The Man gazed out the window, as if waiting for something to happen. Abruptly, his stance changed, a holographic screen appearing before him. As the Man began to select options, the window's view warped as the room hurtled through space and time before slowing down in front of what, at first glance, looked to be a massive globe of light far, far in the distance. But as the window’s view grew closer, the globe began to separate into smaller dots of light, which turned into galaxies.
“Beginning Initiation Phase of Universe 612,” the man stated, his words sending out vibrations through space, though likely strong enough to decimate a small planet, the words seemingly had no effect on the room around him. Abruptly, the Man paused and slowly turned around, looking behind him.
“You're not supposed to be here, " he said with a tilt of his head…
-:-
Alex awoke to a soft light hitting his eyes, and with a groan, he threw his arms up, attempting to guard against the light. Alex’s brain slowly kicked awake, thoughts racing through his head as Alex attempted to piece together his dream. Alex sat up abruptly, his eyes snapping open, realizing he was not in bed, “What the-... Where am I??”
Alex lay in the center of a large encampment filled with large tents, all holding an odd assortment of items. From medieval swords and spears, to strange orbs with strange iridescent lights fluttering inside of them, in each tent, there was a plain wooden table with a smiling man or woman behind it. Throughout the marketplace, people bustled around, most with confused and fearful expressions, likely in the same position as Alex.
As Alex noted that some brave men and women were daring to talk to the shopkeepers, suddenly a small creature made of light popped into existence in front of him.
“Hello there,” it exclaimed with a bright smile,” I will be your guide while you are within.
safe zone: #342.”
Alex rubbed his eyes with disbelief as he stared at the floating creature in front of him.
“No disrespect intended,” he said, “but what the hell are you?”
“I am an artificial intelligence designed to guide you through the Initiation of your planet.”
“Wha-... Umm... Okay. What is an "Initiation”?”
“The initiation is the phase in which your planet is integrated into the system. In this process, a select few are chosen from your planet and placed in a tutorial, where they are given opportunities to gain power through the System and become the Champions and Rulers of your planet.”
Alex stared at the entity with a look of utter and complete bafflement. Either Alex thought this was a deep, incredibly lucid dream that he had no control over, or this was real and world-changing…
Deciding that this must be an odd dream of some sort, Alex decided to play along.
“Okay, what happened to those who did not get 'Chosen'? How are we supposed to gain 'power', and what is this, err, system?”
“1st, those who were not chosen are currently going through their own initiation, though less gentle than yours. 2nd, the methods of gaining power in the system are many, from one's stats to their skills and class, but one's own path to power is not something they can be told; it is something they must discover on their own journeys. And 3rd, that is information for you to discover on your own, " it said with a big smile.
“Now, if there are no more questions,” it spoke briskly, not giving Alex any time to speak,” we will move on to Classes. You have four options; your available options are based upon your previous experiences and achievements in life.”
With a wave of its hand, a translucent blue screen appeared before Alex with three different choices.
[Warrior]-common
This class relies heavily on physical power and uses handheld weapons, anything from swords to spears. Warriors use little to no magic and rely on their high physical strength and strong defenses. Stat bonuses:+2 Strength, P-l,+2 Vitality, P-L, +1 Agility, P-L.
[Rogue]-common
A stealth-based class that relies on high speeds to outmaneuver its opponents. The class most often uses close-range blades. Rogues often specialize in ending fights before they can start. Though they lack defenses in return for high agility. Stat Bonuses:+3 Agility, P-L, +1 Strength, P-L,+1 Free Point, PL.
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[Mage]-common
Mages focus on magical combat, favoring magic over physical power or skill. Most often prefers long-range attacks to avoid direct physical combat. This class is not attuned and only uses base mana. Stat Bonuses:+2 Free points, P-L, +3 Mana, P-L.
Alex looked at the options, ‘So it's like a video game, ’ he thought, no longer surprised.
The classes each seemed to have a weakness that could be exploited by the other classes; for instance, the warrior class had no long-range abilities or magic, likely making it weak to the mage class. But the mage class had weak physical abilities, meaning that if the rogue or warrior class were able to make it up close, then they would be much more likely to win the battle. This meant that the mage class was out right away, even though the prospect of magic was a great incentive; if Alex was taken by surprise, he would likely be defeated with ease, given the weak physical abilities of a mage.
Rogue seemed to be more of a spread-out build, holding no real weaknesses, likely in exchange for weaker abilities. So, where the mage class had the glaring weakness of physical power, the rogue class seemed to be an option that would be weaker than the warrior in direct combat, but could likely take them by surprise and end the battle immediately; and with the mage, the rogue would have a much easier time getting close than the warrior.
