I was awoken from my slumber suddenly. A loud pinging rang in my ears and I jerked out of bed, got tangled up in my covers, and fell to the floor. I began to panic, as I couldn't see anything but blue in my vision. Just an all-encompassing deep blue that seemed to hold a deeper series of hues behind it, expanding into infinity. It was like closing your eyes and trying to stare at the darkness your lids brought. Suddenly I was blinded by strange runes and symbols appearing on the blue backdrop. I tried to focus on them and suddenly I physically felt the words twist and pop, and then my eyes twisted and popped and I could read the letters...

GREETINGS USER ZERIAL HART HEXENGUARD

YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR MAJORITY, AGE 14.

CONGRATULATIONS!

YOUR SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED, INITIAL KNOWLEDGE PACKAGE IS BEING UPLOADED NOW, PLEASE STAND BY.

LOADING...

LOADING...

LOADING...

I sat on the cold stone floor in confusion as I was inundated with things I could understand and things that seemed like gibberish to me. What the hell was an upload. What were they loading? Cargo? A crossbow?

Zerial, the System Tutorial is a function designed for low-tech worlds that require indoctrination on system topics. Be advised, no advanced technology is permitted on your world, and it will be shielded from higher-tech worlds until such a time as the technology level of your world matches the technology level of another world.

Standby for System Integration and Tutorial interface...

LOADING...

Suddenly my body broke out into a cold sweat and it felt like an axe had just been driven through the front of my face. My brain felt like it was covered in ice and lit on fire at the same time, and knowledge began to flood into my mind. Attribute scores... Skills. Levels? Levels. Information was packed into my head so tightly that I felt like my head would explode any minute. I felt my eyes roll back into my skull, but the damn blue screen... what the hell is a screen? Oh. Screen. The screen followed my field of vision like it was glued to it.

SYSTEM INTEGRATION COMPLETE

TUTORIAL INTERFACED

GENERATING USER PROFILE

LOADING...

HUMAN BASELINE LOADING... AVERAGING... COMPARING TO UNIVERSAL STANDARD...

HUMAN BASELINE: 1

UNIVERSAL STANDARD: 1.3

PHYSICAL STATS... MULTIPLE STATS ABOVE BASELINE RECORDED... STRENGTH MODERATELY ABOVE BASELINE RECORDED... AVERAGING... LOADED.

STRENGTH, AGILITY, DEXTERITY, ENDURANCE.

INTELLECTUAL STATS... WILLPOWER ABOVE BASELINE... AVERAGING... LOADED.

WILLPOWER, INTELLIGENCE, WISDOM, LORE, LOGIC

METAPHYSICAL STATS... LOADED.

BECOME EDUCATED IN THE SACRED ARTS TO ACCESS ADVANCED STAT FUNCTIONALITY

EGO... LOADED

BECOME EDUCATED IN THE SACRED ARTS TO ACCESS ADVANCED STAT FUNCTIONALITY

FATE... LOADED.

BECOME EDUCATED IN THE SACRED ARTS TO ACCESS ADVANCED STAT FUNCTIONALITY

USER ZERIAL STATS

STRENGTH 1.2 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS EXPLOSIVE MUSCULAR STRENGTH. INFLUENCED BY AGILITY, DEXTERITY, AND ENDURANCE. AGILITY 1.2 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS ABILITY TO RAPIDLY COME TO A HALT AND SWITCH DIRECTION. INFLUENCED BY STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE. DEXTERITY 1.2 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS FLEXIBILITY AND FINE MOTOR CONTROL. INFLUENCED BY AGILITY AND ENDURANCE. ENDURANCE 1.5 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS MEDIAN TIME TO PERFORM VARIOUS LEVELS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OVER TIME. CAN BE MEASURED IN EXERTED AND NON-EXERTED STATES. WILLPOWER 1.2 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS ABILITY TO FOCUS ON TASKS, AND PROVIDED A METRIC BY WHICH AN INDIVIDUALS MENTAL RESILIENCE CAN BE MEASURED. INTELLIGENCE 1 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS ABILITY TO LEARN AND RECALL KNOWLEDGE. WISDOM 1 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS ABILITY TO PROCESS NON-LOGICAL STIMULI AND CHOOSE AN EFFICIENT OUTCOME AS IF THE CHOICE WERE LOGIC BASED. LORE 1 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS ACCUMULATED KNOWLEDGE ON THE SYSTEM, THE SACRED ARTS, AND ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO AND THEREIN. (PLANET AASTARUS BELOW BASELINE, THIS STAT HAS BEEN ROUNDED UP WITH THE ADDITION OF THE TUTORIAL) LOGIC 1 THE MEASURE OF AN INDIVIDUALS LOGICAL PROBLEM SOLVING EFFICIENCY.

