Daniel gazed out towards the forest and pondered his next steps.

The cows, normally curious by nature, were staying well back and watching him from the far side of the fenced pasture.

He had spent the last year guarding three farms’ worth of livestock from wolves, mountain lions, and even the occasional dire beast in a misguided effort to collect enough System points to open his first mana-gate.

Today, he had faced off against a full-sized brown bear with just his wits and spear, and through what was most likely divine provenance, had somehow prevailed.

It had been a near thing, too. His first strike had glanced off the bear’s thick hide and only succeeded in gaining the predator’s attention.

The wire fence between him and the bear offered little protection.

Knowing what was coming, he had moved to place a fencepost between himself and the massive animal; then braced his spear against his foot as it came over the post in its frenzy to get at him.

The bear’s momentum had done the work for him, landing solidly, chest-first on the broad head of the spear.

He had fallen back, crawling backwards on all fours before jumping to his feet to run for all he was worth, but the bear had only made it a few yards before collapsing.

The System alert telling him he had earned one System point had made it all worthwhile.

He hadn’t even fully caught his breath before he opened his System screen and spent the five points required to open his first mana-gate.

No one held on to more than one or two System points, as a System point could be traded back to the System for 500 gold, or three System points could be used to purchase a skill or even a class.

He had never spent a single System point, and only through the blessing of Honos, God of Honor and Justice, could he even use a spear.

Opening a mana-gate was a big deal. It meant that he now had a closer connection to the System, not that he really understood what that meant. It also meant that his lifespan would be extended by half, though at seventeen, that was not the greatest of draws.

No, it was the fact that opening a mana-gate would let him know if he could wield magic.

It was incredibly rare to be offered the Path of Magic, but he was sure he would get it.

He had everything planned out. He was going to open his mana-gate, become a wizard, and then join the Adventurers Guild.

A child’s dream, he thought.

There was his answer. No magic classes. He was not destined to walk the Path of Magic.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t join the Adventurers Guild without magic. Most Guildies didn’t walk the Path of Magic after all, and every dungeon raiding team needed a warrior’s strong arm to swing a sword, or a slinger’s bow to pick off targets from a distance.

No, he was no longer a child, and he needed to update his plan.

Magic may no longer be in the cards for him, but that didn’t stop his goal of protecting people from the monsters that roamed the world.

He pulled up his System screen and read his options.

Name: Daniel Bakerson

Species: Human

Mana-gates: 1

Mana: 0.5

Skills: Willpower +1

He paused as he viewed the random skill he had been born with.

Willpower granted a sort of hard-headed resolve to people, but truthfully, it was only really useful to magic users. A requirement due to the handling of mystical forces and directing mana.

This was the reason he was certain he’d be offered the Path of Magic.

He shook away the thoughts and moved on to Classes.

He had several general classes available, and while a person could take both a general and combat class, being a crafter…or a baker, he thought angrily, would be of no use to him in fulfilling his goal of joining the Guild.

Skipping down to the Combat Classes, he reviewed the three classes that everyone had available.

Warrior – Close Combat Specialist – 3 points

Slinger – Ranged-Combat Specialist – 3 points

Monk – Unarmed-Combat Specialist – 3 points

It wasn’t even a choice for him, really. While being a Slinger would keep him further from any danger, thus safer, that wasn’t where he wanted to be.

His goal was to protect people, and that meant being able to go toe-to-toe with the monsters that roamed the land.

He did glance at the Monk class, but he dismissed it out of hand. Why in the world would anyone choose to punch and kick a monster rather than use a weapon? If you were that worried about being without a weapon, carry two, he thought.

Three points, he mused.

After working for a year to get five points, he now had to earn three more points to get a class.

Turning to look at the dead bear, he let out a long sigh.

At least he would get a little gold for his trouble.

He scanned the field of grass that ran from the fence to the tree line for any threats and then turned to head to the central farm.

Gold and a hot meal were waiting for him, he thought with a smile. Things could always be worse.

***

Daniel thanked the supervisor of the farm as he pocketed his gold. One gold for his week’s wages, one gold for stopping a bear by himself, and two gold for the meat and hide of the beast.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

This would be enough to get by on until he completed the next part of his plan.

He walked the long road toward town and reviewed his next steps.

