"It's one of the many benefits when a civilization enters the Age of Dimension Travel," Elvira smiled.
"It's a shame races like the demon race probably leave a sour note on all the benefits," Zane added.
"Indeed," Elvira agreed. The topic of the invasion was heavy, and the elf was slightly embarrassed that it led to that, resulting in a quiet awkwardness that was about to overwhelm this conversation. Sensing this, Elvira said. "Follow me."
"Alright," Zane replied. Directly opposite the entrance was a small hallway that led to another room. As soon as he stepped in, Zane saw countless other receptionists all dressed in the same manner as Elvira. Some were with other earthlings behind counters, while others were doing their own thing.
"Can I ask you something?"
"If you're asking about the uniform, then yes, I'm the one who suggested it," Elvira replied with a smile. She told Zane to wait a while as she walked around to enter the counter to stand in front of him. Then, Elvira retrieved a glass ball. "Your crest, please."
"That's not what I wanted to ask," Zane replied as he positioned his left hand in front of her.
"I've met a few people working in shops around the plaza," Zane continued. "And — how do I explain this — they don't feel like people who work for the tower. They seem like regular people, if that makes sense."
"I understand what you mean," Elvira nodded. She placed the glass ball over his hand to scan the soul crest. "We are considered supplementary staff. In simple terms, we do the menial and low-level jobs for the tower."
"That makes sense. Are you guys from the same place? I mean, the same dimension?"
"Lord Drakken likes to hire people from his homeworld, so probably. There are too many of us, so I'm not entirely sure."
Zane wanted to ask about Lord Drakken's homeworld, but realized such a question involved a person's dimension coordinate and may be a taboo topic. So, instead, he asked, "His action must have a positive influence in his dimension, right? Like stimulating the economy and such."
"Indeed," Elvira nodded. The scan finished, and a holographic screen manifested from the counter. To his surprise, Zane realized he couldn't see anything written from the back. Meanwhile, without stopping the registration process, Elvira continued the conversation:
"Every time he recruits, countless empires, kingdoms, and counties send their people. Even gods will ask their followers to join."
Zane squinted. Once again, he confirmed the existence of gods, and this time, it was from a more reliable source. Pretending that nothing was happening, he carried on with the conversation:
"But, wouldn't it be better for him to have his own team he can summon at any time? It seems quite wasteful and inefficient to have to hire people for every assignment and train them from scratch."
"He has his own team, but he has no choice but to hire supplementary staff for each assignment."
"Why?"
"Because of lifespan," Elvira revealed. "Although countless worlds are invaded in the Astral Cosmos, only a few know of Dimension Law 9ZP3, and even fewer activate it. As a result, the time between each of Lord Drakken's assignments can be hundreds, maybe thousands of years apart. Most of the supplementary staff die before then."
"That would mean he's more than a thousand years old?" Zane asked, his eyes widening. "Oh, wait, he's a dragon. Do all dragons live this long?"
"Dragons, elves, and demons are one of the few nearly immortal races in all dimensions," Elvira nodded. Under her command, something next to her started printing.
"How enviable," Zane sighed.
"No need to envy," Elvira smiled. "There is a 4-ring Life Spell that can extend human life by 300 years. If you master it, you won't have to worry about that and will be sought after by countless people in the endless dimensions. Not to mention, if you can become an Archmage, you won't have to worry about life span or aging."
"Wait, Archmages are also immortals?"
"Well, I've never heard of one that has died of old age," Elvira nodded.
"How fascinating," Zane thought. A few months ago, he read a paper suggesting that the key to slowing and eventually stopping aging is most likely to be found in controlling telomere length. However, while Earth's biology had just found the key to longevity, magic had long succeeded in breaking the limit of biological age.
"Now, I'm even more motivated."
"That's the spirit," Elvira smiled. The printer finally finished, and she handed a card to Zane, "This is a hunting license. You are not a F-Class Hunter. Please do not lose it since the replacement requires a change of 125 magic crystals."
"So expensive?" Zane asked as he glanced at the card. A brief swipe with his thumb revealed an extraordinary sensation, but he couldn't tell the material. His name, gender, picture, a code, the letter [F], and his soul crest insignia were written in bold letters. "When did she take my picture?" Zane thought. He soon realized this picture was one he had taken a little over a year ago, after his release, for a new passport.
"I can confirm the tower has a database on all the trainees," Zane thought. There were many signs, dating back to his specialization test. The tester commented on his personality when she recommended that Zane choose the Path of Mage rather than Shaman.
