Chapter 02: The Inhabitants of this World Don’t Even Know Basic Magic
Let's sort things out first.
In this world, my name is Eld. I am the fourth son of a poor noble family in the sticks, and that meant I wasn't treated like a proper member of the family.
There was only one person who talked to me—my eldest brother, Light. The rest wouldn't even give me the time of day. I was completely unwanted. The only reason they haven't kicked me out yet was because I was still a minor. In this world, kicking a minor out was considered a disgrace to the family. Although poor, my family was still technically of noble status, so they wanted to avoid such humiliation.
Tomorrow, however, I'm turning fifteen—the age of maturity in this world. I will then be "Independent", which was just a fancy way of saying I'm banished from the family. In this respect, it was the same as Broken Balance Online. In BBO, you start the game at age fifteen and begin your adventure from there. But this wasn't the only reason why I thought this world was just like the game.
There was something this world and BBO had in common: both had magic and jobs.
By jobs, I don't mean the ones on Earth like "Carpenter" or "Engineer". Rather, the kind of jobs that are featured in fantasy games like "Wizard" or "Two-Handed Swordsman".
The skills here were identical with BBO. For example, the first skill a Two-Handed Swordsman would learn was『Whirlslash』and a Wizard would have『Magic Ball』. Even the effects that manifested when the skills were activated were completely the same. I've confirmed this when my elder brothers came bragging about their skills, so there was no doubt about that part.
Incidentally, I was a 『Novice』— a beginner. As the name suggested, it was a designation for those who didn't have a proper job class yet. It goes without saying, but Novice is the weakest of all the job classes. Still even they had a skill and if I could use that, it would mean that this world's system worked the same way as BBO.
「Self Cure.」
As I recited the spell, faint, green light enveloped my entire body. What I used just now was the most inferior of restoration magic—a skill that any job class can use, Novice included. The fact that I could use it confirmed my theory.
However, there was a key difference between this world and BBO. The inhabitants' knowledge about magic and skills was sufficiently lacking. Let's take for example the Self Cure skill I used just now. While its healing powers were on the weaker side, anyone could use it. Combine that with its low mana cost and you've got yourself a very convenient skill.
And yet, in my fifteen years of living, I haven't seen Self Cure used even once. The people rubbed random herbs on wounds that could've easily been healed in an instant by Self Cure. There was a skill in BBO that let one use medicinal herbs to produce healing potions but I've never seen it used as well.
When I took all that into consideration, what seemed to be a hopeless situation now looked promising to me. If this was indeed the world of BBO, then rather than staying here, getting myself thrown out of the house would be better. I could get a lot stronger that way. And to top it all off, I possessed the knowledge necessary to survive in this world.
As I was pondering all this, I heard the door behind me open.
「Eld, it's your 『Coming of Age Ceremony』 tomorrow. Are you all set?」
The one addressing me was my eldest brother, Light. Being the fourth son—with particularly no redeeming feature—of a poor noble family, every other member practically ignored me, like I wasn't even there. It was only Light who cared about me. He was nice not only to me, but to the citizens as well, earning him a good reputation.
「Yeah… Actually, I've decided not to undergo the ceremony.」
He was taken aback by my words.
「You don't have to worry about the expenses. Father and the rest are indeed reluctant to spend money, but it's the family's duty to let a son who leaves the house undergo the ceremony.」he said, urging me.
「I'm not worried about the expenses. I really just don't want to go through with it.」
There were two methods to changing job classes. The first was the 『Coming of Age Ceremony』. On your fifteenth birthday, you receive the blessing of the village priest, then change job class. BBO employed this as well. The method was very simple, but it had a serious flaw: you can't choose your class and most of them were basic, inferior job classes.
Once you've changed class, you couldn't change it ever again. This applied to the other method as well. So if you got a basic job class by undergoing the ceremony, there was no turning back. You're stuck with it and it cannot be undone.
This is where the other method comes in. In BBO, there was another way to change class. This method—changing class at the royal capital's cathedral—was considered the basic of the basics. There, you can choose from different superior jobs—jobs that way surpass the basic ones. Which is why I have to leave this village without going through the『Coming of Age Ceremony』.
「I'm sure Father will be overjoyed if he heard that. But are you sure about this? You'll spend your entire life as a Novice.」
「I have my own plans. Anyway, there you have it. Can you tell Father that I'm not undergoing the ceremony? He probably wouldn't listen to me if I told him.」
Needless to say, I didn't intend to live out my life as a Novice. My plan is to leave this village, head straight to the royal capital, then change job classes. I might need to pay to change classes but I'm sure there are ways for a Novice to earn money.
「…Okay. I'll tell Father about your decision.」
「Thank you.」