A small grin continued to grow on Ezra’s face.
Name: Ezra Hawthorne
Age: 16
Race: Human
Class: Ė̴̦̞̗̌R̸̹̃R̴̻͔̟̪̾Ö̸̧̺͕́̂͘R̵̮̟͖͍̒͝
Sub-class: N/A
Bonded Spirit: T̴̪̓̓͂h̵̪̠̲̍é̸͕̃ ̸̟͉̔͘M̷̠̻͉̬͋̿ỏ̴̗̗͒͠ő̸̼͖̅n̸͎̭̄l̸̠̟̚ì̶̢̩̦͚t̶̻̮͓̾̓ ̶̖͗̓Q̴̳̝͈̱̔̋ṷ̷͠ė̵͍̲̐̈̂è̸͈̺̃̀n̸̢̪̟̍͂̒
Health Points: 72/90
Mana Points: 210/210
Level: 1
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 3
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 3
Personal Skills:
[Calm] - Lv. 1
[Inspect] - Lv. MAX
[Bind] - Lv. 1 - Compatible
Skill points: 0
Stat points: 0
Ability points: 0
Titles:
LOCKED
His young age taunted him at the top of screen. He shook his head and focused on the more important part of this. Namely, the fact that there was a goddamn floating blue box in front of him.
In a way, it wasn’t surprising at all. How many mangas and books had he read with a similar premise to what was happening now? But that was all fiction, while this was reality. This was in front of him, so close that he could touch it. He stiffened. Couldn’t get too excited. This could just be him losing his mind. Or maybe he’d always been crazy. It was hard to tell. Even if this really was one of those types of stories, he didn't expect himself to succeed. When he played RPGs, the main way he won was by grinding relentlessly until he could slaughter everything in his path. Ezra strongly suspected that such a strategy wouldn't fly in this world.
Of course, the thing that had caught his attention was the glitched-out, broken text. If he squinted his eyes, he could kind of make out the words.
But what did those mean? And why were they like that in the first place?
Ezra narrowed his eyes. He hoped this would work. He reached out and tapped the ‘Race:’ text.
A pop-up appeared.
[Human]
The most common race in the greater Eurys area. Known for their resilience and ingenuity, humans excel in a wide range of environments and professions.
Bonuses:
Experience Boost: +10% XP gain from all sources.
Skill Points: +1 additional skill points per level up.
Special Traits:
Quick Learners: Enhanced ability to learn and master new skills.
Adaptive Resilience: Increased resistance to environmental and status effects.
Ezra’s eyes widened. So he could click on things to get the specifics? That made lots of sense. His abilities as a human seemed pretty solid as well. One additional skill point per level-up didn’t sound like a lot, but over time Ezra had no doubt it would be very useful. He frowned. On second thought, what if other races or monsters had significantly better bonuses? He didn’t know for sure.