W...What the hell? What are stats? What system was this? And suddenly I knew.

Stats are a comprehensive measurement of individual growth. With the advent of the system, stats are automatically measured by the system and defined for the user, allowing the user to direct growth. Stats have several ways they can be increased. Leveling by the completion of system generated quests, physical training, and the Sacred Arts (see also: cultivation, the dao.) are all ways one can increase user stats. Pre-system universal ability for growth was regulated by local deities and often inhibited by space-time world guardians or physical laws.

The 'System' (see also: 5,405,095,233,104 references to "the System") is a multiverse spanning collective consciousness that was initially created by a powerful subspace entity to allow planetary inhabitants to overcome natural limitations. Cited reason: Subspace Entity Was Bored, added by ERROR (no substantiating evidence supports this, would you like to add some?)

I can not even begin to describe how confused and also knowledgeable about that confusion I was. I didn't know what I didn't know until suddenly I did. Any time I had a question about the situation pop into my head, the knowledge flooded in like it had always been there. It was like I had a cool autonomous and androgynous voice in my head constantly spitting information directly onto my brain. Oh gods... It was like having Tika in my brain at all times! How do I turn it off?!

User can access menu's by thinking 'Menu (see also: System Screen, Settings, User Settings)

That damn voice shoved the knowledge into my skull and I rapidly went into the settings following it's guidance and switched the tutorial from an autonomous information dump to directed search queries. Blessed silence descended on me. My eyesight had returned to normal after asking the system how to clear my field of view, and now I just sat on my floor in the dark, overwhelmed by all the strange things that had just happened... Well, I apparently had an all-knowing entity stuck in my head, so I may as well try to make sense of the gibberish.

"System, display user profile," I said after searching the gibberish in my head.

USER INFORMATION ATTRIBUTES TITLES SKILLS MASTERIES User: Zerial Strength: 1.3 Heir to the Duchy of Hexenguard (Authority Augmented) NONE Sharp Implements (Advanced) Species: Human(Aastarus) Agility: 1.2 Heir to the Domain of the Hart (Authority Augmented) Pointy Armaments (Advanced) Level: 0 Dexterity: 1.2 Squire of the Order of the Heart (Prowess Augmented) Pointed Armaments from Afar (Advanced) Experience: 89% Endurance: 1.5 World First: System Integration (Bonus Experience) Blunt Implements (Advanced) Unassigned Attributes: 0 Willpower: 1.2 Enduring: Have 50% more endurance than average. Choppy Things (Advanced) Skill Points: 0 Intelligence: 1 Statesmanship (Journeyman) Ability Points: 0 Wisdom: 1 Languages (Beginner) Dao Arts: 0 Lore: 1 Shenanigans (Advanced) Spells: 0 Logic: 1 Display More?

So everything I was had been summed up into a simple chart. I didn't know whether to feel relieved that I could measure progress, or upset that I was apparently able to be boiled down into what was essentially just some words. I decided to investigate my masteries first, as those were the thing I had worked the hardest to build outside of my attributes, which I could already clearly see. Even if I didn't understand what a 1.3 meant.

Masteries - The sum of a user's ability to perform in a specific action when compared to planetary averages which are displayed first outside of parenthesis , and universal averages which are displayed in parenthesis second and in italics.

Sharp, Pointy, Blunt, Choppy, Handy masteries merged and averaged.

Heavy, Medium, Light, Unarmored masteries merged and averaged.

Shortbow, Longbow, Crossbow masteries merged and averaged.

Shenanigans, Pranking, Mischief, Joking, Hiding merged and averaged.

