"Who is this man?" David thought as he saw Ray sheathing his sword
"More like, who are all these people? Lucius, Gazef, and all these strangers?"
Now that the situation was seemingly resolved, the adrenaline wore off, and David fell to his knees in fear and shock.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw Lucius, who looked tired but no longer injured, smiling menacingly.
"I'll be taking this back now."
David felt his energy disappear as he fell unconscious.
"What are we gonna do with him, old man? He wasn't supposed to use the book." Ray wondered
"Silence, you idiot. This has now gone above my authority. We can only bring him to the council to make a decision." Lucius said as he massaged his head
"Be careful, Mr. Lucius, you still need to rest. You lost a lot of blood." worried Jess
"I know. I know. Let's just take him to the council, and hopefully, we can see if the prophecy is true. Go into his residence and take anything he may need. The sooner we're out of this slum, the better."
"Your wish is my command, old man." Said Ray with a sigh
-
A storm covered the sky.
Those looking up at it trembled in fear.
At the top of a castle stood a blonde man and his many children
"Oh gods, is this my punishment?"
The storm released a malevolent aura as it encased the city of gold.
-
"AGH!" David screamed as he woke up.
"What was that? I've never seen that in my dreams before."
David was covered in more cold sweat than usual, and as he looked around, he found himself in a completely different environment.
There was a large campfire, as well as five tents.
"You good, kid?" Ray asked
"Um, yeah, just a weird dream. Sorry about that."
"Well, I'm not surprised. Lucius told me you had only awakened your mana the night we got you. Must've been a shock for someone who was basically a slime."
Jess appeared from one of the tents and smacked Ray on the back of his head.
"Sorry about that, he's strong, but he's really stupid. Although I am curious as to how you were such a late bloomer. Adulthood is usually the cut-off for when magic may awaken in people, yet it just happened to be when you awoke…"
"Well, I'm not really sure myself… Also, how'd you know it was my adulthood? And where am I?"
"Well, first, we're currently in the free land between the Magic City of Elderglow and your hometown, Smithy. Since you likely won't be returning there, Mr. Lucius ordered us to grab your belongings. We found a letter from someone named "Martha May" congratulating you on your adulthood…"
"Why would I be going to Elderglow? Isn't that for the rich nobles?"
"Usually, that would be the case. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the details since I don't know myself. Only Mr. Lucius would know."
"I see… Thank you."
"No problem, if you don't trust us, we're the Salamander party. Since you're from the Lurris Kingdom, you should know about us. We swear to keep you safe until you arrive in Elderglow."
Jess said with a smile as she pulled Ray into the tent with him, leaving David alone at the campfire.
"Jeez, they couldn't give me a tent? If they're truly Salamander, shouldn't they have the money to act like it? They're the country's exclusive party after all…" David said with a depressed sigh
"But apparently, I've awakened my mana. I lost hope of that happening years ago. Even if my magic talent can only keep me at F-tier, I'll still be able to live a better life than before!"
David began to feel excitement welling up from inside.
Magic was the deciding factor in a person's quality of life.
75% of people are born with it, but even being part of the majority would allow him to live a life of normalcy rather than desperation.
David thought back to the night he had awakened.
He hadn't asked Jess how long had passed, but he couldn't believe it was any longer than three days if they were still between Smithy and Elderglow since Smithy was at the border of the Lurris Kingdom and Elderglow was at the center of the continent.
As he tried to estimate how long it had been, he saw something strange yet familiar in his line of sight.
[Good Evening David. It has been 68 hours since you fell unconscious due to the individual "Lucius" performing [Skill: Mana Drain] on you.]
"I feel like this isn't the first time I've asked myself this recently, but am I going crazy?" Whispered David
[No, you are not. My name is Lucia. I am a part of the Astraphobia system. If you need help with system-related issues, please ask. I can also handle menial tasks like I have just done.]
David was confused by the flurry of words in front of him.
"So you can hear all of my thoughts?" David said internally
[That's right. Do not worry. I am one with the system, similar but different from you. Therefore, I cannot be considered a person. Do not feel shameful from any of your hormonal thoughts]
"If you really are here to help me, then tell me what this "Astraphobia System" is."
[Of course. The Astraphobia System exists to strengthen a person of pure heart to the level of a God. More specifically, a God of Lightning.]
