Chapter 6: City

After defeating the boss, Shiro decided to teleport to the closest teleport shrine. Teleport shrines were naturally erected buildings as they provided a waypoint for people to use as transportation.

The teleport shrines were usually in the shape of a great tree hundreds of times bigger than people. There would be an obelisk-like object inside the teleport shine as it would allow a person to choose which teleport shine they wanted to go to.

However, the range of teleportation was limited to what you've already discovered. Example being if there were two shrines at point A and B respectively. If you haven't discovered point B, then you won't be able to teleport to that shrine. But there is a way to bypass this.

There are two main options and those are; Link and party. Link is when two shrines becomes linked to each other meaning even if you haven't discovered the shrine, you would be able to teleport. The other was party, this is when the party leader teleports everyone in the party. This however, was then limited by the shrines the party leader himself/herself had been too.

What confused Shiro the most was why she could use it as well. She's never heard of a monster being able to use the teleport shrine so she was surprised. And here she was, being prepared to be dropped in the middle of a forest outside the Dungeon.

Looking around her, she saw that there were a few people patrolling around. Just from the vibes they gave her, she knew they should be mid to top class D rank roughly LVL50.

Her appearance surprised a few people as she was a gorgeous young girl. Her height and face gave them the idea that she was roughly 13 to 16 in age. She looked around with both curiosity and nervousness making people believe that she was lost.

Not wanting to hold the line up, Shiro walked out of the teleport shrine. She was shocked at the different architecture that was visible before her. Both the language and building type was different from the one she was used too.

She could understand what the people around her was saying, but she can't speak nor could she read their language.

'My priority should be learning about where I am at this current moment in time. But I also need to be able to communicate.' She thought as she sought out one of the patrolmen.

[Liam LVL46 – Knight]

"Mn? Hello miss, how can I help?" He asked with a smile.

Shiro opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She frowned in annoyance as Liam looked at her.

"Could it be that you can't talk right now?" He asked unsure.

Shiro's eyes brightened and nodded quickly.

"Are you able to write?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Hmm….You obviously understand what I'm saying but you can't speak or write. Can you read?" He asked as she shook her head.

'How the hell did she live her life till now.' He thought.

"Are you lost?" He asked.

Shiro shook her head but then decided to nod it. She wasn't lost directional sense wise, but she didn't know which city she was in.

"Do you know where your parents are?" He asked again as she shook her head.

"Do you know who your parents are?"

She shook her head again.

'Hmm… I'll take her to the guild for now. Maybe they can find out her background.'

"Liam Wilford Calling in, is anyone free right now?" He asked over a device.

-This is Jason Mathews. I'm currently free. -

"Are you able to take my patrol for now? I've got a girl here who doesn't know who her parents are. She's mute, can't read nor write. But she can understand people. I'm going to take her to the guild and get her checked out."

-Got it, give me your location. -

"Teleport Shrine number 2. I'm just outside it."

-Ok, coming over now. -

"We'll go to the guild and see if we can find out anything about you ok?" Liam said as Shiro nodded.

Taking the moment to inspect her, he saw her display.

[Shiro LVL 20 – Ice Mage]

'Eh? LVL 20 Ice Mage? She's as strong as a peak E rank adventurer. So young as well.' He thought seeing her LVL.

As she was walking away, he realised what she was wearing. She wore a simple white dress and that was it. No socks or shoes.

'Did she run away from home or something.' He thought with sympathy.

Jason arrived not too long after as he and Liam chatted.

Shiro sat by the side as she decided to check out her stats since she had nothing else to do.

[Name: Shiro

Race: Snow Girl (Evolution Criteria yet to be met)

Title – [Elite Class]

Title Bonus - +10 In every stat

Level: 20

Class: Snow Girl, Nanomancer

HP: 3800/3800

MP: 4800/4800

STR: 35 (+25) +10 Title Bonus

VIT: 30 (+40) +10 Title Bonus

INT: 60 (+50) +10 Title Bonus

AGI: 50->60 (+5) +10 Title Bonus

DEX: 21 +10 Title Bonus

DEF: 10 (+32) +10 Title Bonus

Unassigned Points: 10->0

Balance: 35,000 USD

Equipment: (Tap to display)]

All of the drops she received from killing the dungeon boss was heavy armour which decreases speed but gave her STR, VIT and DEF. They weren't useful for her so she recycled everything using her Nanomancer class.

Right now, she was almost finished with her Class Up.

[Snow Girl ★]

Class Up Requirements.

[✔] Conquer E Rank Dungeon Solo

[-] D rank Mana Stone

[✔] 100 INT

The only problem left was the D rank mana stone. In order for her to obtain one, she'll need to kill a D ranked monster and get the stone. While it may not be hard, trying to find the right Dungeon would be the hard part.

She could search for D ranks out in the wild, but there was always a certain danger that comes with trying to find the monster out in the wild. While you're trying to hunt E rank, a C rank might just show up and kick you to the netherworld.

"Miss Shiro, are you ready?" Liam walked over as Shiro nodded and stood up.

Following the patrolmen to the guild, Shiro looked around in curiosity.

"Do you want me to explain some of the shops here?" He asked as he could see her curiosity. Seeing her nod, he took it as a cue and started to point at a few shops.

"The shops in this district is civilian clothing. They deal with clothes that don't contain any sort of benefit. Civilian clothing if you will. We have the food court, the market…." Liam continued to explain as most of the shops in this area was for civilians.

"And now from here on we have the facilities aimed towards adventurers.

"We have the Alchemist/Pharmacist association who deals with anything potion related. You're also able to register with them and take a test to officially become an alchemist.

