I sat at a table with a portion of my assigned group. There were around ten of us. I noticed that the hall we occupied was less busy this evening. “Where is everyone?” I asked Loftus.
“Some of the people that left the main party just went off on their own. They got their possessions and left. I assume they joined the Adventurer’s Guild and decided to level up by accepting monster slaying jobs.”
“They’re MIA then? What if they died?”
“I doubt that they’re stupid enough to take requests they can’t handle. Hyde and the other royal knights were pretty mad when they found out. They wanted us all to stick together.”
“Is that so?” I placed my index finger on my cheek. “Maybe I’ll leave to as well to make her even angrier.”
“I think she’d probably be happy if a troublemaker like you left.” Loftus gently nudged me.
The others around laughed at that comment. “Are you really not going to join us on our expeditions, Yarm?” asked Selsie, the young girl with a bobcut.
“You’re getting left behind in levels,” said Thaxted.
I saw that everyone at the table had already reached at least level eight. “I don’t mind.” I responded.
Loftus sighed. “It hurts me to see you being left out of the fun. Today we were being taught about the System by Hyde and the other guards.”
“Sounds exhilarating,” I said sarcastically. I tried to run my fingers through my beard, but I realised I didn’t have one. “Wait, can they see your Systems?”
“Yeah, but they don’t see an overhead UI like we do. That’s something unique to us heroes. We can see the levels of our enemies and decide whether to fight or run based off that information.”
“I see.” I put my head down to the table and rested it on my folded arms.
“Yarm, how are you so uninterested? Isn’t the System amazing?”
“It is, but it’s designed around killing. It feels icky. I don’t really wanna hear about it.”
“At least let me give you the basic run down.”
“Please don’t.”
“So, there are three key mechanics: Stats, Skills, and Titles.”
“You’re just going to carry on anyway?” I huffed.
“Stats are something that affect your innate ability. For example, increasing Body will make your body stronger. When you invest points into it, you can lift more, you’re faster, more flexible, and you gain HP. Increasing your Soul effects magical capability. You can cast stronger spells and your max MP increases.”
“Riveting.” I wondered why he was so eager to explain all of this to me. It didn’t benefit him in any way.
“Mind effects your mind.”
“I would’ve never guessed.”
“Increasing it aids in stuff like mental maths. If you have a career that requires arithmetic like an inventor or architect, then it’s useful. Unfortunately, for us it seems to be a dump stat. It doesn’t really help in fights for the most part.”
“I think I’m just going to go to bed early.”
As I got up to leave, Loftus pulled me back into my seat. “At least let me quickly explain Skills and Titles.”
“Fine.”
“Skills are abilities that you can activate. To demonstrate, I have a Skill called Blinding Touch.” Loftus touched me and I lost all vision.
“AAAGH! What the hell? I can’t see!” I flail in my seat. “Make it stop!”
“Relax, it only lasts thirty seconds.”
It was a terrifying feeling for my eyes to be open but no light to register. My breathing became erratic during that half-minute. Loftus rubbed my back in an attempt to calm me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think that would rattle you so much.”
Perhaps if he warned me or asked for permission, I wouldn’t have freaked out.
“Anyway, Skills are actives. Titles are passives. You know the Hero title we have? It’s working at all times. We don’t need to trigger it or turn it on.”
“Understood. I hope that’s all.”
“Well… take a look at this.” Loftus presented his System to me.
[Skills: Blinding Touch, Arcane Slash.]
He pressed Blinding Touch and a description appeared.
[Blinding Touch]
[Upon physical contact with another creature, cause the Blind status effect. Uses 30 MP. (Soul)]
“See what it says in brackets? That means this Skill scales with Soul. The more points I have in Soul, the stronger this ability becomes.” Loftus closed his System. “The Hero title doesn’t scale off of anything, by the way.”
“I see.” It was somewhat interesting to learn about this strange technology but my repulsion for it stayed. I didn’t want these Stats or Skills if it meant that I had to slaughter for them. “Thanks for teaching me, Loftus. You’re more considerate than I realised.”
Thaxted laughed. “He’s not doing it out of the kindness of his heart. Hyde asked him to tell you all this. He’s trying to get brownie points with the royal knight.”
Loftus shot Thaxted a sharp glare.
“What?” Thaxted shrugged. “It’s true.”
That really left a bitter taste in my mouth. That conniving woman couldn’t convince me herself, so she used a fellow Earthling to try to get to me.
Loftus looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Yarm. She just wants you to participate in levelling and gaining XP like the rest of us.”
“Whatever.” I got up and went to the kitchen to cook myself a meal. I began to stir fry some vegetables. The only other person in the kitchen was Lydney, a curly-haired girl with bright eyes.
“Cooking up something nice?” Lydney asked.
“Trying to,” I responded.
“Is something the matter? You seem down.”
