Etson College - 4:24 PM
I lay on the floor in a mixture of elation and despair as the crash caused me to feel like my head was splitting in two. As I laid on the ground, the Book of the Warmongering Mystic disappeared from my hand. I paid it no heed; that’s what was supposed to happen. Instead, I decided I deserved a break, and I waited for my ravaged lungs to calm down before looking at my other prize: the Medallion of Uuska.
There were two ways to obtain the Warmind class in my area. The first way was through the Book of the Warmongering Mystic, and the other was through the Medallion of Uuska. Only, the latter caused a major problem: you could only get the full class very early, or very late.
The Medallion sucked the power out of the Book by using its class abilities, which was why the library tried to kill me with books, tables, chairs, and miscellaneous office supplies. If the Medallion had been allowed to suck more power out of the book, then the pages would have slowly gone blank. Since the pages were filled with gibberish anyway, this meant the mechanical difference was that you gained fewer class abilities when using the book.
Therein lay the problem. If you came in the middle of the Medallion’s cycle, then you would have half the class through one item, and half through the other. Francis and Jess Alurne, brother and sister, would usually brave the library after hearing it was “haunted,” and they would both become two halves of a Warmind. Their powers augmented and boosted each other in wonderful ways.
But power bred jealousy. Francis and Jess never made it past the second scenario as Warminds because Jess often became angry at her brother for having more powers. They split up midway through the scenario and died not long after. I had managed to keep them both alive until the fifth, but it was often an arduous task that required too much social management. Without the Warmind class, they would make it much further because they weren’t stuck to each other.
I was fairly certain that I had gotten here in time to keep the Medallion from taking the last pages of the Book, thus leaving it complete. Whenever I’d had to run through here from my job interview, I never made it in time. It was still worth getting, of course; Warmind was a devastating psychic class that was incredibly powerful with my knowledge and expertise. I had been a Warmind in over a fourth of my previous runs, with the vast majority of those having come from the Book, but a few coming from the Medallion even though it meant I spent a long time being classless.
Waving my hand in the air, I immediately went to my settings and changed three of them.
[[Settings]]
Text box window background color has been changed from [Blue] to [Green].
Text box window activation has been updated. Activation signals are now [Wave] and [Snap].
Stat text box intricacy has been changed from [Full] to [Simple].
I snapped twice, closing the settings text box and pulling the menu back up. Now that the text boxes were back to my preferred green, I felt better. It was just a little thing, I knew, but I’d had it like that for countless runs now. It comforted me. Though maybe I should make it red so that I would be more aggressive? That made me shake my head; I was already going to be aggressive this run, no need to exacerbate it.
Now that the text box was as it needed to be, I looked over my stats.
[[Status]]
Player Anthony Franklin
Class: Warmind
Race: Human
Points: 600
Stats:
Hit Points: 17/30
Mental Points: 70/70
Strength: 3; Dexterity: 4; Constitution: 3; Wisdom: 4; Willpower: 7
Mentally, I clicked on Warmind.
[[Class]]
Warmind
The Warmind is a powerful psychic warrior with the ability to alter their surroundings on a whim. If allowed to grow, Warminds can create and destroy with but a thought, and even alter some laws of reality. Each ability costs a variable level of Mental Points.
Abilities
Push (Willpower) lvl 1: Push an inanimate object no more than Willpower*5 lbs. away from you. The weight of the object determines the distance and speed at which it is pushed.
Pull (Willpower) lvl 1: Pull an inanimate object no more than Willpower*5 lbs. towards you. The weight of the object determines the distance and speed at which it is pulled.
Lift (Willpower) lvl 1: Lift an inanimate object no more than Willpower*10 lbs. off of the ground. The weight of the object determines the height and speed at which it is lifted.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Shield (Wisdom) lvl 1: Block incoming attacks up to an amount of damage equal to or less than Wisdom*3. Shield can be activated, sustained, or deactivated at will and recharge at a rate of Wisdom*1 hit points per second after 5 seconds of not taking damage. Broken shields cannot be reactivated for 30 seconds.
I smiled and nodded to myself. This was perfect. Whenever I used the Medallion for acquiring Warmind, this was the ability spread that I started with. Whenever I used the Book, however, I had to earn Shield down the line. Luckily, I had gotten here in time. Unluckily, the damn class still didn’t state the formula for how the Warmind used up Mental Points, or MP, or about how the ability’s effect dropped off based on weight and distance. I had enough experience to figure things out on instinct, but it would be nice to have the exact numbers.
Now I looked at the Medallion of Uuska. It was still in its base form, having not had time to steal from the Book of the Warmongering Mystic, which meant that it was still useful. Sure, it sucked away power, but that wasn’t its only purpose. I slid it around my neck.
[[Equipped]]
Medallion of Uuska
(+10 hit points, +2 Wisdom, +2 Willpower, MP Storage skill acquired, Class Steal skill acquired)
[[Skill]]
MP Storage
The Medallion of Uuska can store Mental Points for future use, up to 100 MP. This MP can be exchanged between the bearer and item at will, though if the item is removed then all stored MP is lost.
[[Skill]]
Class Steal
The Medallion of Uuska can be put on a class-giving item or foe and absorb the class to be acquired at a later time.
