“Welcome Infinity, I am so glad to have you. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Valera, goddess of Journeys, Trials, and Change. I’m sometimes called “The Worldwalker,” or “Lady of the Endless Road” - and it is my way to encourage my followers to take many types of journeys, both those of foot and those of self discovery.”
“While I’m not considered to be the most powerful of the gods, my influence over this world is considered to be disproportionately high because not only am I the one able to bring people here from your world, but I am also responsible for the system of progression used by all inhabitants of this world to learn and grow stronger.”
As she spoke, the world about us had begun to change. System had quietly withdrawn, nodding at me as he’d closed the doors to his chamber behind him. As soon as they shut, the doors themselves faded away and I belatedly realized he’d taken his chair back with him this time. Shortly after, the walls and seating of the amphitheater along with the seated gods all faded away until Valera and I stood on a circular platform apparently suspended in the sky, with clouds in every direction stretching into the horizon.
“So, you’re the god of leveling up?” I asked, getting excited at the implications.
“You could say that, but that’s only a part of it. Concepts like evolution, progress, and even aging all fall within my sphere of influence.”
I filed that away to process later, but I could already tell I’d made the right decision. “Now that you’re my patron, can you answer the question I asked earlier? What special species, classes and boons do you have?”
Valera smirked at me, “I can, but maybe I should just show you instead.”
With a wave of her arm, the cloudy expanse around us began to slowly swirl around the floating platform. It picked up speed rapidly, and soon it seemed like we were standing in the eye of an unusually calm tornado. Despite the movement of the air and swirling clouds, it was oddly peaceful, the rush of air somehow seeming muted or far away despite its proximity.
“This is the Forge of Souls,” the goddess told me. “Here you will choose the form you will take in this world, and the path you will walk. Others have spoken to you of classes and species, but this is a convenient simplification of the truth. In this world we do have various intelligent species, yes - but what you call a class is just a path to advancement that has already been discovered. There is nothing wrong with walking a well-trodden path, it will often get you where you want to go faster than trying to cut a new trail for yourself. However, without those trailblazers we’d never discover new destinations.”
As I watched, wisps of cloudstuff seemed to siphon off of the swirling walls of wind around us, congealing in the center of the platform right before where Valera and I stood. As they moved the moisture in the air created a literal rainbow of colors that flickered in and out of existence as a misty image of myself took shape before us.
“This is you as you are now, but it is not who you will one day be, nor does it need to be where you start from in this world.” With another gesture from Valera, more cloud images began to appear on the platform, some of them resembled me but were obviously not human, others looked nothing like me at all. “There are many sapient species in this world, but I hold none of them in higher esteem than the others. I am not associated with any one species, but instead one of my boons allows you to choose not to choose.”
“If you wish it, your soul will remain in the vessel I used to transport it to this world. Your truest form will be a small gemstone that houses your mind and spirit. However, you will still possess an organic body to control. You will not be able to select your initial form, but unlike all other options, you will be able to acquire other physical forms over time. Initially you will be very limited, but with time and effort you could have unparalleled control over your physical form if that is what you desire.”
“So I don’t get to pick my character’s species and appearance, but in return I get to be a shapeshifter or something?” I asked.
“In a way, yes, but it goes deeper than that. You have many choices before you, and those choices will determine what options you have. Should you wish it, you could acquire many forms from among the species living on Astra, or you might use my gifts to create something entirely new to this world. The possibilities are endless, but I will warn you that the road is longer than you can imagine, even if the journey itself is rewarding on its own.”
My mind was already racing with the possibilities. What she was describing sounded absolutely wild - no wonder it was a hidden option. I’d been looking forward to seeing what appearance and species options this game had, but this sounded like being able to play the game without ever exiting character creation mode. Sure I might have to spend time and effort getting new character options, but I was more than willing to do that. My only worry was that my starting body would suck.
“If I take this option, do I get to know what I start out as?” I asked.
