5 Finally, a Real System
The morning sun shone brightly through the den's window, revealing just the ashes of the smoldering branches from the night before. Jun slowly woke up, rubbing his eyes awake, and looking around him. Spotting the clothing next to him, he silently thanked George for some damn clothing, and starting wearing them. Before he could get one leg in the pants, the system's same mechanical voice broke the morning silence.
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"Congratulations for equipping your first item! The Equipment Menu is now unlocked, and you will be able to see your equipment at any time, their stats and any modifiers, and most importantly, the Inventory Menu. As the fundamental functions of the system have been unlocked, the system will unlock the system's help once again to explain each menu in-depth."
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Jun heard a feminine voice that he could identify as Aura speaking.
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"Damn, I was half-expecting you were to be dead, but I'm glad I didn't have to see your little thing flailing all over the place again. Straight to the point, your Level and your Equipment are the probably the most important things to focus on. Higher grade equipment have better stats, but due to the system, will also provide attribute bonuses and character modifiers."
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"As your equipment is one of the most important things, the system also provides an Inventory Menu. Due to the system being at the most basic level, it will only provide you four inventory spaces. You can improve the system but unlocking the rest of the Menus and leveling. I will keep the rest of the menus a surprise, but I am obligated to tell you the checkpoints: 10, 30, 50, 90, 130, 190, and 250."
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"Oh, other than that. There is an item in your inventory that will be useful at some point or another. I wouldn't recommend selling it."
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Just before Jun could ask any questions, Aura's presence disappeared and he was left stumped with a ton of questions. George's explanation the prior night generated many questions about the intricate details of this world, its rules and its strange powers. Mentally calling up his inventory just like his character sheet, Jun spotted a foggy white crystal. Focusing on the crystal, the system simply gave him an error message, stating that he had too little intelligence to possible comprehend.
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"... Alright, I wasn't expecting any better. At least I got something."
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As Jun finished dressing, George popped his head through his doorway and cheerfully greeted him.
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"Morning, glad to see that you're awake. Here, let's have some breakfast before we speak some more. I'm sure you have more questions."
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George came out of his personal section of the shack with a pot filled with some sort of soup with mushrooms, vegetables, and a few small shreds of meat. He placed it aside before throwing a few logs into the firepit and getting a small amount of tinder from a nearby bin. He produced a pair of black rocks that he struck together, producing a small spark that set the tinder into a smoking ember. Blowing carefully and setting it on top of the logs, George piled on a few thin branches, until enough fire was produced to be sustained by the logs.
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The smoke from the fire filled the room slightly, and Jun looked up to spotted an opening at the top of the shack where the smoke escaped. George suspended the pot over the fire with a blackened spit, with its soot-covered exterior indicative of its long use. As the soup warmed, he turned to Jun and inquired.
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"So, tell me a bit more about yourself Jon. Where's home for you?"
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"Well, I never really had a home. My family was always traveling from one town to the other, buying goods and selling them to places that needed them the most. Until recently that is."
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Jun looked down at the ground for dramatic effect, borrowing upon his own life before entering this world. His family moved around constantly due to his father's work, and when they did eventually settled down, both his parents passed away fairly quickly. His older brother always railed on Jun to be motivated for success, but his parents' deaths were the last straw that led him to be the bitter, jaded and hopeless NEET that he was. Even without their deaths, Jun had already given up on his life so he was ashamed that he rationalized or partially blamed his living failure due to their deaths. Any other person would try to realize the greater meaning of life, but Jun always found that shit to be complete bullshit people generated to attach purpose to their short lives, even if Jun thought it was blatantly obviously that people lived, rejoiced, and suffered for no reason.
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George looked at Jun and patted his shoulder.
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"I'm sorry kid, but you have to keep on living. You're the only one in the world who can pass your family's legacy."
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Jun looked up at George and smiled weakly. He was internally still skeptical of George's reason for living being his familial legacy, but he at least knew he did not want to die and be engulfed in nothingness. Although the world was filled with an endless amount of suffering, there were a few moments of happiness among it. Whether there was more to his innate biological desire to survive or at the very least, the small resistance to directly ending it all, Jun still had time to sort through it all. He consoled himself with the fact that he was not as naive or dumb to believe in blind devotion and faith in beliefs that ultimately benefited someone else like religion, nationalism, or false idols.
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"Maybe, maybe not. No point in dwelling on the past, there is not much to gain other than regret and rubbing old scars."
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George shook his head, maybe because he partially agreed or gave up in trying to convince him further. He clapped his hands to get rid of the rigid mood.
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"You're a good kid Jon, you are more than welcome to stay at the Fang Village for as long as you want. Anyways, I'm sure you have some questions for me."
