“Where were we before you interrupted?” Alina asked, with a hint of a smirk that had been there for far too long now. Throughout their conversation, she had barely budged on the rocky outcrop that she sat on, and he imagined the armour couldn’t be that comfortable and yet, she gave no indication otherwise. “Ah, yes. Picking a class. Once you’re level fifty, you can pick a class and reallocate your stat points.”
“Like wisdom?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. “Wisdom is one of the stats you can’t allocate points to. Why don’t you call up your stats?”
He hesitated as he couldn’t exactly remember the command, so he settled on the command he did know.
“Status.”
The floating blue screen appeared with his baseline information. He reached out and tapped the screen, bringing him back to the earlier menu. He made a mental note that the command was ‘Stats’ and pressed the button on the screen for attributes. Only two items came up.
[ STAT POINTS AVAILABLE ] [ 78 ]
[ ALLOCATED ] [ 0 ]
He noticed on the right hand side of the screen, there was a white triangle pointing right. Instinctively, he swiped his hand left as if he really was using a tablet and it had the desired effect. The interface responded almost instantly, the experience smoother than he would have expected. No lag, no stuttering, no spinning coloured circle. Another vague memory of his time on Earth. Another page came up, with triangles on either edge pointing left and right.
[ PHYSICAL | phys ]
{ STRENGTH | STR } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ ENDURANCE | END } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ VITALITY | VIT } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ AGILITY | AGI } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ DURABILITY | DUR } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
[ CONFIRM ]
“It says I have no stat points allocated,” Tyler said, looking through the screen at Alina. “Should I?”
“It’s up to you,” Alina replied. “Before you’ve chosen a class, you can’t use magic so you can allocate to physical attributes only. You can get to level fifty without allocating, but if you wanted to speed things up a little more, you could allocate to strength for raw power or agility for speed and control. The other three aren’t really relevant at your level or even later, depending on the class you’ve chosen.”
“Why can’t you use magic before choosing a class?”
“It’s just the way it is. I’m sure someone’s done the research into it but it’s not something I ever looked into. When you’re at the Academy, you’ll be able to study these things further, if that’s what you want to do.
“Though, I imagine it’s to ensure that mages and clerics have some physical skills. At higher levels, the opponents you’re likely to face will be highly skilled and you’ll need to think fast, move when necessary and sometimes be in close quarters combat where your magic can be just as dangerous to yourself as to them.” She made a gesture with her hand, clenching her fist near her face, then splaying her fingers outwards. At the same time, she puffed out her cheeks and rounded her lips into a small circle, softly blowing out air as if to mimic an explosion.
“A base level of physicality – being able to fight or use a sword – can buy you distance and time to cast stronger spells. Mira is a mage. She doesn’t have the same damage resistance or health as knights such as myself, nor the speed or movement of an assassin like Kiri. But she’s the most powerful of all seven of us, as long as she has the time to cast.”
Knights, assassins, mages, clerics. He felt a hazy familiarity with those concepts from games from Earth or one of those fantasy novels written by one of the greats, occupying that strange place in his mind between memories and knowledge. Well, he needed neither memory nor knowledge now that he was living it.
He swiped left again.
[ MAGICAL | magic ]
{ CHI | CHI } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ SUSTENANCE | SUS } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ SPIRIT | SPT } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ FOCUS | FCS } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ FORTITUDE | FRT } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
[ CONFIRM ]
“If mages are so powerful, why wouldn’t everyone just be a mage?” Tyler asked. This screen also had triangles left and right.
“Because not everything can be solved with magic and not every enemy can be defeated with it either. Some beasts are resistant to it and many are immune. Not to mention the biggest enemies need multiple people with multiple classes to even have a chance.”
He swiped left again, and this time, there was only a triangle to the left, but unlike the previous two screens, there were no plus or minus signs next to the stats.
