Chapter 2

It was my brother who tried to teach me how to read from the very beginning, as a musician it was desirable for him to learn how to write, and at some point he was looking for any opportunities for this. Previously Jack barely could achieive any success with reading. But without thinking twice, I asked brother to teach me again, Derek was surprised and looked at me strangely, but enthusiastically began to teach.

The first time in this world I was quite excited and with anticipation dreamed that I would take a sword and run into the forest to pump levels, but having received a lot of slaps from my mother, I quickly remembered what pain and reality are. In addition, once I crashed my toe into the wall of the house while dragging water, the pain was so hellish that I could not get back to my senses for about 10 minutes and it seemed to me that I was about to lose consciousness. All of this brought me to my senses and I began to realize that if I go hunting then I will most likely become the prey myself.

Since then, I have focused on teaching writing whenever possible. Having learned that it was possible to get the status, I naturally first went to the "library" in the hope of getting to the coveted manual, but despite the fact that officially anyone had access, the librarian Raf chased me in the neck cursing me angrily. I had to ask Derek for help again, thanks to whom I still managed to get to the cherished book.

I looked again at Raf's painfully twisted face. I wanted to make fun of this mummy, but I restrained myself. Just the fact he was so upset already made me feel better, so I focused on rewriting the manual. This was not the first time I was here, it was not easy to rewrite the entire manual, but it was useful both in terms of training writing and in terms of memorizing the contents. I was going to learn all the available information because I doubted that soon I would find somewhere a more detailed description of the class system of the world.

Sorcerer Tarrister was a highly respected hero in the eyes of most middle and lower class people. Even I felt deep gratitude to this person for the fact that I have the opportunity to receive so much information. I strongly doubted that I would have started doing something similar in his place if there were no benefits for me, but only obstacles.

Unfortunately, even this detailed manual was far from complete. For example, there was very little information about spells above the third circle of magic, despite the fact that there are only nine of them. To take the prestige class it was necessary to meet certain conditions both in terms of worldview and in terms of skills and abilities, and so on, but not all prestige classes had accurate information. Apparently even Tarrister had to make some concessions.

The book mentioned that, to gain experience, killing was far from the only and perhaps not even the most effective way. An ordinary person who did not kill in life but was a lumberjack could very well reach the third level or so by the end of his life, depending on the circumstances. It is possible that this is true, or perhaps in this way they tried to make people less bloodthirsty in pursuit of experience, it's hard to say. I can figure it out in more detail only on my own experience.

I finally finished rewriting the manual, hid my likeness of a notebook in my bosom and stood up. Raf grabbed his treasure and looking at me lastly wished me to die, and then left. I chuckled and left the room.

The library was located in the central part of this village. It was sunny outside. A cart passed by in which, instead of a load, children were sitting, muttering and grimacing at each other and those around them. Few people paid attention to them, but this did not diminish their enthusiasm in the least.

Derek sat on the ground next to the library, playing what looked like a small guitar or something. I didn't know much about music, but I liked his music, so I sat down nearby and calmly waited for him to finish. I was not the only listener to him, sometimes passers-by stopped to listen to his play, albeit a little. Soon he finished and got up, while the passers-by went about their business. He looked in my direction and smiled slightly.

- This time you rewrote everything Jack?

- Yes, thanks for the help brother. - I answered him with my smile. Even without my brother's participation, I could have resolved the issue with the librarian if I had set myself such a goal, but there was no point in raising too much noise since my brother volunteered to help.

- Great, maybe I will need your tips in the future too regarding the manual. Let's go home.

Derek didn't say it directly, but it was clear that he was pleased that his brother finally took up his mind and matured. Perhaps he did not bring up the topic of changes in my personality because he was afraid to jinx it or something, hard to say. We chatted a bit about nothing until I decided to ask a question.

- After you underwent initiation with the help of the book, did you try to kill living beings for experience? I mean any kind of household utensils for example.

