Charlie woke with a start. The sun was streaming in. She had slept past dawn for the first time in forever. It was obviously the softness of the carpet and the quietness of the room that had done it. Rachel was still sprawled out on the bed, out to the world, her breath deep and even. It had, after all, been the early hours of the morning by the time they had crashed out at Jay’s. But still, sleeping in was surprisingly pleasant. Charlie stretched. Last night had been fun. The nightclub was okay; but not really her, the confrontation and beat down was much more to her taste. It was real, while the club seemed a kind of contrived excitement.

Life needed to be seized. To be owned. It was one of the things that had really stood out in being translocated here. People seemed somewhat aimless. It was weird. There was lots happening. People were busy, rushing from here to there for all sorts of strange and unknowable reasons, but there wasn’t the urgency that even the slower paced life back home had sweltered under. And so, in the absence of life and death struggles in their daily routine, there were other ways of injecting excitement. Clubbing was one. Loud music, excessive indulging and questionable choices were all an effort to feel alive. Better just facing off a monster or three, rescuing a princess and looting the treasure. She glanced at Rachel, drooling on her pillow. She was certainly pretty enough to be a princess even if she didn’t sleep like one. Charlie wondered how a [Princess] would sleep, probably very primly with pursed lips, a little smile teasing them. Rachel stirred, snorted and then let one rip as she rolled over. Charlie grinned. Ha. Probably more so just like that. Then she frowned; it was time to vacate the room.

Carefully closing the door behind her, Charlie quietly slipped out into the large drawing room where they had debriefed last night. It was even grander during the day, the full height curtains now pulled back and revealing the expansive gardens outside. There was no sign of either Jay or Glen but there was a plate of fresh scones, jam and cream with fresh coffee percolating alongside. Her eyes widened; this was the life. Having only just been exposed to that religion which is coffee, Charlie was already converted. Having it proffered, without prompting or in expectation of an exchange in value was beyond idyllic.

She poured herself a mug, added a generous dollop of jam and cream to her scone and then with a shrug the same again to her coffee. She was probably being a barbarian, with coffee experts throwing their limbs about in despair, but the reality was she was still a newbie coffee quaffer. It was too strong black, and even though she loved the smell, the percolated coffee seemed even stronger than the fresh ground barista brew of the cafe. She needed sweetness and light and cream and jam seemed just the thing. Retreating to the window seat, Charlie curled up and savoured her treat.

Yes, last night had been a blast. Not least of which was running with a new crew. Glen and Jay were exactly what she needed. She felt part of a team, and while they were all new and just finding their way with the [System], she could trust them. They were what they looked to be. Charlie grimaced; she felt somewhat underhand in not telling them all the secrets of her [Class], or even that she had one at all. At the same time, she still didn’t understand why she had a [Class]. It was beyond explanation. Everyone knew [Classes] were granted at Level 10 and entry to the Bronze Tier. In fact they were celebrated just as much, if not more, as your initiation into the [System] on your twentieth birth anniversary. Your first [Class] was a milestone. An important one. One which impacted your development immensely, even your very personality.

Charlie looked at her PSI again. She still had a completely staggering number of free points despite spending them on her stats with abandon. It was unbelievable. It was too good to be true. And that, in her somewhat jaded experience, meant that it most probably was exactly that. Yes, there was definitely a catch. A trap. Expectations and obligations that would come knocking and requesting, no demanding, balance. Her memory returned to Glen and Jay debating the selection of their first skill. At level one, you only received one Skill Slot. She had slotted [Polyglot]. Never in a hundred years would she have ever imagined choosing such an obscure Skill as her first skill.

Your first skill was absolutely essential. You didn’t receive another open slot until Level 5 and then again at level 10. If you choose a skill which was difficult to level up then you stunted your growth significantly. She had heard rumours that once you reached Bronze you received more Skill Slots in addition to the class slots but no one had actually confirmed that to her. She simply wasn’t rich or important or educated enough to know.

Glen had done well in choosing [Sneak]. It suited him and it was something he could practise regularly. Or to use Jay’s term; grind. Like grinding coffee beans she supposed.