“No, unfortunately. I may not speak of how things are in the world before you enter it, and this choice has in fact already been made when you first arrived here. Part of the process that brought you to this world requires a sacrifice - it consumes a soul, which we deities agreed would be randomly determined by fate itself. Your new body has been chosen at random from the population of this entire world, and may not even be from one of the normally sentient species.”
She continued, “Your fellow travelers are going through something similar - the life force of the creature they replaced along with their own soul crystal will be used to create their new body, and any remaining power will be given to them in the form of a legacy skill based on the original body. For example, a traveler lucky enough to have slain an ancient dragon simply by being born into this world will start out much stronger than one who only took out a helpless goblin. The difference for you is that the fundamental nature of this process remains available to you on an ongoing basis.”
That was interesting, so every player was essentially randomly offing one NPC for every character created, and if you got lucky and killed something strong you basically kept a portion of its strength for yourself. However I was going to get to keep the original NPC’s body instead, so if I was lucky enough to have killed a dragon I was going to end up in the body of a dragon. Even if I didn’t get that lucky it sounded like I might eventually be able to get a dragon’s body eventually anyway - though I guessed I’d probably have to defeat one first. It was a weird mechanic but I liked it. It would make everyone a little unique.
“I’m definitely taking this option.” I told Valera. “I can’t pass it up, the possibilities are just too cool.”
The goddess smiled and nodded, “I thought you would like it. I believe it suits your nature as well, Infinity.” She then motioned to the cloudy figures, and as one they all blew apart rejoining the swirling winds around them, all except the one that just showed me as I currently appeared. Words made of fire appeared in the air next to the figure, and I read them with great interest.
> Valerian
>
> Species (Tier 5, Special)
>
> Prerequisites: Chosen of the Gods (Valera)
>
> Species Skills: Dual Nature (Passive), Crystalline Memories (Passive), Soulspace (Passive), Look Ma, No Hands… or Feet! (Penalty)
>
> Species Attribute Adjustments: None
>
> Growth Rating: 10 / 10
>
> Not a true species, but a lack of one. The soul of a Valerian is housed in a gemstone embedded somewhere on the body of another creature, which they control as though it were their own. Valerians gain extra experience from advancing their host bodies.
I wondered what it meant that one of my species skills was a penalty, but I set that aside for now. Since I’d already made up my mind on this one I wasn’t going to second guess it now anyway.
“Next you’ll choose your path, or class if you prefer. I do have a unique class to offer, and as you might expect it’s a bit unusual. The way classes work is that they give you access to predefined skills related to them, and these cost less to level up than skills outside your class. The skills you actually take are called your ‘path’, and anyone can opt to not take a class or choose not to follow one they did take. This is how new classes are discovered, by breaking the mold of old ones or inventing them from whole cloth.”
“My unique class is called Trailblazer, and its purpose is making new paths easier to find. As a Trailblazer you will receive skills that make it easier to level up and discover new skills. It is the fastest way to create a new class from scratch, as it’s essentially a better version of the option available to everyone of not selecting a class at all and making your own path.”
As she talked the misty reflection of me changed, its clothes shifting to resemble the comfortable travel clothes Valera was wearing. New words formed in the air, replacing the description of my new species.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
> Trailblazer
>
> Class (Tier 5, Special)
>
> Prerequisites: Chosen of the Gods (Valera)
>
> Class Skills: Innovator (Passive), Explorer (Passive), Identify (Active)
>
> Class Attributes: All
>
> Growth Rating: 10 / 10
>
> Affinities: 5
>
> The Trailblazer is a class that features progression like no other. While it lacks any active combat skills, it has powerful unique passive skills. This class receives extra experience from making discoveries of all sorts, with the greater discoveries resulting in greater rewards.
I took a closer look at the skills, wondering if I could see what they did. I concentrated on them for a moment, and new words appeared alongside the others.
