The rest of the night went smoothly, no random issues cropping up to dull the excitement of progressing. The cooks were finishing with the last items of dinner as he arrived and, feeling a need to seem normal, even if only in action, Alex decided to eat with the others rather than alone. Grabbing a plate he made his way to a section of the common room near some of the more familiar adults, who seemed happy to add him to their chat.
The conversation was small, but not any less friendly than it had been the days prior. Finishing his food Alex added his dish to the pile before heading back to Anise’s room. Having over indulged and not wanting to sleep on a full stomach, Alex pulled one of the few items he’d actually got to purchasing, the bestiary. The book was massive by regular standards, easily outclassing the old encyclopedias he’d read when he was a child.
The first few pages comprised an introduction and ‘About the Author’ section, one Alex didn’t bother reading. The rest of the book was written in a format similar to his prompts with a name, grade, level, and description. Unfortunately, also like the encyclopedias he’d read as a kid was their alphabetical ordering. Unable to know what he’d need in the future; Alex started with the first beast of the book. That went on for about an hour, with him mainly skimming the paragraphs, before he began to nod off. Stubbornly, intrigued by information on potential future adversaries, Alex tried to keep himself reading, but when the tome almost fell on his face, he stored it and called it a day.
An early night led to an early morning with Alex once again rising before the sun. As had become his habit in lieu of a clock, Alex mentally prodded the ever-ticking timer.
***
Tutorial Quest - Main
Allotted Time Remaining
61:2:04
***
It was around four in the morning. He’d gotten a good night of sleep and, seeing no reason not to, decided to get the day started. Showering quickly, more to clear the cobwebs of fatigue than to clean, Alex grabbed another new set of clothes, this outfit, gray sweatpants with a white T-shirt, and dressed.
A quick glance toward the bed as he left the bathroom showed Anise hadn’t returned yet. She could have been in her office, but if she’d had no issues sleeping in the room before, he doubted that would have changed. While fairly certain the young woman could take care of herself, Alex still wanted to make sure someone knew might still be out. Reminding himself to ask later, Alex looked at the empty room and smiled as he opened his prompts. He’d put off doing it the night before so he could be completely awake for the big moment. It was finally time for Alex to gain his newest class.
***
Warning: Once selected a class may never be released only modified.
Please confirm your choice of class: Planestrider.
(Y/N)
***
Following through and mentally pressing yes Alex opened the new prompts as they came in.
***
Congratulations! You have accepted the class: Planestrider. Dauntless are those who dare meddle with the astral.
Additional +4 Perception, +2 Wisdom, + 2 Intelligence, Per Level
The attribute, Perception, has been unlocked.
Skill: Sixth Sense has been updated. Skill ability now correlates to Perception, Willpower, and Intelligence.
Skill, Tracker, has been updated. Skill ability now correlates to Perception, Wisdom, and Intelligence.
Skill, Soul Sight, has been updated. Skill ability correlates to Perception, Wisdom, and Willpower.
For unlocking four ancillary skills within the tutorial you have been awarded the achievement: 4 of a Kind
Due to their contribution in the creation of the class, Planestrider, the following skills: Sixth Sense, Meditation, and Soul Sight, have advanced by +5 Skill Levels.
Name: Sixth Sense
Rating: Epic
Grade: F
Level: 18
Name: Meditation
Rating: Common
Grade: F
Level: 7
Name: Soul Sight
Rating: Rare
Grade: F
Level: 6
***
While the line that came with the class's acceptance was somewhat ominous, the rewards it granted were better than expected. Sixth Sense had now solidified its level lead over all other skills, surpassing even that of his class. Meditation had jumped up from near last to one of his top five most leveled skills, tied with Silent Strike and Stealth. It seemed unlocking classes in this manner, if possible, was the way to go.
