Life Hunter

When he found the library, Arima realized why he was told that he couldn't miss it. The building was incredibly huge. It wasn't very tall compared to the buildings in his world but it was very wide.

He entered while appreciating the decorations of the exterior walls and when he stepped in, he immediately noticed that only the sound of the pages flipping was reaching his ears. 'I can't hear the noise from outside anymore… is it some kind of soundproof barrier?' He wondered and walked to the front desk.

"Hello, is it the first time you come to our library?" The woman seated behind the reception asked in a quiet and calm voice

"Yes, I would like to cultivate myself on a few subjects," Arima followed the mood. He felt like he was obliged to speak slowly and quietly in this kind of atmosphere.

"I understand. Here's a map which will help you find the books you're looking for, and there is a one-time fee of one gold, I hope you understand," she explained.

"Yes," Arima gave away one gold without any problem. After all, it was a library made for the sake of people learning, and the books were expensive. If there was no fee, then this place wouldn't be able to sustain its service.

Arima received the map and thanked the receptionist. He began to look for what interested him. He looked for history, geography, magic, almanacs, and other things that he could be interested in.

After reading for a few hours, he had already learned quite a number of things. He had started with geography and actualities. He learned that the planet he was on was at least four times bigger than Earth. He searched for the continent he was in and got the information pretty easily.

On this continent, there were only four countries sharing four million square kilometers. First, there was Empire in the north, and the Kingdom of Terses in the east. The latter was the territory Arima was in. The remaining countries were the Republic in the south and the Alliance in the west.

Arima learned that the Empire and the Kingdom were on bad terms. As for the Alliance, it was a country founded by demi-humans. All kinds of people lived there; therianthropes, elves, spirits, half-breed, demons… Obviously, the Alliance was constantly cautious against humans.

The Republic was a colony of another continent, a country that specialized in marketing. They were also one of the guild's founders, which was considered as a neutral organization. The guild was everywhere on the continent but no country had the right to command it. For instance, there was even a guild within the Alliance's territory. It appeared that the Republic didn't allow slavery and even traded with the demi-humans on peaceful terms.

The other important thing Arima learned about was about the monsters of this world. First of all, they were separated into four categories; 'monsters', 'magic monsters', 'beasts', and 'magic beasts'.

Monsters were beings such as orcs, goblins, zombies, and golems while beasts were essentially wild animals that had evolved and become stronger like lions, tigers, wolves, and snakes.

Incidentally, beings such as dragons, griffins, and others were considered magic beasts.

Next, there was their ranking. For beasts and monsters alike, their strength could be measured in 10 levels. For example, one beast could be level one, two, and three, until ten. Each level had three classes; low, middle, and high.

For example, a level one, lower class monster would be as strong as a normal soldier, and at high class, his strength would be sufficient to beat ten normal soldiers.

So, it would be like this:

1 = Fighting power of an average human soldier

Level one: 1 to 10

Level two: 15 to 50

Level three: 60 to 100

Level four: 110 to 150

Level five: 160 to 300

Level six: 310 to 500 + Magic

Level seven: 520 to 1000 + //

Level eight: 1100 to 2000 + //

Level nine: 2200 to 5000 + //

Level ten: >5000 + //

The beasts and monsters of level nine or ten were considered extremely rare. After level five, monsters and beasts begin to transform into magic beings, which are not only strong physically but also adept with magic, making them even more terrifying. As a matter of fact, the numbers given here were merely a representation of their physical ability.

For example, a level eight monster could beat 1500 soldiers with his physical ability, but he could very well defeat 5000 more with his magic. There were also a lot of different beasts and monsters, so variants with troublesome magic and aptitudes such as poison or high defense were numerous.

That scaling of strength was also used to measure the strength of humanity in general. The only difference was that humans possessed the ability to use magic from the very beginning.

In this world, there's what we call life force. It's the overall power residing in your body and soul, the one you built by training yourself to no limits. It's a similar concept to Qi cultivation. That's why power levels were always measured based on life force.

For example, since Arima was still a newcomer to this world, and his body was getting used to the new environment, his life force sat around the fifth level at the moment.

Arima also found out something else. Apparently, the continent was pretty much peaceful in regards to monsters and beasts. Of course, there was still a good amount of them and that's why mercenaries existed. But because this continent was almost fully explored and exploited, big gatherings of monsters were very rare and couldn't really be threatening for a country. At worst, there would be some minor casualties amongst small villages.

Arima kept reading until dusk and left the library to search for an Inn. He wandered a bit and found one not too far from the library. He entered and stumbled upon the restaurant of the Inn where customers were chatting and eating loudly. Most of them were mercs. Arima walked to the counter, and from behind came a woman who had spotted him when he stepped inside.

"Excuse me, I would like to rent a room for one month," he requested.

"Hello, for a rent of one month it will be two golds," she smiled courteously and kindly responded.

"Then I will take a room," Arima handed the money and the owner gave him the key and the number of the room. He went upstairs and checked it. It was relatively simple. One bed and a desk. It was also quite clean.

"Not bad, I've seen places worse than this," he muttered and lied down on the bed. He closed his eyes and started thinking about his plans.

"Well… for the time being, I'll stay in this town for a month or so to learn about this world and wait for my body to stabilize. After that, I'll try to visit all the places on this continent… I guess."

He sighed. "It's not like I have something else to do as an otherworlder… The royal capital is a must. Maybe there will be something interesting to do there," he yawned and closed his eyes. "Nothing is better than a good night of sleep…"