Dante was knocked from his thoughts as someone tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around he saw the receptionist from before had come over.

"Sir I am obliged to inform you as to several resources the system has made available to all adventurers. The first being this book..." he paused for a moment as a large book that reminded him more of a tome appeared in the man's hands.

"...is what you might refer to as a Monster Encyclopedia. Within this tome is information on a large variety of monsters and animals. Such information included with each entry would be expected habitats, feeding habits, what if anything their parts can be used for, and what kind of vendor would most likely give you the best price for such things. It isn't an exhaustive list mind you but it does a good job of making sure more valuable components tend not to go to waste." The young man dressed much like a butler said in a formal tone, his expression remaining neutral.

Dante reached out for the book only for it to be retracted and another, empty, palm put forward.

"Uh...what's this about?" He asked only now thinking that it was probably...

"Payment is required for this tome sir. We are out of the lesser variations of these tomes thus the only ones available are our most comprehensive, and therefore most expensive, tomes. If you wish to purchase this tome for your use it will be 10 small gold or 1 large gold if you would prefer." The receptionist spoke, his right hand still raised awaiting payment with the tome clutched in his left by his side.

'He's probably lying that they only have the most expensive tomes left...Most comprehensive means highest quality right? Hmmm...I could learn from Oscar maybe but...It's an investment for the future and I could learn more from Oscar...'

Dante glanced for a moment towards the group behind him who all seemed to be looking towards him with raised eyebrows.

'Maybe me and dad getting that bonus was something rare that most people didn't get. Should I buy it? Ah fuck it!' His thoughts abruptly halted at that.

"Fine." Was Dante's calm but wary response after his moment of thought. With a wave of his hand over the receptionist's he imagined 10 small gold appearing in his hand. And when his hand had passed, there was.

"Very good sir. Also so you're aware this book comes with a few small quests attached." The receptionist said his left eyebrow raised slightly as if expecting...

Three small blue boxes appeared before Dante no sooner had he taken the book.

Congratulations! You have obtained a Rare Monster Encyclopedia! With this tome you are granted two quests to further your knowledge of the world. Would you like to absorb this tome and add it to your system library? Y/N? Light Reading Read at least 10 pages every day until the book is completed. May still be completed if tome is absorbed. Daily quest rewards, additional rewards for additional reading. Failure to complete the task will lead to a punishment that will progressively worsen for each day left incomplete, and for how many pages are missed. 0/1742 Pages read Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden) Gotta Catch 'em All! Despite the catchy quest name, this isn't a capture quest. To fulfill this quest you need only find creatures listed within the tome. Rewards from this quest can be acquired daily, but only once a day. Such awards can be Exp, monetary compensation of jewels or coins, achievements and such. Rewards will be proportional to rarity of creatures encountered, number of creatures encountered, and how many different species are encountered. Creatures not listed within the tome will be added to the log of this quest and be added on top of those already in the tome. 0/1,124 Creatures encountered Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Creature Compendium!...

As you discover creatures they will be added to your compendium. This effect is not retroactive, but will calculate for creatures previously encountered when met again. With each discovery, each interaction, a small bonus will be applied to interactions with individual creatures....

'Well that's... a lot.' he thought as he had a face of "not bad" expression, with his bottom lip up by nose.

He opened the book pausing as he looked to the other's around him only for them all to be holding their own copy of the same book.

Johnny chimed in, "We've all done a bit of this or that and gained a bit of funds, you're not the only one with a bit of money man.

Dante smiled as he looked through the first few pages and was happily surprised to find a glossary.

Taking a brief read the creatures seemed to be listed in alphabetical order. To his mild amazement and slightly greater horror the glossary was more than 8 pages long.

'Well yeah, definitely not reading this shit in a day...' He thought as he curiously mentally pushed the yes button for the first blue box.

He blinked and for a moment he was somewhere else.

He stood before a simple wooden bookshelf, arm outstretched placing the tome onto one of its shelves.

No sooner had the tome touched down had he blinked and he was back in the adventurer's guild without the book in his hands.

Before he could even think another notice appeared.

Quest, Light Reading, shall begin tomorrow...

"Well that was interesting. Where did the book go?" Dante asked the receptionist quizzically.

