So I was a potassium warrior. And the comforting touch of my mother just felt good. So I fell asleep and woke up the next day refreshed.
Although my questions didn't disappear, I had enough self-control not to ask them again, as long as I couldn't expect a different answer this time.
"Good morning, Bjarne," the system greeted me and I replied with childlike friendliness, "Good morning" back.
Then I paced back and forth in my room and stared at my desk. It was only then that I noticed someone, maybe my mother, had left a card and something to drink for me.
On the card, a sketch of me drinking a beverage that looked like the one on my desk was drawn. I understood and drank it.
It tasted bitter.
"Ew," I exclaimed, sticking out my tongue and then looking back at the drink. There was still a little bit left in it, but I decided not to drink anymore.
"You can have the drink analyzed by me," the system pointed out a feature it had. I stared at the system window in disbelief, drooling with an open mouth.
"Just say 'Analyze'," the system instructed.
"Okay," I replied. Then there was a knock on the door and two servants came in. They took me down to the breakfast table.
So the days, weeks, and months went by - no, entire decades passed....
At least that's what it felt like to me, sitting at the breakfast table when I really wanted to be playing outside. But my parents were consistent. We eat as soon as the food is ready. You can't get up until everyone is full. No pudding for breakfast.
At that time, such small things seemed like tragedies to me and were clear proof that I lived in a family full of malicious sadists - today I know better. What fascinated me during that time was that although I still had memories of my old life, it was as if being a child itself restricted certain thought patterns and behaviors, and sometimes even promoted them.
"Father?" I asked hesitantly, picking at the napkin on my lap, which was immediately replaced with a new one by an annoyed butler. "Can I go outside and play with other kids today?"
My father hadn't been listening, he was preoccupied with his food. His wife, my mother, however, smiled at me intently for a few seconds, then nudged her husband slightly, who then gave her his attention, which she used to get him to notice me.
"Uh, yeah," my father muttered something to himself without even hearing my question - if it was dangerous, Mom would say no.
Unfortunately, Mom didn't understand what I had asked either. But I didn't know that. And even today, I wonder how I can be sure of what my parents knew and what they didn't. But I don't really care.
After breakfast, I wandered around the estate, waiting to finally go outside.
I can't remember how I got outside. In any case, I was accompanied by a maid and a bodyguard.
"Outside" was in the midst of the urban bustle. Everywhere, merchants were trying to sell their goods. Occasionally, someone wondered where their wallet was, or if it was still there, where the money was.
With newly acquired wealth, peaceful pedestrians quickly walked away from the questioning people and bought funny things for mental self-entertainment - no matter what the physical price for potential consequences was.
"I want that!" I commanded, pointing my finger at a podium where seven chained people with sad faces stood, except for one named Gundram, who looked angry.
"No! We don't hold slaves." With these words, the maid shattered all the dreams I had in that moment: to have my own podium.
"Do you call it that? Slaves? That there?" I asked, since I didn't understand that they didn't understand me, and now pointed at the podium with both hands.
"That there? I think I need to tell the lord and lady about this. These are not 'that there'. These are slaves," the maid exclaimed with a slightly feigned tone.
"Extra cheap! Buy one at the price of two and get the second one for free! Extra cheap!" a vendor advertised his slaves.
After hearing this, the guard, while eating a skewer, said to the maid: "Yeah, let the young master have his slave - seems like a good deal."
We continued walking and passed a gutter, from which a mournful cry could be heard, along with something that sounded like a dull thud.
"Please stop. I've given you everything I have!" the voice from the gutter whimpered. "I don't understand, why are you doing this?"
No response. More blows could be heard.
I tugged at the maid's dress and asked her if we could check on the victim three times.
So we turned into the alleyway and saw a person being harassed by three larger and probably stronger attackers.
"Stop immediately, or you will feel my sword!" the guard warned the three aggressors in a commanding tone, drawing his weapon from its sheath and pointing the sword at them.
But the attackers were not particularly impressed by this. Although they looked up briefly and paused for a while, they then continued their business as usual. In this case, the attackers continued to beat their victim, who was now no longer moving. Only his eyes pleaded for mercy.
Tense from the situation, I asked the system for help in my mind:
"Is there anything I can do? Can you help me?"
[Soul Drain can also be applied to the living, but you will not be able to acquire any skills or abilities through it.]
I didn't think twice - in childish recklessness, without knowing the background, I may have judged too hastily - and shouted out the skill: "SOUL DRAIN!"
The attackers screamed an awful scream that left them writhing wildly on the ground, and then it was as if fire burned them from the inside out until they finally turned to smoke. At the same time, the maid ran to the victim and applied bandages and medicine. Specifically, it was a paste made from some herbs that were often used for such wounds, dirt, and alcohol, which was applied to the bloody wounds after they were cleaned with water and alcohol (yes, the maid had a drinking problem and apparently had an inexhaustible supply of alcohol in her magical pouch - but the water was slowly running out).
"Don't move, everything will be alright," comforted the maid.
The guard stared in shock where the attackers had just vanished into thin air, then he stared at me, and when his thoughts finally took shape, he confronted me with what had happened: "What was that? Young Potassium Warrior, do you know what you just did?"
His shock at my actions was unmistakable. This was partly due to the feeling in his voice and the trembling of his eyes and hands, which continued even after he spoke to me and waited for my answer, and partly due to the fact that he was yelling at me.
For me, a little child, it was too much, and I cried because I was being yelled at.
But I quickly pulled myself together, wiped away my tears, and answered, "Yes, I wiped out their existences. Evil must be punished!"
Regardless of the fact that these words should never come from the mouth of a child, I had said them.
The wounded person had fallen asleep by now and had his head on the maid's lap.
Then the guard turned away from me, I followed him a few steps, and he carefully picked up the injured person. Then he twisted his arm in a way that allowed him to help the maid up and spoke to the group: "Let's keep going. The young Potassium Warrior probably wants to see more of the city."
The guard's eyes sparkled with anger. My words had triggered a feeling in him that was not compatible with his worldview. How could a child do or say something like that? How?
We walked silently through the hustle and bustle of merchants, merchandise, and interested parties. Occasionally, we stopped to enjoy a snack at a stall or to drink something.
An hour later, we decided to return home. The maid had a lot of fun, and the treated person was still sleeping in the guard's arms.
And even though I didn't get my own pedestal that day, the maid and the guard were glad that I didn't buy a slave - even if I couldn't have afforded one anyway.
All in all, it had been quite an eventful day. We went back home, and over the next few days, months, and years, the system taught me how to use magic until I finally reached level 8.
What else happened during that time? Oh, yes. My father sent me to a school for magic and weapons training.
At the young age of 15, I joined the school - an academy, to be precise, located on an island far away from my home.
And I proudly wore the emblem on my clothing. Being a Potassium warrior who had reached level 8 in magic was something to be proud of, and I was proud of it.
In the meantime the maid passed away due to overconsumption of alcohol.
Don't drink too much. Or else the Ghost of the Drunken Maid will hunt you in exchange for some liquid Goods.
Anyways. Today was the first day in school. And I never in my life saw that many students gather at one place.