Malic leads me over into a sitting room with a couple couches, a few more people sitting a number of seats down, near the other end of the room. He sits across from me, sliding a couple coins across the coffee table between us. “Your change,” he says. Right, because the crest doesn't cost a full two golds, so I should have some left over. I pocket it, this is all the money I have for now.
“Here, just wait for a bit, I'll find someone who can give you better advice.” I nod listlessly and take the glass of water he offers me. Sitting and sipping it for a while really helps get my mind running again after that whole ordeal. It's hard to say how long passes when Malic finally returns, practically dragging a similarly dressed lizard-woman with him. She has horns and looks kind of draconic actually.
“This is the one? A free human you gave an adventurer's crest?” she asks bitingly and Malic flinches a little, even though he has a solid two feet on her. Wait... huh?
I squint a little, confused. She was definitely speaking Panir, and I definitely didn't understand all of it. But then it was like, the meanings of her words filled themselves in somehow...
“What?!” she suddenly barks at me, making me realize it might look like I'm glaring at her.
“Uhh, sorry,” I start by apologizing since she's so riled up. “I just... I don't know, I can understand you for some reason?”
Not bothering to respond, she shoots a glare at Malic instead. After he shrugs and retreats a couple steps, she flops down heavily, drawing a creak from the couch that belies her small size. “Alright, so you're a brand new adventurer and you have no idea how to use your celestial's magic?” she asks. Her manner is so overbearing, I nod obediently.
“Fine. First things first, most celestials have some sort of Status magic that allows you to get some idea of your present status.” Again, I'm struck by the odd sense of her words being filled in wherever my own knowledge fails, but I push that from my mind for now to focus on what she's explaining. “Your first step should be figuring out how to draw out Status magic like that. A lot of Pannatir's magic manifests visually, so try focusing on that first.”
Visually? I wonder, confused. What does that even mean? Like, by looking at things? I mean, when I look at the woman...
Oh! I flinch a little when something suddenly appears out of nowhere in my vision.
My attention is diverted from it by a hostile hiss. The woman is suddenly on her feet, leaning halfway across the table between us with Malic jumping forward to grab her around the shoulders. “She fucking Scanned me!” the woman shouts, straining in Malic's grip. I shrink away, confused and honestly, scared. I want to apologize, but this lady looks like she actually wants to hurt me. If it wasn't for Malic...
Trying not to think about that, I swallow roughly, and glance over to that strange thing that appeared. It's like... a floating window.
Phena Adventurer Might: 34 Race: Altraska - Purple Drake Type: Merchant
The first thing that comes to mind is an info readout. Like, name, level, and enemy type, or something. Which is weird, because... I definitely can't read it. It's in Panir and I don't know how to read the language, but when I look at the characters floating in the mysteriously game-like window hovering in space, I can understand what they mean.
Finally pushing past my confusion and fear, I look to the woman again. “I'm sorry,” I start with an apology. “I think I... uhh, got some information about you somehow? Was I not supposed to do that?”
The woman suddenly snorts. “Don't you know anything?” she berates me. Apparently regaining her composure, she waves off Malic who hesitantly releases her, before she plops down in her seat again, crossing her legs in a huff.
“Sorry, I only came to this world a month ago, I haven't had time to learn more than the basics of living here. I was leaving the adventurer information for when it became relevant and, well, it all just became relevant...” My shocked, overstressed tone comes out pretty flat.
She exhales loudly through her nose and... I think that was a little bit of fire that came out... “Fine, I can excuse ignorance. Once,” she adds with a warning glare. “Scanning is common magic. It refers to all abilities that check your target and return information about them to you. It is extremely disrespectful to use it on others without good reason, even more so on those who are unwilling, or unaware.” Then she fixes her gaze on me and says, “Scan.”
In the next moment, there's this feeling. Like a million tentacles crawling their way over every nook and cranny of my body, inside and out. Even if she hadn't said anything, I'm instantly, intimately aware that she was the one who did it.
Crushing down any unpleasant emotions that come from her doing that to me, I bow my head. “I understand how uncomfortable it is now, I'll try not to do it again in the future.”
“Good,” she grunts. “Now, figure out how to check yourself for your own information.”
