"Huh?" Elias reached out to touch the platform, but his hand simply passed through the floating message box
"What is this? A status bar? But I'm not playing the game, am I?" He leaned closer and read the message again, "What the hell is a free will system?" He muttered
Suddenly the message on the floating platform changed revealing a new message :
[Alert!]
[You have become too comfortable with the workings of fate and as per the direction of the almighty, beautiful, and perfect Goddess of Fate, you would be assigned tasks that are... out of the ordinary.
With each completed task, you will be awarded 'Free will points' (fwp) which you can use to raise your individual and overall stats. Fwps can also be used to purchase items from the store.
Gather enough fwps and you will have one wish granted by the Goddess of Fate]
Elias held his chin after reading the message displayed by the system, "Hmm, so it's like a game, but if the aim of Moera is to help me deviate from my fate, then isn't a system that tells me what to do contradictory?" He mused
"If this works like a game system, then I should be able to see my stats. How do I go about it? Do I talk to the system or just think about it?"
Elias closed his eyes for a few seconds and then the wording that the system displayed changed, showing all his stats.
[ FWP: 0/10,000,000,000
Name: Elias Ashdown
Class: Swordsman, Farmer
Title: Farmer, One blessed by Fate, swordsman, Child of light, Child of Destiny.
————————–————————–
Health: 2000
Mana: 379,000
————————–————————–
Strength: 23
Agility: 18
Speed: 20
Stamina: 78
Intelligence: 43
————————–————————–
(Skills)
–Passive Skills: Blessing of the Goddess of Light, Advanced Farming arts, Mana regeneration(Basic), Elemental Affinity(Basic).
–Active Skills: Stab(Basic), Slash(Basic), Irrigation(Intermediate), Planting(Intermediate), Weed control(Advanced), Fertilisation(Intermediate), Pest Control(Advanced) ]
"Oooh, I guess it works if I just think about it. This is similar to Arcane Days' stats menu, so far everything in this world has been almost exactly like the game, with the only exception being my family.
But I can work with this, I just need to level up the right stats and complete the game, no I'm going to live the game!" Elias said, excitement evident in his words
"You're acting weird today" Nina's immature voice cut Elias' monologue short, she caught him off guard.
Status: Ongoing
Time limit: 15 seconds
Good luck! ]
Elias' eyes widened in shock as he read the message displayed by the system, 'What the hell?! Slap the Acolyte?! Is this system broken?! There's no way I'm doing that' He thought to himself
He looked back at the penalty attached to the task should he fail ' "Sent back to the clutches of the king of hell", that doesn't sound very enticing.
I only have 10 seconds left.'
He looked at his family and they stared at him with puzzled expressions.
"Damn it!" He blurted out, then began walking toward the silver acolyte. With each step he took, the beads of sweat on his forehead doubled, even when he worked the fields he never sweated this much.
"What are you doing you filthy farmer, shoo" The acolyte shooed Elias away as he approached
"Watch your words brother Anias, do not talk down to your fellow men. We are all equal in the eyes of our Goddess Lira" Priest Mathias cautioned Anias, the silver-robed acolyte
Anias scoffed, "There's no way I am an equal with this dirty farm brat, look at his family too. They all look like a family of starved peasant rats, they probably share rations with the pigs. Let's just lea—"
Before Anias could complete his words, Elias' hand landed on his cheek with great force causing him to lose his balance, stumble, and his hood to fly off as well.
A shocked expression appeared on everyone's faces as they just witnessed what had happened. Eleanor and Nina both clasped their mouths with their hands, while Godfrey just stood there, taken aback by Elias's unexpected action
Priest Mathias broke out of his trance and quickly stood between Elias and Anias who lay on the floor.
Elias looked at the system's message again, he had only seven seconds left on the clock.
Anias stood up and pushed Priest Mathias out of the way, "How dare you?! You peasant, you dare lay a hand on me?" He said, with tear-filled eyes, Elias' calloused hands had not been good to his face.
"I can accept you talking down on me just fine, but what I won't take is you doing the same to my family as well," Elias said, a scowl etched on his face.
"Shut up you pi—"
Before he could react, Elias landed a second slap on his cheek, this time even harder than the first, and before Anias could fall again, Elias blessed his face with a third and final thunderous slap.
Before he could reach the ground, Anias was already passed out cold.
[Alert!]
[Task: Slap the Silver-robed acolyte who just talked down on you three times.
Reward: 100fwps
Failure: You will be sent back to the clutches of the king of Hell
Status: Completed
Time limit: 1 second
Congratulations! ]
Elias looked at Priest Mathias, "Bring your crystal ball, and let's get this thing over with" he ordered
Priest Mathias looked at him with a curious expression, he looked down at Anias who lay unconscious on the ground and had three bright red hand prints on his face.
"Very well"