The restaurant Adam leads me to is actually kind of fancy. Unlike most, it's built with stone walls rather than the normal wood and whatever else most buildings are made of. When we enter, the air is warm and even slightly stuffy, most of the tables packed with guests.

As I look around, I notice a wide variety of people, from Beastkin to Elves to Dwarfs to Humans. I don't see any Fairies, but Adam did tell me they exist when I asked him about it. He also mentioned that they're 'strange in the head'.

Further probing informed me that they find having an average-sized dick to be the most appealing and anything outside of that range to be monstrous and bestial and unattractive in a mate. I suppose to Adam's people, that would make them strange in the head.

"I take it we're going to the World Dungeon tomorrow?" I ask after we locate an empty table and sit. "Or are we taking a day's rest to recharge and recover from the Dungeon run?"

Adam and I haven't yet officially discussed things between the end of the Dungeon and arriving here, though we did talk a little between the Dungeon and us taking a shower. He said that as much as he's liking me, he probably wouldn't have if I had said I wanted to get Experience from the Third Avatar of the Rat God. Doing that would suggest that I'm more interested in leeching off of him than actually working with him.

"No," he answers. "I decided against going into the World Dungeon here. I don't trust that I won't meet with an 'accident', so we'll just move on in the morning. After I replace some of my tunics again."

He just blatantly says around these people that he knows someone might try to kill him in the World Dungeon. The fact that he had told me before he was going to go in there after leaving here suggests that he heard someone plotting to have him killed in there. Could part of the reason he's traveling from town to town be the World Dungeons, too?

I don't remember any mentions of bonus Experience in them, so is there something special in them that he's looking for? Can he even find one where he's unlikely to be ambushed by stronger adventurers?

Does killing someone in them not count as against the taboo of the gods?

"Sorry," I apologize for the tunics, since I know I ruined a couple of them.

"It's not your fault," he tells me. "I needed a few new ones already. It's why I go without a tunic when expecting a battle of some sort. Even if I'm tougher than a Tier I person normally is-"

"As if he's actually a person," someone behind me mutters, and I know Adam caught it.

"-that doesn't mean I'm always faster than the attack," Adam continues without even the slightest pause despite the fact that he must have heard the comment. Is he really that used to them, or do they not matter to him? "So I've had a few of my tunics ruined just from that. Or surprise attacks by monsters. A few nights before I met you, a pack of wolves thought I'd be tasty and tried to eat me while I was sleeping."

"Shame they didn't succeed," someone else mutters.

"It surprised them to find their food to be a lot tougher than they expected," Adam tells me. "Especially since one of them broke its teeth on my scales."

"Alright," I say. "So after we leave here, where are we headed?"

"It depends," he answers. "I have a few towns in mind, but if I receive another vision from the dragon gods, I'll decide where to go based on that."

"The dragon gods?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says. "My people worship them rather than the others. Sometimes, we receive visions from them. Receiving one a couple of weeks ago startled me, but it's the reason I came to this town."

Though Adam doesn't say it, I know he's thinking it might have been to meet me. If he received a vision from his gods that sent him here, and he met me right after I arrived, then the chances of that actually being a coincidence are slim.

Which suggests the dragon gods knew I was going to be picked by the other god. Unless he's one of them?

"Is-"

"The god who summoned you here a dragon god?" Adam asks. "No, he's of the normal pantheon."

Our waitress arrives as he says that, setting a couple of menus in front of us while avoiding getting too close to Adam. She looks to be in her twenties, but judging by her pointed ears and taller height, I'd guess she's an Elf. If Elves have a slower aging rate than Humans, then she could be much older than she looks.

The elf has long, platinum-blond hair she's wearing in a ponytail fixed with a green tie that matches her dress, her forest green eyes showing a slight bit of fear towards Adam.

"Here are some menus, if you need time to decide," she tells me. "Or you can order the house special and I'll bring it right out."

"We'll look for a few minutes, thanks," I tell her, and she hurries away with a look of relief on her face.

Adam grabs one of the menus and begins looking through it and I begin examining the other one. It looks like it's made of paper, but is also somewhat glossy. This world doesn't have lamination, so it's probably some sort of enchantment, which Adam confirms for me.

"So it's not a problem for people to know I'm from another world?" I ask. "Back on the world where I'm from, most of the stories about people who get summoned to other worlds involve them being used as pawns or manipulated."

"It's not an issue," he tells me. "It happens often enough that there's nothing really that special about you. The only reason you'd potentially have to worry is if you had some sort of extraordinary Special Trait, but then you'd just have to worry about people trying to convince you to join their side and work for them. Someone who was summoned actually has an advantage there in that natives who do might be strong-armed into it, while doing that to someone summoned risks pissing off the god who summoned them. You don't have one, so there's no need to worry."

Unless he lied to me about the rarity and value of having unlimited potential for growth and +100% to all Experience as a bonus for that for those within the System, Adam's saying that to protect me. Not from villains who'd try to kill me or force me into their bidding, but from being harassed by others who want me to join them. If I did join someone who wanted me for my growth, they'd probably get me involved in some sort of politics.

Then again, Adam wants me for that growth as well, and our meeting may have been the act of gods. So there's still manipulation going on, I just think I can trust Adam for now.

"Okay," I say, then turn my attention to the menu. "So many things look good."

When Lilia, our waitress, returns, she's just as scared of Adam as before, sticking to my side of the table and not meeting his gaze. If I didn't know the reason behind it, I'd probably be more amused than I am.

