In the slums of the City of Tulens-
Rilden, a young day-wage borer wearing dirty work clothes, was walking through a narrow alleyway to his cheap communal inn after a long day, looking forward to a hot meal and cheap booze, when a middle-aged drunk he tried avoiding slipped and bumped shoulders with him.
That got the tired Rilden somewhat angry and cursing.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, you drunken slob—"
Thump*
Slump*
The next thing Rilden knew, his face was almost kissing the shit-and-piss-stained broken slum pavement, his head buzzing as he tried supporting himself with his hands.
"W-Wuh?! Did this crazy bastard punch— Guh!!!"
The beating didn't end, as the drunkard kicked Rilden's stomach in a drunken rage.
"Blurgh* Cough* Cough*" Rilden vomited stomach acids, being hit right in the gut.
"Fuck you, you bastard! You think you're better than me?! Hah?!" The drunkard raged, venting his emotions.
"Cough* Cough* You crazy bitch, stop— Thud*"
The next moment, Rilden's face met with the dirty boot of the drunkard, knocking him out cold.
"Who's better now, yah bastard?! I'll show yah who's better!" The drunk, not having enough, decided to continue kicking the downed Rilden.
After kicking him several more times, the drunkard finally exited his drunk rage mode and realized what he just did. Looking at the young man whose life and death were unknown, fear washed the drunk.
"O-Oh, fuck! Why did you make me do this?! Dammit! I gotta run before someone sees this!"
With that, the hysteric drunk ran away, leaving Rilden dying in the alleyway. To add insult to injury, several urchins also stole his hard-earned money and shoes, and he only groggily woke up when a hot stream nded on his face.
Pss*
"Blurgh! Ah! Fuck!" Rilden cursed, waving his hand and shooing the dog away.
A minute ter, Rilden got his bearings and groggily got up, feeling a head-splitting pain in his head and a bad pain in his stomach.
"Sss... That piece of shit did a number on me..." Rilden inhaled a deep breath, remembering what had happened. "If I find the chance, I'm gonna murder that asshole."
And then, he looked down and noticed his missing boots.
"Wait, where are my boots? And where is my money?! Shit... I got robbed by urchins or thugs. Just my luck." Rilden cursed, knowing it would be impossible to get them.
Shoes were expensive, and his paycheck, worth several silver coins, was gone. To the poor Rilden, that was a major blow. And more importantly, he was now injured. His chances of surviving were slim at best. No one would care if a poor smuck like him died.
Rilden, orphaned from early childhood, used to be a street urchin until he was old enough to work, steadily making a living in this cruel world and surviving against all odds. As, he couldn't escape cruel fate.
He didn't have the talent to be a warrior or magician, having tried the freely distributed training methods for the general popuce. Those able to become such professionals could join the guilds and noble houses, earning several times more than he did as a borer. Even tier 1 professionals were respected.
He also didn't awaken any bloodline ability, something most people had, but remained unawakened in most people their whole lives. Some awakened an affinity to fire, while others had superior strength or agility. It was also common to awaken several abilities the more you advanced. The bloodline type usually relied on the parents, but rarely, some had mutated, unreted bloodlines.
He was also unintelligent and illiterate, with no chance for an administrative job or even to be apprenticed to someone.
In short, he was fated to be forever a borer or petty criminal, like many others, the type of losers who don't even have a wife and children, unable to afford it.
"Shit, am I going to die? Should I consider it a blessing? At least I wouldn't need to suffer anymore in this unfair world..." Rilden muttered, dragging himself to a nearby wall and leaning on it, clutching his stomach.
Just then, he heard a strange sound in his head.
[Bloodline Awakening Completed! You have awakened the ??? Bloodline!]
[You have awakened the Bloodline Ability:
[
"Am I hallucinating? Must have kicked me hard in the head..." Rilden grimaced.
Just then, he heard another message.
[
[In 15 minutes, at 7:30, Heather White, the Housewife of Baker Jeremaia White, will return with a small basket of six apples for 2 copper coins during shopping. When she got home, she found a brownish-looking apple with spikes. Thinking it was rotten, she fed it to the family pig, but the pig mutated into a tier-1 monster and ate the poor family! It is too bad they didn't eat it since it was an ultra-rare mutated apple worth hundreds of gold coins and could awaken even a talentless idiot like you into a tier-1 Warrior. If you beg her at her backdoor entrance in the alley, she will give you the fruit because you disgust her and she doesn't want the rotten-looking fruit. If you don't eat it, you will lose consciousness again at 7:42 and die from internal bleeding at approximately 10:20.]
