Darell slowly stirred on his bed as the faint chirping of birds outside his window gradually roused him from his deep sleep.
With a deep yawn and stretch, he cracked open his eyes, squinting against the bright rays of early morning sunlight that streamed into his room. Gazing around the room, he couldn't help but groan inwardly at the unwelcome intrusion of the sun's warmth into his room.
"Ugh...", he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes and dragging himself out of bed.
"Too much sunlight", he grumbled as he began to prepare himself for the day ahead.
While walking towards the bathroom, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was different. He froze mid-step.
'Is it my imagination?', he thought, looking around his room and scratching his head in confusion. His eyes wandered around the room as he tried to identify what seemed wrong with his room. He shook his head when he saw that everything was the same as usual and entered the bathroom. He walked towards the mirror in it to examine his reflection, and froze.
"What the hell?", he exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at his reflection, "Did the system enhance my looks?", he wondered out loud.
He checked his appearance thoroughly for a moment, running his fingers through his hair, poking his cheek, and even pulling at his face to make sure that the enhancements weren't some trick of the system and if it was real. Darell couldn't believe his eyes. He never paid much attention to his appearance. But now, he couldn't help but feel attractive. The way his eyes stood out from his face. His smooth, unblemished skin. He examined his appearance.
Gone were his once-dark locks, replaced by an almost unreal shade of black that flowed effortlessly down to his shoulders. His azure eyes had taken on a golden hue, making them seem almost otherworldly. But that wasn't all. When he looked at the rest of his body, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His muscles had become more defined and chiseled, as if they had been sculpted to perfection. His once-lean frame had filled out, giving him a more imposing presence. Even his height had increased by a few inches, now towering at an impressive 6.5 feet.
He gazed into his reflection with a perplexed look on his face.
'Did the system do all this?', he thought to himself.
"I'm beautiful." He whispered to himself, "I'm fucking hot as hell motherfucker!" He exclaimed with a grin.
With a wide smile, he quickly freshened himself up and left the bathroom, and went to his closet to select an outfit for the day. He was in such a good mood that he even took the time to put some effort into his appearance.
But, then he remembered that he had a quest to finish. He glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that it was only six in the morning which made him think, 'If I only spend 3-4 hours on the quest, I can hurry back in time for breakfast. I don't want to do the quest when everybody's awake. It's better to do it now when they are sleeping.'
He wore minimalistic armor, took a bag which was filled with certain things that could help him on the way, quietly opened the door of his room and peeked outside. Finding nobody around, he quickly slipped out and closed the door behind him without making a sound. He knew that he had to be careful if he wanted to avoid raising any suspicion on being absent from the mansion by either of his parents... especially his mother. But, that's a story for another time.
He ran out of the courtyard and into the garden outside of the mansion. The garden was a magnificent sight. It was well-kept and well-tended. But the beauty of the garden couldn't distract him from his quest as he headed straight to the gate. His heart was pounding in his chest. He felt thrilled since he had never done something like this, especially not due to a quest given by a system to him.
He stopped and hid among the bushes and peeked at the gates. The mansion was surrounded by a wall which was about eight feet high and about a foot wide. Darell knew that this quest would probably be dangerous, so he had planned his actions beforehand. He reached into his bag and pulled out a rope which he used to climb the wall. When he had reached the top, he climbed over the wall and looked around to see if anyone had noticed him. Fortunately, nobody was there.
'So far, so good', he thought to himself and quietly landed on the ground outside the mansion. He made sure that the guards at the gate didn't see him and made his way to one of the carriages parked outside the mansion. He couldn't believe his luck when he found it completely empty, with the driver nowhere in sight. He climbed in and searched the carriage to make sure that it was empty before taking his seat behind a barrel and closing the door behind him.
Sometime later, he felt the carriage begin moving and he settled inside. After some time, the carriage began to slow down.
"What's going on?", he wondered out loud. He peeked outside to see what was happening. The carriage had stopped in front of a large building which he realized were the city gates of Xena – The Capital of his father's fiefdom. A group of guards approached the carriage, followed by the driver. The guards inspected the carriage and when they found nothing since Darell was hiding behind a barrel, they asked the driver about his identity. When he told the guard his name, the guard checked the crest on his chest and confirmed that he was indeed Deron Laibisad, husband of Skilon Laibisad who was one of the members of The Costly Coin – The Merchant Guild of the city. The guards then asked him to enter the city.
