Two men rested on a patch of grass just a few meters from a dirt path. A line of trees stood between them and the path, providing enough cover to keep them hidden while still giving them a clear view of anyone passing by.
“How long are we supposed to stay here?” one of the men asked, his voice carrying a hint of impatience. He wore crude leather armor, incomplete and haphazardly strapped together, and gnawed on a strip of jerky as he spoke.
“Until the boy passes, or until we’re relieved,” the other replied, reclining lazily on the grass. His hat was tipped over his face, shielding him from the midday sun. Unlike his companion, his leather armor was complete, though it showed its age, riddled with patches and hastily sewn repairs. “Keep your eyes on the road, Tom.”
“Aw, c’mon! This is boring,” Tom grumbled. He shifted on the grass, waving the half-eaten jerky in frustration. “Why are we even doing this? I’ve counted more than a dozen people passing by already. Why can’t we rob them?”
“Because the boss said we’re here for the boy. No one else,” the man answered firmly, his tone unmoved. “Don’t cause unnecessary trouble.”
“What kind of job is this, Jack? Why do we have to wait for the boy here? Can’t we just wait in town?” Tom asked, his frustration bubbling to the surface.
“Because the boy might not go to the town,” Jack replied, his voice steady. “He could head to another village, or skip the town altogether. The only thing we know for sure is that he’ll pass this path.”
“Aw, that’s bullshit!” Tom snapped, his voice louder this time.
Jack removed the hat from his face and sat up, glaring at Tom. Unlike Tom’s slight build, Jack had a frame packed with muscle, and the scars on his face only added to his menacing appearance.
“I understand, Tom,” Jack said, his voice cold. “You should tell the boss that next time you see him. Or would you like me to deliver your message for you?”
A shiver ran down Tom’s spine. “No… no, sir. That won’t be necessary.” He quickly turned his face away, focusing back on the path, his earlier bravado vanishing in an instant.
Watching the man shrink under his glare brought a smirk to Jack’s face. He patted Tom on the shoulder. “That’s more like it.” Leaning back, he returned to lying on the grass and pulled his hat down over his face. “Anyway, this is a nice gig, you know. We don’t have to do anything risky, and the pay’s good.”
“Who even commissioned this job?” Tom asked after a moment. “What kind of person would go to all this trouble just to kill a boy?”
“Don’t know,” Jack replied lazily. “Missy said it was some nobleman. I didn’t ask for details, and you shouldn’t either.”
“… Yes, sir,” Tom mumbled in a defeated tone.
Jack peeked out from under his hat, noticing how crestfallen the man looked.
“Ahhh, alright then,” Jack said, relenting. “I suppose it won’t hurt if we rob someone, just once.”
Tom’s face lit up at those words. “Really? Great! Look, there are a couple of men coming this way. Should we do them?”
“Nah, let’s wait for a woman,” Jack replied nonchalantly.
A grin spread across Tom’s face. “Alright, then.”
____________________________________
Meanwhile, back in the forest, Alistair stood near the black spear lying on the ground, his gaze fixed on it as if deep in thought.
-So. Which class do you want on your status screen?-
“So I can pick any class I want? A healer might be nice. The healing spell the Hero class had really helped me in the past. Knowing higher-level healing and other curative spells would definitely come in handy.”
-No. It doesn’t work like that. Unless you already know how to perform a healing skill without the system’s help, you won’t get any healing skills.-
“What? Why? What’s the point of the class then?”
-Well, most of the personal information on your status screen is just that—information. Except for your age, which always reflects the actual age of your body, the other details are only for the system’s record. They don’t affect you in any way, including the class you choose.-
“Is that so? Then what about stat increases when I level up? Which of my stats will increase?”
-None of your stats will increase on level up. Like I said before, your system is different.-
“I see… Alright then, how is my system different from the normal system, or from the system other champions use?”
-For champions, it’s quite simple. We just remove the admin’s mana tax. Basically, the champion receives the same amount of mana that they return to the world, with no limit on beasts’ strength—or from killing other awakened.-
“Hooo, that’s very nice. Similar to how the Hero leveled up. Why wasn’t I given this system?”
-Because Meera thought that this other system would be better for you. Let me ask you something. Do you know that killing other beings isn’t the only way to level up? There are other methods. One of them is the method you actually used to keep leveling up, even when you couldn’t get any more mana from the beasts in the world. Do you know what that method is?-
“…Is it training?”
-Exactly! Training also helps you level up. I’ll give you an example: how many stats did you have in your old system?-
“Two—Physical (PHY) and Magic (MAG).”
