The first gate appeared on top of the Empire State Building in New York in 1999. It was a gate to another dimension filled with monsters that resembled dinosaurs. A humanoid species lived there, harpies. Men and women with wings for arms, feathers over most their bodies and sharp talons instead of feet.
They invaded Earth and at first wrecked destruction over New York until the American army could repel the invaders back inside the gate. Because the inside of the gate looked like the underground world from the Jules Verne's novel, the gate was named the Verne Gate.
Today, 140 years later, the Verne Gate is a developed park, with a big city inside that serve as extra real state for the ever sprawling city. The harpies now, allies with the Americans, are a common sight in the city.
After the appearance of the Verne Gate, other gates started to appear around the Earth. Some, named dungeons, were pocket dimension made entirely of Mana and all the live forms inside it were also made of Mana. Others, named lesser gates like the Verne Gate, were pocket dimensions, but made of real matter with real living things, ecosystems and weather. The Verne Gate itself was a huge jungle, with a sun that dimmed fixed in the sky creating a day and night cycle, and as big as the state of Texas.
Few were called major gates. Major gates led to entire different worlds, that after a lot of astronomical study, were confirmed to be other planets in other galaxies. Those were the homes of different races, like the elves who mingled well with the humans, ice trolls that invaded and now controlled a huge part of Canada and others.
Together with the appearance of the gates and the dungeons, Mana, a mysterious energy and the System also appeared on Earth. After 140 years, the amount of free Mana, or the Mana that is not linked to a living creature, in Earth's atmosphere increased drastically. Most humans needed to go into dungeons or into gates or fight creatures that had Mana inside them so that they could absorb that Mana and awaken the system. Other humans however, could slowly absorb the free Mana in the atmosphere.
Some called them chosen, because it was easier for them to awaken and to level up. Others called them blessed, believing it was divine providence that gave them that power. But Sarah, upon looking at the blue screen that appeared before her while she showered, thought it a curse.
For her, the system was something that adventurers did, it was a dangerous job that her stupid brother for some reason was keen on taking. But her, she didn't want to fight, she didn't want to wield power. She just wanted to be a model or an idol.
Scared for what that meant, she sat down on the floor and started to cry.
"System Awakened
Unique skill granted:
Free Mana Absorption:
Absorbs free Mana in the atmosphere to grow
Sarah Lordstone – Level 1 (1)
Stats (3)
HP = 1/ VIT = 0
MP = 1 / MAG = 1
STR = 0 / AGI = 0
MIN = 0 / CHA = 10
Skills (1): none"
Matthew arrived home to a dark house. All the lights were turned off. He knew his parents went out to watch a movie, but his sister was supposed to be home.
He went upstairs and heard the water running. She was showering, but why did she leave all the lights out?
He knocked on the door: "Sarah? You ok in there?"
After a few seconds, the door opened. Sarah was wrapped in a towel, still dripping wet and with shampoo on her hair. Her eyes red and her expression was pure terror.
"What happened?"
Sarah pointed at the air: "That!"
"What? There's nothing there."
"That blue screen thing!" She screamed.
"Wait… Did you awaken?"
Sarah only nodded and started to cry again.
"Why are you crying? What's going on?"
"I don't want to become an adventurer! I don't want to die!"
Matthew laughed a little, but soon stopped himself. His sister was truly scared.
"You don't need to become an adventurer if you don't want to, Sarah. It's ok, nothing will change if you don't want to."
She looked at him with puppy eyes: "Really? I don't have to go into dungeons and fight monsters?"
"No! Many awakened don't dive into dungeons. You know that! Dad stopped, you asked for me to stop as well. Why are you so scared?"
"Then… Why did it happen to me? What does it mean? Does the system want me to do something? Why did I awaken? I don't want it!"
"Sarah… You were not chosen or anything like that. Some people just can absorb Mana naturally. You don't have to do anything."
"Really? I don't, right?"
"You don't. Now go finish your shower and then come to my room. We'll talk about it."
Sarah wiped her tears, took a deep breath and felt really silly. Why did she get so scared?
"Ok… Thank you Matt…"
Matthew went to his room, change out of Vanessa's clothes and into his. Went to the laundry and put hers to wash. Going upstairs, he met his sister coming out of her room.
"Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that. I just got scared."
"It's ok. Come to my room. Did you pick a class?"
"No! I don't even know what to do. I don't want to pick anything. I want it gone!"
"It's not going to go away. You have Mana now and the system exists to help you deal with it."
"But I told you I don't want to be an adventurer!" Sarah said while jumping on his bed.
"You don't need to be an adventurer, but don't you think it's a waste to not use the system even if you're not diving into dungeons? Since you awakened naturally, you'll keep getting levels even if you don't kill any monster."
Sarah was silent just listening.
"There are a lot of skills that can help you outside work. For example, the Worker class has the Inventory skill. It allows you to convert items into Mana and store them how you please. This means you don't need to carry anything around and still have anything you need at hand."
Sarah looked at Matthew interested.
"Healers can heal and cure diseases. Even if you never go inside a dungeons, you will get hurt or sick eventually. Scouts can make their hearing better. Merchants have the Sense Market skill that gives you an insight about prices of things. They also have the Identify skill that allows you to know what an item is made of, which would allow you to easily spot fake merchandise. And lastly, the Caller have the Pact skill that let's you form a bond with a spirit. If you want to keep one as a pet, some are very cute!"
Sarah sat down and looked Matthew in his eyes: "How cute?"
Matthew, turned on his computer and showed her pictures of cute spirits with their masters.
While Sarah scrolled the pictures, Matthew continued: "It's a waste to not use what you got. And since you want to be a singer, allocating points in Charisma will make you appealing for other people."
"Is there a singer or dancer class too?" Sarah asked without taking her eyes off the computer.
"There is the Bard and the Dancer, but they are difficult to get and are combat focused. I don't think they'd be good for you."
"So what would be good for me?" Sarah turned and looked at him.
"If you want to be a singer…" Matthew stopped speaking to think.
"I want to be an idol, not a singer."
"Isn't that the same?"
"No it isn't. An idol is an idol and a singer is just a singer."
"That don't really explain, but if I were you… I'd pick worker for the Inventory. And put all points into Charisma."
Sarah got up: "I don't have to pick now, do I?"
"No, you can wait to pick one when you need."
"Then I'll wait." Sarah walked to leave the room. "Thank you Matt. I'm feeling much better."
"Goodnight, sis."
"Goodnight, jerk"