User: Alexander Ingram
Race: Human (Other)
Age/Sex: 19 / Male
Titles: First Among Many, The Sky Is My Kingdom, Lonely Warden
Class: Orb Caller
Orbs: Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal
Level 5: 5200/7500
Profession: None
Exp: 848
Companion: Vibrant Void
System Credits: 74657
System Tokens*: 3 X-Grade Tokens, 8 A-Grade Tokens, 6 B-Grade Tokens, 8 C-Grade Tokens
Skills: Mana Tolerance (1), Mana Absorption (1), Advanced Mana Channeling (1), Scour (1)
Attribute Points: 40
Skill Points: 4
Alex viewed his status to see what changes happened after he leveled his class twice more. Like before, his overall level had gone up as he used his experience points for his Class levels. He wanted to do as V.V. said and acquire as many of the skills that his companion had suggested as possible. As he was about to summon up the list of skills, he noticed the ballooning Attribute and Skill points and made a snap decision to distribute those points first. Before he started weighing the pros and cons of adding attributes or skills that didn’t align with V.V.’s suggestions, he acted.
Attributes: 40 distributable points.
Strength: 9 +321% = 38
Constitution: 11 +321% = 46
Vitality: 10 +321% = 42
Resistance: 8 +321% = 34
Endurance: 8 +321% = 34
Dexterity: 9 +321% = 38
Agility: 8 +321% = 34
Perception: 11 +321% = 46
Intelligence: 13 +321% = 55
Wisdom: 9 +321% = 38
Willpower: 11 +321% = 46
Charisma: 8 +321% = 34
His Attribute panel was floating in front him, and he felt like it had been weeks since he’d looked it over. In reality, only a day or so had passed since the last time he’d seen it. Forty points to put wherever he wanted, and he could feel the freezing grip of indecision grasping at him, once again. Before he let the choice paralysis overtake him, he looked over to V.V. who seemed perfectly content making a disgustingly pink concoction.
“V.V, what stats should I be focusing on right now. My mind is going through so many different scenarios that I’m second guessing every path I think I should choose…” Alex said, trying to sound nonchalant but V.V. could naturally detect his distress.
“It is true that you have many choices that are available to you. You could choose what you want to become eventually and not worry about tomorrow. Nothing you choose now is going to hurt or save you from a monster that could eat you in one bite. Then again, maybe that extra point in Endurance or Agility lets you make it just far enough to where those sharp teeth just barely miss you. Ultimately, you must think about both now and later. If you dump everything into Endurance and Agility the System may see that as you choosing that path and may start to push you in a direction that you wouldn’t have chosen if you were in a different situation. I hope you’re able to look forward to what you want to be one day instead of what you think will help you survive the next few hours but I fully support you in any direction you choose.” V.V. said, hoping that she’d chosen the correct words to calm Alex’s frantic mind.
“…Thanks for saying that but I feel like I’m right back to where I started. I did think about picking something that would save me today, but I also thought about a future where I make it through all this madness. I don’t know what I want to do or be if I survive a month, a year or more. Even if I don’t choose the wrong stats, what are the right ones for my future?” Alex asked, worry in his voice.
“Well let’s think about it for a moment. Do you want to be a warrior? An archer maybe? A wizard that casts lightning and fire? You’ve selected a Class that focuses on Mana, and you have an enate ability to resist and absorb Mana. You may already be strong enough to ignore increasing your Intelligence stat for the time being if you want to. But maybe increasing your mental stats is the correct choice in the end. I don’t have the answer to this question.”
“So, you don’t know what I should put my stats into at all?”
“Zzsigh, Alex. I can tell you what stats I think would be good for right now or for a year from now but that’s only what I think. It is your body and your future development that is at stake. I don’t feel that I should be making that decision for you.”
“…It isn’t you making the decision for me. I’m asking your thoughts and if I think they’re sound, it could help me make up my mind. I know it’s my status in the end.”
“Very well. I suggest 10 points into Endurance, Agility, Constitution and Willpower. The first three should be obvious, stamina, speed and health. As for Willpower, you may find that it can help you curb some of your more extreme mental symptoms if given enough points.”
“…I thought my anxiety and scattered thoughts were just a part of me and the System couldn’t fix them?”
“The System won’t fix what’s not broken. Those parts of you are just that, a part of you. That being said, Willpower can help you suppress even natural parts of your mind if you put enough points and effort into it.”
“I feel like you avoided saying this the last time we talked about my mental state.”
“Putting points into Willpower with the intention of only using it to restrain your mind, isn’t in my opinion, the best course of action to help you with your symptoms. Meditation would be my first choice, but Willpower can also increase the effectiveness of such an ability.”
