Author's Note: The beginning of the Gnosia arc! Sooooo.... About why I hadn't showed up lately... Oh why should I have to explain myself? There are people who are gone for months at a time who write far less for chapters and no one bats an eye. But yeah. Monster Hunter Tri is a great game. Those Great Jaggi can suck the fattest part of my great sword.

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Null looks out at the city he is about to go into. It numbers at around 60000.

'This city looks very advanced. The technology looks like its from around the World War II era, maybe even 1960s. This is the most advanced city I have seen in New Reality to date. While it is advanced, it's nowhere near as advanced as the technology I've read about in the past. What's going on?'

Null walks out the tunnel. There are guards near the entrance. Some have rifles and are decked out with helmets and body armor. They look like the American army from World War II. There are however differences. Their army gear has transmutation circles all over them. Not only are there gunmen, but there are also swordsmen and spearmen. Their armor differs greatly from the gunmen.

Their armor looks like the armor Null has seen everywhere else in New Reality, but their armor has transmutation circles on it. There are random flares of fire coming off some of their weapons and armor while some have random sparks of lightning coming off. The guns look like nothing Null has seen before, which also have transmutation circles transcribed on it.

'Amazing. I wish I could steal the transmutation circle design from them using Copy-Paste, but the circles are being concealed. All the transmutation circles in this city look like they're being concealed. Well, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy to learn about the skill.'

The guards make their way to Null.

One of them says, “That you were even able to enter this city means you are probably not an enemy, but we have been bitten by that sentiment in the past. You will be watched closely for the duration of your stay.”

Null's face shows irritation. The guard notices this.

“Don't worry. We will not intrude on your privacy. This city is called Gnosia. This is the city in which the creator of the librarian class, ruled during his reign. As you can see, there is a need to keep this place hidden from the outside world.”

“Why?” Null asks.

“To get through all the reasons? I am far too lazy to do that. Let someone else talk to you about that. There are two main rules that you must remember. One, non citizens are not permitted to go within certain eras. Two, citizens are not allowed out of this city without written permission from the city's leader. Most laws from other lands like no killing or stealing and the like also apply here. Any questions?”

“Do you know where I can find a map?”

“Map?”

The guard crosses his arms and tilts his head. He looks like he's really trying to think.

“Sorry. None of the guards among us has a map. You would be hard pressed to find a map. There isn't any money in making it. In this city, almost everyone lives here their entire lives. The amount of visitors we receive here is minuscule. We would be lucky to receive a visitor once every 2 decades. Any other questions?”

“None. Thank you.”

Null can see that they are very wary of him, so he doesn't want to stay any longer than he has to. He leaves the guards and starts walking around the city looking at the neon signs and skyscrapers. He sees that the tallest building in this city is constantly being struck by lightning.

'Now that is something that rouses my curiosity. How is it that lightning constantly strikes the same place continuously? Must be some Frankenstein type experiments going on in that building.'

Null continues observing the sites.

'This feels weird.' Null thinks as he sees some 1950's era looking cars zipping by. 'This city doesn't have that “Middle Earth” feel that I'm used to seeing from New Reality.'

He sees the people around him staring at him. Gnosia hardly ever receives any visitors, so its understandable. What's strange to Null is that everyone is giving him a wide berth. Null soon hears the reasons why.

“Mommy, I'm getting a bad feeling from him.” A little girl says.

“Shhh. Just ignore him honey.” A mother says grabbing her hand and rushing away from Null.

He hears other people's talk about him.

“Why do things feel off with him? Only someone with high infamy can make someone feel this way.”

“We should watch him. He might kill us if we're not careful.”

“Even if he is a spy, if he tries anything, he won't be getting out this city alive.”

“He's a foreigner isn't he? Killing him won't do anything. This is my first time seeing a foreigner.”

Null thinks, 'So if high fame makes others revere you more and more, high infamy must make people wary of you more and more. Well, thanks to this high infamy, people are leaving me alone, so this is not a big deal at all to me.'

Null still doesn't like the attention that he's getting. He unconsciously pulls his hood over his head more. Null walks looking at his surroundings and notices something strange.

'There are various signs of battle throughout the entire city. I don't even know what could create battle scars like this.' Null thinks concerned. 'Some of the battle scars look pretty recent. Like, happened yesterday recent. It looks like there are repairs attempting to hide some of the older battle scars. Looks like this has been going on for years. Is this city repeatedly being attacked by outsiders? What's going on?'

While he's pondering, he hears a crashing sound.

“Oh drat!” Null hears someone yell out.

Null looks at who it is. Most people seem to be ignoring the man. He is in a lab coat and glasses trying to pick up the parts that were dropped onto the ground. He looks short and seems to have that “Do your best!” type of personality.

“It's going to take me forever to pick all this up.” The man sighs.

“What do you know. Another invention that has failed to work. What a surprise!” A person on the side says snickering at him.

“This guy is a lost cause.” Another person says looking at him.

