The next day I awoke very hungover. We had stayed up late into the night celebrating my birthday in the great hall, and a pile of presents was stacked neatly in the corner of my room. I stumbled over to my closet and pulled a water skin over, guzzling the lukewarm water down gratefully. My party had included all of the orphans, all three of my parents, and loyal retainers from all over. The party had turned really wild when Jarrod had received a missive from the mage tower. His face turned thunderous for a few minutes before smoothing over, and he signaled for quiet.

"Tomorrow we will march for the border," He said simply, not explaining why. We took him at his word, already our force was nearing its complete size and we would need to move rapidly. I was certain Aurelia was already aware of our coming, but it was largely irrelevant if they knew or not, since the mouth of the valley pass held a fortress, which could alert the all of Aurelia the moment it saw our oversized forces strolling up their front drive.

The party resumed immediately following his announcement, and spread rapidly into the castle proper. It took a long time for a military this large to do anything, but once the reins were let go it could move rapidly when needed. Already I could hear the din of an army prepping for movement from my window. Thankfully someone had let me sleep in, and I saw on my system hud that it was about noon.

I took an hour to wash myself and perform my 'morning' ablutions before donning a soft cotton green shirt and some white cotton pants. I strapped on my plate armor, tied my belt on over my pants with my sword attached, and tucked my helmet under one arm before stepping out into the hallway. A pair of footmen sat in a pair of chairs, quickly jumping to their feet.

"My Lord Heir, we are here to pack up your affects for you," the sergeant said when I looked questioningly at him.

"Ah, I see. Carry on," I told them, trusting that they would pack my arms and armor before I turned right and headed to the outer staircase. I descended and entered the great hall where my parents were seated next to each other enjoying a late lunch. I joined them as well and immediately piled my plate with as many things as I could reach. "Good Morning," I said to everyone as they all eyeballed my late appearance. "I see that we are making good progress."

"Aye, the first elements of the army should be moving out by about now. We won't be leaving until tomorrow morning, with the main corps of mages, engineers, and our honor guard," Gerald supplied for me while I demolished the food in front of me and guzzled water with wild abandon. It seemed that they had gone from eyeing me critically for my late appearance to watching in astonishment as I finished my first plate and soon filled a second.

"That is good. What position am I to have?" I asked Gerald directly.

"You and Roderick will be a part of my honor guard. Roderick will hold a billet as my adjunct and you will be a captain under him, with your own squad of footmen and men-at-arms to manage and lead," Gerald informed me, ignoring how much I was eating. He raised me, and knew how greedy I could be when it came to food.

"I understand," I said simply and continued to eat food at a supernatural rate.

System, can you explain to me what the attribute numbers mean? I thought to myself, feeling silly for essentially having conversations in my head.

Attributes are an estimate of a given individual's various characteristics. When the system integrated you it measured the various attributes of every individual in the world and averaged it. That average is represented as a one, as in one grown humans strength, agility, dexterity and so on at their given size, age, muscle density and other factors. Each point above this one is seen as a ten percent increase in the overall level of an individuals given stat.

I took a moment to think about that while I waved down a servant. "Can I get another helping of eggs brought to the table, please?" I asked him.

Okay, so, my attributes depend on my own physical state? I asked my next question.

Yes, an individual with a strength of 1 weighing 100 pounds will be much weaker than an individual with a strength of 1 weighing 200 pounds. The system has more to work with, and so the points put into strength of the 200 pounds individual means a bigger boost in strength gain. This also works for things like Intelligence, whereby an individual who raised their intelligence naturally and then boosts their intelligence with stats will be stronger than a person who simply relies on attribute points to boost intelligence. The first persons brain is much better developed, and so their boost means more.

I can boost my intelligence? I asked the system in surprise.

No, only class users with Intelligence, Wisdom, Logic, or Lore can boost their brain by applying attributes to those stats. Class users who specialize into an intelligence class have the option to add attributes to their physical stats locked away. Attribute points given by sub-classes are assigned by the system automatically, and thus cannot be utilized to circumvent this restriction. Hybrid classes will have access to a selection from both Physical and Intellectual stats, chosen by the system to suit their class.

Why? It didn't make sense to me that the system would restrict the growth of users.

The system gains potential from every transaction with a user. The system expends that potential to increase that users capabilities, thus increasing their likelihood to level again and for the system to gain even more potential. By level 10, when a user selects a class, the system will enable them to choose a specialization that alters their body, making it cost less potential to expand upon their strengths, since it becomes within their potential to do it themselves. Since it is unlikely that a mage will ever grow strong enough to lift a boulder, it costs more than is possible for them to increase their strength past a specific level.

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The reverse is true for a soldier class, since it is unlikely they will study for years on end. Intellectual limitations can be overcome, as if a soldier does decide to study for years on end, or increase their logical processing through puzzles and treasures their intelligence will naturally increase. Most worlds have a natural limitation on physical aspects of an individual but no such limitations on intellectual aspects of an individual, so it is easier to elevate the mage. If a soldier manages to increase their intellect to match that of a mage, then the system still gains since it cost nothing for that individual to reach that level of intellectual prowess.

