"Asuraj Dragoneye."

I hear the full name spoken by Father Gabe. The old priest got off his seat behind the desk and casually strolled over to me. He looked particularly domineering with every step taken. I remember when I was younger, coming to this very room was similar to a nightmare. When we got into trouble, it was this man who disciplined us.

"It has quite a nice ring to it, son." Father Gabe smiled next to me, tapping my shoulder.

"Anything with dragon in it is cool."

"Cool?!"

"Ah, nothing! I really like the name you've given me, Father." I said quickly, looking embarrassed. My tongue slipped and I said something that wouldn't make any sense in this world. Cool? What does cold temperature have anything to do with my name? Hoping that Father Gabe can just brush off what I said, I smiled at him.

Seeing the head priest in his black attire, his fair wrinkled face covered with neatly trimmed silver hair, the man was very admirable. The old man said, "I didn't do much. Your name was already given, I simply added an identity to your name."

"Mm," nodding to Father Gabe, I turned my face away from him and looked back into the office space. Suddenly, a wooden stick came into view and I slightly shook my head. That was the very stick that Father Gabe used to beat us with whenever the boys and I did mischief. That stick carries a lot of memories, today would probably be the last day I get to see it.

Father Gabe stepped in front of me, while he had one hand on my shoulder, his free hand came up and held my other shoulder. He looked very serious, his gaze was deeply penetrating. It made me feel uncomfortable, I was worrying if the head priest knew that I was... different. It was difficult to hold his gaze thus, my eyes drifted away.

Father Gabe said sternly, "Asuraj, I know you've been asked this before but I have to ask again. Are you sure you want to join the military? While it may be an honor for some, it also means that your life may be lost. I've heard that there has been skirmishes at the edge of the kingdom and it's increasing."

"I'm fine with going to the military, besides, I can't leave those two bums. Who knows what they'd get up to," I replied.

"Heh, Alright. Even they want to go. So I'll give you the task of looking after them... Alright, you can go now. I still have to oversee the financial situation. The sisters should be all about the kitchen making a special breakfast. We all will meet for breakfast and celebrate your special day."

"Okay."

Father Gabe dropped his hands, leaving my shoulders free. Actually, there's still some discomfort, it made realize that the old priest is quite strong for his elderly appearance. Father Gabe turned back to sit at his desk and I left the room.

Standing in front of the door, I find myself back in the chapel. I take in a deep breath before exhaling. Father Gabe was quite serious with his questions, I know he was asking about the path I've chosen in life out of affection but the truth is that the military is the best option. No matter how dangerous it may become, it's better than living as a menial servant. Worse, I could be treated lower than a servant if I served under some noble.

I started to take a step forward, then I realized that I'm not alone in the chapel anymore. I see a few sisters sitting on the benches and heads lowered in morning prayer. The chapel is brightening as light from the morning sun penetrates the fancy glass windows. Quietly, I make my way out of the chapel.

Stepping out through the doorway, I come into the reception area. The main doors are still closed and I didn't plan on going outside, actually, I'm looking for a place to be on my own. There's still the plane consciousness that is still new to me, I want to investigate it more and see how it benefits me. On my right, there is a stairway leading to a higher floor. I casually proceed to move in that direction.

While walking, I check out the the symbol on my chain. Looking at it closer, I can't help appreciate the engraving of a dragon's eye.

"I wonder if this came back with me from Earth," I mumbled.

"Good morning, Asuraj."

"Huh!"

All of a sudden, a girl could be found beside me as I walk up the steps. This is Linda, one of the girls that's about my age. She's one of the prettiest girls in the orphanage, although I think she might just be as attractive as any girl from a noble family. Her black hair and fair skin makes it hard not to notice her, then again, it just might be me. Unfortunately, Linda is already taken. One of my roommates, Bryon, happens to have taken the lead in courting the young lady next to me.

Unlike my two other roommates, Tommy and Kizan, Bryon and Linda are planning to leave the orphanage together and live on their own. Bryon won't be sticking around with the rest of us who are going to the military. If I remember correctly, those love birds should be leaving the orphanage in a day or two. Then a day or two after, a carriage will come to take us, boys, to the military camp.

Going to the military was never my first choice of livelihood, in fact, I was planning to do the same as Bryon and Linda. Chloe... uh, I don't want to think about it.

"Morning, Linda." I greeted.

Linda didn't say anything further. Quickly, she overtook me on the staircase. In her hands she carried a few mini sacks. From what I can tell, she probably got it from the food storage on the ground floor. Upstairs on the second floor there's a kitchen where all the residents have their meals made. I stared up, watching the girl zip up the stairs even with a load on her, I bet they making something extreme for breakfast. While Linda heads up, I can't help but let my eyes admire her figure. It's not like I'm going to steal from my brother, I'm just admiring beauty as I see it.

