Before we began our search of the tunnel, I turned to Neytiri and asked, “What skill did you acquire with your galvanization?”
Neytiri’s eyes lit up as she replied, “Minor Healing.”
[Minor Healing - Heals exterior wounds such as cuts, burns, and scratches.]
Etu nodded in approval, “That will come in handy during this mess.”
She healed our minor wounds while we discussed all of our skills. Afterward, we turned our attention toward stat points.
“Have either of you placed your free points yet?” Asked Neytiri.
I shook my head as Etu answered, “No, not sure what kind of build I want to go with yet.”
“Looking at the group composition and the skills, it looks like I am a healer, Achak is a damage dealer and you are a tank,” stated Neytiri.
I figured something like this might happen when I noticed how game-like the interface was. In times like these, I often stood out from the crowd, where my perspective inevitably made me an outcast. Though I was fascinated by this new life and its very game-like design, I was still somber enough to realize that this was still real life, not a game. That skill points placement had to be a personal choice because unlike a game we would likely be stuck with these choices for the rest of our lives, or at least the foreseeable future, however long that may be.
We didn’t yet know how the placement of skill points would affect us physically, mentally, or maybe even emotionally. Taking advice from someone else on, essentially, planning your whole life because they think it will work the same as in a game, was inevitably going to lead to some anger and resentment toward each other if things didn’t work out the way you or the other person envisioned. These were the times were I would usually anguish about whether to voice my difference in opinion because it hardly ever changed anything, other than the behavior others would display toward me that is.
But no matter the outcome, my choice was always the same, I had to voice the things others seemed to miss. Not because I wanted to interfere or gainsay anyone, but because it was within my nature to ensure that people were making informed decisions that may affect their lives or even careers at times. Yes, I wanted to fit in just like everyone else, but fitting in at the cost of my morals and beliefs was never worth the trade-off for me. And so here I was again about to say something that would kill the high others were riding.
“I think we need to be really careful here. I know that the interface and some of the situations around us seem game-like, but we should remember that this is real and that point allocations will affect us in ways we can’t even imagine at the moment, possibly, for our entire lives. I don’t see the harm in sharing information and taking all perspectives into account, but I at least will be making my own decisions on how to allocate my points. The last thing I want is to treat this as a game, have it backfire in some way, and then blame someone else for their game-oriented advice. Not to mention that we can’t simply start over if we die due to bad point placement,” I stated.
An intense quiet followed my statement as the others took in what I said and were notably affected by it. I could see the moment their euphoria of living out their game fantasies wore off. The moment they realized just how one-dimensional a video game build would be in a real-life situation. We all strived to specialize in something as we got older in life, but it was never that simple. The me from yesteryear was never the same me from today, we all picked up different skills and experiences in life that made us multifaceted.
The atmosphere in the room changed as they seemed to consider just what type of situation we found ourselves in. This was a struggle for survival, but would survival really be worth it if we made life choices based on video game logic? Choices that may even handicap us?
“At the risk of sounding like an asshole, I just want to point out that we all come from different lives. We might not stay a team once we make it outside so placing our points around this team dynamic might help in the short term, but we should also consider the long term,” I added.
The air grew tense as I pointed that out. But I felt I had to mention it. This was the trap that video game logic didn’t bring into account, if we planned our point allocations solely on this group dynamic how would that play out in the world beyond these walls?
“Shit! You’re right,” Neytiri blurted out after a time.
“Fuck! Being stuck in a single role like a tank or healer only. It would be shitty in real life. Wouldn’t it?” Added Etu. “Plus looking at the status page there is no class tab, probably for that same reason.”
“Thanks for bringing us back down to Earth Achak,” added Neyitiri. “We were heading in a very linear thinking path for a second there, forgetting that life simply doesn’t work the same as a video game.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Yeah. I’m going to need a few minutes to think this through. I might still incorporate some of the game logic but need to ensure it is realistic as well,” added Etu.
Taken by surprise at how amicable and accepting they took things, I answered, “Uhm, sure yeah, no problem… Uh, you’re welcome I guess?” I said in a questioning manner, as they laughed at my discomfort.
It wasn’t often that I ran into people who were readily accepting of flaws in their own thinking or logic. In my experience, most people were argumentative, even if they were going to take the advice given, usually, due to a bruised ego. So it always flustered me when I found someone to be agreeable at the mention of different perspectives.
