Chapter 1: Helping

The world was continuing like any other day for Xavier. Waking up and walking out of his poorly crafted room just in time to hear his mom and dad arguing at the dinner table.

"Honey, I know we are getting really low on food, but what can I do about it? The world has changed and you know how unforgiving it is out there now! If it were 10 years ago I could easily go out and hunt a deer or even set up a few snares for rabbits or squirrels, but now I'm risking my life just by going out and fetching water for us!" He continued to speak with a pensive, yet depressed tone.

"I know my dear. I'm just scared of what this winter will be like with the very little food we have left for the little ones. I don't care if I starve, but I can't bear to watch Xavier and little Anna go without food!" She said while sobbing into her husband's chest as he held her and tried to calm her down.

Xavier was a few feet away leaning against the wall that separated the kitchen from the dinning room listening. He couldn't help but curse the Gods for their situation.

To be honest he didn't know if the Gods were to be blamed or not and neither did the rest of the world, but there were no other entities anyone could think of powerful enough to change the world.

10 years ago the world didn't have anything supernatural within it. The most supernatural aspect about the world would be the occasional Lord taking pitty on a peasant for smelling awful and giving him the nice gesture of throwing him in a river.

One day everything changed. The first day of the new year, when families were celebrating being alive for another year without starving to death or catching a sickness, the sky turned black as night. There was a small vortex in the middle of the sky that was rotating eerily with a slight red aura to it. Surprisingly nobody felt a malicious intent coming from it. All they could feel was warmth, like they were being hugged from a loved one.

"This world is one of the very few under my watch that doesn't have a qualified system to rule it. Today, I will change this!"

Everybody in the world could hear the entity speak, but the weird part is that it sounded like it was all in their heads, like a telepathic speech. Everybody was stunned and didn't know how to respond so they just kept waiting and eventually something happened.

Everyones minds started shaking like an earthquake. Like their sea of consciousness were being overtaken by somebody else. The weaker ones directly passed out, while the stronger willed people tried to hang on like their lives depended on it. In fact, they thought their lives did depend on it. Nobody knew what was happening. Panic, fear, desperation started to finally kick in, but eventually everybody in the world passed out.

When everybody started to awaken, they were surprised to feel a new power pulling the back of their minds. When they focused their consciousness on it, it was like pushing a button. An interface only they could see popped up showing their status.

Thinking about how this interface changed the world Xavier could only curse and scold the Royalty and different sects of the world because they held the secrets of the system.

Peasants like his family didn't deserve to know how to level up according to the Lord that owns the land they live on. Besides the Lord and his family, or anybody rich enough, nobody knows how to level up so it's a constant battle for the poor to fix their stuggles. All they can do is farm, struggle, and hope they don't die from random beast attacks.

"Life is really unfair" Xavier sighs to himself. "Even animals can level up in the wild and gain new abilities, yet the poor like us have to struggle just to hunt and grow crops to survive while the rich horde their knowledge and prosper. The only thing I can do for my family is help grow the crops and hopefully one day dad will teach me how to hunt and set traps. Maybe if I ask he will let me today. I can only hope for the best and not get another speech about how dangerous it is" He sighed again walking into the kitchen.

"Xavier, good morning! Go wake the little lazy one and go check on the crops would you? They should be getting close to harvest time and we could use the food." Trista, his mother says with a loving smile that could melt metal while rubbing her eyes to make sure he didn't see she was crying.

"Ok mom, I'll go and grab little Annie to check on the crops, but can I ask a question?"

His mom looks at his with a questioning look. "Of course dear, what's wrong?" She can tell he is hesitant to speak and can only guess he's going to ask about going hunting again.

"If we're running out of food why can't I learn how to hunt or even set traps? We need the food and every hand can help! I'm 16 years old now and I can help dad so we don't starve this winter! At least let me help skin or take the beasts to town so we can sell them!"

"Absolutely not! I'm not losing a child because his parents cannot afford to provide for them! We will make it through this winter like many before! We've survived through worse winters with less food. Now go do what I've asked of you!"

Walking away with a dejected and sad expression, Xavier goes to get his little sister to go check on the crops.

"Honey, he does have a point. He's a man now and we need to treat him like one. He needs to learn how to take care of himself in case something happens to me and he needs to step up for the family. Plus, it will get him outside to let loose some pent up energy." Razz says to his wife with a tender tone.