He clicked on the next one there. Perhaps he’d find out what the game meant by ‘Error’?
A blue box popped up.
[SYSTEM ERROR]
[SYSTEM ERROR]
[ATTEMPTING CLASS RECONSTRUCTION]
[CLASS LOCATED: STUDENT]
[APPLYING…]
[APPLYING…]
[CLASS CHANGE COMPl̵̯̦̔͜e̶͕̽ͅt̸͍̊͘ẹ̵̾͛̏]
[E̶̱̲͈̪͌̓͐X̶̙̭͛Ṫ̵̛̯͖͔̍ͅĚ̸͉̯R̵̺̀N̸̬̽A̵̺͈̚L̷̛̯̰̱͔ ̴̡̛͉̼ͅÌ̸͖̿͠Ń̸̛̙̣̬̥T̵̢͙̹̝͆̓́E̴͙̘̟͑͗͘͠Ṟ̷̥͍̳̊F̶͈̎̈́̀̚E̸̬̅̿͝R̷̳̉̚E̷̻̰̓N̸̛͎̂̇C̴̲̿̔Ē̵̺͙̮̇̔]
[Ę̸̡̫͔̀J̵͕̪̘̏͗̈Ȅ̷͔͕̠̋Ç̴͛̌͂T̵̨̪̒̄̏̕I̵̭͛̈́̎Ņ̷̪͕̰͑̏G̸̘͉̩̓̓͝͝ ̷̨̧̼͂͑̈Ị̷̑̑N̴̥̤̹̈́̋̈́Ț̵͍͇͂̿E̵̢̛͚̓̈́R̵͇̹̐̈̾̿F̷͇͂́̽͌Ȇ̷͚̹̮̮̅R̶̤̍͗͂͊È̴̢̺͌̌͜Ņ̸̘̳͉̐͑͆̃C̵̺̬̬͑̇͝Ē̶̼̫̞͠]
[E̸̺̹̙͋̏J̷̨̝͎̰̥̳̗̪̦̣̯͔͖̙̱̠̺͇̙̀͊̆̈͒͋̃̒̈́̌̕E̷̮̥̱̜̼̱͉͓̗̤̱̮͈̹̲͖̳̯̓͒̃̈́̏͆̏̀̂̈́̎͑̒͂̍̉̚͝Ç̵̡̬͓̖̹̩̝̘̰͉̝̭̹͔̼͍̐̅̂̉̈́͛̍͂̔́̐̊͘͘͜͝͝Ţ̸̰̲̙͎̱̜̗̪̰̤̦͖̣̬̀̀̂́̉̋̈́̊̍̈́̒͐͘̕̚͝I̴͈̬̮̥̲͖̻̥̲̹̕O̴̢͓̟̪̮̱͎̙̪͎͑͌͠N̷̡̳͇̈́̄̊̃̑̋͛͗̒͊͠͠ ̵̭̘̘̘͖͎̤̀̀̅̊̀̀̋͊͋̈C̷̢̡̡̨̪̪͇͔̳̗̺̟̟̞̹͒̋͜Ǭ̷̛͈̞͚̬̺͙̝̯̼̫̭̝̈́̐̉̔̽̑̅̑͋̽͘͠Ṃ̴̡̊̋̀͘͠P̶̨̢̛̯͉̺̹̹̬̮̮͓̺͚͍̭̹͖̗̄͐̂͆̉̀̌̾̔͛͒͗̐̓̽̇͐͛͘͠L̷̹̆̄̒̔̂̽͠E̵̼͍̠̪̦̜̖̓͂́̋͗́̉̓̌͆̎̈́̋̃̃̾̂̔̚͝͝E̷̥͚̪̥̘̲̣̼̲̦̣̤͉͍̮̥̫̭̜̯͋̋̆̐Ę̷̨̧̰̭͇͓̳͕͙̈́̈́̏͛̈́̈́̊̋̓͝ͅḜ̶̧̢̤̳̪̻̹̩̩̜̮̼̠̻̙̥̮͖̮͛̉̒̐̽͑͘̚͜Ę̴̮̰̳̹̹̹͓̼̝̯͕͇̗͈͓̦̦̇̏̉̔̄̆̕͜È̴̥̞̲͉̪̤͍͎̩̼̼͎̲͕̄͂͑̃̈̇͗̍͊͗̽̈́E̸̛̪̳͂E̵̡̧̹̪̥̭̳̘͈͔̹̘͇͓͇̺̺̙̫̞̞̜̪̅̽̊̊͗Ḛ̶̡̧͙̪̙͈̻͕͕̰͈̺͍͓͇̀͂̇̋̀̋̎̿̎̑̌͒Ȩ̷̛̙̩̪̬͍͚̝̯͓̖̟̒͊̾̈́̎́̿̒͌̉̉̎͂̓́̾̚͝͝]
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
]
[Ejection failed.]
The pop-ups disappeared, leaving Ezra with his stat sheet. His class had changed.
C̴l̷a̸s̵s̵: S̸t̵u̸d̵e̸n̵t̸
Ezra stood ramrod straight. What had just happened? External interference? What on earth was that supposed to mean? Was manipulating his stat sheet? But why? And this class—student? Bullshit.
A chill went down his spine and he bit his bottom lip. What was in him—or with him—that was causing this?
Did he dare to click it again, to see if he had a new description?
His eyes narrowed and he reached out, tapping the class.
[Student]
Students are inquisitive and adaptable individuals, constantly seeking knowledge and improvement. With a natural affinity for learning and problem-solving, they excel in acquiring new skills and adapting to various challenges.
Bonuses:
Learning Speed: +15% faster skill acquisition and proficiency growth.
Knowledge Boost: +10% to experience gain from quests and knowledge-based activities.
Ezra clenched his jaw. Was he supposed to be happy or disappointed that nothing interesting had happened? Perhaps it was nothing more than a glitch, anyway. Games back in his world glitched out, who’s to say that this System didn’t have the same issue? Yet he couldn’t suppress the feeling of unease. It was like something was crawling under his skin.
