Overpowered Wizard

Wallenberg and many other young men had once gone through selection tests as children. The Crossdeath Captains would call them out of their shanty homes and have them report their stats and conduct some exercises.

These events would usually happen for those between the ages of eight and twelve, who were usually Level 1s. Anyone who was a Level 2 at that early age would’ve already ended up in the militia’s young cadet program.

One time, there had been a Level 3 ten-year-old, and he ended up as a direct servant to a Death Lord’s child. But such cases were rare exceptions to the norm.

For the most part, the lowest of commoners stayed at Level 1 and might rise as far as Level 9 over their lifetime before dying.

Joining the Crossdeath Militia would usually guarantee them a chance at more levels, stats, power, and status. Having all of that would lead to better treatment and having their needs met more consistently.

Thus, those occasional visits from the Crossdeath Captains turned a bunch of poor Level 1 children into animals.

Wallenberg always hated seeing that, which was why he’d taken advantage of his parents’ decent work as hunters when they were still alive. They were among the few commoners who were in the Level 20s.

Because of them, he’d once had a measure of safety that he wouldn’t get drawn into the militia. But he’d still ended up in those vicious exercises as a practice partner even though they always turned into brutal fist fights, sometimes to the death.

Wallenberg was still Level 1 when he’d nearly had his head caved in by a rock from a bigger and beefier boy who had more points in Strength. Missing the rock blow, Big Piggy Pete had jumped on Wallenberg and went for the neck choke as they grappled in the mud.