Finally, a worthy reward for all the hardships he’d gone through. Kaniel knew the ranks. Weakest was G, followed by F, E, D, C, B, A, and at last, S, as far as the manual inscribed in his mind told him. Despite having no idea what the class Internet Explorer was other than that it had something to do with the internet, the rank of A+ signified its importance.
Moreover, it was a unique class, meaning he was the only person who could have it, making the class no second to a lesser S-rank one. Why? Despite the vast chasm between the ranks, especially the higher ones like S and A, Kaniel could tell the advantage of having abilities nobody had and could predict. Now, he had to make the best use of the class and adapt to it. He drummed his fingers against the table in deep thought.
“Status,” he whispered. The transparent blue screen reappeared once again.
Leinak
Class: Internet Explorer |A+|
Level: 0
Points: 10
Skills: 3
Before focusing on the computer or the class, Kaniel inspected the skills he’d gotten from the emperor’s will.
Skills: 3/5
Active: 1
Passive: 1
Domain: 1
He first checked on the single active skill he had gotten.
Stow |D|
Cooldown: N/A
Consumption: Micro
Move objects from the specific dimension to the chosen domain and retrieve them whenever needed. When touching the object subjected to stowing, the object disappears instantly and reappears within the domain, where it will remain indefinitely until retrieved.
Quite a helpful skill. With its help, Kaniel could now bring the objects from his world to the white room. For example, gold could be transported to be converted into points. The lack of cooldown meant he could use it whenever for as many times as he wished. Micro consumption indicated that the skill would require minimal energy. Though what kind of energy and whatnot, he wasn’t sure.
Dreamscape |B|
Every third night, the user is automatically transported into their domain. Time moves differently, whereas where an hour has passed, only a minute elapses in reality.
If the user sleeps near an unconscious person, they can enter their subconscious mind, allowing them to explore their dreams, memories, or mental projections. The user, however, cannot control their dreams directly, but only observe and tread through them.
Quite a… helpful skill. But Kaniel was starting to get concerned. His shoulders slumped forward, and his chin dipped to his chest. None of the skills were combat-related. What use was traveling into other’s minds if he could do nothing to their bodies? How was he supposed to put them to sleep in the first place?
At least he had no need to worry about consumption or the cooldown. Still a theory, but if every other passive skill was similar, then they were more valuable than the active ones. After all, they had no restrictions. He pressed his fingers to his temples in frustration.
White Room |D|
A white room with high defensive and disguise properties.
“Is that all?” Kaniel couldn't believe that the magical domain white room he was in was just a regular white room… No, on second thought, it made sense.
Applying the talisman |Planeswalker |B||
Once again, the system was pulling some shenanigans without his verdict.
White Room |C-|
A white room with high defensive and disguise properties. Possesses a single-time ability to transfer ownership through a contract, binding two individuals.
Kaniel ran a hand through his hair, furrowing his brows. The white room got from D to C- rank with the talisman. It seemed to him that talismans worked with domains just like charms did with artifacts, amplifying them. But, for him, this improvement, in particular, amounted to nothing. Share the ownership? Bring another person? What a joke. He was sure that no amount of persuasion would make him share this inheritance that he got through the thick of his skin.
Now, he could only rely on his class for combat skills. He highly doubted that he could buy anything that would immensely boost his combat strength in the store with a mere 10 points. He exhaled deeply and prepared himself for the worst. And the worst happened.
Internet Explorer ★☆☆☆☆
Attributes
Aspects
Afflictions
He had a terrible premonition but proceeded nonetheless. First came attributes.
Attributes
♤ Essence 10%
♡ Vitality 10%
◇ Perception 10%
♧ Creation 10%
Information swarmed into his head as Kaniel tightly clasped it with both hands.
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Essence, or ♤, seemed to be the power through which the system operated. It came from one’s very soul. Whether it was the usage of skills or even just having a look at the status screen, one needed vast reservoirs of essence in their soul to optimize their usage of the system.
Vitality, ♡, encompassed stamina, endurance, recovery, and health altogether. Most physical capabilities, basically. Kaniel could imagine one with good vitality attribute would endure countless sleepless nights and fight for a prolonged time, or resist the deadliest of diseases, even. More and more ideas came with each passing second till he shifted his gaze to perception.
Perception, ◇, was just like how he’d imagine the sixth sense to be like. The only difference was, other than adding, it enhanced each and every preexisting sense. Whether it’s hearing, smell, vision—everything. How well to spot danger, analyze the surroundings, or even traits like intuition, accuracy, connecting with the habitat, and detecting hidden threats or objects like traps depended on one’s perception.
Creation, ♧, signified his ability to shape, manipulate, or manifest both the tangible and intangible to their minutest details. It governed how well he could craft objects, control the complexity of the said objects, or reconstruct environments or tools. Alchemical experiments, enchantments, or assembling artifacts all relied on it.
This was just like the real world…
In his world, one could choose one of the four main paths to master. Mages who cast complex spells. Aura masters who utilized their bodies. Elementalists who contracted spirits and manifested the core elements. Lastly, crafters who specialized in alchemy, runes, formations, and alike, like Kaniel himself. Kaniel was an alchemist, a crafter.
