Chapter 2

“Wake up sleepy head! Dude, wake up!

Wake up!

Wake up! Wake up! wake up!” an unknown high voice spoke out in my mind.

I woke from the voice, and looked around but couldn’t find the source of that annoying voice. It def didn’t sound like my own voice. Someone speaking to me telepathically perhaps? How long was I out. I looked at my wound and it had healed for the most part though there was still dried blood on my body and shirt.

I was in a small room. Not much bigger than a closet and barely able to just fit the bed that I was on; if it could be called a bed given it was barely off the floor and hard as rock. The room had tall ceilings but no window at all. The sturdy wooden door looked to have no knob or handle with which it could be opened from the inside. The door itself was quite large too compared to the size of the room enough for a large sized man to fit through without touching the edges.

Ok so I’m in a prison style room without windows and prison bed with a door that opens only from the outside. The girl somehow brought me here. But why heal me just to make me a prisoner?

“Finally, you have awakened your highness!”, the same voice spoke up in my mind with a mocking tone.

“Who is this? Who are you?”, I asked wondering if I was just talking to myself in an empty room. Me talking to myself was not that unusual for me. Entirely too much time spent alone for many years, and I guess I had developed that habit to maybe try staying sane. This new unknown voice, however, was a different kind of weird as someone had invaded my thoughts.

Was it being projected from elsewhere? Perhaps, a telepathic connection of some sort.

“I’m the voice in your mind. The man in the machine! You’re traveling to another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land. Your next stop, The Twilight zone.” The voice started to whistle a musical tone but failed miserably sounding more like the whistle of a pressure cooker intermixed with an annoying doorbell.

“Ah great! Another fellow earthling. Mind telling me who you are. Where you are? And most importantly why you’re projecting thoughts in my head?” I spoke up out loud.

Maybe I should have been more excited to hear from this guy considering I had not talked to another earthling in what seemed like ages, but I also knew how dangerous they could be. The only way they ended up here was when they died and had their soul or essence or lifeforce or whatever it was placed into a body on this planet. I didn’t know how exactly those shells which were their bodies came to be or who created them and had so far just chalked it up to magic of The System. System was the rule creating and enforcing entity. While The Essence was the energy that the entire universe was composed of. I knew that often, they were brought here, given special abilities and a path to gain more power. I knew that because at one time, in another life, I was one of them.

“Do you want the long version or the short version?” the voice said in his mind.

“Seems like the long version would work given that we are in a room with a door that seems to only open from the outside.”

“I’m not sure but I think died! At least that’s what these alien cats told me though who knows, they could have totally been lying to me and it won’t be the first time someone’s lied to old Jimmie here. Infact, my ex used to lie to me all the time especially about her activities while I was at work and I mean, I finally caught her when I came home early one day. That’s my name by the way, Jimmie. So, I came home early and...”

“Alien cats?”, I interrupted the rambling voice.

“I mean, not actual cats but like people. But not people like regular people like you or me people. Wait, are you a regular person? I don’t even know but I guess I kinda just assumed you were, but you know what they say about assuming. So yeah, they were more like these shapes that look like humans but made of light. So, wait, are you a regular person? I mean I don’t care because I’m not like racist or anything. I don’t judge because I’m not gonna be the first to cast a stone through a glass door.”

“Yeah Jimmie, I’m a regular person.”, I said, “now even more so than ever.”

“Well, that’s good to know. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the mind of an alien. Then again, it might be kinda interesting. You know to see how they see and visit their home world.”

“Stop! Please, let’s just try and focus on what’s going on and why you’re in my mind? Please, can we do that?” I was getting increasingly frustrated with my situation and so many unknowns. I wondered if Jimmie could hear my thoughts. I tried calling his name multiple times in my mind and I got no response back. Either he couldn’t hear my thoughts, or he was just not answering though he didn’t seem like the no answering type from the brief moment I had known him.

“Yeah, I mean I was doing that but then you are the one that started asking questions in the middle of me talking.” Jimmie said.

I let out a sigh!

“So, yeah as I was saying, I died maybe and then was kidnapped or something. Now they didn’t do like an anal probe or anything in case you were wondering because I know my cousin was kidnapped once by aliens and they did that to him from what he told us.”

I did a virtual facepalm.