As he heard the message, Rilden's already-pale face turned two shades paler.
"I-I'm truly going to die? This isn't even a joke!" Rilden shook with dread.
A minute ter, Rilden gathered his remaining strength to limp toward Jeremaia's bakery, pedestrains avoiding him like the pgue.
"I have to try, or I'm gonna die..."
After ten minutes, Rilden barely managed to arrive at Jeremaia's bakery before slumping next to his house's backdoor entrance.
"If I am not hallucinating, she should arrive any minute now." Rilden thought.
And sure enough, Rilden saw the rough-looking and obese housewife returning from shopping at the market. Using the skills he learned as a street urchin, he begged like his life depended on it- which it did.
"Miss! I've been robbed and beaten bloody! Please, spare me something to eat! I am starving." Rilden asked like the bloodied beggar that he looked like now.
But unlike his time as an urchin, he wasn't even pretending. It was, by far, the most authentic begging he had ever done.
"Ugh... Fine." The woman grimaced and looked at her groceries before spotting a brownish-looking, malformed apple. Grabbing it, she casually threw it on the floor in disgust. "Here, now get lost!"
"Thank you, miss! Thank you!" Rilden thanked her, picked it up like a treasure, and limped away.
"Hah... the corpse collector will have another body to carry soon." Heather shook her head and entered the bakery, no longer caring about the soon-to-be-dead man.
After walking for several minutes, Rilden arrived in a secluded area, where he slumped on the ground. He was already feeling blurry and weak, his consciousness threatening to fade into his final sleep.
"No, I must eat it. Before it is too te..." Gritting his teeth, Rilden brought the mutated apple to his mouth and vigorously ate it.
Crunch* Gulp* Crunch* Gulp* Crunch* Gulp* Crunch* Gulp*
Within twenty bites, Rilden forced himself to eat the whole fruit, not sparing the core and seeds.
"Please, let it work..." Rilden prayed, soon losing consciousness.
At the same time, heat started spreading in Rilden's body, his injuries slowly but visibly healing. His body grew several times stronger, becoming slightly taller, and his muscles expanded.
By the time he woke up, it was already noon.
"I-I'm alive! And my body doesn't hurt anymore! I also feel stronger than ever before! It's a miracle!" Rilden widened his eyes, unable to wipe the grin on his face.
And then came another pleasant voice in his head.
[The Bloodline Ability,
[You have awakened a new Bloodline Ability:
[
[
"I can now get two pieces of news?! Great! But analyze myself?" Rilden frowned.
The next moment, information flooded his head, which even his illiterate self could somehow understand.
Name: RildenSex: MaleAge: 18Status: Healthy, Happy, Hungry.Social Status: Dirt-Poor Homeless and Dirty LaborerSexual Status: Pathetic Horny VirginBloodline: ???(Unknown mutated bloodline)Bloodline Abilities: Daily Prophet, Analysis.Warrior Realm: Initial Tier 1. Warrior Talent: Negligible.Magician Realm: None. Magician Talent: Negligible.Comprehension: 0.8(Barely not retarded)Overall Evaluation: At least you can defend yourself from an angry drunk...
"You just had to rub it in, didn't you? Fucking jerk." Rilden grumbled.
Gurgle*
Suddenly, Rilden heard his stomach rumbling, reminding him he was hungry.
"Ugh... Okay. I need some food. But I don't have money. I hope the Daily Prophet can give me something good." Rilden rubbed his hands as he tried activating his ability.
[
[After a successful deal, Idim Rhumol, a well-off merchant, fell victim to a pickpocket who stole his fat purse this morning before hiding it behind a loose brick behind the horseshoe workshop of Gogrir Nez. It is the 7th leftmost, 4th above the ground. Unfortunately for the pickpocket, several thugs who saw the heist captured the thief and started torturing the information out of him. In the evening, they would finish their interrogation and find the purse. If you take it before they do, return it to Idim Rhumol. He would be VERY grateful for returning his coin purse, giving you a bath, clothes, food, lodging, a good reputation, job opportunities, and the finder's fee of 20 Silver Coins. Of course, you can also try keeping the over 20 Gold Coins, but no one would accept gold coin transactions with a dirty homeless man like you since they would know immediately it was stolen!]
"Thank you, Daily Prophet!" Rilden broadly smiled, briskly walking to the horseshoe shop.