[ MENTAL | ment ]
{ INTELLIGENCE | INT } [ 126 / 250 ]
{ WISDOM | WIS } [ 104 / 250 ]
{ RESONANCE | RES } [ 75 / 250 ]
{ CHARISMA | CHR } [ 76 / 250 ]
{ CONVICTION | CNV } [ 52 / 250 ]
The scores were confusing to say the least. High in intelligence and wisdom but low in the others. It looked really bad on the conviction. Not even halfway to the midpoint. And even being high in intelligence, he just noticed it wasn’t high at all. Just above average, if even that. He wondered how that compared to others. Was it usual for someone of his level or was he lacking in ways he couldn’t yet understand? The only saving grace was that he’d have opportunities to increase them all.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“So if I have this right,” Tyler said, his mind still processing the manner in which his identity had been stripped down to nothing more than raw numbers. “We earn stat points per level that we gain and we can allocate to magic or physical attributes but for mental attributes, we can only gain those through our actions?”
“Correct,” Alina replied, shifting in her seat for what seemed to be the first time since Tyler was first made to kneel in front of her. “You get stronger as you grow. Your health, your energy, your attack power all rise and then you can allocate to physical or magical stats to increase those characteristics. But then yes, the mental attributes can only be earnt via your actions. Like I said earlier – we grow stronger through our deeds but also through our experiences and decisions.
“Mental attributes are harder to earn, though in a zone like this, you’ll earn them a bit faster. Once you get to the Academy, you’ll get a better understanding of it all. I’ve given you a brief overview so you’re not completely out of your depth, but in any case, one of my sisters will be going with you, so they’ll help you on the way, and once you get to the Academy, you’ll be taught alongside the other two we picked up.”
He had so many questions to ask but he also knew she was a princess and had given up much of her time already helping a newbie like him. He felt it unwise to push her further. He could ask those questions to someone else, but there was one burning question that he did need to ask her. Before voicing it, he decided to test the commands he had been memorising as each screen had displayed.
“Status.” That brought him back to the original screen.
{Name} [ Tyler Smith ]
{Age} [ 25 ]
{Level} [ 39 ]
{Experience} [ 5091/20550 ]
{Health} [ 9959 | 9959 | +0 ]
{Energy} [ 2162 | 2162 | +0 ]
{Power} [ 319 | 319 | +0 ]
{Class} [ UNAVAILABLE ]
[? Press for more]
“Stats.”
[ STAT POINTS AVAILABLE ] [ 78 ]
[ ALLOCATED ] [ 0 ]
“Phys.”
[ PHYSICAL | phys ]
{ STRENGTH | STR } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ ENDURANCE | END } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ VITALITY | VIT } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ AGILITY | AGI } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
{ DURABILITY | DUR } - [ 0 / 200 ] +
[ CONFIRM ]
“Phys.”
The screen disappeared.
“Vitals.”
The bars for health, energy and xp faded away, with only the lingering afterimage of the thirty-nine haunting his vision, before it too disappeared. He found Alina beaming at him, a hint of pride in her smile.
“You catch on fast.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I think I’ll be able to figure out the rest on my own.”
She tilted her head to him in acknowledgement and then looked over to Mira. He glanced back too and saw that Mira had created a snug little haven by the stream’s edge. Eight colourful tents formed a loose circle around a crackling fire, its oranges flames casting shadows across the pebbles nearby and reflecting on the water, shimmering with each ripple of waves.
Each tent had a lantern hanging inside, with one tent that was twice the size of the others. Even from a distance, he could tell it seemed to be made with a heavier fabric, intricate embroidery and patterns lining its edges and the entrance. Across from that tent, was one that was conspicuously small, barely large enough for a person. Perhaps that was Kiri’s tent, too pint-sized to be for anyone else.
Mira sat on a large log between the tents and the fire, one of several that seemed to have just appeared from nowhere. Given what he’d learnt about her power, perhaps they had been conjured out of thin air. She seemed to be concentrating intensely on the slightly charring animal that hung in the air above the fire. Whatever beast it was, it slowly rotated on an invisible spit, juices and fat slowly dripping onto the flames below, causing them to occasionally crackle and roar.
“Seems Mira got done without me,” Alina said, head downcast, though Tyler couldn’t hear any actual disappointment in the statement. Was there the slightest hint of a pleased smile on her face? Her lips seemed to twitch with what he thought was satisfaction, but it was hard to tell, though he had the feeling Alina was quite content to not have helped. She couldn’t entirely keep that princess persona under wraps. “I think it’s best you clean up now. I’m not sure how much longer I can deal with your stench.” She winked at him. “You can use the stream – I’ll ask Mira to heat up a spot here so you won’t freeze to death. When you’re done, I think you might want to check your bags.”