“These aliens get me in the room. I mean the people that look like light right...so they tell me that I have died, and I have two choices. They told me I can take the blue pill or the red pill. Either I stay dead, and they put me back in my dead body or I come here. They didn’t tell me a whole lot of details but said that they have been doing this with people for a long time. Normally people get put into their own special meat suits but this time something happened, and they don’t have one for me. By the way I added the meat suit’s part. They didn’t call it that. And I also added the blue pill red pill thing. That part I got from a movie...you might have even seen it.”

I let out another sigh, “So they placed you in my body?”

“Yeah, I was getting to that. So yeah, they placed me in your body. They said it would be temporary, but they did tell me to tell you a message. They said that The Pantheon is no more, and the Celestial Nirvana is decaying.”

“They said The Celestial Nirvana is decaying. Are you certain?”

The Celestial Nirvana was a special pocket dimension created by the ‘gods’ of this world. They had banded together a hundred thousand years ago and forged it out of concentrated Essence. All that ascended and stayed in that pocket dimension, contributed to its life. The fact that it was decaying meant that the Tree of Life was dying itself from lack of Essence. This could only happen if the Gods had abandoned that pocket dimension or had somehow died.

“Two hundred and fifty percent certain! I remember because at first, I asked them if they were talking about the band but then I figured that they probably weren’t, and they said they weren’t. Anyways, so they also said that some guy whose name was really long and weird and I can’t remember for the life of me, has a hold. His people will be coming after you and you need to prepare. That you may be weakened but you have the will to win. That you have a seed inside you that will fix up the celestial Nirvana.”

“Weakened is an understatement when it comes to me. In any case, this is grievous news but I’m not sure there is much that I can do.” I had no idea who would be coming after me or who had taken hold of The Celestial Nirvana. What I did know was that when this entity finds me, I was pretty much done for.

There was a slight knock at the door and a moment later the door opened slowly with a slight screech of the hinges. A woman looked in and she was holding some folded clothes and a large bowl filled with water.

“Hello again, I thought maybe I could bring you some fresh clothes and water to clean up.” It was the woman from the alleyway. She wore a dark green cloak that covered her nearly completely and a hood on top hid her hair and the top of her face. She was taller than I remembered and maybe only a few inches shorter than me being at six feet.

“Thank you!” I replied.

She smiled, “My name is Daniella. When you’re ready, please come out of the room and I will take you to my mother. She’s very eager to meet you.” She went to close the door but then looked back and gave a slight smile, “And thank you, for helping me earlier. I would like to have hoped that I could have dealt with those men on my own but in all honesty, that would have been a false hope. I appreciate you risking yourself to save me.

She glanced down for a moment and then looked back up, nodded sightly with a smile, and closed the door.

The door was not completely shut like it had been before. There was a mirror on top of the neatly folded clothes. I picked it up and looked at myself. It was not me…at least not the way I remembered myself. There were some similar features including the nose and eyes. But my jawline was less square, and the wrinkles were gone. As were the greys that I had acquired in my thick stubble of a beard and the side of my head. I looked younger and just slightly different from the way I was. My face was covered partially with dried mud and blood. No open wounds on my body anywhere from the fight. No remnant from where I was stabbed except for the dried blood. A healing spell of some type perhaps. I would remember if a potion was shoved into my mouth.

I cleaned up quickly with water and something that appeared to be soap. I opened the door to step out after getting dressed in the new set of clean clothes which included a dark pair of linen pants and a loose shirt. She had also brought some shoes that were a snug fit.

“Can we trust her?” the voice of jimmy whispered in my mind.

“You know you don’t have to whisper; your voice is in my mind. Anyways, why should we not? If they wanted to harm me, they could have done that while I was knocked out. And why heal me?”, I whispered softly. Unlike Jimmy, I actually had to speak out loud for him to hear me.

Daniella was sitting outside on a chair in the hallway which was narrow and seemed to have a few other doors similar to the one that I came out of. Likely these were similar rooms to hold “special guests” with doors that only opened from the outside. The white paint was chipping off in many areas and there weren’t any windows in the hallway either.

Each of the doors had some Runes on them. I could tell they were runes to keep anyone from leaving though I couldn’t remember what they were called. I was an expert at the crafting and identification of Runes at one point and now I couldn’t even think of what they were called. I had a perfect memory at one point in my life. Not sure if I still had the perfect recall for new knowledge but I did my best to try and remember the shape of the runes. It felt as if the names were on tip of my tongue, but I just could not figure out what they were or were called. I tried to cast a very basic spell but nothing. I knew the spell and how to cast it but still nothing.

