The next morning, Sol woke up a little later than he normally did. The first thing he did upon waking up was check his status screen:
Name: Sol
Race: Human
Talent: [Siphoner]
Level: 25
Exp: 10,060/35,000
HP: 300
MP: 100
Str: 40
Vit: 30
Agi: 30
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Available Stats: 0
Talent Skills:
[Siphon] Lv 2, [Analysis] Lv 1
Passive Skills:
[Intermediate Swordsmanship] Lv 3, [Basic Trapmaking] Lv 1, [Silent Steps] Lv 2, [Parry] Lv 4, [Quick Cast] Lv 4
Active Skills:
[Cross Slash] Lv 1, [Leap] Lv 6, [Basic Wind Magic] Lv 1, [Intermediate Fire Magic] Lv 4
Sol smiled, "It wasn’t a dream."
He then got up and got ready to head over to the guild, passing through the same route as yesterday.
The elderly woman in the bakery watched as he passed by and then looked to her husband, "Honey, he seems different today."
"How so?"
"Not sure, but he is smiling and acting as if he is about to fly. Do you think he got a girlfriend?"
"Him? Impossible, all he does is leave town every day. When would he find time to meet a girl?"
The couple kept gossiping as Sol arrived at the guild and made his way in.
Once inside, Sol headed straight to Annabel’s counter. As he approached, he saw Annabel glaring at him, and he braced himself for this unwinnable situation.
"You fought the Thunder Wolf King? What were you thinking?!"
Annabel reached over the counter and smacked him over the head.
"Ow! Hey! I didn’t know it was still alive. I thought I could gather its teeth to sell them back in town."
Sol rubbed the area that got hit as he then realized something.
"Wait, how did you know what happened; it’s only been a day?"
"Did you forget who my father was?"
"Right…"
Annabel’s Father, William Deliban, was the current guildmaster of Initium. It would not be surprising if he was the first informed of the incident, being the commissioner of the quest on the Thunder Wolf King.
"I’m not mad at you, Sol. I’m mostly mad at the fact that you could have died yesterday, and I could have stopped you if I was more insistent." Annabel then grabbed some papers from under her counter and presented them to Sol. "Here, I got the application form to become a guild receptionist. My dad already knows that you are qualified for the role, and if he dares to deny you, I will not talk to him for a month."
Sol glanced at the papers and gave a nervous chuckle. "About that, Annabel…"
"Oh no you don’t! You said if you didn’t unlock your talent you would apply. You are not getting out of this!"
"But I did unlock my talent…"
Annabel chuckled, "Haha, nice one," but as she kept looking at Sol’s expression, she realized he wasn’t joking.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"We should talk somewhere else." Annabel then got up from her chair and brought Sol to one of the private rooms in the guild.
Once they arrived at the simple meeting room with a table and 6 chairs, they both took a seat.
"You actually unlocked your talent at level 20?"
"No. When I got to level 20, nothing changed."
"Wait then how?" Annabel then pondered for a second but quickly realized based on yesterday’s events what happened.
"Was it the Thunder Wolf King?"
Sol nodded, "Yes, when I killed him, I gained 5 levels and unlocked my talent at 25."
Annabel stared at him for a moment and with a serious expression told Sol, "This is serious, Sol, I believe you, and if what you are saying is the truth, then the whole kingdom may be after you."
Confused by what she meant, Sol asked her, "Huh? Why?"
"You understand how talents are unlocked, right?"
"Yeah, the system looks at the body of the person and determines their highest aptitude. It then gathers energy from each level up to optimize and improve the body to make better use of that aptitude, eventually unlocking their talent, right?"
She nodded and asked another question. "Now tell me what is the most powerful talent you know?"
"Wouldn’t that be Princess Valerie’s [Avatar Summoning]? When it was discovered, the entire kingdom held a celebration for her."
"Right. Do you remember what level she was at when she got it?"
"Level 5… I’m starting to understand what you mean."
Annabel sighed in relief, finally making him understand. " I don’t know what talent you obtained, but if it required your body to arrive at level 25 to unlock, then it would have to be something absurdly ridiculous."
"Well, you are not wrong in assuming that."
"Exactly! So what do you plan to do?"
Stumped at her question, Sol sat there in silence, unable to come up with a good answer.
"I’m not sure, I haven’t thought much past obtaining a talent. I grew up thinking there was nothing I am good at, and I was hoping that the moment I unlocked my talent, I would finally know what I am good at."
"Did it then?"
"Honestly, no. If anything, it left me more confused than before."
She looked Sol in the eyes and saw the sincerity behind them. With a sigh, Annabel shook her head at him.
"Sol, do you really think talents given by the system are everything that defines that person?"
"I mean, kinda?"
"Wait here for a second." Annabel stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Sol alone to his own thoughts.
’Isn’t it impossible to be the best at anything if you don’t have a talent for it? You could spend years learning blacksmithing and produce lower quality goods to someone who had a smithing talent for a few months.’
A few minutes later, she returned holding a metal plate and a small bag.
"Answer me something real quick, what do you think I am good at?"
About to ask what it has to do with the current situation, Sol held himself back and instead thought of an answer.
"Um… You are the best guild receptionist I know?"
"Why is that a question?!"
Sol continued, "Your memory is wicked good. You are able to perfectly transcribe documents you had only seen once and keep everything organized. You are also really good at throwing things, never missing, which is why I can never beat you at darts."
Annabel chuckled at his description of her. "Look at this." Annabel then handed over the metal plate she was holding.
Looking at the plate, he saw it filled with information. More specifically, Annabel’s status.
Name: Annabel
Race: Human
Talent: [Cooking]
Level: 14
Exp: 6,750/15,000
HP: 100
MP: 70
Str: 15
Vit: 20
Agi: 15
Int: 13
Wis: 7
Available Stats: 0
Talent Skills:
[Preserve Ingredients] Lv 3
Passive Skills:
[Cooking] Lv 5, [Basic Bowmanship] Lv 1, [Calculations] Lv 2
Active Skills:
[Rapid Cook] Lv 1
"Cooking? Why do you work as a guild receptionist then?"
"Because I want to."
"Huh?"
Annabel smiled at his confusion and elaborated, "Just because one has a talent for something doesn’t mean that’s what they have to do. You might not believe me, but I actually wanted to be an adventurer. I dream of being able to go on adventures and travel the world like my dad used to. After gaining that talent in my leveling ceremony, dad would take me out of the city every so often to protect me while I leveled up, hopefully my next talent will be with bows as I really enjoy using them."
The image of Annabel wielding a bow and sniping enemies made Sol laugh in his head as he had never seen her fight, but he understood her point.
Annabel continued, "Just because I had a talent for cooking, it doesn’t mean I have to go and open a restaurant. Even when you didn’t have a talent, you could do whatever you wanted, the same thing applies now."
"What I want to do…"