Doing What I Must To Survive!

"Ahhhhhh!" Xiao Ying woke up with a start. He was gasping for air; his forehead full of cold sweat.

"It was just a dream…." he mumbled to himself, tears flowing down his eyes.

"She didn't kill me…..I knew she would nev-" Xiao Ying paused mid-speech, finally registering his surroundings.

He was immediately stunned speechless, not because of an incredible view, or a beautiful woman by his side, but because everything was not a dream. It was as real as the hunger he was feeling in his stomach; as real as the freezing cold hitting his skin; and as real as the dryness he felt in his throat.

"No…..No..No! No! NO! NO!!" Xiao Ying screamed, cursing his fate that everything was real.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped. He had the urge to wallow in his despair; however, what appeared in front of him drew all of his attention away.

In front of his face floated a screen.

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System initiated

Welcome, host, to the "Master Assassin Inheritance" System.

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The panel then changed after he read it, displaying something else.

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Name: Xiao Ying

Age: 16

Status: Barely alive

Level: 1 (0/100)

Stat Points Available: 0

Absorption: 10

Perception: 10

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 2

Agility: 1

Vitality: 1

Cultivation: None

Skill Points Available: None

Skills: None

Quests: None

Item Shop: Unavailable

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This panel showed Xiao Ying's status along with other things. It was basically the system's main menu.

After choosing to save his questions about the system for later, Xiao Ying decided to get up and try to find his way out of the alley he slept in.

With both hands on the ground to stabilize his frail body, he used all of his strength to get up. The snow was very cold to his hands, but nothing he wasn't used to.

With Xiao Ying's weak body, he found it difficult to stand up. Part of the reason why he found it hard was because of the lack of energy one usually gets from food and water.

Standing up with the utmost effort he could, Xiao Ying started stumbling toward one end of the alleyway, using the wall for support. He left a trail of footsteps in the thin, yet freezing snow in his wake.

He stumbled forward next to the wall for what seemed like ages before he finally made it to the street.

On the street there were stalls selling food, stalls selling alcohol, stalls selling weapons and armors, and even stalls selling common clothes.

It seemed to be the start of winter as everything on the street, and even the street itself had a thin layer of snow. In the street, however, thousands upon thousands of footprints could be seen, along with many people going to and from.

Out of nowhere, a grey fog overtook his vision; it was the system's panel.

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Quest received!:

Do What You Must To Survive!

Part One

Quest Details:

Steal a loaf of bread from a food stall to satisfy your hunger without being caught.

Quest Rewards:

Temporary satisfaction of hunger

3 stat points

20 experience points toward next level

Quest Failure Consequences:

Starve to death

Beaten to death

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"….!" Xiao Ying was at a loss for words.

"What is with the consequence if I fail?!" he almost yelled aloud.

Another thing that caused him to be at a lost for words was the reward; specifically the second reward: three stat points

"These stat points….will they help me grow stronger faster?" Xiao Ying asked himself not expecting an answer.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, another panel popped up beside that panel.

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Stat points are used to improve the state of host's body. The base stats of a normal adult who hasn't cultivated would be at 10. With stat points, host can change host's innate bodily talent for cultivation. However, host, do not solely rely on stat points to get stronger as they can only strengthen the bodily aspects of host's body. If host does only rely on stats points rather than cultivating, host will be weaker than other cultivators due to the ability to wield Qi, the natural essence of this world, granted by cultivation. The effects of cultivation and stat points can stack. Host will receive a more in-depth explanation on the usage of stat points and how they can affect host.

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Still shocked that the system actually explained it, albeit the simple version, to him, Xiao Ying got his question answered.

"So I can get stronger through the use of stat points? However, i still need to cultivate to maximize my strength in the future. I have no choice unless I'm willing to forfeit this second chance at life that I've been given." Xiao Ying mumbled to himself.

After a while of debating what kind of approach he should take, he finally acted.

Xiao Ying stepped into the street, trying to blend into it. There were plenty of people, mostly commoners going about their day.

The Aries Kingdom had a basic social hierarchy, as did all the other kingdoms.

At the very bottom were those living in poverty, with barely enough money to feed themselves, and sometimes not even that. This level was mostly made up of those with little to no money. This meant that there were rarely cultivators from this social class.

Above those people, were the commoners. The commoners were people who could feed their family and have a surplus of money left over. Their situation weren't bad; however, it wasn't good either. Cultivators from this social class wasn't as rare as from the bottom class.

The social class above the commoners were the nobles. They were those who were rich and had a powerful backing or influence inside the kingdom. A noble could be appointed, such as how a king can appoint a duke, or a person can become a noble by having plenty of money. Most cultivators came from this social class ,because, after all, with strength came status and wealth.

The highest social class in the kingdom is the royals; those with the royal bloodline, or those born into the royal family. There isn't really much of a difference between the nobles and the royals except their birthrights. This group of people were meant to be the strongest in the kingdom.

In the crowd of people, Xiao Ying continually got pushed around as if he was an ant annoying everyone.

At one point, he was even being pushed back towards the way he came from: the alley way.

After a while of struggling against the crowd, he made it beside one of those food stalls with a loaf of bread on display, fresh out of the oven. In fact, Xiao Ying could smell the bread, which made him salivate inside his mouth, almost drooling.

Gathering up the courage to proceed, he followed the flow of the crowd until he was within arms reach. Seeing the owner distracted by a customer trying to buy something, Xiao Ying snatched the bread within his arms, and quickly stuffed it under his ragged shirt.

He turned around and started following the crowd back toward the alley, which was his temporary home now.

After a few seconds, the owner of the stall finally yelled out in shock.

"Someone stole my bread!" he yelled.

Frantically searching around, the stall owner started asking people if they had seen anything, in which the people in the crowd replied with a shake of their head.

With the noises and the questions getting closer to his position, Xiao Ying took off running. In his case, because of his skinny and weak body, his running was akin to an adult speed walking.

The owner of the stall caught sight of his back and started to give chase while yelling. "Stop right there, you thief!"

Xiao Ying started running as fast as he could at this point, ducking and dodging in between people. He quickly turned into the alley way running further into it. The alley was quite long so it took a couple of seconds of his so-called running to reach the halfway mark.

Hiding behind a random box, Xiao Ying turned around, hoping that no one was following him.

'Shit! My footsteps are in the snow!' He yelled with his mind

To his delight, no one had followed him into the alley. In fact, his pursuer ran right past the alley despite the footprints within the snow.

The owner of the stall must have missed him turning into the alley since many people happened to be on the street at that time.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Xiao Ying finally relaxed. Good thing the stall owner wasn't a cultivator. After a second of thought, he devoured the bread like he hadn't eaten in years, quite literally.

In the midst of his devouring, the signature grey fog of the system popped up into a panel.

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Congratulations host for completing

the quest .

Quest Rewards generating...

Quest Rewards received....

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Just as Xiao Ying finished the last of the bread, he received the quest rewards, indicating the completing of the quest.

'Good thing the stall owner wasn't a cultivator.' Xiao Ying thought initially.

'Three stat points…..finally, I can embark on my path to the pinnacle!' he exclaimed to himself, setting this goal.

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Name: Xiao Ying

Age: 16

Status: Barely alive

Level: 1 (20/100)

Stat Points Available: 3

Absorption: 10

Perception: 10

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 2

Agility: 1

Vitality: 1

Cultivation: None

Skill Points Available: None

Skills: None

Quests: None

Item Shop: Unavailable

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