Xena was a huge city with over 500,000 people living in it. But, that couldn't hold a candle to the kingdom's capital – Varona which had 10 million people living in it. Xena was made up of a total of 20 districts. And, Darell was headed to one of the districts – Neward. It was named at first, New Guard but overtime, the name was changed into what it was now. It was an overall, industrial district but, it was home to two of the most influential guilds of the city, The ThunderThorn Guild and The Council Of Stags. The former was an adventurer guild where Darell was headed while the latter was a mercenary company.
As the carriage came to a stop in the Neward District, he opened the bag and took out a mask from it. He placed the mask over his face since he didn't want people to know who he was lest his father or mother were informed that their son was sauntering to the adventurer's guild right after awakening his innate ability.
After looking around the carriage one more time, he quietly climbed out of it and began walking away from the carriage to blend in with the crowd that was slowly filling the streets as they prepared for the day's work.
After a short walk, he reached his destination – The ThunderThorn Adventurer's Guild.
He slowly pushed the doors open and entered the guild's building. The first thing that caught his attention was the hustle and bustle of the people inside. Darell had never been to the adventurer's guild before, but he had heard about it before. A large number of adventurers were clustered around a large board which had a notice for a quest. The board had various pieces of parchment on it with different quests written on them. He could hear a few adventurers discussing the quests that they had done over the past few days. He had to admit that he was intrigued by all the quests that were written on the board.
But, he quickly moved towards the front desk, where a female receptionist was sitting. She had a beautiful face with a warm smile and a welcoming demeanor. Despite the slight wrinkles on her face, she exuded a youthful energy that seemed to attract people to her.
"Good Morning! Welcome to the ThunderThorn Guild - Where Talent Is Appreciated! I'm Salvia! How may I help you?", the woman greeted Darell as he approached the counter.
"Hello", Darell replied in a hoarse voice, "My name is...." He was about to say, 'Darell Rogers' when he suddenly stopped himself and cleared his throat, "I want to register as an adventurer. Can I do that?", he asked.
"Oh yes", Salvia replied with a nod and took out a piece of parchment which she filled with details. "Name?", she asked.
"K-Karthus", Darell replied.
She asked while filling the form, "Age?"
Darell thought about it for a moment and replied, "26 years old."
Salvia looked up at him from the form and stared at him for a few seconds. She smiled slightly and hummed in response.
Darell gulped and looked at her smile while thinking, 'Fuck! She definitely knows that I'm lying! I need to stay calm. I can't expose myself.'
He took a deep breath to calm himself and asked, "Is there a problem?"
Salvia chuckled, "Oh no. There's nothing wrong", she said and looked down to hide the smile on her face, "Just... nothing."
She placed a crystal ball from underneath the desk and said, "Your innate ability."
"Hmm... how about I don't want to disclose it?", Darell asked with a serious look on his face.
"Oh, you can do that. But...," she paused and took out a form which she gave to him and while pointing at a particular line on it said, "Rule 34.5A states that if an adventurer wants to keep their ability hidden, they have to pay a small sum of 30 silver coins per month to the guild. Failure of payment would result in the guild throwing them out and disclosing their private details to the public."
Darell couldn't help but groan under his mask when he saw the fine. But, he knew that there was no other choice if he didn't want to expose his ability which was obviously unusual for someone his age.
"Fine!", he said and signed his name at the form, paying the required fee. He gave the form back to her who quickly glanced at it. When she found that everything had been filled correctly, she took two stamps from underneath the desk and proceeded to stamp the form, one for registration as a ThunderThorn Guild adventurer and the other for an adventurer who has kept their ability hidden.
Salvia put the form underneath her desk and took out the ThunderThorn Guild token which had a purple thorn-shaped lightning insignia carved onto it. She smiled while giving him the token and said, "Congratulations for becoming an adventurer at ThunderThorn Guild! This is your token as a Metal-ranked adventurer."
Darell nodded and put the token into his pocket.
"If you have any questions about the guild or the quests, you can come to me. My office is here", she said and pointed at a room near her desk.
"Okay.", Darell said with a smile before turning around and leaving.
He explored the guild while he thought about the adventurers in his kingdom – Kingdom Of Gavaria. Here, adventurers came from all walks of life, but they were mostly from common families. It was a rare sight to see a noble family produce an adventurer. But, even so, it didn't happen too often. Darell had seen it once when he was just a child. His parents, Ralph Rogers and Isabella Rogers had also attended the Varona Royal Academy.
Despite their humble origins, adventurers were highly respected and held in high esteem by the common people. They were also considered heroes. Due to their jobs, adventurers often got into fights and fought against beasts. Sometimes, adventurers would even take quests that were extremely dangerous, sometimes life threatening. But, it didn't deter them from completing them.