Daniella quietly led us down the hall through a few large rooms to one with long dining table where a woman sat at the head and next to her was a young man with dark, shaggy hair and bright blue eyes wearing a chain mail. The woman looked up at me and I could see the resemblance matching the young man and Daniella. all of them shared similar features along with the color of their hair and eyes. The main difference between the three was the stature. Daniella appeared thin and nimble whereas the young man was broad, and I suspected quite tall even while sitting compared to the woman. The young man carried a look of casualness as he sat lounging in the chair leaning back.

The woman, Daniella’s mother, had attractive features but also carried heavy wrinkles around her eyes. Unlike Daniella, her lips were thin, and she wore her hair in a braid. Though, she was nowhere as broad as the young man, she had strong shoulders and rough hands. She a dark colored leather armor over a dress which seemed to blend well together. Unlike the young man, she seemed to be sitting up straight with perfect posture.

“Greetings, Gatsby, I’m Demira. You have already met my daughter, Daniella, and to the right of me is my son, Daniel. Seeing a puzzled look on my face, Demira clarified, “You mentioned your name to my daughter prior to losing your consciousness. Please join us.” She gestured towards a chair next to her.

Daniella nodded to her mother as a greeting. She then smiled at me, nodded, and then turned around and left the room.

“You must excuse my daughter; she has some other urgent duties to attend to.” Demira said as she sat back down.

I sat down next to her on the opposite side of her son. The room was empty for the most part in decorations except for a few hanging paintings of various people but there were spots on the wall which were clearly missing some decorative pieces and from the remaining dust that had collected around them, I could tell that they had been removed recently. There was natural light coming into the room from the windows that looked out to the gardens. Though looking at the gardens, it was obvious that they weren’t tended to regularly or may not have been for a while.

“You have my gratitude for saving the life of my daughter.” She looked straight at me trying to get a read on me most likely.

“You’re welcome. So, what is the information that your daughter holds, that these men were after? I heard them talking when they had her cornered.”

Demira smiled, “Dinner should be served shortly. I’m sure you are famished as you have been recovering for the past day. The healing helped some, but your body seemed to require further rest. Are you feeling better and refreshed?”

She had dodged my question and changed the topic. Though, in all seriousness I had never expected her to as she had only just met me. If the girl held something so important that these men were willing to come at her four at a time and to hurt her then it was not likely that she would be willing to share that with someone she barely knew even if that someone did just save her daughter.

“I knew she was hiding stuff. She gives me a very WWE wrestler meets days of our lives vibe.” spoke Jimmy in my mind talking about Demira.

“I am doing fine. Thank you for asking.” I replied. I had been starving. It was a strange feeling for me as I had not felt that hunger in ages. Part of it made me excited to feel it despite the discomfort it brought.

The food started arriving. It was three different dishes, one for each of us. My mouth was watering before the food was even placed on the table. They held various vegetables and some types of meat. Another tray was placed in the middle of us which held various fruits. We were also brought two different glasses each. Wine was poured into the smaller one and water into the bigger glass. Daniel did not wait a second and was engulfing that food like he had never been fed before. He personality was in such a contrast to both Demira and Daniella. Demira started eating as well but I, despite the hunger, waited until she started to eat before I started on my own dish out of respect.

Daniel was finished before the two of us had even finished a few bites. “Mother, I’m off to do some sparring routines with the men!” She gave a slight nod of approval. The young man grabbed the chalice holding the wine, put it to his lips and drank it down in one big gulp before turning around and leaving.

“They are twins?” I asked though I already knew the answer. There were too many similar features. They also had a certain subtle vibe between them that you would only see amongst twins or close siblings.

“Yes, you can tell despite their obvious differences in appearance?”

“They have very similar facial features, and the names point to them at least being siblings. The twins’ part I deducted from the way they interact.”

Demira laughed, “Interact? They did not even say a single word to each other.”

“Well, their interaction had a much more subtle unspoken component to it. It’s obvious when you know what to look for.”

Demira tilted her head and nodded in agreement, “Do you have any children, Gatsby?”

I took a deep breath in and let out a sigh of sadness. I spoke after a few seconds, “I did but that was ages ago. I had a family, wife, daughter but they are gone now. I still think of them and miss them each day.” My voice has started to crack slightly when I spoke of them. Even after all this time, I felt the pain of their loss whenever they came to my mind.

