“Huh, what’s going on?” asked Ben Rogers, waking out of his stupor. He lay on a soft carpet, reminiscent of the fleece rug in his room, but something felt different.
“It worked! I can’t believe it!” shouted the voice of an adult.
“Of course it did! What do you take me for?!” huffed another one, an old man by the sound of it.
“At last! We’re saved!”
“He’s kind of cute,” added the voice of a young girl. That got Ben’s attention.
Before the 13 year old boy was an incredibly ornate chamber. Its ceiling rose farther than his eyes could see, a layer of what almost looked like fog floating around the top. Intricately designed stained glass windows followed the vertical scent, letting tinted sunlight bathe the crimson carpets.
A large collection of men and women were gathered before the boy, all dressed up in fancy gowns and flowing robes. The most imposing of the bunch, a man in his 30s with pitch black hair, a regal beard, and an even more regal crown on his head, stepped forward.
“Child! What is your name?” shouted the red robed man as he raised an outstretched palm into the air. His voice reverberated through the room with enough force to drag him to his feet.
“B-Ben! Ben Rogers,” he stuttered, terror in his eyes.
“Very well, B-Ben Ben Rogers. Welcome to the world of Averon’s Clash! I am King Flowen and we have summoned you to be our savior!”
“Uh…”
“The dreaded Vampire clans to the West have banded together and plot to permanently blot out the sun! Will you help us?”
“M-my name’s Ben. Not Buh benben.”
“The dreaded Vampire clans to the West have banded together and plot to permanently blot out the sun! Will you help us?” King Flowen repeated himself.
“Wait, I’m just a kid! How can I stop a bunch of vampires?! Am I going to get guns or something?”
“The dreaded Vampire clans to the West have banded together and plot to permanently blot out the sun! Will you help us?”
“…yes? But how can I actually do anything like this?”
“Most excellent! I thank you, Ben!”
The young boy let out a sigh. He was scared he was stuck inside of a video game or something, with how the intimidating man kept saying the same thing over and over again until he said yes. But at least he heard his previous request and called him by his actual name.
“You’re welcome!” replied Ben with a shy smile. “So what do I get to help me? Super powers? A gun? Maybe a magic sword!”
“You will have the backing of the whole kingdom! The greatest arms from my armory, assistance and companionship from the brightest and most gifted young minds of the kingdom, and the power of The System ™!”
“Huh? The system?”
“No, The System ™! A source of great magical power granted to every living being in Averon’s Clash, defeat enemies to increase your power!”
“Oh, like a game! I know what that is!”
“Not just cute, he’s smart!” exclaimed a girl from the back. Ben took his eyes off the regal man and saw himself locking eyes with someone around his age. She had a head of vibrant red hair that flowed past her shoulders, emerald green eyes, and an absolutely adorable smile that made Ben’s heart skip a beat. Her toned midriff and miniskirt didn’t hurt.
The young boy stood there silently.
“Of course, here is the first of our gifted young minds here to help you!” continued the king. “One of our greatest mages, and the youngest of this generation to have graduated from the kingdom’s premier magic school!”
“Hey there, I’m Avenis,” the girl said with a smirk and a hand on her hip. There was a spark in her eyes, and in her other hand. A literal spark, that turned into more, coalescing into a flame.
“H-hi,” stuttered Ben. She reminded him of his classmate, Alexys, who had the same colored hair and snarky smile. But she never paid the boy much mind, so this was a much welcome difference. “I’m Ben.”
“So this is the hero huh? He doesn’t seem like much,” spat another young man from the crowd. He stepped forward, revealing himself to be a slightly older boy, probably in high school by the looks of it, dressed in black leather armor. His head held a heap of jet black hair arranged in a series of intricate spikes reminiscent of hedgehog quills, and black eyeliner was roughly slathered in a pair of thick streaks that tapered off as they reached his ears.
“And this is Rozenfaust!” beamed the regal man. “At the age of 14, he single handedly took down the entire criminal underground! And he’s only gotten stronger in the two years since!”
“I literally did it with a single hand, too. That was all I needed for those pathetic weaklings,” he growled. “I hope you’re not also a weakling, otherwise I’d be wasting my time.”
“Knock it off, Roze,” chided Avenis. “He was summoned here because he’s strong!”
“I told you never to call me that!” screamed the boy in black. “And what would you know of strength, Apenis?”
The girl’s face turned as red as her hair, and sparks began to fly out of her hands. Before she could fully raise them towards the spiky-haired teen, another voice rang out from the back.
“Please everyone! There’s no need for violence!” politely shouted a towering blond haired man as he waded his way to the front of the crowd. “Can’t we all just be friends?”
Ben’s focus was turned over to the 6 foot 7 behemoth and his mass of muscles before realizing that there was a squeak in his last sentence. Looking at his face, the young boy saw an apparent youth. He wasn’t a man, he was also a kid! But what kind of kid looked like a professional basketball player?!
