The moment Cyn touched the staff all of the other choices vanished, and she felt the burst of warmth in her skull again. This time however, it did not stay in her head region and instead spread throughout her whole body before dissipating. Notifications also flashed in the corner of her vision, but unlike the first time they did not stay there and instead rapidly faded out. The floating text had changed once again, and more items appeared, but for the moment Cyn chose to focus on the choice she had just made. Using Inspect on the staff now gave a much different description.
Staff of Beginnings (Unique)(Soulbound) - A simple wooden staff given to novice Mages. Lacking enchantments, its primary use is as a walking stick. Can be used as a melee weapon in a pinch.
Good to know smacking things over the head was still an option. ‘Soulbound’ was a word she had not seen here yet, but Cyn suspected it would only appear on items. She had seen the term in games and it simply indicated the item could not be given to or used by anyone but the first person who used it. With that curiosity satisfied, she opened her menu to look at the notifications.
Class chosen: Mage - A root class focused on magic. The Mage sacrifices physical combat power in order to use magic more efficiently. Root classes are highly malleable, and are prone to specialized evolution through your decisions and actions.
Mages will gain +2 Mind, +2 Will, and +1 free point when leveling up.
Seeing as the first notification did not give her any new information, she immediately removed it in favor of reading what appeared to be new skills. The first of which had a name that gave her a little hope.
New skill gained! Restoration (Common) - Use mana to accelerate natural health regeneration and close wounds.
Can be used on self or others.
A healing skill. Even if it sounded a little underwhelming, Cyn could be a healer and that’s all that mattered. She should still read the other skills though.
New skill gained! Mana Ball (Common) - Condense mana into an inefficient and unstable mass that can be thrown to deal unattuned magic damage.
This one was just…weird. The description went out of the way to point out that using this skill is inefficient, and on top of that you had to actually throw it? She couldn't be certain about what unattuned meant, but suspected that it just did not do elemental damage, like a fireball would. There had to be better attack options than that, even for a level 0 mage.
New skill gained! Mage Regeneration (Common)(Passive) - The Mage will regenerate their mana faster than other classes.
And that was it. A walking stick, an underwhelming healing skill, a questionable damage skill, and a passive to get mana back faster were the rewards for choosing Mage as a class. Cyn was not entirely certain if she had made a mistake or not. She had not even gained any stat points since the class appeared to start at 0. If push came to shove at least she had the option of just going feral and bonking her enemies over the head. The absurdity of that mental image made her chuckle and Cyn removed the notifications and closed her menu to read what the floating text had to say now.
These items should help you while adjusting to the transitional dungeon. Included is a gift chosen by The Arcane Hall to be given to all Mages being Awakened from the 242nd dimension. When you are ready to face the future, open the door.
If the door is not opened in 2:51 you will automatically enter the dungeon.
That number was counting down, leaving Cyn less than three minutes to gather up the new items on the table. If she had read the floating text before her new skills, she might have waited to ponder over them. With time ticking by she had to almost forcefully shove away her internal questions about the transitional dungeon and The Arcane Hall, and instead looked quickly over the table.
The first thing she grabbed was a belt with a few leather pouches attached. A glance inside the pouches revealed two of them to be empty while the remaining two contained a few small bottles filled with liquid, and something rectangular wrapped up in cloth that she did not have time to identify. The pouches did not have a lot of space, but it was better than trying to just hold stuff in her arms. Unable to figure out how to use the clasp on the belt quickly, Cyn just threw it over her shoulder for the moment and started on the rest of the items.
Next was a pale blue hooded cloak made of a soft material. A different shade than the blue void she had been surrounded by for some time now at least, so it did not come with the discomfort looking around currently did. This was unceremoniously thrown over the same shoulder as the belt. The only reason Cyn recognized the next item, a waterskin, was because of it featuring in many survival games. It looked like it could attach to the belt too, but she would have to just hold it for now alongside her staff. The final item on the table was a box wrapped in blue cloth the same shade as the cloak, and topped with an elaborate silver bow. This was undoubtedly the gift from The Arcane Hall, but with less than a minute to go she would have to open it later.
Cyn shoved the wrapped box under one arm and held her staff in the hand on the same side, picking up the waterskin with the opposite hand while looking around for the door. Finding a modern looking door directly behind her, she scrambled to open it with only moments to spare, refusing to even think about the logic of using a door that is not attached to anything. As she turned the knob, Cyns vision went dark and she found herself once again unable to feel her body. This time it only lasted a few moments before her consciousness crashes back into her physical form with a flash of pain and bright light.