Jay reckoned Glen had ‘lucked out’ in unlocking such a good skill. This caused Charlie some small confusion. Why was Glen out of luck in getting this skill? That didn’t make sense. He was totally full of luck. You lucked out when things went bad and you ran out of luck, and then, generally, you died. That was lucking out.

And Jay refused to say or show his Skill.

In fact he went on about spiders for some unfathomable reason. Charlie couldn’t make sense of this. Maybe he wanted to be a trap master or an ambush hunter. She shook her head. That didn’t really suit Jay at all. But one phrase Jay had declaimed resonated. What had he said again? She replayed it in her head. He had stood, and with one hand on his chest and the other flung dramatically in the air, declared; “with great power comes great responsibility!” Yes. This was exactly her problem. She had been given almost unbelievable power in a Class that was beyond mythic. An uncharted class. In fact it was only believable because she had already spent some of her points and because she had tailored a specific skill to exactly her desires. And with that power, came responsibility, expectations and obligations. And this was bringing her full circle yet again.

It was ironic Charlie reflected. Instead of seizing life and running with it she was stalling. Battling an introspective fear. One she couldn’t fully even articulate. And this was just one of her fears, and the lesser one at that. After all, she had no problem in standing up to any authority and telling it to shove off and that was exactly what she would do if she ever found herself in that position. Consequences be blowed.

Her greater fear was even more nebulous. Change was inevitable. In fact change was really one of the constants of the universe. To be scared of change was as nonsensical as being scared of your shadow. And yet… she was still scared. Her class was absurdly powerful. And it would change her. It had already changed her. Charlie shivered. She did not want to lose herself inside her class. To be defined by her class.

Charlie grimaced.

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Her fear was hindering her. Already both Jay and Glen had levelled up. And Glen had levelled twice. They were level 2 and 3. That was absurdly fast. And just from grinding their solitary skill. Charlie had multiple skills. Six of them in fact, and the lowest ranking was gold. She shook her head, it was unbelievable. And she had skilled up just once in just one skill. That had been more by happenstance than deliberate effort. With multiple skills it was much easier to get XP and thus improve yourself faster. Power stacked on power, the more you had, the easier it was to increase it. This was balanced somewhat by the ever increasing level thresholds but these were rendered moot with the amount of free points her class awarded.

Charlie’s coffee fueled introspections were interrupted as Jay bounced into the room. He was exceedingly energetic this morning. Charlie smiled. His energy and enthusiasm was contagious. She looked around. Where Jay went Glen was sure to be close by. She flared her perk. If he came within 3m of her she would sense it even if she didn’t see him. Discreetly she lent on her other senses, Glen’s skill not yet of sufficiently high level to mask his smell or any inadvertent sounds. That would come though, and sooner rather than later too.

Jay was still bouncing. Hah! He had taken a movement skill. Charlie was sure of it. Of course she could have [Inspected] him, practising her own skill, and confirmed it but that felt disrespectful and intrusive. A normal teammate would not have that level of knowledge or access and Charlie did not want to jeopardise her fledgling crew. Trust was important. They were trusting her, despite the secrets she held. She would accord them the same.

Glen smiled too. He was currently in full on skulking mode. It was clear Charlie suspected he was here; his skill was scaling up rapidly in her presence. Her ears were twitching and her nostrils flared. Glen wondered whether she was even aware of her tells. He activated his own perk. [Lightsight] was even better than he had hoped. Not only was it useful during the day it also extended and deepened the range of frequencies he could see. Flexing his perk upwards allowed him to see infrared bands and pick up heat signatures. This allowed him to locate hidden heat sources and even track body heat where line of sight was obstructed. And dropping the frequency into ultraviolet had also been interesting. He was pretty sure that this was picking up the movement of [System] energies or [Essence] or whatever.