***
The strange and oddly euphoric sensation of changing our stats only appeared on the first point change to each attribute, every change thereafter had no additional effects.
Etu and Neytiri shared that, like me, they made allocations based on their overall personalities, and would continue to do so, in a realistic way of course. Ironically, this still put us in the basic vicinity of the roles Neytiri had mentioned earlier.
I am a “loner” by nature and a magic fan, and so my allocations reflected that, leaning heavily on wisdom, mobility, and survivability.
[Designation: Achak Health: 220/220 Essence: 24/24
Level: 2 (10/200)
Soul: Ancient
Race: Human
Genus: None
Species: None
Affinity: Electromagnetic
Strength: 5
Constitution: 6
Endurance:10
Agility: 10
Dexterity: 10
Wisdom: 12
Free Points: 0
Skills: Shock Strike; Augment]
Etu was the type of person who liked to rely on his personal strength for things, and so his allocations reflected that, focusing on strength, constitution, and endurance.
[Designation: Etu Health: 220/220 Mana: 20/20
Level: 1 (98/100)
Soul: Mature
Race: Human
Genus: None
Species: None
Affinity: Combustion
Strength: 12
Constitution: 9
Endurance: 9
Agility: 6
Dexterity: 6
Wisdom: 6
Free Points: 0
Skills: Fireball]
Neytiri was a compassionate person who could also be fierce when needed, she focused on a similar build to my own, focusing on wisdom, and mobility.
[Designation: Neytiri Health: 200/200 Mana: 24/24
Level: 1 (24/100)
Soul: Mature
Race: Human
Genus: None
Species: None
Affinity: Refuge
Strength: 4
Constitution: 6
Endurance: 8
Agility: 9
Dexterity: 9
Wisdom: 12
Free Points: 0
Skills: Minor Healing]
***
As we stepped into the tunnel, the smell of death followed. The air was thick and eerily still. The only source of light was the lichen lining the ceiling. Several feet in, on the first bend in the tunnel, we noticed the dead bodies of those we thought had escaped earlier. Not far from the site, we were ambushed by a horde of Coqui’s.
The stat allocations we made earlier had a big impact on this battle. Both I and Neytiri moved much faster than before, unnaturally so. Before I wouldn’t say my fine motor skills and speed of movement were exceptional, I was as fast as any person who regularly did cardio workouts. But now it was like I had entered an olympics level of speed and reaction. Earlier I had struggled with fighting more than three of the monsters at once, now it was almost too easy fighting the same amount.
Instead of fighting back-to-back like before we spread out to give ourselves more space to move freely. The tunnel was large enough for ten people to walk abreast giving us the space we needed to comfortably fight the monsters.
I was a tornado of kicks and punches using my Strike skill sparsely at first. After a few minutes, I activated my Augment skill. It felt like I had taken a shot of adrenaline as I went into overdrive decimating the monsters around me. A Coqui dashed at me and I caught it with a spin kick sending it careening into a group of them to my left. It smashed into the group of three so hard that their heads split open like coconuts. I pivoted on the ball of my foot and delivered an overhead punch to one that was behind me smashing it into the ground.
Neytiri was like a cheetah, interweaving her way around the monsters using their own skills against them as she shielded herself with their bodies. A tongue attack came at her, but she evaded it by ducking causing the the attack to hit a monster behind her instead. Before the monster could reel back its tongue she stabbed up with a pointy rock running it through and leaving it in place causing the rock to smack the Coqui when it realed the tongue in. She rolled behind another Coqui and slammed a rock on the back of its head as another ran into them.
Etu was like an immovable juggernaut, he stood in place catching and using the monsters as weapons before throwing them back into the horde. He whacked a monster with the body of another, pivoted, and held up the body like a shield to intercept another trying to tackle him. He spun and launched both into several other monsters. Then he caught a tongue attack and spun in place using the monster as a bat swatting others back and clearing the ground around him.
This horde was larger than the other by a large margin but we still had less trouble wiping them out. We took plenty of damage during the brawl but most of it was negligible superficial wounds.
It became clear after the fight that these were just beginner-level monsters. The true challenge this crucible would bring was yet to be seen. In truth that made me nervous as I wondered if the difficulty level would skyrocket soon, or increase incrementally.