They were ranked based on their skill and experience, with the highest tiers being the most powerful. The ranking system consisted of Metal, Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Red Diamond, Pink Diamond, and Blue Diamond, with Metal being the lowest and Blue Diamond being the highest. In the entire kingdom, there was only one Blue Diamond adventurer, and he happened to be the King's brother. This made him one of the most powerful and influential individuals in the land. To be in the same league as the King's brother was an achievement that only a few adventurers could boast of, and Darell wanted to be someone of that caliber, someone worthy of such a lofty position.
After thoroughly exploring the guild hall, he stepped out of the building and began his search for a carriage headed towards the forest of Fyn.
He quickly found a carriage and entered it. Once he had taken a seat and closed the door, he looked outside to see the driver preparing the carriage for its journey. After some time, the carriage started to move, and the road began to take a turn which led to a well-built one.
Darell gazed outside, mesmerized by the beautiful scenery.
After some time, the road took him out of the city and he got the first glimpse of the vast expanse of the forest of Fyn, his destination. When he arrived at the outer edge of the forest, he jumped out of the moving carriage without any hesitation and rolled on the ground before standing up. He dusted off his armor and entered the forest.
The forest of Fyn was an endless sea of trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. But, Darell knew that it was not really endless. According to the history books of his kingdom, it used to be a vast expanse of flat land. But, over time, the forest had slowly started to consume it. The books said that the reason for it was the increased presence of mana. And, it was true. But, he didn't know if that was the only reason or if it was due to some other reason.
He made his way into the forest of Fyn and began walking deeper into it. He continued to walk in the forest for some time. He could smell the fragrant flowers in the forest and he could hear birds chirping in the distance. While looking around, he remembered an important fact about the forest of Fyn. The forest was divided into three areas based on the ranking of the beasts inhabiting them. The outer area of the forest, where he was now, was inhabited by beasts that were ranked between 01 and 04. The beasts in this area were relatively weaker compared to those in the inner area in which beasts ranked between rank 05 and rank 07 lived or core area which was inhabited by beasts of ranks 08 to rank 10. But he didn't let the fact that he was in the 'newbie adventurer' area of the forest or the fact that the beasts in this area were the easiest to kill let it go to his head. He remained alert, constantly scanning his surroundings and listening for any unusual sounds.
While walking, he called out in his mind, 'Hey, system!'
Yes?
He said, 'I've been wondering what does my stats mean? I mean, what does the 10 in my STR stat indicates?'
It indicates the amount of weight you can pick up. At level 1, you can pick up 100 kg of weight.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
'That much? I haven't even begun my magic training, learning spells and acquiring skills and my limit is this high?', he excitedly said.
He rubbed his chin in contemplation as he thought, 'People who have learnt rank 01 spells can only lift up to 50 kg. People who've learnt rank 02 can lift up to 200 kg. Similarly, people with rank 03 spells have a limit of 800 kg. At every increase in the rank of spells learnt, the limit quadruples. Until, someone transitions from rank 07 to rank 08 spells, the limit doesn't merely doubles, it shoots up to a limit of 500,000 kg. Then, at rank 09, it becomes 20 million kg. And, finally, at rank 10, the highest reported limit is said to be 1 billion kg.'
He excitedly rubbed his hands and said, 'I love you, system. I truly do.'
Thank you for your acknowledgement.
While walking, Darell continued to listen to the sounds of the forest and keep an eye on his surroundings. But, then he noticed something odd. There was a beast in the distance. He quickly approached it and hid among the bushes. He observed the beast and saw that it was busy devouring another dead beast.
He narrowed his eyes and thought, 'This... looks like a bear. It can be the perfect beast for me to finish the quest. I can only hope it to be a rank 01 SandBear whose strength limit is only 50 kg. If it's a rank 01 RockBear whose limit is 100 kg or a rank 02 IronBear with a limit of 200 kg then, I'm fucked.'
He took a deep breath and charged toward the bear while thinking, 'Please be a SandBear! Please be a SandBear! Please be a SandBear!'
He aimed and used his full effort to punch it at the back of it's head and hopefully, kill it in one strike.
* WHAM *
However, it wasn't a SandBear like he had hoped which was clear from the fact that after his punch landed on the bear, it didn't even flinch. Instead, it turned it's head around and growled at him as if it was annoyed by that an ant had disturbed it while eating it's meal.
*GRRR...GRRR...*
He looked at the bear which had turned around while it's skin radiated a light brown glow which covered it's entire body with a layer of rock-like protrusions after the glow subsided. His eyes widened as he realized what kind of bear it was which made him curse, 'Fuck! I'm so fucked! This is a fucking Rank 01 RockBear! I can't fight this giant rock-covered beast with my bare hands! We have the same limit! How do I complete the quest now?'