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“My husband, Theogren”, her voice cracked a bit as she spoke, “I am lost of him as well. He was taken too early and from evil doings of another. He died a hero, and he will forever be remembered as such to me and all my children and to all those he benefited.”

She raised her cup filled with wine, “To the ones we loved and lost!”

I similarly raised my cup, “To the ones we loved and lost! And to the ones we love and live for still!”

Demira smiled and downed the entirety of her cup.

Many minutes passed as we continued to eat in silence. I would at times look out the large rectangular window that spanned half the room.

“The world weighs heavily on you. Is it from memory of your family?” Demira asked.

“I miss them but, no it’s not them. I don’t..It’s a complicated situation that I’m caught up in and I’m not sure what to do,” I replied.

“I am here to listen if it will ease your burden, friend.”

“It’s probably not something that you could understand and I’m not sure I should even share it with people.”

“I understand. Please know, that you have my gratitude and a life debt for what you have done for my daughter,” Demira held her right hand over heart, “If you decide to bestow your confidence in me, you will also have my Oath of secrecy.”

“Yea, but trust is a shared commodity. And you very obviously have secrets of your own,” I replied.

Demira understood I was talking about the conversation that those thugs were having when they had surrounded her daughter.

“That is less a secret and much like information crucial to certain plans. I would share this with you, but I do fear that knowledge of such things may lead you to a path that would result in certain death for you,” Demira spoke sincerely.

I barely knew her, but I felt like I could trust her. Perhaps the way she talked or carried herself showed that she was an individual that many trusted with their lives and secrets. I could also tell what her class was which eased my mind. She had a tattoo on each of her wrists. On one of the wrists was written, ‘Honor’ and on the other was ‘Loyalty’. There were certain types of holy knights called Paladins I had known of, that carried such marks. They would pledge their loyalty to their god and country. They also took another pledge to maintain honor throughout their life when dealing with people. Overall, a bunch of pledged do gooders is what they were.

“My problem is complex and to know it, you need to know some of my story. And even with a summary of that story, I feel like we may need to get some more wine,” I chuckled slightly.

The wine was in much smaller quantity than the ale I had drank the day before and likely of much less potency. The taste was, however, much better which was not a difficult thing to accomplish as the ale that I had tasted like sour dark toxic piss.`

I took a sip of my newly refreshed cup and started telling my story. I talked about how I had been brought here after my death on my home planet. I briefly talked about my family. Demira chose not to pry any further.

I talked about how my earth was lacking in magic and instead thrived in technology. After being brought here, overtime I had gained power and leveled my class many times. Upon reaching level 350, I had ascended. I was able to traverse to a place where many gods resided. A place called Nirvana that was reserved for ascended beings. These beings were often revered and considered gods by the people here. And even these beings had a power hierarchy where some of the oldest were thousands upon thousands of years old. Some were even responsible for different aspects of this world.

Some had created dungeons while others were responsible for creating system quests. Some were patron gods to certain races and others were worshipped by many races. Some interacted regularly with individuals of this world in some form or another. Others only worked through heroes and heroic quests. There were strict rules that these ascended beings had to follow when it entailed dealing with each other and non-ascended beings. Even their powers weren’t limitless.

I admitted that I didn’t know all the rules there were for these ascended being. But there were many and most of these rules were created to limit their influence on this world. Which in my opinion was a good thing. I couldn’t imagine just a bunch of overpowered beings running around and screwing up lives of ordinary people all the time. Now some still did that in different ways but to a far less extent. These beings didn’t look at good and evil the same and they didn’t care if the average person got hurt while they were playing their little games.

“So, what happened, how did you end up in the situation you are in?” asked Demira.

“I’m not certain. I had ascended multiple times over the years and the last ascension was only for a short time and then I’m not sure what happened. I found myself back in this world and back to level Zero. I think I might have died and then somehow been reborn in this form. I was also not able to bring up the status screen for some reason.”

“I think I know what happened to your screen, broski.” spoke Jimmy in my mind again.

I heard him but I had not mentioned to Demira about Jimmy and how I was also stuck with him in the same body. There was no way for me to communicate with Jimmy without talking so I decided to wait to ask what he meant. I wasn’t’ sure why I had not told her about my mental companion, but I didn’t. It wasn’t because of lack of trust as I did feel she was genuine and sincere about the way she conducted herself.

