Assimilate All Talents

Sol's eyes shot wide open as he woke up in a large bed. His heart beated wildly as he sprang upward and reached out for his Lipon, but all he grabbed was empty air. Thinking it might be stored in his spatial ring, he checked his hands, but he didn’t have any spatial rings.

‘Huh? Where did it—?’

“Sol? Is something wrong?”

“I can't find my spatial ring… Wait, Anna?” It was only now that he noticed he wasn’t alone in bed, Annabel was with him, wrapped under the same blanket. “Why are you in my bed? No, wait, this is your bed… How did I get here?”

Annabel was confused by what he meant. “Because we’re dating? Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?”

Something about what she said felt incorrect to him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. After a moment of confusion, he assumed he must have been mistaken and hesitantly nodded in response. “I think I was a Royal Knight, and on a mission, I was fighting some kind of massive spider. But I screwed up and fell into a pit trap.”

“Oh… it was a knight dream this time.” It wasn’t the first time he’d had such dreams, and given his circumstances, she could understand why. Regardless, she still tried to cheer him up. “But think of the bright side—you’re not a knight, so that could never happen!”

‘I’m not?’

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, but a gut instinct told him otherwise. He opened his status page, wanting to confirm it for himself.

Name: Sol

Race: Human

Talents:

Level: 5

Exp: 12/150

HP: 70

MP: 40

Str: 6

Vit: 7

Agi: 5

Int: 3

Wis: 4

Talent Skills:

Passive Skills:

[Speed Reading] Lv 1, [Encyclopedia] Lv 2

Active Skills:

[Swordsmanship] Lv 1

‘Oh… I’m not.’

He wasn’t sure what he had expected to see. After all, he was never able to obtain a talent since he had failed the leveling ceremony.

Annabel could tell exactly what he was thinking and sighed. She inched over to him and hugged him from behind.

“Not having a talent is a blessing in disguise. No expectations, no randomly predetermined job people expect you to become. You can be whatever you want to be. Isn’t that true freedom?”

“Whatever I want to be… yeah, you're right.” Her comforting words brightened his sour mood.

“And don’t you forget it!” She puffed out her chest, which he only now noticed wasn’t covered at all, making him shyly look away. But then he remembered they had done much more than simply see each other's bodies, and that sense of shame quickly faded.

She then lightly slapped his back. “Plus, you're plenty capable without one. Maybe it's for the best you don’t have one. You somehow got [Encyclopedia] without any talent through sheer effort and determination. If you actually had a talent… I fear the world wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Sol rolled his eyes at her joke and chuckled. “Yeah, right. C’mon, let's get to work.”

She nodded and reached to her nightstand to check the time, but upon seeing it, her face paled.

“Oh no! We’re going to be late!”

The two scrambled out of bed and got dressed as quickly as they humanly could. They skipped breakfast and ran out of Annabel’s house toward the Adventurer's Guild. They were lucky to live nearby, but even so, they arrived 20 minutes late. When they arrived, they were immediately called into the Guildmaster's office.

The Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild, and Annabel’s father, William Deliban, spoke with a slight frown. “You’re late. Again.”

“Sorry, it was my fault. I should have paid more attention to the time.” Sol took the blame for the two of them, not wanting Annabel to get in trouble with her father.

“It was my fault as well, Guildmaster. It won't happen again.” Not one to let others take the fall for her, she also spoke up.

William sat in silence, staring the two down.

“Make sure it doesn’t happen again, then. Annabel, you may go, but Sol, stay for a moment. I want a quick word with you.”

The two nodded, and on the way out, Sol whispered to Annabel, “Prepare my coffin.”

She giggled, and William cleared his throat, as he could easily hear what Sol said with his high attributes. “You worry too much. Nothing will happen. Now go.”

“Yes, Guildmaster.”

With the two men alone in the room, Guildmaster William spoke honestly.

“Initially, I was hesitant to bring you into not only our guild branch but also into my family. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to woo my daughter to get into my good graces. But I never had to interfere, as she could always tell when those scum didn’t have genuine feelings for her. The fact she chose you was enough for me to trust you, and seeing her smile every day shows me it was the right decision. Job wise, you also quickly adapted to the environment and became one of the adventurers’ favorite receptionists, saving a good number of lives with your advice.”

Sol nodded along, unsure why he was receiving these compliments and praise now.

“What I’m trying to say is that you’re doing great, keep at it. But as much as I want grandchildren, try not to go overboard and allow it to interfere with your daily lives and responsibilities.”

‘That's what he was trying to get at?!’

Sol almost fell out of his seat at the sudden pivot in the conversation.

‘We haven’t been doing it that much… have we?’

He couldn’t exactly remember how many times they actually went at it, which led him to believe it must have been too many to count.

“I’ll… keep that in mind, Guildmaster.”

“When it's just us two, you can call me William.”

Sol smiled and nodded. “Thank you, William.”

“Now get out, you have work to do.”

“Yes!”

Sol made his way back to the main entrance of the guild and quickly went through his daily tasks, from reviewing the quests available, counting inventory, and speaking with clients to register their quests. An hour later, when he was done, he moved on to his other responsibility, tending the receptionist desk.

While tending the counter, Annabel passed by.

“Oh, Sol, I forgot to ask you, but what time are your parents coming over?”

“My parents?” Something about her question felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly.

Seeing him silent, Annabel began to panic. “Don’t tell me you forgot! You’re supposed to introduce me to them! Please, I want to make a good first impression!”

She began to shake him by the shoulders pleadingly, which shook him out of his stupor.

“Oh, now I remember! They said they would arrive around 7.”

“Oh, thank the gods. I’ll have time to prepare something good to eat when we get home.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and went back to doing her job.

Sol smiled as he watched her walk away and returned to his own duties.

The receptionist part of the job was honestly his favorite, as he could directly speak with the adventurers. Sure, some were rowdy or disrespectful, but those were a minority, and after working for some time, he actually gained a reputation for being the one to ask about anything.

An adventurer walked up to his counter. “Morning, Sol. My party and I want to take this escort quest to Kerman. Never left town before, so I’m kinda curious what a city looks like.”

“It’s much bigger, and there is a lot more one can do there. Even at night, the city is very active. While it’s a lot at first, I think you’ll enjoy it once you get used to it.”

“Oh, you’ve been there?”

“I… no, it’s just what I’ve heard from others.”

Even though he said that, he didn’t know if he believed it himself. ‘If I heard of it from someone… why is it so vivid?’

He found it odd but eventually concluded that it was probably a dream he had. He continued on with his shift, taking care of other adventurers and trading a few jokes and flirtatious comments with Annabel whenever she passed by.

Later in the day, an adventurer in full metal armor, alongside his party, came into the guild. The man in full armor removed his helmet to reveal a grinning Jayce. He sauntered to the nearest table, stood on it, and announced, “We have slain the Thunder Wolf King!”