"How exactly am I supposed to be strengthened to the level of a God? Isn't that impossible? Aren't they Gods because they can't be reached?"
[Within the Astraphobia System, the Status window will be your greatest tool for increasing your power. You are currently Level 1 and have little to no exp toward your level up. While there are many ways to increase your exp amount, none of which are easy, as you are now, you should just hunt low-level monsters. You will absorb their life force after their death, converting it to exp.]
If anyone saw David, they would see him with a terribly confused face, like a child being taught multiplication.
"So, basically. If I kill monsters, I will get stronger?"
[That is right.]
"But right now, all I can kill are the lowest F-tier monsters, like slimes."
[Then that is where your journey to Godhood will start.]
[You currently own three tabs within the system. They are as follows: Status, Skills, and Quests]
[You may unlock more as you level up, but these are all you need for now.]
When David said "Status" internally, he saw another transparent screen pop up above the messages with Lucia.
[Name: David ???]
[Level: 1]
[Exp 1/100]
[Hp 100/100]
[Mana 5/5]
[Strength 5]
[Agility 5]
[Stamina 5]
[Intelligence 5]
[Element: Lightning]
[Assignable Points available (0)]
David didn't get to analyze this screen when he first saw it due to the threat to his life.
After asking Lucia what each stat meant, he tried to look at the skills tab.
[Skills: Thunderstep (lvl 1), Inspect (lvl MAX)]
"Hey, what does this inspection skill do?"
[The inspect skill provides all my knowledge on the specific objects you use it on. It can also be used on beasts and humans to measure their power in the level format.]
"What about the Thunderstep skill? I vaguely understand how to use it, but how is it that it's in the system despite Lucius teaching me."
[There are two ways to gain skills: the first is to earn them through the system by leveling up or quests, and the second is to learn them yourself. The "Thunderstep" skill was part of the latter]
Lastly, David thought about the "Quest" tab.
[Main Quests: Reach level 10 (Reward: ???)]
[Side Quests: N/A]
[Daily Quests: 1 hour of meditation, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 5 km run (Reward: 1 Skill Point)]
[If Daily Quests are not completed, you will receive no Daily Quest rewards for seven days]
"WHAT THE HELL?" David screamed internally
"How do you expect me to be able to do all of that? And every day?"
[David, the system is still in a trial mode for you. If you cannot reach level 10 within a certain time frame, you will die, and the Astraphobia System will be given to another candidate.]
"Just when I was finally starting to get hopeful…"
"But wait… Didn't I miss two days because I was unconscious?"
[I will make a special exception this one time. However, you still have 4 hours left until today ends. There will be no exception this time.]
David felt a surge of fear go up his spine.
"So if I don't complete this within the next 4 hours, I'll be unable to get skill points for a week, which means I'll stay this weak for that whole time, unable to kill anything above a slime. I don't even know how long I have to reach level 10, so having a week without skill points could mean death…"
"You really aren't a human…"
[Affirmative.]
David had no choice but to stand up from beside the campfire and stretch for the upcoming torture.
David, who had never worked out, could hardly do ten push-ups, but the desire to stay alive empowered him.
Failing many times, he kept getting back up until he had finally finished the push-ups.
[Daily Quest]
[0/1 hours of meditation]
[100/100 push-ups]
[0/100 Sit-ups]
[0/5 km]
"Good, at least I can do it out of order… It's best if I meditate last."
-
After completing all of the workouts and meditation, David asked Lucia what time it was
[11:59 pm. Congratulations, you made it with one minute to spare.]
[Daily Quest Completed! 1 skill point has been rewarded]
"Status"
[Name: David ???]
[Level: 1]
[Exp 1/100]
[Hp 100/100]
[Mana 5/5]
[Strength 5]
[Agility 5]
[Stamina 5]
[Intelligence 5]
[Element: Lightning]
[Assignable Points available (1)]
"All of that work for one single point."
"This better be worth it."
David placed the point into stamina.
[Stamina 6]
Feeling sore around his whole body, David laid down, sad that he had to do it again tomorrow and all the days to come.
As he fell asleep, he thought about Ms. May's generosity for allowing him to work at her tavern and paying him enough to keep his lowly hut and how he should repay her.