Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Finally! Only 66 hours, 33 minutes, and 15 seconds left to go until the lock was gone! 3,993 minutes!

We all shared one giant bed, which would have taken some getting used to if I hadn’t started there as a baby, and just never left. It was somewhat terrifying at first, not wanting mom or dad to roll over in the night and squash me like a bug, but somehow, I survived. I took a deep breath in, smelling the wonderful sea breeze. I leapt out of bed, disturbing mom, as I raced to get ready. Dad was working night shift, so he wasn’t around to be disturbed. I ran out the door, only for 24-year-old mom to groggily yell at me.

“Elaine! Get out of those filthy clothes, and into something nice! It’s System Day!”

I sheepishly slinked back into the bedroom, and looked down at my beige-colored bamboo tunic. A grease stain, a few dirt stains, and was that yesterday’s lunch…? Embarrassed, I changed to a fresh tunic. Bamboo was nice material to wear. It was light and cool, and as the weather was getting really warm in the early summer, it was the perfect material to wear. I wasn’t a fan of the color of undyed bamboo – I much preferred wool white – but there was no beating how it felt or what it did for the heat.

I sighed as I put away the dirty tunic. I would have to wash it later, and that was a chore and a half, needing to go down to the river that cut the town in half. Mom- I found out her name was Julia, just Julia – would come down with me and do the rest of the laundry, but I was already being made to look after myself. Childhood being a carefree time with no responsibilities, bah humph. Who said that!? I want a refund!

Still, System Day! I was bouncing off the walls with happiness. Turns out, everyone had a system, not just me! System Day was when kids who were just about to unlock their class went to the temple, and we would get told all about the System, how it worked, and had a chance to ask for advice and help. Mom and dad – turns out his name was Marcus Elainus Cato, for some reason he had a long and fancy name – would also be telling me things and giving their own advice and opinion on the matter, but the temple asked for, and got, first dibs on telling kids what was going on.

System Day happened every week, and only once in your life. Only kids that were about to unlock their system could attend. It marked the end of being babied (HA! Like I wasn’t already pressed into chore service), and the start of “real” childhood, of getting classes and levels generally starting an apprenticeship, or really working. They started the hard labor young here!

With that being said, I had already managed to gain a few stats on my own. Some were clearly obtained from my own effort – I got some points in Speed for playing and running around the park – and others just seemed to happen while growing up, like a point in Strength and Vitality. Each time I leveled up, I could feel it, a power bubbling up inside and washing over me. With how low my stats were, I distinctly noticed each and every level. I pulled them up to see how I’d done since I got started here.


[Free Stats: 0]

[Strength: 4]

[Dexterity: 6]

[Vitality: 3]

[Speed: 4]

[Mana: 2]

[Mana Regeneration:2]

[Magic Power: 2]

[Magic Control: 2]