The Beginning
Mana Blockage. It's a condition where someone's Mana channels are blocked and are unable to inhibit the flow of mana in their bodies.
Those with Mana Blockage are unable to wield mana. In a society where only 20% of the population wield Mana, they are considered Noble, and can perform astonishing feats, not being able to wield Mana means he/she is destined to be a commoner.
Maximus came from a commoner family, with both his parents having blocked Mana Channels. It is almost a certainty that children from such a union would also not be able to wield mana. But, Maximus was an exception, he was born with unblocked Mana channels and had the ability to wield Mana.
But, his mana channels were severely blocked and only a little mana could flow through it.
Even when he reached the final year of Middle school, he was still stuck at the Beginner Cleansing Stage. His classmates had already at the Peak of Cleansing Stage, or even the Core Formation Stage. He did his best to avoid others so nobody including his parents knew about his situation.
The Government made it a point to not allow the usage of mana until you enter Highschool so that the children get to experience normal school life. But, when one enters a Highschool your cultivation is the most important aspect everything else comes after.
At this rate, he would have to join a Commoner Highschool and his dreams would come crashing down.
...
Maximus looked at the form in his hand with a complicated expression, today was the last day of middle school and everyone had to choose what they wanted to become in the future.
When he first realized he could sense mana, he had been looking forward to becoming an Adventurer. But, as he grew up, he buried that dream as he knew that only the strong could become Adventurers. With his measly cultivation, he might be no different than an ordinary human.
While he was lost in thought, he noticed something odd through the window. He saw something shiny falling from the sky onto the ground next to the school building. Nobody else noticed it as it was a pure coincidence he was looking in that direction at that time.
When it was time for Lunch, Maximus did not eat and went to the place where he saw the shiny object fall. If it was something valuable he could sell it for some cash and make his parent's life a little easier.
As everyone was having lunch he was the only one on the ground. After some searching, he finally found the object. It was a beautiful-looking purple crystal with some complicated Inscription on it. The Inscription was in gold and it looked incredibly valuable. Maximus was excited that he found a treasure and quickly picked it up.
But, just when he touched the crystal,
"What?"
It melted into his hands.
It did not end there, the golden Inscriptions flowed through his arm and even reached his eyes. Maximus panicked and closed his eyes but it did not help, the inscriptions soon reached his eyes and they started tingling, he could sense that something was changing within him. The tingling sensation soon reached his brain, then flowed through his body, and even reached his Mana channel. Just when he thought it was over his Mana channels suddenly disintegrated causing him to cough out blood and some kind of black smelly substance.
Maximus started freaking out, he could sense his Mana Channel was no longer present.
"Damn it!"
Just as he was starting to regret picking up that crystal, the golden inscriptions merged together throughout his body and formed a new set of Crystal-like Mana channels with golden Inscriptions completely free of any Blockage.
The Mana channels started sucking in the Mana in the surroundings at an insane rate causing them to turn crystalline blue.
Maximus felt like he was reborn. He felt so light and comfortable, and even the stuffy feeling in his chest was gone.
When he opened his eyes, his Iris had turned Purple and his pupils had Golden Inscriptions in them but they soon faded away. Maximus was in a daze for a few seconds but soon noticed the changes in his body.
"This.."
"Peak Cleansing Stage!?"
Maximus was beyond excited, with the cultivation of Peak Cleansing Stage although he was still bottom tier among his age group he could at least get not worry about getting into a Highschool.
But, Maximus soon calmed down, he knew that in order to get into the Adventurers Academy he needed to at least reach the Core Formation Stage. There was only 1 month left before the Adventurers Academy started recruiting students. With his measly cultivation speed, there was no way he could reach the requirements. He could not help but sigh when he thought about this.
"Hah... I should probably head bac-"
"Huh?"
[You have several new messages.]
...
"...?"
Looking at the Purple screen with golden words floating in front of him Maximus was in a daze. He closed his eyes and rubbed them hard and opened them again.
[You have several new messages.]
The words still floated in front of him without any change.
Maximus tried touching the words but his hand just went through them.
"Hmm.."
He forced himself to calm down and pondered for a bit, he figured that this also had something to do with the crystal he merged with.
He walked around and noticed that the words were always in front of him.
'Is it my eyes?'
When he thought about how the Golden Inscriptions merged with his eyes...
A chill went down his spine. He ignored the words and rushed towards the washroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
The reflection in the mirror was an average-looking face but the eyes were a bit different the Iris was Purple in color and they even seem to glow a bit. His eyes were so beautiful that they even made his average-looking face look handsome.
Maximus sighed in relief when he saw that there were only some minor changes. Although Purple eyes were rare, with the abundance of Mana present in the surroundings many have different colored Irises.
He also noticed that there was no reflection of the words floating in front of him in the mirror. Which confirmed his theory that the words were a result of his eyes.
As he was curious what messages he had he said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Then, 'open' message"
Ding!
As soon as Maximus said the word 'open', a beep sound entered his head and the words changed.
[There are 3 new messages]
- [Congratulations for successfully merging with the Inheritance of the **************] (New!)
- [Daily Quest: A Perfect Vessel] is now available. (New!)
- [Beginner Class] is now available. (New!)
"Huh?"
