Chapter 22: The More You Know (Part II)

I wonder if Adi picked a Class to get us here. And that's how he got us here.

It’s possible, how else did he get us out of that cave?

“No,” Adi whispered in the back of my mind.

So, I guess he didn’t choose a class but why not it seemed like the right thing to do, "naked and afraid" and all.

Caught up in my thoughts I finally decided to continue reading the old book “Gift from the Gods System that Lives” or whatever it was called. Whoever wrote this thing may have been a bit biased or brainwashed however you want to put it.

“A designated Character Class determines someone’s occupation; the possibilities are endless. Classes are often determined by a user's General skills, education, background, personality, sub-preference, and or place of origin. Often Classes are Identical to one another due to the difficulty of gaining select Titles. A “Title” is a feat or achievement recognized by the system that defines a user's accomplishments and hardships. Unique Titles are hard to come by and because of this, the average person is prone to acquire a basic or average class. A class deemed more useful to society."

"General skills help unlock specific class skills, but Titles play a huge part in determining a class’s unique traits and growth potential. Maxed skills and unique titles often lead to rarer classes. An example would be obtaining the general skill [Sweep] this alone would unlock a [Cleaner] class but simply cleaning can only do so much. What exactly would you clean? When and where would the class be of use? Its Growth potential is indeed limited; the class name is broad. The user ends up with meager stats, and a life of servitude awaits the class at later stages. A starter class like [Cleaner] evolves into [Maid], [Butler], or [Citizen]. These are all starter classes meaning [Cleaner] without any titles has set the User back a few steps. If he or she had unlocked a Title such as {Thorough} beforehand [Maid], [Butler], or [Citizen] would have been offered in [Cleaner] instead giving the user more stats for distribution. This is just my opinion mind Adena you'll learn for yourself eventually. {Thorough}, a title acquired by cleaning to the best of one's ability ridding a space of things unsightly or of disorder.”

This book is a bit useless. It's telling me to choose a job serving the city. There are no other examples of acquiring different classes other than [Cleaner] and [Maid] it doesn’t even tell me about stats and how to distribute them.

Putting the book down I mustered up the courage to talk to Clivent after the little mishap we had hopefully he’d ignore it.

“Sooo Clivent, how do stats work?” looking over with a grin hoping he’d forgiven me for whatever reaction that was a couple of minutes ago. The white matter in his eyes had regained its previous glimmer but it seemed different somehow. My words had done something to him I'd try to be more careful talking to him. If only I knew what I had done wrong.

“Clivent!?” I voiced trying to get his attention. My voice echoed across the library sounding most anxious. My eyebrows furrowed hearing my voice, soft and cringe. Why does this library have acoustics? Rolling my eyes seeing my words fall on deaf ears. I tried getting his attention by raising my voice again but Clivent had buried himself in the cookbook in front of him.

He reached across the table and tapped his furry hand before it turned to the next page. I pried my eyes off of the man's thick white claws as they scraped the page.

“I know you can hear me.” How long was he going to ignore me?

Clivent looked up from the book annoyed just a bit, but I could see that he wasn’t mad at me.

“If by any chance you and Adi snuck into the City illegally, I think you should inform me before it becomes known by the Guards or anyone else for that matter. A stray Human won’t go unnoticed walking around in Fallohar, especially a girl such as yourself. We can solve that problem here at the Hall before anything becomes of it, but you must tell me the truth.'' After lowering his hands, Clivent breathed out and looked at me in silence.

I had nothing to say, so in silence we sat.

Taking in my surroundings I used [Eyes of the Watcher] to look for the other person in the library. He was a few rows closer than when I last saw him. Maybe I was mistaken. It had been a while since we first entered the library. It seemed like an hour or two had gone and it would be normal for him to move just as we did now and then.

Though I didn't see the point, each row was filled with different colored books, some big others small, and at the end of each row one wooden table and a couple of chairs. Why would someone want to read in this place, this city is so uninviting. It's all brick and bland, with wood thrown in here and there so you don't lose your mind being surrounded by so much brick.

And there goes a flash of white that I welcome with open eyes, anything was better than thinking about...everything.