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The pain and nausea were significantly reduced this time at least. While she wanted to keep her eyes closed until the feeling passed, the sound of groans nearby made it clear that wherever she was now, she was no longer alone.
Cyn quickly opened her eyes in an attempt to assess if she was in danger, but ended up only blinding herself briefly and making her own groan of agony as another stab of pain shot through her head. When she was finally able to actually see, what she found was four other people in various stages of pain and wildly different attire.
Her attention was drawn left to the most absurd looking of the group. A slightly overweight looking man with light olive skin and brown hair, sporting a full beard it looked like. Although he was currently holding his face in one hand, still groaning quietly. What made him stand out was the fact he wore only a pair of lime green boxers. Scattered around his feet appeared to be the items he was given, including a longsword identical to the one Cyn had passed over, a bright red cloak, and what looked to be metal covered gloves.
To his left was a tall, dark skinned woman. She seemed a bit more recovered than the first man, eyes wide and quickly flicking around as if she was trying to take in everything at once. Dark hair sat in neat braided rows to be gathered at the back of her head. The gray pants suit and black heels the woman wore looked only a little out of place paired with her leather belt, pouches, and dark green cloak. She had apparently been more time conscious than Cyn or Boxers, and managed to actually wear the gear she had been provided with. Held in one hand was a wooden bow and the straps to a quiver, and in the other some kind of cloth Cyn was not able to immediately identify.
Left of Pants Suit another man sat on the ground. He too seemed mostly recovered, and was just staring at Boxers. Not that Cyn could blame him for that, Boxers was a sight to behold. Sitting made it harder for Cyn to get a good look at him, but his lanky limbs gave her the impression he would also be pretty tall when standing, possibly taller than Pants Suit even with her heels. Wearing pretty normal gray sweatpants and a dark t-shirt, but no shoes, the only feature that stood out was the tips of his short brown hair were dyed pink. She was not able to see his weapons or gear, but based on the dark purple lump of cloth he was holding in his lap she guessed he may have used his cloak as a makeshift bag to carry it all. Definitely a smarter way to hold things than what she was currently doing.
The final man standing to the left of Pink was significantly older than the rest of them. His long hair, tied back in a ponytail, had lost any traces of its original color and the wrinkled skin on his face and arms appeared leathery, as if he had spent too much time under the sun over a long period. With a solid black tank top, black leather pants with matching boots, and an array of tattoos Cyn would have bet he owned at least one motorcycle. He just looked the part so completely. Despite his clear age, the biker's eyes were a sharp, unclouded green and he appeared to be carefully taking in his surroundings. A neat pile of gear sat at his feet, and at the bottom of it was a shield, seeming to be coupled with a spiked mace Cyn had not seen when choosing a class. The folded cloak sitting near the middle of the pile was a dark gold.
Since her unopened gift was the same shade as her cloak, Cyn had a hunch the cloak colors were significant. Meaning Pink with his dark purple one was probably a Rogue. On a whim, she tried to use Inspect on Pink to see if it would tell her. The pop-up she got was unhelpful.
?
No information beyond that Inspect could be used. More importantly however, was Pink's reaction. As soon as Cyn attempted to use Inspect on him, Pink's whole body jolted and he jumped to his feet, looking around wildly while exclaiming, “What was that?!”
Pants Suit took a step back and just shook her head, while Boxers silently looked at Pink like he had lost his mind. With Cyn silently questioning if it even was her use of Inspect that caused his outburst, and mentally confirming he was in fact the tallest of them, that left Biker to be the sensible one.
“What was what? Young man, all we saw was you suddenly jump up and start hollering for no reason.” Bikers voice was gravelly, with a slight southern drawl, and the full weight of his gaze moved to rest on Pink.
Having a second, calmer voice break their silence had a calming effect on everyone, and when Pink found his voice again he sounded a little sheepish, “I…I don’t know. It was like the worst case of goosebumps I’ve ever felt suddenly. And…like someone was prodding at me. I don’t know man. It’s gone now.”