When no more notifications appeared Alex sat in confusion for a moment. Had the system lagged? When another few seconds went by with nothing changing, Alex began reading over the prompts once more to make sure he hadn’t missed some fine print. Another achievement was cool, a few skill levels, great, a class, awesome, but where the fuck were his new skills.
He spent another minute fruitlessly searching before deciding to cut his losses and heading to the training room. The day before, when Alex mentioned wanting to test his new skills, Janet had offered it up for use. He’d accepted reasoning she likely wanted to see more of what he could do. Since most of his skills were more internal, even if she was watching, there wouldn’t be much to see.
It was earlier than he’d planned on visiting, but Janet had promised the room would be open to him when he needed it. So he saw no reason not to give it a try. Later, when she did arrive - if the older woman wasn’t already there when he got there - he could find out what she knew about the lack of new skills.
The house was silent but for the whispers of conversation that made it up from the first floor. Finding the staircase that would put him closest to the training room, Alex was surprised to see Jasper sitting on a step near the top, a book in hand. He greeted the man, who returned it warmly, letting him pass. Approaching the door he made to knock, then, as he considered the noise, and Janet’s assurance, decided on just trying the knob first. The door opened easily to an empty room, and Alex was doubly glad he’d woken up early.
Deciding not to waste any time he grabbed a mat from up against the wall and placed it in the center of the room. Sitting lotus style, or crisscross applesauce as he preferred to call it, Alex started with measuring his mana pool’s new regeneration rate. For some reason, the system menus didn’t provide that information but, it was effectively free mana if he used it right. By far too useful to ignore.
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Pulling out his dagger Alex activated Thorn’s Touch. The skill costed him ten mana per second, and, as it was his first time getting a good look at the skill's effects on his blade, he took a moment to admire the pearlescent red hue it gave off. The shine was almost invisible to the naked eye, and Alex found himself staring closely, until he noticed something else about the blade, it was already dulling.
All his fighting, it seemed, had done a number on its edge, and he wondered if he could sharpen it, or if it could only deteriorate further. Sighing, he added it to his mental list of never-ending shit to do and focused back on his original task. Next, he activated Sixth Sense at three mana per second, bracing for the sudden influx of information sure to follow. It wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. The skill was never painful, per se. His brain could handle all of it, well, correction, his stats could. His conscious mind, whose biggest problem two days ago was a physics test, could not. Still, he forged on.
As he pushed the skill to five mana per second, Alex noticed something odd. He couldn’t really feel past the wall of the room. The skill’s range was still expanding as he pumped more mana into it, and, if he really pushed, he had a vague sense of Jasper where he sat, but it was a pittance to what the skill could normally gather. At the moment, it wasn’t that big a deal, likely just a function of the room, but made note of it nonetheless. Pushing the skill another three mana, and giving himself an estimated diameter of fifteen meters of range, Alex checked his mana. Still max.
Releasing the sensory skill he pulled his second blade, also dulled, though to a lesser degree, and activated a second cast of Thorn’s Touch, nothing. Alex knew he had to be close. The levels had nearly doubled his mana, so the regeneration rate couldn’t be that far ahead. He began ticking up Sixth Sense from zero once more, until finally, with skills actively sapping twenty-six mana away from him per second, his mana ticked down by a single point. It went down by another a second latter, then down again the next. He’d found his new mana regen rate, and it was a lot. Smiling to himself Alex moved on to stamina.
A regeneration rate was as easy to calculate as there was a skill that could drain a significant amount of energy in one go. When he activated Silent Strike and only a bit under forty of the required of eighty mana was drained, he had his new estimate. In the future he could do the same with Soul Sight, but he hadn’t wanted to be distracted his first time using it. Health was equally important, but based on what he knew, it either worked in a timescale bigger than seconds, or values lower than whole points. He hadn’t spent any time looking it but with his health still maxed, and Alex not prone to self-harm, he left that test for another time. It was time to get Sixth Sense up and running again.