“How could I not be? This world is full of awful things like slavery, murder and poverty. And there’s not a damn thing that I can do to change any of it.”
“Hmm?” She herself was cooking some waffles. “Why not?”
“What do you mean why not? I’m only one man stuck in a child’s body. I can’t change anything for the better.”
She giggled. “You’re quite pessimistic, aren’t you? I’ve always believed that every person has the power to move mountains and split oceans, if they put their mind to it.”
“Well, I don’t believe that, not even metaphorically.” I added some sauce to my stir-fry. “The toil of all that be helps not the primal fault; it rains into the sea, and still the sea is salt.”
Lydney’s lips formed a circle. “Ooh, sounds cool. What does that mean?”
“It’s from Housman. It means that no matter what I do, it won’t change anything. I’m just a drop in the ocean.” I let out a large yawn as I felt the urge to sleep.
Lyndey let out another giggle. “That’s just your interpretation, isn’t it? If you’re fond of poetry, I’ve got a better one for you by the great Rumi.” Lydney had just finished making her waffles. “You are not just a drop in the ocean; you are the mighty ocean in the drop.”
She placed one of her waffles onto my plate and walked away. I bit into it and immediately spat it out. “So salty.” I scraped the residue off my tongue.
I went to my room and collapsed into my bed. I had skipped a night of sleep already, so I was dead tired. I spent an hour laying in bed. Despite my drowsiness, I couldn’t sleep. I was too affected by what Lydney told me. I thought about what I could do, if I was truly mighty. My mind landed on one thing. I could use the System.
If I got one of those Titles or Skills that Loftus was talking about, I might be able to do some good in this horrid world.
I navigated to the level-up screen. That juicy slot machine appeared in front of me. I drooled while looking at it. I caressed the cold metal casing. I kissed the reels. I licked the lever. Ok, this was getting weird. I broke out of my trance and placed my hand on the lever. I had three tries to get something worthwhile.
I pulled the lever down. “Cla-chank,” the slot machine said to me in a seductive voice. The reels began rolling and my ears began dancing. What a wonderful sound it made.
“Ching!” One of the reels stopped and displayed the word ‘Title’. “Ching! Ching!” The other two reels stopped on ‘Skill’ and ‘Stats’.
“I could listen to your beautiful sounds forever,” I groped the slot machine’s lever and pulled it down again. “Sing for me, baby.”
The machine rolled again. This time all three reels stopped on Skill. A blue screen popped up in front of me.
[Choose your Skill.]
[Cleanse] [Sneezing Touch] [Death Hex]
What the heck was I looking at? A stupid screen was obstructing my view of my beloved. It seemed as if I got to choose my reward from the levelling slot. So, it wasn’t all luck after all. These options had me intrigued. I clicked on each for a description.
[Cleanse]
[Remove one status effect from a target within range. Costs 10 MP. (Soul)]
[Sneezing Touch]
[Upon physical contact with another creature, cause the Sneezing status effect. Uses 1 MP. (Soul)]
[Death Hex]
[Mark a creature for death. Deal increased damage to the creature and take increased damage from it. Requires 100 MP. (Soul)]
“These all suck,” I whispered to myself. The sneezing one sounded stupid as hell. I couldn’t even cast the death one, for lack of MP. And for the first one, I wouldn’t even know what status effect to remove. Hold on a second, actually I did. I could remove the Tired status effect. Then I wouldn’t need to sleep.
I clicked on Cleanse and confirmed my selection. I looked at my Skills page and there it was. I didn’t know how to use it. I imagined myself cleansing my sleepiness and it worked.
I started cackling quietly. I would never need to sleep again. I could spend all twenty-four hours awake. Then I realised I was out of this MP thing. I had no idea how to bring that back.
It didn’t matter anyway. I was itching for another roll. One more roll. My hand was shaking as it moved to pull the lever again.
The machine rolled once more and I savoured the sound. This time all three reels landed on Title.
[Choose your Title.]
[Pocketpicker] [Lockpicker] [Nosepicker]
My face cringed at the last option. This System thing had to be messing with me or something.
[Pocketpicker]
[Gain proficiency in picking pockets. (Body)]
[Lockpicker]
[Gain proficiency in picking locks. (Mind)]
[Nosepicker]
[Gain special items when picking noses. Only works once per unique nose. (Mind)]
Ew! To make use of the last one, you had to pick other people’s noses? What a vile Title that was. I thought about the other two. Which could I make use of to better the world? A criminal idea popped into my mind. The second one would be perfect. When making my selection, I was incredibly careful to not accidentally misclick on the last Title.
The slot machine poofed away. “Wait, I wasn’t done admiring you yet.” I checked my System to find it again, but the level-up menu was gone. It only appeared when I had the opportunity to spend points. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have chosen so quickly!
I got up from my bed and stretched my body. I felt so awake and alive after removing my Tired status effect. I stretched and got to work on my plan. I’d need a pick and a tool for tension. I had never picked locks before, but I suddenly had so much knowledge on the topic.