Diplomacy, Intrigue, Languages, Dishonesty, Intelligence Gathering merged and averaged.

Encampments, Survival Craft, Siege Tactics, Urban Fighting, Strategy, Castle Defense, Navigation, merged and averaged.

Armored Mastery(Merged) - Advanced (Beginner)

Weapon Mastery(Merged) - Advanced (Beginner) Ranged Mastery(Merged) - Advanced (Beginner) Shenanigans(Merged) - Master (Master) Statesmanship(Merged) - Journeyman (Untrained) Warfare Mastery(Merged) - Journeyman (Untrained)

Masteries serve to not only measure a user's progress, it can also be utilized in relevant situations to enhance user performance. Using combat masteries as an example, tapping into one's mastery is akin to tapping into what is commonly known as a "flow state" at the users level. Users who become proficient at tapping into their mastery usage will find it easier and easier to fight at the limits of their capabilities for as long as their endurance allows. Non-combat masteries work in a similar manner, allowing one to achieve a higher state of efficiency and success at given relative tasks. Masteries can be seen to be like passive skills, allowing one to maintain that skill consistently over a longer period of time, and is guided by the user seeking to perfect techniques. Skills are system guided abilities that are purpose-driven when activated.

Mastery Levels are defined by personal knowledge and knowledge of related Dao's. Mastery of the Dao itself does not define mastery levels herein. Mastery levels are largely guided by Advanced Stats which the system cannot affect, and are as follows:

Untrained The user is considered an untrained layman with only partial fragments of knowledge on a subject. Beginner The user is considered a beginner or trainee in the related subject. Novice The user is considered an official student in the related subject. Journeyman The user is considered a knowledgeable student capable of beginning to effectively teach the related subject and has begun learning a complementary mastery. Adept The user is considered to have extreme confidence in the related subject, and has enough ability in complementary masteries to support the primary. Advanced The user is considered to have advanced knowledge of the subject, and has learned multiple complementary masteries. Master The user is considered mastered primary knowledge of the subject, and is close to mastery multiple complementary masteries. Grand Master The user has mastered the primary knowledge of the subject, and has mastered multiple complementary masteries. Supreme Master The user has mastered primary and secondary knowledge of the subject, and has adapted other subjects or ideals to guide their mastery. Universal Master The user see's the reflections of their subject in everything they do, and they are guided in every day life by their mastery as easily as breathing.

Okay... So by my world's standard, I was decently educated. By... Wait, there are other worlds? What is a univer- nevermind. In my minds eye I saw the outline of Pervalia floating on a massive ocean. My perspective began to scale outwards, showing me the globe and all of the continental landmasses on my side. We knew the world to be a globe, or at least we were told so by the mages who specialized in scrying and could see the curvature of our planet from their perspectives. My perspective began to increase rapidly and I saw our massive star, with several planets orbiting it and what I suddenly knew to be an asteroid belt in the inner ring of planets and another in the outer ring of planets. This was a... Solar system... And still my perspective grew and it rapidly changed until I saw a massive bright spiraling ring of planets and stars all orbiting around.. A galaxy, and eventually I saw what my Universe was.

Stolen novel; please report.

I fell to my knee's as the sheer enormity of what was being revealed to me. I was less than a grain of sand in the grand scheme of things. I don't have words for the scale of that awe inspiring sight...

Anyways, but the universal standard I was considered untrained in nearly every aspect of my masteries. I didn't let that bother me too much, as I didn't ever see myself ever leaving my world. I didn't even have a frame of reference for how to begin to leave my world. It was hard enough just to sail across the ocean. I finally decided to query the system about something that had always fascinated me. The Sacred Arts.

"The Sacred Arts (Aastarus) or the Dao (System Standard) are a murky subject. Practitioners of the Dao guide their path personally, without system assistance beyond the system identification of beneficial or detrimental effects. It is believed that the System itself has access to prime dao's in order to function the way it does, and there are many practitioners who meditate on the Dao of the System with limited success, proving that Dao's can be created by powerful entities or common faith. There are 9,309,409,388,625 current active directories on dao theory, and so it is generally accepted that each Dao path is unique to the practitioner. Rudimentary practitioner's of the dao on Aastarus are viewed as Mages, and given historical universal records, successful practitioners inducted in the system will eventually be classified as practitioners of the Dao of Magic, with varying specialties. This is a limited view of the Dao, as it is capable of influencing every aspect of life, death, and personal existence itself. The dao is present in everyone in varying strengths and it is entirely dependent on a users ability to grasp and comprehend metaphysical ideals. The growth of a given dao is dependent on capability between the practitioner and their dao and any other dao's they may hold. For example, practitioners of the Dao of Life will naturally have a very hard time internalizing the Dao of Death - it has been done, but it is rare.

