With the choices laid out in getting of Glen, they all looked so different he didn’t know which one to pick. There were some he could instantly rule out, like [Inspiring Leader]. He may not fully understand the [Class] system, but with fighting being the focus of his life he couldn’t be tied to an option that relied so heavily on talking.
“Hey 198, a lot of these options refer to being able to choose them based on my stats. What are they? What even are mine for that matter?” It was important to Glen that he had a better understanding, whatever he chose here he could be potentially locked in to for years to come. Asking his question Glen looked over to see MC-198 fidgeting with another screen that he had pulled up, after a moment MC-198 made a flicking motion across the screen and it floated quickly towards Glen.
The [Class] selection screens that Glen had been looking at minimized in his view. He could sense they were still there, and if he focused on them with a little added intent, he could easily pull them back up. Now though his attention was entirely on the stat screen that broke down who he was in to hard numbers.
Name: Glen Lovec
Age: 22
Race: Human (Sol Variant)
Level: 1 (XP to level 2 0/0)
Base Stat: Totals
Strength: 9 (+2). 11
Dexterity: 11 (+3). 14
Vitality: 12 (+3). 15
Endurance: 15 (+5). 20
Intelligence: 11(+2). 13
Spirit: 1 (+0). 1
Modifiers:
AI Assisted (+2 Intelligence per level)
Nano-Augmentation (+/level varies. +2 Str, +3 Dex, +2 Vit, +2 End)
Steel-borne Bloodline (Stolen, reduced effect. +1 Vit, +3 End)
“It is strange seeing everything broken down so cleanly, though I don’t really understand what these numbers mean. Why is my spirit at a one? All my other numbers are much higher.”
“These are actually great starting stats Glen, with the exception of your spirit of course. The System usually does its best to create a baseline. For humans the average is usually ten, but it’s perfectly normal to see a couple points swing in either direction. As to why your spirit is so low, you forced a connection that did not come naturally to you. It very well could have been a zero, it was uncharacteristically generous to give you that first point for free.”
“Well, I’m not mad at that, I’ll take all the help I can get. These modifiers mention a bonus per level, and at the top it says I’m level one. How does that work?”
“That’s the beautiful part, now that you’re part of The System everything you do will help you level and get stronger!” MC-198 says this with what Glen is quickly becoming to realize isn’t genuine enthusiasm, before the construction shrugs and continues on, “It's called a lot of things depending on who you talk to. World energy, experience points, steps towards enlightenment. It really just depends on how spiritual the culture is where The System is adapting to. At the heart of it though you’ll keep getting stronger as long as you stay active. Killing monsters lets you harvest experience from their soul as it is leaving their body, you also get awarded from accomplishments.”
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“So, are these stats pretty self-explanatory or do I need to really dive in to these right now? Don’t get me wrong I want to use every advantage I can, but I know we’re working on borrowed time here.” Glen was playing with the interface and found long pressing on stats have a simplified explanation of each one. They all seemed straight forward, such as strength determining how much he could lift, and vitality being a measure of how tough he was. “The only two I’m not fully understanding are intelligence and spirit. Can you expand on those?”
“It would take longer than we have to really explain spirit. Just know that to sum it up, it’s your ability to influence the world. With enough spirit and control you can reshape worlds, though no one on your planet is above the Rank of Novice. You don’t typically see that level of power until you get to Divine Rank. That’s so far above this world there is no point in discussing it.”
Nodding his head along, Glen silently thought through everything while swapping back to look through the [Class] options. There were some of the higher quality ones that caught his attention; Soul Sovereign, Dungeon Hunter, and Nano-Architect all seemed absurdly powerful compared to the common grade options. “I have some more questions about these classes, but first you didn’t finish telling me what Intelligence does for me.”
