Shiba followed the system's instruction to leave Master Liye's reincarnation place.
He was back to the arid lands he had been before meeting Master Liye.
The weather had improved a bit compared to when he had been walking before, but even in his state after being recovered, he didn't dare to stay too long without food and water there. Anyway, it was just a matter of time that the weather worsened again.
Shiba used Earth Step each time he was able to use it while moving, but although he could use it without problems, thanks to its small cost, he really didn't feel too much change when moving. It was even more difficult to move if he didn't coordinate his steps properly.
However, Shiba didn't mind about that and continued using it until he was used to coordinating with Earth Step properly.
His target was a small town that he knew was the nearest to his position. He had never been there before since it was forbidden for the slaves, but he had heard the owners complain about how that place was so poor and without anything fun.
Any town in that area was bound to be poor, only rich sons and daughters would think about having fun in that area. If it weren't because there was an area with valuable minerals that they wanted to exploit, they wouldn't have bought the land and sent slaves to work there. They even boasted about how cheap it had been to buy since others didn't know about its value.
Slaves had been working there for generations, so the main family of the owners ended up spending a lot of time in that area despite its conditions, which usually annoyed the younger generation very much.
[Congratulations for having reached level 2.]
While walking, he heard that notification as he felt a huge increase in his power. He felt as if his strength had doubled, and all his used stamina recovered.
At the instant that his limits expanded, some of the remaining energy on his body made that he reached the limit once again.
Shiba was quite old when he started to train compared to the usual since he was already thirteen years old, so that kind of help to improve was really useful for him. Of course, Master Liye's energy wouldn't last eternally.
Mastering Earth Step was quite easy for anyone, and Master Liye said that he had some talent for the earth element, so Shiba's quick advance to level 2 wasn't surprising at all.
Shiba was really twice as powerful as before, but he was still a weakling compared to his previous owners.
Thanks to that level up, Shiba managed to reach the town at dusk.
It was fortunate that the people of the town had put some signals on the arid lands in case there was some lost traveler, or Shiba didn't have the confidence to find it just by what he had heard.
However, he didn't mind getting lost as long as he avoided the area of his previous owners. He was sure that he would be killed if they discovered that he was still alive.
"Dad, a traveler is here!"
As soon as Shiba stepped into the town, he heard the voice of a kid.
Immediately, a middle-aged man opened the door of the house and walked towards Shiba. The kid who shouted was still looking at Shiba from the window he had seen him.
"Welcome, traveler. We don't have much to offer, but please stay this night with us. It is dangerous to be outside at night."
There weren't dangerous beasts in the area, but even if it was just for the weather, sleeping outside at night was still dangerous. It was extremely hot during the day, but it was the opposite at night.
The people in that town didn't have anything of value, and they just survived there since they obtained a magical item in the past that could produce water and managed to isolate an area where it was barely possible cultivating some vegetables.
However, they always welcomed travelers. It was custom since the town existed, and when the area started to decay, the town managed to survive exactly for that.
It had been someone they helped in the past who gifted them that magical item years later when the weather started to change, and the water started to be lacking in the area.
They considered it karma, and the following generations decided to continue welcoming any traveler to their town, no matter who it was.
They weren't hoping for something in exchange, but they really believed that if they helped those in need, they would sow good karma.
"I humbly accept your kindness."
Although Shiba wasn't used to being treated well, he knew that sleeping outside wasn't wise. He wouldn't die in a single night since his body was far stronger than when he was a slave, but he would need to suffer quite a bit. After all, he didn't have any clothes remaining on the upper part of his body since he took them off due to their tattered state. The rest was still usable, but it wasn't in a good state.
The middle-aged man also saw Shiba's clothes, so he felt that Shiba really needed help, more than most travelers he had met.
Shiba followed the middle-aged man slowly, and both went into the house.
At that hour, there wasn't anyone on the streets of the town since they were already prepared for the night. Their houses weren't the best, but they were constructed well enough to not be affected by the weather on the outside too much.
"Big brother, have you traveled a lot? Tell me some stories. Please."
The young boy in the house ran towards Shiba as soon as he saw him inside the house.
For the kid, looking through the window in case some traveler appeared was the most interesting thing he could do when he couldn't go outside. Once the windows needed to be sealed, he was even more bored.
There were just a few kids in the town, but they all wanted to have a traveler in their houses because the travelers usually had some stories to tell, which was a good change to their monotone lives. Moreover, they would be able to boast to the other kids for a while after a traveler stayed with them.
"Son, let him rest a bit first. You can see the state of his clothes. He must have suffered some difficulties to reach this place. The dinner is almost ready, let's go to the table."
The middle-aged man knew that his son would react like that, so at most, he could delay the matter so Shiba could eat with calm first.
The kid and Shiba went to the table while the middle-aged man sealed the windows in the house. The food was served by a middle-aged woman a bit after that.
They all gave their thanks for the food and ate it in silence. The food wasn't good, and the flavor was clearly lacking, but to Shiba, it was the most delicious he had eaten in his life.
What the slaves ate could barely be considered food, but it tasted really bad. Not like the slaves could complain since they never ate something different.
"It was delicious."
Shiba said those words after he finished. The family members thought he was just trying to be polite since they knew the quality of their food, but Shiba told it from the bottom of his heart.
After eating, Shiba received some clothes that belonged to the kid's big brother, who had left the town to travel.
"He said that he would become strong and return here to improve our lives, but it has already been three years. I wonder if he managed to reach Rank 1 and become a Novice."
The kid couldn't avoid remembering his big brother. His brother was a hero for him, but the rest of the family didn't have so many expectations. For them, if their son were able to return alive, it would already be good news.
"Rank 1? Novice?"
It was the first time Shiba heard those names.
[Rank 1, also called Novice Rank, is how it is called the levels between 10 and 19 on this planet. The ranking name is quite well-spread through different planets, but the naming on the levels in them differs.]
The system used a universal measure to the levels instead of the variations used on the planets since they weren't constant enough.
"You haven't heard of it? It is said that if you managed to become a Level 9 Mortal before being sixteen, it is possible to become a Novice, which meant reaching Rank 1, but although we all can practice here, we are all Level 1 Mortals."
The brother of the kid was thirteen when he left, so after three years, if he hadn't advanced yet, he didn't have chances to advance.
"So, there is that kind of limitation. I didn't know."
Shiba was already thirteen, like when the brother of the kid left, so he only had three years to reach level 10.
"Well, we don't have a single skill to practice, so we can't become Level 2 Mortals in any Path."
There wasn't any restriction as to where to start to train in the two simplest Paths, but they still needed to master a skill related to the Path to reach the next level. They didn't have a single skill, so they couldn't advance.
The Warrior Path and the Magus Path were both of the public domain. Except for slaves, almost everyone could access them. However, it was different for skills since most people couldn't access them. Moreover, mastering them wasn't easy either.
After all, it wasn't normal to have a compendium of easy skills to master for a mortal like the Legacy System had.