Wyatt instructed the others on how to access their information, and one by one they all looked at their stats. Brad had confirmed that he was, in fact, a barbarian, much to his dissatisfaction. Angela was actually a class called a skirmisher. Apparently, it was an agility-based class, focusing more on lighter weapons, such as rapiers and throwing daggers.
They shared what their attribute points were, and it was clear to Wyatt that a score of six seemed to be the average. Wyatt’s strength and toughness scores being four was disappointingly low, but not unexpected given that he had never been a strong individual. His agility was five, endurance was six, charisma was seven, and intelligence, after the point from his class apparently, was eight. His willpower, however, with a base of ten was impressive. In fact, no one else seemed to have a ten in any category. Not only that, but his class added an extra point, bringing it to eleven.
“It seems like each of the classes adds two points in their primary attributes,” explained Jesse, “and each gives an additional three that we can distribute ourselves.”
“I’m seeing that too,” responded Wyatt, glad that there was another person in the group who was familiar with video games. “I suggest we distribute these free points now and try to focus on improving attributes associated with our class.”
Looking at his attribute points, Wyatt thought hard about how to best distribute these points. Obviously, intelligence and willpower were the most important stats for his class. He could up his intelligence by three points to match his willpower. He didn’t know if increasing his intelligence would actually make him smarter, or if they were more of a superficial increase that would only affect his spells or his mana pool. Before he made his decision, he decided to look more closely at the skills and spells he had gained.
Skill:
Earth Magic
Level:
1
Attribute:
Intelligence
Description:
Earth Magic focuses on the manipulation of rocks and minerals. Effectiveness of abilities in this field are based on level of Earth Magic and intelligence.
Skill:
Enchantment Magic
Level:
1
Attribute:
Willpower
Description:
Enchantment Magic focuses on manipulating the mind. Effectiveness of abilities in this field are based on level of Enchantment Magic and willpower.
Skill:
Chrono Magic
Level:
1
Attribute:
Intelligence
Description:
Chrono Magic pertains to the control of time. Effectiveness of abilities in this field are based on level of Chrono Magic and intelligence.
In addition to the skills listed on his status page, Wyatt had also gained two abilities, each tied to a specific skill. It was obvious to Wyatt that using the abilities was how he would level the skill. He opened his ability page, hoping it wouldn’t be too long before he gained more.
Ability:
Rock Spike
Base Cost:
10 MP
Skill:
Earth Magic
Cast Time:
1s
Duration:
Instant
Description:
A spike of solid stone shoots up from the ground. The caster can cause the spike to detach from the ground and shoot forward.
Ability:
Daze
Base Cost:
20 MP
Skill:
Enchantment Magic
Cast Time:
2s
Duration:
10s (12s)
Description:
Stuns a target for the duration. Attacking the target cancels the effects of Daze prematurely.
Ability:
Force of Will (Passive)
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Description:
Exert your will on your foes! Abilities from the school Enchantment Magic use willpower when determining effectiveness, rather than intelligence.
Given his ability, his enchantment magic would be based on his willpower. That seemed like a decent ability to have, and Wyatt decided that he would invest one free point per level in Willpower. Wyatt did so now and watched as his mana regeneration per minute increased from 1.1 to 1.2. He did some simple math in his head and determined that mana regen per minute was roughly ten percent of his willpower score. He then placed one point into toughness, and his health pool changed from 40 to 50, while his health regeneration per minute remained unchanged. The increase in health seemed obvious, but Wyatt was unsure what health regen was based on.
He learned from the others that the stamina pool was based on endurance, and stamina regeneration per minute seemed to be roughly a third of the endurance score. Wyatt, feeling like he would need to be the strategist in this group of strangers, decided to place his last point in charisma. If this was anything like a game, then charisma would be important to leadership.
Brad put all three of his points into strength, changing it from six to nine. The results were extraordinary and immediate. His muscles began to grow, making him look much stronger than he was before. The others had less noticeable changes, as most of them split their points between different attributes, but they all stated how they somehow felt healthier, or smarter, if only a little.
Wyatt asked the others what skills and abilities they received. The other mages received two spell schools in the form of skills, with an ability in each. Jesse had fire and ice skills, with a ranged attack spell for each, and Isaac had air and shield skills. There was some confusion in the group as to what shield spells would entail, but Jesse was quick to explain that it was typically magic relating to protection, albeit a bit condescendingly. Sure enough, the ability Isaac received related to the skill was called Shield. His other ability was Haste, which to Wyatt seemed pretty self-explanatory
Wyatt thought about those two spells for a moment. It seemed odd that Isaac did not receive any offensive spells, whereas Jesse had two, and he himself had one offensive and one that he would classify as “crowd control”. Perhaps the system gave spells based on personality? he thought.
Wyatt also learned that none of the other mages received a third skill. The others received passive abilities similar to his Force of Will ability, but the chrono magic skill seemed like something extra the system had given him.
The other classes, like fighter or archer, also received two abilities, similar to the mages. These, however, were combat based abilities focused on weapon usage or buffing, and each had some kind of passive ability. The fact that Wyatt received a third skill seemed entirely unique to him.
More confusing was his lack of any related ability. Without a spell to channel the chrono magic, Wyatt was unsure of how he would employ the skill.
Perhaps I can activate it without an ability, he thought, I will have to experiment.
The group was talking amongst themselves for a while. Jesse and Wyatt were explaining game mechanics to the others and were coming up with strategies to best employ each class. Wyatt began to wonder how long they would be here, or if they should start moving, when he heard another voice.