She was surprisingly calm with the entire story that I had told her thus far. She interrupted on occasion to ask questions, but she never seemed like she doubted what I was telling her. Most people would have been taken back with all the things I had mentioned even if they were living in a world filled with magic, monsters and a world known for having god like beings in it.

“And so, what is the complexity of your situation, Gatsby?” Demira inquired.

“I have come to learn that Nirvana may be in some type of turmoil, perhaps even on the brink of destruction. I have also come to learn that there is a powerful force out there that has caused this. Now I don’t care much what happens to the sand box that these ‘higher’ beings hang around in 3but I do care about what happens to this world. I do not understand how it involves me, but it is very likely that this force will come for me sooner or later. It is also very much a possibility that this force may end up resulting in mass death and destruction of this world. Though, without knowing much, I suppose it is also possible that this world will be fine. As I said, these powerful beings must work within certain rules as created by The System.”

“From being a man to a god to being a man again! Those are events that could not be fathomed easily and even more so, overcome,” Demira said.

“That’s a rough deal bud. I mean you got powerful like supes and then turned back into Scooby doo.”

I ignored Jimmy’s remark, but it was pretty much on point. I was not looking for any Scooby snacks just yet though.

“I’m at a loss of what I should do,” I asked grimly.

“What does your heart say, noble friend?”

“Well part of me wants to just let it all go. Live the life of a normal person; no fighting, no leveling, just peace and quiet and maybe create a life here. And the other part of me feels obligated to act. I am involved in this somehow whether I want to be or not. Lives may be at risk if I don’t act.”

“If it is your desire to seek a peaceful life free of conflict then I invite you to be here. To stay here with us, my family and I as our honored guest. We will do our best to protect you from any harm, and you may seek out employment in one of many professions existing in this city,” Demira said invitingly.

“You know though don’t you, Demira? You understand me in just a short time,” I took a deep breath and asked.

“Yes. I understand that though you desire one thing, you are not that man. I can see in you the desire to seek a life without conflict and the longing you feel for your lost family. But I can also tell you will not settle to that future. Your eyes betray your desires, but your actions tell of your character. You were in that alley when my daughter was surrounded by several men who were more powerful than you. Each one of them could have beaten you had you not had the element of surprise. Even with the element of surprise with you, that was foolhardy behavior. Despite knowing the obvious danger and the overwhelming odds against you in that situation you acted. You acted because you saw a stranger about to be harmed. You did not know their capacity or strength, but I think you knew they were more powerful than you and your plan could have failed miserably. You could have died that moment but still you acted despite knowing how weak you had become. You acted! So, I know you will not lay down while this uncertain being of unknown potential wreaks havoc. Your conundrum was never if you will act but how you will act to overcome your current state and the odds against you.”

I sat quietly listening to her. I knew she was right. She was right about my desire, and she was also right that I would not just give up while innocents could be harmed. I had lost my wife and daughter eons ago and all that time I was trying to become more powerful; it was so I could somehow bring them back or maybe be back with them. I realized though as I continued to rise to power that it was not possible. What was possible however was for me to try and help others. So, others would not have to suffer the loss I had. I accepted that death for all, was inevitable but innocents dying prematurely at the actions of others was not something I would readily accept.

“So where do I start? I have no abilities, skills, resources that I once did. This being that may come to cause the world destruction will likely be god tier and the last time I had ascended it took me a couple of hundred years,” I questioned. I did not expect Demira to answer but she did.

“You will start from where you are, and you will succeed. You may not have the abilities you did once, but you possess the means and knowledge to obtain them again. We will help you however we can,” answered Demira.

I smiled in return, “Thank you! I’m glad to have met you and to count you as a friend.”

I really was glad to have met her and her family. Yesterday I was confused and hopeless. Today I was still confused but at least not hopeless. I do need to figure out what to do next. I need to figure out who is after me.

“And I, you. Now take time and consider how you would like to proceed. I myself, must tend to some duties of my estate for a short while.” She called out a name and promptly came in a young lady with similar features to her mother. “This is my middle child, Danica. She will show you to your new quarters and if you need anything, please don’t be shy of asking her.”

With that, Demira left. The young girl said hello with a slight curtsey and asked me to follow her. We walked through another hallway and then up some stairs ending at a corner room.

