A Humble Beginning

In the quiet corner of the chess club, Ethan Grange bested many older opponents, even putting up a good fight against computers.

Yet as time passed, fewer could be his match.

Computers lacked the unpredictability, the psychological battle, and the emotional connection that human opponents provided.

It just wasn't fulfilling to play against machines...

And that showed in his progressive boredom.

Bored out of his wits, he threw himself into the library to drown out his melancholy.

This time, as he reached the end of a near deserted section of the library, he spotted a faint glow from the end of the shelves.

Suspiciously, Ethan approached and pulled out what appeared to be nothing but an engraved slab.

He put the slab on the table to get a better look, when a green glow covered the slab and took the shape of a chess board.

'What the...?'

He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, was this real? Was he hallucinating?

Either way, he couldn't turn down the challenge, even if he thought he was going to be playing against a ghost.

After playing the first move, he was shocked that the board actually responded.

What followed was the most intense game he's ever had with any challenger that wasn't a computer.

'This ghost is good!' He thought.

But as the pieces dwindled, Ethan knew it was his victory.

As he reached to play the final move, a bright light enveloped him.

The first thing that went through Ethan's mind was,

'Ah, did winning make the ghost mad? This isn't the worst way to go out...'

But, when he opened his eyes, he was in a strange and unfamiliar land.

"Get outta the road, you strangely dressed buffoon!" A gruff voice yelled, to which he promptly moved out of the way.

Taking another look, he seemed to be in a village that looked as if it was barely maintained.

Wood was rotting, tools were breaking, clothes were torn.

He didn't want to keep standing out, and moved away from the street.

His clothes stood out way too much, and it was just now hitting him what was happening.

It was only a matter of time before he was caught by guards and taken to the small mansion overlooking the dwindling territory.

They didn't even care to listen to anything he said.

"We found this suspicious person wandering around the streets." They announce to the well dressed lady in the room.

"*sigh* I'm busy enough as it is, and now I have to deal with this?" The woman complains and turns to him.

"Alright, who the hell are you and what's with the strange clothes?"

Ethan wasn't sure how to answer, if he should tell the truth or try to lie.

"I'm just a lost traveler from a distant land with different style."

God that was a bad lie, but it's the best possible lie he could make.

Though, perhaps it's also a truth.

"Whatever, just don't cause trouble. We have enough problems to deal with."

Ethan knew he had to ask for some kind of work to do.

In this unfamiliar land, he wouldn't last long without money.

"Actually, I'm wondering if there was some kind of job I could be useful in."

"Fine... Can you read and write?" She asked.

Ethan noticed that he could read part of the papers that were laying on the desk, thankfully he wouldn't have to relearn reading.

"Of course."

"I'm being overloaded with work, not many people here can read or write, so I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire an assistant. As long as you do the job well I don't care where you're from or why you're here. What are your level and skills?" She says.

'Level? Skills?' Ethan panicked, before his thoughts summoned a translucent window in front of him that only seems to be visible to him.

──━━━━━━━━━──

『Tyr's Chosen』

[Ethan Grange] Lv.1 (0/15)

Race: Human

Age: 23

HP: 20/20

MP: 10/10

Strength: 2

Defence: 1

Speed: 2

Skills:

[Analysis Lv.1] [Confirmation] [Language Lv.MAX]

Titles:

『Tyr's Chosen』『Tactician』

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"I'm level 1..." He uttered, reading his weak status in disappointment.

Even the guard holds back a laugh.

"How?! You should be at least level 5 by age 20, you get a free point of xp every month! I guess there are instances of people down on their luck, but still, level 1?!" The woman rambles in shock and amusement.

"Well, when you put it like that..."

Since his level must have been an outrageous claim, she was awfully quick to believe it.

She must have a skill that can detect lies, he thought.

"Since you're so pitiful, you'll probably die if you work a physical job. To put it bluntly, if you aren't competent at this job, you're dead." The woman scorns.

"What does this job entail?" He asks.

"All you have to do is go through written complaints and sort them by priority and cost. We don't have enough resources to deal with every problem." She commands.

"I think I can handle that." Ethan agrees.

"Great, your salary is 10 coppers per week, or a silver coin. Be grateful, that's a pay many of the commoners here dream of."

"I'm Ethan, if we're gonna be working together we should know our names." He continued.

"Lady Eliscia is what you should address me as. Now get to work, and don't slack off."

Ethan quickly found himself buried in a mountain of paperwork.

Many of the complaints were minor things such as property disputes, etc.

However there were some that appeared more important.

Roads in disrepair, food shortages, even clothing was a problem since merchants barely considered this place worth their time.

He did his job diligently, hoping he can make a difference later on.

There's no way whatever brought him here wouldn't allow him the power to change this...