[Time left till System unlock: 0:00:00:00]
[*ding Congratulations! You have learned the [Child of Mana] Class!]
[Congatulations! [Child of Mana] has reached level 1-10! You have 50 free stats!]
[*ding New General Skills available!]
Those notifications were the first thing Lucas saw when he awoke--before his mind was even fully conscious, really. The moment he saw them, however, he woke right up.
Lucas sat up in his bed, his focus not leaving the words floating in his mind's eye. He debated whether or not to immediately open the list of Skills available to him, before deciding that should be done in his mother's presence. She and Eugene were doing everything they could to guide him through this time--it only felt right for them to be there when he opened that list, regardless of their inability to see his notifications themselves.
He quickly got dressed and the little room he slept in. Lucas was surprised to find his mother already up before him, Eugene keeping her company as she prepared breakfast. Considering the ordeal the previous day had been, he must have slept in later than usual. Lucas joined Eugene at the table, and gladly accepted the proffered cup of tea.
"Morning," Eugene welcomed him with a smile.
"Good morning, Lu!" Mary called over her shoulder.
"Good morning," Lucas returned their greeting.
"Well, don't keep us waiting," Eugene said. "Read it out for us!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Without further ado, Lucas read out the initial messages he'd received.
"[Child of Mana], huh? I'd be shocked, if not for how much sense that makes," his mother commented.
Eugene clapped him on the back, his face showing pride for Lucas. "It's really rare for anyone to get a starter Class based on an affinity, and I'd imagine that pales in comparison to [Child of Mana]. It is even already level ten!"
Mary brought three plates of food over to the table then. "Very impressive," she agreed, "but it's still a starter Class. Why don't you read out what Skills you've been offered?"
"Alright," Lucas said. With a little flex of his mind, he selected the notification that alerted him to new General Skills available. The flood that followed nearly overwhelmed him, but after nearly a full minute of consecutive notifications, he was able to regain his bearings.
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Identify]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Cooking]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Cleaning]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Running]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Hiding]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Learning]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Fitness]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Basic Combat Training]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Healing Arts]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Regeneration]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Etiquette]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Petty Theft]!]
[*ding You have received the General Skill [Pants-on-Fire]!]
...
The list went on, and on--offering Lucas so many Skills. He did a count, and there were nearly three dozen in all. Some of them were very similar to others, with only slight differences in effects--like [Cleaning], [Hygiene], and the strangely named [Spot-Be-Gone!]. If he were to decide to include a Skill for cleaning, he'd have to analyze those Skills' differences, but for now he could divide the list into a few groups of Skills, along with a selection of outliers, to make things easier on himself.
"There are a lot of them," he warned the adults before sharing the list.
"That's fairly normal," his mother said. "Most people get around twenty Skills offered."
"I have almost twice that."
"Oh. Well, that's still not too unusual."
"Stop stalling and spill," Eugene complained.
Lucas just shrugged, before beginning his narration. The discussion of what he should take began as soon as the list was finished.
"Hmm...Well, before getting into any others, you should definitely take [Identify]. Everyone has it--it's practically mandatory," his mother told him.
Lucas took a more in-depth look at the Skill.
[Identify: Select a target within line of sight and receive relevant information. Information received is improved at higher levels.]
There wasn't much there, but its potential uses was immediately apparent to him. "What kind of information does it give you--and what kind?"
"You can see lots of things, if you have the Skill at a high enough level," his mother answered. "At the very lowest level, you should be able to see what type of Class a person has leveled highest, as well as very basic details of most items."
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Ok." That wasn't much, but the Skill still had lots of potential. Maybe at a high enough level, he would be able to see a detailed breakdown of a person's full status in the System, not just a generalization of their strongest Class.
[*ding Congratulations! You have learned [Identify]!]
Lucas focussed on his mother and concentrated on activating his newest ability.
[Healer]
Nothing new there, let's try Eugene.
[Warrior]
Nothing, next target.
[Wooden table: Comfortably seats three.]
[*ding Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 2!]
Lucas was a bit disappointed in the Skill's performance, but it at least appeared that it would level quickly in the early stages. He turned back to the two adults and asked, "What else?"
"Before that, we should probably ask what sort of Class you want to pursue," Eugene countered.
"Are you still set on a [Healer]-[Warrior] hybrid?" Lucas's mom asked. "Or do you maybe want to consider a class focussed on mana itself, like a pure mage?"
He answered immediately. "[Healer]-[Warrior]. Maybe I can do a mage Class the second time around," Lucas said.
"Are you sure?" They both looked at him sincerely as Eugene asked. "Your starter Class is called [Child of Mana], after all. Maybe it would be a better fit?"
"I'm sure."
They both accepted his confident response, and moved on. "In that case," Mary said, "you will naturally want the [Healing Arts]. It is a catch-all Skill for knowledge and non-magical practice of healing. It would be the best balance between the number of slots taken and working toward a hybrid healing and fighting class."
"Mmm, you should learn [Basic Combat Training] as well," Eugene added. "Same reason, really. Once you change your Class, those two Skills will probably transfer over. At that point, you will be able to fill the slots they take up with something else, but for now, those are what you want."