-…Wow, that’s really basic. Anyway, let’s take the PHY stat as an example. Let’s say that at level 1 your PHY is 10, and at level 2, it increases to 11. Now, if your actual physical strength without the system—your real strength—is only 8, how do you think the system makes it 10? Or 11 at level 2?-
“The system compensates?”
-Exactly. The system makes up the difference using mana from the world. So at level 1, the system compensates for 2 PHY.-
“Wait. So it wasn’t the person’s strength? It was from the system? How does that work?”
-You have buffing skills in this world, no? Skills that temporarily make you stronger. It’s like that—but permanent.-
“I see, so most of the awakened aren’t actually strong. The system is what makes them strong. Except for people like me, right?”
-Exactly! So, if we return to the example: at level 1, the person with 8 PHY is granted 2 additional PHY from the system. What would happen if he trained himself and managed to increase his basic PHY to 9? Would that mean his PHY is now 11? No, it’s still 10. The system would simply rebalance his stats and decrease the additional boost to only 1 PHY.-
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
-And what if he kept training until his basic PHY reached 11? Well, the system would rebalance his stats again by increasing his level to level 2, because 11 PHY corresponds to level 2. That’s how you kept leveling up even without hunting. And yes, your strength is entirely your own—none of it comes from the system.-
“I see. Is that also the explanation for my… longevity?”
-Most probably, yes. Mana strengthens your body in every possible way, including making it last longer. Most people in this world don’t live longer than a normal human lifespan because they’re not actually strengthened by mana.-
“But you said before that stronger awakened have more and better mana. That’s why stronger awakened are preferable for growing the world.”
-You remember. Good! And yes, even though the person themselves isn’t strong, the mana accumulates in their system, which resides in their body. So, by growing in level, the system itself grows stronger. In the end, this still means that higher-level awakened contribute more and better mana to the world.-
“Hmm. Something is still bothering me.”
-Hm? Yeah? What is it?-
“Training makes you stronger isn’t new information. Actually, most children from warrior families in this world train extensively before their awakening. The belief is that the stronger they are before awakening, the better their chances of getting a higher-tier class. It’s not uncommon for newly awakened children to start at higher levels. I myself started at level 10 after my awakening.
“It’s just that most people don’t get stronger through training after awakening. But I did, so in the past, I tried to get my children to keep training, to make them stronger—like me. But it failed. Some of them did manage to gain levels through training, but that usually happened only at lower levels. And although all my children lived much longer than normal awakened, none of them lived as long as I have.”
Alistair’s face twitched slightly at his own words. He took a deep breath.
-…I’m sorry about your children. I think it’s different for you because of your mana attunement. Someone with higher mana attunement can not only handle mana better but can also absorb it more easily.-
-For normal human beings, training grows their muscles through repeated exercise. For awakened, training is a bit different. It’s usually done to help their bodies absorb mana—the mana of the world, not the system’s mana.-
“So I have a high mana attunement?”
-Freakishly high, I’d say. You’re almost 1,000 years old. I’d estimate your mana attunement is at the level of an elder elf. Do they have elves in this world?-
“They used to. I don’t know now.”
-Hmm? What happe--
“So, about my system?” Alistair interrupted her mid-sentence.
-Oh, right… So, your system is basically a training system. It doesn’t give you additional stats, it doesn’t grant you skills, and it doesn’t even guarantee level-ups. But it does help you with training.-
Ameera paused for a moment, and when she didn’t continue, Alistair asked, “What do you me—"
-What does it mean? I’ll explain now.-
Although Alistair couldn’t see her face, he had the distinct impression she was smirking.
-Your system helps you absorb the world’s mana and level up without limits. Remember your old system? You had two stats, right? Let’s say that leveling up through training required you to increase 3 PHY and 3 MAG. What would happen if you increased your PHY by 4 before working on MAG? Nothing would happen. You wouldn’t be able to increase your PHY beyond 3 until you raised your MAG by 3 to level up. Only then could you start increasing PHY again.-
-That’s because training under your old system was heavily tied to your class. But this new system isn’t tied to any class or level. It only reflects your maximum potential. For example, if in your old system you had 10 PHY and MAG at level 1, and level 2 required both to increase to 11, what would happen if you trained your PHY to 15 before touching MAG? You would still be able to increase your PHY indefinitely, but your level would still be displayed as 1.-
-And there’s more. As I said before, your training strengthens you by absorbing the world’s mana into your body. The world’s mana is everywhere, but there’s only a limited amount available in any given area at a time. Your system helps by concentrating the world’s mana near you. The higher your level, the more mana will accumulate around you, making it easier and faster for you to grow stronger.-
“Oh wow, that’s actually better,” Alistair said, a smile starting to bloom on his face.