He had chosen to work as a livestock guard, not because it paid well, but because it had the best opportunity for gaining System points without sacrificing his morals.

But now, with the Path of Magic closed to him, he needed both points and money. Three points to gain a class, and two hundred gold to pay the Guild entrance fee.

A magic-wielder would be accepted into the Guild with a waived fee and a great deal of fanfare, but he was going to have to do it the hard way.

The Guild required a combat class to join, and where did most people join from? The town guard.

It sickened him to join the guard, not that they were all bad, but the people that stayed on for a longer than necessary amount of time were generally the bad apples that the guild had either rejected or just enjoyed their role as Kingdom enforcers a bit too much.

A small measure of power over others brought out the worst in some people.

He had spent two years as a ward of the Kingdom when his parents died. It had been…unpleasant.

The town had started out as a simple village, far south of the Kingdom’s capital, and the layout of the town reflected its humble beginnings.

Built between the guard barracks and the main street of the town, the orphanage had provided him with a front-row seat to the actions and minds of the guards.

He had heard how they talked about the people in the town. There was an ‘Us vs Them’ approach to how they viewed the citizens.

They turned minor infractions into major issues, all in the hope of generating System points.

No one really knew what the System was, and information on the known history of the System was heavily curated.

What he had managed to piece together was that the System rewarded accomplishments with a special focus on life and death struggles.

While a painter might receive a System point for a grand work of art, or a chef for the perfect meal, most System points were awarded for combat.

That wasn’t completely true, he amended to himself. The System rewarded the most points for culling dungeons.

Dungeons were just a fact of life. Monsters grew in a dungeon until it overflowed, and dungeon monsters spilled out into the surrounding areas.

Roaming dungeon monsters would be bad enough, but any dungeon monster that escaped a dungeon could then breed, and soon you had a wave of monsters rampaging across the land. Apex creatures that destroyed everything in their path.

That was where the Guild stepped in. Killing the monsters and culling the dungeon.

The dungeon would then need to be culled again within a year, or the process would start over. A cycle of life and death

Stopping, he scanned the road ahead and behind him before making his way to a large stone that stood proudly in a nearby field.

He set his spear against the rock and climbed up on the boulder and looked back towards the farms in the distance.

A year of his life was gone, and he had practically nothing to show for it.

Removing the amulet of Honos from where it hung beneath his shirt, he studied the image of the stallion’s head that was the god’s symbol.

Honor and Justice, he thought.

Anyone could ask for a blessing from the gods, and providing they met the requirements, they would receive a boon.

A minor blessing that would grant access to a skill.

Honos was different. More discerning in his requirements.

It wasn’t enough to be honorable or just. There had to be a willingness to act in the name of justice.

Many tried to gain the blessing, as Honos was the only god that provided a combat skill, but most failed.

Even before the surge, he had wanted to be a Guildy; and his parents, who had never sought combat, had supported his dream.

Rubbing at his eyes, he breathed deeply as he remembered when his life had fallen apart.

He had been in school when the dungeon monsters had come through from the South.

Their town had been too small and far away from a known dungeon to have an Adventurers Guild branch, so when the monsters came, the guards shut and barred the gate into the town.

They had fired arrows at the monsters from the walls of the town, but no one had tried to save the people trapped outside.

His parents had been picking up flour from a nearby mill when the horns blew, and the gates had been barred by the time they’d reached the walls of the town.

“The monsters may have magic,” one guard had told him as he had pushed with all the strength his fourteen-year-old body could muster to get through and help them.

They hadn’t had magic, of course, and they were far enough away that the people could have been let inside with minimal risk.

But it hadn’t mattered. Some cowardly noble had told the town guard to shut the gates, and they did.

That was what the guard and the Kingdom did. They focused on protecting the many and the important at the cost of the individual.

Not that all the guards were bad. Most joined the guard and as soon as they had their class, they moved off to join either the Kingdom Army or the Adventurers Guild.

And why join the Army over the Guild? The Army was largely safe as you fought in large groups against other humans or the monster races while the Guild worked in small teams due to the party rules that Dungeons enforced.

A maximum of five people could enter a dungeon at a time, and then it would close off until the party exited, and the monsters respawned, or the team died.

