The children were busy chatting to themselves, more than a few wondering how long they had to wait before they could just leave, when Mr. Demerki burst through the door and hurried up to the front of the class.
“Apologies children, there was an unexpected issue that made me late but I am here now and we can continue with the lesson.”
Mr. Demerki paused, noticing a hand go up, and sighed as he noticed who the hand belonged to. “Yes, Torin?”
“What was the issue?”
“Well, not that it matters, but there was an explosion at an alchemical laboratory on my route.”
Immediately that got the attention of all the kids, exactly what Mr. Demerki didn’t want to happen.
“Calm down kids. Before anyone of you ask I want to make it absolutely clear that I will not in any way be answering any questions about the explosion. We are here to learn about the System, not about things that go boom, okay?”
The half dozen hands that had sprung up slowly lowered, their owners sad but forced to accept it. One hand, however, did not go down.
Mr. Demerki frowned. “Torin, did you here anything I just said?”
“Yeah, don’t worry, it’s not about the explosion.”
Mr. Demerki’s eyebrow quirked upwards. “Okay, then what is your question?”
“Why were you so late? Why didn’t you just make a detour?”
Mr. Demerki sighed, somehow packing the frustration of twelve years as a teacher into that one gesture. “Because my car was right next to the laboratory when the explosion occurred.”
There was silence for all of one second as that little tidbit of information entered the minds of the kids. Then the classroom erupted.
Mr. Demerki simply let it happen. He knew that in situations like these trying to get a handle on the kids was like trying to capture Zarfrog; it was best to let it tire itself out and then go for it.
It took almost three minute before the children settled down, likely because all kids everywhere knew that a stony faced silent teacher meant only one thing; trouble. It was only after the last child quietened down that Mr. Demerki spoke, his voice quiet and calm yet chilling to the bone.
“I will only repeat myself one more time. There will be no more questions about the explosion. There will be no more mention of my being late. We are here to learn about the System. Am I clear?”
The children as one nodded. Mr. Demerki smiled, and suddenly the atmosphere cheered up, as if the feeling of doom that had just pervaded the classroom had merely been a figment of the imagination.
“Okay, today we have a fun lesson planned; Skills, what they are, how to get them and how to get more of them. Okay, since we’re a bit short on time I’m just going to rush through the explanation and then we’ll move on to examples of actual Skills.”
“First things first, when we talk about Skills, capital S, we are talking about System Skills. These are Skills that show up under either our General or our Class Skills section in the Status sheet and are essentially teaching tools. When someone calls upon one of their System Skills the System takes either partial or full control of their bodies in order to carry out the skill.”
“Before you ask, yes, it feels really weird, but you get used to it eventually. Anyways, it is from this that we get the terms, Passive and Active Skills, denoting how much the System gets involved when we use the Skill. An Active Skill can have the System take ‘Active’ control of your body in order to carry out the Skill whereas a Passive Skill involves the System giving help in a more ‘Passive’ manner, using small nudges rather than forceful control.”
“You might be wandering why the System would do these things. The answer is simple, to teach you. What the System is doing is showing you how the Skills ought to be used.”
“Each Skill has an associated level, from one to ten, that shows how close you are to successfully mastering the Skill, with one being the lowest and ten meaning that you have mastered it.”
“Once you have mastered a Skill the System no longer gives you any assistance towards the Skill which might make you wonder why anyone would bother to master a skill. That’s because, as I have said before, the System will only help those who put in the work.
“Everyone starts off with three General Skill slots and three Class Skill slots, which means the System will only give assistance with a maximum of six Skills at a time. Once you’ve filled these Skill slots the only known way to get more is through mastery of a Skill. Once you’ve mastered a Skill it moves to the Mastered Skills section of your Status and frees up the slot it had been taking, allowing you to get a new Skill.”
“Everyone with me so far? Good. Now, there are two ways to get a new Skill, depending on whether it is a General or a Class Skill that you’re after. Class Skills are the easiest Skills to get as all you have to do is select a new one from a list in your Status sheet and the System will give you one.”
“However, despite the ease of access there are downsides to Class Skills. The first, and biggest, is the Skill Limit. Unlike General Skills where you can have as many as you can, you only get a limited number of Class skills that you can choose. For your initial Class you only get a total of three Class Skills that you can take, with that number increasing by 3 every time you pass a Tier Wall.”
Several students raised their hands, confusion evident on their faces.
“Don’t worry, we’re going to cover Tier Walls next week, for now let’s just focus on Skills. Anyways, as I was saying, Class Skills are limited by the amount of skills you can choose but they can also have prerequisites, often forming what are known as Skill trees.”
“For instance, almost all of the Mage Class Skills require a person to have first Mastered Mana Manipulation before the Skill becomes available.”
“General Skills on the other hand, have only one prerequisite, they must be taught. Any Skill, from the most basic to the most complex, require someone actively teaching you the Skill in order to unlock it for selection. As you can probably imagine, Skill trainers can be extremely expensive, especially for the rarer Skills.”
