Three years passed by in a flash and that dream only came a few times over the years, again just showing me nonsense which didnt matter or affect me where i was right now, as it stood my generation of orphans was limited to only four, two other boys, and one girl, all of use were now of the age to move around on our own and lighten the sisters load to focus more on watching over the newly arrived children.
In total the Mother Superior was like a mother or grandmother to all of us orphans, while the sisters were like our mothers.
The stories they'd tell us at night before bed, were always about heros, monsters or even dungeons. The reason was pretty clear to all of us, since we were orphans its not like we could become an apprentice to a craftsman, and joining the army was like asking for yourself to die, that left only two options.
The first was to become an adventurer and roam the lands completing all manner of requests, and slaying monsters who've escaped into the wild, while the other was to become a dungeon diver, a sort of adventurer subclass that focuses primarily on trying to complete dungeons or earning a living by collecting drops within them.
Both jobs were free to everyone to join, and if one had the ability you could become very powerful or even rival some nobles with your wealth and prestige.
But they also had fairly high death rates, but the other option was to consign oneself into slavery just to work the land for your master.
But the sisters and Mother always spoke so harshly of slavery that, that option was not even a real option for any of us, which then left only two.
But from the dreams of that man, the life of a dungeon diver or even adventurer sounded more than appealing to me, dungeons were a source of monsters, which meant they were also a great tool used to increase ones own power all while netting you a tidy profit in the process, adventurers on the otherhand would get to travel the world, often getting into all manner of trouble but, that trouble would also often cause them to come into contact with Nobles, even getting the chance to join the noble ranks as reward for completing the highest level quests.
But then it all changed on day as i was playing a simple game with one of the sisters, well she was the only one who was a willing challenger at this rate because i was too smart and good at the game which the other kids connected that challenging me was asking to lose.
"I win! Okay, let's [reset]... the... board?"
It was with this simple sentence that my world changed before my very eyes.
"Are you okay? Maybe you should lay down for a bit you look a bit pale."
"Ok yeah, haha I'll do that."
As I left the game board we had drawn in the dirt, heading inside to enter the bedroom, my pulse racing over the thing i was seeing now before my eyes.
why you might ask, well it seems something I just said activated what the man would call a system or perhaps talent? As there was now a blue window before my eyes, and the shock was great because this screen or one like it was only visible during ceremonies to members of the church.
[Nameless] Level 1 (5)
Job: Villager
Nothing much was shown, but even so the fact i could see what was before me now, gave me hope for a real future.
Being able to have the 'sight' as it was called, showed me i had the potential to join the ranks of the clergy and become a brother, or a priest possibly even higher if my talent was good enough.
The advantage didnt stop there, as the window had a second tab, beyond the one showing my overall status, and this one showed a great number of options all split across different categories.
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Strength, Vitality, Magic, Agility, Willpower, Faith, Charisma, Intuition, and Dexterity.
Laying down on my assigned bed which was little more than a ratty blanket sitting atop a sheet lain on the ground and a burlap sack filled with some hay and grass to serve as a pillow.
Investigating the board before my eyes deeper, it was clear these were the typical categories you'd find in one of that mans novels but at the same time the fact i could see them now showed the church clearly had greater power than what they led on or revealed to the public.
But then there was the issue, even though i could see all these categories none of mine were lit up which meant i possessed none of these things.
Seeing that caused my mood to drop quite low, depression setting in, as i was hoping i would find monsterous talent allowing me to become a hero, save the world, and give all the piles of money i'd earn to the Mother and Sisters to make their lives easier and proivide for the other orphans living here with us.
Heck i'd even settle for just being able to access the Strength section to be able to help out around the house with chores.
Strength-
<Unlock Strength 1point?>
Huh? As i was thinking about strength a new thing appeared and was asking me a question about unlocking strength, was this my true path to greatness?
Yes! Yes of course unlock strength!
But even though the window disappeared nothing about myself felt any different, but after cycling through the tabs once more, i found the Strength one was now lit up, which allowed me to open it, and once it was opened a new list of things were presented before my eyes.
Strength 0/30
Weapon Mastery 0/1
Two new lines of text under the tab, one just repeated the word strength, while the other appeared to be another subset unlock.
If i sunk more of these points into this strength i undoubtedly would become physically stronger, while weapon mastery would make me better with some sort of a weapon.
But how many of these point things did i have exactly?
Clicking back over to my status panel i noticed only one difference and that was the number in brackets next to my Name and level.
It used to be five and yet after spending one point it was now down to 4 which meant i must only have four points remaining to be assigned.
My first thought was to drop all four of those points into strength, i mean cmon just imagine how much i could help out with moving things or even tending to the sisters garden if i was as strong as an adult!
But after placing even just one point into the strength field, something stopped me from further investing.
Nothing physical, rather just a feeling like it would be better to hold off using all of my points at once, i mean afterall i didnt know how i was supposed to acquire more points, or even how i got these initial five to begin with.
After getting up from my short rest, i closed down the window and tried some of the things that man had written about in his book.
The panel showed a level which must mean i could level up, perhaps an increase of level would mean an increase of points?
Then there was the listed Job, was there a way to change your job and if you did would you be rewarded with points as well?
No clue but as a young kid there wasnt any monsters i could take on, nor would the sisters ever let that happen to begin with, since we were pretty much locked up inside or within the orphanages plot of land, and unable to go outside for fear of the villagers and the dangers outside the village itself.
So began my dark broody phase.
The only thing i could kill without repurcussion was bugs, so i became our resident exterminator.
Daily hundreds of bugs fell to my fingers, feet, and stick!
Day after day i repeated this process, even getting hired by some neighbors to help them rid pests in their own fields, nothign grand just a copper piece per week, but hey anything helps if i can also get more targets to help increase my level with.
My desire to cause the death of living creatures even if they were only bugs did cause the Mother and Sisters to worry for me, thinking something had gone wrong and a vengeful spirit having possessed me or something.
But after i got my first bit of pay and came in with a wide grin on my face and gave the few copper pennies to them saying to buy something good for the others they each broke into smiles themselves and stopped worrying about me.
The grimace they wore watching me go on a murder spree was now gone and replaced by a warm look instead each time i'd go into the fields to slaughter more of the insectoid monsters that were plaguing them
But how many bugs would I need to kill in order to level up? I mean ive already killed hundreds if not thousands of them and yet the level hadnt increased even once.
At least until a full month had passed, i probably had killed close to a hundred thousand of those vermin, when the nightly check of my status revealed the first full change in a good long while.
[Nameless] Level 2 (4)
Job: Villager
Hell yeah!
That's right I leveled up, and not only that I got myself one more point in the process!