“Oh, hello,” it said. Wyatt turned and saw an elderly woman sitting just at the edge of the torchlight. Wyatt recognized the woman as the one at the gas station.
“Erm, hello,” Wyatt responded awkwardly, “Have you been there long?”
“Oh yes,” she said, “you all were talking, and I didn’t want to interrupt.
Oh crap, having two kids that would need protecting was bad enough, now we have to take care of the elderly, too?
“I’m Wyatt,” he said, moving towards her. The others began to quiet down, as they noticed the newcomer.
“I am Margie,” said the old lady, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Margie, do you know what class you are?” Wyatt helped the elder woman move closer to the group and sat her down beside Chuck.
“Why yes, I am a bard. I used to be quite the singer.”
“Support,” chimed in Jesse, to the confusion of others, “We can use that.”
“Oh, I don’t know how much support I can give you; I can barely stand on my own.” Margie began looking around, before turning back to Wyatt. “Young man, have you seen my walker, by chance?”
A walker? This just keeps getting better.
World Integration Complete
This new prompt surprised Wyatt, and the others all quieted down as they saw it, too. When it disappeared, more torches lit up around them.
It looked to them like they were in a cave of some sort. The cave looked like it was a strange mix of natural and manmade, with flat walls and an even ground. The room was perfectly circle, as well, but everything was made of stone and showed no signs of having been built, but simply existed where it was. There was only one exit to the room: a large wooden door. Along the wall was an assortment of weapons and armor. None if it was too impressive, but it would be better than nothing.
“I know this sounds obvious,” said Wyatt, “but I suggest we arm ourselves.”
The others nodded their assent and dispersed along the cave wall to find something that would match their classes.
Wyatt had no idea what would suit the mages; there didn’t seem to be anything a mage would usually wield. He thought of typical wizards, with long robes and magical staffs. As it was, the clothes they were wearing would have to work for them. He suggested to the other mages and Margie that they at least grab daggers, and Jesse decided to grab a quarterstaff, as well.
Looking at his dagger, Wyatt wondered how to tell how good it was. As he stared, a window popped up near the item:
Name:
Dagger [Basic]
Durability:
20/20
Requirements:
None
Description:
A simple dagger made of iron.
You have gained a new skill:
Analyze – Level 1
Wyatt wondered if the window appeared simply because he thought about it. He wouldn’t complain about learning another skill, and he was relieved to find that learning skills should be fairly straight forward. At least, he hoped it would be.
He experimented with the skill a little and looked at a longsword on the wall. Nothing happened. He picked it up, and still nothing appeared. Then, he thought about analyzing it. Sure enough, a window appeared:
Name:
Longsword [Basic]
Durability:
25/25
Requirements:
Strength 6
Description:
A simple longsword made of iron.
That makes sense, he thought, putting the weapon back on the wall. He had a feeling his low strength score would come into play quite often. He knew he shouldn’t feel bad about it, he was a mage after all, and they were an inherently weak class, but he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed when he found out that the little girl had a strength score of five. That was after her class added one point, and she had put another into it. Yet somehow, that still didn’t make him feel the least bit better.
The two gamers helped the others decide on what they would need. Chuck, Marlene, Angela, and Brad put on a leather chest piece each. Chuck, being the archer, also wore a leather bracer on his left forearm. On his hip was a short sword, and a quiver was strapped to his back with a bow in his left hand.
Marlene was told she should have a mace, and Angela strapped a rapier to her hip. Brad, the barbarian, grabbed a large single bladed axe, which he commented had been lighter than he expected.
Richard, the fighter, had to put on the most in the group. They found a set of metal armor that he wore, covering his chest and stomach. He put on metal shin guards and bracers, and strapped a small shield to his left arm, with a longsword at his hip.
Marlene smiled as she looked at him and commented about how she’s never seen this side of him. Richard looked away, embarrassed but smiling.
“Oh nice, we have a tank.” Jesse slapped Richard's shoulder, which seemed to hurt the mage more than the armored man.
“I beg your pardon?” Richard looked at Jesse with indignation. “I’m what?”
“The tank. You have the most armor, and highest toughness.”
Richard looked to Wyatt for clarification.
“Most parties have certain roles,” imparted the mage with a sigh, “There are healers who obviously heal, which would be Marlene given her class. DPS, or damage per second who are supposed to deal the majority of damage to targets, which would be our mages, Cecilia, Chuck, and Angela. Then there’s support, who either buff the party or debuff enemies, which is Margie in this case since she is a bard and Isaac given the spells he has. Crowd control is what we call people who focus on making sure enemies don’t overwhelm the party, which might be me given my Daze spell.
Then there are tanks.” He motioned at Brad and Richard before continuing, “Tanks, as Jesse said, are supposed to get the attention of most enemies and absorb the brunt of the damage, so the rest of the party can hurt them. Brad, given his high health, can fill that role, as well as DPS. You, however,” he pointed to Richard, “have heavier armor and more points of toughness. Thus, you are the best tank we have.”
Richard didn’t respond to that, trying to take in the large amount of information he had just been given. He looked around at the others, but, besides the young gamer, no one else seemed to follow what Wyatt had been talking about.
“I’ll explain more later,” Wyatt stated, sighing, “for now, we need to move. There’s no telling what is waiting for us, but we shouldn’t stay here long.”
They all took a torch off the wall, at Margie’s suggestion, then gathered in front of the only exit to the room. They looked at each other, unsure of whether they were ready for whatever lay beyond the door.
Wyatt looked at the others and saw that they all seemed as nervous as he was. Even Jesse, who seemed the most excited about the turn of events, looked anxious.
Taking a breath, Wyatt reached for the door.