“He dropped it though. This has nothing to do with failed inventions or what not. You guys are just grasping at straws.” A person says in defense of the man.

“A crackpot is a crackpot. Doesn't matter either way.”

No one moves to help the man pick up his parts. Null is curious about the parts, so he goes to get a closer look. The man on the ground trying to pick up his parts sees Null and gets a happy look on his face. He doesn't even seem to mind the slightly bad feeling that he gets from being near Null.

“Excuse me sir.” He says to Null. “I have never seen you around here before. It's very rare that this city receives visitors. My name is Aldan Lockett. It is nice to make your acquaintance!”

He gets up and starts shaking Null's hand furiously. Null wonders what his problem is.

“Do you mind giving me your name?” Aldan asks.

“Null.”

“A fine name indeed. Null, as you see, I'm in quite a bit of a conundrum. I have dropped my invention that I was going to take to my guild. Do you think you can lend me a hand? I will not let you help me for nothing. Since you're new here, I will be happy to show you around. How about it?”

Quest: Pick up the parts Quest Information: Aldan dropped his parts on the ground. Help Aldan pick up all the parts. Does this really need to be elaborated?

Reward: Aldan will show you around Gnosia

Quest Rank: F

Penalty if refused: Decreased intimacy with Aldan.

Do you accept?[/size]

'Very clever game. Instead of giving me a map like in a normal city, just give the player a person instead. Sheesh. Well, at least I now have a lead. There might even be a clue to the A-rank mission inside this city.'

“Okay.”

You have accepted the quest.

Null gets on the ground and helps him pick up his parts. While he's handing the parts to him, Null was using identify on the separate parts the whole time.

'Amazing. Some parts are familiar. I can see things like the circuits and capacitors. Where is the power source though? Some parts are completely foreign to me. These parts look like they are on stone. This looks exactly like a circuit board, only this is made of stone and the circuits are made of ink. They don't look like they go together. What is something like this used for?' Null was thinking while helping him.

When they are both done picking up the parts, Aldan says to Null smugly, “I see you have taken a liking to my invention.”

“It's not that. I don't even know what this does to be honest. I have just never seen parts like these before. To think that a blacksmith could create things like this.” Null says.

“Blacksmith? Do not mistake me for that lowly profession!” Aldan says making a face like Null just talked about his mama. “I am a tinkerer!” He says proudly.

“Tinkerer?” Null asks. He has never heard of that class before.

“It's a class that has been lost in the outside world. Any information on the tinkerer that hasn't been hidden has probably been destroyed, so its no surprise you haven't heard of it.” Aldan sighs.

“What does a tinkerer do?” Null's curiosity is so great that he has forgotten about his misanthropy.

“Oh many things! While we cannot create metal of the quality that blacksmiths can make, we make up for it with our electronic creations! Do you want to see an example of what a tinkerer can create?”

“Sure.” Even though Null's face shows an indifferent expression, he is actually pretty excited to see what invention could be made with these types of parts.

“Behold!”

Aldan pulls out a light bulb in dramatic fashion. While pretty neat for New Reality standards, Null was still left feeling sorely disappointed.

'Still, the light bulb looks like it is working without a power source. I wonder what powers this.' Null thinks.

“How does it work?” Null asks.

Aldan gets a flame lit up in his eyes. Seeing this, Null thinks he will regret asking him that question.

“Look at the wire inside the glass bulb! It interacts with the gas...”

Aldan starts talking about the components of the light bulb and how it's all put together. Null already mostly knows how a light bulb works. He's just waiting for Aldan to talk about how the light bulb is powered, but he never gets to that. Null spends the next 40 minutes just listening to the guy rambling on about the wonders of light bulbs, the different kinds of light bulbs, and the history of the light bulb in this world. Null starts losing his patience.

“What is this light bulb powered by?” Null says interrupting Aldan's grand speech.

“Why, a transmutation circle!”

'Finally! I can get what I came here for!' Null thinks. “Can you show me?”

“I sincerely apologize, but I'm not allowed to show outsiders. However, if you really want to know, you can go to our library! Well, you're not allowed at the second level of the library where you would find this out. Well, the head tinkerer could probably tell you what you need to know, though its unlikely he will ever even bother with you. So, good luck with that.”

'*sigh* Of course I couldn't just waltz in and learn what I need to know. I will most likely have to go through a lot of bullshit before that happens. Why can't things involving me ever be simple?' Thinks Null slightly annoyed.

“I see. Can you show me the way to the library?”

“I will be happy to!”

While they are on their way, Null asks Aldan a question regarding his parts.

“I noticed that one of your circuit boards has circuits made of copper etched onto glass. This is expected as that is the same as in my world. What is with the stone tablet with ink lines running through it? The way the ink is configured one the tablet makes it looks like a circuit board.”

“Ah, so you even noticed this.” Aldan says impressed. “Power is primarily generated through two means here. One is through the method you're familiar with: A gradient with electricity running through metal circuits like copper. The second method is with using transmutation circles that hold mana with mana running through the ink generated by a calligrapher's Ink Hand technique. That ink is very mana conductive.”