"I assure you good sir that the tome is still within your care. As to where precisely it is, I couldn't say. All I know is that it is safely tucked away for your reading pleasure in short order. You will see most assuredly. Now..." The receptionist paused as he held out two more books.

The receptionist spoke to him for a moment about the purchase of two more tomes, explaining that one detailed a variety of plants alongside their properties, uses, and common growing habitats/conditions. While the other was a book detailing a variety of gems and minerals, alongside their properties and uses. Each tome was just as expensive as the first and though he hesitated at the costs, he believed that the knowledge would more than pay for itself in the long term.

He made the purchase and added the tomes to that same strange place the first tome had gone.

"Since you have tomes on plants, creatures, minerals and such, you wouldn't happen to have any tomes on Alchemy now would you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow though he suspected that such a book would be very expensive and hard to use even if they had them.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't fall under our jurisdiction sir. If you wish for such tomes might I suggest the Alchemists Guild they are just down the street. It's a large building with lots of chimneys. You can't miss it.” The receptionist stated as Dante investigated the new notices.

A Menagerie of my Own Make!

Despite the catchy quest name, this isn't a capture quest. To fulfill this quest you need only find plants listed within the tome. Extra rewards for the collection and preservation of said plants.

Rewards from this quest can be acquired daily, but only once a day. Such awards can be Exp, monetary compensation of jewels or coins, achievements and such. Rewards will be proportional to rarity of plants encountered, number encountered, and how many different species are encountered per day. Plants not listed within the tome will be added to the log of this quest and be added on top of those already in the tome.

0/1345 plants encountered Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden) Discoveries of a Rockhound!

To fulfill this quest you need only find the gems and minerals listed within the tome. Rewards from this quest can be acquired daily, but only once a day. Such awards can be Exp, monetary compensation of jewels or coins, achievements and such.

Rewards will be proportional to rarity of gems and/or minerals encountered, amount of gems and/or minerals encountered, and how many different types are encountered. Gems and minerals not listed within the tome will be added to the log of this quest and be added on top of those already in the tome.

0/804 Gems and/or Minerals encountered Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)

Dante smiled as he skimmed the notices before he dismissed the notices.

A notice had told him that his, Light reading, quest would change to be reading a total of 10 paged from the three books collectively each day. It was better in his opinion than having to read 30 pages a day.

Light Reading Read at least 10 pages every day until the books are completed. May still be completed if tomes have been absorbed. Daily quest rewards, additional rewards for additional reading. Failure to complete the task will lead to a punishment that will progressively worsen for each day left incomplete, and for how many pages are missed. Monster Encyclopedia Plant Encyclopedia Mineral Encyclopedia 0/1742 Pages read 0/1636 Pages Read 0/912 Pages Read Quest rewards: Exp, monetary compensation, (Hidden)

'30 pages a day is doable, but it would ruin the fun of the experience. It's more than 4,000 pages all said and done...' Dante halted that train of thought as he saw the receptionist leaving before asking him to hold on for a moment.

"Wait a minute! So the system just gives people this information? Is it available to anyone who can pay the relatively low price?" Dante asked, trying to learn more about the system.

"Yes, the system was here before the adventurers guild and thus has aided it since its inception. It was determined long ago that the best way to prevent deaths and the waste of materials was to arm all those who adventure with the knowledge they would need. Normally on more established worlds the system would simply pour this information into your head through the door." the receptionist paused as he mimed opening a door and pouring from a jug.

"Why not here and now?" Dante asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Insufficient resources, simple as that. It doesn't have the power to do it for all the people in your world. Even if it was only for those who joined the adventurers guild, already a quarter billion people have signed up on your world. The system just doesn't have the power for that right now." He said, shaking his head before his eyes opened and his head jerked up just a little.

As if he had just recalled something.

He turned his head and swiveled on the balls of his dress shoes scanning the room for something.

After a moment it seemed he was satisfied as he turned back to the group before him with a smile.

"Normally I am not supposed to share my opinion but I couldn't help overhearing your "discussion" earlier and I must say..." he paused as he twisted the white sleeves revealing large stains of blue ink on each sleeve.