His new mana regeneration rate gave him twenty-five free points to work with a second. It felt like a lot, especially compared to the amount he’d started with, but realistically wasn’t much. Still, it was much more than his sensory required unless he wanted to pass out from sensory overload. He started at one mana per second, which now gave him about six feet of range. Doing his best to take in everything the skill fed him Alex sat upright and unmoving. He kept his eyes open - the skill worked better that way - but didn’t focus on any one point. Just let everything get absorbed, processed, and understood.
Alex sat like this for near twenty minutes, his new skill levels in Meditation fending off the ADHD, as he slowly raised the skill to an active three mana per second. For a moment, as he took it all in, Alex felt like he could see something extra. It was beyond anything his normal senses were aware of, but wholly different from what the combined sense felt like. He searched, trying to grasp hold of it, before suddenly, as if aware of his notice, it vanished without a trace. Alex spent another few minutes looking, while acting as if he wasn’t before he let it go. He’d found a rate of Sixth Sense he was comfortable with and still had plenty more to test. Whatever had just happened could be explored when he had more time.
Next on the list was Battle Trance, and, while he planned to keep the sensory skill active at all times, Alex turned it off for the moment. He wanted the first test to be in a closed environment. The skill would cost ten mana and ten stamina per second, with the abilities to slow time and damper emotions. He reconsidered his prior statement about its use, neither mana nor stamina would be an issue. If he was using Silent Strike or Thorn’s Touch on both blades, it might not be infinite, but his pools would last him long enough to regen some between activations. Taking in a deep breath he activated the skill.
Initially he felt little change, sat as he was, but after rising Alex thought he could see the difference. With a moment’s consideration he reasoned alone in a still room, wasn’t the best place to test it out its time manipulating aspect. The emotional feature didn’t seem active in the moment, but with nothing exactly emotional happening he supposed that could be expected. Alex was just glad it didn’t make him feel like a robot. It still seemed like it’d be best to use in short bursts for both attack and defense. Pushing further tests off to the future now that he’d gotten a general sense for the skill, Alex moved on to his last new ability, one he was very excited for Soul Sight.
Souls weren’t something Alex had necessarily believed in pre-system. He wasn’t especially religious or superstitious, and even with all the weird shit happening, that hadn’t changed much in the last two days. But magic was magic and he wasn’t complaining. Sitting back down, Alex focused on calming his racing heart. He wanted to focus and get reliable data on what the skill entailed. Still, Alex couldn’t help himself from smiling as he activated it and was instantly pulled out of his body.
The astral plane, if that’s where he was, looked exactly like the physical plane. There hadn’t been much of a transition, one second he was in his sitting eyes closed. The next he was floating above it, looking down his own body.
‘Looking good,’ he thought, about himself. ‘So this is magic.’
It wasn’t underwhelming exactly, the floating was cool, he could control movement mentally so it was like flying. But with no sensation of moment, and the ability to do almost exactly what he was doing with a physical form it wasn’t especially impressive. Speaking of, he couldn’t actually feel what was happening with his body, that was a huge downside. It felt like his only form was this spiritual one. A moment of panic flashed through him and he deactivated the skill. Alex was pulled back to his body in an instant, not trapped in some spirit form for all eternity. He felt a little silly as he made to reactivate the skill, but figured it was better safe than sorry.
Once again floating Alex made for one of the walls. As he approached it, he felt a resistance similar to what he had with Sixth Sense. Deciding to get some use out of that upgraded Willpower he mentally heaved, straining his way through until, with a figurative pop, he was out. Alex spotted the same hall he’d walked to enter with Jasper no longer sitting on the steps. He still couldn’t sense his body, and wanted to test how the return mechanics worked at longer distances, so Alex deactivated the skill. Once again, he instantly appeared in his body. No delay, not at that range at least.