No two Dao are perfectly alike, and no currently recorded Dao practitioners have ever achieved a True Dao. Each Dao is influenced by the perception a practitioner has for the Dao and every practitioner's Dao is but a reflection of a reflection of a True Dao. The levels of Dao typically fall along the lines of a Dao Seed, Root, Branch, Sapling, Tree, Prime, Final, True Dao's, in that order, with each step in the path being a qualitative change in that Dao's effectiveness. Beware practitioners, for as you influence the Dao, so too does the Dao influence you. Those of weak body, mind, and soul will be consumed by the Dao, obliterating their ego. Beware User, the Heavens are a jealous mistress, and does not part with her secrets easily.

Dao Practitioners are broken into subsequent steps depending on the level of their understanding and number of Dao's. They are as follows with a Dao prefix assumed, so as not to be confused with similarly named mastery levels, Dao Practitioner, Dao Student, Dao Scholar, Dao Adept, Dao Master, Dao Sage, Dao God(dess).

To advance one's dao one must first grasp a fundamental understanding of the underpinnings of an aspect of the True Dao of Creation, the True Dao of Destruction, the True Dao of Chaos, the True Dao of Order, or the True Dao of Potential. Grasping these Dao directly is impossible, since each subsequent step of Dao understanding requires a practitioner to temper their body with rare components or mystical treasures as well as refining their understanding of their aspect of the True Dao."

What? The Heavens?

"The Heavens are a supernatural subspace entity believed to be responsible for safe guarding the Dao paths from those it deems unworthy. Since the advent of the System, the Heavens have been targeting Dao Practitioners who are also integrated into the System. Practitioners of the Dao who look to take steps on the path of the Dao will face tribulations designed to target their weaknesses. Those who survive will find themselves stronger for the experience."

Okay... What are levels?

"Levels are the systems way of rewarding users for performing actions that adhere to their masteries, dao, and classes. Levels are obtained via experience, which is awarded by the system harnessing the potential of an action and assigning it directly to the user, while claiming a portion of that potential for it's own uses. This is generally seen as a beneficial arrangement on both ends as much potential is recycled or wasted naturally since most users are incapable of acting upon all the varying potential courses of action that a choice has. The system seems to have a very loose view, or else it has a very far reaching goal that only it understands, as it will continue to award experience and levels even to those who seem to actively work against it. By and large, the system seems as arbitrary as any other omnipotent being in the universe."

Huh. Okay... What can levels be used for?

"Levels are simply a measurement of total attributes assigned to a user based on class averages. When experience reaches 100%, their level will go up and they will be awarded whatever their class, or subclass, calls for. Users are restricted to one primary and two secondary classes. Classes are myriad and can be merged over time with complementary classes to create specialized main classes and allowing the user to pick up a new set of secondary classes. This action can be easy or impossible depending on the selected sub-classes and their overall comparability with the primary class. The system seems to have designed this system to mimic the Dao paths, and it offers the widest reaching advantage to system users over pure dao users in that it is easier to gain a class than it is to acquire a dao path. Those who primarily seek levels will find it harder and harder to advance dao paths, and those who advance dao paths will find themselves locked out of classes. A hybrid mix is possible, but one must be careful to advance their class and their dao's at the same rate of power development."

Time to move on... Skills?

"Skills are active effects generated by a user. They can be utilized to perform a myriad of effects, and are distinctly different from magical skills which can be utilized by users who fall under a mage class and dao practitioners of the dao of magic. An example of a skill would be a Champion class utilizing the Bulwark skill to boost defenses and health in order to sustain more punishment.