“So, there are ways to deal with my brain issues using the System…”
“Yes, meditation, soothing abilities, mental fortitude skills, and more. Emeralds Wound Care Aura is an example of a technique that can affect your mind. While it isn’t primarily used for mental stress, it seems to still have a somewhat soothing effect on you. There are other Aura’s that are designed to be effective on the mind.”
“When you said the System couldn’t fix me, I thought you meant there wasn’t anything that could be done…”
“…My apologies, Alex. I see now that I should have elaborated on what could be done. I didn’t think you would be as heavily effected as you so clearly are.” V.V. said, and hovered over to Alex and slightly bumped his forehead in what Alex knew was his companion showing affection.
“Thank you V.V. Knowing that there are things that can help me get out of the chaos that are my thoughts is helpful in itself… I need to make these stat choices so I can move on. How much time do you think we have before we need to move? Alex said with far less evident stress in his voice.
V.V. zipped over and up to the domed entrance of their mud cave where she had once again drilled a small opening for air. She pushed herself up to the hole for a moment and then returned to Alex. “We should start moving in the next forty minutes or so. The more light we have to travel, the further inland we can get.”
“Ok, but isn’t this spot right here better than moving further inland? We could spend a few days here before moving towards the center and doing whatever needs to be done there.” Alex asked, knowing that V.V. wanted to push towards the center of the island and somehow take it. If he didn’t take it then the monsters would get so strong eventually that he’d have nowhere to hide, according to V.V.
“…We should make our way to the center sooner rather than later. The monsters will only become more powerful as time passes. Today they are stronger than they were yesterday and tomorrow again they will be even stronger. Delaying could very well be the difference between defeating the center monsters and being eaten by them.”
“So…”
“So, you should finish selecting your stats, checking your skill points, and acquiring as many of my suggested abilities as you’re interested in. Thirty-eight minutes before we move.” V.V. said, with a little authority in her voice, that Alex wasn’t accustomed to. It was what he needed to take action though.
Alex focused on the four stats that V.V. suggested and dumped ten points into each. He could bother with worrying over which point would be best put where another time. After he put his last point in and confirmed with the System that his choices were made, the vibrations began. He felt tingling sensations begin in his toes and fingers, then they ran up his arms and legs. Every part of him tingled and then slowly began to shake. After a few short breaths, it was like he was in a snowstorm and his entire body was violently shaking from the cold that wasn’t present in the humid underground cave. Only a few breaths more and the sensation abated. A few more breaths and he was back to normal, panting slightly from what felt like a full body workout.
“…Wow, that was something else.”
“Standard behavior from inputting several points at once. I recommend attending to your points sooner in the future if you wish to avoid that experience again.”
“What would happen if I saved my points up and dropped one hundred in at once or maybe even more?”
“You’d most likely pass out or at least be in a certain amount of pain. It would depend on which stats you increase though. Putting one hundred points into Intelligence or Wisdom would give you a rather severe headache at the very least.”
“Good to know…” Alex said as he looked over his changed Attribute panel.
Attributes:
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Strength: 9 +321% = 38
Constitution: 21 +321% = 88
Vitality: 10 +321% = 42
Resistance: 8 +321% = 34
Endurance: 18 +321% = 76
Dexterity: 9 +321% = 38
Agility: 18 +321% = 76
Perception: 11 +321% = 46
Intelligence: 13 +321% = 55
Wisdom: 9 +321% = 38
Willpower: 21 +321% = 88
Charisma: 8 +321% = 34
“If ten is average and I’ve got eighty-eight points in Constitution, does that mean I’m eight times healthier than an average human? Am I seven times faster than an average human?”
“It’s not entirely wrong to view it that way at the moment but after you reach one hundred points in any of your stats, things will change. We should talk about that when the time comes though. For now, focus on your tasks.” V.V. said, still utilizing the authoritative tone she’d used before, that seemed to be effective on Alex.
“Right…” Alex said, raising an eyebrow at V.V. in confusion. It seemed that his little companion was going through another personality shift. Either that or the urgency was bothering the cueball enough to use a firm tone with Alex. The latter worried Alex more than he wanted to dwell on so he decided to do what V.V. said and focus. He wasn’t sure what his Skill Points were going to do exactly but he pulled up the panel for them anyway.
Skills: 4 points available.
Class Skills
Profession Skills
General Skills
“That’s less options than I thought were going to pop up. At least it narrows the choices down a bit.” Alex mumbled to himself. He selected Profession Skills, but nothing happened. He thought a Profession Class might pop up, but it seemed that he might actually have to have a Profession to get Profession Skills, who knew? He then decided to check out General Skills and luckily, something popped up this time.
