When Balmore next awoke, he felt as though he was floating -- no that wasn’t right. Floating implies that there is some ground to hover over. He simply was in an area without bounds, and without force in any direction. The only thing in this plane of existence seemed to be Balmore. That was, until Balmore felt something speak to him in the same strange manner the notifications had appeared in his brain.
“Welcome to your test Balmore Davidson. Before you begin, we must find out who and what you are. Of course, what you will be is still up for debate. Now, let us begin. In a moment, but not yet, you will be given 50 Stat Points. These may be distributed as you please across your stat sheet, but no single stat may exceed 10, at least initially of course. Be prudent with your choices as stat selections will lock or unlock certain beginning class options.”
The words sounded distinctly feminine, but mature and matronly. They sounded as though they were made to give comfort to a crying child. Despite this, before Balmore could process the words that seemed downloaded into this head, he had a table pop up in his vision.
Balmore Davidson
Class: None
School: None - Expelled
Rank: Delinquent
Free Stat Points:
50
Strength (STR)
0
Dexterity (DEX)
0
Wisdom (WIS)
0
Charisma (CHA)
0
Luck (LCK)
0
Constitution (CON)
0
Endurance (END)
0
The previous calm which dominated Balmore’s entire being no longer had the vice grip on his thoughts and emotions. It was finally too much. Balmore tried to panic, his limbs flailing wildly. He was always one who prided himself in keeping his cool regardless of circumstance and he felt rather childlike but could find no other cure to the madness of what was occurring to him right now. He was meant to be dominating his way through exams, riddles, exercises -- showing off his earned physique and natural talent. This was insanity. This was absurd. This was unacceptable. This was unnatural. This was a mockery of everything that he had ever been taught. This was… this was… this was an actual test. It wasn’t the test that Balmore expected, but it was certainly a test.
Balmore drove his focus singularly to the task of picking through the words of the being that had found its home in his head. The creature had said first that this test was designed to find out who and what he has. It was an IQ test of sorts? No -- more like a form of self-reflection. He had to assess himself as he was now and make an accurate reflection onto the sheet given the limited number of “points”. He could do that.
Strength, that one was simple enough. Balmore was never weak -- growing up in an agrarian society ensured that. He was, though, never the strongest of his cohort. While others seemed to stack muscle on themselves progressively since the onset of puberty, he retained a lankier frame. He had once been compared to a spider monkey from one of the elderly women he took lessons under. She showed him a picture in an old almanac of exotic creatures that was preserved in her own personal collection. He was strong, sure, but the strength came from his long limbs acting more like taught cables than factors of significant force. He decided that 5 points seemed appropriate, and that he would go back and adjust, if necessary, after reviewing the other factors.
Dexterity, that had a little more nuance to it. He was quick enough -- sure. He grew up running through the woods and climbing the native oak, maple, and gumball trees around him. He couldn’t sew to save his life though. His mother had once hit him upside the head for trying to surprise her by mending his own pants as a child. He had of course somehow made the hole worse in the jeans and had taken a loose thread from his shirt to complete the task. His mom had even kept both the pants and the shirt to remind him of the folly through his childhood. Any time he would express any amount of ego she would pull out the pants and chastise him for his hubris. He decided that four points was a good starting point and accurately depicted his abilities well enough.
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Thinking and reflecting on that hubris he had trouble considering how wise he was. He noticed that this was not a measure of intelligence, but rather wisdom. How was wisdom in this context defined? He didn’t want to assume that his drastic advantage in book knowledge over his relatively simple peers was necessarily applicable in this test. He also did not think himself unwise by any measure. He was sure that he ranked highly when compared to everyone else at his point of testing. Surely, this test took into account who it was testing and did not expect these young people to have a wisdom significantly higher than their parents and elders. No, that would be why the cap of 10 points was in place -- older people would certainly score higher, and this was just an arbitrary scale where he and his peers could compare themselves. He selected 9 points and placed them into wisdom, leaving some room at the top for both growth and to cap his own ego.