"So I shouldn't take the [Spear Proficiency] Skill, or anything like that?" Lucas clarified.
"Those could be candidates for your other slots," Eugene corrected. "You don't just have to take one combat-related Skill. In fact, taking multiple could result in more moving over when you change your Class, further upgrading its initial strength. It might be a good idea to just load up on healing and fighting Skills, as many as possible, for that very reason."
"That would be entirely up to you," his mom told him. "With both of us helping you level, I suppose it wouldn't take long to get you ready to evolve your Class. Just keep in mind: there is more to being a good [Healer] than simply performing the magic, just as [Warriors] need to be good at more than just fighting. Other Skills could move over as well."
"Well, I know I'll be taking [Regeneration]," Lucas told them. He'd taken a look at it when it first popped up because of a feeling, and found it was the System's response to his changes to his mana currents. "It will definitely transfer over to my Class. If I weren't planning on taking anything else for healing or fighting, what else should I consider?"
Both adults turned contemplative, as the subject warranted some serious deliberation.
"[Learning] and [Fitness]," his mom eventually said.
"Those would be good," Eugene agreed. "I'd say [Vigilance] and [Stealth]. The first for ambushes and just to be more observant, and the second would...also be of ambushes," he shrugged. "They are very valuable Skills for all types of fighters, especially when it comes to monsters."
Lucas took a look at all the recommendations so far.
[Healing Arts: Increased retention of all healing knowledge as well as recollection and proficiency when healing with each level. 1% boost to wisdom and intelligence stats while healing with each level.]
[Regeneration: You have drastically altered the flow of your mana with almost no assistance whether through poison or dangerous amounts of exposure to volatile forces, before even getting your first Class. You even lived to talk about it! While reckless, this deserves acknowledgement. +5% HP regeneration per level, +3% MP regeneration per level, +2% power to all lightning magic per level.]
[Learning: Increased retention of knowledge per level, +0.5% to experience gain per level.]
[Fitness: Increased benefits to endurance and constitution per point invested in vitality.]
[Basic Combat Training: You've achieved some minor proficiency in the art of combat through another's training, this will help you be better.]
[Vigilance: You do not have eyes in the back of your head, so take this Skill! Increased awareness to the world around you with each level.]
[Stealth: You are a bit practiced in the art of remaining unseen. Now, master it.]
Some of them were fairly vague, but nothing actually looked bad with the Skills. He checked them over one last time, before accepting them all at once. A slew of notifications momentarily inundated him. With that, eight of his General Skill slots were filled. He had two more, and was eyeing a couple up for inclusion.
"If you don't have any other suggestions..." Lucas trailed off and got a shake of the head from both adults, "then I want to take [Cooking] and [Running] for my last two slots."
"Go for it," Mary encouraged him, "I'm not going to deny the chance for better meals when it rears its head."
Lucas smiled and accepted the Skills. Only, after accepting [Cooking], and unexpected message popped up.
[*ding Warning: You have 0 General Skill slots available. Would you like to replace a slotted Skill for [Running]?]
That shouldn't be right. Did I miscount?
Lucas should have had a tenth slot open, but the System was alerting him before he could mistakenly replace a Skill. For the first time, Lucas called up his full status.
[Lucas]
[Free Stats: 50]
[HP: 130/130]
[MP: 200/200]
[STR: 12]
[DEX: 15]
[VIT: 13]
[WIS: 20]
[INT: 18]
[Class: Child of Mana]
[Level: 10]
[Skills:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
[General Skills:
* [Identify: 1]
* [Healing Arts: 1]
* [Basic Combat Training: 1]
* [Vigilance: 1]
* [Stealth: 1]
* [Cooking: 1]
* [Fitness: 1]
* [Learning: 1]
* [Regeneration: 1]
* [----------]
What in the world is that??
He tried focussing on the last of his General Skill slots, hoping for an explanation for the strange presence, but received nothing. Whatever it was, it didn't even display a level. Lucas tried replacing it with [Running], but despite the System prompt appearing as it should, nothing else happened.
"Something wrong?"
Lucas refocused on his company. Both adults were watching him with slight concern. His own must have been leaking into his bearing. Lucas schooled himself before answering his mother's question.
"Nothing. Just reading through it all--some of the Skills are pretty vague at what they do."
"They can be like that sometimes," Eugene explained. "Usually, their effects become apparent quickly, so the confusion doesn't last." With that, they both went back to the conversation that had started up while Lucas was distracted. Something about tea and plans, he thought.
Lucas went back to puzzling about the nonsensical blank Skill in his status. He couldn't remove, had no idea how he could use it, and couldn't even see what its effects were meant to be. He wished the System had a status assistance function, because he had no idea how else he would solve this problem.
One thing was certain: he wouldn't stop trying to find a solution. It may have only been one slot out of forty, if all three eventual Classes were counted, but a single Skill had the potential to define his strength. [Regeneration] was proof of that, with its absurd bonuses per level. Lucas had to figure this out.
What are you? He thought once more.