He shook his head and moved down the list. There was nothing to do right now about any of that. He reached out and tapped the Bonded Spirit text.
[Error! You do not have a bonded spirit at this time!]
Ezra groaned, then sighed. If he didn’t have a bonded spirit, then why did the text in front of him say he did? Well, at least he wasn’t hit with a half-dozen boxes telling him the System was having a meltdown.
[Strength]
Determines your character's physical power and ability to exert force. Higher Strength improves your effectiveness in melee combat, increases your carrying capacity, and enhances your ability to perform physically demanding tasks.
Ezra nodded to himself. That was about what he’d expected from the pop-up. He had a good idea of what Dexterity and Constitution would say. The one that he was curious about was Intelligence and Wisdom. Wisdom especially. After all, who defined Wisdom? Many people held to many different definitions.
So what would the game argue for?
Ezra clicked on Intelligence.
It said something about mana capacity and memory. This really was just like an RPG. Exactly like one of the games he’d played as a kid. Mana was a thing. Which meant magic was a thing. Which meant that his dreams of ultimate magical power weren’t out of reach!
He fist-pumped to himself. As soon as he did so, heat flooded his cheeks and he darted his eyes from left to right to see if anyone noticed. Once he’d seen that no one was watching, he coughed into his hand.
“Right, anyway,” he said. “Back on target.”
Besides, Even though he dreamed of ultimate magical power, Ezra wasn't anything special. He'd definitely give his best going forward, but intelligence and forward planning just wasn't his strong suit.
Despite the influx of information, one bit stood out. The “minor boost to memory and mental acuity” part. He supposed that it would’ve been a little broken if it majorly changed his intelligence to the point where he was omniscient.
Wisdom also had more or less what he expected. It primarily related to mana regen and perception.
His eyes shifted down. The last two skills he had: Calm and Bind. He clicked on Calm first.
[Calm] - Lv. 1
Stores emotions for later. After a timer expires, the user receives all the stored emotions, experiencing them all at once and with their intensity amplified. This amplification can be decreased as the skill is leveled up.
Amplification: 9.5x
Timer: 5m 0s
Mana Consumption: 15 mp/s
Cooldown: 5h
The ability to stuff his emotions in a box? That could come in handy. It seemed like the backlash could hurt, though. 9.5? That sounded bad, even if he wasn’t sure.
He clicked the next thing.
[Inspect] - Lv. MAX
Allows you to identify items and their abilities. Allows you to see the levels of other entities within a range of 100.
That seemed useful. Strategically, there was no denying that knowledge was power. It was odd that it was a skill, though. Did that mean other people didn’t have such a skill?
He moved down to the final thing on his list.
[Bind] - Lv. 1
[Binds things together. Levels increase how effective the binding is and decrease the resistance of certain objects.]
[Uses 50 MP/s]
Ezra’s eyebrows furrowed together. Could it be used as a restraint? Perhaps that’s what the text was going for? No, Ezra didn’t buy it. Plus, there was that insane MP/s. Ezra would burn everything away in seconds. Surely there had to be something more powerful to it. Something that Ezra was missing.
Ezra held out his left hand.
“Bind!”
Nothing happened.
Ezra clicked his tongue. Come to think of it, the box didn’t explain how to activate his skills. Go figure.
“Skill activate!”
Nothing. Again.
Ezra let out a sharp puff of air.
“Seriously?” he said. “A potentially cool ability and I can’t even use it?”
Ezra’s nose flared out and he tapped his foot against the ground. He should know how to do this, right? If only there was a box pop-up allowing him to select his skills. That would be both easy and familiar.
Right as he was about to try again, the sound of grass rustling caught his attention.
Ezra’s heart rate shot up. He turned around, facing his bad arm out. He clenched the fist of his other arm.
The rustling sounds got closer.
Closer.
Then—
A boy with combed-back blond hair and a tight jacket popped out of the bushes. He reached up for his head, flicking off a loose twig that had gotten tangled in his pus-colored locks. As a result, a wisp of hair fell in front of his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a straight razor. The blade unfolded smoothly in his hands.
“Greetings,” He grabbed the loose strands and sliced them off. “It’s a pleasure to see another human—“
He looked at Ezra and froze.
Ezra turned his lips up in an imitation of a smile.
“Charles.”
The boy—Charles—turned his chin skyward, looking down at him with a haughty expression. He harumphed with a toss of his head.
“Excellent,” he said. “Of course you’re here, too.”