"Next is the Blacksmiths association. They deal with anything weapon and armour related.

"And finally, the Adventurer's Guild. They deal with anything adventurer related. Its government funded and registers every adventurer in the world and provide them with benefits. Naturally not every adventurer since a few would opt out of this.

"There are other associations but these are the big three and the ones you would most likely visit." Liam explained as Shiro nodded.

Looking at the Adventurer's Guild in front of her, Shiro couldn't help but marvel at the enormous building. Standing at more than 50 floors from what she could tell, the building had a sleek and smooth design.

'Wow~' She thought unconsciously.

"Come on." Liam said with a smile as they walked towards the reception.

Liam and the receptionist talked as he explained the situation to her. Shiro sat by the side as she watched the adventurer's walk around.

'Odd, how come the adventurers here are all E to D ranks. There's hardly any C rank or above. Actually, none for that matter.' Shiro thought.

However, what she was most surprised about was how the Demi-Humans are interacting with everyone. Elf's, Beast-kin and other subspecies weren't uncommon. But they weren't treated as slaves either.

This was different from what she remembered as there was heavy discrimination against the Demi-Humans.

"Miss Shiro." The receptionist called out as Shiro turned towards her.

"Would you like to follow me to the examination room?" She asked as Shiro nodded.

Liam followed along as they walked towards the elevator. Pressing the button for the 25th floor, the lady turned towards Shiro.

"This examination will be recognising your mana signal and track your identity. Hopefully, this should allow us to find your parents." She said with a smile.

Shiro nodded but she could already guess the results.

When they arrived on the 25th floor, they entered a private room with an orb and a computer next to each other.

"Just place your hand onto that orb and it'll read your mana." The lady said as she sat in front of the computer.

Shiro nodded as she placed her hand on the orb. Liam stood beside them without saying anything.

[Data not found]

As expected, there were no records pertaining to her identity. She was a mystery.

"This shouldn't be… Give me a second." The lady said as she started to tap away at the keyboard.

"Strange… It's as if you don't exist. No records, no matching mana, no nothing." The lady frowned as she turned to Shiro. Even if you didn't register with the Adventurer's Guild, there should still be some records.

"Where were you before you came here?" She asked.

Shiro shook her head showing them she didn't know.

"Haa…. Alright, head to the lobby and wait for me there. I'll have to ask my superiors about this." She said as Liam nodded.

Returning back to floor 1, Liam went to buy a few sandwiches for Shiro to eat.

Sitting down, he saw her look towards the city.

"Are you perhaps curious about the city?" He asked as she nodded.

"The city is called New York. It used to be one of the most populated cities in the world." Liam started to talk as Shiro turned to him and listened earnestly.

"New York was even more popular than the capital. However, after what we now claim as the 'Great Metamorphosis' the city now became a location for the weak. The very world itself changed as the land expanded. What we knew of Earth is now just a mere fraction of the current world.

"As for New York City, the city is now located in the centre of a cluster of Dungeons. Each of these Dungeon's don't surpass D rank in scale making this a prime location for people to train themselves up and never return to. When an adventurer overcomes D rank, they would leave for the other cities.

"They provide the adventurers with more benefits and more facilities. Not to mention, exploration of the great unknown. The adventurous hearts of many were awakened with the 'Great Metamorphosis'.

"Factions also create subsidiary branches in this city to find anyone with potential and send it to the main branches." Liam said as Shiro raised a hand to stop him.

"Hm? Are you interested in Factions?" He asked as she nodded.

"Factions are what people create outside of the Adventurer's Guild. There are millions of Factions already made and more still coming. However, there are five main Factions who haven't been toppled since the start of the Great Metamorphosis.

"The Great American Dream Faction led by the Tanker Hero James Thomas.

"Tian Long Faction or Heavenly Dragon Faction. This Chinese faction is led by the Martial Hero Ling Tian.

"Lumia's Blessing Faction. This British faction focuses on providing everyone with support. This is led by the Healing Hero Rachel Victoria.

"The God's Pantheon Faction led by the Mage Hero Ilya Ivanova. Some may think this is a Russian Faction but they're wrong. This is a multi-national Faction which the leader is determined through a selection process.

"And finally, the Rising Sun Faction led by what I would like to call 'The Yandere'. Surname Minamoto, given name Keiko. She is Minamoto Keiko, the assassin 'hero' who kills without mercy." Liam said as Shiro nodded. Her aura became cold however at the mention of Hero.

She hates Heroes, she was betrayed and killed by one after all. From what she knew, they were egotistical hypocrites.

However, she too knew why they were called Heroes. It wasn't their morals or what they do, it's their Class Title and power.

She didn't know the specifics, but she knew that getting a Hero title grants you a lot of benefits. The Hero who killed her had the title [Light Bearer Hero], the title granted him control over the element [Light] as it could increase his speed and increase the temperature of his attacks. There were more benefits but those were the ones she could recognise.

'[Light Bearer Hero]… If only I can see you one more time.' Shiro thought as her killing intent surged outwards.

She suddenly remembered where she was and quickly restrained the intent. Peaking slightly at Liam, she saw that his face was slightly pale.

She tilted her head as she gestured her confusion.

"Hm? Oh it's nothing." Liam replied.

'What was that?!' Liam thought nervously looking around. The sudden killing intent made him hold his breath and cold sweat run down his back. He couldn't locate the source as the killing intent was so dense and it covered quite a large area around them. He would have never imagined the source to be the young girl sitting in front of him.

However, what no one realised was Shiro's name turning black when she had thought about the [Light Bearer Hero]. When she restrained her killing intent, her name returned back to white.