Theresa kept speeding up as they now ran, forcing Thomas to push himself, but they were reaching the start of the forest soon.

Spotting an oddly familiar flat rock ahead, he took the opportunity to slow down, enough to start catching his breath at least. Theresa, despite being ahead of him, noticed and slowed down as well.

Taking deeper breaths, a strong smell of blood assaulted his senses, finally noticing the bodies ahead in the dimming light. In the midst of the carnage, an armored figure stood, robe stained red.

Yikes, that’s a lot of blood. Just the smell here is already making me feel sick.

Turning to them, the Knight raised her hand in greeting, but then returned her attention to one of the corpses.

“It seems we were anticipated,” Theresa commented, casting a short glance around.

Nodding, Tom covered his nose with a hand, trying not to look around too much.

They were gonna kill the people of the city. They deserved it. Probably.

Coming to a stop near it, the Knight kicked into what appeared to be a mummified corpse, which easily broke in two with a puff of dust.

“Truly, this one was not a rat, but a cockroach. No matter, please forgive the mess, I tried to clean up before you arrived, but it took longer than anticipated.”

Moving past them, causing Theresa to flinch, she sat down on the rock and took off her helmet, her hair spreading in a curly mess. “Well then. Let us spare the words, I heard that you wish to save the people already. I am not against it. For now, a plan. I go by Unknown, nice to meet you.”

Theresa and Thomas exchanged a look, but since she looked reluctant to speak, he started. “Thomas, but I think you might already know that… Well, we don’t really have a plan, we didn’t really get time to think up more than meeting up with you.”

“Can’t say I expected more anyways. Your interface is screwed up, yeah? Usually you would have to wait until you get your options, but since you are in a rush, I can give you an offer. It will help you save people, but don’t expect to live long if you fight.”

Theresa frowned, then after a few seconds of silence spoke. “It will be your choice, but keep in mind, you have no obligation to stay here nor risk your life. If you are truly unlucky, you may even find yourself unable to change your path.”

Unknown nodded in response. “The Saintess got it right. But no point in arguing it if you haven’t seen the offer. Here, take a look,” she waved her hand, causing distorted air to launch towards him. Before he could react, it disappeared, and the interface appeared instead.

Oath of Knighthood of .

Offered by the Knight, , you may walk the path of .

Acquirement of this Class requires approval of King .

Acquirement of this Class requires .

This Class results in a drastic increase in .

This Class offers .

Acquiring this Class may result in hostility from most Gods.

Walk upon the path of Heresy, defy the Heavens, the Gods, and the System itself.

Although he hasn’t seen much of this world, nor the full scope of the interface, he could tell that there was something very wrong with the prompt. Despite this, just the keywords that had made it through, along with the flavor text, made accepting very lucrative.

It doesn’t say what it increases, but she is supposed to be strong, right? It’s a bit weird to be betting my life when it technically just started for the second time, but it’s not like I can ignore this.

“Right, uh, this seems kinda broken, but I think I want to take it. Just a question, how bad is the hostility from most Gods?”

“It even said that? Wow, I’m impressed, last time I tried something like this, the prompt was mostly blank. Don’t worry about that, they can’t interfere directly. Or, to be specific, they can, but it’s not worth it.”

“Well, that’s slightly comforting. As long as I don’t have to do sacrifices or something for the Heresy part. Wait, I think I just completely skipped over this, Saintess?”

Theresa forced a smile. “Yes, there wasn’t an opportunity to share that, but I am considered the Saintess of this region. Think of it as a powerful Class with restrictions. Which reminds me, be careful, some Classes can be somewhat painful to take.”

“And currently the second strongest person in the region. Don’t mind the heresy, I think it got mistranslated. It should be Blasphemy, to act against a God. Which we are literally about to do, by the way. The attack is organized by cultists.”

It feels like there is a lot of Gods, so what’s the issue with making an enemy out of a few…

As he was about to ask how to accept, something clicked, which he could recognize as accepting by the burning rush that suddenly burst through his body. On the verge of unbearably painful, he could feel it ramping up as his nails dug into his hands and his skin began to tingle.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Tom found himself on the ground, barely holding his face up from the ground, his entire body clenched and sweaty. It was a wonder his palms weren’t bleeding.

That... stung a bit.

Pushing himself up a bit, he saw the Saintess on one side, trying to hide her worry with a smile, on the other was the Knight, kneeling next to him, but face indifferent. Throwing himself on his back, he saw the interface again.

Congratulations on your full System integration!

You have accessed the Class ’s Squire!

Your body has been modified:

* Your body is now receptive to mana, and is very capable of handling it.

* Your physical body is automatically strengthened by mana.