> Innovator
>
> Passive Skill (Tier 5)
>
> Prerequisites: Trailblazer (Level 1)
>
> Rank: 0 / 10
>
> PP: 0 / 10
>
> For each rank in this skill, you may ignore a single prerequisite on a skill you know but do not qualify for. A prerequisite you ignore in this way is treated as satisfied. As long as you meet all other prerequisites of that skill (if any) you may place progress points in that skill and rank it up as though you qualified for it normally.
> Explorer
>
> Passive Skill (Tier 2)
>
> Prerequisites: Trailblazer (Level 1)
>
> Rank: 0 / 5
>
> PP: 0 / 4
>
> You have access to a mental map of every location you have ever visited, and possess a supernatural awareness of your immediate surroundings that takes the form of a minimap showing the area around you. For each rank in this skill, the distance covered by your minimap increases by 20%.
> Identify
>
> Active Skill (Tier 1)
>
>
> Prerequisites: Trailblazer (Level 1)
> Rank: 0 / 5
> PP: 0 / 2
> Activation Cost: Mana (Low)
> Activation Type: Instant
> Cooldown: N/A
>
> You attempt to learn the basic properties of a target you can see or touch. You can identify objects and effects of the same tier or lower as this skill’s current rank, and you can identify creatures with a level less than or equal to your level plus twice the number of ranks in this skill.
>
> Additionally, if you maintain uninterrupted physical contact with your target for 10 seconds while using this skill it is automatically successful regardless of tier or level.
>
> Note: Creatures this skill is used on will be made aware of your attempt to examine them.
I was surprised to learn that basic mapping functionality was apparently limited to this specific class. I could barely imagine a modern game that didn’t have a map that revealed itself as you explored, and I was willing to bet that a lot of players were going to get themselves very lost before realizing there wasn’t a map. The minimap sounded useful as well, but it was going to depend somewhat on what all it showed.
The real prize here seemed to be the Innovator skill, just looking at the skills I had access to, two required a class that could only be obtained with the favor of a god. If I could ignore requirements like that ten times, I could potentially pick up skills that were normally restricted to the followers of other gods. That line of thinking nearly made me choke as I realized that I was already aware of a skill unique to Limitless’ followers that allowed them to bypass the caps on ranks of any skill… These two skills had phenomenal synergy that would never normally be available. I’d be able to bypass the cap on Innovator and get even more skills without having the prerequisites.
“Just checking… Innovator lets me ignore ANY single prerequisite on a skill? No matter what it is?” I asked, my voice dripping with barely controlled excitement.
“That’s right. It will allow you to discover new classes more easily, as many skills have at least one prerequisite that can only be satisfied by a class or sometimes through a chain of other skills. Innovator will allow you to create combinations that may not otherwise be possible without a lifetime of work, and in doing so you may discover new classes that give easier access to those skills so that others may follow in your footsteps.”
“I’m nearly certain I’m taking this class, but I do have a few other questions if you don’t mind?”
The goddess nodded, “I’ll answer what I can, but as I mentioned earlier I am still restricted in what I can say, even if those restrictions are now relaxed. What are your questions?”
“Ok, first, you mentioned that this class will help me discover other classes. How does that help me? If I swap to another class won’t I lose this one?”
“Those who discover a class receive a bonus for doing so. Unfortunately I can’t say what they will be, but they are nearly always worth the effort. When you discover a class, you also gain the ability to teach it to others even if you didn’t select it. The first person to take up a class also gets an extra benefit, separate from the discovery bonus. If you both discover and take up the mantle of a class you will receive both benefits, but if you instead teach it to an ally you can make them stronger as well.”
She continued. “Keep in mind that you’ll never lose access to skills when changing classes, and while you can only level one class at a time you can alway swap back to one you’ve already unlocked unless you no longer meet the prerequisites. You’ll also automatically receive one rank in each of the new class’ starting skills, so in some ways it can be more like combining classes than changing them. However, some skills may become cross-path when it comes to spending progress points, so they may become harder to advance when leveling up the new class.”