Put simply, it costs the system too much to raise the physical stats of an intellectual user, and it has no need or desire to raise the intellectual stats of a physical user.

I finished my breakfast while ruminating over that information, and then came up with my next question. System, what classes are there and how are they assigned?

Classes are as diverse as the stars in the sky. Users are assigned their choices based on their experiences and strengths.

Interesting. What class choices will I get?

User must hit level 10 to see their choices.

Fine. I was sure I would hit level 10 during the course of the war if the system valued combat as much as it seemed to. System, how does leveling work?

Leveling works when an individual performs a task that is either dangerous, hard, beneficial, or has an outsized effect on the world around them. There are many other instances in which the system may decide to award experience, but those are generally judgement calls on the behalf of the system and not a qualified definition or reliable source of experience gain. Level one is the easiest, with the user requiring ten experience. Level two requires one hundred experience. Levels three through nine require one thousand experience each with level ten requiring ten thousand experience. Upon selecting a class the user will have their destiny altered by the system and be reset to level one, retaining their attribute gains but resetting experience requirements.

The act of having a class assigned allows the user to be modified further by the system and decreases the control a space-time world guardian has over the user, thus making it easier to level by decreasing the amount of potential wasted on combating the space-time world guardians influence. Users who wish to cultivate the dao should acquire their first dao seed before achieving level ten, or they will find it exponentially harder with every level they gain after acquiring a new class.

Okay, so leveling got a little harder each level except for the last, which seemed like it would take quite some time to achieve. System, when the world is integrated, what will that mean?

Integration will mean that all sentient and non-sentient beings will be assigned as users and creatures by the system. In the case of new users, they will go through a tutorial teaching them how to utilize the system. No time will pass for them during this tutorial, as their souls will be harvested and deposited in sub-space for the duration before being returned to their bodies. Users will have all of the same opportunities and options as you yourself do. Creatures will have their growth guided by the system until they die or attain sentience.

Warning: System Integration is considered a class 5 cataclysmic event.

What?! What does that mean?

Warning: System Integration is considered a class 5 cataclysmic event. No further information to be provided.

Uhh...Uhh...

"Zer, you okay? You're as white as a sheet," My mother asked me with concern in her voice.

"Oh, yeah. Just still a little peaky from yesterdays festivities," I lied faintly.

"Oh. Well go rest, I'll send someone to get you when it is time for you to leave" she said, shooing me away from the table. I returned to my room in a daze and plopped onto my bed. My arms and armor had already been moved by the footmen, along with several other items and my chest. I ruminated about what that could mean, creating terrible scenarios in my head before I decided that I would not be able to force the system to tell me, and I would be very unlikely to stop a universal spanning power from doing whatever it wanted.

System, what is the Dao?

The Dao are the fundamental underpinnings of reality in both real space and sub-space. The Dao exist as both the source and end of creation, the font from which potential flows. There are five true aspects, which together make up Primal Dao. The True Aspects of Order, Creation, Potential, Chaos, and Destruction. From these five true dao flows all other dao's, known by many names, most commonly called dao reflections. To begin on the path of the Dao, one must meditate on themselves and the events that have shaped their lives. Further information is denied until a Dao seed is created by the user. It is recommended that the user find a dao instructor before forming their first dao.

I understood approximately none of that. But it sounded like Archmagi like Tika and Theresa might be practicing reflections of the Dao of Potential. Maybe I could trick one of them into teaching me a little about it?

I got up from my bed and grabbed a small book that Jordan had let me borrow on the topic of potential, meant for rudimentary level adherents. I cracked it open and began to read at my desk.

"The study of potential begins when a scholar is taught to find their center. The center is a concept that simply means the ability to find quietness in ones mind and reach out to touch their soul. To accomplish this at first requires intense meditation and concentration, and with time becomes easier and easier until a scholar can live a centered life. Unlike other mage schools or religious sects, Pervalian mages are not taught to discard emotion to find their center. It is believed by many that an emotional center is an unstable center.

This seems to be incorrect when one examines Pervalian mages, and their propensity to produce at least one archmage every fifty to one hundred years, ensuring that the kingdom always had a pinnacle mage. When centering yourself, you must strive to examine your emotions and become one with them, allowing yourself to feel but not be influenced by them. Once you have achieved this state of emotional center, it is possible to flavor your potential with emotional output. Depending on the strength of the emotion and the spell being utilized, one can achieve an efficiency boost to their spell ranging from minuscule to monumental.

To begin, you should find a quiet room that is either dark or well lit depending on the preference of the scholar. And then think, young scholar. Let your mind wander and try to observe it as if from afar, looking at anything and everything until you find that there is only yourself left."

I paused to consider the information contained within. Part of me wanted to dive full force into this to try and figure it out while another aspect of me warned caution before potentially being labeled a heretic magic user and punished harshly for it. I would continue to read the book and query the system until I had enough information to take that risk.

For now, the act of reading reminded me of my pounding headache and roiling stomach. I laid back and closed my eyes, drifting off for a short nap...