Skill usage of a magical and non-magical nature is dependent on user resources that are regenerated and held naturally over time. Physical based skills require stamina and endurance in order to perform. Magical based skills require intelligence and mana to perform. Users who overuse their resources will find themselves growing weaker and more tired in the case of physical skills, or will become sluggish and develop a migraine in the case of magic class users. Hybrid classes are more powerful than the sum of their parts in their given niche's but will suffer both physical and magical drain, making their drawbacks much worse as their body begins to consume itself to survive."

Okay. I understood like 90% of that, I think. The hell is mana? Oh. Mana is potential harvested and stored in a users body, gaining aspects and losing it's natural form unless the user was strong enough to wield raw potential. Nifty. I got up off of the floor and looked around my room. Overlaid on my eyesight seemed to be a red bar, a yellow bar, and a green bar in the top left corner of my vision. That must be health, endurance, and stamina. System, tell me how those work.

"Health is the general representation of a user's life sustaining capabilities. Health is subtracted when the user undertakes hazardous actions like exposing ones-self to harsh conditions or entering into combat and becoming injured. Health is essentially the users ability over time to recover from injuries sustained. Once a health bar reaches zero, it is the systems prediction that the user has entered a critical phase and that death is imminent. Advanced users and practitioners of specific classes and dao's will find their health increasing drastically, and will be able to recover from more drastic wounds.

Endurance is the measure of persistent energy in a users body, and goes down with either skill use or over time if a user does not maintain rest and nutrition. The system measures the impact of endurance by multiplying all physical stats by one hundred, and displaying the total average. The endurance bar is not connected in any way to the endurance stat, which has actual impact on stat growth. To clarify, the Endurance bar is just a measurement of energy levels, and the endurance attribute is a measure of your body's actual ability to sustain energy levels. Endurance drops proportionally to sustained activity duration and stamina level. If your stamina level is at 0, and you continue to push your body, you will lose endurance faster and faster until incapacitation.

Stamina is a direct measurement of explosive energy in a users body, and goes down with either skill use or physical activity much more rapidly than endurance. Unlike endurance, Stamina can easily be recovered by refraining from strenuous activities. All physical actions from walking to sprinting affect Stamina. Physical skills will draw on the body's stored energy to perform an action, thus draining stamina and endurance."

Interesting.. What do I do now?

It is recommended for the user to learn skills, as they currently have none, and reach level 10 for class selection. This can be achieved by performing actions the system deems worthy of recognition.

I spent the next thirty minutes getting my arms and armor attached to my body before exiting my chamber. I didn't know the time but it was still dark out.

"Current Local Time is 0434"

"System, Display clock in the upper middle portion of my vision" I said aloud. Immediately a clock with hours, minutes, and seconds displayed followed by today's date.

"User can opt to use vocal, subvocal, or mental commands to direct system actions"

Okay. I should have realized that, since it was answering my unvoiced questions. I thought to myself with some chagrin. With some direction given, I decided to test out whether or not I had just completely gone insane and headed out of the castle. On my way out of the main castle gates I informed the Sergeant present for each watch that I would be leaving to the woods for some early morning training. They did not question me, as it was common for Knights of the Heart to rise early and seek self improvement in isolation.

Over the next four hours I hiked into the mountain range and forests surrounding Castle Heart. I passed over creeks and through meadows, steadily gaining in elevation as I hunted for any sign of game. It took me another two hours before I picked up on some deer tracks. I bent down to examine the way the hoof print was impressed on the dirt, testing the edges for moisture and looking for degradation before I decided that the tracks were only a half hour old. I continued to follow the faint impressions for another hour, taking care to keep my eyes up and scanning for any potential dangers as well as to ensure I did not scare my quarry away.

Eventually I came across a clearing with a small family of deer grazing lazily and I quickly dropped behind a tree, taking care not to crush any branches or brush any leaves, and pulled my short bow from it's holder. I strung the bow easily and pulled a broad-head out of a quiver strapped to my hip, before taking a deep breath and centering myself. Stepping lightly from behind my cover as I drew back on the bow string I sighted the buck leading this tiny herd of deer. He was perhaps twenty feet away, and I released my bowstring. The arrow impacted the buck with barely a whisper of a string moving, but that was still enough to alert the deer who bolted immediately. The buck took several bounding steps before collapsing.