He gulped and began backing away as he saw that the bear was about to attack him. But before the bear could charge at him, he quickly turned around and began running while thinking, 'Fuck! This thing is strong. Fuck, fuck, fuck!'
The bear, not wanting to let this intruder go unpunished, gave chase to Darell who had made it out of range of the bear's claws.
After running for some time, he reached a small clearing in the forest and he hid behind a tree. He took a moment to calm himself. After taking a deep breath, he looked up into the sky and closed his eyes, "I really want to beat this bear down."
He took another deep breath to calm himself. After some time, the bear reached the clearing and began searching for Darell. When the beast had finally stopped searching, he opened his eyes and walked out from behind the tree. He wanted to strike the beast again this time. But, the bear suddenly turned around and saw him, he couldn't help but feel discouraged when he saw the beast's height. It was about 2.5 feet tall and it looked as if it had an armor made of rock covering its body.
The bear's eyes glowed brown and several small rocks levitated toward it which were suddenly, hurled at him. He quickly dodged the rocks while the bear growled at him and charged at him. But, he quickly grabbed a fistful of grass from the ground and threw it in the bear's face. The bear's eyes widened and it stopped it's charge for a moment. The bear shook its head and recovered itself.
Darell didn't give up though. He charged at it and began attacking it's head. He punched and kicked it's head until he heard a distinctive sound.
* CRACK *
The bear howled and stopped moving while the back of its head started to crack. Darell took this opportunity and punched the cracked part of it's head again and again.
* WHAM *
* WHAM *
* WHAM *
The bear struggled against his attacks until it finally, gave up.
* SPLAT *
Brownish-red blood splattered all over Darell's armor and face as the beast collapsed on the ground and it's body transformed back to it's usual form.
'Yes! Yes! Yes!' Darell thought as he jumped up in celebration, 'I've defeated a Rank 01 RockBear! I completed the quest!'
At the same time, he received a notification from the system.
Quest 01 COMPLETED Reward 10 XP
He quickly read the notification, feeling elated. The reward of 10 XP was a small victory, but it was still a step forward in his journey. Then, he turned his attention on the bear's body and tore it open as he searched it's remains for a valuable trophy. He saw a light-brown glowing orb located beside it's heart and he quickly tore it away. He brought the orb close to his face and felt the mana coursing through his fingers. He wanted to absorb the beast core just like everybody else does to increase their mana and hopefully, get a skill.
'Should I absorb mana from the core?', he asked the system.
No.
'Why?', he asked, confused.
Because you don't need to. You need to merely level up and your mana as well as other stats will increase.
He was disappointed after reading the system's message and realized that the rank 01 RockBear core was of no use to him. But, despite this, he decide to keep the orb as a token of his hard-earned victory. He also realized that the bear's body was beginning to rot as the mana in the corpse slowly drained away.
'I can't leave this here.' He quickly stored the bear's body in his bag. At that same time, he received another notification from the system.
Quest 02 Kill 3 rank 01 beasts Reward 40 XP Accept? Yes/No
He quickly confirmed his choice. 'Yes.'
His confidence had grown after killing the rank 01 RockBear and with a smile on his face, he set out to find more rank 01 beasts to kill. He wandered in the forest as his eyes scanned the surrounding area, searching for any signs of movement or activity. Suddenly, he spotted a group of beasts in the distance and he knew that he had found his next target. He quietly approached the group of beasts and when he felt that time was right, he launched his attack.
He silently launched a powerful punch at the head of one of the beasts, followed by a powerful kick to it's abdomen. The beast collapsed on the ground and Darell wasted no time in punching the bear's head repeatedly.
* WHAM *
* WHAM *
* WHAM *
He continued to attack the beast until it lay dead. Then, he turned his attention to the other beasts and attacked them. After a long and grueling battle, he emerged victorious.
He was covered in wounds, blood, sweat and grime, but he was glad that he had succeeded in killing the beasts. After the battle, he sat down on a nearby rock to take a rest. Breathing heavily, he wiped the sweat from his brow and was about to move on when he heard a familiar sound. It was a notification from the system, letting him know that he had completed another quest.
Quest 02 COMPLETED Reward 40 XP
He received another one.
TOTAL XP FULL! DO YOU WANT TO LEVEL UP? YES/NO
Darell smiled when he saw the system's notification and quickly confirmed the option, 'Yes!'
