[Savepoint Loaded.]
Rain blinked, suddenly finding himself back on the bench. Not that he left it. He died near this spot, just a couple inches close to the fountain. That must've been a nightmare for the children playing. Seeing a man suddenly collapse.
'I really should've known.'
Rain took a long breath of relief. Relief that the system worked, and relief that he kept his memories. The same couldn't be said about the stats, though, they were still 0 EXP despite the last loop increasing it to 67.
He stared at the flowers for a while. They all merged together like watercolor on a canvas. Calm. Calm. It removed the phantom pain from his earlier exhaustion.
Rain smiled at the view.
Thankfully he put a savepoint in this area.
He wouldn't be able to handle the disappointment if he restarted on that gloomy ass alleyway. Lost all progress, in a dark corner.
Rain exhaled a sigh of relief. He can now focus on important matters like finding a guild hall. That should come now.
But why did he die that easily? It was just a ball of wind. Surely his mana wasn't that low.
Rain propped out of the bench and headed out of the fences.
He was back at the cobblestone pathways, surrounded by buildings with timber woodframes and reimbursed glass panes. After a while, the surroundings blurred together along with the sounds of people passing by. The mana-infused streetlamps flickered, reminding Rain he still kept his memories of making the wind.
'The surroundings are mana. Got it. But… maybe the body needs to absorb them, then transfer it to their own energy to form attacks. That's how I got exhausted.'
Rain formed a hypothesis in his head, continuing to walk through the village. After a while, though, about 20 minutes or so—he reached the jackpot.
The guild hall.
In a fairly hidden area, close enough to the centre hub, A guild hall stood. Flowing banners. Timber frames. Red roofs. It has stairs leading up to the building, accompanied by alternating trees from left to right.
Rain couldn't be mistaken. As important as the building poses itself to be – it couldn't be just a normal noble's mansion. No, a bunch of people gathered around the structure, holding staffs, swords, and diverse weapons.
A clear guild hall.
Rain's throat gulped in excitement.
He started heading up the stairs.
Though, what would they think of him? Rain wore school clothing, for fuck's sake. They'd get weirded out, ask questions, and start useless conversations that Rain wouldn't be able to answer directly. That would be the end of him, and he'll have to restart.
'No, no, no. I'm overthinking things. I can just take quests and move on.'
Rain's reached the end of the stairs by now—standing face-to-face with the giant wooden door. A couple adventurers outside greeted him, staring weirdly at his clothes.
"Is he from another kingdom?" They said.
"Don't you think those clothes are… unique?" They said.
But overall, they didn't seem to pose harm. Rain was just being too much of a coward, not even being able to hold up a couple of questions.
He can't tell them he's reincarnated obviously. That'll get him assassinated, or something. But it's still a useful tool to be able to swing conversations.
Rain stared back at the group. They shrieked, and looked away.
He's always had this curse of… glaring as default. It made him look selfish, mad, and a delinquent, when it's far from the truth. He didn't mean harm at all. Rain didn't choose to be born with such scary eyes
But that's that. He can't do anything about it.
All he can do is control what he can, and do his best.
With that, ignoring the adventurers outside, Rain decided to step foot into the guild hall. The wooden door creaked in response.
Wooosh….
Dust entered the gigantic door. It covered the surroundings in dark, ashen mist. After they cleared up—Rain took in the surroundings before walking to the middle. The receptionist stood there.
Rows of tables, chairs, and a huge mission board overflowing with quests. Adventurers surround it, looking to make some quick money.
Looking up, Rain noticed the roofs supported by thick, oak columns. The smell was usual, too. Leather, sweat, meat and ink.
On the right; he saw multiple groups eating together at a massive table. Their clothes are unsaturated pinks, greens and even red. They had colorful hair that resembled the anime-like world.
'This is pretty sick, actually…'
Rain reached the receptionist now. He stared at the counter-woman, eyes landing on her huge… nevermind. She held a notepad, and seemed to be in her mid-20's. Her coral hair reinforced that anime look.
"Oh, are you signing up? Or do you have a party?" She said, looking up to meet Rain's eyes.
"I'm alone. I just uhm, moved here."
"I can see that from your clothes." She smiled, "Soo… Pathway? Level? Runes? Class? I need to list these off."
Rain's heart dropped lower than falling unconscious. He had none of them… and it's kind of embarrassing.