“Right, right you are!” making a ‘hmmm-ing’ noise, MC-198 tilted his head and put his hand to his chin as if deep in thought. “That’s another one of those tricky concepts that can be difficult to explain, only because it’s not as uniform as the rest of the stats. With enough Strength you’ll be able to lift mountains or walk straight through concrete buildings as if walking into empty space. With Intelligence it shapes itself uniquely to fit the users beliefs what it means to actually be intelligent. Do you want to think faster in general, remember more clearly, maybe you want to alter how you see the world? With Intelligence anything is possible, as long as you have enough points to make it so!”
“Points? I assume you get some when you level?”
“You sure do! You get two points every time you level all through the Initiate rank. That’s the first ten levels. After that you go in to Novice, but you’ll have plenty of time to figure that out later.”
“Looking at these classes some of them are amazing, while others feel a bit lack luster. Shield bearer at common, doesn’t even come close to Soul-spear at rare rarity. Why would anyone ever choose the lower quality classes?”
“Stats. It always comes back to stats. That, and so that you’re able to create your own path to ascend to the heavens. Those higher rarity classes give you a lot of nice benefits, but they come with the tradeoff of much slower leveling. Every time you go up a rarity the experience requirement goes up by a factor of two. Instead of needing ten experience points to hit level two, you would need twenty for uncommon, forty for rare, eighty for epic, and it just keeps going up from there. There is a certain elegance, no a Strength in the simplicity that stat advantage offers.”
Glen opened his mouth to speak, but MC-198 cut him off. Continuing as if he didn’t notice Glen at all. “It doesn’t matter how much potential you have, if you don’t live high enough to see the heights you could achieve. You will qualify for a [Class] advancement every time you increase your rank. From Initiate to Novice, from Novice to Apprentice, and so on. Also, the quality of class doesn’t change the maximum number of skills you can have. It’s always going to be ten active and ten passive, it just gives you a better starting point. You can always earn more skills as you go. The reason the class is “common” isn’t because it is weak, it’s just most people choose to start where they can move forward as quickly as possible.”
With that in mind, Glen made a decision. He read through all the classes that were available to him, gathering as much information as he could from the descriptions listed for each one. But in the end, he knew what he would have to do. He didn’t need power ten years down the line, he needed it yesterday when his friends were dying around him. He would start at the bottom and climb his way to the top as quickly as he could.
Looking through the common [Class] options he had available he had: Spearman, Runner, and Shield Bearer. The shield related class was immediately out. He read through the prompt explaining what qualified him for it, but it just didn’t speak to him. Glen felt no connection to it.
Between the two options that were left he had Spearman, which offered him a lot of offensive capabilities, or Runner which offered him mobility and recovery. Thinking back to the fight against Gideon, he imagined how things could have gone differently if he had each class. With Spearman he might have killed Gideon with a single clean thrust, but then… he had never managed a single hit until the man was too arrogant to defend himself properly.
What use was a single amazing strike if it didn’t land. That is was sealed the deal. Hitting harder wouldn’t have helped. Douglas was stronger than just about any man in Skytop through virtue of size, but he couldn’t even touch Gideon. No, what Glen needed was speed.
Without thinking any further, Glen selected the Runner [Class]. He looked up to inform MC-198 of his voice, but Glen saw a look of horror on his face. “Oh no, this is not good. What have you done?”
“I just selected my class. That’s what we have been talking about after all.” Glen could see the shock disappearing from MC-198, but he still looked hurried. As a second passed MC winced as if in pain. ‘Can a construct feel pain?’ Glen thought to himself. Then he began to feel a pull coming from inside himself.
“We were talking about it, you idiot! No one said to go and do it. I was able to keep you here in this place before because your spirit had no weight to it. Your selection is solidifying already, The System is changing you. Bringing your body and soul closer to being one entity. I can’t hold you here much longer. There is so much more you need to know!”
Glen was listening, but he couldn’t hear any more of what was being said. The pull inside of him kept growing stronger, until there was a pop. He felt like he was falling now, no longer floating peacefully in the void. He was falling faster than he thought possible, and then he landed. Back in his body, his mind blanked, the pain returning all at once.
A feminine voice quietly spoke in his head, “AI integration complete. Welcome back (User.) The assimilation was a success.”