In every big city the best place to obtain information, the mercenaries' guild, since many people come and go, and since they were in charge of unofficial missions there was always a lot of information in this place.

Without thinking about it, I arrived at the mercenaries' guild, a three-story building, it had nothing special and without paying much attention to the establishment I entered.

At the entrance there was a reception and walking further inside there was a large room with tables where the mercenaries drank and ate when they were not on missions, without delay I approached the bar counter and told the bartender that I needed information and put 5 coins of gold on the counter.

The bartender took them, he handed me a card that looked like wood with the number 5 and he pointed to a place that was next to the bar, I took the card and went to the door and knocked.

Soon the door opened and I entered, the man who opened me had a hood that covered his face, and with his hand he gestured for me to walk down the narrow corridor and dimly lit by some torches.

I walked down the hall and reached the end where there was a door, I knocked again and it opened, then I entered. There was a table with two chairs in which one was occupied by a person with a hood and a black mask, the door closed when I entered and I realized that there were two other men dressed in the same way.

The men, unlike the one sitting at the table, were tall and robust, the one who was sitting was short and thin, even with the hood on, I could see that and since no one said anything, I approached the available chair and sat down, I took out the card the bartender gave me and the hooded man sitting down took it and put it away.

- You have 5 questions, choose well. (Hooded)

- I want an overview of the city of Lacos. (Evan)

- Lacos is a city of about 3 million inhabitants with two main powers, the administrative power is in charge of the Marquis Collins, he is in charge of the management and care of the city, it has an internal security of 10,000 troops and the military power that is established in the walls of the city and the fortresses that surround it in charge of general Nash in charge of the defense against the goblins and they have stationed about 200,000 troops. (Hooded)

I have to admit that there were many troops, or so I thought, England I think has fewer soldiers than that and here we are talking about a single city, although it is not so surprising, since this world has more inhabitants and as it is not peaceful the military forces have to be large, especially in a country like Rivers which is highly military.

- Any other important figure in the city of Lacos that should be taken into account? (Evan)

- All the nobles must be taken into account, however, as a singularity the leader of the combat dojo Dorias, it is said that he is a man born and raised in the great continents, his strength is unknown, but he is recognized as the strongest master of the city, however, he doesn't show too much even in the combat dojo that belongs to him. (Hooded)

That information surprised me, I did not expect that here there would be a person from the great continents, it should be known that this world is extremely large, but the 5 great continents is where the strongest powers in the world are, therefore, this Dorias must not be underestimated, although I was curious why a character like him was in this place, I did not delve into the subject.

- Apart from him, the continental bank and the Villa trade firm, being international companies, have great power. (Hooded)

Hearing that, I am not surprised, with the memories received from Alan, I knew that any company that could be developed in several countries is not simple and thanks to those memories I knew a little about both companies, since they were also in Terra.

- What is known about the goblins' movements? (Evan)

- Their presence is increasingly frequent, according to estimates according to the movement of the city's troops, as well as the supplies, there will soon be a war. (Hooded)

This is not surprising, seeing the militarization of the roads when we came, it is evident that something is wrong, however, I really do not want a war to break out soon, I still feel that I am quite weak.

- Is there a place other than the city guard or the army where you can train newbies in combat and archery? (Evan)

- Yes, the Dorias combat dojo is precisely such an institution, they teach archery, sword combat and unarmed combat for a price, of course. (Hooded)

- What about other careers, like cooking, scribes or alchemy? (Evan)

- There are no institutions of this type, there are people with those professions who can take apprentices, but it is not frequent. (Hooded)

After saying that, the two men who were guarding the door behind me opened the door as if to indicate that my 5 questions had finished and

I had to leave, so I got up, thanked the hooded man and left the room.

When I returned to the bar I organized what I learned, which does not seem like much, but it was essential, I learned what were the greatest powers of the city, also found out about the presence of a special person such as Dorias and that there was a place where Jonathan he could learn the bow, but he had no way to help Cris and Alice.

Without thinking about it, I went to the combat dojo to find out the conditions for Jonathan to enter to study the bow.

The combat dojo was not hard to find, it was a 3-story building over a block large that was close to the main plaza, without any preamble go in and ask about prices and such.

The truth was not difficult, the system was simple, you just have to choose the category, in this case the bow, then you pay 30 gold coins for an hour of tutoring in that category for 30 days, which seemed very expensive, but also I found out that it is that expensive because if you show talent you can join the combat dojo as an apprentice.

This may sound silly to do, but it had its charm, since if you are an apprentice in the combat dojo you can be instructed by Dorias himself who is a master of the great continents, that's why people were willing to pay the price. .

Honestly for me it was not that important, however, the combat dojo had a good reputation and since I needed Jonathan to learn I had no better option, everything is for the future was what I thought.

Shortly after noon I returned to the inn, when I entered the room the children had already eaten and were in the living room talking, when I closed the door they all noticed me and without delay I sat down with them and commented on what I had learned.

- For this reason tomorrow Jonathan will go with me to the combat dojo to register and start practicing the bow, so put all your efforts into that. (Evan)

- Don't worry brother, I promise to concentrate. (Jonathan)

- As for you two, there is no place where you can help them achieve the jobs they want, however, the jobs are awarded according to what is done, therefore, they will have to be self-taught, I will provide each one 30 gold coins, Chris you will buy ink and paper and try to write contracts and see if you can acquire the scribe's job, while Alice will buy ingredients and cook, you will have to experiment. (Evan)

- But big brother, where will I cook? There is no kitchen here. (Alice)

- Well, you're right, maybe we should rent a house, a small and normal one should not be very expensive. (Evan)

After defining that, I went back out of the inn towards the town hall to see if there was a house like the one we needed to rent, the town hall was in the central square of the city, a 5-story building, white and quite majestic, with Strong and sturdy walls and columns, it looked like a fortress.