General Skills: 4 points available.
Act
Aggravate
Analyze
Archery
Arithmetic
Assert
Astrology
…
Bake
Bend
Bind
Bond
Break
Build
Burn
…
Camp
Climb
Cook
Conceal
Cope
Craft
Crawl
…
Dance
Debate
Deceit
Decode
Diplomacy
Draft
Drive
…
Endure
Ensnare
Erode
Escape
Ethics
Etiquette
Explore
…
Farm
Fish
Fix
Flirt
Forage
Forge
Forget
…
And the list went on and on. From A to Z there were skills that Alex expected and skills he had no idea existed. Some, he had no idea how they would even work. How was Flirt supposed to work exactly? As the skills got to the edge of the panel they were displayed on, Alex could simply look at the end and the list would start to scroll new skills onto his display. It felt to Alex like the most advanced eye tracking software he’d seen in the old world but, you know, worked. He browsed for almost a minute before he heard something.
V.V. made a sound like she was clearing her throat. “Zzhmm zhmm…” As she didn’t have a throat, or at least no throat that Alex was aware of, the sound was very… odd.
“…What’s up V.V?” Alex said, brought out of his curious scrolling trance.
“I am aware there are many General Skills that you may be interested in, but again, we don’t have the time to peruse the entire catalog at the moment.”
“Right… Anything you’d recommend in here before I look at Class Skills?”
“There are many useful general skills, but many can be bought through the Credit Store. You’d be better off using Skill Points on Class or Profession Skills. Also, General Skills purchased with Skill Points always start at the lowest possible rank. The Credit Store at least has a chance of selling Skills at higher ranks than Inferior.” V.V. put a sound of disdain on the final word like it tasted bad for her to even say the word. Alex’s lip twitched into an almost smile at hearing it.
“I wonder why that is. Credits seem a lot easier to get than Skill Points.”
“I’m not completely sure but I believe it’s a relic from a time before Credits were introduced and no powerful beings cared enough about changing it for the System to take note. After all, why would you waste a Skill Point on a skill you can get from the System Store when Class or Profession Skills may only be available to you through your Skill Points?”
“Ah, I see… Makes sense. Um… I’ll check out my Class Skill list.” Alex said, feeling like he’d asked something stupid even though V.V. didn’t have any admonition in its voice.
“Zzuh Zzhuh.” V.V. acknowledged Alex as she went back to playing with a neon yellow liquid this time. Alex smiled fully at hearing his companion’s tinny, metallic lisps at the beginning of their words.
Class Skills: 4 points available.
Call Orb
Send Orb
Orb View
Boost Orb
Restore Orb
AbsOrb
ResOrb
Orbit
S. Combat Orblet
S. Elemental Orblet
S. Healing Orblet
S. Scouting Orblet
“Twelve is a lot more manageable than the hundreds of general skills that I was looking at. So, my Class has twelve total skills I can learn? AbsOrb and ResOrb…” Alex said this and shook his head at the Systems attempt at… being funny? Again, Alex wasn’t so sure about V.V.’s assertion that the System wasn’t sentient.
“Once you purchase a skill, it will be repopulated after a period of time. There are usually no less than twenty skills in a Basic Class. You have a Class that I’ve never heard of before, so I’d imagine it’s at least a Rare Class. Rare Classes have no less than forty skills.” V.V. explained.
“So you only need forty skill points total?”
“Zzha! No, you need many, many skill points. I would be surprised if these first twelve cost more than a single Skill Point each, but later, Skills will cost two, three or more skill points to purchase. You may also use Skill Points to force level ups for certain Skills. Again, information that would best suite you later.”
“Ah… Any suggestions?” Alex said, waving his hand towards the Skill Panel.
“I suggest you view the Skills and determine which ones best suite you at the moment.” V.V. said and Alex knew he heard some sass on the word ‘suggest.’
Alex just shook his head and looked back to his Class Skills. Nothing to it other than opening them up and seeing what they all did. This time he willed the System to display everything at once and to his lessening shock, they did.
Call Orb: Teleports an Active Orb or Orblet to the User from a certain distance.
Send Orb: Teleports an Active Orb or Orblet to a specified destination the User has visited.
Orb View: Allows the User to view the surroundings of an Active Orb or Orblet.
Boost Orb: Empower an Orb or Orblet owned by the User for a certain duration.
Restore Orb: Regenerate missing or damaged portions of an Orb or Orblet owned by the User.
AbsOrb: Pull User owned Orbs into the User to Empower the User for a certain duration.