"Huh!"

As I see Linda ascend the stairs, her upper body leaves my eyes. Now I see the girl's lower half. What caught me off guard was that the dress that Linda wore, a portion seems to be wedged between her buttocks. Should I call out to her and let her know? I can't do that, if I did then Linda would know where my eyes had been.

Now that I've seen the dress wedged, a new set of information comes to mind. Underwear! People from the Earth plane used to wear cloth that covered their loins, thats something remarkable. Humans were much more advanced when it came to designing clothes. There's no such thing as underwear in Dimlands, even now there's nothing covering my loins but my trousers.

I thought of something and gulped, "Doesn't that mean that all the ladies have nothing under their overalls!"

Humans are incredible, it motivates me to know more about the Planer System. On the upper floor, I see Linda turn into the first room, that there is the kitchen. I trek passed the place, I'm heading all the way to the back, somewhere there is a storage room. Unlike the one on the bottom floor, the one here has cleaning materials and other gadgets for maintenance.

"Gad-jets." I said, what a weird word!

It doesn't take long for me to reach the storage area. Clasping the handle, the door opened under my direction. It isn't pulled wide, just enough for me to slip inside. I close the door immediately after, inside, the room is very dark. There's no window to let light in, under normal circumstances, one would usually use a candle torch to search for anything in here.

Luckily, it's neat inside this place, Father Gabe would've smashed us had we made a mess here. Anyway, it makes it easy for me to maneuver. Although the storage room is dark, on the ceiling at one side, I find light piercing through. There is a square hole and a wooden ladder leading to it. With no hesitation, I scale the ladder and enter the gap in the ceiling. Soon I find myself in what could be considered an attic.

Standing in the room on the other side of the ceiling, I find it to be empty with the only thing around being dust and a few cobwebs. There's a large window on the wall, it isn't fancy like the ones in the chapel. It's plain glass was fixed onto a hinge. The place where I can be by myself and study the Planer System is on the other side of the window. I unlatch it to make my way through to the roof of the building.

It was effortless coming here and this place could provide the necessary privacy for my investigation. The only problem for the moment is the cool air here. As the sun has just risen, it would take a few more moments of time to heat the atmosphere. Although it is cold, I'm not deterred from my objective. Actually, I'm looking forward to it very much.

"Planer System!"

My voice let out the words softly. Immediately, the silver-like transparent cogwheel manifested itself. I touched it with my index and in no time at all, a screen dropped down.

STATUS QUEST INVENTORY LOG

Seeing the the screen again, my heartbeat picked up. This was an unbelievable phenomenon. I didn't wait any longer and tapped on the Status option, following which, the options changed again. I had already seen Profile so I tapped the option beneath it. Again the screen changed. It was different from the other screens I've seen so far. This one was called Stats.

STATS HP 100 % MP 0 % RANK STAGE VITALITY D (0/10) LOW STRENGTH F (2/10) LOW INTELLIGENCE D (6/10) MID AGILITY F (7/10) HIGH DEXTERITY F (5/10) MID ENDURANCE E (9/10) HIGH PERCEPTION E (0/10 LOW LUCK F

Looking at the Stats screen, I had nothing to say. I stared at it seriously. A lot went through my mind, particularly, the function and how to increase the ranks. Although this world is based on the strength of magic, the screen before me goes against the norms of society. In other words, even without magic I can become strong. But, how do I raise the ranks?

"I wonder what the lowest rank is?"

System: F

"Wahhh!!!"

Damn it! That scared me. I was barely getting used to the demon voice of the Planer System whenever I tap on the screen, I never would've imagined to hear it outside of that. I shook my head and stopped to think... so the Planer System can answer questions?

"P-Planer System, what are you?" I asked.

System: Earthen plane.

Eh, that's it? Well, whatever. What did it say, F is the lowest. I expected as much, had I been stronger I would've been adopted already and living the good life. I asked the Planer System another question, "Whats the strongest rank?"

System: SSS

What the fudge! Thinking about it, the order of ranks is already embedded in my mind. F being the lowest rank then E being above it. D, C, B, A, S, SS and lastly SSS is the highest. It seems so simple when I think about it but to climb up the ranks feels impossible. I'd probably die of old age before seeing the S rank.

I never expected it to be easy anyway but I was hoping. I can just settle with raising my ranks to Ds. After entering the military I should be able to raise my rank then I can retire to a rural area and live peacefully...

"... if nothing goes wrong."