After the collapse of state governments around the world, many territories are now controlled and led by the system users.
But for a country with such a vast area as South Africa, creating a replacement territory is difficult without causing conflicts of interest.
The official government of South Africa has disappeared and is now turned into a fragment of territory led by the strongest system users in the region.
One of these fragmented regions is the Kwazulu Natal province which has now changed its name to the Zulu Storm Dominion.
A region dominated by the Zulu tribe as well as the largest producer of electrical energy in South Africa.
There are a total of 6 fragmented regions with different leadership systems and different ideologies and each of them claims that they deserve to be the new face of South Africa.
Unfortunately that didn't happen and the six regions were at peace. Not because they were giving up on unifying the entire South Africa, but because they knew that none of them wanted to give in and none of them were strong enough to invade another region without having to worry about the other 4 regions attacking from behind.
Hence, the six regions just kept quiet and were busy stabilizing their territories.
Even so, none of them lowered their guard because even though they looked peaceful, they were secretly strengthening their territories in terms of food, military and energy.
Howick, the town where Mholi lives, is now the center of agriculture as well as the largest hydroelectric power plant in the Zulu Storm Dominion.
And because Howick is a resource town, conflict in the town is minimal.
But even though it looks so peaceful, daily life in the small town has changed completely since Kwazulu Natal changed its name to Zulu Storm Dominion.
All types of schooling are now drastically restricted. Children are no longer required to attend school after graduating from primary school.
If they have a system power, those who graduate from elementary school can immediately obtain positions of power such as high-ranking military officers or regional supervisors. The worst job if one got useless system was a job that didn't required to do any hard physical labor.
Meanwhile If they didn't have a system power, they will immediately be placed as manual laborers, workers, farmers, and if they are lucky, they can join the low-ranking military forces.
There are only a few exceptions for children who didn't have a system. Those with certain academic talents will be transferred to another city, a city dedicated to providing advanced education and specialized training to become skilled workers such as technicians.
However, for Mholi, who lacks academic intelligence and has an unclear system, he has no choice but to work as a security guard at a place that used to be his school but is now a warehouse for storing food supplies.
And that is Mholi's main task. To watch over and make sure no one steals the food supplies collected by the workers.
"It looks like it's going to rain again today," said Mholi, who was in a small building that served as a guard post.
The small post was only 3x3 meters in size with a height of 4 meters tall. Made of cement-coated bricks, the small post is now Mholi's second home when he is on duty.
The back is just a wall that stretches from the ground to the roof, while the side walls are only 1 meter high and the rest is just glass covered with steel frames. The front of the post has no walls at all.
Like a cube with one side missing, the front of the post was just an empty space that allowed Mholi to monitor everything he saw in front of him, namely the school area that was now a food storage warehouse.
Inside the small post, there were only three things accompanying Mholi at that time.
A long wooden bench, a plate of uphuthu, which was maize meal porridge, a staple with meat and sauce, and the last item was a gallon water dispenser complete with a plastic cup.
It was almost noon and the rain began to fall, soaking the ground.
It had been going on for at least a month, with the rain starting in the afternoon and ending at night.
There were many rumors that the cause of the continuous rain was the anger of Inkanyamba, but of course there was no strong evidence to support those rumors.
However, for Mholi, that mystical creature might be the only clue he had to uncover other mystical matters, including the sickness of his mother and location of Noluvo.
The rain grew heavier and a dog suddenly entered the guard post where Mholi was. A big black dog with quite slander body with no furr. By the physical appearance, it looked like greyhound dog, or maybe it was one, Mholi didn't really care about the race of the dog.
"At least I'm not alone," said Mholi, who saw the dog taking shelter with him.
It had been nearly two weeks since the dog had started doing the same thing. Taking shelter at Mholi's post when it rained.
The teenage boy didn't mind the new guest at all and had already gotten used to the daily routine.
There was still some uputhu left on Mholi's plate, and as usual, he immediately gave the food to the dog.
The dog happily ate it while wagging its tail in joy.
A faint smile appeared on Mholi's face because he was happy to have helped a hungry dog.
Mholi gently stroked the dog's head, "Since you've been coming here so often, I guess you're officially my friend now. How about I call you Doug?"
[ Ding! ]
[ You got a new familiar! ]
"Huh?!" Mholi was surprised when his system panel suddenly popped up with new information.
"Familiar? What do you mean?"
[ 1 Familiar added ]
[ Species: Dog ]
[ Name: Doug ]
[ New Abilities unlocked! ]
[ Animal Language Comprehension ability obtained! ]
"Huh? What does this mean?"
Mholi checked his status panel and realized he could now use the status points he hadn't been using.
He paused for a moment, swallowed hard, and finally decided to level up his abilities.
"There are new abilities. There are many different sub-abilities, but for now, I think it's better to level up the abilities I need right now." Without wasting any time, he immediately used his 10 points to level up those abilities.
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[ Tamer system ]
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[ Level : γ 5 ]
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[ Familiar Point : 15 Point left ]
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[ Familiar : 1 ]
[ Doug the Dog ]
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[ Ability : Animal Language Comprehension ]
[ Porifera language : 0 ]
[ Cnidaria language : 0 ]
[ Platyhelminthes language : 0 ]
[ Nematoda language : 0 ]
[ Annelida language : 0 ]
[ Mollusca language : 0 ]
[ Arthropoda language : 0 ]
[ Echinodermata language : 0 ]
[ Amphibia language : 0 ]
[ Reptilia language : 0 ]
[ Aves language : 0 ]
[ Mammal language : 10 ( Max ) ]
.
[ 5 point left ]
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"For now, I think understanding mammals is best. Now, how—"
"This food is delicious!" a sudden shout interrupted Mholi's sentence.
The teenage boy looked around and saw no one else. More precisely, there was only one dog with him at the moment.
Mholi, who had just leveled up his new ability, was now curious about one thing. He approached the dog. "Did you just speak?"
The dog named Doug immediately looked at Mholi. "What do you mean? Do you think I can't talk?"
Mholi's eyes widened. He still couldn't believe what he had heard. He had just spoken to a dog.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Doug.
"You... can talk..." replied Mholi, unable to take his eyes off the dog.
"Why are you –" Doug suddenly realized that he was talking to a human.
Doug was startled and jumped back. "How can you talk?!"