Charisma was one thing that he was sure that he was sure that he could max out. He was not traditionally attractive, and the girls back home never fawned over him. But neither did they shift their gazes away like they would for some other unfortunate boys. Balmore knew that looks was not the entire basis of charisma, moreover he was sure that his own personality covered leagues that his appearance didn’t. More appropriately though he had a way of ingratiating himself to adults in a way that most other kids couldn’t. While others were viewed as what they were -- kids, he always stood out and was categorized as the “mature” one of his cohort. This was never a fully true assessment of him, but rather an effect of carefully curating what the adults -- no, what everyone around him saw. His family was the closest thing to royalty that Platteville had, and he used the expectations of others to his advantage. He acted with the poise that his position dictated, but also an outward kindness and helpfulness that they didn’t expect of a child from his station. Everyone always seemed to believe that the Davidson’s were a caste ahead of them, even if practically that wasn’t necessarily true. One of the benefits of the cull at 18 was that you knew for a fact that your life was valuable if you continued past the testing. He filled the stat to its maximum of 10 pts.
Luck, luck was a tricky one. On one hand, Balmore abhorred the idea of relying on luck for anything. He thought that gambling was a foolhardy practice and avoided it at all costs. He also hated the idea of thinking about his own success, or the success of his family as anything but a product of their own agency and dedication. He knew too many people that kept hope in their heart for a better world, a better harvest, a better relationship and relying on luck to manifest those dreams. These people often thought themselves pursuing their dreams when in reality they were complacent and did not move themselves toward those goals they supposedly held in high regard. Balmore also recognized that he was fortunate to have been born into the family that he was. He was fortunate to even have a hope of passing the testing. It was not an uncommon practice for children to give up on their hopes of making it past that bulwark of 18. They were never truly fearful of an end, it was not an dishonorable thing to die in the minds of most. They did, though, focus more time on enjoying themselves as they are now than Balmore ever could. Instead of progressing themselves, they chose to spend their time while they had it. Something that Balmore understood but could never respect. He put a meager 4 points in luck, much to the chagrin of himself.
Balmore took a moment to reflect on his position. He had 18 points left and only constitution and endurance left. He didn’t fully know the difference between the two. Like wisdom, these traits had varying definitions depending on who you ask and in what context you use them. Frustrated, he thought back over his life. He was not strong, but he was sturdy. He considered himself unmovable in many ways. He was well known for a stubborn streak that would leave him nose down in his work for days if that was what was required of him. It gave him a level of respect from the others in his town, while also proving himself to be a reliable person. More often than not it ended up with him taking on more work for the simple reason that he would complete the task for the sake of completion itself. His constitution was wrapped up into this high endurance. He was careful with his body. He took care of it to make sure that not only would he not develop any physical defect that might prohibit him from passing these tests, but also to facilitate his other growth. His family had taught him that excellence of the mind and body were mutually reliant on the other. Although his strength never seemed to catch up with the work he did, his body was solid. He placed 9 points in each category and reviewed his work.
Balmore Davidson
Class: None
School: None - Expelled
Rank: Delinquent
Free Stat Points:
0
Strength (STR)
5
Dexterity (DEX)
4
Wisdom (WIS)
9
Charisma (CHA)
10
Luck (LCK)
4
Constitution (CON)
9
Endurance (END)
9
Overall, he was not totally unhappy with the way that the sheet reflected him. He wasn’t satisfied that he hadn’t had to go back and revise any of his decisions. Even now though as he looked over his decisions, he couldn’t find any points that he would feel comfortable moving around. If anything, he wished that his strength and dexterity were higher, but didn’t believe that to be an accurate reflection of himself at this point in his life. He resolved himself to do more dedicated training when he returned home to improve himself in those areas and thought about finalizing his choices. As he did so, the voice returned with what sounded like a chuckle.
“Hmmm, interesting choices there young man. I think you’ll enjoy this next bit. I haven’t had one like you in a while. What would you prefer first, the good news, or the bad news?”