“Okay, in a moment we’re going to look over the more common General Skills as well as the Class Skills available for the seven basic Classes but first I’d like to ask if anyone has any questions.”
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After the three of them had split up Gloria suddenly had some time to herself and, as one might expect, her thoughts turned to the last five months. To put it simply, life had turned … insane. Back before her eighteenth she’d had a plan. Get an apartment, get a part time to pay for the apartment, train until her bones hurt and, when the Trials came along, absolutely destroy anyone who came between her and becoming an Adventurer.
It was a good plan. Smart, sensible and with a touch of gratuitous violence, just like her. Then the twins took that plan, snapped its spine, and threw it into the lake with weights tied to its ankles.
Honestly, a part of her still hadn’t come to terms with the twins’ Traits, it was simply too insane, especially Johanns. To make matters worse, there was that whole thing with the confidentiality contract. It had taken all her willpower not to just unleash ‘Berserker Gloria’ when they all but demanded she sign it.
Still, she’d do anything for those two idiots. After being abandoned at the orphanage by a mother she couldn’t even remember Gloria had thought she’d never have a family, and she was okay with that. And then Torin had entered into her life, dragging Johann with him, and showed her that maybe she wasn’t okay with not having a family in the most obnoxious way possible; by becoming her family.
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Admittedly, not the kind of family she’d have chosen, especially with that downright Evil father of theirs, but maybe that was even better, because they chose her.
That is why she had to become stronger, to become so strong that no one would dare to piss her off, cause now she had a family, and she would make damn sure that nobody took them away from her.
This resolution would undoubtedly lead her to greatness, giving her the determination to keep going far after everyone else would have given up. The resolution was a beautiful thing, it was just not a very well timed thing. As almost anyone would agree, it’s a bit silly to get distracted just as a Monster is about to be summoned.
It was only thanks to razor sharp reflexes, honed by a semi-sadistic Elf, that spared Gloria from having her throat ripped out and her Trial ended early. Sadly, even sharp reflexes didn’t save her from a Dire Wolf clamping its teeth into her shoulder.
The weight of the Dire Wolf slammed into her, sending both of them to the floor, Gloria’s mace slipping from her grasp in the tumble. She’d managed to get her shield in between her and the Dire Wolf’s claws, saving her armor from further shredding, and with an angry shout she shoved her shield upwards, activating the enchantment as she did so. The charged kinetic energy wasn't much but it was still enough to send the wolf flying, a chunk of her shoulder going with it..
Gloria scrambled to her feet and faced the Dire Wolf. She managed to clamp down on the pain, her Pain Tolerance showing its worth, but her right arm was pretty much useless, the limb unresponsive as blood began to pour down it. Her Health was draining at a rate of five points per second but Gloria wasn’t worried about it. One way or another the fight would be finished before the bleed could get close to killing her.
Keeping her awareness on the Dire Wolf Gloria assessed her situation. Her mace was a five feet to her right, she could just catch a glimpse of it in the corner of her eye, but even if she could grab it while evading the wolf it would be useless with a limp arm.
There was one thing she could try, but she really didn’t want to. Unfortunately, the Dire Wolf didn’t give her the time to come up with anything else. With a growl it launched itself at her, the two and a half tonne boulder of fur, claws and fury hurtling through the air intent on ripping her head off.
Filled with searing pain Gloria managed to dive to her right and tried to roll over the mace, grabbing it in the same motion. She didn’t quite succeed, the pain from her arm joining the pain from her transformation and turning a graceful roll into a graceless crumple.
She managed it though, her Mace re-secured in her second right arm as she stood back up, her legs wobbly from the pain. A lot of people envied the Rakshasi for their ability to freely alter their form, but if they had any semblance of actually knowing just how painful it was they would quickly change their minds.
Still, the ability to ignore almost any injury by simply growing a new limb was quite the advantage, even if it did cost an exorbitant amount of Mana, Stamina and Health. Still, as the wolf came barreling towards her, Gloria couldn’t help but smile, the thrill of a good fight filling her once again.
The Dire Wolf once again leapt through the air but this time Gloria was ready. Bringing her shield up and shifting herself slightly to the right she deflected the wolf to her left. The sheer momentum would likely have still toppled her if she wasn’t already turning, the momentum adding to her turn as she brought her mace down in a savage overhead strike that slammed directly into the Wolfs spine, a sharp crack sounding out.
Unwilling to let her advantage go to waste Gloria jumped forward and smashed her mace into the wolfs left flank. Without the extra momentum it wasn’t able to break any bones, but it still sent the wolf tumbling.
Not letting up, and not able to with bleeding still eating up the little amount of health her shifting had left her, Gloria darted in and slammed her mace into the Dire Wolfs head with as much force as she was able to.
Unsurprisingly, the Dire Wolf died as it lived, violently. Gloria’s mace smashed into the wolfs head and turned its skull into a crater, blood and brains splattering out in a gruesome spectacle of death. Gloria collapsed backwards, her strength spent, and left the mace buried in the wolfs skull.
