Stomach rumbling audibly, Jeff’s thoughts inevitably turned yet again to a proper meal. He caught himself reaching instinctively for his phone, a habit ingrained from placing countless orders via delivery apps. With some chagrin he realized, A: there was no signal, and B: no restaurants would deliver off planet anyway.
The last time he had eaten properly seemed like days before, and the meager protein bars he had found in his pocket earlier had not made much of a dent in his hunger.
Out of desperation, Jeff accessed his ring and retrieved the dried meat he had looted from the defeated goblins earlier.
Hesitantly, he took a small, cautious bite of the dark brown meat, which had the look and texture of biltong, a type of cured beef he ate on occasion. The flavor was good, indeed reminiscent of chicken, with a hint of subtle spices. Jeff hesitated no longer, and tucked in to the tasty strips of unidentified meat.
I guess I’ll be foraging for food in the wild, Jeff thought to himself glumly as he continued chewing on the dried meat.
After dealing with the essential matters of hydration and nourishment, Jeff decided to address an even more mundane issue which had been nagging at him for some time now: the question of bodily functions. Broaching the subject, Jeff turned to Misty for an answer.
“Erm, Misty, how come I haven’t needed to use the, er… restroom yet?” Jeff mumbled, cheeks flushing, aware that his every word was being broadcast to and scrutinized by potentially trillions of viewers.
At first, Jeff assumed that a combination of stress and dehydration had delayed the inevitable, but as more time passed and he still hadn’t felt the urge to go, he was becoming concerned.
Misty’s voice was matter-of-fact as she explained.
“Class evolution initiates certain physiological changes. one such change is the removal of the need for antiquated digestive processes. In fact, as you continue to evolve your Grade, you will find the necessities for eating, drinking, and even breathing become optional.”
Misty continued, “There is also the issue of the optics…”
“Our audience do not wish to be presented with such a sordid spectacle, so that aspect of your biology would have been edited out anyway.”
Jeff took note of this, feeling slightly queasy at the casual way his body could be altered for the purposes of mass entertainment. Surreptitiously, acutely aware of the audience monitoring his every move, he performed a quick body check. All of his body parts, including orifices, seemed to be intact and in order.
Shrugging off the feeling of unease, Jeff got to his feet.
Walking back into the Tournament Store, he presented the featureless robot with one of the orbs he had looted from the corpse of the Ningish Serpent.
“How much would you give me for this?” Jeff inquired curiously.
The robot’s intricate front facing manipulators whirred to life, grasping the orb and raising it level with its humongous blue eye.
“Five Coins,” it declared in its usual robotic voice, placing the orb back down onto the counter gently.
“A measly five coins, is that all?” Jeff was incredulous. From his previous searches of the store catalog, he knew that similar mana enhancing products would sell for at least ten times the paltry amount Boz had quoted.
Swiping it back into his ring inventory in disgust, Jeff remembered the mysterious third door behind him. “What would these fetch at auction?”
The robot paused for a moment, processing a response.
“Next auction scheduled in twenty-five days,” it grated robotically. “Stand by for data transmission.”
Once again, Jeff felt that peculiar tingling sensation at the base of his skull, followed by a influx of data streaming into his consciousness. Details of the auction format, terms, conditions and fees payable flooded into his brain. The information embedded itself in his memory, as though he had been familiar with Tournament Auctions for several years. The information resided in his memory like something he had learnt in Junior High, not five seconds earlier.
Quickly sifting through the newly acquired info, Jeff came to the disappointing realization that the Ningish Orbs—along with all of the other items in his ring storage—were unsuitable for sale in the upcoming auction. When he took into account the hefty entry fees, the extortionate commission rates levied by the auction house on every lot, and the relatively mediocre nature of the loot he had collected thus far, Jeff realized that only objects of far higher value would be worth submitting.
Opting to save the serpent’s orbs for a dire situation, Jeff stashed them back in his ring, reasoning that they would be more effective when he leveled up and had grown his MP capacity still further.
The trials continued. The ensuing four days took on a dream like quality as Jeff engaged in a series of puzzle, skill, combat and action trials against an assortment of system-generated adversaries. Jeff’s existence became a blur of fights, feats of endurance and logical puzzles. He managed to forage just enough to stave off starvation, but the thought of food was a constant preoccupation.