"Cleanse." The receptionist spoke and the air rippled around him as a small cloud of dense air rose up from around him before dissipating into the manasphere. The stains on his sleeves became much lighter but did not vanish all together.

"I have never been very good with magic, but this...This is a blessing. Thank you all for bringing these to my attention. It certainly has the system's attention." He said as a small amount of light began to emanate from the stains on his sleeves.

Dante was about to step forward, look of utter surprise upon his face but Susan beat him to the punch.

"Are you running Purify?" She asked as she rapidly advanced upon the receptionist.

He smiled simply and spoke, "Yes, It's truly amazing isn't it?" He said as he watched the faint blue stains evaporate into faint white light leaving only his clean shirt behind.

"It certainly will make cleaning things like dust and grime much easier." Said the receptionist as Dante got his wits about him.

"You have a guide right?"

The question caught the receptionist off guard for a moment, as if he had never been asked that question before.

"Of course I do. Why do you wish to know?" He asked, his momentarily positive and joyous attitude evaporating all at once and replaced with one of caution and discerning.

"Oh I just thought you might be interested in other skills from the same systems." Dante replied, trying to reassure the man of his good intentions. The man stared at him for a long few seconds, before he sighed in relief.

"I see, I hadn't thought of that yet. Thank you for reminding me..." He paused and turned as he heard the bell at the counter ring. He gave a bow and a brief smile before he hurried off, back to the reception desk.

============

"Well that was interesting. Say Dante, how many skills do you have? Any of them physical skills?" asked Tod whom was crossing his arms upon his chest.

Absent-mindedly he replied, "I don't remember. It's not too many though, let me check. Skills."

Skills Mana Manipulation (C) Lvl. 4 Virgil [Rank 3] Mana Sense (Unc) Lvl. 12 Time Sense (R) Lvl. 3 Student of Magic (C) Lvl. 5 Cartography (C) Lvl. 12 Farming (C) Lvl. 12 Leadership (Unc) Lvl. 5 Singing (C) Lvl. 3

After a moment of checking he noticed Tod looking over his shoulder.

"Can I help you? Little rude don't you think?" Dante asked but was surprised by the response.

"Don't worry, I can't read it. It seems you really can't read someone else's boxes unless they let you." Tod said with a shrug.

'Well that's a good safety measure. Does it work on videos?...' He thought before he took a breath and handed the blue box to Tod.

Tod looked surprised for a moment before he took the panel and inspected it.

"Some interesting things here but...what the fuck is Virgil and why is it rank 3?" He asked, eliciting surprised inhalation from the collective group.

Dante smiled as he spoke, "Virgil."

He spent 150 mana just to be sure Virgil could stick around for a bit to answer the many questions they probably were going to have.

------------

30 minutes and 850 additional mana later...

Dante had explained to the group about the power of naming your guide.

Only for them all to then name their guides rather bland names like Henry, Bruce, Sarah

That last one was a test to see how a female name would affect the guide.

Tod was only a little disappointed when his guide did take on a definite feminine shape but not to the degree that he wished apparently.

He overheard Tod mumbling something about his guide but couldn't quite catch what it was.

"You know the goal of a guide isn't to be eye candy right?" Dante asked with an amused smile.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt though, beside look at your own guide. Isn't he eye candy? Look at Susan." Tod said as he pointed towards her.

Dante looked and saw Susan starring at Virgil, eyes filled with splendor.

He learned that the guild had a gym for its members.

Well to be precise it was right next to the guild.

You could get to it by a side door in the main lobby.

So after a bit of laughs and cheers from Johnny and Tod, Dante and Califa walked over and looked through the open set of double doors that led to the gym.

He saw what appeared to be martial artists sparring in what really looked like a...

"Fight pit?" Dante asked, kind of shocked.

"Yep" Johnny said with a big toothy grin.

"Is it a fight club? What about the first rule of fight club?" Dante asked, a wide grin forming on his face.

"Fuck the first rule! Fight club is awesome!" Tod and Johnny said in Unison.

After a moment they calmed down enough to give him a bit of a tour of the place. Off to one side there were workout benches.

Tod noting that, "It’s a good way to train up your strength without sparring or hurting yourself, well if you don't overdo it. Someone can use one of these casually in the Adventurer’s Guild and work out a specific set of muscles! I've actually been wondering how training specific muscles impacts your strength score under the system." Said Tod much to the surprise of those in his party.