The process was not as long as I thought, there were many properties for sale and rent, the town hall had descriptions of the properties and after choosing the ones that looked good, I went to visit them with the town hall official.

Soon I found a small two-story house in the citizens' area that had on the first floor a living-dining room with a kitchen, a bathroom, and a small study, and on the second floor, three rooms large enough for two people to be accommodated there.

Having chosen this property, carry out the leasing process immediately, in this world to rent a property it must be for a minimum of one year and they must cancel it in advance and for this property it was 300 gold coins per year, the advantage was that it came furnished, for so we did not have to buy furniture or kitchen instruments, therefore, I leased it immediately, paid the value and they gave me the contract.

After paying and on the way to the inn I realized that after giving the necessary coins for the training of the boys, I would only have about 30 gold coins left, so I had to start to see where to earn money.

However, I did not bother with that at the moment, I would see what I would do, so I marched towards the inn, I told the guys about the new house and we quickly moved in the same day, as we did not have many things, it was so fast like just going to the house.

Once settled, we went out to dinner, since we still had no food at home, after lunch we returned and sat in the living room to talk.

- Well, Cris, scribe work is not easy to obtain and much less on your own, however, I do not think it is impossible, however, I advise that you first go to the library and investigate clues that can help you. (Evan)

- I understand brother, I'll do that. (Christopher)

- Keep in mind that you will only have 30 gold coins, spend them carefully, for the moment it is all I can give you, I know that for scribes the research of materials for their contracts and talismans requires money expenses, therefore, do not spend on expensive materials, start with simple materials until you get the job and from there progress little by little, you should go to the Villa trade store to buy materials, I know they have a good variety and at a good price. (Evan)

- Don't worry brother I know what to do. (Christopher)

- Well, Alice, the same for you, those 30 coins should last you a long time, start cooking simple things and little by little you will improve, also you will be the one who cooks our meals so put effort into that. (Evan)

- Don't worry big brother, unlike Cris's materials, that money should last me for a year without problems. (Alice)

- That's fine, as for Jonathan, in your case it is simpler, you already have a bow, tomorrow we will go to the combat dojo and you will receive instruction for a month, that should be enough for you to learn what you need. (Evan)

- I understand. (Jonathan)

- Just one thing, I understand that, if you are outstanding in the dojo, they can propose you to be a student there, personally I would not want you to become an internal student of the dojo, but it will be your decision if they propose it to you, (Evan)

- Why doesn't the brother want me to be a dojo intern? (Jonathan)
- Because it would complicate your relationships, I imagine they will have internal rules, which would make your relationship with us difficult, I think it would bring problems. (Evan)

- I understand, if the case comes I will only politely reject. (Jonathan)

- You do not have to rush, I only tell you to evaluate how the environment is there, if you think it will benefit you you can stay, I am not forbidding it, I just want you to take into account the general panorama and do not let yourself be tempted by the immediate benefit. (Evan)

- No problem, I will evaluate the situation well. (Jonathan)

- Another thing that I have not asked them, they said they did not have jobs, but maybe they are Apprentices of some work? (Evan)

- I have nothing, I only learned to read and write. (Christopher)

- I have the apprentice archer level 5, after all my father taught me. (Jonathan)

- I'm also a level 5 chef apprentice, I learned what I could by watching mom. (Alice)

- Well, that is already an advantage, then that will be our plan, also Cris, I will give you 10 additional gold coins, for other miscellaneous expenses, such as clothes, toiletries and others, as I will probably be going out on missions, they will have to learn to fend for themselves, do not cause problems. (Evan)

The boys attended, with this everything was arranged, Alice would take care of the food and in turn would practice, Cris, I would also look at how to obtain her achievements like Jonathan, while I would go on missions to earn money.

With everything defined, we chatted for a long time planning everything until dinner, after lunch we discussed some additional topics and we all went to bed, since from tomorrow everything would be a new beginning.

The next morning, we went out for breakfast since we still had no food, only until today Alice would buy in the market, after breakfast Cris and Alice went on their own to buy what they needed and Jonathan and I went to the combat dojo .

The process was simple, after paying the fee, they gave Jonathan a tablet that represented his identification in the dojo and it would be valid for 30 days and without delay Jonathan started his classes, so I went to the mercenaries' guild to see what missions could take.

In the mercenary guild I approached the mission board, there were really very few missions, probably because of the situation of the goblins.
The missions were very poor, none of them attracted attention, as they did not pay much, however, there was a mission that seemed profitable, due to the situation of the goblins a goblin hunting mission was opened.

They paid a silver coin per exterminated goblin, the proof would be the goblin's pair of ears, it had to be admitted that it was a smart move by the city government, to use the mercenaries to clean the goblin bandits that roam the surrounding towns.

Seeing that there were no more options, I decided to join the goblin hunt, although it was dangerous, there was no other option, the other missions were really badly paid, also this would serve to level up.

In the time that I have been in this world, I have managed to understand how the level system works, it is not different from the games, there are 3 ways to level up and they all have to do with combat.

The first is killing wild monsters, this will give experience and although this cannot be seen if it exists and it accumulates, when there is enough you can level up.

The second is killing people, humans or other races, it works the same as with monsters, I realized this when I killed the assassin sent by Alan's uncles.

And finally, training, even if it is not a fight to the death, you get experience of practice fights, in fact, a fight to the death against a monster that does not reach a conclusion will still give experience whenever attacks are crossed, the difference is that the experience gained is less.

In other words, you level up by increasing experience and this is gained through combat and the more intense the combat, the more experience you gain, so death battles are more beneficial to level up.