“Do you mean to starve me, Misty? Is that the goal of this damn Tournament?” He groused, prompting Misty to ramble on about the wonderful banquet halls of Tantalus. Despite his hunger, Jeff hesitated to leave the training phase, still worried about the risk of facing his fellow Contestants before he was ready.
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Between challenges, he immersed himself in the library, diving into the history, culture and geopolitics of the System universe. Jeff found he was able to absorb entire pages of text in moments, devouring entire books in a matter of minutes—somehow drawing the data directly into his mind. He briefly wondered if this was another benefit granted to him by the Autochs during his brief time on their ship.
Yet despite this effortless intake of knowledge, Jeff still felt crippled by ignorance. He pressed on, determined to fill the gaps in his understanding, struggling to grasp the mysterious forces at play in the strange new universe he now inhabited.
Jeff was fascinated by runes, those mesmerizing fractal sigils that were the ‘machine code’ of the System universe. He gazed fixedly at continuous lines of the symbols, trying to understand their essence. “What exactly is a rune?” he pondered. He was starting to grasp their function: as mechanisms to harness cosmic energy, channeling mana like conduits while imbuing it with specific attributes such as fire or water. Their true nature remained elusive—what a rune actually was and how it was able to create such powerful effects. Jeff felt that he was only scratching the surface, sensing a deeper understanding beyond his grasp. Jeff continued to delve into the tomes, committing as many runes to memory as possible during his intensive cramming sessions.
After defeating a succession of NPCs, he managed to raise his Total Attribute Points to 125. His level had risen to 865, creeping steadily towards the breakthrough point of 1000 required to evolve to Grade I.
He also managed to collect a variety of different loot items of varying values.
One such item was an enchanted helm that bestowed the wearer with +5 Defense. Then there was a leathery bladder filled with virulent poison harvested from a field teeming with venomous black worms.
He laid claim to a stout pair of hobnailed boots—in his size—which he liberated from a chatty, cockney speaking Orc. The orc had insisted on babbling a stream-of-conscious-like narration of their battle in rhyming slang, until Jeff succeeded in silencing it with a decapitating blow from his short-sword. The boots gave a +2 Speed buff and were a welcome replacement to his Earthly combat boots, which were already showing significant signs of wear.
Lastly, he harvested a bag full of vile-tasting, but edible toadstools which gave a healing +5 HP buff with every mouthful.
He’d managed to built up a decent stash of coins for future purchases in the store, but he decided to hold off on making any purchases until he had moved on to the next round of the Tournament.
He checked out his Status Screen.
NAME: Jeff Nostro
RACE: Human
HIT POINTS (HP): 80/80 (+10*)
MANA POINTS (MP): 70/70
Path: Spellsword [Hidden]
* Path Rewrite: Awarded if 7 tribulations are completed.
* Tribulations passed: 1/7
GRADE: J, Level 865 (Approaching breakthrough at 1000 to evolve to Grade I)
CLASS: Arcane Duelist 1
SKILLS:
* Physical Fitness (Level 1)
* Identify (Level 1)
* High Pain Threshold (Level 1)
* Combat Proficiency (Level 2)
* Sub-Skill: [Unarmed Blade] Level 1
* First Aid (Level 1)
* Dodge (Level 2)
* Jump (Level 1)
* Poison Resistance (Level 1)
* Mana Essence (Level 1)
CLASS SKILLS:
* Infinite Sword (Level 1)
* Cutting Edge (Level 2)
ATTRIBUTES:
* Strength: 19
* Speed: 17 (+2*)
* Vitality: 19 (+2*)
* Endurance: 19 (+2*)
* Cognition: 14
* Offense: 18
* Defense: 19 (+5*)
* Total Attribute Points: 125
* Unallocated Attribute Points: 0
Jeff took a look through the items he had stored in his inventory.