"What? Is it something I said?" He asked not comprehending why they were all staring at him.

After several moments of praise and admiration that "he was smarter than they gave him credit for" and "Have you been investing points into Intellect?" The conversation took a turn as Tod motioned for Dante to stand with him by some punching backs. Dante walked over to him, leaving Califa for a moment while she was conversing with the others and staring about the room.

"Do you remember [Strike] from Arcs?" Tod asked.

"Of course why? Did you get that one too?" He asked curiously.

"Didn't have to buy it. It's changed." He said as in a moment his fist lashed out striking the punching back. Which to its credit hardly swayed from the force of the blow.

"More specifically Strike now costs health and stamina but can level like normal now. Here, take a look." Tod said as he produced a blue box from thin air and handed it to Dante.

Strike Deal slightly increased damage with your weapon per level of the skill. Resources expendable on skill increases by 5x skill level. Base Resource Cost: 10 Health and Stamina

"So can I get it just by punching this?" Dante asked, raising an eyebrow as he pointed his thumb towards the punching bags to his side.

"Simple as that." replied Tod.

"Tried power leveling it like Erick did?" He asked before he even took his first swing at the bag.

"...I forgot you could do that with these kinds of skills." He said with a suddenly gleeful smile.

Dante simply smirked as he took up a position and struck a fighting stance, like the boxers he had seen on Tv.

"If I'm going to do this, I might as well make something out of it." he said aloud as he began to [Strike] the bag.

After about 6 or 7 hits he finally got the notice.

Congratulations! You have acquired the Common active skill, Strike Lvl. 1!...

"Well then let's train it up a bit..." Dante said as he began throwing [Strikes] in rapid succession. This rapidly depleted his health and stamina but the fatigue such expenditures caused was well worth the reward.

Skill, [Strike] has leveled up! Lvl. 1->8....

-------------------

It was night before he and Califa returned to the Crystal foot Inn though Dante was quite happy with what he had acquired while at the gym. However, he was physically exhausted.

Skill (C), Running, has reached Lvl. 7...

Skill (C), Throwing, has reached Lvl. 2...

Skill (Unc), Physical Fitness, has reached Lvl. 4...

After a little while of lifting weights, he managed to accumulate 3 points of growth to his strength.

+1 Str...

+1 Str...

+1 Str...

Getting tired of stopping to wipe away his sweat, he decided to test if running purify at the same time as training would lead to any interesting results. The results were interesting but somewhat disappointing. He discovered that Purify could eliminate his sweat but didn't cool him as if the sweat had naturally evaporated on its own. It also didn't help with the burning in his muscles, get rid of lactic acid, like he had thought it might. Which led to him having to stop and take a break grabbing a nearby water bottle to douse himself with.

This had inadvertently managed to piss off the man whose water bottle it had been. Said man began chasing him, and didn't stop for a good 5 minutes. He had tried throwing some weights at him but that had only served to make him more angry. Though eventually a few people from the guild stepped in and the man relented in his chase.

Among the things he had learned today was that some skills could feed into other skills. Like how exp earned by running worked for leveling both the running skill and the physical fitness skill. Though it seemed it took more than a level or two in the lower ranking skill to level the higher ranking skill.

He had even unlocked a few new roads along the way.

The Road of Physical Improvement I, has opened to you...

Your stamina has surpassed 1000!...

Your End surpasses 50!...

Congratulations! You have acquired the Uncommon, Semi- active skill, Iron Skin Lvl. 1...

Iron Skin- Increase your physical resilience by moving energy to your skin. Higher mastery/skill level means quicker activation and a greater ability to localize its application. Costs 10 stamina per second minimum. You can increase the power of this skill by expending additional stamina. Base defensive boost based on level of the skill...

The Road of the Athlete I, has opened to you...

After taking notice of his soul capacity getting closer and closer to its current max he put his 5 currently available stat points into spirit. Just to make sure he didn't go over.

Dante wanted to distribute some of the many RP he had acquired today but he was far too tired and so he climbed the stairs and went to his room. Closing and locking the door behind him, he was out but a moment after his head hit the pillow.