"I'll have the ribs," Adam tells Lilia. "Two steaks cooked medium-rare in your best sauce, and the pulled pork sandwich. And your strongest ale."

"With his steaks," I tell Lilia. "Make sure they double up on the grilled veggies."

Adam swears under his breath.

"For me," I say. "I'll have the plate of grilled meat and veggies with bread instead of mashed potatoes. I've never had alcohol before, so is there something you'd recommend?"

"Is your world one of the ones where you need to be older to drink?" Adam asks. "Most ale served here is light ale, which is almost impossible to get drunk on. It's the standard drink."

"The age requirement didn't stop people," I tell him. "And I didn't go out of my way to try it. Had too much else on my plate."

If I got drunk, I risked not being able to deal with a situation that might arise with my siblings. There have been a few emergency moments with them that occurred at unexpected times, like when one of them decided to climb a tree at night in the middle of a thunderstorm two years ago. Why she decided to do that, I'm not sure. I'm just glad her mom actually got up because dealing with the ER as a fifteen-year-old wouldn't have been fun.

I know that from experience.

"I'd recommend an ale," Adam tells me. "Normal meal ale, not the stronger stuff like I'll get. Maybe a stein of the normal stuff to see how you like the taste and if you've got any tolerance."

"Let's go with that," I tell Lilia. "Please, and thank you."

The elf leaves, and I turn my attention back to him.

"Is there a certain age where you gain access to the System?" I ask. "Or does everyone have it from the start?"

"Everyone has it from the start," he tells me. "You can get Skills and train Attributes and stuff from the start, but you can't take on any Classes or Jobs until you turn sixteen. By that time, most people already know what they're going to do for the rest of their lives."

If that's the case, and Adam is able to take on beasts strong enough to earn him a decent amount of Experience on his own, why was his Level so low then? He's had the ability to take on a Class and Level it for over two years now. What changed that's caused him to go after getting stronger? It definitely has to do with why he left his clan, but I really don't want to ask. It might be too sensitive a topic for him.

While we wait for our food to arrive, Adam teaches me about the currency here. There are five distinct coins: copper feathers, silver wings, gold falcons, diamond eagles, and platinum dragons. Each one is valued at one hundred of the previous, and every monster has a low chance of dropping them. Inside of Dungeons, the chance is nonexistent, which he says is likely due to the sheer number of monsters a party could slay within one.

Most nations use the System-created currency, as there's enough in circulation for that. Some nations use their own currency or have a secondary one alongside of it for non-adventurers. The area we're in only uses the System-created currency, and every town's main guild hall for adventurers can exchange other currencies into it.

The guild is a group that focuses on supplying work to adventurers through a quest system, and being a member of the guild isn't required for it. My guess is that 'hunting Demihumans who pissed us off' is one of the possible quests that get petitioned. Though he doesn't say it, I'm pretty sure Adam would be turned away from accepting quests through the guilds.

When our food arrives, our discussion ends and we dig in to our meals. The food provided in the Dungeon was decent, but this meal makes it seem rather plain. The ale doesn't taste that bad, though it's definitely a little rough going down. I do stick with just the one stein of the stronger stuff mostly because I'd rather wait and see how I handle it in case there's a delayed response.

After we finish eating, Adam and I just sit and talk for a little bit, Adam telling me a little about his trip so far and the other Dungeons he'd gone into. While his presence is clearly making people uncomfortable, no one tries to kick him out. Either no one here is strong enough to, or they don't want to cause problems in case Adam goes berserk.

He did tell me that he has the temper of a dragon, and that being normal for his people might be common knowledge. A smart person would slowly and subtly replace all of the commoners with adventurers at or around his level, or even ones who are a little bit weaker. Then, if a fight breaks out, they could wear him out without risking innocents.

I'm not noticing such a change going on, and can hear a few people complaining about the presence of 'a beast'. Adam expertly ignores it all as if he doesn't hear a single word of it.

"Just curious," I say after awhile of hearing them talking. "But how does it not bother you hearing them calling you that stuff and making those comments?"

More than a few people go quiet at my words.

"It's rather simple, really," Adam says. "What actually defines someone as a 'person'? If it's based on society, civilization, the ability to clearly communicate, make tools, have a consciousness, sense of kinship, and so on, then we fit all of the points necessary. They only say we're not people because 'demi' means we're only part and we have that Experience penalty. Often, we also have an inherent advantage over others, though such as my raw power and the greater bonuses I receive upon performing a Tier Advancement or Rank Up.

"At the end of the day," he shrugs. "I'm not the one judging a person as a beast just because of their species. I'm judging them by the type of person they are."

"Oh," I say. "So it's not because at the end of the day, you've got a bigger dick than most of them."

Several people choke on their food or drink.

"There's that, too," Adam says. "But it's mostly because I'm above judging someone based on their species. I'm not going to assume an Elf is a tree-hugger just because she's an Elf. Or a Dwarf a brute just because he's a Dwarf. Or a Fairy… actually, all Fairies are strange in the head. That's a universally-accepted fact."

There are murmurs of agreement at that from other guests, so I guess there are also prejudices against Fairies, much like with Demihumans.

"Alright," I chuckle. "Well, I think we should get going. It's starting to get late."

"It is," Adam says as I hear his tail smacking against the floor a little. He's anticipating something fun once we reach the inn, isn't he? "Let me flag down Lilia so I can pay, then we'll go."