Danica took her leave shortly after we arrived at the room reminding me to call on her if I needed some fresh linens or food. The room was much bigger than my last though it had similar high ceilings. This one did open from the inside, and I was glad to see that. Being locked in another large closet would not have been fun. It was minimally decorated and the only furniture in it was a bed with an accompanying table; another table intended for writing was in a different corner with a chair. This room seemed to have been lived in recently. There were some newly made stains from the bottom of glass on the writing table. It had been cleaned since the last occupant but clearly the maid had missed that spot.

“Jimmy, what were you talking about when you said you knew what happened to my status screen?” I spoke out softly after making certain there was no one else nearby and shutting the door.

“Umm I kinda forgot to mention something to you before.”

“What did you forget to mention, Jimmy?” I said with a hint of annoyance. I know I shouldn’t have been annoyed at him and part of me felt bad for saying it in such a tone. I guess it was more that I was frustrated with how out of control everything was. Or rather how little control I had over everything.

“Those alien dudes kinda told me that to tell you that I’m your connection to the system. Not like a direct connection..it’s not like I’m channeling it or something like Ms. Cleo. It’s more like an indirect connection. Oh, and I can bring up your status page and stuff I think.”

“Yea, I would think that would have been important to remember and tell me. Anyways, is this also the reason I cannot see any notifications?”

“I don't know what notifications you're talking about, but I guess it's possible if it's related to the status screen.”

“OK Jimmy, can you open up the status screen?”

“To be honest I'm not really sure exactly how to open it up or what exactly it even is. You gotta remember I’m not from this world. I'm guessing broski, that status screen is similar to something you might find in a video game?”

“Try and just think about the status screen and the information it contains. Also think about notifications,” I advised in a calmer way.

I couldn't see what was going on, but I could tell that Jimmy was trying to focus and then a short amount of time later, a tremendous amount of notifications passed by at the bottom right corner of my visual field. I tried to Read them as they were passing, by but they went through quickly. Then, a screen popped up with the heading “Status”.

Status Page

Name: Gatsby Lark

Race: Human Avatar

Primary Class: Common

Level: 3

Experience to next level: 58

Primary Attributes

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 11

Speed: 12

Constitution: 10

Endurance: 11

Intelligence: 60

Wisdom: 18

Willpower: 15

Charisma: 12

Unused Attribute Points: 12

Secondary Attributes

Health Points (HP): 110

Mana Points (MP): 240

Stamina Points (SP): 140

Psychic Defense (PD): 33

Perception Points: 81

I was not surprised to see I had gained three levels at the same time. Those thugs were higher level than me and The System awarded extra experience to those who defeated individuals at a significantly higher level. I probably would have got a lot more experience, but I imagine Daniella got a decent portion of it. We both had split the experience since The System saw us defeating those thugs together. It’s possible she may have received more for dealing the killing blows to a few of them in the end. I wasn’t sure how many of them I had killed besides the Mage. But the experience was enough to gain me three levels so I couldn’t complain.

“Hey how is it you have such high intelligence at such a low level? And you even have higher wisdom and willpower compared to your physical stats? Or is the norm like really high and you are just really really weak?” Jimmy spoke up. He could see the Stats as well.

“The average for an adult Human on this world is around 10. My Stats when I had ascended were in triple digits each. Obviously, my Physical stats have reverted to the equivalent of an average person. I’m not sure why the intelligence is so high or even the other nonphysical attributes are higher than the base. They are certainly nowhere close to where they were before. I won’t complain though, I’m glad to have at least something strong to start with and this will definitely help.

“Meh, intelligence and wisdom are useless stats. I mean maybe if we were a spellcaster it would be nice since then you could have the use for those mana points, they give but we don’t have any spells. Hey, how do we become magic users? Bro, that would be so awesome, like throwing fireballs at people’s heads and conjuring all kinds of dudes to fight for us.”

I chuckled, “Haha, don’t discount the mental stats. They are actually very useful in this world compared to the games you may be used to.”

Jimmy had mentioned to me that he played a lot of video games including strategy and role-playing formats.

“What’s so special about mental stats? If you got more wisdom, are you gonna become like the deli lama or something. Hey, a monk class would be cool too. Do you have those here? Well maybe not with your physical digits unless we start adding those sitting points to Dex and shit.”

