Initiating System. Processing Planet 1590987AZBTQVHQI. Natural Mana Levels: None

Inserting Mana

Natural Planet Mass: E-Grade. Planet Mass Acceptable

Advanced Intelligent Life: 1 species, 7,953,952,567

Moving Advanced Intelligent life to Tutorial. Tutorial will last 31 days

Awarding Invasion slots to following entities:

Grand Undead Empire: 5 Invasion Portals, Orcein Order of Slagoth: 4 Invasion Portals, Elvish Kingdom of Rincon: 4 Invasion Portals, Dwarven Crafters Order: 3 Invasion Portals, Goblin Swarm Aloct: 2 Invasion Portals, Alon Empire: 2 Invasion Portals.

System Initiated.

A white flash enveloped the Earth, and suddenly everything was quiet. Classrooms emptied, papers drifting to the floor. Offices were silent, the glowing screens the only sign that anyone was ever there.

For that moment, the Earth was peaceful. After that moment of silence came something much different. The crash.

Cars on the highway collided, forming blazing infernos. Items left in midair crashed to the floor, shattering and splintering.

But all was for naught as the Earth was slowly transformed, warped by the presence of mana and the guiding hand of the System.

However, this was all unnoticed by the residents of Earth, who had been transported to another plane of existence, separate from the carnage and rebirth on their home planet.

Thomas woke up in what looked like a normal office. Looking wildly around him in panic, he saw potted plants, glass windows, and office chairs. Everything seemed empty, and then he spotted something that he should have seen immediately. A being, he called it that because it wasn't quite human, stared back at him.

Its skin was pale white, glossed over and blank as a canvas. Its face was the same. Perfectly smooth and white, like a mannequin's. The only deviation from the mannequin esque look was two pale blue eyes that were fixed on him.

Thomas's thoughts were reeling. All manner of thoughts flashed through his head. A hallucinogenic, perhaps? Had he fainted? Was this all some dream? And then came a far more terrifying realization than all. He was too lucid for a hallucinogenic,  and he always had a vague sense he was dreaming even when asleep.

No, this was real. Very real. And then the being spoke.

"Please take a seat," it said. Its voice was monotone, emotionless, and yet Thomas got the sense that it was weary. That it had done this a million times, and was merely preparing to do it again.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Warily, Thomas sat. "Who are you," he asked than continued, "In addition, what are you?"

The being replied in that same unnerving, toneless voice, "My code is VZAZTHY-1009867. For conversational purposes you may call me VZA. I will refrain from answering the second question." It continued mechanically, "The planet you know as Earth has been inducted into the System. All advanced intelligent lifeforms have been transferred to the Tutorial to begin a 31 day training period. If you have any questions, ask them now, before we move onto weapon selection."

"What the heck," Thomas blurted, then forced his face into a mask. Panicking wouldn't help him. 

"First," he asked, "Is there something that keeps track of my stats?"

"The System does involve mechanics similar to what your species refers to as video games. This includes a status screen, which can be accessed by saying "status", and distributable attribute points that are rewarded with each level."

Okay, Thomas thought. This is definitely like a video game. Most video games feature classes, so I should ask about those.

"Are there classes under the System," he asked.

"There are a wide variety of classes under the system, which can be first accessed at level 5," the entity droned, before continuing, "due to the number of humans to be processed, we will now automatically proceed to weapon selection."

Instantly 5 items appeared on the table. On the far right were a bow and a quiver of arrows. The bow was simple and made out of plain wood, with a tag of [(Basic) Bow and arrow]. The next item down was a battle axe. It had two blades that glistened, and a sturdy lookin pine wood handle, along with a tag of [(Basic) War axe].

After that came a sword, which Thomas instantly recognized. As a bit of a medieval warfare nerd, the bastard sword stood out, since it could be used with either one or two hands and to stab or slash. It also had a (Basic) tag. 

Finally were two scrolls, one of which said [Scroll of Minor Healing], and another that said [Scroll of Basic Mana Orb].

This is too much to bear. I'm 16 for god's sake. I'm in the 10th grade, and I've barely started driving. This is like one of those System apocalypse books I used to read when I was younger. But if I'm here, I need to keep calm. He paused. If this was like one of those books, he had to remember what he could.

Now that I think about it, this seems similar to a few of those books. The Primal Hunter mostly. Jake was a lone wolf archer in those. But he also incorporated magic and sword dueling later on.

That's probably not realistic if I want to make it through. Given the choice, I need something good in almost any situation, especially since I'm pretty sure I don't have some overpowering bloodline. The bow is cool, but also not viable at close range.

The axe is cumbersome but devastating. It's a weapon for brute force, and a close range brawl, something that someone with a football player build would use. Magic sounds cool, but has to come with some serious drawbacks. For starters, the low level default spells might not deal much damage, and most mages are pretty helpless once they run out of mana, which is pretty quickly at the lower levels.

Healers are always useful, but they completely rely on being part of a group. In the books healers are always welcome, but if the rest of the party falls they're dead meat. In other words, completely reliant on the protection of others.

Going back to the axe. It's the preferred weapon of tank types, which aren't quite as reliant on a group as healers but still derive most of their value from a group.

That leaves one option. The sword. While it's not perfect, it's a good fit. Sword wielders are often able to close distance faster than most melee fighters, but are still good in a close range duel. Plus, I actually have some experience handling one.

Steeling himself, Thomas grabbed the sword.

"Once again, welcome to the System. You will now be transported to the Tutorial," the voice said as space around them warped.