That sounded great to me, suddenly forming a guild was high on my to-do list. Being able to dole out classes to my officers would put my guild in very high demand.
“That’s awesome… Next question. What does growth rating mean? I saw it on both my class and species description.”
“Growth rating is how much progress points your class or species gains per level. Both of your growth ratings are 10, which means that whenever your class or species levels up you’ll get 10 progress points to spend on skills of your choice. Note that growth is frequently paired with an inverse level of raw power, high growth classes and species tend to lack any inherent ability to use force, and the opposite also tends to be true - low growth classes and species typically have ready access to powerful offensive and defensive skills. Additionally penalty skills may be assigned to a class or species to offset its growth or power potential. Tier also comes into play for these calculations, but generally things of the same tier should be roughly equivalent in power.”
I nodded, following along. “That makes sense, you are more-or-less the goddess of growth, so all your stuff is very high growth and very low direct power, but theoretically my new body might have access to skills from a low growth species and I could spend my points on those to get some extra combat effectiveness, or wait until I unlock some combat skills and then dump points into them.”
“Yes, though keep in mind that spending progress points on a skill that didn’t originate from the same source the points are from will incur the cross-path penalty. That means they will essentially cost double, as cross-path progress points are worth half as much, unless you’ve assigned them one of your affinities.”
That put a damper on my mood a bit, as I realized that effectively all my points were going to end up getting halved if they had anything at all to do with combat. “I see, but what do you mean about assigning them affinities, what are affinities?”
“Affinities are a resource for customizing your path. Any skill you assign an affinity to counts as a path skill for you, meaning that you can spend progress points on it from any source without incurring a penalty. The number shown in your class description is your starting affinities, and you need not use them immediately. Everyone also receives an additional affinity every 50 class levels.”
The number of possibilities were starting to become overwhelming, and I took a moment to jot down a few notes in the notebook The Adversary had given me while all this was still fresh in my mind. “You’re not the goddess of decision paralysis by any chance, are you?” I asked jokingly.
The Lady of the Endless Road laughed and shook her head. “No, and not to complicate your calculations but there is one more thing you should know about how your new species works. You see, unlike every other option available to Travelers, Valerians get to retain not only the skills and statistics of their host bodies, but also that body's original class. You will essentially have two bodies, and will need to decide where you wish to invest your progression. Both of your bodies will be able to grow and evolve independently. It is not a simple path, but it can be highly rewarding.”
I whistled in appreciation at that. “I can definitely see why you’re a hidden option… That’s wild. People are going to go nuts when they realize these options exist.” I shook my head, imagining the outcry on the game’s forums when the news eventually leaked… They’d have to wait for someone else to do it though, as I wasn’t planning on telling anyone for as long as possible. I wanted to grab as many world firsts and achievements with this as possible.
“It feels weird to be leaving character creation without making an actual character, but I’m happy with my choices.” I told her.
“Excellent, are you ready to enter the world then?”
“I think so, unless you have any advice for me?”
The goddess contemplated this for a moment, “Try not to die, it’d be annoying to have gotten my hopes up over you only to have you die.”
Valera gestured once again, and the swirling air around the platform suddenly became much louder and much faster. Bands of air wrapped around my body, and I felt myself lifted off the ground.
“Wait, is there permadeath in this game?” I thought to ask, yelling over the rushing air.
A motion above me caught my attention and I looked up just in time to see a spinning vortex of what looked like solid fire as it slammed down onto me, encompassing me completely. I barely felt it as my physical form melted away, experiencing the process almost like an outside observer. When I was nothing but a formless presence floating in the air above what Valera had called the Forge of Souls, I began to feel the fire enter into me, filling me until I thought I would burst from the pressure. My mind ceased to be able to process what was happening to me, but even as I lost consciousness Valera’s last words followed me into the darkness of my own mind.
“What game?”