A person's general fate was decided at the moment it develops into a fetus. If the fetus develops a flux root, the person's life would usually be bountiful. If not, then the person would be considered as the fodder of society. After all, the flux root was required for a person to cultivate. Having no flux root meant being an ordinary person among warriors.
And people that had no flux root were called 'mossbags.' Moss didn't have roots, hence, the name. And, Darren was a mossbag. He was part of the 20% of humanity that didn't have a flux root, and he was nothing more than fodder that scraped by through labor work.
However, things were bound to change now that he had the system with him.
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Darren trudged up a wide tunnel, carrying a sack full of various raw ore and crystals. Every step he made made a dull crunch, and his brown shirt was soaked in his sweat. And as Darren went under the daylight bathing the surface, he made a low grunt and carefully put the sack he was carrying on the ground.
"Phew." He wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced at the man in charge of delivering the raw materials to various shops in the town of Rodor.
The man looked at him with an incredulous expression, before glancing at the sack and using his foot to prod the sack open, wanting to see what's inside. ". . . I want to make it clear that you're supposed to carry the materials that you yourself mined."
Darren licked his dry lips and nodded, "I mined that, yes." He then proceeded to tell the man the contents of the bag, as his pay more or less varied upon what kind of materials he found.
"I . . . see." The man eyed Darren, unsure if he should give him his pay. Why wouldn't he doubt the man, though? It had only been 2 hours since he started working, but he already managed to bring three sacks?
"I swear I'm the one who mined that." Darren pledged, scratching at his head, "Do you think someone would even try and help someone else here?"
The man just sighed and took out a pouch from his sleeve, before picking a few coins and giving it to Darren. "You're right. Here's your pay."
"Thank you." Darren smiled and pocketed his money, before crouching down to pick up the sack and put it into a proper container. After depositing all of the minerals, he headed back down the tunnel.
The man in charge of the deposits just looked at the young man's back as he descended into the mines. He then noticed how he didn't seem to be as skinny as before, and just thought that someone had taken the liberty to help them with their needs. But ultimately, he just shrugged it off and went back to his own work.
As for Darren, he couldn't help but smile to himself as he recalled the man's expression earlier.
"I really have gotten stronger." He muttered under his breath, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly. "I really have . . ."
With a chuckle, he recalled the tutorial panel that he read that morning.
▬▬▬Tutorial▬▬▬
The five base stats might all have the same value, but they don't immediately mean they are all equal in level.
The true level of a stat depends on the value and the raw ability of the user.
If the user is strong enough to begin with, then the effects of increasing BRU will be tremendous, compared to if the user is weak.
In addition, since the user has increased his BRU from 10 to 15, the user is now 150% stronger than usual.
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The results were visible. While he might have been skinny, he had his muscles from his hard work. So just increasing his physical strength by 150% had phenomenal effects. His work was now much easier compared to before.
"Alright." He nodded to himself, ramping his spirit up to motivate himself for work, "Let's do this."
But right before he could take a step, a quest panel appeared before him.
▬▬▬Quest▬▬▬
New Quest: Hard Work
Deliver 20 bags worth of mine loot before sundown
Rewards: [Hard-Worker] Title
[Accept] [Decline]
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Even Darren couldn't help but frown from seeing such a quest. 20 bags before sundown? He could only do five bags per day before, and he believed he could do 15 bags if he worked his hardest now that he had the system, but twenty?
Darren let out an exasperated sigh and thought to himself, meaning to ask the system, 'What's a [Hard-Worker] Title anyway?'
▬▬▬Answer to Query▬▬▬
[Introduction to Titles]
Titles give the user a permanent buff. In this case, the title [Hard-Worker] increases the user's TEN and VIT stat by five.
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Darren read over the lines of the panel once, before doing a double-take. He realized how nice it would be if both his Vitality and Tenacity increased by 150% as well, like his Brutality stat.
"20 bags huh . . ." He shook his head slowly and breathed in through gritted teeth, "I should be able to do it."