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"Thank you for your hospitality George, I will have to rely upon you in the meanwhile. I will be in your care. And well, I was wondering if you could elaborate more about what the main classes are and how I can obtain a class."
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"The main classes, at least in the Fallen Star Empire, are Warrior, Ranger, Wizard, and Rider. Obtaining classes, well, there are many ways. The most common way is to be bestowed a class which is how I obtained the Footsoldier class, and these class bestowals are usually controlled by the royal family, noble houses, and a few select guilds. The harder way is to awaken a class, and well, each class has different awakening requirements. These depend on talent and intensive training, and highly skilled classholders usually must assist others with the awakening after these requirements are met as self-awakening is difficult, with difficulty increasing sharply with class rarity."
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George paused as he realized he left the soup over the fire. The soup was boiling, and George quickly removed it from the heat and got two bowls and spoons. Pouring soup in each bowl, he passed it to Jun and started eating a few spoonfuls.
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"Hurry and eat it while its hot. As soon as it gets cold, the taste makes the soup inedible, haha."
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As a wave of hunger suddenly hit Jun, he immediately started scarfing down the soup. Fortunately, the soup was not too hot and did not burn his mouth completely, and instead, had a thick slimy texture with a strong, almost repulsively pungent, earthy taste. George just shook his head and chuckled as he slowly consumed his soup. After finishing all the soup, Jun felt extremely bloated despite the small amount of soup he consumed. George put down his spoon to explain.
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"The main ingredient are Stone Spores, which have a dense earthly essence that is extremely nutritious. They taste terrible, but they are good for you!"
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"George, what exactly is the Fallen Star Empire? Where exactly are we?"
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"Huh, although you look six or seven years old, all parents teach their kids these basics. Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"
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George replied without much thought, before realizing that mentioning the dead parents of the kid was pretty callous even for his standards. Feeling a bit guilty at seeing Jun lower his head again and scratching his beard awkwardly, George added.
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"It's okay Jon, I'd be more than happy to teach you what I know."
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While George assumed Jun was saddened by the mention of his dead parents, he was actually shocked by George mention of his appearance. He thought to himself:
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'Only six or seven years old??? System how old am I?'
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'Your body is at the physical age of 6.'
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'...What, how is this possible!? Shouldn't I be at least an adult?!'
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'Although you were previously 24, True Revelation requires all who enter to have the full experience. This obviously includes childhood.'
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'?!?' ((Author Note: NANI))
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Seeing Jun lost in his thoughts once again, George ate some soup before awkwardly coughing, breaking his daze. Jun looked up and nodded hastily, while George felt some relief that he was not too hurt by his callous comment.
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"I am sorry about that Jon, I shouldn't have spoken without thought. But let me tell you about my skills! I have three skills: Spear Proficiency, Iron Body and Recovery. Spear Proficiency improves my ability to fight with a spear and is improved through continuous practice and combat. Iron Body is a basic body strengthening skill that increases the resilience and endurance of my physique. Finally, Recovery is a basic self-healing skill that quickly recovers stamina and minor wounds."
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George paused for a moment to finish the rest of his soup before continuing to explain.
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"While Spear Proficiency and Iron Body are both passive, as in they retain they always provide a boost, Recovery is an active skill. Recovery in particular is restricted by physique, and it draws upon the body's life force and overdrawing upon this life force causes aging, body weakness, and eventually death. Therefore, constant usage of Recovery requires a constant intake of food to match its consumption or limiting the usage after rests. The soup that I gave you, Greyrock Soup, is one of the cheapest and easiest, yet effective, ways recovering life force due to its high nutrient content."
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In response to the long explanation, Jun gave George a nod of understanding, and most of his questions were answered. The skills and classes of this world seemed ground in standard RPG systems, relying upon a system that included at least health, stamina and the concept of resting. Resting was a gaming concept in which spells or abilities could only be used after a short rest or a long rest: for example, a level 1 wizard could cast 2 level-1 spells before needing a long rest. Various RPG systems had different explanations for this, such as needing to prepare spells in advance or simply a lack of mana to cast more, which is something Jun would need to determine in the future.
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"What do I do now then George?"
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"For commoners like us, there are only a few options: you can find an apprenticeship and learn a craft, do unskilled labor, join the military, join a guild, or rarely, join a noble house as a servant. But considering how young you are, you won't be able to join the military or find any unskilled labor, and to find a craft, guild or a chance at servitude, you will have to travel very far to get to the nearest town"
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George scratched his beard and looked at Jun, before picking up both bowls. Rinsing the bowls out in a nearby bucket of water, he commented as he threw a few more logs in the fire and sat down at the table, going through a few scrolls.
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"Look kid, the Fang Village does not have much to offer, but it's a simple life. I'd be more than happy to teach you how to read and write, as well as a few skills so that you can survive where ever you go."
