"Mason!" This was the first thing Mason heard as soon as he woke up.
"Do you know just how long you've been sleeping?" Elena asked.
Mason looked at his clock. He fell asleep at around 6:00 PM yesterday, it was now 6:00 AM.
"Should be around 12 hours mom." Mason said with a sleepy voice.
"You're wrong, look again you lazy kid." Elena said with a sigh.
'What? It's clearly 6 on the clock though... Wait have I been sleeping for a full 24 hours?'
"Mom, please tell me I'm wrong but it hasn't been 24 hours has it?" He asked
"You're completely right, how do you even manage to sleep for 24 hours!? That can't just be from staying up late! What are you hiding from me?" Elena deduced
And she was right on the dot. It was indeed not from sleeping late or just being very tired. What he had just experienced was Mana Exhaustion. This is what happens if you have 0 Mana left. Normally, Mages learn to always avoid this in case of danger that would be there after they empty their tank. Mason was truly lucky nothing showed up after he killed the Giant Wolf.
"Uh, it's nothing mom. I'm fine, I don't even know why i slept that long myself" Mason tried to lie to the best of his abilities. Alas, he was good at many things, but lying isn't one of them.
'Does this kid think I don't get what he's thinking? I've been his mother for almost 15 years now! Hmph.' Elena snorted
"If you don't reveal what happened right now, I'll send you to the forest alone!" She yelled not knowing that Mason almost died in that very forest.
'Do I tell her? No, I shouldn't say anything about the System. Maybe I should tell her i just awakened Ice Magic. At least she won't worry about me then. She'll probably be insanely happy, Mages are highly respected in this world after all.' Mason contemplated.
Deciding that he would only tell her that he awakened, Mason started telling the story of how it happened. That he fought with the bear, and because of the scary experience, he awakened.
This wasn't all the truth but he was still satisfied, he told about 60% truth and only 40% lie. Enough for him to not feel too bad about himself.
When she heard the story, Elena became elated. Her son had awakened, of course she would be happy. Even the lowest-leveled Mages had a high position. She knew that if Mason stayed under level 20 for the rest of his life, he would still be able to become the village chief.
Mason however, had much grander aims. He wanted to be the strongest in the world, because the strongest would also be the richest.
"Anyways, we'll talk about your future tomorrow. I have the night-shift today so I have to go to work." Elena said with a bright smile on her face
After she left, Mason decided to check out the system. He knew he hadn't checked his rewards after the fight with the Giant Wolf yet.
"System, give me an overview of all the rewards i received yesterday."
[Alright, Host]
[Rewards received: 1 Normal Wheel of Fortune spin, 1 Mini-Game attempt]
[Total system points: 140]
[Level-up x8]
"Level-up? Right, I did see a level in my Status. What do levels do though?" Mason asked the System
[Levels decide how strong your body is, Host. For example, you have a weak body. If you were to level-up, your physical strength would improve. Not only that, but alot of factors, such as. Speed, Toughness, Reaction-time, Eye-sight and a lot more!]
'I probably got levels by killing the bears too. The System was correct saying I have a weak body, I should try to level-up more so I don't die without knowing what happened.
After looking at his level, Mason saw he had gained 100 system points.
"Alright, the Wolf was worth 100 points. Why is it so much more than the bears were?" Mason asked once again.
[The amount of system points rewarded is both based off level, and difficulty to kill of the eliminated beasts]
"Okay! I'd rather just keep hunting bears though." Mason chuckled.
"Use Normal Spin" Mason said. He wouldn't make the same mistake of not immediately using the Wheel of Fortune when he got the chance. He almost died because of this.
[Using Normal Spin]
Knowing the chances, Mason didn't have a lot of hope. There was only a 2% chance to get a purple colour. And so far, his luck already wasn't bad. He got 2 Rares out of 3 spins, this was already really lucky!
Mason watched the wheel spin and when it started slowing down, he had a look of disbelief on his face. It had truly stopped on the purple coulour.
'What is with this luck!? If I didn't know any better I would think I was the main character of some weird novel." Mason said with a bright smile on his face.
[Epic reward received: 10 years of Mana Practice in Ice Magic!]
"Damn, even more Mana Practice? I have 11 years of it now, while I'm only 14 years old right now. I should be one of the strongest people of my age now." Mason said
'But still, I got 1 year from a Common. Shouldn't there be a better reward for Epic?' He wondered.
[Answering Host. 1 year of Mana Practice is the best of the best for a Common reward. While 10 years of Mana Practice is merely mediocre to get for an Epic. You got unlucky right after getting lucky! Better luck next time!]
Mason had a bitter smile on his face as he thought: 'Is this System laughing at me? It feels like it anyways. I'm fine with 10 years of Mana Practice though. Now I've also leveled up, I should be able to kill level 10 beasts just fine. Even without my overpowered Ice Golem.'
Mason thought about his future with a smile on his face. I'm way stronger than I was yesterday, 'I should test my new strength out. I don't wanna go full-power just to realise that it was way stronger than intended.'
'Well, that's all for tomorrow. It's late already today and even after sleeping for 24 hours, I'm feeling kind of tired. I'll just quickly eat and go back to bed.'
And so, after making himself a delicious brunchinner (breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mason invented this term himself. It is to this day his proudest creation.) He went back to bed.
[Name: Mason White]
[Level: 9]
[Physique: None]
[Affinities: Ice]
[Active Skills: Ice Bullet, Ice Wall, Freeze, Ice Domain, Ice Golem]
[Passive Skills: None]
[Mana: 10 000/10 000]
[System Points: 140]