Manaless Mage

"What the Hell!??" he shouted, earning a couple of weird gazes from the people around him.

Harry looked around to see if there was anyone playing pranks on him, however everyone seemed to be minding their business.

As if it was simply a illusion, the strange characters suddenly vanished.

'Am I hallucinating again… maybe I still haven't recovered from the mana beast attack.' Harry thought. He slowly rubbed his head as a confused expression appeared on his face.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much as the characters had already vanished. He simply sighed and then continued his journey home.

His hand subconsciously drifted to his right pocket, where he placed the beast core. A low sign escaped his lips as he felt the smooth texture of the beast core.

Since his house wasn't too far from the hospital, it didn't take long before he arrived home.

He slowly looked forward and saw the same house—the same house he hated so much. He wasn't even bothered about the fact that he had just spent another night away from home, it wasn't like anyone would notice—although a part of him wished they would, even if it's just a little…

He sighed as he slowly walked forward, he paused at the apartment door, he slowly crouched down and raised the red mat placed in front of the door. Under the mat, was a bunch of keys. He searched for the right key for a few seconds before finally using it to unlock the door.

He opened the door slowly, and then stepped into the well-furnished living room.

He noticed the lights were all turned off and the windows were shut, which meant no one was at home.

'Well… that's expected.' He thought. Unlike him, his brother stayed in the academy dorms so he probably wouldn't come home until weekends or holidays.

His father worked in an artifact manufacturing company located in a faraway city so he wasn't around most of the time while His mother owned a small restaurant.

The living room didn't look too fancy at the same time, it didn't look too poor either. It had a two-seater sofa located at the left side of the room along with a three-seater sofa located at the right side of the living room.

Harry walked towards the door at the right side of the room, opposite to the dining. He didn't plan on staying too long in the living room.

He opened the door and then walked through the passage before finally stopping in front of a brown door which led to his room. After opening the brown door, he walked into his room.

He shook his head slightly as he looked around his room.

Since he was unable to draw mana, his parents—most especially his father—completely gave up on him.

His room was simply a small and empty place. The only thing that could be seen in the room was the small closet placed at the edge of the room. This was where he kept a few clothes along with other necessary things.

Without wasting too much time, Harry immediately sat down on the cold hard floor or the room. He signed as what happened the previous day played in his mind.

Only he knew how lucky he was to have survived that mana beast attack, even till now he still felt chills run down his spine as he remembered the huge brown creature.

'Yesterday was such a long day… all these wouldn't happen if only I have a mana—' He suddenly paused his thoughts as the image of the strange characters popped up in his mind.

'What was that…? Manaless… it said welcome to the Manaless mage system.' Harry said inwardly.

Immediately that thought appeared in his mind, the strange characters suddenly appeared again.

[Yes Host, this is the Manaless mage system. It is meant to grant you powers greater than you could ever imagine and assist you in your journey as a Manaless mage.]

"Is this real… am I still hallucinating?"

He muttered. He slowly stretched his hand as if to touch the strange characters but his hands only phased through it.

[Yes Host. This system is real.]

He heard the strange system's voice in his head once more. Although he couldn't help but feel a little glad that there was no 'ding' sound like earlier, he was still amazed at the system.

'What is—'

—

[Now that the Host's mind is clear from negative thoughts, the system would start the synchronization.]

[Does the Host accept this power?]

[Yes/No]

—

'Power? What po—' His thoughts were however interrupted by the system's next words.

—

[Host has spent too much time in taking a decision. The host has ten seconds to make a choice]

"Wait… what?!" Harry exclaimed.

—

[Timer starts now]

[10]

[9]

[8]

—

'Doesn't this mean this so-called system is… literally forcing me to accept it…?' He thought. His first thought was to ignore the weird timer counting in his head, however he couldn't clear the weird sense of danger that slowly rose up within him.

"What… will happen if I say no?" He asked in a low voice. However, there was no reply from the system as it simply kept counting.

—

[3]

[2]

—

Ba…Dump!! Ba…Dump!! Ba…Dump!! Ba…Dump!!

His heart beat faster as the timer almost got to zero. 'W-what's… this…?' Harry thought.

"Yes!!!" He exclaimed. He couldn't wait for it to get to zero, he felt that something terrible would befall him if he did that.

—

[Thank you Host, for fully accepting this system.]

[Synchronization would begin now.]

—

Harry's brows twitched when he heard the system's 'voice of appreciation.'

'Thanks… seriously? Thanks? I was literally forced to accept this.. Ugh… whatever.' He thought as he focused on the system's synchronization.

—

[84%]

[80%]

[60%]

[...]

[10%]

[Synchronization Complete]

—

'It all feels like a game…' Harry said inwardly. The synchronization of the system reminded him of the booting done by some games.

[The system has finally synchronized with the host. The host should call 'interface' for more information.]

"Interface…" Harry said in a low voice. Although he still doubted the reality of this strange system, he was willing to explore it. He genuinely wanted to know or rather see the type of information the system was referring to.

It wasn't like he had anything to lose…

—

[Host Stats] [Quests] [Affinities] [Skills and Abilities]

—

A new set of characters appeared in his line of sight.

"Host Stats." He called out.

All other characters cleared out once more and only 'stats' remained.

—

[Host Stats]

[Name: Harry Morton]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0/50]

[H/P: 20/20]

[Energy: 15/15]

[Strength: 5]

[Agility: 4]

[Stamina: 7]

[Perception: 1]

[Endurance: 6]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Charm: NULL]

[Stat Points: 0]

—

"Level… EXP or rather experience. Stat points. My stamina stat seems to be slightly higher than the others. The stamina stat is probably due to the training I used to do… but still my stats are pitiful." Harry muttered.

He then existed the 'Host stat' by simply wishing to do so, and that was when he saw something that caught his eye.

"Is that what… I think it is?" He muttered. He didn't really observe the system's Interface earlier as he simply called out the first one so he wasn't able to notice it but now that he finally exited the Host stats, he took the time to observe everything on the panel, and what he saw greatly surprised him.

"Affinities…" He slowly muttered.

The characters changed again, except this time it seemed to take hours as Harry was really anxious to see what the would be in the affinities section.

As someone who was insulted his whole life for not having an affinity, the thought of gaining an affinity from the system really excited him. Even if it was a low grade affinity, he would be extremely glad.

However, what was shown by the system was something that he would have never expected, not even in his wildest dreams.

*****

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