Cyn knew then it was time to speak up. “That was probably me. I tried to use Inspect, and you jumped at the same time.” Four pairs of eyes fell on her at that moment, and while she wasn’t exactly shy it was definitely uncomfortable to have the entire room's attention. She waited a few moments for any kind of response, but when all she got back were wide eyed stares Cyn felt compelled to add on, “Sorry.”
“Good idea. I didn’t think of trying that.” This came from Pants Suit, whose voice was as crisp as her outfit, and Cyn did not even get a chance to give the other woman a grateful smile before she understood exactly why Pink had nearly jumped out of his skin.
It could only be described as invasive. Cyn could not articulate exactly how or why it felt like that, but it did and the shock that came from the almost violent goosebumps made her drop her staff and gift. She was able to recover quickly at least and found Pants Suit frowning slightly.
“I assume you got the same thing I did, just a question mark?” Cyn spoke while bending down to grab her things from the floor, turning her head slightly to look at Pink, “I also see why you jumped when I did that, sorry again.”
Pink let out a relieved laugh and sat back down while Pants Suit answered her question. “Yeah, just a question mark. So I guess we should do some introductions.”
There was barely a pause before Pants Suit spoke again, seeming to take the lead in her own idea. “My name is Dana, and I work as an attorney. I have no idea how I got here between client meetings, and am now apparently classed as an Archer.”
Pink spoke next after it was clear the Archer had nothing more to add. “You can call me Hex, currently unemployed. Pretty sure I was doing dishes before I ended up in that…blue hell. Picked up the knives before looking at anything else so I guess I am a rogue now?” He didn’t seem pleased with his class based on the almost sullen tone. I like blue void more. But that works too. Cyn doubted Hex was his real name, since it sounded like an edgy screen name, but she was not in a position to point it out considering her own nickname. No one else seemed inclined to point it out either.
Hex’s predicament seemed to make Biker have to take a moment to chuckle before he took his turn to speak, smiling at the younger man. “Names Scott. Retired, and the last thing I remember was cruising down the highway. Sort of assumed I crashed and woke up in literal Hell. Got myself in the same situation as Hex here, and just blindly picked up one of the provided items. Made me some kind of Guardian. Guess that means I’m gonna have to keep an eye on the lot of you.”
Scott already seemed pretty good at putting everyone else at ease, and the more relaxed atmosphere caused Cyn to not feel the same pressure as before once all eyes fell back on her. “My name is Cynthia, but please just call me Cyn. I’m a programmer, and since the last thing I did was go to bed I am not convinced this isn’t just a very, very weird dream. Oh, and I chose to be a Mage.” The mention of her class had been an afterthought. She did not know any of these people, and at least two of them seemed to have taken a class by accident rather than purposefully. She wasn’t mad per se, but that coupled with a nagging doubt about this being a dream, and the rising sense of panic was starting to get hard to push down.
“Shit, magic was an option?”
“That does explain your hair situation.”
Hex and Dana spoke at the same time, the Rogue managing to look even more forlorn over his class choice upon hearing he accidentally passed up using magic.
Since Boxers did not immediately speak up to take his turn, Cyn decided to ignore the comment about her hair and answer Hex. “Yah, magic was an option. But it seems kind of weird based on the abilities I got, so don’t feel too bad you missed it.”
Hex didn’t look relieved, but nodded just the same and all eyes fell on the final member of their group who had to clear his voice before speaking in a deep baritone. “Call me Sam, I work in construction. I was also sleeping, hence…” Sam gestured to himself, a clear attempt to explain his state of undress compared to the rest of them. “And after evaluating the options I chose Warrior. Didn’t even have the time to pick up my stuff before I was whisked away again.”
The final introduction was followed by a round of awkward nods that lapsed into silence, everyone seeming to be at a loss of where to go from here. Cyn had taken the opportunity to glance around the room while the others took turns introducing themselves, and while it looked like they might be in a literal dungeon made of stone bricks and lit by torches, the circular room the group currently stood in seemed safe enough with only a single door that was closed.
Knowing what she at least wanted to do next gave her the courage to break the silence again. “I did not get a chance to look at anything I picked up, and would like to do that before we decide how to proceed. I suggest anyone else who did not get to use Inspect on their stuff or new abilities do the same.”
Cyn started to sit back down as the others nodded in agreement, and as she began to sort through what she had been carrying Scott spoke quietly, tone now far more serious, “I agree, best we do that. I get the feeling from all this we better be prepared for a fight before opening that door.”