ResOrb: Quickly resummon Orbs owned by the User.
Orbit: Call the User owned Orbs to circle the User in a fixed orientation to allow flight.
S. Combat Orblet: Summons a Combat Orblet for a time under the User’s control.
S. Elemental Orblet: Summons an Elemental Orblet for a time under the User’s control.
S. Healing Orblet: Summons a Healing Orblet for a time under the User’s control.
S. Scouting Orblet: Summons a Scouting Orblet for a time under the User’s control.
“That’s relatively useful. Flight?” Alex said, immediately drawn to the ability that every child on Earth dreamed of at some point. He was about to choose his first Skill when he felt a bonk to his forehead.
“Ouch.”
“Alex. While flight abilities are extremely useful, they’re also extremely difficult to level. The System is doing you a disservice by saying the ability allows ‘flight.’ It’s bound to be more like, slightly floating off the ground for roughly a minute, if you’re lucky. Sorry for the abrupt attack but I feared you were about to do something you may come to regret.”
“…I see. I really was about to pick that. Thanks. And I don’t consider what you did, ‘an attack.’ It was more like a gentle nudge.” Alex said, deflated after hearing that he wouldn’t be soaring through the skies in the next few minutes.
“So why did the System say it does something that it doesn’t?” Alex said, looking over his Skill list again.
“It does eventually. That Skill will absolutely allow you to fly once you grind it up multiple times. I am not exaggerating when I say ‘multiple.’”
“So, Call Orb says that I can Teleport an Orb or Orblet over a ‘certain distance.’ Does that mean three feet or something.” Alex said, starting to feel like his Class Skills were becoming more and more underwhelming.
“Zzhmm… I am uncertain of the maximum distance, but it shouldn’t be less than three feet at the minimum. It could be a mile for all I know. I warned you of the flight ability because many Users have complained about the System saying almost exactly what your Orbit Skill says in the past.”
“And you haven’t seen a Skill like Call Orb before?”
“I’ve seen Skills that do similar things. Some start off with very short recall distances and others are much wider ranged. It depends on the Class and what’s being recalled. An Archer with a Recall ability on their arrows will have a much longer range than say, a Barbarians Recall ability on their war axe. I’m unsure of your ability because although your Orbs are small, they aren’t simple arrows.”
“…Understood. So, we’re in uncharted waters.”
“An interesting expression, given that the closest large body of water is several miles below us.”
“Ha.” Alex barked a laugh and looked back over his Skill choices.
“You have no sage advice on what I should choose?” Alex asked, hoping the decision would just be made for him. He was still tired and making the wrong decision wasn’t something he wanted to be burdened with. It’d be so much easier to yell ‘V.V. why’d you make me choose Fireball when the center monsters are all Lava Golems!’ as he ran for his life. A smirk came to his face and then the thought of actual Lava Golems wiped it right off.
“Don’t choose Orbit for now.” V.V. said and floated back to her favored spot to start mixing again.
“Thanks…”
“No problem.” V.V. responded in all seriousness.
Alex resumed looking over the Skills, but he knew he didn’t have long to make his choice. He scanned up and down the list several more times and decided. Call Orb, AbsOrb, ResOrb and Summon Healing Orblet. For a moment he wanted to just take all four Orblet's and be done with it. Summon Healing Orblet was a must for his own piece of mind though. AbsOrb would give him a boost to his own fighting potential if he needed it, ResOrb could hopefully resummon his Orbs in the middle of battle if one were to be destroyed. Call Orb just seemed useful if his Orbs got spread out or had to hold off an enemy attack while he ran away. He debated over whether Call Orb was needed if he could just resummon them with ResOrb and decided to ask V.V. before he made his final decision.
“I think they are solid choices. Who knows how long ResOrb will take, how long the cooldown will be or if the Orb will even be at full power after resummoning it. Call Orb may have a very long recall ability, or it could be very short. There are pros and cons to both, assuming that any of my speculations are even remotely accurate. If Call Orb has a very long range, then View Orb could be a useful combination but who knows. Go with your gut is what I always say.”
“You’ve literally never said that before.” Alex said with a confused eyebrow raised.
“Of course I do. Now pick your Skills and move on to my recommendation list before we need to leave. We have twenty-two minutes left.”
Both of Alex’s eyebrows shot up this time. Twenty-two minutes before he had to leave his dank, muddy, safe, beautiful home. Nothing to it other than getting as much power as possible and then running towards increasing danger. He selected the four Skills and accepted the prompts to add them to himself. He promptly slumped over, unconscious, yet again.
Zzsigh…