User has slain a Hartlands Buck. 10 experience awarded.

Adding experience bar with counter to user hud. The system spoke into my head, and suddenly there was a bar in the middle bottom portion of my screen, completely filled with a gold color and flashing slightly. The words 'User has leveled up. Level is now One, hovered just above the bar. I felt a slight surge of energy hit my body and suddenly it felt like every cell in my body had been ignited at the same time.

ERROR. USER DETECTED ON NON-INTEGRATED WORLD. BEGINNING TERMINATION.

Adlog>//system.TerminalOverride(User[Zerial]):

ACCEPTED.

Adlog>//system.record(Delete)

ACCEPTED. RECORDS DELETED.

The fire went as quickly as it had come and I lay panting in the dirt, wondering if every level up would set my cells on fire. My health had dropped rapidly in a few short seconds, depleting by 25%, my endurance was at half and my stamina had emptied completely, flashing an angry red in my swimming vision. As my vision began to narrow I worried that something would come along and eat me. Before I could finish the thought, I blacked out and knew no more.

SUBSPACE ENTITY DETECTED, LOGS RECORDING

"Dogander, Why are you meddling with worlds again?" a beautiful series of indescribable sounds echoed across reality to reach Doganders soul, and he sighed. His sigh caused the subspace surrounding him to flex and explode before snapping back into it's peculiar state of existence and non-existence.

"For the same reason I do anything, Adela. Because I have once again grown bored," Dogander's voice shattered the plane of existence and reformed it in the same instance, the sheer magnitude of his words altering the very nature of reality in his region of subspace. "It is dangerous for a True Dao of Potential to grow bored, you know this," he lectured a curious being which chose to represent itself as a four-foot-high pixie with luminescent wings.

"Yes, but it is my job to make sure you behave while you are imprisoned! How am I meant to do that if you just continue to subvert everything!" she cried out as she came closer. Everything around her grew more ordered in subspace as her True Dao of Order enforced it's will on the potential leaking from Doganders pours. As she ordered subspace around them, Dogander's ever changing form slowly began to morph into one she liked best, his original handsome elvish form.

"Well, I thought it would be interesting to let the Council imprison me. Turns out, it's very hard to actually cage raw potential. Especially when they keep opening the damn thing to run me like a tap to prop up that system I made forever ago," Dogander said with a chuckle.

"Well... Stop meddling! That human should not be integrated yet! His world was not scheduled for integration for another 20,000 standard years! And now the system is expending potential like mad to speed up the time-line! You've just started another interstellar war over resources and potential worlds!," Adela cried out, forming a chair out of raw nothing and jumping onto it, shaking an angry fist in Doganders face.

For a moment Dogander's normally kind eyes changed into raging inferno's as her anger affected the potential outcome of this interaction. Dogander shattered that potential outcome as easily as waving a fly away, but Adela still showed a brief flash of intense terror.

"Sorry," Dogander said gruffly.

"No, I'm sorry. I know what it is to still struggle with the Dao," she said with sympathy, and Dogander smiled.

"You know, you really are my favorite. You and your sister Duchella," Dogander said, mentioning her most hated enemy, the True Dao of Chaos.

Adela frowned slightly but she understood in her heart that Dogander was as impressionable as a newborn because of his Dao. He was the mightiest of the Ultimate Beings, with the deepest mastery of his chosen Dao, but to be the True Dao of Potential was to be affected by all that it meant to be an embodiment of the energy of the universe. She decided to let his comment pass.

"Will you stop meddling, for me? Please?" She begged him and he considered it.

"No. I am bored, and I will continue to meddle in Zerial's life. But I will restrict it to whatever immediate world he inhabits," Dogander promised her, and she knew that it would be enough for both Dogander and the Council to accept. What was one world, in the grand scheme of things?

"Have you decided what story this Zerial is going to play out yet?" she asked in curiosity. Dogander waved his hand and an image appeared of Zerial unconscious in some tall grass.

"I have narrowed it down to either an epic tragedy or comedy. I think I will watch for a little and see how their quaint war goes to decide," Dogander said as he settled in. Adela decided she would also watch. Dogander had always crafted the best stories.