Still—he decided to answer, listing off his stats in a whisper. The receptionist seemed to understand, deciding not to peer or scream out any of his embarrassing stats. Rain thanked her in his heart for that.
After a minute or so, he received his card. It held all the information of his power and current progress. He had to pick out his class, though, and he picked "Warrior". The woman said it's the most versatile, and you could change it anytime soon.
He stared at the card to get a better look.
/-/
[Guild License]
Name: Rain Haldrin
Race: Human
Status: Active
Rank: F
Level: 1
Pathway: None
Runes: 0
Mana Capacity: Undefined
Class: Warrior
Notes: Beginner evaluation
/-/
After that, Rain shoved the card in his pocket and looked around to ensure no one saw it. His eyes landed on something—the giant quest board. Adventurers seemed busy looking for missions, though, and he'd have to sneak in and push people around.
He decided to put a savepoint first. Who knows if he'll die again from mana depletion.
[Savepoint Overwritten.]
With that, Rain decided to sneak behind the group of people. His eyes landed on papers stamped on the wooden board. Some of them were S-rank, some A-rank, and the most common is B to C-ranked quests. He couldn't see any FFF or even just F-rank missions stamped there. A bummer.
Didn't his card show F-rank, though? The receptionist high-balled him there for sure. Or maybe, she just felt pitiful cause he wouldn't be able to take on any quests. There aren't even many F-ranked ones here.
'Sighhh…'
'What was that goddess thinking, reincarnating me here with nothing but timeloop? I can't progress like this.'
He remembered gaining +EXP though, after making that gush of wind. Maybe he can expand his mana-pool by leveling up. But he can't level up since he keeps dying!
This is like trying to get a job for money, but you can't get a job because you have no money to apply to one!
This is sick… not like in the good way earlier.
A sudden voice cut through his internal thoughts. "Hey, hey, nice clothes you've got there."
Rain ignored it. He wasn't sure if that voice was addressed to him. It'll be embarrassing if he looked back and they started talking to someone else. Also, his clothes aren't that interesting.
"Hello? Hello?" She continued.
After a minute, she lost patience and slammed her hand onto Rain's shoulder. He jumped in response and snapped his head backwards.
"What is it?" Rain didn't realize it by now, but he's glaring. His eyes twitched, and his eyelids narrowed down to reveal a harsh look. The woman didn't shriek. Unlike the earlier adventurers.
"Well, I overheard your conversation. You're F-rank, right?! I am too… I can't find a party because of it." She twirled her golden hair.
Looking at it; she had a pretty face. Her yellow hair cascaded down forming neat bangs, her sides were braided, and her hat… that gigantic witch-hat framed her face and made her look calm and laid back.
Her black-white sweater had ribbons on it, making it look like a maid dress even with different designs. Her skirt had ridges of white on it. She wore black stockings.
Rain's eyes stayed on her thighs for a beat longer.
Oh, and she's holding a broom. Maybe she really is a witch.
The blondie leaned in. "Hey, hey, but you're from another kingdom as well, right? You don't quite fit in with these other people. Oh! By the way, I'm Marisa. I'm a wolfkin from the Lost Continent. Oh, oh, oh, what about you? I just got here, I'm unfamiliar with these surroundings."
Her accent sounded a bit off, and Rain saw a flash of sharp teeth as she talked. Maybe she's telling the truth. She didn't seem to be lying anyway.
So half-animals exist here? Real life furries?
The fact she even overheard the conversation reinforced that idea. Wolves are known to be perceptive, aren't they?, she probably has a hearing boost from her race or something.
"I uh," Rain stammered, "I'm from…"
…
"Well, if ya don't feel comfortable yet you don't have to answer. All I'm asking is for you to team up with me. Want to take on an E-ranked quest?" said Marisa, looking at him with suspicion.
"...alright then. I'm Rain, like the weather." he said.
"Okay."
With that, they waited for the adventurers to clear up before taking a look at low-ranked quests. Rain's eyes landed on something in the corner postboard: an E-ranked dungeon clearance. It had 200 crowns as reward, in which, he didn't know if it was good.
It's a start though.
He needed badly to level up.
Someone from the side snickered. "Two F-ranked kids taking an E-rank dungeon? They're dead."
"I can clear those up easily. Didn't know such low quests even existed anymore."
"Hah, let them have fun."
Rain looked at one of them. Glaring. He whispered in his mind… though, unconfident: "Let's see about that."
And they confirmed to the receptionist that they'll take the damn quest.