ShanDeRad
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Chapter 2
🕑 Added 2024-04-20 17:05:22 +0000 UTCDarkness was all that surrounded Shaun. Looking around he tried to make out any shapes in the shadows to gather some idea of what was happening to him and what he was meant to do. What is happening? Shaun thought to himself. What was that blue writing and what am I supposed to do now? Shaun tried to speak to call for help but he had no control over his body, he tried to move his legs then his arms but there was no response.
*Welcome Shaun Clermont, you are now an integrated citizen of the multiverse. As a sapient from a newly integrated planet you will soon enter the tutorial while your planet is being terraformed. Due to EA-9487, known by its citizens as Earth, not having sufficient Mana levels it is currently being merged with other planets within your universe to increase its ability to fully integrate into The System.*
That’s helpful I guess. Shaun thought to himself. Not really an instruction as to what he was supposed to be doing here but it did at least provide some information as to what was happening. So Earth was being merged with other planets because of its Mana level? Shaun had heard of Mana before, as a kid he had played some games online where Mana was used to do magic but magic wasn’t real, there was no proof that magic existed on Earth. When he thought of magic Shaun thought of magicians doing shows where they used smoke and mirrors to make it seem they were doing something out of this world but it was all a trick of the eye. Reading over the message again it started to make more sense, Earth was being merged so that there will be Mana? Magic might be real after all huh? Shaun thought to himself.
*As a member of the multiverse you now have access to The System, please review your status sheet to start. This can be done by thinking “status”*
I have a System? What system is it talking about and what does it even mean that I have a status sheet?
Status:
Name: Shaun Clermont
Race Human (F)
Level: 0
Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
Health Points: 70/70
Stamina: 100/100
Mana: 30/30
Stats: (Available Points: 0)
Strength:
6
Dexterity:
8
Endurance:
10
Vitality:
7
Intelligence:
8
Perception:
7
Willpower:
5
Soul:
3
Affinity:
N/A
Titles:
N/A
Skills:
Class:
N/A
Profession:
N/A
That’s different. This is exactly what I would expect if I was playing some role playing game online and I was a character just starting out. Shaun concluded still not quite believing this was all real. So The System is a game and I am now a player? Shaun thought back on everything that had happened since he first saw the blue message appear in front of his face in the bar. No, this isn’t a game, everyone at the bar saw the message and now I am just floating in darkness. Everything that is happening right now is real and for all I know my life will depend on what this status sheet is showing me and what this System is saying.
Okay let’s take this one step at a time. Shaun thought. Name says Shaun Clermont, that’s correct at least. My race says that I am Human which is good, but what is the F at the end of it? Have I somehow failed at being human? Shaun chuckled at the thought, sounds about right.
Human (F): The weakest level of the Human species. Only found on newly integrated planets and are considered one of the lowest levels of sapient creatures. The human species are known for being one of the most versatile creatures in the Multiverse, while they are considered to be generally weak compared to most, they have the ability to follow many different paths to power not available to many other species. They are by far the most common race in the Multiverse. Stats per level: +4 Available Points (AP)
So I am the weakest level of human possible, that encouraging I guess, nowhere to go but up. 4 Available Points per level, don’t know if that’s a lot or not but given that I’m the lowest level of human I would assume its low. Chuckling to himself Shaun looked through the rest of his status sheet. Class is N/A, so is profession which makes sense. Usually in games these are things you choose once you start. Health points seemed obvious, get to 0 and you die. Looking at the number he had 70 HP available. Looking through his stats he guessed this would link with Vitality if his understanding of RPG was anything to by. That would mean that his Stamina would link with Endurance and his Mana to his weakest stat, Soul.
Shaun continued looking over his stats, there were 8 altogether with 10 in Endurance being his highest which made sense considering how much time he spent hiking in the woods and rock climbing. This also explained his Dexterity, Vitality and Perception being on the higher end as well. His strength was lower than he would have liked but could have been worse. Intelligence was also sitting at a good place, he had always been book smart, spending years at college and then working as an analyst would have helped with this. His Willpower was low, although looking back on his life Shaun wasn’t overly surprised, he was never great at being strong willed. Case and point was giving in so quickly when Micheal asked him to go to the bar after work, but that was just one example in a long list. His soul stat was the lowest by far, which was linked to his Mana but he did live on a planet that didn’t have any so it only made sense that it would be low.
Moving on he checked the last three things on his Status sheet which were all empty; Affinity, Titles and Skills. Skills were the easiest to understand given that there was sub categories for both his Class and Profession, meaning that when he gained these he should be able to get skills which were associated with them. Titles were a little harder to understand although he guessed that these would relate to the things he did and maybe completing certain tasks or challenges? And finally Affinity, he knew that having an affinity to something meant having some kind of connection but in the case of his status sheet he had no idea what this meant and would need to figure it out at some point.
*Class choices available. Please select a class to finalise initiation and enter tutorial. Once a class is selected the choice is final and will serve as one of the starting foundations to your Path.*
Before Shaun could even consider what it meant by a foundation to his Path the classes available to him started popping up in front of him.
