As Mark walked, setting one foot in from the of other across the rocky scree, sometimes sending small avalanches of stone down the hill he thought to himself…what the fuck is Groggo’s Expanse?
Ding
“Hello immortal, you have been chosen as a champion in this battle for reality. This is Groggo’s Expanse! You are currently located on the starter world of Tulgara, which is located in the outer reaches of the Shilarian Galaxy.”
What the fuck was that? Mark started to look around in a panic, wondering where that metallic voice was coming from! Tulgara? Jesus, am I sure I wasn’t eating mushrooms instead of transporting kilos of coke for that dumbass Dan? Mark thought to himself.
“Mark, I am E.R.I.C., your Encoded Relation Interface Consultant. You were chosen by @#%@^ to represent them in the coming times as they battle for control of reality and the ability to reign for 1000 of your earth years as absolute ruler over the known (and possibly unknown) realities. If you would like to get started please say or think ‘Character Sheet’. If you have further questions please know that I am at your disposal.”
Ok….Mark thought. Character Sheet.
Character Name:
Mark
Species
Orucan
Level/Class
0/Nothing
Strength
10
Wisdom
3
Constitution
10
Intelligence
6
Luck
10
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Dexterity
5
What the fuck is an Orucan Nothing? Mark thought as he considered his situation. Luckily he had played some games growing up on the computer before he had to start working in various restaurants to support his family and prove to his dad that “he wasn’t no soft educated man” despite his mom’s desire for him to go to college and make something more of himself.
“An Orucan is one of the prime races in this reality. There are Orucan, Elfestians, Humans, and Saerans. While these are four of the prime races, there are numerous offshoots and evolutions over the past 500 years that make a true Orucan, Elfestian, Human, or Saeran exceedingly rare. There may also be hidden prime races which you do not have access to the database as of yet. Orucans are, for lack of a better description, the brutes and combat oriented species of this section of the galaxy.” E.R.I.C continued. “Now as to Nothing, that is just the default class for new chosen champions upon their arrival to this realm. Upon your attainment of level 1 you will be given a class choice based on your stats, choices, and current location. Now I suggest you turn around and pay attention to your surroundings, this world is not tame like the one you came from.”
As E.R.I.C stopped talking, he heard a skitter of rocks falling down the gentle slope behind him. He whipped around and saw… what the fuck is that?
It was small, so that was good, but that was the only good thing about it. It only came up to about mid shin and was a squat creature with patches of what appeared to be coarse brown hair growing haphazardly around its entire body.
Where shit really went south was when Mark got to the…head… The thing had no rhyme or reason. It was covered in insectoid eyes, Mark stopped counting at 17, when the mouth drew his attention. A narrow mouth started to widen as the creature noticed Mark. Suddenly where a bare slit had been, there was a vast expanse of sharp teeth and ropes of saliva strung between teeth, lips, and the ground. With a sharp YARP the creature pounced, and god damn was it fast. In less than a second it was on Mark and, luckily for him, apparently 5 dexterity wasn’t too shabby because his hands shot up as fast as he thought and caught the creature by the mouth…albeit some of his fingers were now being cut by the critters sharp teeth. In a panic Mark just started to pull his two hands apart and the fucker started to release a high pitched keening. Suddenly, with a loud POP, the critter’s head exploded in a shower of brain matter, grey blood, gore, and bone fragments.
It’s raining…not men…
TTTTTRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG
Level up! Great job, maybe you won’t die as fast as my last champion.
Damn….and I thought 5 dexterity made me fast, 10 strength must be insane!
“Actually, for your level a stat of 5 is considered normal, so while 10 is insane at these low levels you will quickly find yourself outclassed if you do not continue in your growth. Time is running out rapidly and things are approaching that you may not survive.”
Well…ok. Mark thought. Slightly disappointing but whatever. Let’s see what this level gave me!
***Level Up!*** Due to your species you have gained +2 strength, +1 dexterity, and 2 points to assign.
Due to your stats, choices, and current location you can choose between Scourge, Brute, or continue in your journey as an aspiring Nothing.
“Hey… Eric? Can you help me a little here? What is a scourge in this…game? Is a brute what is sounds like?” Mark asked.
“Accessing memories… So the best way to explain this to you would be with the following descriptions: you can think of a Scourge as a melee/short range projectile class that focuses on high damage output while still remaining somewhat durable. A Brute on the other hand focuses on durability over damage. In essence a scourge is a DPS [damage per second] class while Brute is more suited for tanking damages and being supported by DPS and medic classes.”
Ok…Cool. Mark was starting to dig this. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…. It had to be better then being the head chef in a non conditioned air conditioned kitchen that regularly hit 120 degrees in the summer. I always did like gaming with Dan more than bailing him out of prison.