Michael laid on his new king sized bed. The room was as big as a flat, and it was covered in luxurious and expensive items.
'Even this bed was worth a couple thousand dollars' he thought whilst continuing to mindlessly lay on top of it.
It's been a week now, and today Rebecca was supposed to come pick him up.
You have not trained in a week.
'So? I wouldn't see much progress anyways' Michael thought absentmindedly.
You seem to forget that every single stat point you earn makes you more powerful, and as a healer you really need them. While it may have taken you a year to reach level 10 and it is considered fast for a healer, the people who awaken as Damage dealers are going to catch up within months.
Michael furrowed his brows, expressing his doubt 'Months? Isn't that a little short? I was working every day for the past year and was just barely able to level up.'
You have to actively heal others to gain EXP. The Damage dealer classes have to just swing a stick around and they get EXP. As for the Tanks, they just have to get hit in order to earn EXP.
'That is a bit stupid..'
Life is not fair. By now you should know that the best.
Michael chuckled 'Yeah I guess you are right.'
As Michael was talking to the system about random things, he heard a knock on his door. He walked up and opened it.
It wasn't Rebecca. It was some sort of woman dressed as a maid.
She took out some sort of box and handed it to him. Not saying a single word.
'Brainwashed?' Michael wondered.
Nope, that was just what a normal maid is like.
Michael shrugged and walked back to his bed, the neat box in hand.
Upon opening it he saw there was some sort of robe. It was full white in color, with strange patterns etched onto the fabric of it.
Put it on, it's equipment.
'Equipment?' Michael thought, before he followed the system's advice. When he put it on, the interface shone.
+--+
Ivory Robe [Uncommon]
+50 HP
+50 MP
+10 INT
# Increase the range of skills by 10 meters
+--+
'What the..' Michael was greatly surprised. He didn't expect there to be equipment that could raise one's stats.
He quickly checked his status and saw it really did increase.
+--+
HP: 448/448->498/498 [+50] / Regen 58 HP Per Hour
MP: 724/724->834/834 [+50] / Regen 114 MP Per Hour
INT: 104->114 [+10]
+--+
It said that the range of his skills also increased by 10 meters. It essentially doubled his existing range to a now whopping 20 meters.
Don't get too excited, this is on the lower end of the Uncommon rarity. There are many much better than this. Besides that, check the note.
Michael looked a bit puzzled but checked inside of the box and noticed there was a sticky note glued to the side.
He tore it off and started reading it.
-----
Hope you like this gift P.S you never know what can go wrong during monster hunts, be on guard -Rebecca
-----
'That's sweet..' He couldn't help but express. Before crumpling the note and throwing it back into the box.
As he was about to go enjoy his extended rest, someone knocked on the door again.
He went up and opened it and what met his eyes was Hilda.
"Let's go" she said and turned around walking to the front of the academy.
Michael followed her, though his unease was just barely contained. He didn't know who brainwashed her or why. But ever since finding that out, he saw the cafeteria cook in a new light.
As they were walking Michael received many strange looks, the robe he was wearing was not flashy, but still enough to attract attention.
They arrived at the entrance of the orphanage and stopped.
Hilda turned towards Michael and said "Wait here, someone will come to pick you up shortly" She then proceeded to walk back to the cafeteria, leaving Michael alone.
He felt like a kid, needing to be picked up by everyone. Well, technically he was still a kid right now..
Shortly after, a man in a black suit came through the orphanage's entrance. Holding some kind of picture in his hands.
He looked around until his gaze finally landed on Michael "Hello, my name is Ron, I will be your driver."
With that simple greeting, they went out of the orphanage. A luxurious black sedan was parked right in front of them.
'Wow, am I now a big shot?' Michael whistled to himself.
Yeah, a big shot that has not received a single tip in a year.
'Shut up.'
Michael sat inside of the car and noticed the seats were incredibly comfy. Would be a shame if they weren't, the car was worth a kidney at the very least.
Ron was quiet the whole drive there. He hadn't spoken a single word since his introduction.
But Michael didn't mind it, he was not fond of small talk with strangers. He was quite reserved back in his previous life.
He had friends, but they were those he met during his time serving the country. After he was discharged he didn't make many new friends. A bit of a mental scar had formed from watching his friends die.
'It seemed I was the same in this life too' Michael chuckled inwardly.
Before Michael regained his memories, the only person he could call his 'friend' was Rebecca. And even then she was nowhere near his age.
'I don't pity myself, I am still young so I can make friends, eventually..'
