The grinding of the portcullis ceased, leaving an echoing silence that was infinitely more awkward than the noise. Five pairs of eyes were wide with a mixture of shock, awe, and utter confusion, all fixed on the naked god-like figure lounging on the dark throne as if he owned the place.
In his mind, S.A.R.A. was having a field day.
// Don't worry, boss, I've got their specs. Pulling data from the local Gaia network now...*
Noctar wondered what the Gaia network was when he remembered that he's in a system based world and Byte had mentioned the planetary OS is called Gaia.
// Guild: Lucky Tree. Ranked 25th. Ambitious, but their logo is tragically un-menacing.
// Name: Borin
Class:Tank (Guardian)
Level : 43
Rank : B
High defense, low wit.
// Name: Kaelen
Class: Assassin(Shadow Dancer)
Level : 51
Rank: A
The real threat. Seems competent.
// Name: Elara
Class: Mage:(Arcanist)
Level: 48
Rank : B
Smart. She's the one doing the math right now.
// Name: Lyra
Class: Priestess(Lightweaver)
Level: 41
Rank : B
Currently blushing twelve shades of red.
// Name:Finn
Class: Scout(Pathfinder)
Level: 39
Rank: C
Young, jumpy, already has an arrow nocked.
Noctar relaxed minutely. An A-Rank was the highest? His Energy Assimilation skill hummed, still buzzing with the power he'd absorbed from the fall. He could probably take them if he had to, even naked. The thought was bizarrely comforting to him.
The priestess, Lyra, was the first to find her voice, her face flushed. "Um... Sir? Why... why are you naked?"
All eyes were on him, waiting for an answer. A king's proclamation. A divine edict. A tale of tragic magical experimentation. Whatever he would say, they hoped he steamed like a human because it isn't the first time human like boss monsters have appeared in a dungeon.
Noctar, a man pathologically incapable of sugar-coating anything, even when his dignity was on the line, looked her dead in the eye and said in his flat, honest baritone.
"The gods forgot to pack my clothes."
The silence that followed was profound enough to be measured on geological scales.
Borin, the tank, sputtered, his face turning a shade of red that rivaled Lyra's. "What kind of stupid lie is that?! You're a trespasser! A degenerate!"
He hefted his massive axe. "I'll splatter you!"
"Borin, wait!" Elara, the mage, snapped, her hand shooting out to grip his armored shoulder. Her eyes, wide with a primal fear, were locked on Noctar.
"Don't. My sixth sense... it's screaming. He's... he's probably not human. It's like there's an empty spot in the world's mana that's somehow more dangerous than anything I've ever felt."
While they were arguing, a new presence settled in Noctar's mind. It was clunkier, less elegant than S.A.R.A. It is the localized, planet-scale OS booting up beside a celestial-level AI. Windows of light, visible only to him, popped into his vision.
[WELCOME TO THE GAIA SYSTEM, AWAKENED ONE.]
[SCANNING VESSEL...]
[NAME: Noctar Ville]
[CLASS: Debugger]
[LEVEL: 1]
[RANK: S]
// He really doesn't, S.A.R.A. agreed. // But 'S-Rank' has a nice ring to it. Should impress the locals.
At that moment, Kaelen, the A-Rank assassin, decided to take matters into his own hands. If Elara's 6th sense is warning her then he'd better confirm their survival chances. His eyes glowed silver as he activated his own Appraisal skill. He expected to see a high-level illusionist, a trickster monster, or a cursed noble vampire.
The information that flooded back made his blood run cold.
Name: Noctar Ville
Class: Debugger
Level: 1
Rank: S
He blinked, shook his head, and tried again. The result was the same. A Level 1. S-Rank. A class he'd never even heard of. It was a paradox. An impossibility that defied every rule of the Gaia System. Level 1s were F-Rank fledglings, barely stronger than a farmer. S-Ranks were national treasures, legends who could level cities.
This dungeon is the Shifting Keep, the base level entry was level 30. It didn't make sense how a level 1 ended up in the heart, the 3rd floor of the dungeon. Kaelen was tense, he wasn't sure what type of monster they were facing or if he was human at all.
His knives felt suddenly very, very small in his hands.
"Kaelen?" Borin grunted, seeing his comrade's pale face. "What is it? What do you see?"
Kaelen slowly lowered his knives, his eyes never leaving Noctar. He swallowed, his throat dry.
"He's... Level 1," Kaelen said, his voice barely a whisper.
Borin blinked. "What? Then he's no threat! Move aside!"
"But..." Kaelen interrupted, his voice gaining a shaky, bewildered edge. "He's... S-Rank."
The word hung in the dank air.
"S-Rank?" Elara breathed, her fire orb flickering and dying out.
Lyra's jaw dropped.
Finn fumbled his arrow.
Borin just stared, his brain utterly failing to compute the two contradictory pieces of data.
Noctar looked at their stunned faces, then down at his own naked form. He sighed.
This was going to be a long day.