“Hey, I noticed that my alias field is empty on my status screen. Does that mean I won’t have an alias because of Kotan?”
-Nah, not really. Although the information he entered is permanent and can’t be changed, your alias is empty because he failed to fill it. You can add your alias now, along with your class, if you want. Should I enter ‘Alistair’ as your alias?-
“…Wait a minute. What do you mean? Are you saying I can just enter anything as my alias?”
-Yes, you can. What’s wrong?-
“Well, you see, in my old system, a priest handled the awakening. They never asked for a full name, but they always asked for an alias. The catch was, they usually limited what kind of alias we could use—it had to be something derived from our full name.”
-Huh. Probably for safety reasons, I suppose. But no, there’s no limit for your alias here. Do you want to use a different name?-
“Ho ho ho ho, definitely. This is great. This opens up some interesting possibilities for the future,” Alistair said, covering his smiling mouth with his hand.
-Really? What kind of possibilities?-
“You’ll see eventually—it’s going to be a nice surprise,” Alistair said with a smirk. Somehow, he could tell Ameera was pouting at his response.
-Don’t tell me, then. See if I care. So, what do you want for your class and alias?-
“Hmm… Enter ‘Monk’ as my class and ‘Ronan’ as my alias.”
____________________________________
“This spear,” Alistair said, pointing at the black spear on the ground, “is it dangerous?”
-Only if you stab yourself with it.-
Alistair blinked, taken aback by her curt response. He could tell she was still annoyed, but he decided to ignore it for now.
“This spear was left by Kotan, remember? We all believed he wouldn’t do anything stupid anymore, but then he messed with my status screen. So I’m just wondering if he did something to this spear.”
-Oh, I see. Hmm… I don’t know. I can’t detect anything from this distance. I could take a closer look, but you’d have to touch it.-
Now, Alistair could feel her embarrassment. It wasn’t the first time he’d sensed her emotions like this.
“Hey. Why can I feel your emotions?” Alistair finally decided to ask.
-…That’s probably because our souls are connected. So yeah, I guess you can sense changes in my emotions.-
“…Can you feel my emotions?”
-Definitely, yes. Earlier, I could sense your joy and excitement when you discovered the inventory system.-
“…That’s not good. Is there any way to stop that?”
-No. Our souls are connected. You could isolate the connection for a period of time, but that would also disconnect everything else. Not only would I be unable to feel your emotions, but I also wouldn’t be able to see, hear, or sense anything in the world.-
“And I assume that’s not a good thing for you?”
-Of course not! Why don’t you try digging a hole and burying yourself? See how long you can stand without any of your senses!-
For the first time, Alistair felt fear from Ameera, though she tried to mask it with anger.
“I see. I’m sorry. I’m not going to do that.”
-Yeah, sure.-
This time, he felt her relief. These interactions gave Alistair pause. He really needed to be careful with her. It was easy to forget that she was, essentially, just a child.
“So, what’s the point of giving me the ability to isolate the connection, then?”
-Oh, that’s for your privacy—in case you need to use the restroom or… you know, relieve yourself in other ways…-
“Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. So how do I—ah, got it.” Alistair stopped mid-sentence as he felt Ameera sending the information directly to him.
“So, I thought you wouldn’t like it if I isolated the connection?”
-If it’s only for a short time, it’s fine. It’ll just feel like taking a nap for me.-
“Alright, I understand.”
Alistair glanced back at the black spear. After a moment of consideration, he turned away and walked a few steps before sitting on the ground. He pulled an apple from his inventory and began eating it.
-You’re not going to have me check the spear?-
“Nope, not worth it. Kotan might have put some kind of curse on it. Besides, the other admin left a spear in the bag for me.”
-Hmm? It’s kind of a small bag, though. I didn’t see a spear.-
“Heh, we might not have the concept of inventories or pocket dimensions in this world, but we do have space magic, you know? Enchanting a bag with space magic to increase its capacity is doable. It might not reduce the weight, and it’s definitely not cheap or easy, but it can be done.”
-I see. So what’s the plan now? Are we going to the nearest town?-
“Nope. There’s enough food in the inventory, so I’ll just stay here for a while and train. My body is too weak right now.”
-Oh, we’re staying here?-
“Yup. Training to get stronger is the plan, right? Like I said, we have enough food—actually, we have too much food. The jerky’s fine, but most of it will go bad before I can finish it…”
-It should be fine. Time doesn’t move in your inventory, so food won’t go bad.-
“Really? Oh, we’re definitely staying then,” Alistair said, taking another bite of the apple as a smile bloomed on his face.