Maximus was just trying his luck he did not expect it to work, he then focussed on the first message
- [Congratulations on successfully merging with the Inheritance of the **************]
"Open"
Ding!
[The System will help you in your journey towards the Peak of Strength]
[The existence of the System must not be disclosed, failure to comply will result in serious penalties]
[The Reward: Body Modification has been delivered.]
Although he was a bit surprised by the first two parts what caught his attention was the last part.
"Body modification?"
Maximus clenched his fists, although he could not see any changes from the outside. He definitely felt something different about his body from the inside. Especially his Mana Channels he could feel the Mana flowing through them like a river, it was so different from before where he could barely feel any Mana.
Calming his thoughts he went over the second message.
- [Daily Quest: A Perfect Vessel] is now available.
"Open"
Ding!
[Daily Quest: A Perfect Vessel]
[In order to complete the Inheritance, you must first become the Perfect Vessel.]
-Push-ups, 100 times: (0/100)
-Pull-ups, 100 times: (0/100)
-Squats, 100 times: (0/100)
-Running, 10 km: (0/10)
Penalty for failure: Time in the Penalty Zone.
"Huh?"
"What the hell!?"
Maximus could not help but cuss out loud. Although they were basic exercises, he was just 15 years old and never did any kind of exercise before. He used most of his time trying to clear his Mana Channel. Most people his age could not do more than 30 push-ups. He himself could do only about 10 at a stretch.
Even though he did not know what was a Penalty Zone he did not want to find out. So, he found a secluded place and,
"1,2,3,..."
He did not try to do it fast but focused on the perfect form
"...9,10!"
"Fuck!"
Maximus got up with his arms feeling like lead, his fitness was pretty bad, he could barely do 10 push-ups.
"At this rate..."
Maximus could not help but frown, assuming the worst case that the Daily Quest refreshes at 12:00 am every day. He only had about 11 hours left.
He looked at the Daily Quest and was satisfied seeing it updated,
[Push-ups, 100 times (10/100)]
After taking a break, he got at it again,
...
"Shit!"
Maximus crashed on the floor while panting he looked at the screen in front of him with a wry smile,
[Push-ups, 100 times (26/100)]
"Hah.. only 26?"
Maximus sighed, he looked at the time and realized that it was time to head back to class.
The rest of the day went by quickly, Maximus made a plan in order to complete the Quest but, no matter how he tried thinking he couldn't see himself doing everything. Hence he decided to complete as much as possible and pray that the penalty would be reduced.
He stopped thinking about it and focused on the third message.
- [Beginner Class] is now available.
[Please Choose your Beginner Class.]
- Warrior
- Mage
*Note: The Beginner Class you choose will affect what kind of Advanced Class you will get in the future so please choose wisely.*
From what knowledge he had about Adventurers, Mages had weak bodies and could not go on a mission without a party. Whereas Warriors had strong bodies and could go on solo missions. Maximus had always been alone throughout his life so he decided to choose Warrior. Besides, Maximus had always imagined Adventurers as Warriors. It would be hard for him to change his mindset and become a Mage who attacked from a distance.
[The 'Beginner Class: Warrior' has been added to your Status]
...
When school ended, he looked at the career form and clenched his fists, but left it blank in the end. Even with his encounter today he did not have the confidence to become an Adventurer.
Maximus wanted to never feel so lost ever again so decided he would try his best to complete the Daily Quest.
He did not take the metro home but instead ran the whole stretch. He would stop when he was tired and start running again. Coincidentally, his apartment was about 10 km from his school. Just when he was about to reach his apartment,
Ding!
[Running, 10 km (10/10)]
"Hah..hah.. cough! Finally.."
When he reached home, even though he felt dead tired, he quickly took a shower, had something to eat, and headed out again. He moved out to live on his own when he entered middle school so there was no one home.
He was heading towards the park in order to complete the Daily Quest. When he reached the park he noticed that it was filled with commoners. Those who could wield Mana did not have the leisure time to come to parks or did not concentrate on working out. Maximus tried to keep a low profile and started doing pull-ups first as he couldn't do it at home.
"1,2,3,4,...5!"
"As expected, doing pull-ups is harder"
Maximus calculated and realized that it was already 6 pm and he only had 6 hours left.
After 3 hours,
Ding!
[Pull-ups, 100 times (100/100)]
Maximus collapsed on the ground and by now he couldn't even feel his arms. He dragged his body home and finished the squats which were much easier,
Ding!
[Squats, 100 times (100/100)]
He looked at the Daily Quest,
[Daily Quest: A Perfect Vessel]
-Push-ups, 100 times: (26/100)
-Pull-ups, 100 times: (100/100)
-Squats, 100 times: (100/100)
-Running, 10 km: (10/10)
Penalty for failure: Time in the Penalty Zone.
His whole body ached and no matter how much he tried he couldn't get up. He looked at the time and saw that it was already 11:30 pm. He resigned himself and closed his eyes and went to sleep. While Maximus was sleeping the clock ticked away and when the time reached 11:59:59 PM.
Tick.
...60.
Ding!
[You have failed to complete the Daily Quest. You will be transferred to the penalty zone for a set period of time.]
...
Maximus's eyes shot open from the sound in his head, before he could react space distorted in front of him and sucked him inside.
"Shit!"
...