The warrior seemed similar to the rogue class, but a little less spread out. It would likely beat the rogue in physical combat, but that would require forcing the rogue into combat in the first place, which would be difficult given the rogue's agility. It also directly said that “little to no magic” was used, which was a major downside in Alex’s eyes, because what was the point of entering a new magical reality but not having any magic?
Before Alex made his decision, he decided to see if he could eke out a little information from his guide.
“I don’t suppose that you could give me any more information about the classes”, Alex said with a hopefully charming smile.
“I am very sorry”, the creature said with a large smile, “but I am unable to give you any information on that subject. The decision that you make must be entirely your own.”
Alex rolled his eyes with a sigh, even though he had already decided; the rejection still annoyed him.
“Fine. I choose the Rogue class.”, Alex said with confidence.
Then, with a ding, the screen before him changed,
(DING)- Congratulations on selecting the rogue class!
- 10,000 system credits
You have reached level one, +3 Agility, +1 Strength, +1 Free Point,
You have gained the skills: (Basic stealth-common) and (Backstab-common).
Basic Stealth-(common)
The skill grants basic innate knowledge of the arts of stealth. A basic level of magic is utilized when the skill is active to blend into one's environment.
Backstab-(common)
This skill allows one to strike a devastating blow by infusing a short, handheld weapon with mana. As long as the target of your attack is unaware of your strike before it lands, the attack will have a large increase in damage.
-For further information, access the status screen.
Alex’s eyes widened, falling to one knee as energy rushed through his body, strengthening every cell within his body. Alex shook his head as the energy faded, his body longing for the warm energy to return.
“How do I access this status screen?” Alex asked once his dizziness was gone.
Before he could get a response, though, he got another ‘system prompt’.
Alexander Thorn SC: 10,000
Level: 1 (Class: Rogue)
Floor: 1 (Duration remaining: 2-years, 364-days, 23-hours, 13-minutes, 54-seconds)
Stats,
Mana, 3
Vitality, 5
Agility, 7
Strength, 5
Free Points: 1
Class Skills,
(Basic stealth-common), (Backstab-common)
General skills, 3/10
Cooking, Level: 3
Statistics Analysis, Level: 9
Mathematics, Level: 6
Alex took a second to take it all in. His status did not hold much surprising information; the only new information was his attributes. If he remembered correctly, then Mana was the energy used for magic in a lot of video games. Thus, given he had never used magic before in his life, mana being his lowest stat made sense. If Alex took a guess, then ‘5’ was likely the average for human stats. The general skills were not surprising either, as they made sense given his occupation back on earth. The free point, he decided, should go into Mana as it was his lowest attribute, and with a thought, the Stat increased by one. Though this time the System’s energy was much harder to detect, as it did not enhance anything physical. The target of the energy was not Ales’s body, and yet it flowed all throughout him through previously unknown channels.
“Your SC is the currency used by the system during the Tutorial and beyond.”, the guide said without prompting, “These System Credits can be used to buy equipment and items from the tents on each floor of the tutorial.
“The Safe Zone takes form as an area protected by a large dome barrier that stops all monsters from entering. However, once outside of the barrier, there are no protections; thus, there is an increase in danger as there is an increase in reward. To proceed to the next floor of your tutorial, you must slay an Alpha monster. An Alpha monster’s level will scale with the average level of the tutorial attendees on its floor. Doing so will spawn a portal to the next floor of the tower. Killing a monster will reward a number of credits that varies based on the monster’s level. Killing a human will reward half the credits that person has earned throughout the tutorial.”
Alex stiffened as he heard the last sentence, his stomach churning. Though he could not be certain, that last line seemed to be promoting murder. He could see no other reason as to why it would directly say that one would get a greater reward when killing a human than when killing a monster. Also, on that thought, monsters?!?...
“What can I expect outside of the Safe Zone?” Alex questioned, a little bit worried.
“The Safe Zone is surrounded by forests, and throughout these forests roam an assortment of monsters from weak to strong. The farther you tread from the barrier, the stronger the monsters get. This is not a rule, though; occasionally, a more powerful monster will enter a weaker part of the forest. Do you have any more questions?”
Alex shook his head, nothing coming to mind.
“Good, I have reached the limit of information I can divulge to you, so I bid you fairwell.”, and with a dramatic flash of light, popped out of existence.
Alex stared at the spot his guide had inhabited with exasperation. With a sigh, Alex turned away. It was time to get himself some gear…