"Why me...?"
For Samuele Rua, that was a day far from remembered. He had awakened the System, the Adventurers' power that allowed them to face portals and increase their level, as if they were in a video game.
{PROFILE}
NAME: SAMUELE RUA LEVEL: 1
TITLE: NONE
CLASS: NONE
HP: 100
{STATS}
STRENGTH: 1 PERCEPTION: 1
INTELLIGENCE: 1 AGILITY: 1
VITALITY: 1 STAMINA: 1
Indeed, for many people it would have been great to receive this awakening, but not for him. No. He absolutely did not want to take part in those quests, even if they would have made him stronger. He was not interested in strength. I knew, however, that once he had obtained this System he would not be able to escape the life of an Adventurer. Of course, the awakened were not obliged to become Adventurers, but he in a way was. And he knew very well why.
"Samu, you know what our financial situation is. Your mother is doing part-time jobs to earn some money, while I am one step away from being laid off due to lack of work. Also, your sister will be going to high school in a while and after that she plans to go to university. This is an opportunity not to be missed! You must become an Adventurer. Only then can we continue to pay the rent, groceries and everything else." His father reminded him.
He was a tall, portly man who was well into his fifties. He had short hair with many greyish areas due to his age and blue eyes that he had also passed on to his son.
"I know dad, but "venturing" into those portals doesn't appeal to me. I know that by getting stronger and stronger, I will have the chance to enter higher and higher level portals and thus earn more money, but the idea of completing those quests... what if I die? Would that help you?"
Samuele had just turned twenty. After school he had worked as a waiter, but that didn't last long. Now he was unemployed. He understood perfectly well what his father was talking about, but he could not help but express his anguish.
"Son... with data in hand, we both know how low the probability of dying inside lower level portals is. Especially you who will start as a newbie, you will be with a group accompanied by an experienced Adventurer. Please consider this. Pretty soon we won't be able to make it with money anymore. Do it at least just for a little while, please."
"Believe us, Samu. We don't want to see you hurt, but this is currently the only way we can get some extra income. If there was any other way, then we would never let you in one of those portals." The mother spoke this time.
She was a few years younger than her husband, with blond hair - the same as her son's - that reached her shoulders and brown eyes.
"...All right." Samuel lowered his shoulders reluctantly.
"I'll at least do the first mission." He said with a sigh. The father gave a huge grin and rose from his chair to pull his eldest son into a vigorous hug, hurting him slightly.
Thanks to the National Association of Adventurers, he had been assigned his first portal. During the call, he was told that there would be other newbies like him, headed by a level 20 adventurer.
It was just as his father told him. Of course, it wasn't hard to come to this conclusion. All the adventurers who had recently started this career acted in groups with a leader who had gained some experience and had accumulated a fair level.
The level limit of 20 was by no means something to throw away, quite the contrary. It was a respectable level that allowed you to earn as much or even more than an average worker. Sure, it wasn't an easy job being an adventurer. But rarely at such a level did you encounter high dangers in a portal of the same level. Those who worked for these quests always said it was an easy job with good pay. Little risk, good pay.
Obviously, those who participated in the lower level portals did not receive much pay. The newbies also thought this way. Those who participated as leaders in these portals, however, had a lot to gain. They were given an extra bonus by the National Association of Adventurers to encourage them to lead the new Awakenings.
Samuele Rua had just arrived in the camp set up by the Association. Only those who worked as employees of the Association or as Adventurers were allowed to enter this area, so for Samuel it was his first time inside the camp. This was used to relax just before the Adventurers entered the portal.
Here he saw the group almost full. He was informed that they would be a group of ten, including the leader. The latter was helping to prepare all the necessary things before the mission: healing potions, stamina potions, water bottles, etc... the essentials to ensure that no one would suffer in this adventure that, after all, they knew would be short-lived given the level of the portal.
Low-level quests would have taken, at most, a day to complete. High-level quests, on the other hand, would take several days.
The leader of the group casually turned his head towards him and, with a wave of his hand, greeted him. As if called upon, Samuel went up to him to introduce himself.
"You must be another newbie, right?"
He was a man now in his mid-forties. He had a muscular body and black hair. A scar started on the left side of his forehead and went down, ending just below his left eyebrow.
"Yes. My name is Samuele Rua. Nice to meet you."
"My name is Marco Terranova, but you can refer to me as you wish. Don't worry and relax. As soon as the last two arrive, I will talk to all of you together. For now, sit here and have a coffee." Marco made him take a seat on a bench right nearby and turned to an employee of the Association.
"Could you please make coffee for the boy?" The employee, a boy in his early twenties immediately turned to make coffee and brought it to Samuel, who thanked him.
No more than five minutes passed before the last two Adventurers arrived. The leader Marco called all nine Adventurers around him and spoke.
"So, I know that many of you are Newbies starting now, so I really want to give you this speech. Since this is your first time, you are rightly feeling some anxiety, but I want to reassure you all that nothing will happen to you. Having participated as a leader in this type of portals many times, most likely the mission you will be given will be to face some very poor enemies that even you Newbies can deal with very easily and safely. In any case, if anything should go wrong, remember that you can rely on me. One shout, and I will be with you immediately for any problem. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded in unison and Marco smiled.
"Excellent. Let me remind you that once we enter the portal, we will not be able to leave until we complete the quest. So, if you forgot to do something, do it now."
Fortunately, the portals would remain closed from the inside for thirty days if they were not completed immediately. In this way, no magical creature would be able to get out of there. Of course, this also had a cons: not even the Adventurers could leave until they had completed their assigned quest. Once completed, they only had a few hours to get out of the portal before it closed forever.
In any case, it was indeed a very convenient mechanism. Of course, for simple portals one could postpone even to the last minute, but for more complex portals it was a different matter. It could take longer than expected, so it was better to try to complete them as soon as the portals appeared.
Everyone had taken up their weapons and, after ensuring that no one had any unfinished business, Marco turned towards the portal and entered once he had checked that the others were following him. Samuele entered as the last in line and saw the leader turned towards them to check that they were all there.
As if to warn him that no one was missing from the roll call, a small bell rang and a screen appeared in front of the Adventurers, visible to each of them but invisible to the others. If a person outside them who knew nothing about the Systems had looked at them, they would have thought they were all staring into space.
Samuele swallowed his saliva and looked at the screen in front of his face.
[QUEST!]
KILL ALL THE GOBLINS INSIDE THE CAVE.
END OF CHAPTER.