As he said it, he felt a stinging pain throughout his body and he immediately realised that the system was changing him while leveling up. The stinging sensation soon subsided and he stood up from the rock while taking a deep breath. He then began walking around, taking in all the sights and sounds of the forest. While walking, he examined his body to see what the system had done. But, he saw nothing. He could still see his arms and legs, he could still feel his face. And yet, he noticed something was different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. He took a deep breath and smelled the air. And that was it. The air had a more potent fragrance, and the smell of the flowers in the forest was stronger than ever. He couldn't help but grin in elation since he knew that his level up had increased the sensitivity of his body, mind and senses.
He clenched his fists after experiencing his first 'level up', and thought, 'Let's see how my status looks now.'
Name Darell Rogers Race *** Level 02 XP 00/30 HP 125/125 MP 75/75 Strength 15 Agility 15 Stamina 15 Vitality 15 Defense 15 Intellect 15 Ability Space Skills Space Arsenal
A smile spread across his face when he looked at his status. It seemed that his stats had increased by five. Eager to test out his newfound strength, he closed his status and set out to hunt down another rank 01 beast. But as he was about to take his first step, a notification from the system caught his attention.
Quest 03 Reach Level 05 Reward System Points (Unlock) , Special Skill - Inspect
He couldn't control his excitement when he looked at the reward offered after completing the quest. A special skill?! He knew that this was an opportunity that he could not afford to miss.
'What are these system points?', he asked the system.
They are a method for your future development. You can use them to learn and unlock new skills without needing to complete any quest.
Darell had already heard about this system points before. He remembered that it was one of the features of the systems in the novels he had read before. He quickly confirmed the quest.
A wide grin spread across his face as he quickly made his way towards the hunting grounds to search for the beasts. After hours of relentless fighting, he collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. His hands were battered and bruised, and his face was a mess of scratches and scars. But despite the pain, he felt a newfound strength coursing through his body. He lay there for a few moments, catching his breath, before finally rising to his feet and shouting, "Yes!"
Quest 03 COMPLETED
YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 05!!
The sound of the notification echoed through his mind. His hard work had paid off as he completed the third quest and gained a full amount of XP.
His hard work had paid off as he completed the third quest and gained a full amount of XP.
Skill Inspect Description This skill allows the host to see the stats of anyone he wants.
Darell's eyes widened as he read the skill's description, realizing its immense potential. With it, he could now see the stats of anyone he wanted. He opened his status interface.
Name Darell Rogers Race *** Level 05 XP 00/100 HP 225/225 MP 175/175 Strength 30 Agility 30 Stamina 30 Vitality 30 Defense 30 Intellect 30 Ability Space Skills Space Arsenal Special Skills Inspect System Points 05 System Shop UNLOCKED
He proudly smiled as he looked at his new status. Then, he glanced at the sky and realized that evening was fast approaching, and it was time to call it a day. After gathering all the loot he had found from the slain beasts using his skill [Space Arsenal], he began walking out of the forest, whistling to himself and feeling good about his progress.
He smiled as he thought, 'Just this morning, I was so alert and scared when entering the forest. But now, I have truly become stronger. Now, I know why some of the characters in the novels kept grinding. This shit is addictive!'
There is much more to life than just having power. It is a sad truth but it is a fact nonetheless.
'Shut the hell up!', Darell said to the system in his head as he kept walking when suddenly, he felt a strange sensation of healing. When he looked at himself, to his surprise, most of his bruises and wounds had vanished, including the scar on his cheek.
'System, do I have any regeneration skill?', he asked.
Yes, you do. But, it's a passive one.
'But why doesn't it show up on my skills tab?', he asked, confused.
If you want to know why, please level up as fast as possible.
'Ah... fuck!', he sighed in frustration and continued to walk. It seemed like the system was always in a hurry, asking him to level up every time he had a question. Nonetheless, he was happy that he had a regeneration ability, albeit passive. This important information would help him immensely during a fight with stronger beasts as he wouldn't have to be extremely careful not to let the beasts' attack hit him.
Darell began to wonder what kind of skill would be available to him when he leveled up next time.
'What will it be?', he asked the system.
You are free to guess. I won't tell you.
When he was out of the forest, he scanned the surrounding area, looking for a suitable way to make his escape unnoticed. His eyes locked onto a nearby carriage, and without hesitation, he made a dash for it. He waited for the perfect moment to jump into the carriage when the driver wasn't looking. Then, he climbed in and Once he was inside, hid behind a stack of crates, making himself as small as he could. A few minutes passed and the carriage started to move. Darell let out a sigh of relief after the carriage had taken off, glad that he had successfully escaped unnoticed.