* Your spirit body is automatically strengthened by mana.

* All attributes can be strengthened using mana.

* You are now naturally resistant to magical attacks.

* You are now naturally resistant to physical attacks.

You can now gain skills by progressing your Class.

You can now gain skills through comprehension.

You may advance your Class once requirements are met.

As a part of the System integration, you may now access:

* Your System interface

* Basic System tutorials

* Your active Objectives

“Fuck, that’s a lot.”

“Pain?””Text?”, the Saintess and Knight spoke at the same time.

“Both. Should I read through the tutorials and stuff? I don’t think I can move right now anyways, unless one of you carries me.”

The Knight responded by dropping a rug on the ground next to him, then went to sit back on the rock. “Rest. I know this might seem urgent, but both sides should be still holding back right now. Considering that stalling only benefits the siegers, it’s not gonna last forever, but we can’t really do much if we join anyways. Not right now.”

So the cultists will be stalling because it benefits them, and the city will hold back its resources in fear of wasting them? Probably that.

Rolling over onto the rug, Tom tuned out his escort as he focused on the interface.

Give me that tutorial. My body- er, mind is ready.

Current available System tutorials:

* Skills and how to use them

* How to navigate your personal interface

* Advancing your level

Currently no available Class tutorials.

Just give me all of them. Unless they are too long. Actually, is there some kind of a shortened version?

Understood! :D

Shortening the tutorials. If you wish to clarify something in the future, refer to the full page!

Skills

Skills are abilities granted through the System, either through rigorous work, or through advancement. Though full understanding of an ability may result in better results, it can take much longer than simply taking the shortcut granted by the System.

System Skills are limited in slots. They can be exchanged, but beware, there are downsides to doing so! To invoke a System Skill, either commit the basic form to memory and then use it, the System will fill in the rest for you, or speak its name to fully outsource it.

Although it is possible to use many abilities without the help of the System, it can be either very inefficient or dangerous! The System makes sure the ability is stable when used, and greatly simplifies abilities that would be otherwise very complicated.

Personal Interface

To simplify this page, refer to your Personal Interface, the tutorial will be inserted the next time you open it.

Advancing your level

Though not the only way to gain power, it can be considered the most simple. Through killing your foes, the System rewards you a part of their strength. This is used to reinforce the user or grant new skills and advancements.

Using mana intensive resources can be a substitute, as being in an environment far richer with mana than your body, you will naturally grow stronger. Training, in body or spirit, can hasten this process! Be careful, the reverse is also true!

The System rewards adversity! The greater danger you are in, the greater rewards you reap. However, do not take this lightly, although it can feel very rewarding, it is also very easy to lose your life!

Do not take the numbers given by the System as absolute. They are based on the average value without any mana, then scale up from there. Even if your levels are equal, that does not mean you are equal in a fight! Even a low level Dragon is still a Dragon!

Detected! Due to your Class, you may be granted strength through Gods. Take their power, with force or through a deal, and you will find yourself new powers.

Thanks for that, if this is the shortened version, I feel like I might’ve fallen asleep with the full one. Time for the last one.

Welcome to your Personal Interface!

Used to access the exact values the System works with, you can also find System Skills or other Menus you are granted access to here. In short, this interface can access everything in between you and the System.

Warning! Due to unforeseen circumstances, some of your values cannot be accessed by the System. Please work with us for an alternative.

Name: Thomas Turner

Age: 25 (52)

Class: Knight of

Health:

Mana:

Skills: none

“Hm? What do you mean, substitute the values,” Unknown suddenly spoke, head turned to the air. “That stuff is pointless. Just give him a health body scan, no reason for the mana, he can figure that out himself.”

Half listening, he quickly glanced over the page. “Wow. I’m younger than I thought. What’s that about health by the way?”

“Pointless stuff. Gives you a numerical for how far you are from death, as if you couldn’t tell that your head got lobbed off. You can literally just ask your System to give you an overall view of your body. Still not exactly the most useful, but at least it tells you how bad each limb is injured.”

Theresa nodded, snacking on bread that appeared at some point. “It is not entirely useless, but yes. I do not know any combatant that uses the basic healthbar. Main importance is that it is difficult to completely disable a limb that still has health. Possible, but simply hitting someone’s head will not kill them right away.”

Pausing for another bite, she continued. “You can customize your interface in many ways. You may have noticed that it can communicate, and they’re usually called System Buddies. Yours is a nice one, but they can change personality over time.”

“Speaking of tamagotchis and hitting people in the head, one of the cultist guys that attacked me is still alive. Holding a severed head and unconscious, but he is still laying over there,” the Knight stood up, walking over to the many bodies on the floor.