Ezra’s back slouched, a dry smirk on his lips.
“It looks like there really is no escaping, huh?” Ezra said.
----------------------------------------
The two stared at each other. Overhead, a bird chirped like a smoke alarm.
“Charles, I can’t say it’s a pleasure,” Ezra said.
“Neither can I. But I suppose that’s not a surprise.”
The two of them were quiet for a moment.
“So, how did you end up here?” Charles said. “For me, I was asleep at home when I woke up in a grassy field. I tried calling for help, but didn’t see anyone.”
He raised his hand to his chin and looked skyward.
“Did you kidnap me?” Charles said.
“The idea of coming in physical contact with your body is repulsive.”
Charles clicked his heels together. “Quite. I suspect that the story is the same for you, then. You woke up, ripped from your bed?”
Ezra leaned back his head, his eyes staring at a spot on a tree behind him.
“I was asleep, the next thing I knew I was on a log floating down a river.”
“Curious. I wonder why we were chosen. Do you suspect any others?”
Ezra stuffed his hands into his pockets, then shrugged.
“What do I know? I just work here, buddy.”
“Oh, quit it with your stupidity. I was merely asking a question.”
“And I was answering it, not my fault if you can’t understand simple answers.”
Charles turned both his lips up in a cold grin.
“This is why no one likes you, Ezra.”
“Who said I wanted to be liked?”
Charles shut his eyes before turning to the left. “Come on. Let’s go. We may despise each other, but we have a better chance together than we do apart. We should also try to find any of the others and see if they made it through.”
Ezra glared at Charles’s backside. He grunted out a vague affirmative response. Although it would’ve been nice to ignore Charles, he had a fair point. At least, for now. Ezra would, of course, be planning to separate soon enough. But given his injured arm, sticking with Charles seemed like a good choice.
He paused.
“Others?”
Charles raised a single eyebrow.
“You didn’t think you were the only one, did you?” Charles said. “If someone went to the trouble of abducting us, I’d bet they went to the trouble of abducting several others. I’d also bet that we’ll find said others very soon, given how quickly we found each other.”
The two of them started walking in a random direction. Ezra kept to the rear, his hands still in his pockets. Charles walked with an exact back and unbending posture, his neck rigid and eyes forward. The sun was nearing the end of its journey through the sky. Only a few short hours and it would soon be night. In the distance, an animal cried out in pain before its cries were stifled and silenced.
“What happened to your arm?” Charles said.
Ezra was quiet for a second before he shook his head.
“Just an accident. Fell down.”
“Clumsy.”
“Shut up.”
Charles turned his head back and resumed walking.
“Where’s your DS? You used to always carry that thing around.”
“None of your business,” he said.
“Have you run into any of the native wildlife?”
“I don’t see why you’re talking to me,” Ezra said. “Why don’t you just keep walking? Isn’t that what you always do?”
There was a slight twitch.
“I was just making conversation. Nothing more,” Charles said.
For a few moments, they walked in silence. The only thing audible was the sound of their footsteps along with the buzz of insects and the wind flowing through the trees. It was like this for several more minutes, both of them walking without a word to say.
Ezra pressed his hands deeper into his pockets. He looked off to the side.
“I bet you freaked out when you saw the tiny birds,” Ezra said.
Charles stiffened his back. “Untrue. I was perfectly calm and collected.”
“I think I heard your scream even before I ran into you.”
Charles swiveled. “You did!?”
Ezra burst out laughing at the look on Charles’s face.
“No I didn’t, you dumbass!”
Charles curled his lips inward, drawing them into a thin line.
“Must you torture me like this, Ezra?”
Ezra chuckled, his laughter dying down. “What can I say? It’s in my nature.”
Charles adjusted his jacket, recentering it. “I suppose so. That’s just part of the cost of knowing you.”
The birds chirped overhead. A breeze swept through the trees and rustled the leaves.
“You know, I do regret what happened,” Charles said.
“What?”
“Between us, I mean. I… didn’t make the best decisions during middle school. I treated you unfairly. I’ve thought about it a great deal. I had reasons for what I did, but they weren’t good reasons. Not good enough, anyway.”
Ezra’s eyes started to grow unfocused. His breaths came in a little faster.
“Don’t give me that crap,” he said. His voice was unusually high. “I don’t want to hear it. Besides, don’t think I haven’t seen you glaring at me just a few days ago.”
“That’s different. I was just… I was just jealous, Ezra. I—“
A voice pierced through the conversation. The two stopped.