A skinny young boy who just turned 16 celebrated his birthday party with an unhappy look on his face.
Of course he couldn't be happy now. Well, at least not with what he was seeing right in front of him. A system window, the infamous system window he never wanted to see.
´Fuck, everything was already going so bad and now this! I should have known that the way things were going for me, I was going to be unlucky until the end.´
The reason for Azgil's bad mood towards the system that should be a blessing to most people was because of the words written on it.
Name: Azgil
Curse: Infected Fortune
Curse Description: [Curse Description: Your fortune and destiny have been infected by an unknown being who wants the worst for you. Until the curse ceases to exist, no matter where you go, bad things will follow you.]
***
Many years ago, a new continent emerged on Earth, and with it came the existence of monsters, unknown civilizations, higher beings, and finally, the System. The System came to humans who had no chance against all the new problems and granted them blessings, while the true powers would come from the monsters you killed. Blessings are unique traits granted without any prior requirements.
But for Azgil there were no blessings written anywhere, instead, in the place where his blessing should have been there was a curse.
the boy gave a frown of disapproval and said.
´A curse, what do you mean by a curse? What did I do to receive a curse and where is my blessing? Damn, what do I do now? How am I supposed to fight with this ability?´
´But that's okay, I still have a chance. I haven't acquired my first real skill yet. That's right, it's going to be something amazing that perfectly counter this terrible curse. There's nothing to worry about. After all, today is my birthday, so something amazing is going to happen.´
Not that he really believed it, but Azgil had a bit of a comical personality and liked to act ironic, even when he was alone. Well, he's a little crazy in the head, you could say.
´Anyway, I better get going, I have about 3 hours left before the ship sails to the land of despair and wealth, seriously, who came up with this name? It's so edgy.´
´I should have thought of it first, damn it.´
***
After leaving the apartment, Azgil said goodbye to everyone who was there. Well, there was no one, but what's the cost of being kind? Or maybe he was just getting crazier.
On the way to the harbor, Azgil first planned to buy a knife and some food, the streets near the apartment where he lived were dirty as always and he could see homeless people of all ages no matter the place he looked.
He thought he was at least somewhat lucky to have a house where he could sleep, not that he would go back there often now that the rest of his life would be spent fighting monsters.
Going to a weapon store, he bought the cheapest knife he could find. The knife was a fixed blade, the blade length was 10 inches, the design was very simple, the handle was black and the same goes for the blade, the weapon came with its own sheath, the design was black followed by red lines.
These weapon shops were quite common in a time when monsters were appearing everywhere, because of course, if no one stopped them, they would travel to other continents and destroy everything in their path. Therefore, having weapons that could actually do damage to the beasts was a necessity, and all of these weapons were made from materials found on the other continent. You didn't exactly need to buy one, because when you kill a monster, it has a chance of leaving weapons and other items behind, but having something to start with is always good, even if Azgil knife was of poor quality, it was at least something...
The next thing Azgil did was buy some food and head straight to a regular store to buy a pair of round golden glasses using the rest of the money he had saved from his part-time job to look cooler with the glasses. Well, for him, it was totally worth it.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw a skinny boy with messy light brown hair, green eyes, wearing the glasses he had just bought, a shirt with blue and yellow patterns randomly scattered all over it, and black shorts. He looked ridiculous, and the other people at the harbor would surely laugh at him.
"Okay, I look perfect to explore an unknown continent now."
He definitely didn't.
***
After walking for a few minutes and seeing other people in the same situation as him along the way, he finally arrived at the port, with about an hour left before the ship set sail. He could see that the place was full of people, and many of them seemed to be very wealthy. These people were not going on the same ship as him. Most of them were talented boys and girls around his age who had a lot of money and big guilds backing them, which was nowhere near his current situation.
Since he didn't know anyone there, he just stood silently in some corner, waiting, but this ended up being useful as he listened to the conversation of different groups and gathered information about their blessings.
´´Hey, you know my blessing allows me to run really fast.´´
´´Seriously? Mine let me pet monsters.´´
"My blessing allows me to teleport."
With envy and an ironic tone, Azgil thought.
´It must be so nice to have a blessing and not a curse that only brings misfortune. Well, I'll definitely get a broken power, so it doesn't matter.´
After a few minutes, Azgil noticed a tall old man who looked to be around 40 years old. He was very handsome and had long black hair. The old man walked up to a high platform and a few seconds later began to speak.
´´I am the instructor for the new explorers who are about to set off for the land of despair and wealth, and I will explain the basics of what will happen when you get there. First, you have all already received the blessings. These traits will haunt you for the rest of your life and you cannot change them, but they will become stronger the more monsters you kill and the more experience you gain. But the real powers will come from the first beast you kill, and after that, the system will give you a skill related to the monster. These powers can be changed after you reach a certain level, but of course you need to kill another beast. To obtain the items, you will either obtain them by killing monsters or simply by purchasing them. As for what happens when you reach the mainland, the first thing you do is go to town and find a place to sleep, that's all.´´
Azgil thought boredly.
´That's all my ass, you just said what everyone already knows, let's go. And many of these people have already received their powers, the guilds and families of these people bring weak monsters and make them kill it.´
After all this, it was finally time to board the ship that was about to set sail. Azgil went to a random corner again, but this time there were two people beside him. One of them was a handsome guy who seemed to be around the same age as him. He had bright white hair, golden eyes, and his clothes consisted of a large white coat and white pants. Next to him was a beautiful girl with long black hair and a large black and red dress. The two of them looked quite strange for the situation they were in, considering that they were about to go to a place full of mysteries and unknown creatures, but Azgil couldn't judge them, as his clothes were also not suitable.
´Should I talk to them? Is it worth it?´ Azgil thought. But as he debated whether or not to start a conversation, the white-haired man began to speak in an animated tone.
´´Don't you guys think we should form a group? That would make hunting a lot easier. I won't say much, but I'm kind of strong, you know? After all, I received a good blessing and already killed my first monster.´´
Azgil said with a calm look on his face.
´And how can I trust you won't try to kill me?´
The shiny haired guy still in his excited tone replied.
´´Well, the same goes for me, right? We'll never know unless we try, and like I said, having a group makes everything a lot easier.´´
Azgil, easily convinced, thought, "Damn, he's right." And them said, "Well, I guess we can try."
The handsome boy asked the girl in the red dress next to him who was listening to the conversation if she would join the group and without much difficulty she accepted.
So the group was decided and now the three were just waiting to reach the mainland.
***
After a few days of traveling on the ship, they finally arrived at the land of despair and wealth.
"That name is still ridiculous, Azgil thought, as he was stepping on the ground, but then he felt he had stepped on something strange.
´OH, NO!´
Azgil made a face of despair as he realized what had happened. And then a message appeared in front of him.
[You have killed your first monster and will now receive a new skill.]
´Oh no, this can't be happening.´
[Your new ability is Baby Caterpillar]