In just a few hours, Cassian's life had completely transformed. From being a street rat, he'd suddenly found himself in a much better place, all thanks to the voice in his head.
The voice, calling itself the Warrior Training System, explained that it can help train him in various combat arts, like fist fighting, swordsmanship, and spear fighting, among others. Cassian was skeptical and bombarded it with questions. He was stunned when the voice revealed that it had healed his body and teleported him to this new location.
The voice also explained that it was the necklace that had awakened when it came into contact with the true mana in his heart. This mana exists in every living and non-living core— in humans, it's located in the heart. However, it's impossible to touch or extract, as it vanishes before it can even leave the heart.
For the necklace to interact with it, it had to pierce his heart just enough to extract a small amount of mana to activate itself.
"But why did you save me?" Cassian asked, still skeptical of the system. The trauma from being tortured by the three men had left him paranoid and wary.
[The system offers rewards to new trainees, which typically include weapons, basic techniques, and body enhancements to improve their abilities. In your case, the reward was healing your body and teleporting you to a safe location.]
Cassian, now lying on the single bed but the biggest one he'd ever slept in, found the explanation reasonable. But still curious about other things, He asked, "So what else can you do?"
[I can do many things, trainee. But let's start with the basics. Say 'status' in your mind or aloud.]
'Status,' Cassian said in his mind, and suddenly golden words appeared in front of his eyes, startling him. He jumped out of bed. "What's that?"
[It's your status, Trainee Cassian.]
Cassian was still spooked, but seeing that the words were just floating in front of his eyes and not doing anything harmful, he sighed in relief and asked, "What do they do?"
[If you look at it, it's self-explanatory.]
Cassian didn't like the way this so-called system talked to him, but recognizing its power, he refrained from complaining and focused on the floating words. Fortunately, he had learned to read and write from Master Russell, though only in the official language of the Andharta Kingdom. To his relief, the status was in the same language.
[Name : Trainee Cassian ven dyke
Warrior level : trainee
Cassian quickly grasped the meaning of each attribute. Strength clearly referred to his physical power, while Agility was about his speed and reflexes. Endurance indicated his stamina and ability to withstand hardship, and Intelligence was his mental acuity. Dexterity covered his coordination and skill, while Vitality represented his overall health and life force.
It was all straightforward, making it easy for him to understand his strengths and weaknesses at a glance. But there was more as he read further.
Mopping: A (Progress: 79%)Sweeping: A (Progress: 64%)Dusting: B (Progress: 56%)Laundry: C (Progress: 33%)]
"What the fuck? Are you humiliating me? How can cleaning be a warrior's skill?" Cassian asked, feeling even more embarrassed by his skills.
[They are not. The term 'skills' refers to any particular task a person has learned and performs often to get better at. You, trainee Cassian, are quite proficient at cleaning tasks. Unfortunately, while the system primarily trains individuals in combat—whether physical or magical—it can also track proficiency in other tasks like alchemy, though that's not its main focus.
Now, what type of combat do you want to train in? Keep in mind you can only choose one type of combat art for the system's assistance. For other arts, you'll need to develop them yourself. The system will still track your progress, similar to your cleaning skills.]
Cassian took a deep breath, trying to process everything. Despite the initial embarrassment, he realised this was his chance to become more than just a regular human and get revenge on those who tortured him for the necklace. Thinking about them, he wondered if they knew about the system and wanted it for themselves. This thought spooked him, driving him to grow stronger.
Knowing this world was full of powerful people who could perform miracles like the system, he knew he could reach their level with its help. With a sigh and a determined face, he said, "Alright, I want to train in swordsmanship."
There was no complicated reason why he wanted to train in swords. He simply wanted to be like Master Russell, the person who took care of him and saved his life, a sword master. Cassian aspired to follow in his footsteps and become a master himself one day.
[Trainee has chosen the sword as their training weapon.]
[Trainee will be given a self-repairing wooden sword.]
As Cassian heard this, a wooden sword materialized beside him, seemingly out of nowhere. Surprised, he quickly realized it was the work of the warrior training system. Steadying his emotions, he focused his attention on the shiny words in front of him.
[Name : Trainee Cassian van dyke
Warrior level : Trainee in Sword
Swordsmanship : None]
Cassian didn't notice any changes in his status, except for the appearance of new skill categories, though none had skills listed yet. What struck him as odd was that all his attributes, except for intelligence, were set at 7. It seemed too coincidental, so he asked, "Why are all of my attributes at 7, except intelligence?"
[When the system healed your body, it restored it to its optimal condition for your age and went a bit further to make you as strong as possible as it can. The limit ended up being 7. If the system had more resources, it could have done better, but it also needed to transport you away from danger.]