Kaz finally stood up, bracing himself against the dumpster not out of necessity but habit. Kaz had a bad leg since childhood because he was abused within a foster home. Kaz remembered the time when he was hit in the back with a broomstick resulting in a nerve for his leg being damaged, making him lose almost all function.
"Listen to me when I say clean the fucking floors right!"
A man with a scruffy unshaven face, wild hair and glasses yelled at Kaz who was laying in pain on floors so clean that he could see his face wincing in pain within the reflection. He knew no matter how many times he cleaned the floors, this man would only take out his drunken anger on him even if it was perfect. He was used to it at this point.
Kaz flashed back to the present with an expression of resolve on his face. He had a new mission, which he felt the system hinted at earlier, he needed to change things within the world. He needed to rid it of people like that. Kaz left with a new destination in mind before a popup appeared.
[New Mission Alert!]
[Get a library card.]
'Did this thing just read my mind?'
Kaz had the plan of going to the library. Kaz knew that in this world, knowledge was power, and he knew he lacked severely in that aspect since he never got a true opportunity at education besides the books he read in foster care, yet since he has been on his own, he hadn't had the opportunity to read because he had been trying to survive, and getting around in his previous condition wasn't ideal.
As Kaz made his way to the library, he reached for his pocket to check how much money he had left from begging, but was met with only pocket lent.
'Did I really get robbed again?'
Again as if listening to his internal thoughts, a window popped up.
[Balance: $5.04]
[Hello! Considering you may have the question of how to interact with your balance, I have taken the liberty to include a short explanation on how to use your 'inventory' which is one of the few features you will have available to you from the start.]
The window changed to a video of a cartoonish man thinking about something which hovered in a thought bubble then it appeared in front of him.
[For your inventory, you have to just think of the item you wish to take out or focus on an item you want to put in and it shall come out or be put into the inventory, the interface will be able to show you what you have stored. Though currency will be slightly different. Currency can be withdrawn as the currency itself or as another payment method available to the location you are at, an example would be a debit card.]
The window vanished and Kaz tried it out, he thought of a 5 dollar bill and 4 pennies appearing in his hand and it did, then he focused on the idea of putting it back and after a few seconds it disappeared. Kaz over the next few minutes experimented with this feature and found that like the system said, he could pull it out as a debit card but he could also pull it out in different amounts and combinations of the currency.
Kaz finally made it to the library and entered inside. There was an older lady sitting at the counter with a disgusted face, staring at kaz.
"This isn't a shelter or a place for you to sleep at if that is your intention!"
Kaz replied with, "How much is it to get a library card?"
The woman's face changed, though she didn't like his appearance, she was a librarian and changed her tone noticing he showed interest in the library and not just dirtying the place. She reluctantly replied.
"A membership has a one-time cost of $5.00. Would you like to sign up?
"Yes." Kaz didn't waste any time speaking, he answered straight-forwardly.
The lady began asking for his information, but skipped the phone number and address sections assuming he wouldn't have an answer. Kaz also refused to give a last name, but the lady didn't pressure him on it. After it was done, the lady gave him his card leaving him with one last sentence.
"About earlier, sorry I misjudged your intentions. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask."
She mustered a somewhat pitying smile as if she felt bad for his appearance. Kaz nodded back before heading into the books.
*****
Kaz had been researching quite a bit over the last month, trying to catch himself up, he felt as though he needed to gain power and standing in the world, but wouldn't be able to without some time of background or some talent that would be respected. During that time, he also discovered some more functions of his systems. He discovered a status screen, which showed his level, of course which was level 1 at the time, it showed his experience, his name, stats and skills. There was nothing in his skills and his stats were all extremely low. There were a few more areas but they were grayed out. Reading leveled him very slow and when he did level up, he decided to save the skill points until he knew how they functioned, since his skills seemed to improve with his level up anyway.
Though Kaz has always been an intuitive kid growing up, that aptitude kids have can only hold an advantage for so long. Kids who grow up 'gifted' always seem to have a burnout or not learn how to study for when things get hard in the future, whereas kids who grow up having to try hard to learn will build foundations that improve them more in the long run. Thinking of two basketball players, one who is 170 centimeters against one who is 190 centimeters. That height is an advantage but the taller person may not practice as much since they have that advantage, but the shorter one will practice more to overcome, and the techniques he picks up will put him ahead in the long run.
This would normally apply to Kaz, but because of his upbringing, he didn't get to go to school, he didn't get to satiate his curiosity growing up besides some old falling apart same couple of books, he never had the opportunity to learn. During his time he came to the conclusion, he needed some background, though he was too old to go to school, he managed to learn about being able to get a GED or General Education Diploma. He learned of this from the librarian that registered him.
Her name was Dorothy and she helped Kaz quite a bit. She saw him as a young man trying to survive and trying his best to get out of his situation. She brought him clothes she said were her son's years back when he was in college, she also prepared food for Kaz as she grew to know him. Kaz slept on the benches in the garden behind the library during the night, and continued learning throughout the day. He managed within that month to completely go through the curriculum of reading and language arts from elementary to high school as well as learning the formulas and theories of mathematics up until pre-calculus.
As Kaz finished with the precalculus textbook and set it down to practice some formulas he had taken notes up he got a notification.
[First Milestone reached]
[Level 5 reached! Awarding skill that would best fit your circumstance.]
[Calculating, please wait….]