"Hey, brat, make sure you clean everything up properly," he says while spilling more beer onto the floor. I clench my fists in anger, but there is nothing I can do about this. If only I had power, even a little bit, maybe I would have been able to do something about him, about all of them. I clean up the table and the floor and take one more look at the bulky man and his friends laughing at me. I sigh and go back to the kitchen.
As I step into the kitchen, Aunt Jane, the owner of the tavern I work at, looks at me with a sad look on her face. "Don't worry about it, Kyle," she says. "One day you'll awaken your magic too, and you'll do great things, I know that."
I continue to work until it's closing time. Aunt Jane calls out to me, "Kyle, here's some food. Make sure you eat it as you get home." She hands me a bag with some food and a pouch with a few bronze coins. I look up at her with a smile and tell her, "Thank you," as I step out of the tavern, heading home.
She's the only person in this wretched town who is human. Kyle Verdant, that's my name, and to put it simply, I'm the weakest.
In this world, there are haves and have-nots, and what separates them is MANA. Mana, the life energy that flows through all things, is the essence of life and the essence of magic. Those who have awakened the ability to sense mana in the surroundings and use all types of magic, whether they are mages or magic swordsmen, have a significant advantage. The ability to sense mana is usually awakened in a child between the ages of eight to twelve, and your talent for mana determines your place in this world.
When it comes to talent for mana, there is a stark difference between royalty, nobility, and commoners. The royals and nobles possess a great talent for mana and magic, which they use to oppress us commoners because we don't. The disparity in mana creates a rigid hierarchy. Royals and nobles, with their abundant mana, wield immense power, wealth, and influence. For us commoners, life is a constant struggle. We struggle to make ends meet while those nobles lavish in wealth. Life just isn't fair. It could be better if us commoners could join ourselves together, but even amongst commoners, there is a disparity. For someone like me who is past the age of awakening and still can't sense mana, I'm at the bottom of the pack.
Life has never been fair to me. I was never able to meet my mom because she died while giving birth to me. My father, even though he was grieved, continually worked hard to provide for me. But when I was eight years old, he suddenly came down with an illness that no healer could cure. I watched as he grew weaker each day, and by the time I was ten, he finally passed on, leaving me an orphan.
I live in the house my father and I lived in before he died. It's a small one-bedroom house, but it's more than enough for me. I look at the table on the side of the room. There is only a single book on it, the only thing my dad left for me. But for some reason, up until now, I haven't been able to open it. I've tried different methods to open it, but it never seems to work.
After eating the food given to me by Aunt Jane, I lay down on the bed, falling asleep.
About an hour had passed since Kyle laid down to sleep. He could hear sounds, screams to be exact. The distant screams jolted him awake. As he looked through the window, he could see people running, signs of fear apparent on their faces. He grabbed the book from the table and rushed outside, asking what was going on. Apparently, some giant boars had entered the town, wreaking havoc and killing the people in their path. With the lack of credible warriors and adventurers, they couldn't handle them. Kyle prepared to run as far away as he could. He wasn't ready to die, at least not now. As he ran, a thought struck him—the direction those screams were coming from. That direction was where Aunt Jane's house was. She was probably home. I can't let her die; she was the only person who was good to me. As he changed his direction, he started running towards her house. He could see buildings that had been destroyed. He could hear the cries of children calling out to their parents. He filtered them all out of his mind. He had only one mission, and that was to save Aunt Jane and her daughters. As he arrived, he could see her standing in front of a giant boar with a knife in hand, her two little girls behind her. He rushed and smacked the boar in the head with the book. It took a few steps back, startled by the sudden intervention. He turned towards her and asked, "Are you okay, Aunt Jane?" She looked at him with a hint of gratitude but with fear still glued to her face. He grabbed the knife out of her hand, turned towards the boar, and said, "Run away, Aunt Jane. Take your daughters and run away from here. I'll hold the boar back." She shouted and replied, "No, you can't. You'll die." He replied, "It's okay. You still have a family to go to. You can't leave them behind. Besides, no one would be sad if I died." She took one final look at him, nodded, grabbed her daughters, and started running in the other direction.
He turned to look at the boar in front of him. He knew he couldn't defeat it, but he would hold it back long enough for them to get away. As the boar charged towards him, he jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding its horns. He slashed the knife at the boar, cutting it in its side. The boar growled, a look of anger on its face, as it charged once again. This time, its horns hit their mark, leaving a small hole in Kyle's stomach. "Ahhh," he screamed as he felt the pain coursing through his entire body. He thought to himself, "Is this it? Is this how I die? No, I can't die here." He looked at the boar with a determined look, blood pumping throughout his body. As the boar prepared to charge in again, he watched, waiting for it. As soon as it charged, he immediately sidestepped and plunged the knife deep into the boar's back, dragging it and leaving a pool of blood on the floor. The boar shrieked as it fell to the ground, dead. But Kyle didn't have time to celebrate as he was losing so much blood. The pain flowed through his body as he fell to the ground, beginning to lose consciousness. The old book beside him, he heard a mechanical voice.
{User has met the requirement to awaken the system: An honorary display of courage}
{Initializing 10%....28%....50%....74%....100%}
{Congratulations to the host for awakening the Ma.....}
That was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.