Activating the skill again after his mana replenished, Alex left the room, then the building entirely. The makeshift gym was on the house’s highest floor, and he just flew up, through the roof and out into the open air of Endor. For a moment he just took in the view, admiring all he could see, and would be able to in the future, with the help of this skill. Still, it was only at Rare rating, if he had one, it wasn’t a stretch to assume others like it existed. Which meant defenses against them also existed. The very room his actual body was sitting in a potential version of that protection.
But that would have to be a worry for the future, for now he’d added a new tool to his arsenal. Without warning, he was pulled back to his body with a jerk, a headache accompanying him as he opened his eyes. He tried to look around frantically, but that only hurt his head more. Then Alex realized why.
His new tool might have been useful, but it was resource intensive. Even with no other skills in use he could only keep it active for about twenty-nine seconds. That number went up a bit if passive regeneration was factored in, but not by much compared to its drain. Even as his pool slowly refilled his headache didn’t ebb, and Alex became sure he didn’t ever want to drain his mana to the dregs unless it was absolutely necessarily.
As he began to feel a bit better Alex reactivated Sixth Sense and made to test his new physical stats. It turned out less fun than he expected it to be. Pre-system Alex was lean at best. Gyms weren’t his thing, but he got enough exercise skating and the like to stay in solid shape. Now that he’d been gained all these points in strength, he wanted to put them to use. Making to pick up one of the weights on the rack a dumbbell with a “50” on its label, Alex found himself completely unable to move it.
First, he questioned his strength, even back on earth, he could have moved the weight, it wouldn’t have been fun, but it was possible. Now they should weigh relatively nothing. Moving down to a forty only to the same effect, then down to a twenty where he was finally able to make it budge, Alex sat confused for a moment, before a likely answer came to him. The weights weren’t measured in pounds, kilos, stone, or likely any other familiar weight system. Feeling a bit less like a weakling; then considering someone, likely Janet, got some use out of these weights; Alex decided it was enough testing for the morning. A glance at the timer showing an hour and a half had passed.
“Crap” he said, making sure everything was back in place in order, he was gonna be late.
As he opened the door Sixth Sense picked up a presence walking towards him, not Jasper, but Janet. He walked out of the training room, and she greeted him with her usual, mischievous smile. In all of his effort and excitement, Alex had completely forgotten his secondary reason for going to the training room so early, but now he didn’t have time. Mentally debating what to do as he greeted her back Alex had a sudden idea and activated Battle Trance. Now, around another person and with Sixth Sense active he could gauge its effects better. The world had seemed to slow down, by a fraction of a second at most, but the movement of Janet’s lips was definitely slower, more exact maybe.
His emotions, once again felt little change, but as some of the earlier annoyance from not receiving new skills bubbled up, he felt it quickly replaced by objectivity. So he made use of it. He was presented with two options at the moment. Bring up the classes gained by skills or not. If he did, he would be later to the kitchens for the trade-off of potential information.
‘Not information,’ Alex mentally corrected himself. It would be for confirmation of things he already knew. He’d chosen the class, and knew there was no going back. Basically there was no point in asking not immediately at least.
Other issues, such as whether she’d purposefully left out the information, were relevant, but not urgent. Acting as if they were might only raise suspicion. He had more than the normal two class slots, a fact she shouldn’t know about. Unless he told her, or acted like he took the class, Alex could continue asking all the question he wanted, while she assumed he hadn’t made a choice yet.
The logic laid out for him in sound, concise thoughts, Alex had to suppress a smile. Maybe this new skill was useful for more than just battle. Deactivating it he returned to the real world. Even with the skill's time lengthening effect seconds had passed, apparently enough for his lack of response to whatever she’d said, to make things awkward.
“Sorry, was just thinking. I just finished up and was headed to go help with the food.”
She smiled knowingly. “New skill.”
“Pretty much,” Alex said scratching his head. “Has some interesting effects I’m still getting used to.”
“Alright well come back up when you’re done, and bring some food, we can talk about the day then.”
With a polite wave Alex was headed back down the stairs, he had skill levels to gain.