Endless Land

Adventurer's Guild—that was the official name of the guild Wood had mentioned.

The guild's offices stood at the end of the main street directly ahead after leaving the harbor. The enormous building was impossible to miss, visible the moment one stepped outside. The only puzzling thing was that it had several entrances. There were so many doors, yet not a single sign. Any clueless rookie would probably get a headache.

Fortunately, with Wood's guidance, Yinsen knew he had to enter through the door on the far left. That area was specifically for receiving rookies who had just arrived. Membership applications, accommodations for newcomers, and similar matters were all handled there.

Wood and the others were heading to the hall most frequented by veterans to take care of some business. Their ship had sunk, several crew members had died, and all of that needed to be reported. They also had to retrieve their stored property, buy a new ship, and so on.

Watching Wood and Rodney gradually disappear into the thickening crowd, Yinsen felt that Rodney seemed to be sneaking glances at him, whether intentionally or not. And those looks were definitely not friendly.

"Is it because of the magic stone?"

Magic stones were the most miraculous things in this sea, as well as the hardest resources to obtain. Finding even one, whether for personal use or trade, could get someone plenty of things they needed. They were the true hard currency of this world.

"A Fire Attribute Magic Stone... I wonder what exactly it can do?"

Beyond their value as currency, magic stones were valuable because of their miraculous effects. For adventurers, one of the most useful was a Water Attribute Purifying Magic Stone. As long as they had a tiny Purifying Magic Stone and placed it in a barrel of stored fresh water, whether it was seawater or polluted dirty water, it would be purified into the clearest, cleanest water.

"Too bad this isn't a Water Attribute Purifying Magic Stone... I wonder what this Fire Magic Stone does?"

He put away the magic stone and tightened the backpack on his back. It held all his important belongings, most notably the large stack of books The Ancient One had given him.

He did not dare leave those things on his completely unprotected little boat. Who knew whether someone might casually steal them?

Entering the Adventurer's Guild's newcomer reception hall at a brisk pace, Yinsen found it much quieter than the main hall, where people constantly came and went. He looked around and found that he was actually the only person there.

Only a young man stood at the counter by the front entrance. He warmly waved Yinsen over. "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. Are you here to apply for membership?"

"Ah! Yes!"

Yinsen nodded and walked up to the counter.

"Do I need to pay a membership fee or anything?"

He had actually forgotten about that question. He had lived in this world for so long without ever seeing anything like currency, and he had grown accustomed to bartering. For a moment, he had forgotten that guilds and the like seemed to charge fees.

"No. However, when you store supplies with the guild, commission or repair ships, or conduct commission transactions, we'll take a portion of the goods."

Yinsen nodded. So they only charged for services. That suited a penniless rookie like him quite well.

"Actually, even though joining doesn't require handing over any items, fewer and fewer newcomers are joining these days." Perhaps the young man across from him had not seen anyone in a long time. Having finally encountered Yinsen, he kept talking on his own. "You're the first person to apply for membership in the past six months."

"Huh?" Yinsen could tell that this place was rather quiet, but he had not expected no one to have joined for half a year. Was he being too rash by joining?

The clerk immediately saw what Yinsen was thinking and hurried to persuade him. "There are actually many benefits to joining the guild. We can provide better ships and help you recruit more experienced sailors. There are still plenty of adventurers in the guild who have lost their ships or are on the verge of bankruptcy. Their situations may not be great, but they're experienced. Storing and consigning goods through us can also save adventurers a lot of time."

"In short, we'll help adventurers take care of all their worries, so they only need to focus on exploring the seas and gathering resources."

"Besides, whenever adventurers return from sea, even if they come back empty-handed, we'll provide three days of free lodging and food, allowing them to rest as fully as possible before throwing themselves into a new round of adventure in even better condition..."

After rambling on for quite a while, Yinsen felt that the guild was indeed rather conscientious. There seemed to be nothing wrong with joining.

"Then why hasn't anyone new joined in half a year?"

The clerk sighed helplessly. "Fewer and fewer newcomers are successfully arriving at Stat Island from their 'homelands.' Most of them are conservative old fossils who refuse to give even the slightest thing to the guild. They think the guild is taking advantage of them."