To my right Clivent began signing without giving me a heads-up or anything, “Your status menu is used to show aspects of your being; the system allows a person to strengthen these aspects through the usage of skill points. Race or species whatever you want to call it refers to your biology. Often Biology determines base stats. Humans in my opinion are given the shortest straw by the system at age seven the average human has a total. No, the average human has less than thirty stat points distributed across the eight aspects. These aspects are Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Agility, Mana, Intelligence, Magic power, and Magic regeneration. There are nine aspects known to us, but “Defense” is irrelevant at the moment.” He stopped to make sure I was digesting the information he didn’t need since learning came easy to me, but I let him stop for a minute out of courtesy.

“Why do you think we’re given the shortest straw if we as humans are given an experience boost from the administrators along with a spatial storage?” I remembered my notifications in the cave. It would've made me happy if I weren't in an unknown death trap.

I am lucky huh” I giggled to myself.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, it's easy to be fooled by the administrators. I believe the administrators have their motives. That benefit is given to all Elvenoids in your case, "Human" Races. The only boon the Humans get that resides with the species alone is the boon from the Witch of sacrifice, I would prefer if you ask a Human if you want to inquire more."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Clivent didn’t have a smug look on his face after signing that much I gathered.

“Carrying on, back to what I was saying about Human base stats. Humans are fleshy meaning poor endurance. Let's say six out of the thirty stat points will be locked into vitality, these "six points" describe the quality of the fleshy skin of a seven-year-old child. Another six base stats go into [Vitality] the Human body can only lose so much blood before death, four into [Dexterity] clumsy are children they just can’t help it they fall when they run and have very little accuracy because children lack control over their mobility, [Agility] takes four out of the thirty, stamina doesn’t last forever after two to three minutes a seven-year-old is tired of running human lungs can only get two legs to go so far at a manageable pace without burning out. At the rate base stats are automatically distributed, fourteen base stats have been taken up.” The class was in session. My job was to watch.

“A Human is helpless at birth just like a Kin. Both races grow as time passes but to what extent? Ken is given stronger bodies in adulthood, brought on by pubescence giving us better survival traits, traits that can't be compared with those of Humans. Humans are out of touch with their senses and that is another reason why they fall short. Humans are social creatures, the weak are the lone humans.” That's true for the most part. Wait, why am I agreeing should I wait to ask a question, Is he talking about the five senses?

“The average Human is crafty and has salvageable intelligence which allows for learning and improvement. The average seven-year-old child has about eight [Intelligence]. It usually is the highest stat among humans. Your ability to learn and adapt should be admired. Adding that all up the average healthy human child has twenty-two stat points across the board before their first class comes along it would seem like they are in good hands you would think." Am I in good hands? The system makes up for the disadvantages between Humans and Beast kin. It has to, otherwise, what would be the point?

"Wrong, the system doesn’t reward the average man; it enjoys struggle and hardship. If the average child isn’t properly taken care of, taught, and trained, they become lazy and start depending on other Humans. In this world who can you truly trust when you are in need? When disaster strikes, and it will strike you will be let down and rendered helpless. The Human grows up sheltered without noteworthy achievements deemed by the system. Now an adult, the Human has chosen a class as a [Citizen] not even a hard-working one at that, a cog in a wheel choosing not to take advantage of the System. Adena the world wants you to think “the system” allows anyone to strive for greatness of their choosing. I’m telling you that's not the case.”

Okay, I don't like where Clivent is going with this. 'Was he always this serious?

“What can the average adult human strive for having less than forty stat points and little to no Titles a useful class won't offer itself due to circumstance. With forty base stat points in total and ten of those automatically going into [Intelligence] with no racial traits whatsoever Humans are given the shorter stick, especially in a world of blood and battle.”

“Aren’t we going off track?” I was a bit confused about where he was taking this conversation that was originally supposed to be about stats.

He continued to sign.

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“The only recognizable Humans in this world bring about disaster or change." Just great, people aren't gonna start labeling me, are they?

"The Witch of Sacrifice gave up her own life and probably much more to equal the playing field for Humans. Who knows what she had to endure, a position of power, a unique class involving sacrifice?" He seems to be getting fired up.