WARNING: You already have a class and will not be able to gain another.
I felt my mind clear as the Medallion increased my stats. Even though I was still heaving on the floor, out of breath, I could think as clearly as I ever had. I knew that the rate of return on Mental Power was slow, but as my Willpower got higher and higher, that would be less of a problem. I activated the MP Storage ability and transferred 40 points, leaving me with 50 after my augmented stats increased my overall total to 90.
Sitting up, I navigated to my Inventory and opened my three time capsules. On the floor in front of me appeared a green, lime-shaped crystal and two satchels. I reached for the crystal, holding it tightly in both hands. Ninety-nine versions of Sara were in this memory orb. A part of me sorely missed her even though we had only parted about half an hour ago. Her scent haunted me and her kiss lingered on my lips. The feeling burned me, and I remembered her words.
“I will do better,” I declared to the orb before placing it into the safety of my inventory.
My attention shifted to the satchels. Both were made of brand-new leather, but the larger of the two had straps so that it could be worn on a belt. I took the smaller one first and opened it. Inside were eight vials neatly divided by a soft, cotton fabric. Three had tops that were colored red, yellow, and green, while the others were all black. I pulled out those three and two more before closing up the pouch.
The Wondrous Beginner’s Stat Kit was something utterly useless in the end game shop but was an instant purchase for anyone looking for an Ouroboros Tattoo. I watched as the two black-topped vials shifted in color to blue and aquamarine. I laid them out in front of me and grabbed the red vial.
[[Item]]
Wondrous Strength Enhancement Potion
Imbibing this potion will cause your Strength stat to rise to the maximum allowed by the system in the first scenario. This potion will work no matter how high or low the initial Strength stat is but will fail if Strength is already maxed.
The stat kit changed based on the stats gained by the person taking the vials, but Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution were the default of every player. Only by gaining a class could you unlock more stats, like how the Warmind provided me with Wisdom and Willpower. At least those two were pretty easy to figure out. In the past, I had classes with stats like Wrath, Guts, Moxie, and Fierceness. The Needle Lancer had a stat just called Sting, which was necessary because it increased the damage and penetration power of piercing weapons, but I really had to question what the system was doing.
I had the Strength enhancing potion to my lips before I realized that I was zoning out. I corked it and set it back down. That had almost been a bad decision. Instead, I picked up the yellow Dexterity potion and knocked it back. Tasted like bananas.
Over the next few seconds, I felt my body shift under the effects. It wasn’t painful, but it did cause me to shiver violently as my muscles contracted and my bone structure changed. Once the process was done, I shook it off. My body had just gained 16 points in Dexterity to put it at 20, which was considered well over the peak of humanity.
With my body more streamlined, I chugged down the Strength potion. Just like before, my body shivered uncontrollably as my muscles expanded to fit the new superhuman stat. If I had done it first, my body would have ballooned into too-serious-about-weightlifting territory and my clothes would have become shredded. Getting naked in front of an angel friend? Sure, that’s fine. The confused bulk of humanity? Absolutely no thank you.
Instead, the Dexterity stat helped keep the muscle gains from Strength down, and I looked a lot like how I did in the Hall of the End. Muscular, but in a very flattering way. Like I went to the gym three times a week instead of living there. Funnily enough, you could always tell if someone had unbalanced their stats because of this trend. Early on it was very easy to find people who were suddenly in ill-fitting clothes because they became too muscular by boosting Strength or became too lean because of a Dexterity dependence.
The next three potions weren’t nearly as dramatic, as Constitution dealt with the inner workings of the body and both Wisdom and Willpower changed the brain. I did immediately regain my breath, however, which was a nice benefit. I pulled up my status screen and felt an immense satisfaction at how lovely my numbers looked lined up in a row.
[[Status]]
Player Anthony Franklin
Class: Warmind
Race: Human
Points: 600
Stats:
Hit Points: 199/210
Mental Points: 181/220 (40/100)
Strength: 20; Dexterity: 20; Constitution: 20; Wisdom: 22; Willpower: 22
The only thing ruining it was the stat increases from the Medallion of Uuska, but having higher stats was the opposite of a problem so I really shouldn’t complain. At least I wouldn’t have to waste points boosting my stats, and I was glad items could push stats over the limit.
Tossing the satchel with the remaining three vials into my inventory, I grabbed my Wondrous Beginner’s Survival Kit. This one contained four of both health and resource recovery potions, the latter of which changed to Mental Health Potions after I opened the bag for the first time, antidotes and anti-plagues, and a single knife. Oh, but what a knife it was.
I grinned as I pulled the 12-inch serrated Bowie knife from the satchel. It shone in the light, and I could clearly see my reflection in the blade. The black grip was perfectly made for my hand with the cross guard fitting comfortably above my thumb and index finger. Not that I’d be using it in a traditional sense all that much, but it still felt good. I put the sheath on the opposite side of my belt from the satchel and slid it into its resting place.
I slowly began to stand as the sounds of screams and roars filled my ears. Monsters spawned from the system finally started appearing, and the confusion felt by people around the world would now be morphing into a terrible fear. My short respite was over. I headed to the shattered window to see my new, broken world.