"There is a reason," Elvira explained. "By injecting mana into the card, you can access all our available hunting jobs and, more importantly, you can use it to call for an SOS if something goes wrong during a hunt. Be mindful that you will have to pay extra for every rescue."
"Is that so?" As Zane injected mana into the card, he could feel two runes: the first was to access the hunting board, and the other was to send an emergency signal. Choosing the first rune, a screen manifested in front of Zane.
[F Grade Board]
[Beast Hunting], [Mission]
Zane's interest was immediately piqued, so he clicked on each of them to discover the difference:
[Goblin]
[Rank: F
[Location: Floor 1, Zone 3A
[Teleportation Fee: 5 magic stones.]
[Kobold]
[Rank: F
[Location: Floor 1, Zone 7T
[Teleportation Fee: 5 magic stones
[Orc]
[Rank: F+
[Location: Floor 2, Zone 7U
[Teleportation Fee: 10 magic stones]
[Mission: Eliminate a goblin village]
[Rank: F
{Information: Eradicate this vile species from the face of the earth. No woman, child, or elderly person should remain.
[Location: Floor 1, Zone 3A
[Payment: 0.2 gold coins/goblins
[Teleportation Fee: 5 magic crystals (a small price to pay to eradicate these vermin.]
[Mission: Retrieve a stolen book]
[Rank: F+
[Information: A student lost a book during an outing. Preliminary information indicates it may be in the possession of a Hobgoblin knight on the second floor. Retrieve it at all costs.
[Location: Floor 2, Zone 9D.
[Payment: 80 gold coins.
[Teleportation Fee: Waived.]
[Mission: Heart Hunting]
[Rank: F+
[Information: Kill a troll and retrieve its heart. Make sure to bring the proper equipment to preserve the heart's vitality.
[Location: Floor 2, Zone 2Z
[Payment: 80 magic crystals.
[Teleportation Fee: Waived]
"Where do these missions originate from?" Zane asked.
"From everywhere," Elvira replied. "From the staff to people from other dimensions."
"Other dimensions? Why are they involved?" Zane failed to see why people in other dimensions would be interested in creating these low-level missions.
"It's a way for Lord Drakken to integrate his private power with the Dimension Tower," Elvira explained. However, she still detected confusion from Zane and explained in more detail.
"Any mage must have their own power to gather resources for them. Truly powerful Grand Mages can have an entire empire under their control, and Archmages can even control entire dimensions," Elvira stated. "As an 8-circle Grand Archmage, Lord Drakken has controlled over dozens of dimensions, but he's also part of a larger organization —"
"The Dimension Tower," Zane uttered.
"Exactly," Elvira nodded. "Through the Hunting Guild Mission System, Lord Drakken can use his private resources to aid his work in the tower, while also using this opportunity to exchange rare resources from the Dimension Tower to aid the people under him."
"This mixture of private and public property sounds like a recipe for corruption," Zane complained.
"Probably," Elvira replied while shrugging; this elf did not seem to care.
"Are you sure you should be telling me all this information?"In this brief conversation, Zane learned the political status of mages in most dimensions along with possible corruption in the Dimension Tower. For a moment, the fear of being arrested and locked up almost rushed to the front of his mind.
"There are things we can and cannot say, and I haven't said anything I'm not supposed to."
"Your demeanor is too casual; I fear you're one of those people who have no respect for rules and laws," Zane sighed.
"Not true at all," Elvira smirked. She wouldn't have said those words to anyone. However, according to her training, she may disclose more information to any trainee on the High Potential List. Most of these people will be the ones shaping Earth's civilization as long as they survive long enough. As such, the higher-ups asked the official staff to take special care of them.
"It's probably best if we change the subject."
"Suit yourself," Elvira replied.
"…Can earthlings also post missions?"
"Yes. The guild will take a 5% commission fee, and you can choose whether to waive the teleportation fee or not."
"Speaking of teleportation fees, isn't that a bit unfair?" Zane complained. Unless he takes a mission, the lowest fee is 5 magic crystals.
"Spatial magic is one of the most energy-consuming magic fields in the world. The tower has to recoup costs in some way."
"That may be true, but what about the poor Earthlings who can't afford the fee in the early stages?"
"Oh, where is my mind?" Elvira smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I forgot to mention that every new trainee has 3 free teleportations." Elvira did not mention that people on the High Potential List only had 3, while others had 5. As people with high expectations, they also faced even more challenges from the tower.
"That's better," Zane nodded.