I nod and... do the first thing I can think of. I look down at myself and kind of try to focus the same way as when I Scanned her. I get the same crawling feeling all over, and a new thing appears in my view.
Yumi Adventurer Rank: 0 Race: Human Job: ? Class: ? Style: ? Focus: ?
It certainly looks like my own information. Though it is pretty alarming that I'm labeled human without any indication I'm an otherworlder... As for all the unknown information, they certainly sound like they fall under RPG terms, whether digital or tabletop, though I've never seen that exact mixture before.
What's really weird is how the information I got back is different from Phena's (also confirming that the first line is the name.) She had Might, but I have Rank. Both seem to refer to a level of power, but why are they labeled differently? If I'm following what I've learned so far correctly, it's because her celestial does things differently than mine, so any information I can glean from Scanning her is different.
Like... if this was a System novel, she uses a different system...
“Umm, I think I got something,” I tell them. “I... think I'm starting to understand how this works, sort of? My information includes 'Job,' 'Class,' 'Style,' and 'Focus,' that yours didn't, so let's see if...” Thinking of the way I pointed my attention at things to Scan them, I try to do the same toward those concepts, starting with Job.
It takes some effort, but then I can actually feel when it works. A new window appears in my view, with much more information than the last two.
“Oh, wow, uhh, I managed to get the 'Job' info. I think you were right, Malic, it wants me to choose a Job.”
“Alright,” he responds, and I realize I can actually look at him through the big window that covers my view, as soon as I try. It's like looking through reflective glass, you only see the reflection until you try to look through it.
Returning my attention to the window, I start reading. It's a little slow, since I can't actually glance across it. The Panir characters don't make any sense unless I actually focus on them, making it slow-going to get through everything.
Alright, looks like it wants me to choose what I do, broken down into broad categories. And they cover all sorts of things...
Eventually turning my attention to the other three, 'Class,' 'Style,' and 'Focus,' I get... not much. Big blank windows?
“Hey, the other three don't have any information, do you know why?”
This time, it's Phena who answers. “Some celestials allow for pretty specific differentiation in how their people develop. It could be that they rely on the choice you have not made yet.”
“Hmm, what should I choose? My options are agriculture, economics, politics-”
“You're going to be an adventurer, right?” she cuts me off with a hiss. “Which ones relate to combat?”
“Umm...” I have to mentally scroll down the decently long list, calling them out as I go. “Melee combat, Melee support, ranged combat, ranged support, trapping, taming, training, offensive magic, support magic, defensive magic, magical and melee, magic and ranged combat, healing, and general combat.”
“Whoo,” Malic whistles appreciatively.
“That... certainly is extensive. I suppose the humans I've faced were heavily specialized...” Phena thinks aloud.
“So, what are you looking to do as an adventurer?” Malic asks.
“I...” There's no way I can shout I want to be a fire mage. Besides, that's stupid, a thing I loved in video games. Would I really be able to use actual fireballs to injure and burn my enemies? Kill them? Maybe I should go for something support or defense focused instead?
Would it even be possible to change my mind later? Malic said some celestials are flexible, but given how specialized humans appear to be, I'm kind of doubting I'll have that option.
And then there's... one other thing to consider...
Before I can even think it, Malic says it. “You should choose one that has high combat capability on its own. If the situation were different you might have more options, but right now, you don't have anyone to rely on, so things like support and healing won't help you get by.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Y-yeah, you're right.” That vastly narrows my options. I'm going to have to discard any thoughts of hanging back and not harming others. Ethinmond told me this world is harsh and dangerous, and I chose to stay anyway. In that case, there really is only one option for me. “Offensive magic.”
I make my choice, and all at once, there's some sort of change. Almost like I'm stronger somehow... I can't really place the exact feeling, but something is definitely different now. Looking at the other three windows, the 'Class' window has filled in.
“Huh...” I slowly work my way down another long list of options, though still a good deal shorter than the job list that covered so many different things. “The Class option is open now. I'm not sure what to pick though...”
It's not like the names on their own provide the context the last one did. What's the difference between a 'mage' and a 'wizard' exactly? Or 'witches,' 'sorcerers,' 'casters,' and a half dozen others that all seem, as far as my knowledge of RPGs goes, practically interchangeable? Hell, a bunch of them use different Panir characters, but the English translations are the same!