He shrugged, the disdain on his face completely undisguised. "If you ask me, those people just want to muddle through life. Every time they go to sea and find supplies, they trade them for what they need to live. They drag things out one day at a time, only going back to sea once they have almost nothing left."

"That's still the better kind, at least they know to save some supplies for going to sea. Some won't leave port unless they're practically starving to death, and since they no longer have extra supplies, they can only bring some fresh water with them... Nine out of ten of those people never come back."

Yinsen understood. Those unwilling to join the guild were probably much like the people who had previously left the island where he lived. They were not young, and after coming here, they found life seemed to have become even worse. They lost all motivation at once. Reaching Stat Island already meant they had picked up an extra life, so every additional day they lived was profit... and if they could no longer survive, they would merely lose something they should have lost long ago.

"Then how do they trade the things they find for food and other necessities?"

"Oh, leave here and turn right. Follow that gravel road, and before long you'll see a market. It's the largest market on this island. In fact, even adventurers who have joined the guild trade there. Only goods that can't be sold quickly are sent here for storage or entrusted to the guild for sale."

"Uh... I see."

"Then next, I'll need to help you fill out some basic information."

Yinsen nodded. He had already decided to join the guild. If nothing else, the guild could provide plenty of information to help him better understand this world.

"Name?"

"Yinsen."

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"Gender?"

"...Male..."

"Height?"

"Um... I've never measured it..."

The clerk was extremely proficient, measuring and filling out the form in one smooth motion.

"Ship name?"

"Uh... this..." Yinsen had never named his ship. He froze at the question for a long while before pinching the bridge of his nose and casually coming up with one. "Goddess of Dawn."

"Oh~ What a fine name."

After filling out the basic information, the clerk picked up a white magic stone from beside him. Without Yinsen seeing him make any movement, the stone emitted a blue beam that scanned up and down across Yinsen's face.

He then used the magic stone to scan the sheet of paper containing Yinsen's information. Immediately afterward, the paper filled with his basic details slowly vanished.

Then he raised the magic stone and slammed it hard onto the counter. With a crisp smack, he lifted his hand to reveal that the white magic stone had become a white strip as wide as a finger.

Everything happened too quickly. By the time Yinsen reacted, all he could do was shout in his heart, Magic stones can be used like that?

The clerk then gestured for Yinsen to hold out his hand and slapped the white strip against his wrist. There was another smack, and the white strip tightly wrapped around Yinsen's wrist, looking just like an ordinary wristband.

"This will serve as proof of your guild membership from now on." He then briefly explained how to use it.

The white wristband could be removed at will, and it did not have to be worn around the wrist. Since it was highly elastic, it could also be worn around the neck, arm, or leg.

There was no need to worry about losing it, either, since the guild kept a record of Yinsen's information. If his identification was lost, he only needed to go to the main hall and have a new one made.

"Oh, right. If you don't like white, we can change it to another color for you, but that requires additional payment."

"What do I need to pay to change the color?"

"A magic stone of the corresponding color."

"..."

Yinsen thought of the Fire Magic Stone he had, which was red. Even if it was not as useful as a Water Attribute Purifying Magic Stone, it could not be worth that much less. Yet at the guild, it could only be used to change the color of a wristband?

"Uh... Looks like I can't afford that service for now."

"That's fine. Magic stones actually aren't as rare as you think." Having recruited the first newcomer in six months, the clerk was in an exceptionally good mood and told Yinsen much more. "In fact, there's over an eighty percent chance that every Floating Island has magic stones. Most people simply fail to find them."

"Really?"

"Really. It's not exactly a secret, but the basic information the guild provides on the Sea of Tranquility doesn't record this point, because it's a kind of screening..."

"Screening?"

"Yes, screening for adventurers with greater potential."

Yinsen suddenly felt as if he had discovered some huge secret.

"What do you make adventurers with greater potential do after selecting them?"

"Do?" The clerk noticed what Yinsen was thinking and gently shook his head. "It's not what you think... We select adventurers with potential so they can grow stronger as quickly as possible, then cross the Sea of Storms sooner and search for the Endless Land."

This was already who knew how many times he had heard that legend: that vast, boundless land where hundreds of millions could live and work in peace and contentment lay at the end of the sea. As long as they found it, they could live happily ever after.

"Could it really not be a legend meant to fool people?"