Just as she was beginning to worry Gloria felt a spell land on her, bringing her health up to full and restitching the flesh in her shoulder. At almost the same time the Dire Wolfs body began to dissolve, the Mana that made up its body dissipating into the surrounding atmosphere.
“Congratulations Gloria Megrathin, on completing the first round!” An upbeat voice sounded out from all around her, almost but not quite scaring the living daylights out of her. “Please proceed through the portal to the resting area!”
A shimmering circle of twisting Mana popped into existence on the other side of the room from Gloria. Before she went through it though, Gloria took a deep breathe and reactivated her Trait, pulling her second right arm back into her body and returning her appearance to normal.
After another heal, for which she thanked the hidden healer, she moved through the portal.
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Torin did not spend the minute lost in thought, he spent it preparing. As soon as the timer was announced a change overcame him, his usual brash self fading away like snow in spring as he became cold and calculating. It was a side of him that he didn’t like, one he usually buried down deep.
The only time he let it out was in battle, and even then sparingly. The reason he hated it was the way he looked at his friends, he saw them not as people but as tools to use or obstacles to overcome. He was scared that one day he’d end up sacrificing one of them in order to win a fight.
As his mind slipped into this state all his worries and fears disappeared. He analyzed the room, taking in its cubic dimensions and materials. The lack of cover or obstacles made a prolonged battle a mistake. His Footwork skill might help somewhat but it was imperative to end this quickly
The high ceiling made both flying and large monsters possible. In the case of flying monsters there was no issue. Fliers, especially at level 1, were fragile things. As long as he got one arrow in them then they’d die, simple as that. The possibility of large monsters was concerning. Large meant high Vitality which meant protracted battles which increased the odds of losing and losing was one thing Torin could not accept.
When the Monster appeared Torin immediately shot an arrow center mass. It may not be a killing blow but unexpected pain after a transport would be disorientating enough to create an opening.
Annoyingly, the arrow did not strike the monster but was instead deflected by a shield as the Monster was fully revealed; an Orc Warrior. Mentally Torin cursed, annoyed with himself that he had not included the possibility of an intelligent monster. To be fair, intelligent monsters were so rare that outside of dungeon bosses they were basically unheard of.
Torin quickly fired the arrow at the orcs head, hoping that the first block was a fluke. As the arrow thwacked into the orcs shield he knew it was not. The orc may not have been all that intelligent, as proved when it roared at him rather than press the advantage, but it was definitely capable when it came to blocking.
Still, it was only level 1, and it showed in its equipment. The shield was a basic wooden one, its sword rusted and chipped and its armor amounted to scraps of leather covering its chest and, mercifully, its groin.
Torin was surprised, but not unprepared. Taking two arrows, one between his index and middle fingers as usual and one between his thumb and index, he brought his hand out and tossed the second arrow towards the orc in an overly obvious toss.
The orc, the dumb brute that he was, raised his shield to block the lightly tossed arrow, completely obscuring its view.
In one smooth motion Torin nocked the arrow, pulled back on the string, took aim and fired. The arrow sped through the air and punched into the orcs ankle, severing its anterior tibial tendon. The orc roared again, this time in pain, as it collapsed to one knee, its left leg no longer able to hold its weight.
It raised its head to glare at the elfling that had hurt and just barely managed to block an arrow aimed at its head. When it lowered the shield it was shocked to find the annoying little elfling had disappeared. Whipping its head around the orc spotted its foe about to fire another arrow. In an act of desperation it lunged to the side, dodging the arrow.
Or at least, it tried. Rather than fire immediately, as the orc so obviously thought, Torin waited until after the orc dodged before releasing. The arrow sped through the air and plunged into the orcs chest. Sadly it wasn’t enough to kill it, but at this point the orcs death was inevitable.
Two minutes later as the message played out an unconcerned Torin walked up to the orc and began retrieving his arrows. Three had broken but he managed to secure the other six, including the one he had tossed at the orc.
Arrows recovered Torin took a moment and to recover himself, the cold hunter retreating to the depths of his mind as clarity, or at least some sense of it, returned. Smiling, Torin walked through the portal, ready to regale the others with the story of his triumphant battle where he took on three orcs with a single arrow.
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When Johann’s enemy appeared he couldn’t help but laugh. A slow, shambling sack of dead flesh known as a zombie appeared, the undead creature immediately stumbling towards him. Zombies were slow, easy to kill and without a semblance of a defense. Their biggest strength was that they usually appeared in hordes of at least fifty or more, an advantage that was nullified by the Trials setup.
With an exaggerated twirl of his staff Johann cast his Basic Mana Bolt, the Mana flowing through his arms , into his staff and forming a small blue ball at its tip before rocketing towards the zombie’s head. The impact snapped its head back, the zombie stumbling even more than normal before it straightened back up, the only evidence of his spell being a small crater in its forehead.
Another two Mana Bolts later and Johann officially passed what might have been one of the easiest Trials in history.