Maybe I can get more information the same way? Focusing on one of the classes for more information, actually get it.
Caster Evokes magic from the wild sources of mana in the surrounding world. Beginning Spells: Blast, Shock, Gust. Growth: Finding concentrations of mana. Casting spells. Defeating enemies.
Hmm, so they use surrounding mana to cast spells? How does that compare to, say, a wizard?
Wizard Shapes mana from the self and the world itself into desired forms to create magic rivaling the forces of nature. Beginning Spells: Fireball, Lightning. Growth: Absorbing wild mana. Magical study. Defeating powerful enemies.
Ok, so wizards are sort of, more powerful? They don't get as many spells, but maybe the ones they do get are stronger? At least the description gives that indication.
Do different classes have different casting limits? That was always a really big deal in D&D. You might not want to choose the casting class that only gets two spells a day, you know?
I exhale slowly. “There are a lot of choices. Sorry, but this might take me a while. I don't want to just choose something without being sure.”
“Absolutely,” Malic says, and even Phena nods sagely. “Take all the time you need. You can come get me at the counter if you need more help.”
“Sure, thanks for everything, Malic. And, umm, you too, Phena...” I say a little less certainly. The woman just snorts at me before rising and stalking off. Malic makes an apologetic gesture on her behalf as he trails behind her.
Now it's just me. I take a few deep breaths. No need to feel rushed, there's no one waiting on me now. If I can spend four hours tweaking my game character's appearance, I can take as much time as needed to decide on a class for me, myself, to live and work as for possibly, the rest of my life.
I shiver nervously in the face of what could be the biggest decision of my life, after deciding to move to Verilz anyway. I just... kind of wish I had some guidance. I've never had to do something like this on my own before. All my big decisions were made by my parents, and even playing games, I always had the advice of my friends on character builds, classes, optimal stat distributions, and all of that.
Now it's just me. If I'd done this back in Emriset, I'd have been surrounded with humans who could walk me through every little detail of the process. Instead, I'm all on my own, flying completely blind, for the first time in my life.
I just... have to do it, I guess.
To make a good, informed decision, first I need information.
Knowing the facts is important, so I get to reading.
----------------------------------------
I've been at this for a long time, but I think I've basically worked things out. Besides just reading through each and every one of the different Class options, seeing the beginning spells listed for each gave me the idea to try and bring up my spell list, which did work, though it only contained one spell, Control Mana.
After a few abortive attempts to cast it, I gave up. Maybe it's more of a passive thing that lets me cast other spells? Or maybe I'm still not using it right?
In any case, after going through all of the different options, I think I landed on one that sounds... possibly very good. Not exactly the picture of a fire mage I had in my head, but none of the options available had anything to do with elemental specialization. Maybe that falls under Style or Focus that come after?
Either way, I think I've decided on Synergist. I've gotten really good at calling up the windows with a thought. It's almost like glancing to any given panel in an MMO.
Synergist Shapes the elements of wild mana, weaving together spells by combining strings of elemental magic into waves of powerfully synergistic destruction. Beginning Spells: Water, Fire, Earth, Air. Growth: Spell casting. Spell weaving. Defeating enemies.
Based on the description, it sounds like I can build the spells out of combinations of the four basic elements, rather than having preset spells. Sounds like a high learning curve, but it can't be any worse than some of those high complexity moba characters or spell slinging arena combat games, right?
Besides that, two of the growth methods, which definitely seem to indicate how to grow more powerful, just require me to cast magic, not necessarily fight anything or do anything else special.
Having come to my own, first big decision all on my own, I close my eyes, and choose.
Synergist.
I squint my eyes open. I didn't feel anything change that time. But when I look over, I see that the Style and Focus windows filled in this time. Style is surprisingly simple, a choice between Power, Speed, Endurance, and Finesse. They're mostly self explanatory, but I try to pull out more information anyway, and it actually reveals that Speed covers both casting speed and possible travel speed of spells cast, while Endurance is both duration of spells, and reduced mana costs for more spell casting.
