Rain drenched the Howick town in the afternoon. Some field work had to be postponed and everyone took shelter.
However, this rain brought a strange occurrence for Mholi...
Yep...
That's right, after four months without any significant progress, the teenage boy finally acquired his first ability.
"Why can you talk?!" said Doug, the dog, firmly.
"The system is working, I can talk to the animal," Mholi muttered, staring at Doug in amazement.
"Are you one of those strange people who can do that strange thing?" asked Doug, still on guard.
"Strange people?"
"Yes, people who somehow can transform and have strange bodies, some can even transform and have ears and tails like me!"
Mholi paused for a moment. "You mean the system users?"
"System users? What's that?"
"It's hard to explain, but yes, like you said, they can transform into animals like you. They have (Mutant system) type system."
Doug lowered his guard a little. "But why are you the only one who can talk to me?"
Mholi chuckled softly. "Ah, that... Hehe... You could say it's because of my system. I can talk to animals, and it seems that you are now officially my pet."
Doug completely let down his guard and even wagged his tail. "Your pet? If that means I can eat this every day, I guess I'll acknowledge you as my master."
"Hm... I just realized I haven't used ( familiar point ) yet, so I think I'll use it on you."
"Familiar po... What? What is that?"
"Basically, I can make you stronger, I think..."
Doug wagged his tail even harder.
"Stronger? Me? You can do that?" Doug ran around in circles with excitement. "I can take over other dogs' territories and get new females!"
Mholi suddenly realized something. If his power allowed him to talk to animals, then he could talk to inkanyamba.
Although there was no strong evidence of its existence, it was the only mystical thing that could be a clue to the world of magic.
"Wait a minute, Doug, I think I need to do something else first."
Doug stopped running and stared at Mholi.
"Doug? What's Doug? Is it an enemy? I'll bite it!" The dog growled and bared its fangs.
"I mean you. I named you Doug. Do you like that name?"
"I'm Doug? I'm Doug!" The dog suddenly howled and wagged its tail in excitement.
"First, I want to meet Inkanyamba to ask him something," said Mholi, who now walked toward the long wooden bench at the post and sat down.
"Inkanyamba? What's that?" asked Doug, who suddenly jumped onto the wooden bench and sat down next to Mholi.
"It's a large snake that lives in the waterfall, which is said to cause rainstorms and..."
"A large snake in the waterfall? Does it always appear when it rains?" said Doug, suddenly interrupting Mholi.
The teenage boy was a little surprised. "Wait a minute, do you know something about inkanyamba?"
"No, I don't, but one of the dogs I met said he saw a big snake at the waterfall when it rained heavily like this."
Doug's answer made Mholi's eyes widen instantly. "So, inkanyamba really appears there?!"
Doug stepped back in surprise. "Why are you so excited? That big snake is dangerous. I don't want to meet that snake. The dog that told me about the snake was almost eaten by it..."
Mholi suddenly lifted Doug into the air. He looked at the dog with eyes sparkling with hope. "That's it, Doug! The answer to all my problems! We're going to meet Inkanyamba!"
"We? Wait a minute, what do you mean 'we'? I do acknowledge you as my master, but that snake is dangerous!"
"Don't worry, I can definitely talk to the snake and convince it not to eat us."
Doug narrowed his eyes and looked at Mholi cynically. "Master, you're going to kill us both."
"Don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of," said Mholi, who now lowered Doug and opened his system panel.
He still had 5 points left for his ability to talk to animals, and he immediately used them all to increase his level of ability to talk to reptiles.
With the good news he had just received today, he could finally move forward. He was now eagerly awaiting the change of guards, because at that place, there were three different times each day for each school guard.
The morning shift starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.; the afternoon shift starts at 3 p.m. and ends at 10 p.m.; the night shift starts at 10 p.m. and ends at 7 a.m.
And Mholi's daily shift is the morning shift.
The teenage boy waited patiently until 3 p.m.
The rain continued to pour down on Howick, but some routines continued, such as guarding the place used as a food storage location.
After a while, the moment they had been waiting for arrived. A grown man came carrying an umbrella. He was about 190 cm tall, quite a difference from Mholi, who was only 160 cm tall.
The man was wearing only a slightly dirty plain T-shirt and long pants that were torn at the knees. He also wore a hat that partially covered his weary face, as if he didn't want to do the job.
"Are you with this dog again today?" said the man, glancing at Doug and then at Mholi.
"That's right, Mister Sizwe. How is your system progressing?" asked Mholi.
The man named Sizwe just sighed heavily. "As usual. I'm still stuck in the ( Enhancement System ), even though I have the system power, but what's the point if I can't level up? My time is spent maintaining this place."
Mholi forced a smile. "But stay positive, you'll definitely reach the ( mutant system ) level someday."
The young man had no intention of telling Sizwe about his progress in the system he had. Because in the Howick town, even if someone had a system, it did not guarantee a prosperous life.
If someone only had an enhancement system, they would spend their time doing time-consuming jobs such as guarding warehouses. It's not physically demanding work, but having the weakest type of system and being unable to upgrade it is the same as forcing someone into slavery.
But what can they do? Some lucky individuals can immediately obtain ( Mutant System ) or even a higher-tier ( Alchemist System ), but for those starting with an ( Enhancement System ), they must work hard to advance.
Unfortunately, at the same time, the power and governance systems are already established, and the only way to eat every day is to work according to the tasks assigned.
Resist?
Unfortunately, that is impossible. Because the person in charge of the Howick town is someone with the Alchemist system. Resisting someone like that is suicide.
For Mholi, who had no ambition to become powerful, it was not something to think about, but for someone like Sizwe, he needed to become powerful, because great power would give him a position with a large salary, at least large enough to support his family.
Mholi said goodbye to Sizwe and hurried home.
Running through the heavy rain, Doug followed behind.
"Master, where are we running to?" asked Doug, running alongside Mholi.
"Home, Doug, we're going home. There's something I need to do before looking for Inkanyamba," replied Mholi, continuing to run through the heavy rain.
"What?! You still want to meet that big snake?!"
Mholi smiled at his dog. "Yep!"
Doug howled. "We're going to die!"