*Vitality is directly tied to how much damage you can take before dying, upgrading this stat will both increase the punishment you can take, but also will positively effect your body's health allowing you to be active for longer.*
Owen nodded as it made sense, but he couldn't remember it specifically effecting his body's health. Either way it seemed like a huge plus to him.
*Mana is the essence of the world, it is the only stat you cannot raise with stat points received from leveling up. Mana is the basis for activating skills and directly ties into how strong those skills will be.*
Owen had to pause at that, 'can't be raised with stat points', that didn't seem normal. He pulled up his status and tried to find his level.
Human Level 1
Vitality = 4
Mana = 2
Strength = 6
Perception = 9
Agility = 3
Resilience = 4
Dexterity = 9
Luck = 5
Skills:
Self Creator - You have created for yourself a new body that will let you take part in the system. Self Creator will allow the user to redesign their body, however this process will not change the users mana signature. This skill has a 24 hour cooldown period
Experience 0 out of 20
He couldn't remember having seen the level before he started the tutorial, but maybe that was how he reached level 1, he wasn't sure.
*Strength is related to the physical strength of your body and using it to effect the world. Upgrading this stat will positively effect how much your strength effects the world.*
Seemed like the most straightforward one to him so far, but he still felt excited as he thought about recreating some of the most famous feats of strength. All he had to do now was go faster than a speeding bullet, be more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He grinned at his own lame joke, but no one was there to share in his stupidity.
"Dad, would've liked that one." Thinking of his dad he sighed, time to take this a little more serious so that he could try and meet up with him again soon.
*Perception is seeing the world in all senses and processing it without going crazy to overstimulation. Upgrading this stat will make each of your senses stronger and give you more control over each of the senses.*
*Agility is tied to helping control your strength, speed with finesse and flexibility. Upgrading this stat gives you more control over your body directly and allows for movements normally not thought possible.*
*Resilience is tied to how much it takes to injury both mind or body. Upgrading this stat grants boosted defenses to both your mind and body in differing amounts.*
*Dexterity is tied to fine motor controls, grants a higher level of finesse with skills. Upgrading this stat makes things having to do with fine motor skills easier and effects a certain branch of skills. *
*Luck is a stat that directly effects the percentage chance of an effect on a skill. Has a smaller effect on drop rates for different items. Upgrading this stat increases your percentage chance, but at varying rates.*
Owen swallowed hard, the effects of each of the different stats were in no easy terms just strong. Some of the wording seemed interesting and it looked like most of the stats were not as viable if focused on raising just them.
He had the system list off the different stats a couple more times, trying to remember everything it said. When he thought he finally got all of it and closed out of his menu, the systems voice echoed throughout the room.
*Are you ready for the next round of the tutorial? Y/N*.
He quickly selected yes and the world changed in the same instant. He was standing in a field of grass similar to when he had been testing for get his stats. The biggest difference was that he wasn't alone this time though. The field that had been close to 120 meters across, now looked to be several times that. The forest that had surrounded the previous field, was now gone and replaced with ocean for as far as the eye could see.
*Welcome to the next round of the tutorial, please wait patiently until enough of your peers have gathered. 94 out of 100.*
He couldn't help but feel confused, there were more than ten thousand people, how did it say only 94 people? He turned to try and see if anyone around him looked familiar and saw an unwelcome sight. Jared was standing next to both Kyle and Sara, all of them in standard business attire.
Owen turned away trying to hide from sight, but having just appeared there had been a decent amount of people watching him already making it hard to hide.
"Hey Owen, what a surprise, it's nice to see you! What have you been up to?" Jared's voice was an impressive mixture of condescending and cavalier. Sara and Kyle both saw his as well then and waved him over.
He wanted to be surprised at his old coworkers new appearances, but wasn't. Jared had already been a decent looking guy before, but after the ability to change your appearance, he had gone from good looking to downright gorgeous.
He now had golden blonde hair, ocean blue eyes and stood just over 6'5 inches tall. He had a muscular body that the shirt that was now too small for him hugged tightly. His old coworker now looking like he was a model or A list celebrity, waved him over. There was a gleam in his eyes that Owen couldn't quite place, but knew it wasn't anything good.
Sara was now one of the most gorgeous women he had ever seen, she had curves in all of the right places, dark drown hair bordering on black, and stormy gray eyes. She stood a little taller than she had when he last saw her, placing her closer to 5'6 if his guess was right.
Owen had to fight back the blush that kept trying to reach his face as Sara smiled widely and was waving him over frantically. Kyle was decently reserved compared to the others waving him over, he had just nodded and gave a small wave when they had made eye contact. He also looked like he was going to be competing in some runway show.
Stolen novel; please report.
Looking almost exactly like a smaller clone of Jared, Kyle's only difference was his demeanor towards Owen. There was no gleam in his eye, no hidden intentions that Owen couldn't identify, he just seemed genuinely friendly.
Owen wasn't sure what to do, Jared made him angry beyond belief, but Sara and Kyle weren't people he had had any animosity when he worked with them. Sighing he decided to walk over not wanting the others with Jared to think that he disliked them. "Hi guys, how's stuff at work?" The most boring conversation Owen had ever been apart of continued from there for far too long.
It all seemed so mundane now that he didn't work there, it certainly didn't help that they were now part of a system that granted super powers and the like. "So, Owen what's your status look like?" Jared asked during one of the conversation lulls. "I guess it's okay, nothing to write home about I guess." Owen answered slowly.
He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want Jared or anyone else to know about his stats. It felt too vulnerable, especially since he had several below five points and he was starting to be more and more certain that when people took the test the max they could get was ten with the lowest being one. He didn't have anything to verify his hypothesis, but given he didn't have anything above nine, it seemed like an okay idea.
