Maximo Doyle, the 7th son of a local carpenter in the small town of Ferncombe in the kingdom of Auhuiral, had a strange birth.
His father was the 7th son of a 7th son, and Maximo was born on the 7th of July, 777th year of the 7th Age of Man, under the 7th constellation and on the 7th day of the week.
With so many sevens, some joked that he would gain magical powers, as such a phenomenon happened sometimes, but his parents thought it was nonsense.
But as it happened... the nonsense came true.
On that fateful day, at night, Maximo woke up to a message sounding in a pleasant, female voice.
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It is detected that the Host has turned 7 years old. Awakening Special Power... Congratulations, Host! You awakened the Progress Bar System! |
"Hah?" Maximo gaped in incomprehension.
At the same time, the voice continued.
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Detected that the Host is underage. Child Safety Mode Activated until the Host turns 18. Disabling Adult Content. The exp gain x2 as compensation. Unlocking Starter Class: Commoner. Unlocking Starter Abilities: Concentration, Productivity, Bargaining, Strength, Endurance, Health, and Agility. Classes dictate how proficient the Host is in a certain profession, while Abilities are more fundamental. Each level increases improvement speed by a tenth. For example, lvl 10 means you improve twice as fast, while lvl 90 means you improve 10 times faster. However, even if you improve faster, the Host's body will face real-world constraints. Even if the Host can improve 10 times faster, he wouldn't be able to surpass his limits. But the Host can slightly improve the upper limit by raising various abilities. For every 100 levels in an ability, the host's limit would increase by 1-fold, meaning at lvl 900, the host will have a 10-fold upper limit. The Progress System hastens the Host's progress, but real-world progress is up to the Host. The System recommends that the Host work hard! Think of it as improving the Host's talent. Additionally, the Host's actual attributes will not be displayed, as they cannot be cleanly calculated. To unlock new Classes and Abilities, the Host needs to gather sufficient knowledge and Magic Crystals as the price. The Host can also rent new Progress Bars and improve daily progress speed with Magic Crystals. Good Luck, Young Host! PS: To open the Progress Bar System, the Host needs to will it. |
Maximo blinked his eyes, trying to process the information. Finally, he summarized it-
"So it makes me more talented for free? I love free things!" Maximo grinned, eyes sparkling.
And then, he muttered in his heart.
"System, Open!"
The following moment, another screen appeared in his face.
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Progress Bar System: Host: Maximo Doyle MCP(Magic Crystal Points): 0. Progress Rate: 1/day exp. (Can increase to 2 for 1 MCP/day) Classes: Commoner 0 Abilities: Concentration 0, Productivity 0, Bargaining 0, Strength 0, Endurance 0, Health 0, Agility 0 |
Maximo couldn't read it, but the system was kind enough to express words when he focused on something. Finally, he figured out the crux of the issue.
"So I need Magic Crystals to progress faster? But aren't they the cores of monsters or excavated from magic mines or dungeons? While weak crystals are dirt-cheap, with a copper coin able to buy two lowest-tier crystals, they are still not something I can casually buy with my meager savings... Maybe I can try hunting some slimes or something with a slingshot along with my brothers? I did get a slingshot that Father made for my birthday present."
With that in mind, Maximo decided to give it a try.
"Okay, I will try hunting them when I am not helping my father..."
With that, Maximo continued to sleep, not telling anyone about it.
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The next morning-
Maximo helped his father, Toby Doyle, out in the workshop, mostly doing cleaning, fetching, and observing.
By noon, when he was finally free, Maximo suddenly heard the system's voice.
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Bar 1: Commoner 0(1/1) -> 1(0/2) |
At the same time, Maximo felt a sensation, as if he had experienced something before, but he couldn't put a finger on it.
After digesting the information, Maximo blinked his eyes and realized something.
"Ah, right. Half a day passed. I should be earning 2 so-called exp a day, so in half a day, I earn 1, right? So now, the Commoner Class requires 2 exp instead of 1? What about abilities? Can I put Strength instead? Would that make me stronger?"
With a thought, Maximo switched the Commoner Class to the Strength Ability and checked it.
Bar 1: Strength 0(0/1)
"Hm... I see. Maybe I should let it stay like this until it reaches 10 before switching to something else? Being strong is always a great thing, but I also want to have high endurance, agility, and health... especially health. I don't want to get sick and die like the neighbor's kid."
