Peter was not surprised. If you spend all of your conscious hours from age four to eighteen preparing for a decision, and that decision occurs, then surprise should not be the expected reaction.
Empower Body. Strength focus. Lower body variant.
Peter looked at the document in front of him only for as long as it took him to read these seven words, then left the podium to begin his training. For even if the Day of Choosing is supposed to be the highlight of one’s life, Peter already knew precisely what those words would read.
Every moment not spent training would be a moment wasted. Peter was going to break the cycle his family had, proudly-for-them, upheld for generations. He was going to break the level fifty barrier, break the expectations of a common laborer, and break the world’s assumptions of what a Strength focus is capable of.
It was time to hit level one. Peter had fully prepared his body and mind for the beginning training, regardless of having no actual attributes available. As he entered the gym, Peter calmly walked up to the sandbag hanging in the back and roundhouse kicked it directly in the center.
—————————————————-
An hour later, the corner of Peter’s mouth very slightly ticked upwards, as his internal status screen read:
Ding! Congratulations, you have reached level 1. You have five (5) unallocated attribute points.
Vitality - 0
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Endurance - 0
Strength - 0
Dexterity - 0
Intelligence - 0
And now, Peter thought to himself, time for the decision he had based his entire life on. Peter put four points into Endurance and one into Intelligence, then went back to massacring the sandbags.
With the enhanced energy the endurance provided him it was late into the evening before Peter noticed his exhaustion, or for that matter, the beginning pangs of hunger. With his experience bar nearing 94%, he resumed training until the exhilarating sound came again:
Ding! Congratulations, you have reached level 2. You have five (5) unallocated attribute points.
Again he put four into Endurance and a single point into Intelligence, then began heading home for a well-deserved rest.
Peter walked into his family’s tiny home and was greeted by a flying bundle of joy wrapping him in a hug. Rachel shouted
“Brother! Congratulations! You’re just like Ma and Pa, now you can stay with us supporting the Constructors as a Leg!”
“Rach... I love you, but I won’t be staying. I leave for Junton at the end of the week. You know that,.” Peter replied.
“But… you’re a Leg now?”
“Yes. And I will be the champion.”
“A Leg hasn’t won the district tournament in, well, ever. Come on are we so awful you’d rather humiliate yourself in the city?” Rachel teased.
Peter waited a beat, looking at her calmly before replying, “I will take many lessons from our family. Our stamina is legendary. Father can spend multiple days moving granite. I’m going to apply our gifts to something more than simply building a far-off emperor’s palace.”
Sensing the other legendary trait of her family, stubbornness. Rachel sighed and simply gave her brother another hug. This time the gesture wasn’t full of rampant joy, but rather a solemn goodbye.
—————————————————-
Three days later Peter had said goodbye to his parents and his few village friends.
As he began the two-week journey east towards Junton, he reflected on his stats:
Level 4, 48% (1633/3403)
Vitality - 0
Endurance - 16
Strength - 0
Dexterity - 0
Intelligence - 4
Peter smiled. He wouldn’t win any races. Or duels. He wouldn’t excel as a pure mathematician, and he’d never lift the heaviest stone. But he’d outlast them. He’d outlast all of them.