“And your third and final companion!” exclaimed King Flowen. “Mugsy Bibbinhop, child of giants and squire extraordinaire!”
“I’m not actually a giant,” replied Mugsy, awkwardly scratching his chin with a single finger. “But I am hoping to become a full-fledged knight soon!”
The other two stopped their fighting to look towards the newcomer. To Ben, it looked like they were more interested in not pissing him off than getting even with each other.
“So Ben, these are the companions who will help you through your glorious quest! Are they to your likin-?”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Yes!” exclaimed the young boy, eyes locked back onto Avenis.
“Very well then, now it is time for you to learn of The System ™! Please recite this incantation after me: ‘open stats’.”
Ben did so, and jumped back when a table popped up before him.
Name: Ben Rogers
Class: None
Level: 1
Stats
Score
Health
100
Strength
17
Agility
15
Intelligence
14
Wisdom
12
Charisma
16
Speed
12
“Woah, it really is like a game! But where’s my special attack?”
“Each of these values corresponds to a different capability,” said the king. “For example, Strength is how hard you can hit things and how much you can carry.”
“Ok, but what lets me do magic? I want to shoot fireballs!”
“Agility is how dexterous you are, which affects your skill with bows and thrown weapons,” continued the regal man. “It is also useful for situations where you need to be more flexible.”
“I want to use magic, not bows!”
“And Intelligence governs how quickly you’re able to learn, as well as your aptitude with magic.”
“Cool! So how do I level it up?”
“While Wisdom is how well you can use your magic, as well as being a reflection of your willpower, or your mettle, if you will.”
“Uh huh. Can we please move it on? I want to hold a sword and use magic!”
“Charisma is your ability to convince others, and Speed is how fast you can move. Are you ready to continue?”
“I’ve been ready for the past 5 minutes,” whined Ben. “Are you even listening to me?”
“I’m not convinced, The System ™ isn’t enough to fight the Vampire Clans!” exclaimed Rozenfaust.
“Oh come on,” replied Avenis with a roll of her eyes. “He’s great as he is. Do you think he’s going to have the Usdarian System ™ on top of that?”
“Huh? Usdarian System ™?” asked Ben. Before anyone could answer, a new menu popped up before him.
Name: Ben Rogers
Usdarian Points: 11574
Rolls
Cost
Experience
100
Stat Boosts
15
Equipment
25
Food
5
Mounts
75
Companions
100
Magical Items
55
…
The table continued downwards for quite some time, but he was mostly drawn to the first few items. With so many points, the young boy decided to spring for the first item in the list. He pressed his finger against the ‘Experience’ cell, replacing the table with a new image.
A series of 5 blank columns appeared, each lined up next to each other horizontally. A line of text was printed both above and below the columns, the top labeled “Experience” and the bottom labeled “Roll.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” asked Avenis, squinting at the young boy.
“Um, there’s this weird slot machine thing in front of me,” replied Ben.
“By the light! He really does wield the Usdarian System ™!” exclaimed the king. “Shall you bless us with one of its fateful decisions?”
“I’d love to see it too!” added Mugsy, a piercingly curious look on his face. “Come on, Ben! Show us!”
“I bet he’s just lying. Wanna prove us wrong, kid?” shot Rozenfaust aggressively. But underneath it, the young boy could see a hungry look. Eyes gazing across the room, he could see everyone host a similar hunger.
“Uh, roll?” said Ben.
Immediately, the columns began to spin, displaying an ever shifting series of colorful numbers.
“Hey, how do I make it stop?” Immediately, the spinning wheels halted in place, displaying a series of numbers.
100, 100, 500, 100, 50000
“Woah, what do these numbers mean, I mean the one with- woah!” Immediately a flash of light engulfed Ben and he could feel himself getting stronger, smarter, more powerful.
“See Rozenfaust? He just rolled an Ultra Rare reward on the Usdarian System ™, of course he’s the hero!”
“Whatever, but how many points does he have anyway? If it isn’t much, then that benefit is as good as useless,” replied the spiky-haired teen.
“I’ve got like 11 thousand points left,” said Ben.
“11… 11 thousand?!” shot back the black-clad young man. “Pfft, I guess I was wrong, you might be useful after all.” Beneath his frustration, Ben could make out a smile beginning to form on his lips. He sure showed him!
Even the rest of the crowd stared at him with wide eyes, oohing and aahing at the result of the roll. His face beaming with pride, Ben called forth his status menu once more to see the changes.
Name: Ben Rogers
Class: None
Level: 76
Stats
Score
Health
7300
Strength
1374
Agility
1512
Intelligence
1245
Wisdom
865
Charisma
2105
Speed
1929
“Woah, my stats went up like crazy! They’re all in the 1000s now! And charisma’s over 2000!”
“We truly are blessed to be in the presence of such a powerful hero, especially with a roll such as that!” boomed King Flowen. “Now go forth, Ben, and save the world of Averon’s Clash!”