She stood up, her silver hair prominent against the dark armour she wore. He stood up too, picking up the cushion he had been sat on. Alina was hunched over her gauntlets and helm, which disappeared before his eyes. Her sword soon followed. He wondered what magic she must be using, but he had more pressing concerns. Before she could leave, Tyler spoke up with the question that had been bugging him. “Why are you helping me?”
She turned back to him, a questioning look on her face.
“I get it,” Tyler said. “You’re a princess and you have responsibilities towards your people. I get that. But I’m not one of your people. I’m not even of this world.” It had been playing on his mind since she’d mentioned it earlier, though it had taken a while to process. There were people here who would want to extract information from him. At the time, he hadn’t given it much thought but during her explanation of how the world works, he couldn’t help but wonder what’s in it for her.
“I’m grateful for your help, but I’m not na?ve. You could have had someone take me back to the Academy already, or just sent me on my way, with nothing more than what I have on. Or you could have had me killed. No-one would know. But you’re taking the time to explain things to me. Build a rapport with me. You, the Princess. The Commander of the Academy. Why?”
She smiled that knowing smile again. “I think your question answers your question.”
It was his turn to give her a questioning look.
“You’re perceptive, resourceful, quick. As you said, you’re not na?ve. You’re new to this world. A little fearful perhaps. Confused. But not na?ve.
“Something is happening on Cytheria. We’re seeing phenomenon that have never occurred before. Take this forest. I’m sure you noticed the disease invading it. And you’ve already encountered a creature that isn’t a part of it. That Demon Sprite. We’ve only ever seen these things in the Riftlands.
“Over the past several months, similar events have occurred elsewhere. Creatures like that Demon Sprite appearing in the middle of our nations. Forests being diseased. Rivers drying up or turning black. We’ve heard rumours from Saphildor to Telkand of such happenings. Some of those rumours even spoke of several Demon Lords themselves appearing. Beings of immense power, far beyond what any hero on Cytheria or any size of raid could handle.
“There’s always been an uneasy truce between our nations and the Riftlands. There’s always skirmishes on the borders. The lower demons try to cross and we force them back. And sometimes a party or raid from our side makes it into the Riftlands but not far. It’s not too far in before you encounter the Demon Lords and no party is stupid enough to attack them. But one thing has always held. On the border, there is an invisible barrier that the Demon Lords themselves cannot cross.
“But now they’re appearing in the middle of our lands. And wherever they’ve appeared, massive dungeons have appeared soon after, as if the world itself is trying to keep them contained. Some of those dungeons have vanished since, even though no raid party had managed to clear even a single floor. Many died trying.
“What we don’t know is how these demon spawn and their lords are managing to appear in places they should not be able to.”
He was trying to take all the information in but nothing of what she’d said answered his question. There was something that stood out though. Something that concerned him. If the Demon Lords were so powerful, why would the Gamesmaster send him here? The more he thought about it, the more it just didn’t make sense. Alina thought he was perceptive but he knew there was something he was missing here. It bothered him no end that he had no idea what.
“What does all that have to do with me?”
“Well, with all these strange happenings – now, I’ve found three people who are from a different world to ours. I’m sure there’s others like you out there. Most have likely perished but there will be a few like you and the other two. Resourceful. Survivors. Perhaps they’ve also found allies.
“I have some ideas as to how the demon spawn are getting through, but I haven’t confirmed anything yet. But if it’s as I fear, then I’m going to need people I can trust. What better than people who have no allegiances already?”
“So, you don’t have a problem with sending others where you fear to go?” Tyler responded.
“Not where I fear to go,” Alina said. “Where I am unable to. You’re right. I’m not helping you from pure altruism. I’m helping you because one day soon, after we’ve trained you, I’m going to need you.”
“Need me for what?” Tyler asked.
Alina looked him right in the eye. Those alluring light-green eyes were anything but right now. They looked cold and determined.
“For the war that is coming.”