Filled with resolve, Darren took a deep breath and began jogging towards deeper into the mine.
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"Someone's working real hard today."
"Ah, that guy? Maybe it's his birthday or something?"
"What kind of mossbag works hard for his own birthday? It's probably his relative's birthday soon. Or someone's sick."
"Seriously though, when did that guy become so tough? He's already carried four bags hasn't he?"
"You came here late. He's already carried seven."
The other miners began to chat among themselves when they saw Darren working extra hard for some reason. However, there was no one more shocked than the man in charge of the deposits. The young man just kept coming, and he seemed to have infinite energy.
He tried to investigate if the teen really was abiding by the contracts of his job, and he found nothing wrong. He was simply working hard. As such, he didn't hesitate anymore and just gave him his rightful wages.
After doing nine trips, Darren finally began to feel tired. His throat was perched, and his stomach was rumbling. He soon found most of his strength gone from thirst and hunger, so he decided to take a break and eat something fulfilling.
Tapping on his pocket full of money, he dragged himself towards a nearby eatery, only to see two young kids carrying a cylindrical container and a lunchbox. The kids were none other than Darren's siblings, Arven and Celzen.
". . . Hm." Darren hummed in surprise as the two kids ran over to him. He immediately lifted his head and looked around for a certain person among the bustle of the town's outskirts: Naphaela.
Naphaela was a cultivator that was seen to have huge potential, and she was Darren's childhood friend. Even though mossbags were generally discriminated against for their lack of ability to go beyond the human's normal power, a fair bit of humans were kind-hearted. That was the reason why Naphaela's parents allowed her to play with Darren.
Another reason was that Darren's parents were gone. Both of them were cultivators, but after his father's death when Darren was 11, the mother couldn't take it and threw all her responsibilities away, leaving Darren and his sibling twins behind.
Naphaela's family helped support Darren, occassionally stepping in to provide him their needs and always reminding him to ask if there was something they needed. Naphaela and Darren were very close friends, until she began studying the arts of combat three years before the coming of age.
Darren still had his pride as a being after all. He hated the way people looked at him when he was with the cultivator Naphaela. He also didn't like how there's a chance he would pull Napahaela's social status down if he stuck around with her.
As such, Darren chose to slowly slip away from her life, no matter how much he wanted to stay. Because not only other people look down on mossbags. Mossbags look down on themselves as well.
When Darren saw the familiar figure of a light-armored lady with brown skin and dark hair, he forced a polite smile and bowed with his head, expressing his gratitude. The lunch and beverages his siblings were delivering to him most definitely was given by Naphaela's family.
Darren couldn't properly see Naphaela's expression from the distance, but Naphaela was looking at Darren with a pissed expression.
She uncrossed her arms and began walking towards Darren, who was crouched down on the ground to better face his short siblings. Halfway there and her advance unnoticed by Darren, she saw the trio stand up and start heading towards a nearby eatery to eat there. As such, she quickened her pace to catch up to them.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat, wanting to get Darren's attention.
Darren pursed his lips and knitted his leveled eyebrows together, before turning his head around to see Naphaela standing a few steps away behind them with a slightly menacing aura around her.
". . . Erm, thank you." Darren muttered, loud and clear enough for Naphaela to hear.
"You're welcome." Naphaela nodded, her expression not changing.
"Are you two fighting?" Celzen, the calm and logical seven-year old girl tugged on the dry parts of the hem of Darren's shirt.
"Um--" Darren wanted to try and find a good reply to his sister, but Arven was faster.
"Wait, they're fighting?" Arven looked at Celzen incredulously.
"No, Arvy." Naphaela made a genuine smile and walked towards the child to give him a headpat. Then, still keeping a smile on her face, she knocked on Darren's chest and said, "I just have business with your big brother."
"Yep." Celzen looked at her twin, her eyebrows rising for a short moment, "They're fighting."
