you complete it, of course the golds too." Sir Galen said hesitantly, making Augustus wonder what the task was.
"Let me see," he said to the person who handed him the list.
"These are the people we need you to get rid of," Sir Galen put down wanted posters on the table.
Augustus looked at the targets that needed to be eliminated. It was a job he was familiar with, but that didn't mean he liked it.
[Nolan, Gravity Mage]
[Crimes: Rape, Theft, Kidnapping, Assault, Human Trafficking, Murder]
[Reward: 5500 Gold Coins]
[Marie, Shapeshifter]
[Crimes: Murder, Forgery, Smuggling, Fraud, Theft]
[Reward: 4000 Gold Coins]
[Darkin, Blood Seeker]
[Crimes: Murder, Rape]
[Reward: 10000 Gold Coins]
As he read through the list of names and crimes, he now don't feel guilty for eliminate these people.
Augustus looked at the names and read the information provided. Three individuals, each with a laundry list of terrible crimes.
"They're all Irregulars? All of them are in this city?" Augustus asked.
"Yes, two of them are in this city right now, but one of them is camping just outside the city, in the forest," the person responded.
"I'll take these two then. There's no time limit, right? I just got to do it?" Augustus asked, hoping for a bit of flexibility.
"Yes, we would appreciate it if you do it as soon as possible," the person said.
As Augustus was leaving, he received a notifications,
[Your subordinate 'Vera' is heavily injured]
[Your subordinate 'Arielle' is heavily injured]
Shocked and alarmed, he rushed out of the building and try to get there as soon as possible.
At the same time, someone ran passed Augustus and went into Sir Galen's office.
"Sir, I got bad news. Nolan is doing crazy things again, this time he's rampaging at an Inn and caught two girls," a subordinate informed him.
"Fuck, didn't he just catch three girls three weeks ago?" Sir Galen cursed under his breath.
Meanwhile, Augustus tried to summon his other subordinates, but the summoning process repeatedly failed.
[Summoning cannot be completed] [Summoning cannot be completed] [Summoning cannot be completed]
"I just left, and this happened," Augustus muttered to himself as he ran as fast as he could.
Augustus was reminded of multiple scenarios in which his loved ones or comrades had died. In his mind, he was running to them, but whenever he arrived, it was always too late.
He arrived at the scene to see a massive, obese man holding his subordinates by their feet like they were nothing more than objects.
"Wahaha, I found two beauties this time." Nolan said, hopping around as he was happy.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone