After the confrontation with the Heroine Martha, Zofia couldn't find any work here. Not only did they refuse her, but they also used harsh words to chase her away. Even the farmers near Nathan's hut looked at her with critical gaze.
"What are you going to do?"
"Maybe I'll leave the capital. I can't stay here and trouble you forever."
"Are you planning to go on a journey?"
"Not exactly. If I find a suitable place, I'll stay there until I'm old. I was born poor; a bit more hardship won't kill me."
"You're admirable. I wish I had your will and courage."
"Why not? I saw you had the courage to save me."
He sat down on the straw next to her but kept a respectful distance.
About five years ago, Nathan Brown was still a young master of a wealthy noble family in the city. His family wasn't active in politics, specializing only in trade, but they were still a thorn in the eyes of other families.
The Brown family held most of the flow of goods throughout the kingdom, bringing immense profit and prosperity to Relum. However, other families didn't see it that way; they secretly colluded to frame the entire Brown family.
Their actions resulted in the entire family being sentenced to death. Queen Isabella didn't even verify the evidence presented by those people before hastily passing judgment. Nathan escaped because a close relative of his father took him into hiding. Before passing away from illness, that man managed to change Nathan's lastname on his papers.
Since then, Nathan had to live alone in the capital, doing manual labor that a young master had never touched. Gradually, he got used to it and forgot his status.
"That's despicable."
"I no longer trust the Queen's ability to rule, but I hesitate to leave because I currently have a job inside the city walls. Outside, I hear it's very chaotic and complex; people can die at any moment if wandering alone."
"And I thought my life was miserable. Who knew you fell into an even more tragic situation."
Nathan just smiled slightly. Perhaps recalling old memories made him uncomfortable inside. Seeing that, Zofia patted his shoulder.
"Alright, consider us both poor people. I don't want to go back to the old world either, so I might as well live here. Like in a book I once read: adventuring, roof made from star and floor made from grass, is an interesting life."
"Sounds interesting indeed. Besides, you know magic, right? I heard that anyone summoned to this world is granted power."
"Really? Who said that?"
"The healer in the city."
"Yeah, consider that I know a little bit, but I probably need to practice a lot."
Zofia stood up, took a deep breath, and held out her hand to Nathan.
"Come on, stand up. From today on, you will be my companion. We will start a new life."
Nathan happily grabbed her hand and was pulled up. The two immediately packed up, although there wasn't much to bring.
Their luggage consisted only of a few pans, Nathan's thin armor, and a somewhat old sword. He suggested Zofia should practice more and then register as an adventurer to take quests from the Guild to earn extra money.
Zofia thought this was a good idea. However, before setting off, she wanted to investigate the System deeper to ensure they wouldn't lose their lives on the road just because of a lack of preparation.
"You work one more shift today and ask for your wages. I'll go learn more about my ability to use magic. Better safe than sorry."
Nathan nodded and left immediately. Zofia found a vacant lot near the city wall; hardly anyone passed by here because of the sewage drain.
"System."
"Present."
"If it's like a game, show me my stats."
"Command received. Your stats are: Strength 2, Agility 2, Intelligence 10, Endurance 2. Class: Mage. Title: None. Achievement: None. Current Level: 1."
"How do I level up?"
"Answer. Killing any living creature will provide experience for you to level up."
"Does killing chickens and pigs count?"
"Answer. Correct, however, it won't be as much as monsters. The stronger the opponent, the more experience."
Zofia looked around to see if there were any animals. She saw a pack of sewer rats and intended to kill them but didn't know how to cast magic.
"How do I use magic?"
"Answer. You just need to recite the spell name, and if you have enough mana, it will be executed immediately."
"So I have a skill board. Open skill board."
"Command received."
The skill board appeared. Zofia was slightly surprised that at level 1, she already had 5 skills including: Fireball, Earth Trap, Water Blade, Lightning Strike, and Minor Heal. She read the description of each skill carefully and memorized how to use them.
"Fireball!"
Zofia held out her hand. A fireball the size of a ball was launched. It accidentally hit the pack of sewer rats, burning them into a pile of black corpses.
"How much experience received?"
"Answer. You killed 6 rats, received 6 experience. 94 points remaining to level up."
"Can you find monsters of the same level nearby?"
"Answer. I can locate low-level monsters within a 2-mile radius for you."
"Good, find me monsters to kill so I can level up."
"Command received. Searching. Failed, no monsters nearby."
"Hmph, probably because it's near the capital, there are many soldiers, so there are none. Change target to finding sewer rats, is that okay?"
"Command received. Search successful, marked on the mini-map."
A mini-map appeared on the left corner of her vision. It felt like playing a hyper-realistic game.
Zofia spent half the day searching for and killing 96 more rats to level up. Although they were easy to kill, finding them took more time than she thought.
"Congratulations Master, you have reached Level 2. Current potential points: 4."
"Put two points into Intelligence, one into Endurance, one into Agility."
"Command received."
Zofia immediately felt a change in her body. Adding points to Intelligence also made her mana bar longer. Endurance gave her more health, and Agility made her feel lighter.
Night fell. Zofia proudly showed off her magical power to Nathan. She decided that the next day she would go to the Guild to register as an adventurer.