Darren was wearing a pokerface as he shook his head slowly, looking at Naphaela with a somehow disappointed stare. He was inwardly thinking about how it's going to take more than that to make Celzen believe something.
Upon seeing his expression, Naphaela couldn't help but sigh with a smile. "Just eat now for goodness' sake."
♦♦♦
The siblings ate their food in an eatery, before the two teens walked the twins back to Naphaela's house, where they stayed while Darren was out for work. Naphaela then briefly entered their house while Darren chose to stay outside.
When Naphaela came out, she was in her casual clothes, but she wore a brown hooded cloak. Darren knew what that was for: to keep people from seeing a cultivator walking beside a mossbag. And of course, he didn't feel annoyed by it. He was the one who kept pestering her about how other people would think after all.
He would have felt bad for himself if it were before, but now was different. He wasn't as weak and useless as before. He had the chance to rise as someone powerful. He had the system.
"Here." Naphaela threw a shirt at Darren. "Go change."
Darren looked at the shirt for a moment, before looking around him. Naphaela's house had brick walls around it, so it would be fine if he changed then and there. He was sure Naphaela wouldn't mind either.
"Thank you." He nodded at the hooded lady politely, before slipping his dirty shirt off.
Naphaela was about to express her annoyance from Darren treating her with unnecessary levels of respect, but she lost her words when she saw Darren's torso.
It was far from hot, sure, but Naphaela could have sworn Darren didn't have much lean muscles. Before, Naphaela could have described him as 'a fairly muscular stickman,' but she couldn't use the words anymore.
Still, the change wasn't that shocking. She thought that maybe Darren had simply been eating better than she last saw him.
When Darren finished changing, he rolled his previous shirt and tucked it in his belt, under the shirt his friend gave him.
"So?" Naphaela began as they were walking back to the mine where Darren was working, "How are you doing?"
"I am doing quite well." Darren told the truth. While his state wasn't exactly 'well,' the fact that he had opportunities wasnt something to be taken lightly of.
Naphaela clicked her tongue and said, "I swear I'll punch you if you keep talking like that."
"I'm sorry. Please don't punch me." Darren apologized, his way of apology similar to how he did apologies when he spent much more time together with Naphaela. This made her smile as she nodded, "There. Much better."
The two had a lot of things they could make small talk out of, so time passed by so quickly that they were in front of the mine Darren was working in even though they weren't done talking yet.
They caught the man in charge of deliveries giving pay to a miner, and whining continuously about something. When the duo got closer, the man found Darren and complained, "I have to make an early delivery because of you. Ah, by the gods."
"Is there anything wrong?" Naphaela asked, not taking her hood off.
"That worker beside you overdid work today."
"Overdid?" Naphaela looked at Darren. He didn't seem like someone who overworked themselves.
"He's already brought up nine bags of minerals. That's nearly double his quota! Half the day has only passed even! Augh, today had to be the day I didn't bring extra money . . ."
Naphaela looked at Darren as if she was looking at someone who just did a crime. If nine bags for more than half a day wasn't overwork, she didn't know what overwork would be.
Not saying anything and not letting Darren say anything, she dragged him to the forest to a nearby clearing.
"Was what he said the truth?" Naphaela took her hood off and looked at Darren, her hands on her waist.
". . . Yes."
"Are you feeling fine?"
". . . Totally."
Right after he finished answering, he felt a sharp pain spread on his cheek. Naphaela slapped him.
At the same moment, he saw a portion of his status panel phase into view, showing his HP bar and the damage done to him.
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-7 HP
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"What in the deities' name are you trying to do?"
The slap he received stung, but he wasn't angry for it. In fact, he felt thankful that Naphaela still cared for him.
Darren took a deep breath and prepared to explain the miracle that occured to him.
"Actually, I--" but he was cut off by a high-pitched beep in his head as a red panel appeared before him.
▬▬▬Attention▬▬▬
As of this moment, the user is not allowed to disclose any information regarding the system and its functions.
Failure to comply will result in the system's deactivation.
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