[Basic] Warrior: One of the starter classes provided to the newly integrated. The warrior focuses on close combat and on close range weapons such as swords, polearms and may also utilise shields. The warrior is a class focusing on dealing damage and defending from the front line and is able to utilise both light and heavy armour. Stats per level: +3 Str, +2 End, +3 Vit,
Okay, that seems pretty straight forward, the warrior is going to be front and centre in any conflict and is going to be the focal point of a battle. The description talks about doing damage so I assume there is going to be fighting once we get into this tutorial, whether that’s going to be fighting each other like some kind of gladiator arena or if we are going to be fighting something else, I have no idea. The stats per level look good, would mean that my health and stamina would go up with every level, but being on the front line and having others focus on me isn’t really something I want.
[Basic] Rogue: One of the starter classes provided to the newly integrated. The Rogue is a versatile class and focuses on calculated sneak attacks that take their opponents unaware. Relying on stealth the Rogue can utilise short bladed weapons like daggers for both close and ranged attacks as well as short swords but lacks in defence. Stats per level: +1 Str, +3 Dex, +1 End, +3 Per,
Moving down from the Warrior, the Rogue was definitely more appealing, especially the part about not being noticed, which seemed to match pretty well with Shaun’s inclination to avoid people. But this was another class that would end up in close combat, although in a more calculated way, there was some ranged option but if he was going to be throwing daggers he couldn’t exactly be that far away from a fight. The stat bonus was a little more varied and wouldn’t do much for his health and stamina like the Warrior class.
[Basic] Mage: One of the starter classes provided to the newly integrated. The Mage is focused on magical skill rather than physical ability. The class utilises Mana in their attacks but lacks strong defence. The Mage is focused on ranged destructive magic and relies on wands and catalysts to focus their power. Stats per level: +2 Int, +1 Per, +2 Wil, +3 Soul
Magic, this is what every kid dreams of growing up. Being able to throw a fireball from your hand, shoot lasers from your eyes or even summon a lightning bolt. This was a fantasy come true. Looking at his Stats his Soul stat was the lowest by far, but this would correct that with getting 3 more points per level. The downside, would he survive long enough to even use it. Mana would run out and he would have no other means to attack or defend himself. If he was going to have to fight, would having a class that offered a little more into his physical stats be more beneficial for surviving in general? But still, magic.
[Basic] Healer: One of the starter classes provided to the newly integrated. The healer class is a support focused class that mainly assists their party with mending injuries, removing afflictions and boosting the abilities of others. The Healer is useful in group battle but one on one is vulnerable to damage as they lack damage dealing skills. Stats per level: +3 Int, +2 Wil, +3 Soul
Looking over the Healer class, Shaun immediately dismissed it, although being able to stay further back from a fight sounded good, the idea of having others rely on him and him having to always be around others did not fit well with what he wanted for his future.
[Basic] Archer: One of the starter classes provided to the newly integrated. The archer is a long range damage dealer focusing on different types of bows to inflict injury. The class relies on knowing when and where to attack but has no defensive capability in close combat. The archer can be a versatile class when combining their arrows with poisons and utilising strategic positioning. Stats per level: +1 Str, +2 Dex, +1 End, +4 Per
And lastly the Archer class. It helped with both his health and stamina while also being long ranged. The downside, he had no idea how to use a bow, maybe once he got the class he would automatically get a skill that would turn him into an Olympic level Archer, but maybe not.
Taking another look at the 5 classes that he had to choose from he kept going over the pros and cons of each, however knowing that he couldn’t keep putting off a decision indefinitely, for all he knew there was a time limit and if he didn’t make a choice he would just be dumped in the tutorial without a class, Shaun made his choice.
*Congratulations, you now have the class [Basic] Rogue.*
Shaun smiled when he saw the notification pop up in front of his eyes, there was something about blending into the background while setting up an attack that appealed to him. Using a dagger or a short sword also seemed the best as it was easy to understand how to use these weapon, put the pointy end into the bad guy. Although he was really tempted to pick mage, he had no idea how to use magic and didn’t want to risk being defenceless right from the start.
*Skill Gained*: [Basic] Short Blade (Level 1) – A Rogues best tool is the blade in their hand. This skill unlocks the basic understanding on how to wield a short blade.
*Skill Gained*: [Basic] Stealth (Level 1) – A Rogue is nothing without being able to move in the shadow’s unseen. This skill unlocks the basic understanding of how to move without being seen or heard. If attacking from Stealth offers a small chance of dealing critical damage.
*Skill Gained*: [Basic] Detection (Level 1) – A Rogue needs to know what is around them to know when to act. This skill unlocks the basic ability to gain an understanding of who or what is around them when focusing. Scales with Perception.
Looking over his new Status sheet Shaun could now see his Class being updated to reflect his choice to be a Rogue and newly gained skills all sitting at level 1 in the skills section. With one final look over his Status he was ready to face the tutorial.
*Transportation to Tutorial commencing in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Good luck.*
