I awaken in the cool, damp basement. The portal is gone, and so is any evidence of my fight with my fireteam. I walk out of the farmhouse, and gaze outside. What I see astounds me.  The ground isn't scorched, and there are cities, not just The City, but multiple! And none are walled? Are they dumb? Or is this a time of piece, a golden age perhaps? I try to summon my Sparrow but it doesn't work. My Ghost comes out and speaks.

"Szaryx, as I've said, I have taken possession of this ghost, and that your access to the Light and Dark are severed except for what little you can squeeze out of the Crown and the sword. For now, the only things you can do with your powers is your combat abilities and generate ammo. Once the Dark commands greater forces here, you too will become more powerful."

"Yes Milord, do you have any orders for me?"

"Information is key, go to a city, ask questions, once you have a solid foundation of knowledge, then you can accumulate influence"

"Very well"

Since I can't ride my Sparrow, might as well walk and hope someone will come pick me up out of pity. And sure enough, after a couple hours of walking a hover truck pulls up 

"Hey buddy, where ya goin?"

I look into the window and see a fellow human looking at me.

"Hey friend, walking to the closest city"

"You gotta long way to go, hop on in, I'm heading there too"

"Thank you kindly, I'll pay you back as soon as I can"

"Don't worry about, we both heading to the same place anyway."

I hop in the truck passenger side and get comfy.

"Heya mister" the man says

"What's with the spooky armor there?"

Forgot my armor was Taken. Shit.

"Got it from a friend of mine, he owed me but he has some peculiar taste thats all"

"If you say so"

Hands down my worst lie ever. Except for the Cabal War Hound shit one. That was rough. I ask him a question

"Hey sir, If you don't mind, I gotta couple questions, I been raised by a pretty secluded bunch of people with potentially xenophobic ideals, hence why I left, so I have lots of questions I'm hoping you'd be able to help me out with?"

"Well, I aint too smart either, but I'm sure I could answer a few, go ahead"

"Who are the Cabal, Eliksni, and Exos?"

"Uhmm..well the Cabal are an Empire we were once at war with, highly aggressive and probably want to fight us again, but for now we have a tense peace. They look kinda like a pig and turtle hybrid. Really weird things. Eliksni, are a race of bug people organized into different Houses, they act as mercenaries and pirates for the most part, but they ain't all bad. And Exos, ain't no one really know about them too much except that they sentient war machines made to fight the Cabal and Hydori in our war"

"Wait, who are the Hydori?"

"The Hydori? Uhmm... Magical geniuses that live forever. Live pretty much by themselves unless angered."

"Magic? Magic exist?"

"Absolutely, do you even know the 6 elements?"

"..."

"Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Light, and Dark. Most people can utilize at least one of these elements"

"Oh, I see. I have more questions for sure but I cant get them out"

"That's fine, we're almost there anyway"

We get there and I ask him one last, but vital question

"Is there a place where I can take request and get some money?"

"Yeah, it's called the Freelancer's Association, FA for short. They'll get you sorted."

"Thank you so much for everything, if we meet again I'm paying you back"

I walk into the FA building and head to the receptionist.

"Welcome to the FA, I'm Savrina I'll be your clerk today, how can I help you?"

"I wish to register."

"Very well, let me ask you some questions first. First, name."

"Szaryx."

"Ok, age?"

"257"

Savrina does a double take

"You said 257, right sir?"

"Correct"

"Ok, uhm, occupation?"

"None"

"Have you ever taken an aptitude test?"

"What's that?"

"It's where your inject a bit of energy into an orb, and the orv tells you your magic affinity and and what you're specialized in between healing, damaging, and tanking"

"I have not"

"Let's do one right now, place your palm on the orb, and gently inject some mana into it."

"Ok"

I do so, and a black mist completely covers the orb, eroding and cracking it in some places.

"Sir, your Dark aptitude is off the charts! I've never seen anything like this before!"

"That's cool I suppose, now, can I get a job?"

"Not yet, need to give you your rank card and then youre fine"

"Rank card?"

"Ranks, from F to SSS, determine how powerful you are and what contracts you can take on. While that power you demonstrated is an easy B rank power, everyone has to start out at F rank. The card also doubles as an identification."

"I see. Give it a couple of minutes, and we'll give you your card. Here's some jobs, flip through them and see what interest you."

"Got it, before you leave, can you explain the general strength of each rank? Just to give me an idea."

"Sure, F is like the average human, and most jobs are menial labor with specific exceptions. E is a bodybuilder, pinnacle of normal humans, but not quite super. Most jobs are menial, but there's a couple low rank subjugation jobs. D is the beginning of super abilities, most jobs are low rank subjugation jobs, with some intermediate jobs with team mates. C rank is what most adventurers tend to be, with most jobs being intermediate subjugation jobs, with some high ranked subjugation jobs with some companions. B rank is usually known as the grave rank, since most people who make it past C rank tend to be ambitious and reckless, leading to their early demise. Not to mention their team play isn't usually the greatest. Most jobs are high rank subjugation jobs, all need companions. A rank is the pinnacle for most of the mercenaries, once someone makes it here they're set for life, however long that may be. A ranks are paid tremendously, however their Elite rank jobs are more often than not compulsory since Elite jobs are reserved for emergencies where B ranks and below just can't handle. Now, S to SSS ranks, not much are known since the amount that are known can he counted on one hand, but in general it goes: S class can wipe out a planet, SS class can eliminate a solar system, and SSS class can annihilate, well, everything."

"I see, that's a lot, can what are the usual enemy of the different subjugation jobs?"

"Low rank would be Orks and goblins, who while not strong individually, are usually found in numbers. intermediate rank are bandits and smarter monsters, like bugbears and lizardmen. High rank is mostly powerful bandits, pirates, and criminals, however powerful monsters do exist, like mind flayers and Aboleths."

"Thanks, when I get enough money I'll take you out to dinner as a thanks, I'm a bit of a country bumpkin so I'll have a lot of questions, but I'll be sure to thank you every time."

"I'll be waiting then."

I look through the list, and see nothing but construction and hard labor jobs. This blows. Guess I have to work.