"The King of Bomen, another recognizable Human, started slavery on this continent two hundred years back, even Humans couldn't escape those misfortunes. His class of suffering resulted in soul-binding contracts. And actions have consequences. An entire Kingdom, wiped out according to legend by the Witch of Atonement; Another Human who gained power from acquiring a class of unknown trials and tribulations what did she have to "atone" for.” This was new information.

Wandering Wendy didn’t mention all this mass murder, it's making my skin crawl.

The lecture continues, “Adena what I'm getting at is stat points push those nine aspects of a user’s being past their boundaries to unknown heights. More strength means less agility, bulkiness usually hinders your speed and movement resulting in a decrease in agility, a decrease in agility will slow your movements if you don’t act swiftly in moments of danger. Yes, there will be moments of danger, you will die or if you are really lucky experience a moment of near death.”

“Listen well,” Adi demanded.

“Adding stat points to [Agility] will increase your speed and stamina but how can you keep balance if you're moving at sonic speeds, this means there will be a decrease in [Dexterity], that is your ability to comprehend and analyze what you're seeing to make precise actions in minutes or seconds if you put enough stat points into it. A higher [Dexterity] can give you the eyes of an eagle or greater something supernatural but beware High dexterity means your ten points in [Intelligence] will slow you. After all, Dexterity allows you to take in what your eyes are seeing with greater clarity, but the mind can only handle so much. High dexterity and a lot of practice could allow you to see without even using your eyes. [Dexterity] is the aspect of awareness but it can't act alone it needs [Intelligence] in other words a strong mind. A strong mind is a powerful tool that allows you to process the burden of the system. The system is indeed a burden. Do you think a normal human could handle such a supernatural physique brought on by stat distribution without a decent number of points in [Intelligence] you will lose touch with your body there will be a disconnect you will be unable to control the weapon you've become.”

“My body a weapon,” I haven't heard that phrase since Papa taught me self-defense, I'm out of my league here. Maybe I can leave it all to Adi.

“High intelligence also has a downside but let's talk about the possible good. Some humans can move [Mana] in the atmosphere; this allows for the use of magic. All beings have mana, on the other hand not everyone can use it; some people also have so little they don’t even notice it there. It's rare for a person not to have any mana at all. [Intelligence] helps the mind process what the body's five senses experience. The mind of the mana handler can’t be weak. A weak mind is prone to making mistakes.” Wouldn't want to do that.

“[Intelligence] allows better processing of mana, Mana is a dangerous fuel controlled by the body the more mana you control the more power you will have. It's a full circle. Your mind is the tool used to process the body's movements even mana, but a strong mind has to be kept sharp. [Vitality] strengthens the body, better blood flow, thicker skin, a stronger life force, and more energy to help your mind process. [Intelligence] or a strong mind needs vitality. If your mind betrays you it can lead to death so make sure you don't die or bleed out more vitality means better health. [Mana control] has to be taught, you won't be able to grab hold of the concept of magic without a helping hand. [Intelligence] helps control mana. [Mana regeneration] will follow suit. The healthier your body or vessel the more easier mana regeneration will be. Magic power is what the tool can output. Biology is only the material of the tool. It plays a part. Real magic power ultimately has to come from intention and ambition, even emotion. A body can be honed after all, if it's not broken.”

“In this world, you will be forced to push past your limits, you will no longer be just a human, your survival skills are already being put to the test as we speak for you are the “Lone human” I talked about. When [Identifying] you it's clear to see a [Human girl] the second tier of Identification allows a person to get a view of your health or mental state. You are always nervous. To keep you and your little brother alive you will have to become a monster that is all the system will turn you into. So Adena what type of monster will you become?” Clivent signed, scaring me into silence.

Why would he call Adi my little brother, Oh yeah, I kind of told the desk lady he was six. Is he?

"Focus," fine.

"The system is a tool. We know of the Nine Aspects but who's to say there are just nine? Some push past unspeakable boundaries to survive. A hidden class stays hidden if the information is unshared by the masses." I sat in silence his words were a lot to digest.