He dropped his vision into Ultraviolet, his normal vision fading even more within his [Sneak] skill. This wasn’t really practical to move around in but it did allow him to distinguish a sphere of Essence that centred on Charlie. It was approximately 3m radius and disappeared into the floor and nearly reached the 3.2m ceiling above her. This was her domain. At least that is what he had deduced. Last night she always seemed to locate him once she was close even when he was completely still and silent. She was sitting at the moment, picking at the crumbs of her scone. He crept closer, careful to avoid the indistinct outlines of the furniture that he knew was there. Reaching out he slowly waved his hand just outside the extent of the sphere. Charlie didn’t turn. He poked his finger into the invisible dome. She swivelled, zeroing in on him. He cancelled ultraviolet and silently backed away. This was great training. Level 4 wasn’t too far away now, maybe he could knock it out now…

Charlie snarled, Glen was a sneaky little shh… shneak. His skill was absurd. She had never heard of the thieves and rogues back home being able to stay concealed for so long or make indirect attacks. Mind you they didn’t have these blasted bouncy balls either. She ducked as another one ricocheted in at her. This was good training for her [Proprioception] though, she was sure it was close to expanding. She didn’t bother trying to track it back to him as he was careful to make sure he bounced it in from outside her range. Somehow he always seemed to have a good handle on exactly where she could sense and barring a few early missteps last night had stayed well clear. A faint shimmer caught attention from the corner of her eye. There he was. The light bending round him had waivered. She had him now. She threw three of his own blessed balls at him and then followed with a leaping grin as he ducked away.

“Oof!” Glen grunted as Charlie landed on his hunched back. Man she could move fast. “Good job Charlie” he wheezed. “I’m nearly there.”

“Nearly where? Charlie asked. That had sounded somewhat suspect. She unwrapped herself with alacrity.

“Nearly Level 4.” Glen glanced at her in surprise. What did she think he was meaning? He looked over at Jay. He was way less fun to sneak up on, not to mention not nearly as rewarding XP wise. He was demolishing the plate of scones that had been put out. “Shouldn’t you leave some for Rach?”

Jay looked up with a start, “whoops! Yes I guess.” He reluctantly put the last one down. “Where is she? Still asleep?” He looked around and then started to do some star jumps. Both Glen and Charlie watched him. It was reasonably disturbing. “What?” Jay didn’t stop. “Hey stop giving me the weird eye. I’ve gotta catch you up Glen and my skill sucks.” He paused briefly, “and it sucks getting half my XP being sequestered for that stupid quest too.”

Glen shook his head. “Jay, we gotta talk. That’s not the best way to level up your skill, whatever it is. Repetition is one thing but it has massively diminishing returns above Novice9.” He paused, “is it [Bounce] or [Jump] or some other movement type skill?”

Jay grimaced. “Hey, I was trying for [Parkour] okay. I thought that sort of fitted in with my perk and would be good fun to level up.” He did a couple more jumps. “Yes, it’s [Jump], darn it, and, it’s, totally, boring.” He looked at Charlie. “Hey Char.” Jump. “What’s, your, starter, skill?” He interposed his words between his jumps. “Probably, something, to do, with, your, wolf, yeah?”

Charlie hesitated. Her skill was weird. Whatever, though, she trusted them. “It’s called [Polyglot]. It helps me with languages.”

Jay looked at her. “That’s even more boring than my skill girl.” He cheered up. “Hey, at least I don’t have to study or think to level mine up!”

Glen snorted, “yeah can’t have that bro.”

Jay waved him off. “Mate, you do enough thinking for all of us.” He paused, ”that’s why you’re our leader, aye Charlie?”

Charlie considered it for a second. Yes, Glen did seem to be the best fit for the party leader. In fact they really should group up and make a proper party. “I think that’s a good idea. Glen, if you invite us then you will be the leader. Just focus on me and Jay and form a group.”

GROUP INVITE

Glen Applecrombie has invited you to party up

Accept?

Yes

No

Charlie flicked off a mental assent and the group details appeared.

NEW GROUP FORMED [ASSIGN NAME?]

Glen Applecrombie - Lvl 3 Human (Party Leader)

Jason Corne - Lvl 2 Human

Charlotte Della Porta - Lvl 1 Human

Both Jay and Glen turned to her with concern. “Why on earth are you only Level 1?” Glen asked.

“Don’t worry about that,” Jay was horrified, “why doesn’t it say you’re a [Werewolf]?”

Just then Rachel walked in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Morning y’all,” she yawned looking around. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing much Rach,” Glen answered. “We need to brainstorm a party name peeps. Any suggestions?”