The First King of Beasts

After three months had passed, anybody that was yet to arrive was declared dead. If someone does arrive after that, they would still be taken in, but they would no longer wait for them.

The city lord called for an assembly, as she wanted to give the reports to the people.

"Out of the one billion people that came to this world, only 1.2 million of you made it here, for now. We will no longer wait for new people to arrive. From tomorrow, it will become business as usual!"

...

Surely, the next day, just like the city lord said, everything returned to how they were supposed to be. This meant living and surviving within the city was no longer free, and people had to fend for themselves. Previously within the three months everyone spent doing nothing much, food and everything else was free and adequate services were provided to everyone free of charge. Those who visited the training centre to improve themselves got good training and advice from the people working there, and learnt some basic skills free of charge.

Apart from these however, those that wanted to get other things like armour or indulge in some shopping would still need to pay for these, and the way they would do this is by paying through points. In this world, points served as currency, and could be used wherever to exchange for commodity or services.

Some of the basic skills that could be learnt included 'Melee combat', 'swordsmanship', 'spearmanship', and some other basic skills. Of course, these were all (F) rank skills, and were nothing to brag about, but still, those who learnt hem were better with than with nothing.

For the most part, people like Raven and Mizu needed not to learn any of these, as they already had their own means, and Aria was learning fast.

"According to Elva, from today onward missions will be issued at the town's hall. I should go and check what that's all about." Dustin said, after rinsing his mouth.

This other world was made very convenient for those that came from earth. The normal thins they knew from earth still existed here, and there was no need to adjust to these. The people here seemed not to know much about earth, but that didn't matter much either.

After Dustin took his bath, he took care of every other thing and wore some comfortable clothes. He would have bought some quality grade armour, but he wasn't exactly the type for such. He had decided to leave that aspect until he found something that would suite him well. Maybe for now he would get leather armour or something that light and comfortable, just to be on the safe side.

"For now though, there's nothing to worry about." 'Beginner missions aren't much of a challenge anyway.' Dustin said in his mind as he left his room and proceeded out of his house.

Compared to others who received only some few points, Dustin got 10,000 points in total. This amount was huge for beginners to have; it was an amount only the privilege enjoyed. Despite this, he hadn't touched his points, or say, he hadn't needed to.

He was already getting everything he needed, so there was no need for extra. What was provided was enough so there was no need for him to get extra.

.

This time, unlike the first time Dustin was escorted into the town, the streets were filled with different people, all carrying out their various tasks and business. No one even paid attention to him as he walked through it. 'This is town has a nice atmosphere as always. But, I still prefer the quite places.' Dustin thought to himself. This also contributed to the reason he didn't leave his house often.

'It also seems the city lord has forgotten about her promise.'

Dustin's house wasn't far off from the town's hall, so it only took about three minutes of walking to get there. Ever since he first came there when Akara brought him there, and he shocked Elva with the rewards he got, everyone in the town's hall started showing him a certain level of respect. It felt a bit weird since he wasn't used to being in a respectable side of things where people showed him respect. Usually, Dustin was the one bowing to others and currying their favour, so it will take some time before he completely gets used to this.

He quickly headed towards the quests centre where quests and tasks were issued to do the obvious. On getting there, he noticed a few people had also gotten there and were currently browsing through the available quests.

The way it worked was simple. When one entered the quest centre, they would be able to access the available quests on their system interface, and then after choosing which one they want they would proceed to the counter there and indicate their interest in doing the quest they had chosen.

Every other person's system was visible to the public eyes, and people could see the other using their system. This was the only problem with Dustin's system since only he could see it. He quickly scanned the available quests and chose one that appealed to him while walking towards the counter. After entering the hall, he went to a corner, and after some seconds proceeded towards the counter. Anyone observing would think he just chose his quest quickly and wouldn't suspect much.

After Dustin got to the counter, the man behind it gave him a paper, and he wrote the special quest number, and in less than 30 seconds the quest was approved and he left.

While leaving the building, Dustin ran into some familiar faces, and had to greet.

. . .

"Brother Dustin!" A voice said happily as she ran to him. It was Aria.

Dustin happily received her into his arms and raised her up into his arms as a thought went through his mind. 'Brother, huh? At least she dropped the uncle part.' Dustin said mentally. Hearing the kid call him uncle previously always made him feel like some old uncle.

Dustin could tell how much he was missed by Aria, as the smile on her face didn't seem like something that could be wiped off. At that same time, Mizu and Raven also began walking towards him, and behind them, he noticed someone else he hadn't seen previously.

"Happy to see me? How have you been, Aria?" Dustin asked with a little warn smile on his face.

"Fine! I and everyone else have been fine!" Aria answered while placing both of her hands on his head.

"That's good. I can see that you are being taken care of well." Dustin replied. 'Guess even after everything she's still just a child, huh?' Dustin thought.

Raven was the first to speak, and greeted Dustin, which he returned back. Overall, there was all good energy around them, and it would seem to anyone watching that they were friends, or at least close acquaintances.

Dustin, minding his own business didn't ask about the other girl with them, and allowed them to go inside. According to Raven, they had come to collect a quest as it was necessary to get stronger and also have enough resources to live in this new world. Nothing was free anymore, so it meant everyone had to work for themselves and their survival.

All the while they stood there talking; Dustin had moved Aria from his arms and placed her to sit on his shoulders, while he supported her with his hands crossed behind her back. She wasn't really paying attention to the conversation all too much, and was engaged with Dustin's hair for the most part, just playing with it. His hair wasn't even that long.

If he wasn't wrong, Dustin could feel something different about Aria, it was almost as if she was a different person. For a fact, Aria wasn't the same Aria Dustin left behind for the sisters to fend for, that was for sure. He couldn't shake the curiosity, and although he had pretty much guessed the answer, he still needed confirmation.

"Aria, how did you get so strong? Have you been doing something different, like training?" Dustin asked, making sure to structure his question properly. He bent his head up to look up at her.

"Yes! Sister Raven and sister Mizu have been teaching me lots of things." Aria responded, looking down into his eyes.

"Wow, so you can fight and protect yourself now. Very soon you'll become very strong."

"Yes! And then I'll help you fight when you face monsters! And protect you!" Aria said excitedly.

'So this is where the motivation is coming from? I thought she was just a no complain type.' Raven said to herself in her mind.

They talked for another minute, then Dustin let Aria down as they parted ways. Dustin headed straight to the town's gate after that, as he was a bit eager to see what the quest held in store for him.