“The Dalai Lama, No. There are, however, Monk variant classes. The class system is remarkably different from what you may have played back on earth. The system evaluates you as a whole and offers several classes to choose from. It’s hard to go into everything that mental stats are good for but Intelligence for example doesn’t just help increase your mana points, but it also helps in memory. The higher the intelligence, the easier it is to memorize things and retain them. It also helps in spellcaster classes because it makes it easier to learn new spells. And the higher the intelligence, the more spell levels you can retain at any given time. It also helps learn new skills quicker than normal, even physical ones to some degree.”

“That doesn't make sense. How is intelligence gonna help us swing a sword. This system totally is like broke..if anything strength and dexterity should be helping learn swordsmanship.”

“It doesn’t help with swinging the sword but rather learning how to swing a sword. Strength would help with the weight of the sword and how hard you can hit with it. Dexterity would help in moving around while you use it, but intelligence is something that will help you learn the skill in the first place. Now that’s not to say someone with low intelligence can’t learn how use swords because they can or someone with high intelligence learns it right away because that doesn’t happen either. It still takes time to learn the skill unless the System grants you the skill. A higher intelligence just increases the understanding of swordplay and subsequently the time. This can apply to most skills. Though the skills themselves have certain Stat requirements as well that must be met before a person can learn it.”

“What does wisdom do in this world? Back at home, it’s pretty much useless except to fill up your mana tank. I think some games use it for the cleric class in some way. I never got that cuz all the religious dudes I have met in my life weren’t much wise. I mean some acted like wise guys the way they passed the collection trays around but no not wise. I knew this one dude who was stealing money from his own church and using it for hookers and blow. And none of them pretty ones either. I mean we all knew it. There was one girl who had two missing front teeth and a stubble on her face. She may have been a dude,” Jimmy rambled on.

I laughed, “Jimmy, you’re a funny guy. Wisdom, yea it helps with ‘filling up that mana tank’ quickly like you thought but it does other things too. It’s more subtle but high enough mana creates almost a danger sense. It’s not something you can act on immediately, but people can feel when and where there may be danger. It creates a closer connection with The System, and you can get more information about yourself and the world around you. In a way, it helps you make better decisions overall. To ascend beyond a certain level, you need a high wisdom. So, you can’t completely neglect the wisdom stat and expect to make it past level hundred.”

“Ok so what’s the game plan? We going for bad ass sorcerer since we got monster Intelligence? How do we cast spells?”

“Yea, spellcaster class. It’s not that easy to cast spells. The people in this world sometime spend years learning the basic skills before they can learn to cast. And even then, the spellcaster classes are too weak early on so they must join guilds or factions or hire guards to protect them early on. The basic casting class first requires the Arcane studies skill which allows you to read and write magic texts. Then you have to learn the actual spell. The only way to learn spells is either by spell scrolls, have someone who is advanced enough, teach you or by creating your own spells. Casters can be very secretive about spells, especially rare or powerful ones. All these things make it difficult to learn new spells unless you join a guild and then you are pretty much at their mercy.”

“You must know this stuff already so why doesn’t it show up in skills part of the status?”

“Yea Jimmy, I have extensive experience with such skills but since I had reverted back to level zero, I have lost those skills as well. I tried casting a basic cantrip earlier and nothing. I will have to relearn those skills again, but I suspect and strongly hope that I can learn them far quicker than last time!”

Jimmy brought up the notification again slower than last time at my request.

System Message

You have defeated a Level 7 Mage. You have gained experience. Due to significant discrepancy in levels, you have earned bonus experience.

You have gained a new Level!

You have defeated a Level 6 Thug. You have gained experience. Due to significant discrepancy in levels, you have earned bonus experience.

You have gained a new Level!

You have defeated a Level 6 Thug. You have gained experience. Due to significant discrepancy in levels, you have earned bonus experience.

You have gained a new Level!

You have defeated a Level 5 Fighter. You have gained experience. Due to significant discrepancy in levels, you have earned bonus experience.

You have unspent Attribute Points. If the Attribute points are not assigned within a weeks’ time, The system will allocate them for you.

I wasn’t sure where to assign the attribute points yet. Normally after the system message, you had to rest or mediate to be able to actually Level up. It was not something that could be done during the middle of a strenuous activity and a person had to be out of combat for some time as well. The exception to this was meditation. If a person’s meditation skill was high enough, they could often level up their attributes even while performing basic activities.

The System still didn’t allow for changes such as those during combat. I had some time before I needed to assign those attribute points. The earlier points were the most important because they often set a path for a certain class and although I wanted to be some type of a caster class, I already had a very high intelligence.