INVENTORY:
Coins: 189
ITEM: [Short Sword] Common, Level 1 (Not Expandable), +2 Offense (Not Stackable)
ITEM: [Goblin Bone Dagger] Common, Level 1 (Not Expandable), +2 Offense (Not Stackable)
ITEM: [VogelCorp Aether Powered Chainsaw] Common, Level 1 (Not Expandable), +2 Offense (Not Stackable)
ITEM: [Periapt of The Erstwhile Tree Gods] Uncommon, Level 2 (Not Expandable), +2 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +10 HP - Equipped (Not Stackable)
ITEM: [Ningish Orb of Mana Replenishment] Rare, Level 1 (Not Expandable), +50% Mana Boost (temporary) x 12
ITEM: [Netherworm Corruption Poison, small bladder]
ITEM: [Chain Mail] Common, Level 1 (Not Expandable), +2 Defense (Not Stackable) - Equipped
ITEM: [Helm of Enchantment] Common, Level 1 (Expandable), +5 Defense (Not Stackable)- Equipped
ITEM: [Orcish Battle Boots] Common, Level 1 (Expandable), +2 Speed (Not Stackable)- Equipped
ITEM: [Bag of Fairy Life-Cap Mushrooms] +5 HP with each mouthful (76% remaining)
Jeff noted with a twinge of irritation that while both the helm of enchantment and the chain mail were equipped at the same time, only one of the items applied a buff to his defense stat, as neither were stackable items. He decided to keep the chain mail on anyway, as it still offered some protection against physical attacks.
Finally Misty declared that he had completed all the available trials, and raised his attributes and Levels as far as possible within the training environment. He was now required to proceed onwards to Tantalus, there to meet the other Contestants in the Tournament. Jeff greeted the news with some relief. The meager amount of food he had been able to scavenge during his training had done nothing to assuage his hunger.
Jeff paused, taking a moment to assess his character sheet. He decided to allocate all of his unassigned attribute points, now that the initial training stage had finally ended. He toyed with the idea of spreading the points evenly across Speed, Endurance, Defense and Offense, but decided in the end to put the whole lot into Offense, reasoning that the best defense was a strong offense.
The character sheet shimmered and updated. Immediately, Jeff felt an increase in confidence sweep through him, an intoxicating buzz of newfound courage—aggressive machismo tempered with a coldblooded killer instinct.
A small voice in the back of his head sounded a note of caution. If his personality was altered this much by a relatively small change in his stats at the beginning of the tournament, would he still be himself by the end?
Shrugging off the niggle of doubt, he squared his shoulders. I am Jeff, he told himself sternly.
Pulling his short sword from his ring storage and holding it in readiness by his side he declared, “OK Misty,” signaling he was ready for the next phase.
Jeff fell down a blue beam through a void, dimly lit by distant nebulae and stars. This time, the journey was much faster, either because it utilized the in-System transport tech, or because the distance was much smaller. After only a few seconds he found himself standing on level ground once again.
Jeff took a moment to look at his surroundings. He was outdoors this time; an azure, Earth-like sky stretched overhead, punctuated occasionally with white cumulus clouds. He stood in the midst of a vast plain which went on for miles in all directions, unbroken save for a solitary mountain looming in the near distance. The ground underfoot was hard compacted clay of some sort, with the occasional lowly shrub or weed poking through.
It was only when he turned to look behind him, at the sky, that any feeling of familiarity deserted him. Hanging there, embedded in the blue sky, was a mind-boggling sight. The light and warmth on the back of Jeff’s neck was produced by no stellar object Jeff had ever heard of. Instead of the usual orb of burning gas that Jeff had expected to see, there glared back at him what looked like a gigantic…flower?
Squinting against the peculiar yellow-tinted glare produced by the strange star-flower, Jeff struggled to make out more details. No stem or stalk held the thing in place, it simply hung there—a testament to the Vogels, (or the System’s) technological prowess. Something like a daisy’s blossom in structure, the central part of the flower gave off a stream of pure white light, while the eight huge petals were a brilliant yellow in color.
The construct gave a pleasant warmth, and Jeff felt himself start to perspire with the added bulk of the chain mail. Seeing no immediate threat, Jeff stowed the armor in his ring, but kept the gladius in his hand, just in case.
A new system notification popped up.
Objective: Journey through the testing grounds to reach the Tantalus Portal within the time limit. Stay alive.
A flashing yellow arrow appeared in his vision, insistently pointing towards the distant mountain’s peak. Above the summit an icon hovered, labeled ‘Tantalus’, and a countdown started ticking down in the periphery of his vision. He had just under 24 hours to reach the destination.
Once again, Jeff felt as though he had been tricked. He had assumed from conversations with Misty that he would arrive instantly in Tantalus, not a trek away.
Sighing, Jeff shelved any hopes of sleeping in a real bed and a hot meal, and started trudging in the direction of the mountain.