I am your friend, aren't I?
'You are' While Michael was a bit preoccupied thinking. He forgot about his closest friend, the system.
After a couple of hours of driving, they finally arrived at a forest clearing. There were a bunch of cars already parked here.
"We are here" Ron said as he got out of the car and opened the door for Michael.
He didn't really know where to go. It seemed like Rebecca glossed over some details.
He saw someone get out of their car and walk towards a person wearing a suit. They showed their ID and were let through.
'ID? I don't fucking have anything like that' Michael expressed while slightly panicking.
Just go, worst case scenario they will just laugh at you for being a forgetful idiot. Good luck.
'Thank you system' Michael couldn't help but cuss under his breath.
He walked up to the person in a suit and said "Hello, I don't have an ID but my name should be listed? I am Michael."
The man's professional facade slightly crumbled, but he was able to regain his composure "This is not a place for kids."
'I knew this would happen' Michael sighed and explained "Sir, check for my name please, my party is waiting inside."
Michael was spouting bullshit, he didn't know who was in his party or when they were supposed to arrive.
The man looked around and saw that there weren't any more people behind Michael, so he walked to the side into his little booth and opened his clipboard.
He flipped the pages until he found a person named Michael.
-----
Michael
Age:9
Class: Healer
Affiliation: Amara orphanage
-----
The man was slightly shocked, it was a kid who awakened way earlier than the others.
He walked back to Michael and gave him a note with A-7 written on it "Go straight ahead and find the person in charge, he will show you where you have to go."
Michael simply nodded and took the note, before walking towards the empty forest.
Eventually, he saw an area that was closed off. There was a person standing in front of it.
Michael walked up to him and showed him the the note, and was led to an empty area. Just as he was about to question the man, the surroundings switched. The forest clearing was gone and what replaced it was a bustling base of operations.
There were many people running around carrying all sorts of stuff. Be it machine parts or weapons.
The man that led him here pointed towards a tent with A-7 written over it and afterward walked out, disappearing.
Spatial magic most likely, someone pretty high leveled created this field.
'What's it for though, are they trying to hide something?' Michael thought.
It's obviously for protection. This location is a secret and only those in the know are here.
'Protection from what? Do you think anyone is going to raid this place?'
There is a dungeon in the very middle, even if it is low level, it is still valuable.
After a bit of debating Michael arrived at the tent and went inside of it. It was way bigger than it looked.
And it was empty.
Michael thought while sighing 'Thank god he didn't call me out on my bullshit.'
Though the person that gave Michael the note did realize he was lying but chose to ignore it.
Michael found a comfortable seat and waited for his supposed party members to arrive. The only things in this tent were chairs and a table, possibly for strategic meetings, or rest.
After waiting for 20 minutes, a man walked in whilst talking on his phone and sat down on one of the chairs, not even paying attention to Michael at all.
The man was tall and muscular, he had a massive shield on his back and a short sword on his waist.
'So that's the tank' Michael concluded.
He then asked the system 'So when you said Tanks need to be hit in order to get EXP. Does that apply even if they are using a shield to block it?'
Yes, as long as they absorb some of the impact into their bodies, it counts.
'I see' Michael nodded.
Shortly after, 2 men walked in. Long swords stashed away on their waists.
'The damage dealers..' Michael thought.
They sat down on one of the chairs and began talking amongst themselves. It seemed like they were already acquainted with one another.
So far everyone has ignored Michael, only sparing him a single glance.
However he was not surprised. They were all over the age of 20, with him looking like a slightly buff toddler.
After a whole year of training, he had gotten slightly taller. Now reaching 150cm in height, impressive for someone his age.
Lastly, a woman arrived. She had blonde hair and pointy ears with a bow on her back. 'Is she cosplaying?'
That's an elf.
'You mean the elves from fantasy books? Are there dwarves too then?' Michael asked the system in excitement.
Probably.
But was turned down by a short response.
As the elf sat down sat down, everyone became quiet. Even the guy who was on his phone hung up and put it away.
Everyone looked each other up and down and started introducing themselves.
The 2 with long swords were the first to talk.
"Paul, Swordsman."
"Zane, Swordsman."
Up next was the tank. After getting off his phone, he seemed like a pretty nice guy. Though Michael knew appearances could be misleading.
"Eric, Tank."
Afterwards was the elf.
"Joanna, Archer."
Now the only person who was left was Michael. Everyone stared at him with mixed expressions. Some with doubt, others with curiosity.
"Michael, Healer."