It was almost the same. Essence was an alternative for mana here. Vitality could be seen as aura. Perception granted a better connection with the world and oneself, better spirituality, just as the elementals back in his world. Finally, creation was a substitute for sigils through which the crafters weaved and brought to life their creations.
The only lacking replacement was for the specialists. But those were a rare bunch to begin with.
Suddenly, Kaniel was reminded of the star symbols beside his class…
He shook his head to brush the idea off and switched to aspects.
Aspects
◆♤ Planeswalker ☆
◆♧ Corporation ☆
♣︎◇ Subspace ☆
♡♤ Cerberus ★☆
♠︎◇ Deceit ☆
One more painful surge of information protruded into his head. He rubbed his face with both hands, dragging them down to rub away the exhaustion. It became pretty clear to him.
He, was a specialist. Or, well, whatever the system’s alternative of a specialist was. While ♤ symbolized Essence, ♡ Vitality, ◇ Perception, ♧ Creation, ☆ represented specialists. Internet Explorer was a specialist class.
Aspects were just like skills, the only exception being that they could be grown, and, as of now, were nowhere near their maximum capability. The empty stars signified that he couldn’t use four of the five aspects yet. For example, to unlock the planeswalker aspect, he’d have to bring perception, ◇, to 100%, ◆. Until then, he could only use Cerberus as he already met the requirements for both vitality and essence, which were none to begin with.
Without further ado, he looked up Cerberus.
Cerberus ★☆
♡♤ |Hound of Past, Cer |F|| ★
Summons Cer, The Firstborn Hound of Hell, who can mend minor wounds and undo cumulative damage, scars, or fatigue.
♥︎♠︎♤ |???| ☆ — ???
Kaniel couldn’t help but laugh hysterically as he pressed his hands against his eyes. All he could do with the oh-so-special Internet Explorer class was to summon… a dog? How was he supposed to fight?! To add more salt, he had to upgrade his vitality and essence to improve his aspect.
It occurred to him that for the first floor, Kaniel would have to bring a huge bag of combat potions and hope for the best. Yet, he hadn’t seen the worst yet. He reluctantly put attention on afflictions.
Afflictions
Constancy
Sincerity
Pacifism
Gnosis
???
It looked ominous. No, it was ominous. Kaniel immediately understood. For every aspect he got, he got a corresponding affliction, a curse of sorts. It was ordered from the minor to the most dangerous ones. Already fed up with anger, Kaniel decided to start with the lighter one.
Constancy
The merchant perceives no universal value that can be attached to goods. What is significant may one day become insignificant. The merchant trusts in the goods they sell as they trust themselves and distrust that that doesn’t belong to them as they distrust all else but the absolute.
*The merchant cannot receive tangible goods in dimensional trades.
“What do you mean?!!” Kaniel screamed at the blue box before him. His patience, which lasted for so long, was shattered in crumbles. “Doesn’t that make the Dimensional Store useless…” he whispered to himself. Also, why was he called a merchant? The class clearly was named ‘Internet Explorer’.
He breathed deeply. In. Out. In. Out. In…
“If this is the best of worst, just what kind of thing do the other four…”
Instead of pondering, he just directed his gaze toward the damned blue box once again.
Sincerity
The merchant places their reputation on a pedestal, which is foremost built on trust and truth. They must perceive but neither deceive themselves nor the others.
*The merchant cannot tell lies, withhold truths if questioned, or break any promises.
“This is preposterous!” He stood and slammed the table, blood covering his knuckles.
Without the power to fight, the only way he could survive thus far in the unforgiving world of nobles and ever-growing confrontations was by knowing what and when to say! His only saving grace was his eloquence! What kind of ridiculous setup was this?!
But there were three more!
Pacifism
The merchant's words are the shapers of the future, the tellers of the past, and the cutting force of the present. They thus must sharpen their blade as much as they can. While the merchant carries the shiniest sword, they do not personally engage in any battle.
*The merchant cannot attack or gain experience by themselves.
Kaniel was left speechless. He had no words to describe his miserable life. All these years, he had sacrificed all his prospects for the emperor’s inheritance, became crippled, and now, everything he got was an ability to move things around, get a better night’s sleep, and, and, a damn dog! How was he supposed to fight in the inheritance ground if he wasn’t even allowed to?! How in the world could he level up and increase his attributes if he couldn’t even gain the experience that those levels so required?!
But there was even more…
Gnosis
888 888 888 888 888 888
*T8he 88me8rchant8 8 8may be8 ga8ze8d upon8 b8y The Demon Sultan 888888
Kaniel fell head-first and hit the tip of the table with his head. It hurt. Not the collision, no. The memories that resurfaced in his mind. So, the system meant to tell him that that glob of mass consisted of random matter he had seen, a literal god, was watching him?
“Now, the only worse thing that can happen is, I don’t know, a literal god of destruction looking for me, haha…” he laughed emptily.
???
The Demon Lord of Destruction always observes you.
“...”
He could no longer laugh.
He never believed in destiny. He knew he was not a good human being, but, such punishment… nobody in the entire world deserved it. Even the most heinous evil deities didn’t deserve such divine retribution…