Shivering at the thought of dying from a sudden flu, Maximo shook his head and headed out with his older siblings and neighborhood kids, carrying his slingshot with him, and headed out of town to the fields.
Outside their small town of Ferncombe, there were many fields, with farmhands working tirelessly to make a living and feed the population.
However, despite being in a relatively peaceful region, monsters often spawned near the town, with slimes and other weak monsters being known pests. As it was too expensive to hire militia or adventurers to kill the pests, young children would go instead to hunt ones that entered the fields in exchange for pocket money, leaving more dangerous monsters to the adults.
Going in groups of 2 to 3, the kids spread out, eagerly searching for prey. After all, it was precious pocket money!
For Maximo, it was his first time doing it, so he followed his older brother, the 6th son, Kieran.
Walking along the way, Kieran spoke while picking suitable stones.
"Maximo, when choosing suitable rocks for slingshotting, look for the rounder stones. The best stones are by the river, but you can find discarded stones here as well."
"See those tracks on the grass? A slime likely grazed there."
"Always pay attention to your surroundings and keep spare stones. While slimes are nothing, molerats and snakes are more dangerous buggers and can actually kill you if you're not careful. And there is always a slight chance that a stronger monster, like a wolf or goblin, enters the field, so if you spot one, call for help immediately."
As his brother imparted his knowledge, the pair of brothers encountered their first customer of the day-
It was a blue jelly thing with a tiny core within its amorphous body. It was currently on top of a small carcass, a half-digested molerat. Slimes were known as the magical scavengers of the world, and discarded carcasses would usually get eaten by them, even if not by other predators.
"Great! A lone slime, a perfect first target. Go ahead and try shooting it. I will guide you." Kieran encouragingly spoke.
"Okay!" Maximo nodded.
He then licked his lips as he closed one eye, aiming, and-
Woosh*
It beautifully missed.
"Aw, I missed." Maximo pursed his lips.
At this time, the slime noticed them and started menacingly crawling over... slowly. It was at half their walking pace.
"It is okay, little brother. Everyone misses on their first time. Try again." Kieran encouraged, patting his little brother's shoulder.
Maximo nodded, drew his slingshot again, carefully aimed, and-
Woosh* Squelch*!
It beautifully hit the slime, right at the center. Like a deflated balloon, it collapsed, leaving a lump of reduced jelly and a crystal.
"I did it!" Maximo's eyes lit up.
"Great shot, little brother." Kieran affectionately rubbed Maximo's head.
"Hehehe~." Maximo chuckled, feeling happy.
Kieran then walked to the dead slime. The slime, its moisture rapidly drying up, left a lump of rubber-like material, along with its nucleus, a tiny red crystal the size of a fingernail.
"The dry slime lump can sell for a good price, 2 copper coins, and is used in making slime products. As for the crystal, it is only worth half of a copper coin. Since I am guiding and protecting you, I will take the lumps, while you get to keep the crystals. In the future, when you get older and stronger, you can keep more." Kieran explained.
"Thank you, brother!" Maximo grinned.
This arrangement suited him perfectly, as he wanted the crystals from the start.
After Kieran handed Maximo the crystal, a prompt sounded in Maximo's mind.
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Magic Crystal Detected. Absorb for 1 MCP? |
"No."
While excited, Maximo wasn't foolish enough to absorb it now. Instead, after selling, if he could hide any leftovers, he would absorb them instead.
That day, the pair of brothers managed to hunt five slimes before reporting to the Adventurer's Guild. Kieran sold 5 lumps, earning him a single silver coin, while Maximo sold 4, secretly hiding one, and earned two copper coins. To note, the daily earnings of an average laborer are 5-7 silver coins, so the profits were very meager by adult standards.
Unless one aspired to become an adventurer or lived a wretched life, they wouldn't stoop to slime hunting past the age of 12, where they were already full-time apprentices.
Once Maximo confirmed no one was looking, he sneakily absorbed the crystal. In an instant, he felt the tiny crystal turn to dust in his hands as energy flowed inside him.
MCP: 0 -> 1.
"Great... this will do nicely."
With a wide smile, Maximo continued progressing in his life.
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Seasons come and go, and before Maximo knew it, he had already turned 8...
Guess this is the rewrite of the rome story.
I’m pretty excited for this