He wondered how to pull up his Character Menu and it appeared floating before him as if reading his mind. This was more cool then creepy, but were there limits on the mind reading this thing was doing. He hoped so. Now he got a first look at his stats.
Name: Maestro Max.
Species/Race: Human.
Class: Bard, Level 1.
Reputation: 0 – Unsung.
XP: 0.
HP: 16/16.
MP: 6/6.
Strength: 6.
Dexterity: 6.
Agility: 6.
Constitution: 6.
Intelligence: 6.
Wisdom: 5.
Charisma: 6.
Morale: 5.
He wasn’t sure if these were good or bad, so he clicked another info button to learn that starting stats were from one to ten, with most defaulting to six. His race had cost him one point on Wisdom and Morale. Initial Mana Points were based on his class, and his Hit Points were his Constitution plus ten for his bard class.
He moved on to selecting his proficiencies on another tab of the Character Menu, but there were so many to choose from that he began whittling down the list by looking for ones to ignore, like ventriloquism or mountaineering. He needed something practical and immediately helpful. Hunting was a good one. Animal lore, too, since he didn’t know anything about wildlife on Earth, not to mention this planet Llurien. Cooking could help him make something edible; otherwise, he’d be eating plants, and only raw ones at that. That thought suggested he pick herbalism, too. Focusing on his survival seemed like a wise move.
He assumed he’d gain proficiency points to spend with every level and something like crafting could be acquired later. World lore or local history might not help until he reached a settlement. Direction sense was another good one, but given that he probably had a Map Menu somewhere, maybe redundant. Fishing might help, but without a fishing pole, maybe not. Weather sense was another good candidate, but only a thunderstorm likely posed a real issue and he was in a forest where the trees might easily shelter him from rain. Setting snares could help him capture small game or someone following him.
He finally made his choices.
You are proficient in Hunting!
Proficiency Type: Active.
Level: 1.
You are proficient in Setting Snares!
Proficiency Type: Active.
Level: 1.
You are proficient in Cooking!
Proficiency Type: Active.
Level: 1.
Since it looked like he was playing this game for a while, he decided to choose some spells, one of his favorite part of fantasy games. He flipped to the Magic Menu and saw various tabs, including one called valenders. Unsure what that was, he clicked on the info icon.
Valenders are simple spells that even untrained magicians can use. They don’t require preparation and do not cost mana to cast unless they do damage. Your class and level determine how many valenders you know. Once chosen, you cannot replace one.
Max grunted. It sounded like a cantrip, not that he cared what they were called. He wanted to get this right, so he needed to carefully look over his options from among the twenty choices. The direction sense proficiency he hadn’t picked was here as a valender. Unlike with proficiencies, he was thinking defensive and attack options, or something to inspire helpfulness from others rather than interference or indifference. But he couldn’t help noticing the Find Spring valender. That would take care of his water needs, but there had to be streams around here somewhere and he could do that instead. And it was arguably a waste in a settlement.
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A few others involved befriending animals or using one as a messenger. The Find Treasure one didn’t really appeal either because he’d get most of it from dungeons, looting bodies, or as a reward for a quest. Assess Character and Assess Value ones could be helpful later. The aphrodisiac one made him grin. That could’ve come in handy a whole bunch of times. Okay, well maybe not that many. He wasn’t that bad with the ladies.
As he looked over the list, he decided on the three he wanted, even though he could only get two now.
Valender: Ball of Light.
Description: Causes a dimmable Ball of Light the size of a fist to float near the caster’s head. It can be made to travel up to 30 feet in all directions (including up and down) from the caster and out of sight. It cannot pass through solid objects, but can pass through water, spirits, and some supernatural phenomena. Contact with a magic void terminates it.
Components: Verbal – “Ignite.”
Cast time: Instant.
Duration: 1 hour.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
Sphere, Deity and Boost: Green, Sorrin (God of Vitality), Increased Range.
MP: 0.
Max really liked the sound of this because it eliminated the need for torches, lanterns, or related supplies. He’d never need to worry about darkness unless he was in a magic voice. He wondered aloud what that was and received a notification floating in the air.
Phenomena: Magic Void.
Summary: A Magic Void is a place where magical and/or supernatural energy cannot function or penetrate. They are naturally occurring but can be created on purpose. Some animals and plants also create Magic Voids, though this may require enough of them together to render the effect and could impact its radius.
Another message appeared immediately, distracting him.
System Message: Information about game functions can be gained by thinking or asking about them. Details about some elements of the world cannot also be gained, but this is extremely limited; there are other ways to learn those details.
This and other system messages can be accessed in your Notifications Menu.
That was good to know. He was starting to feel a little less confused about everything. He’d normally prepare for playing a video game by reading a strategy guide, watching YouTube videos, or at least reading parts of the manual. Feeling clueless had been nagging at him but began receding.
The magic void idea made Max wish he had a magic item that he could feel the effect of while wearing, so that when entered such a void, he knew it at once. He’d keep an eye out for that . He pulled up the next valender on his short list.
Valender: Weapon Ward.
Description: +2 AC against blunt and piercing weapon attacks, -10% damage.
Components: Verbal – “Ward me.” Gesture – Draw a circle in the air and then make a downward slashing motion through it.
Cast time: 2 seconds.
Duration: 2 minutes.
Cooldown: None.
Sphere, Deity and Boost: Green, Coiryn (God of Courage), 2x Damage Reduction.
Mana: 0.
Given that he had no armor, this seemed like a no-brainer. And having no weapon made the next one another obvious choice.
Valender: Hand of the Grave.
Description: Causes a ghostly, frigid hand to clasp onto one target within twenty feet, inflicting up to 8 Hit Points of necrotic damage.
Components: Verbal – “Feel the touch of Krairon.” Gesture – Outstretched hand with fingers open, then closing when reaching the target.
Cast time: 2 seconds.
Duration: 10 seconds.
Cooldown: 20 seconds.
Sphere, Deity and Boost: Blue, Krairon (God of Domination), +10% Damage.
MP: 1.
At Higher Levels: Every 4 levels, an additional 1 to 8 HP of damage is inflicted.
Wondering if it mattered which god had created a spell, and if he needed to care, Max looked around the Magic Menu for info about that but didn’t see anything. Memorizing these gods could be a real pain if that was required, depending on how many there were. From the species descriptions, I sounded like four gods have created the seven species. Had any gods been repeated? He didn’t think so. That suggested twenty-eight of them. That was more than most pantheons he’d heard of, at least for major deities. Some pantheons had a bunch of lesser gods.
He shrugged it off and selected the two valenders.
You have learned the Valender, Weapon Ward!
You have learned the Valender, Hand of the Grave!
Curious about the term, he asked aloud, “Why are they called valenders?” A notification appeared.
Info: Valend
Summary: “Valend” means “for instruction” in Old Antarian. Items like valend cards are designed to teach. Simple spells that do not require training to perform are called valenders because wizards who’ve just begun training cannot cast anything else. The term has been applied to other situations. Knights of the Valend are in training. Wizards who cannot pass or retake their final tests are called valend wizards and are restricted to casting valenders or creating magic items (the latter art is called valendry).
Max wondered if that meant a lot of magic items existed in this setting, but what really mattered was that if he heard or saw a title like Knight of the Valend, he knew the guy was less of a threat or asset.