As for Finesse, it describes allowing further refinement and control in place of a simple power boost. So, another option to increase the skill cap. I balk at it briefly. There's a way to make a Class that already sounds complex, even moreso?
I'm not really put off by the difficulty, managing complexity is essentially my only useful skill. But I don't make the decision yet, I want to look over the Focus information first.
Ahh, this is the elemental one. There's the obvious choice between focusing magic on one element, though there turn out to be quite a few more than the four I can use to start. A pretty useless option for me now that I've chosen a class based around using all of the elements together.
Besides the elemental choices, there's an option for focus on instantaneous or long duration magic, as well as area control or debilitation, close or long range, or no focus, which provides a small boost to all magic.
I... have no idea. I haven't even cast anything yet, so I have absolutely no idea how my magic works, or what suits me best. I..... actually don't want to choose a focus yet. With that in mind, I choose Finesse for my Style, and leave my Focus alone. I'll figure that out later, once I understand my magic better.
Looking down at my hand, I endure the awful crawling sensation of scanning myself, and get my information.
Yumi Adventurer Rank: 0 Race: Human Job: Offensive Magic Class: Synergist Style: Finesse Focus: ?
Good enough for now, I guess. It probably took me hours to decide on it all, but I did it. All on my own. I shudder a little, then stand up to go find Malic again.
I get a little turned around in the guild building, but manage to find my way to the front soon enough. But I don't see Malic at the counter. Is he busy with something else, or is his shift over? I have no idea what time it is, so I can't really say. Should I look for someone else? I know a few other guild receptionists, but none as well as him.
I look around a little more because I have no idea what to do. I definitely can't leave the guild hall again, not without a plan. Not with an insane slaver looking to kidnap me on sight...
Trying not to think about that, I look around some more, and I eventually spot him. I walk over, but he looks busy, dealing with some other people, so I don't interrupt him.
I do draw a few looks from the group he's dealing with though, and when he notices, Malic turns and spots me. “Ah, good timing!” he calls, coming right up to me.
He grabs my shoulder and steers me toward the group while whispering, “Just go along with it. You need to get out of town for a few days.” Then he spins around and speaks to the whole group. “Here's your final party member. She's an otherworlder and this will be her first quest, keep an eye out for her, alright?”
“An otherworlder?” one asks. “Don't they all quit after their first quest? None of them can handle this job...”
“She's a human too,” one snorts. Out of the seven members of the group, only the two look outright offended by my presence. That's... not that bad.
“Well, let's take a look,” one calls. Then they all say, “Scan,” and I feel my whole body cringe and shudder under the horrible effect. By the time it passes I feel violated. God that's awful!
Attempting to shake it off, I see how everyone in the group gives a general shrug at the information. They mutter a few comments that all amount to, 'wow, a free human.'
“In any case, this group is heading out on their quest now, I can procure you a pack of supplies for the trip,” he says, holding out a hand.
“S-sure.” I answer quickly, fishing out the remainder of my money and passing it off to him. I have no idea what he's getting me, but... now I'm completely out of money. I'm supposed to be an adventurer, going out on some quest, but I have literally nothing except the clothes on my back now.
When Malic returns with a backback, I'm really grateful. I sneak a peak inside and see what looks like a sleeping bag and some bread or something. Probably the barest basics I'll need to survive. Good enough. If I have to get out of the city to avoid literal slavery, a bag full of survival essentials is damn well good enough for me.
“Alright, you're all set, get going.” Just like that, he sends the group off, and I trot along with them.
I have no idea what we're doing. Doesn't matter. I just stick as close to my group as I can, huddling between them for cover as we walk, my nerves not easing until we clear the city. I've never seen the gate before, but it's really big with tons of people flowing through.
Unfortunately, one of the gate guards calls me out of the crowd as we pass. I stop, throwing a glance at my party that thankfully stops a short distance away to wait.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in Karshis?” the guard, a bird-altra with bright red plumage, asks.
“I'm an otherworlder, I just became an adventurer and I'm going on my first quest.”
“Mm...” I catch him eyeing my neck, and try to keep from flinching under his gaze. Then he glances over clothes, then to my party waiting nearby. “Fine, get going.” He doesn't need to tell me twice. After a short bow, I run back over to the group and we set off.