'That's... Actually very useful information he told me.' Null thinks.

“You may not know this Null, but the technology you see before you in this city is nothing but a crude approximation of the technology that used to exist in the past. Even this city wasn't spared from that technological purge that happened long ago.”

“How were the enemies in the past even able to enter the city? If the tech was more advanced, it should have been impossible.” Null asks.

“That we do not know. A lot of our history is missing. Luckily we were able to salvage some of the technology and hide away. Thanks to this city's teleportation array, we can run away when we need to.”

“Wait a minute. You're saying this entire city can teleport?” Null asks shocked.

“Yes indeed! This city teleports about once a month in order to not stay in a single place too long. The entire world is opposed to our ideals, so this is necessary. We also have a cloak covering it to hide us.”

'So this city actually does teleport. I was shooting in the dark when I made that hypothesis.' Thinks Null.

“I have a hypothesis that the people in the past discovered a combined version of the two types of power generation. Think about it. Electricity flows quickly, but it is limited in its applications. Mana can do almost anything, but it runs far too slowly. Combining them together would create marvels the world has never seen since the past. I think that this electric mana was what the people used for their high level technology. I've tried to successfully combine them together, but to no avail. *sigh* People laugh at me and call me a crackpot! One day, my theory will be proven right!” Aldan yells out with determination.

“Pipe down crackpot!” Someone yells out from the side.

“Okay.” Aldan answers back quietly.

“Do you see Null? Do you see how they treat me?”

“Oh.” Null says not caring about his woes at all. He has no sympathy for crackpots either.

They finally make it to the library.

'Woah.' Null thinks.

He is immensely impressed with the size of this library. It's around 3x bigger than the library in Palperroth, which was the largest he had seen before this. Aldan hands Null a card.

“The tinkerer's guild is right across the street from the library. I'm usually in there. If you need anything from me, please do not hesistate. I would love to talk to you more about how the light bulb-”

“Thank you.”

Null interrupts Aldan and leaves. He's glad to be separated from the guy. To Null, Aldan was helpful, but he didn't know when to shut up.

'So the transmutation circle skills that I've searched so hard for is here. Will my journey finally come to an end? Fat chance of that.'

He makes it inside and finds the best place to start.

'Okay here we go.' He thinks of transmutation circles and says, “Information Finder.”

The room he is currently in shows up completely dark.

'Not here? Okay. Next room.'

Null does this with every room he comes across. It's finally when he's in a room with stairs leading up to the second door that he sees a blue glow coming from behind the door on the second floor.

'It's there!'

Null starts heading towards the stairs when he notices that there are guards posted all around the stairs.

One of the guards walks up to Null and says, “You are not allowed up on the second floor.”

“You see, I have to learn about the transmutation circle skills. I've spent a long time finding this city just to learn about them.”

“Ah. I fail to see how that is my problem sir. You need to be a citizen of Gnosia in order to go to the second floor. Rules are rules.” The guard tells Null bluntly.

“What do I have to in order to become a citizen of Gnosia?”

“I don't know. Do I look like Citizenship and Immigration Services to you?” The guard says to Null rudely.

Null tries to plead with me one more time.

“Name your price. I need to learn those transmutation circle skills by any means necessary.”

The guards hearing this huddle and talk among themselves. They then get out the huddle and smirk.

The guard says to Null, “Well, there may be something you can do for us, but first let me ask you a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Are you a citizen?”

“...No?”

“Well there you go. Goodbye.” The guards laugh and go back to their posts.

'Did I just get trolled?' Null thinks angrily.

'Fine. I will get the transmutation circle skills one way or another. Do you think you can stop me? I will sneak inside the library tonight and steal the books by force. I'm not talking about just petty thievery. I'm talking James Bond levels of skill and cunning. Come in quick and leave out quick. This is the most brilliant idea I have ever had!'

***********

'In hindsight, this was the dumbest idea I have ever had.' Null thinks.

He was currently surrounded by over thirty guards with their weapons drawn.

One of the guards, the same guard that had harassed Null earlier that day says, “Hey man. What you doin'?”

“Oh you know... Just hanging around.” Null says.

He is currently suspended in the air holding onto a rope that leads to the window of the second floor library.

“Any particular reason you are on the side of the library with the least amount of security?”

“I just wanted to work on my rope climbing skills.”

“And the reason for doing it on a cloudy night?”

“The sun gets in my eyes during the day.”

“Well Mr. Sun gets in eyes. If you give each of of 5 gold, we'll turn a blind eye to your “rock climbing escapades”.

Null hands each of them 5 gold. They then cut the rope and pulled Null away from there.

“If we catch you doing this again, we're kicking you out the city. Understand?”

“Okay.”

They soon disappear.

'I really hate this city.' Null thinks.

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Author's Note: The real reason this chapter took me so long is because not only does this arc determine all future arcs, but I had to write the entire history of New Reality. You'll learn about the founder in this arc. I'm also lazy.