In the dead of night, I approached that slave prison from earlier. The city was so different at this hour. The streetlights illuminated the ground. I inspected them and saw that they were powered by a ring of letters. These rune things were amazing.
I heard the hoots of owls as I walked. Surprisingly, there were a few people still awake and strolling through the streets. For some reason, I caught everyone’s attention. Oh right, they were probably wondering what a child was doing awake at this time.
I saw the building ahead. There were no guards, perfect. I picked the lock for the front door and entered with ease. The interior was quiet. Most of the slaves were sleeping but I saw some that were awake. I assumed insomnia at first but then I realised that they could be nocturnal half-animal species.
I approached a cell. There was writing on a chalkboard next to it that said, ‘March. 34-year-old half-raccoon woman. Assassin.’
Assassin? Was I about to free a murderer from their shackles?
March, the raccoon woman stared at me curiously from behind the bars. She was surprisingly tall and slender. “You’re the boy from earlier,” she said quietly.
“I didn’t realise you were awake,” I stammered. “I’m here to free all of you.”
Her eyes widened. “You have an escape plan?”
“Yeah. The plan is I pick all your locks, and you all run away from here.”
She frowned. “Are you an idiot? You plan to free hundreds of slaves by yourself. Not only that, but you also think we can all just leave the city without getting caught?”
“Yeah, kind of.”
She sighed softly. “Once you get me out of here, I’ll guide you to Bottesford. He’s half-mantis. He’ll help you pick locks with his pincers. Then we’ll meet up with Verwood. She can cloak us as we leave the building.”
“Cloak us? Is she like half-manta ray or something?”
“No, she’s human. She can cast a cloaking spell.”
“Oh. To be honest, I don’t see why you need to leave the city. It’s a big place. You could just live here.”
March pushed her furry hand through the bar and flicked my forehead. “You really are an idiot. All our names and faces are known. Once our escape is reported, everyone will be on the lookout for us.”
“Ouch.” The flick wasn’t painful, but it did feel like I was being belittled. “You don’t seem to have a lot of respect for the person trying to save you.”
The girl grabbed the bars of her cell and stared deeply into my eyes. “I have a profound respect for you. Ever since I saw you speak up earlier, I’ve respected you greatly.”
I got to work, freeing her. These locks were simple. I knew I would not be able to pick more complex locks at my level of Mind, but these ones were surprisingly straightforward. Perhaps costlier locks would be considered a waste of money for slaves. As I released her, March rubbed her fur at the locations her shackles used to be.
[-109 XP]
I went on and freed the people March asked me to. As I unlocked the shackles of more slaves, I realised there were people of expertise everywhere who could aid in the escape. We coordinated our efforts. Small groups of slaves left at certain intervals. By 3AM, all were no longer slaves.
I stood by March’s side as she overlooked the last group of escapees disappearing over the horizon. “I know you’ve heard us all thank you to no end, but I have to say it again. Thank you, child.”
“It was nothing.”
She smiled. “Are you sure you want to stay in the city? If you do, none of us will be able to see you again. We all want to show our thanks in some way. If you stay here, we can’t return to reward you for your kindness.”
“That’s alright. If I did it for a reward, it wouldn’t be kindness anyway.”
March ruffled my hair. “I’ll never forget you, my little hero.” And then she left. For the first time since coming to this world, I was genuinely glad. I was able to make a difference.
I returned to my bed and slept, though I wasn’t especially tired. The comfort of my bed was spurred by the contentedness of my mind. I made sure to turn my alarm rune off. I wasn’t going to be woken to go along with Hyde’s plots. I’d sleep till noon if I could.
At around 9AM I heard loud noises coming from the main hall. “Where is he?” Hyde shouted. “I know he’s hiding in here somewhere!” Her voice was angrier than ever. I wouldn’t be on the receiving end of that ire. I chuckled to myself and tried to go back to bed. “Where is Yarm?” she screamed.
Oh no, she was coming for me! I gathered up my possessions and tried to bolt out of my bedroom window, but I saw a guard patrolling outside. He was clearly watching the windows to make sure no one escaped.
Loftus slammed my door open. “Yarm! Are you alright? Hyde is looking for you. She says there’s witness testimony saying you were at the scene of a crime.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied through my chattering teeth. “I’ve been in bed all night.”
Selsie appeared at my doorframe next. “Yarm! They’re saying they found your fingerprints at the scene of a crime!”
“What? They have fingerprint forensics in this world? They didn’t figure that out until the 1800s on Earth.” I was shaking violently. “Those probably weren’t my fingerprints.”
Thaxted appeared next. “Yarm! They’re showing everyone camera rune footage of you freeing slaves. They caught you in 4K, bro!”
Sweat dripped all over my body. “They have cameras in this world too? I’m done for!”
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