- Everyone knows about it, but yes, I checked it personally anyway. You probably need to kill a dozen if not more chickens to get a unit of experience, this makes no sense. Only the nobles can afford this, but even they find it easier to hire a couple of bodyguards for their offspring so that he gains the necessary experience on wild animals. It is easier and safer to delve into any profession that is supported by the class system. True, the experience from professions will depend on your skill, raw materials and other circumstances. For example, if you have been forging ordinary iron swords all your life, then you should not hope that this will help you with something. But if you use special materials and create something special, then you will get experience for it accordingly. So if you ever find, for example, some amazing ore, you can safely carry it to the blacksmith. He will not only do you what you ask for free, but it is likely that he will also pay you extra. - Derek laughed.

The class system supported the skills of making weapons, making armor, making traps. Of course, other types of crafts outside the class system also brought experience, but it was believed that these three areas were the main ones. Under the manufacture of armor, for example, it meant all types from cloth headbands and robes to the heaviest armor and shields, as well as various jewelry and so on. Naturally, focusing on everything in a row throughout life is not enough and usually they chose a couple of directions.

One of the most popular directions was the manufacture of bows and arrows. Even in this village there was a good master of this craft. And all because many classes could use a simple bow, the same Warrior, Bard, Barbarian, and so on. All of these classes received mastery of class weapons at the first level, one of which was a regular shortbow, so they could use it without penalties. But usually bows were not used as the main weapon, only if you chose a special ability to use ranged weapons like crossbows, long bows, compound bows, and so on when you level up, then you can use them without corresponding penalties. Without this feat(ability), there is simply no point in using them.

Considering that I have been here for a week, I managed to find out enough. I have absolutely no differences or advantages over the inhabitants of this world. So I was pretty sure killing the chickens wouldn't help me either. It upset me, but at least I could boldly let go of my front door, because in fact I had absolutely nothing to hide from others. Even if someone can see my status, they will not see any diffirence from other people status.

I have already tried to receive "quests" from others, or at least cause messages about gaining experience in the "log", but everything was useless. I needed at least to get level one for this. I just have to calm myself with the thought that the limited functionality of the system of this world is connected with the fact that this system works for all intelligent living beings and not for me personally. At least I'm no worse than the others, let's pretend the glass is half full.

Now since i finished to copy manual, my main task was to reach the first level and at the same time it is advisable not to die prematurely. I had to choose one of the directions of the craft and so far I was inclined towards the manufacture of polearms, in particular bows. I didn't know yet which class would be better to choose in the future, but I was already leaning towards two options Monk or Sorcerer.

It is worth noting that the class system had its own limitations, for example, you could choose no more than three classes in total in your life to combine. Regular classes can be combined at will if you match their respective requirements. For example Warrior / Ranger / Thief. Well, only one prestige class can be chosen. All classes have their pros and cons. True, when taking a multi-class, you receive an experience penalty so that is not most popular scenario.

The Wizard differed from the Sorcerer in that he was more specialized. For example, Wizards could focus on the magic of necromancy, summoning, lightning, and so on, but they will lack other types of spells. While the Sorcerer was an all-round type of magician. This class was extremely strong, which was already proven by the same Tarrister, however, both mage classes had huge disadvantages.

For example, a Sorcerer who has previously imposed on himself all kinds of buffs and enhancements, accelerations, immunities, elemental shields, and so on, is almost a killing machine and few class could cope with this. But at the same time, the duration of buffs is strictly limited, it is impossible to keep them active for too long. If the Sorcerer is caught completely unprepared by surprise, then he will be extremely weak and vulnerable, at least in theory.

The second huge drawback was that the number of spells was strictly limited and if these same spells came to an end, the magician could only run. There was other classes with spells and this restriction was same for all of them, but at least those classes could mostly protect themselves even without spells. There was no mana potions to help restore the number of spells limited by the class system, and they was far from infinite, the only way to renew their number of spells is sleep. Obviously, the enemies will not wait for the mage to take a nap for a couple of hours, so given the limitations of this world, the Sorcerer was the most powerful class with many "But".