"Come on, we're all friends here, let's all share our status' it should help with whatever this next round is anyways. Sara, why don't you go first." Jared smiled broadly with a sweeping gesture of his hand. "There is nothing to worry about, you're perfect in my eyes already." Owen was the only one surprised seeing the genuine warmth in Jared's eyes.
He had only see the fake warmth that Jared would direct towards him while doing something that would either be a minimum of inconvenient or at most just generally being an asshole. She blushed and nodded, "Sorry, I got us a little off track, here." Owen was surprised to see a status menu that wasn't his pop up in front of his face.
Sara - Human: Level 1
Vitality = 3
Mana = 9
Strength = 4
Perception = 6
Agility = 7
Resilience = 3
Dexterity = 6
Luck = 7
Skills:
Self Creator - You have created for yourself a new body that will let you take part in the system. Self Creator will allow the user to redesign their body, however will this process will not change the users mana signature. This skill has a 24 hour cooldown period
Loyal Follower - You have selected to follow another user, placing your goals and dreams in their hands. Choose wisely as this action is impossible to undo without another skill.*
Owen's eyes opened in shock, he couldn't see any benefits from the skill, but it being impossible to undo without a skill was already scary to him. So far the system hadn't explained much in the ways of specifics other than some basic information about how the stats work.
"Isn't it just amazing! I already have two skills and my stats are pretty high too!" Owen couldn't deny that it was exciting to see someone just as excited about the system as he was. But then another window popped up in front of him
Kyle - Human: Level 1
Vitality = 8
Mana = 6
Strength = 8
Perception = 5
Agility = 5
Resilience = 8
Dexterity = 5
Luck = 3
Skills:
Self Creator - You have created for yourself a new body that will let you take part in the system. Self Creator will allow the user to redesign their body, however will this process will not change the users mana signature. This skill has a 24 hour cooldown period
Loyal Follower - You have selected to follow another user, placing your goals and dreams in their hands. Choose wisely as this action is impossible to undo without another skill.
Owen now had a sneaking suspicion as to why he was called over, if both Kyle and Sara both had a follower skill, then it clearly meant that Jared had some type of leader skill he could use. Owen gave a shaky smiled to Kyle who grinned back at him and nodded. "Isn't it sweet, I have super high stats, I haven't found anyone else here other than Jared with stats as high as mine."
Owen just nodded, trying his best to keep the smile plastered on his face. "I suppose that means it's my turn then," Jared said. Jared's status screen popped up and Owen's eyes bulged out of his head at the stats he saw.
Jared - Human: Level 1
Vitality = 10
Mana = 6
Strength = 9
Perception = 6
Agility = 7
Resilience = 10
Dexterity = 6
Luck = 7
Skills:
Self Creator - You have created for yourself a new body that will let you take part in the system. Self Creator will allow the user to redesign their body, however will this process will not change the users mana signature. This skill has a 24 hour cooldown period
Chosen Leader - You have been selected to lead another user(s), they have placed their goals and dreams in your hands. Gain 10% of their stat total as distributable stat points. (Followers gain 5% of their stat total as distributable stat points when level 10 has been reached) Can have up to 4 followers. Is unable to use any combat based skills. If you lose any followers, you take a 20% stat point reduction, until a new follower has been gained.
Owen looked between his old coworkers and smiled, "Wow, you guys have some extremely impressive statuses. Mine is nothing to write home about as I said earlier. I only have the one skill so far,"
"Why don't you join my team? There is no hard feelings between us right? You can join our team and we can crush this next round of the tutorial together!" Jared had a nasty gleam in his eye. Owen was about to refuse, but Sara grabbed his hand with both of hers. "Isn't it better to stick together, we never know what they might throw at us."
Owen had to fight with everything he had to gently pull his hand out of hers. "This is a tempting offer, but my dad is on his way through the tutorial, as long as he can join as well, then I guess I'm game." Owen had no intention of joining them, but he had been keeping a close eye on the system's countdown for people supposedly in his group.
*100 out of 100 participants have been reached. Five seconds until teleported to round 2 of the tutorial.*
Jared who hadn't yet noticed it reached a hand out to Owen and smiled magnanimously. "Welcome to the team Owen, it's good to put the past behind us." Owen reached to shake it as the systems countdown reached zero. "Fuck off," Owen said just quietly enough that he was sure only Jared heard it. Before there could be any response Owen's world changed.
*Welcome to the second round of the tutorial. To pass this round you must gain a minimum of 4 levels, gain at least 1 combat skill, and reach the rest zone at the peak of the island. If all goals are accomplished, you will be moved on to third round of the tutorial. Groups that have members that haven't reached these goals will be disqualified from entering the third tutorial and instead be removed from the tutorial entirely.*
Owen was filled with adrenaline, both from having told Jared to fuck off, but also because he was pumped to begin the second round. The island they were on was ginormous, he couldn't tell if it was larger than the rest area he had been in moments before, but as vast area was set before him.
Just from where he was standing on the beach he spawned onto, he could see several different habitats. A jungle type area was directly in front of him, but if he walked far enough east, there was the beginnings of a desert biome. Walking the same distance west was a snowy tundra.
What looked to be the center of the island was a mountain that had a flattened peak, as if someone had cut the top of it off. For a moment he was worried that it might be a volcano, but as soon as he had the thought a system message popped up.
*Gain a minimum of 4 levels, Gain at least 1 combat skill, and reach the rest zone at the peak of the mountain in the center of the island. 71:58:17secs.*
He had 3 days ahead of him, feeling his adrenaline pumping through his veins he rushed towards the jungle biome in front of him.