Saving the world from dungeon monsters was noble. Fighting with other kingdoms over land or attacking the villages of the monster races for their supplies was just wrong, no matter how you looked at it.

Still, that was the path forward. A hopefully short time with the town guard, followed by a lifetime of protecting people from actual threats.

At least the money would be better with the town guard, he thought.

***

Daniel frowned at the contract he was asked to sign. It was full of different terms and conditions designed to screw over people attempting to use it as a steppingstone to get into the Guild.

Five gold a week was the base. You could then receive five extra gold a week if you signed on for a two-year stint.

Then five more gold a week if you agreed to join the Kingdom Army when your enlistment with the guard was over and you had your combat class.

Then there was the notice that only guards enlisted for the two-year stint would be provided with armor and weapons. Otherwise, the armor would be rented to you for five silver and your duty weapon for another five silver.

Not that you could bring in your own armor and weapon. Your armor and weapon would need to be purchased from the town armory at twice the cost of similar items.

Daniel stared at the form. So, fifteen gold a week if you signed up for everything with weapons and armor given to you. If not, four gold a week.

The stern-faced guard captain he had received the form from frowned as he returned the contract unsigned.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

Daniel considered his words carefully.

“I plan on joining the Adventurers Guild in less than a year. That would mean that after signing on and the cost of my equipment rental, I would be paid four gold a week. That’s barely enough to live in the city, much less save for the entrance fee.”

The guard captain nodded and studied him for a long moment.

“Why do you want to join the Adventurers Guild and not the Kingdom’s army?”

“My parents died in the dungeon surge three years ago,” he answered truthfully.

The guard captain nodded again in thought.

“Let me see what I can do.”

The captain grabbed a book down from the shelf behind his desk and flipped through it before returning his attention to him.

“I am going to ask you a few questions you do not have to answer, but it may help us come up with a way to resolve this.”

Not seeing an issue, Daniel nodded his assent.

“What System skills do you have?” the captain asked.

“Willpower,” Daniel responded carefully.

“Do you have or have spent any System points?” the captain continued.

“No, I don’t currently have any System points, but I have spent five System points to open my first mana-gate,” Daniel answered.

The guard captain nodded in understanding.

“I see. And were you a ward of the Kingdom from the point of the dungeon surge until the age of System integration?”

Daniel frowned to himself but nodded before answering in the affirmative.

The guard captain smiled widely and closed the book.

“As a ward of the Kingdom, technically you have spent two years in the Kingdom’s service. Also, having a mana-gate open allows me to award a dispensation, as you have shown remarkable growth in just a single year.”

The captain stood and placed the book back on the shelf before speaking over his shoulder to him.

“I, for one, find it admirable that you, a proper citizen of the Kingdom went out and gained five System points in only a year, then came back to spend some time with the town guard. As such, I can approve the five gold for the two-year stint, approve you to be outfitted from the town’s armory, and approve another two gold for having opened a mana-gate.”

Daniel blinked in surprise.

“I…thank you, sir!”

The captain turned back to him and sat back down in the chair, quickly hiding the pleased smile that had been on his face.

He carefully made some adjustments to the contract and handed it back to Daniel.

Giving a cursory glance at the changes, Daniel signed the contract and returned it to the captain.

The guard captain stood and held out a hand to shake.

“Welcome to the town guard, Guard Bakerson.” he said as Daniel took his hand.

“Thank you, sir. I swear I will serve the town with honor and distinction,” Daniel told him.

“Excellent!” he said as he walked to the door and opened it.

“Now, please follow the lieutenant and she’ll get you situated. Dismissed.”

Daniel gave a nod to the guard lieutenant that had come to attention outside of the door.

Maybe I was wrong about the guard, he thought as he followed the lieutenant toward the barracks.

Looking down at himself, he realized the amulet of Honos had come out of his shirt and was clearly visible.

Tucking it back into his shirt, he idly wondered if the symbol of the god of honor and justice had played a role in him getting the special treatment.

Smiling at the thought, he sent a thankful prayer to the deity.

He had no one. No family, no friends, and if Honos was truly watching over him, perhaps he wasn’t completely alone. Not that the god was a talker, of course.

They passed the training area where guards sparred and practiced weapon forms.

Following the lieutenant, he took in the atmosphere of the men and women around him and smiled to himself.

It looks like I made the right choice; he decided.